cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rotational mode disk resonators for high-Q operation in liquid

This work presents thermally actuated rotational mode micromechanical disk resonators with piezoresistive readout specially designed for high-Q operation in liquid. Unlike the previously demonstrated micro-resonators operating in liquid, all the surfaces of the proposed structures in the resonant mode of interest slide in parallel to the liquid interface having minimal interaction with the surrounding fluid. This has been shown to significantly reduce the energy loss into the liquid as well as mass loading by the liquid. Quality factors as high as 280 have been measured for such resonators operating in water which is more than three times higher than the highest values previously reported. Much higher quality factors are expected to be achievable by further optimization of resonator dimensions and other design parameters.
A lateral-displacement flume for fish behavior and stranding studies during simulated pulsed flows

In regulated rivers, fluctuating water depths associated with pulsed discharges may strand small fish in side channels and pools. Quantitative assessments of stranded fish are difficult in field studies (e.g., due to unknown effects of avian and terrestrial vertebrate predators). To assess such lateral displacement and stranding on juvenile stream fishes, we designed, constructed, and tested (with three species) a 2 × 1-m, lateral-displacement flume. The flume featured a main channel that never drained and a raised, wide “floodplain” channel that alternately flooded, with a simulated pulse, and became dewatered. The floodplain contained four pools, with different shapes and draining capacities, in which fish could become stranded as the water level subsided. Fish-stranding rates (8%) in this relatively compact laboratory flume, after exposure to simulated pulsed stream flows, were comparable to those observed in past investigations using larger, artificial streams.
Determining the osteotomy pattern in surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion in a unilateral palatal cleft: a finite element model approach.

Abstract Objectives: To evaluate the stress pattern in the craniofacial skeleton in a patient with unilateral cleft deformity of the secondary palate and alveolus in response to various techniques of surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion (SARME). Materials and Methods: Three patient-specific composite skull models were developed for finite element model analysis. The details of the modeling procedure have been described in Part I of this series. The finite element analysis was performed on each model with a specified SARME technique in combination with RME using Abaqus (6.7). Results: The ideal form of surgery in SARME for patients with unilateral cleft deformity of the secondary palate and alveolus would be complete unilateral LeFort I with pterygoid dysjunction in combination with midpalatal split, followed by isolated midpalatal split and zygomatic buttress osteotomies. Conclusions: A more invasive SARME technique can significantly reduce the resultant stresses. However, this benefit should be ...
Erratum to “Correlates of risky injection practices among past-year injection drug users among the US general population” [Drug Alcohol Depend. 116 (2011) 64–71]

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, 2213 McElderry Street, Suite 437, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, 2213 McElderry Street, Suite 413, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Oncology, 1650 Orleans St., Suite 541, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, 2213 McElderry Street, Suite M435, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, 624 N. Broadway, 8th Floor, Suite 896, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Amur Neolithic and Bronze Age

relative time period: Follows the Amur Paleolithic, precedes the historic period in the region
Becoming Educational Advocates Experience-based Tips

This article deals with the importance of building partnerships between legislators and educators in order to impact educational legislation. To this end, the faculty in the college of education at a large, urban university made institutional changes to establish a proactive relationship amongst stakeholders. As a result of this exchange, we were able to impact two important legislative bills, Assembly Bill (AB) No. 1871 on bilingual teacher credentialing and the State Seal of Biliteracy (SSB). The AB No. 1871 authorized multiple paths to a bilingual teaching certification. The Biliteracy seal, effective from 1 January 2012, recognizes secondary school graduates who have achieved a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading and writing in one or more languages in addition to English. In the latter part of the article, we share valuable tips for educators who wish to engage in local and national advocacy.
Length-dependent modulation of smooth muscle activation: effects of agonist, cytochalasin, and temperature.

We tested the hypothesis that mechanical strain modulates agonist sensitivity of smooth muscle by measuring myosin phosphorylation and contractile force in bovine tracheal smooth muscle activated b...
Redress, Progress and the Benchmark Problem

The Federal Constitution clearly guarantees the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."' Yet, judicial decisions construing this guarantee are strikingly rare and there is little doctrinal or scholarly exploration of what, if anything, such a right ought to entail. To be sure, virtually any legal claim premised on denial of the right to petition for redress of grievances seems merely to overlap with more familiar, "cognate" First Amendment rights such as freedom of expression and assembly. Moreover, the citizenry in the United States have been comparatively free to seek redress throughout most of our history. And the constitutional guarantee is phrased in terms of seeking redress; it certainly does not seem to guarantee actually obtaining redress. In our highly legalistic culture, however, it is appropriately difficult to ignore the basic claim that clear legal wrongs ought to have remedies.
Effect of combined KATP channel activation and Na+/H+ exchange inhibition on infarct size in rabbits

We tested if combining treatment with cariporide, an Na+/H+ exchange inhibitor, and diazoxide, a mitochondrial ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel opener, would reduce myocardial infarct size (IS) to a...
Avoiding communication in numerical linear algebra

Algorithms have two kinds of costs: arithmetic and communication, by which we mean moving data either between levels of a memory hierarchy (in the sequential case) or between processors over a network (in the parallel case). Communication costs can already exceed arithmetic costs by orders of magnitude, and the gap is growing exponentially over time, so our goal is to design linear algebra algorithms that minimize communication.
The Anatomy of a Successful Debt Swap

Debt swaps have been endorsed by the Reagan Administration as part of the so-called Baker Plan, by various multi-national lending organizations, and are a means of reducing external debt and of stimulating the flow of capital to indebted nations. Since this flow of external capital can, among other things, provide a source of financing for newly privatized enterprises, debt swaps can play an important role in promoting privatization, particularly in countries where domestic savings rates are low.
Protein Kinase Cι Drives a NOTCH3-dependent Stem-like Phenotype in Mutant KRAS Lung Adenocarcinoma

We report that the protein kinase Cι (PKCι) oncogene controls expression of NOTCH3, a key driver of stemness, in KRAS-mediated lung adenocarcinoma (LADC). PKCι activates NOTCH3 expression by phosphorylating the ELF3 transcription factor and driving ELF3 occupancy on the NOTCH3 promoter. PKCι-ELF3-NOTCH3 signaling controls the tumor-initiating cell phenotype by regulating asymmetric cell division, a process necessary for tumor initiation and maintenance. Primary LADC tumors exhibit PKCι-ELF3-NOTCH3 signaling, and combined pharmacologic blockade of PKCι and NOTCH synergistically inhibits tumorigenic behavior in vitro and LADC growth in vivo demonstrating the therapeutic potential of PKCι-ELF3-NOTCH3 signal inhibition to more effectively treat KRAS LADC.
Strong Light-Matter-Interactions in Nanocavities and 2D Material-Nanocavity Systems

We report on showing strong light-matter-interaction enhancements of waveguide-integrated and 2D material-based spiral nanocavities. Both exploit high Q/Vmode values outperforming diffraction-limited cavities due to high optical densities.
Hot-Air Treatment Device for Quarantine Research

We describe a hot-air treatment device to be used in quarantine research to disinfest fruits of pests. The device consists of instruments mounted to a 1.905 cm thick plywood structure (1.2 m long by 1.2 m wide by 2.44 m high) with an insulated door. Relays, fuses, heater, fan, steam generator, airflow meter, dew-point sampling system, and thermocouple wires are connected to electricity and to each other through a main power panel and to a computer. The software used controlled air at precise dry-bulb and dew-point temperatures for selected time durations to prevent condensation on fruit surfaces and fruit desiccation. Air mass flow rate was adjustable with a variable speed control. When ‘Keitt’ mangoes infested with Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspense (Loew), larvae were treated with air at 51.67°C for 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 min, mortality was 20, 45, 79, 96, 100, and 100%, respectively. The estimated treatment time for 99.9968% mortality was 101 min (85-131 min, 95% FL).
Mild traumatic brain injury in the military: improving the referral/consultation process.

BACKGROUND: Clinical practice inconsistencies in the identification and referral of patients suspected of mild traumatic brain injury have been identified within primary care clinics in a major military medical center. OBJECTIVE: To determine if the use of an overprinted communication tool would improve the referral/consultation process between identified clinics in one Army medical center. DESIGN: The consultation/referral process was evaluated following an educational presentation regarding the use of a situation, background, assessment, and recommendation (SBAR) communication form. Data were collected from consultation charts before and after two months of use of the SBAR communication form. RESULTS: The communication tool improved capture of dates of injury, prior treatment, history of testing, patient education, and request for therapy. CONCLUSION: Findings from this project demonstrated that a communication tool such as the TBI-SBAR would be beneficial for use in primary care clinics. Language: en
Key Provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA): A Systematic Review and Presentation of Early Research Findings

Objectives To conduct a systematic literature review of selected major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) pertaining to expanded health insurance coverage. We present and synthesize research findings from the last 5 years regarding both the immediate and long-term effects of the ACA. We conclude with a summary and offer a research agenda for future studies. Study Design We identified relevant articles from peer-reviewed scholarly journals by performing a comprehensive search of major electronic databases. We also identified reports in the “gray literature” disseminated by government agencies and other organizations. Principal Findings Overall, research shows that the ACA has substantially decreased the number of uninsured individuals through the dependent coverage provision, Medicaid expansion, health insurance exchanges, availability of subsidies, and other policy changes. Affordability of health insurance continues to be a concern for many people and disparities persist by geography, race/ethnicity, and income. Early evidence also indicates improvements in access to and affordability of health care. All of these changes are certain to ultimately impact state and federal budgets. Conclusions The ACA will either directly or indirectly affect almost all Americans. As new and comprehensive data become available, more rigorous evaluations will provide further insights as to whether the ACA has been successful in achieving its goals.
Needle aponeurotomy for Dupuytren contracture: Effectiveness of postoperative night extension splinting.

Background Night extension splinting has been used to treat patients with Dupuytren contracture to improve active range of motion (AROM) of the hand. A published case study demonstrated the benefit of splinting following needle aponeurotomy; however, no larger studies have evaluated the impact of postoperative splinting. Objectives To compare the impact of night extension splinting on AROM, specifically extension, following needle aponeurotomy for Dupuytren contracture. Methods A retrospective chart review was conducted in which the charts of 53 patients who underwent needle aponeurotomy for Dupuytren contracture between 2009 and 2013 were reviewed. The control group consisted of patients who underwent needle aponeurotomy only, whereas the treatment group was also referred for fabrication of custom night extension splints after surgery. Comparisons in pre- and postoperative AROM measurements for the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints were made between both groups of patients. The degrees of change in AROM for each joint were categorized in terms of levels of change: mild (0° to 29°); moderate (30° to 60°); and significant (≥61°). Results All patients exhibited increased AROM after surgery for both MCP and PIP joints. Both groups had a greater increase in AROM in the MCP joint. Twelve joints from the control group had moderate changes and two from the treatment group had significant changes. When both groups were compared, the levels of change of AROM between both groups did not vary significantly. Conclusion Night extension splinting following needle aponeurotomy may not improve AROM of the MCP or PIP joints.
Postanesthesia care unit administration and staffing

Summary In the PACU, the medical director in conjunction with the nurse manager sets standards of care, criteria for admission and discharge, and quality assurance. The nurse manager directs, coordinates, trains, evaluates, delegates, plans, and budgets for the unit. The essential role of the staff nurse in assessing, developing, and implementing a nursing care plan and then evaluating the care that she has rendered with or without the help of nursing assistants is covered as well as the requirements for training of the staff nurse and ancillary personnel. Lastly, the physical layout characteristics of a PACU are described.
A basal cell defect promotes budding of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia

Basal cells in a simple secretory epithelium adhere to the extracellular matrix (ECM), providing contextual cues for ordered repopulation of the luminal cell layer. Early high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HG-PIN) tissue has enlarged nuclei and nucleoli, luminal layer expansion and genomic instability. Additional HG-PIN markers include loss of α6β4 integrin or its ligand laminin-332, and budding of tumor clusters into laminin-511-rich stroma. We modeled the invasive budding phenotype by reducing expression of α6β4 integrin in spheroids formed from two normal human stable isogenic prostate epithelial cell lines (RWPE-1 and PrEC 11220). These normal cells continuously spun in culture, forming multicellular spheroids containing an outer laminin-332 layer, basal cells (expressing α6β4 integrin, high-molecular-weight cytokeratin and p63, also known as TP63) and luminal cells that secrete PSA (also known as KLK3). Basal cells were optimally positioned relative to the laminin-332 layer as determined by spindle orientation. β4-integrin-defective spheroids contained a discontinuous laminin-332 layer corresponding to regions of abnormal budding. This 3D model can be readily used to study mechanisms that disrupt laminin-332 continuity, for example, defects in the essential adhesion receptor (β4 integrin), laminin-332 or abnormal luminal expansion during HG-PIN progression.
Sex, Labor, and Bodies: The Regulatory Power of Rhetoric

This issue of RSQ offers an intriguing showcase of the wide range of topics, places, and subjects that rhetoricians now study on a regular basis. We encounter a finely detailed portrait of the hist...
Well-founded Functions and Extreme Predicates in Dafny: A Tutorial.

A recursive function is well defined if its every recursive call corresponds a decrease in some well-founded order. Such well-founded functions are useful for example in computer programs when computing a value from some input. A boolean function can also be defined as an extreme solution to a recurrence relation, that is, as a least or greatest fixpoint of some functor. Such extreme predicates are useful for example in logic when encoding a set of inductive or coinductive inference rules. The verification-aware programming language Dafny supports both well-founded functions and extreme predicates. This tutorial describes the difference in general terms, and then describes novel syntactic support in Dafny for defining and proving lemmas with extreme predicates. Various examples and considerations are given. Although Dafny’s verifier has at its core a first-order SMT solver, Dafny’s logical encoding makes it possible to reason about fixpoints in an automated way.
Analysis and Replication of Jianyang Tea Bowls from Song Dynasty China

Black-glazed tea bowls from the Jian area of Fujian province, China, were analyzed to understand the physical basis of their visual appearance and the special glaze effects of nucleation, crystal growth, control of glaze flow, and hare’s fur and spotted patterns that have frustrated modern and ancient factories that are unable to produce acceptable replicas. The black-glazed Jian bowls are divided into two distinct groups called “Hare’s Fur” and “Oil Spot”. Black glazes and bodies from the Jian kilns are rich in iron and calcium oxides, made from a plentiful local refractory dark red clay, and fired in hill-climbing dragon kilns. Twenty-six sherds were analyzed from the collection made by James Plumer at the kiln site in 1935 [1]. Analyses were conducted using optical microscopy, Xeroradiography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) and electron microprobe analysis (WDS), and petrographic thin section analysis to reverse engineer some of the microstructure, composition and thermal history of Jian ware.
Performing the South

This chapter will explore the formation, discovery, and continuation of country music and the imagined south. By discussing the images, sounds, and themes of an imagined southern identity, I will illustrate the importance of a perceived authenticity in the promotion and performance of the music, the artist, the place, and, most importantly, the fan experience. This discussion will directly connect the history of country music performance, broadcasting, commodification, and promotion to both the historical and current state of the genre and its fan base, who expect evidence of realness and reinforce this through their dedication to and involvement in the performance of the country music tradition while visiting Nashville.
A view of the global conservation job market and how to succeed in it

The high demand for conservation work is creating a need for conservation-focused training of scientists. Although many people with postsecondary degrees in biology are finding careers outside academia, many programs and mentors continue to prepare students to follow-in-the-footsteps of their professors. Unfortunately, information regarding how to prepare for today's conservation-based job market is limited in detail and scope. This problem is complicated by the differing needs of conservation organizations in both economically developed and developing regions worldwide. To help scientists identify the tools needed for conservation positions worldwide, we reviewed the current global conservation job market and identified skills required for success in careers in academia, government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations. We also interviewed conservation professionals across all conservation sectors. Positions in nonprofit organizations were the most abundant, whereas academic jobs were only 10% of the current job market. The most common skills required across sectors were a strong disciplinary background, followed by analytical and technical skills. Academic positions differed the most from other types of positions in that they emphasized teaching as a top skill. Nonacademic jobs emphasized the need for excellent written and oral communication, as well as project-management experience. Furthermore, we found distinct differences across job locations. Positions in developing countries emphasized language and interpersonal skills, whereas positions in countries with advanced economies focused on publication history and technical skills. Our results were corroborated by the conservation professionals we interviewed. Based on our results, we compiled a nondefinitive list of conservation-based training programs that are likely to provide training for the current job market. Using the results of this study, scientists may be better able to tailor their training to maximize success in the conservation job market. Similarly, institutions can apply this information to create educational programs that produce graduates primed for long-term success.
A graph theoretical approach for performance comparison of ICA for fMRI analysis

Due to its relatively few assumptions, independent component analysis (ICA) has become a widely-used tool for the analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. In its application, Infomax, has been by far the most frequently used ICA algorithm, primarily because it is the first ICA algorithm applied to fMRI analysis. However, now there are a number of more flexible ICA algorithms, which can exploit multiple types of statistical properties of the signals with fewer assumptions. In this work, we investigate the performance of Infomax and two of the more recent ICA algorithms, entropy bound minimization (EBM) and entropy rate bound minimization (ERBM), on resting state fMRI data derived from a large number of patients with schizophrenia (SZs) and healthy controls (HCs). In order to overcome the difficulty of directly comparing the performances of different ICA algorithms on real fMRI data, we propose the use of graph theoretic (GT) metrics to assess the quality of an ICA decomposition by measuring an algorithm's ability to capture the inherent differences between SZs and HCs. Our results show that ERBM, the algorithm which incorporates the greatest number of statistical properties of the signals, provides the best performance for fMRI analysis.
Impact Biomechanics of Neck Injury

The three major functions of the neck are to support the head, to allow it move three-dimensionally, and to conduct nerve signals to and from the brain via the spinal cord. Many muscles in the neck provide the flexibility for head motion, while a bony vertebral column protects the delicate tissues of the spinal cord. This protection, however, is not adequate for high-speed crashes, and a variety of neck injuries occur when the head is impacted directly or inertially. In order to attain a better understanding of the injury mechanisms involved, a brief review of spinal anatomy is needed. This review covers the cervical spine as well as the thoracolumbar spine to avoid repetition in subsequent chapters. It also stresses certain anatomical features that are normally glossed over in anatomical texts.
Large-Scale Structure in Wind Forcing over the California Current System in Summer

AbstractThe wind that drives oceanic eastern boundary upwelling systems is highly variable. In many locations, the standard deviation of wind velocity on time scales of days to weeks is larger than the mean. In the ~1600-km-long California Current System (CCS), the spatial decorrelation scale of the wind fluctuations is ~400–800 km, suggesting wind fluctuations in the north and south ends of the system are not related. Yet, there is also the suggestion in the literature of a larger-scale structure in the fluctuations. Here, empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of buoy and satellite wind velocities confirms the existence of that structure. This analysis covers a larger spatial domain than previous EOF studies in the CCS and, to allow for propagation of the wind fluctuations, includes an approach for calculating Hilbert EOFs from time series with gaps. The large-scale structure in the wind fluctuations is a quasi-dipole pattern spanning the coastline from Washington through California. It accounts f...
Faster paleospin and deep-seated uncompensated mass as possible explanations for Ceres’ present-day shape and gravity

Abstract We show that Ceres’ measured degree-2 zonal gravity, J 2 , is smaller by about 10% than that derived assuming Ceres’ rotational flattening, as measured by Dawn, is hydrostatic. Irrespective of Ceres’ radial density variation, as long as its internal structure is hydrostatic the J 2 predicted from the shape model is consistently larger than measured. As an explanation, we suggest that Ceres’ current shape may be a fossil remnant of faster rotation in the geologic past. We propose that up to ∼7% of Ceres’ previous spin angular momentum has been removed by dynamic perturbations such as a random walk due to impacts or a loss of satellite that slowed Ceres spin as it tidally evolved outward. As an alternative, we also consider a formal degree-2 admittance solution, from which we infer a range of possible non-hydrostatic contributions to J 2 from uncompensated, deep-seated density anomalies. We show that such density anomalies could be due to low order convection or upwelling. The normalized moments-of-inertia derived for the two explanations – faster paleospin and deep-seated density anomalies – range between 0.353 ± 0.009 and 0.375 ± 0.001 for a spherically equivalent Ceres, which can be used as constraints on more complex Ceres interior models.
Disrupt/Displace: Translating Territory

Disrupt/Displace was both a Venice Architectural Biennale Session and a “Report from the Front” on the Dakota Access Pipeline: simultaneously a critique, a performance, and a proposal presented in ...
Organization of the Rhodobacter Capsulatus Carotenoid Biosynthesis Gene Cluster

Carotenoids are a major class of pigment molecules found in all photosynthetic organisms, and some nonphotosynthetic bacteria, fungi and yeasts (reviewed in Goodwin, 1980). In photosynthetic organisms carotenoids are not only essential physical quenchers of excited state triplet chlorophyll and bacteriochlorophyll (Bchl) and of singlet oxygen generated by these species, but also serve as accessory light-harvesting pigments (reviewed in Cogdell and Frank, 1987). The isolation of the R-prime plasmid pRPS404, containing a 46 kb region from the Rhodobacter capsulatus chromosome which complemented all known point mutation defects in photosynthesis, suggested that the genes encoding structural photosynthetic polypeptides and the enzymes of carotenoid and bacteriochlorophyll biosynthesis were clustered (Mans, 1981). The genes encoding the reaction center and light-harvesting I polypeptides, flanking the pigment biosynthesis genes, were subsequently located and sequenced (Youvan et al., 1984a), as were the unlinked genes encoding the light-harvesting II antenna polypeptides (Youvan and Ismail, 1985). No DNA sequences were previously available for the genes encoding carotenoid biosynthetic enzymes from any carotenogenic organism. Thus, the determination of the nucleotide sequence and the organization of the crt genes from R. capsulatus is essential both to further studies of the gene products and of gene regulation. We have focused our attention on the characterization of the subcluster of crt genes within the photosynthesis gene cluster (for a description of the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway see Armstrong et al., 1989). Seven of the eight previously identified R. capsulatus crt genes were known to be clustered on the BamHI-H, -G, -M, and -J fragments of pRPS404 in the order crtA, I, B, C, D, E, F from left to right on the genetic-physical map (Fig. 1) (Taylor et al., 1983; Zsebo and Hearst, 1984; Giuliano et al., 1988). These studies established that mutations causing Bchl-phenotypes map within these four BamHI fragments, flanking both ends of the crt gene cluster. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of an 11039 bp region encompassing the BamHI-H, -G, - M, and -J fragments of pRPS404 (Armstrong et al., 1989). The nucleotide sequence reveals the presence of a new gene, crtK, not described in previous studies. We present here a comprehensive analysis of the DNA sequence and the gene organization, and discuss nucleotide sequences potentially involved in the initiation, regulation and termination of transcription within this region.
Succinct delegation for low-space non-deterministic computation

We construct a delegation scheme for verifying non-deterministic computations, with complexity proportional only to the non-deterministic space of the computation. Specifically, letting n denote the input length, we construct a delegation scheme for any language verifiable in non-deterministic time and space (T(n), S(n)) with communication complexity poly(S(n)), verifier runtime n.polylog(T(n))+poly(S(n)), and prover runtime poly(T(n)). Our scheme consists of only two messages and has adaptive soundness, assuming the existence of a sub-exponentially secure private information retrieval (PIR) scheme, which can be instantiated under standard (albeit, sub-exponential) cryptographic assumptions, such as the sub-exponential LWE assumption. Specifically, the verifier publishes a (short) public key ahead of time, and this key can be used by any prover to non-interactively prove the correctness of any adaptively chosen non-deterministic computation. Such a scheme is referred to as a non-interactive delegation scheme. Our scheme is privately verifiable, where the verifier needs the corresponding secret key in order to verify proofs. Prior to our work, such results were known only in the Random Oracle Model, or under knowledge assumptions. Our results yield succinct non-interactive arguments based on sub-exponential LWE, for many natural languages believed to be outside of P.
Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Cardiac Regenerative Therapy

Until recently, the concept of treating the injured or failing heart by generating new functional myocardium was considered physiologically impossible. Major scientific strides in the past few years have challenged the concept that the heart is a post-mitotic organ, leading to the hypothesis that cardiac regeneration could be therapeutically achieved. Bone marrow-derived adult stem cells were among the first cell populations that were used to test this hypothesis. Animal studies and early clinical experience support the concept that therapeutically delivered mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) safely improve heart function after an acute myocardial infarction (MI). MSCs produce a variety of cardio-protective signalling molecules, and have the ability to differentiate into both myocyte and vascular lineages. Additionally, MSCs are attractive as a cellular vehicle for gene delivery, cell transplantation or for tissue engineering because they offer several practical advantages. They can be obtained in relatively large numbers through standard clinical procedures, and they are easily expanded in culture. The multi-lineage potential of MSC, in combination with their immunoprivileged status, make MSCs a promising source for cell therapy in cardiac diseases. Here we provide an overview of biological characteristics of MSCs, experimental animal studies and early clinical trials with MSCs. In addition, we discuss the routes of cell delivery, cell tracking experiments and current knowledge of the mechanistic underpinnings of their action.
Stability and Consistency for the Divergent Beam X-Ray Transform

Let Ω be a bounded open convex subset of the plane and f be a square integrable function that vanishes outside of Ω , i.e. f ∈ L2 (Ω). The divergent beam x-ray transform of f from the source point a in the direction θ is defined by $${D_{\rm{a}}}{\rm{f}}({\rm{\theta }}) = {\rm{ \backslash smallint}}_o^\infty {\rm{f}}({\rm{a + t\theta )dt}}.$$ (1.1) We assume throughout the paper that a is not in Ω , the closure of Ω.
Group key establishment with physical unclonable functions

Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are effective tools for secret key generation which do not rely on any computational hardness assumptions. In the literature their use for 2-party key establish...
Machine learning-based longitudinal phase space prediction of particle accelerators

We report on the application of machine learning (ML) methods for predicting the longitudinal phase space (LPS) distribution of particle accelerators. Our approach consists of training a ML-based virtual diagnostic to predict the LPS using only nondestructive linac and e-beam measurements as inputs. We validate this approach with a simulation study for the FACET-II linac and with an experimental demonstration conducted at LCLS. At LCLS, the e-beam LPS images are obtained with a transverse deflecting cavity and used as training data for our ML model. In both the FACET-II and LCLS cases we find good agreement between the predicted and simulated/measured LPS profiles, an important step towards showing the feasibility of implementing such a virtual diagnostic on particle accelerators in the future.
Assessing an Online Student Orientation: Impacts on Retention, Satisfaction, and Student Learning

To help prepare students for the rigors of an online master’s degree in technical and professional communication, I created a course-embedded online student orientation (OSO) structured by the comm...
Profiling changes in metabolism and the immune microenvironment in lung tumorigenesis.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with 5-year survival rates still below 20% (1). Several multidisciplinary approaches are used clinically for the treatment of this disease. Depending on the type, classification, and staging of the lung tumor, patients are treated with surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or immunotherapy, alone or in combination.
Costa, Hipólito José. Diário da Minha Viagem a Filadélfia, 1798-1799. Ed. Alcino Pedrosa. Lisboa: Imprensa de Ciências Sociais, 2007.

Em sua “Introducao” aos diarios escritos por Hipolito Jose da Costa durante sua viagem aos Estados Unidos no fim do seculo XVIII, Alcino Pedrosa lembra que, por carregar o “estigma” de “mero relato de viagem” (28), o texto fora empurrado por mais de cem anos para a secao de manuscritos da Biblioteca Publica de Evora, ate que Alceu Amoroso Lima o descobrisse e publicasse em 1955.
Role of Selexipag in COPD Patients with out of Proportion Pulmonary Hypertension

Background Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with COPD is associated with an increase in the risk of COPD exacerbation, increased hospitalization and worse survival in this patient population. The majority of patients with COPD have a mild degree of pulmonary hypertension (with mean pulmonary artery pressure, mPAP Hypothesis Selexipag improves functional capacity in COPD patients with out of proportion pulmonary hypertension. Methods We reviewed the medical records of COPD patients who were started on selexipag for out of proportion pulmonary hypertension. The patients were diagnosed with COPD according to their history, pulmonary function tests and chest imaging. All patients had a right heart catheterization done at baseline that showed pulmonary hypertension with mPAP ≥ 35 mmHg at rest. Six-minute walk test was done at baseline and repeated at 6 months (+/- 2 months) after starting selexipag. Results Out of the six patients included in this study, five patients showed improvement of 6-minute walk distance (from 512 feet to 681 feet, mean change 169 feet) while 1 patient worsened (from 1177 feet to 913 feet). Conclusions In this case series of COPD patients with out of proportion pulmonary hypertension, the use of selexipag was associated with an improvement in functional status at 6 months. Larger size prospective studies are needed to confirm the findings.
Examining the Use of Real-World Evidence in the Regulatory Process

The 21st Century Cures Act passed by the United States Congress mandates the US Food and Drug Administration to develop guidance to evaluate the use of real-world evidence (RWE) to support the regulatory process. RWE has generated important medical discoveries, especially in areas where traditional clinical trials would be unethical or infeasible. However, RWE suffers from several issues that hinder its ability to provide proof of treatment efficacy at a level comparable to randomized controlled trials. In this review article, we summarized the advantages and limitations of RWE, identified the key opportunities for RWE, and pointed the way forward to maximize the potential of RWE for regulatory purposes.
An Agent-Based Model of Leader Emergence and Leadership Perception within a Collective

Effective teamwork in an initially leaderless group requires a high level of collective leadership emerging from dynamic interactions among group members. Leader emergence is a crucial topic in collective leadership, yet it is challenging to investigate as the problem context is typically highly complex and dynamic. Here, we explore leadership emergence and leadership perception by means of computational simulations whose assumptions and parameters were informed by empirical research and human-subject experiments. Our agent-based model describes the process of group planning. Each agent is assigned with three key attributes: talkativeness, intelligence, and credibility. An agent can propose a suggestion to modify the group plan as a speaker or respond and evaluate others’ suggestions and leadership as a listener. Simulation results suggested that agents with high values of talkativeness, intelligence, and credibility tended to be perceived as leaders by their peers. Results also showed that talkativeness may be the most significant and instantaneous predictor for leader emergence of the three investigated attributes: talkativeness, intelligence, and credibility. In terms of group performance, smaller groups may outperform larger groups regarding their problem-solving ability in the beginning, but their performance tends to be of no significant difference in a long run. These results match the empirical literature and offer a mechanistic, operationalized description of the collective leadership processes.
Clinical Concept Linking with Contextualized Neural Representations

In traditional approaches to entity linking, linking decisions are based on three sources of information -- the similarity of the mention string to an entity's name, the similarity of the context of the document to the entity, and broader information about the knowledge base (KB). In some domains, there is little contextual information present in the KB and thus we rely more heavily on mention string similarity. We consider one example of this, concept linking, which seeks to link mentions of medical concepts to a medical concept ontology. We propose an approach to concept linking that leverages recent work in contextualized neural models, such as ELMo (Peters et al. 2018), which create a token representation that integrates the surrounding context of the mention and concept name. We find a neural ranking approach paired with contextualized embeddings provides gains over a competitive baseline (Leaman et al. 2013). Additionally, we find that a pre-training step using synonyms from the ontology offers a useful initialization for the ranker.
Molecular integrals from Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) instead of recurrences: The McMurchie-Davidson case.

We report a closed formula expressing the McMurchie–Davidson (MD) key intermediates {[r](0); rx + ry + rz ≤ L} directly in terms of the set of basic integrals {[0](m); m ≤ L}, without any recurrences. This formula can be evaluated at O(L) cost per output [r](0) with dense matrix multiplications and Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT). Key to this is the fact that the transformation that builds Cartesian angular momentum from the basic integrals, {[0κ](m+m′)}↦{[lκ](m)} (κ ∈ {x, y, z}), can be phrased as a circulant-matrix/vector product, which is susceptible to FFTs. After simplification, a simple formula yields the final [r](0) in one step, as contraction of four auxiliary vectors over a common Fourier index k—one vector for the [0](m) and one for each Cartesian axis. Similar transformations occur in many integral approaches beside MD, making this idea potentially broadly applicable. The simple resulting code and data structures may make it attractive for novel hardware platforms.
Understanding the antiviral effects of RNAi-based therapy on chronic hepatitis B infection

Abstract Reaching hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss (called functional cure) with approved treatment with pegylated interferon-α (IFN) and/or nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients is suboptimal. The RNA interference (RNAi) drug ARC-520 was shown to be effective in reducing serum HBV DNA, HBsAg and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) in chimpanzees and small animals. A recent clinical study (Heparc-2001) showed reduction of serum HBV DNA, HBeAg and HBsAg in HBeAg-positive patients treated with a single dose of ARC-520 and daily NA (entecavir). To provide insights into HBV dynamics under ARC-520 treatment and its efficacy in blocking HBV DNA, HBsAg, and HBeAg production we developed a a multi-compartmental pharmacokinetic-pharamacodynamic model and calibrated it with measured HBV data. We showed that the time-dependent ARC-520 efficacies in blocking HBsAg and HBeAg are more than 96% effective around day 1, and slowly wane to 50% in 1-4 months. The combined ARC-520 and entecavir effect on HBV DNA is constant over time, with efficacy of more than 99.8%. HBV DNA loss is entecavir mediated and the strong but transient HBsAg and HBeAg decays are solely ARC-520 mediated. We added complexity to the model in order to reproduce current long-term therapy outcomes with NAs by considering the tradeoff between hepatocyte loss and hepatocyte division, and used it to make in-silico long-term predictions for virus, HBsAg and HBeAg titer dynamics. These results may help assess ongoing RNAi drug development for hepatitis B virus infection. Author summary With about 300 million persons infected worldwide and 800,000 deaths annually, chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major public health burden with high endemic areas around the world. Current treatment options focus on removing circulating HBV DNA but are suboptimal in removing hepatitis B s- and e-antigens. ARC-520, a RNA interference drug, had induced substantial hepatitis B s- and e- antigen reductions in animals and patients receiving therapy. We study the effect of ARC-520 on hepatitis B s- and e-antigen decline by developing mathematical models for the dynamics of intracellular and serum viral replication, and compare it to patient HBV DNA, hepatitis B s- and e-antigen data from a clinical trial with one ARC-520 injection and daily nucleoside analogue therapy. We examine biological parameters describing the different phases of HBV DNA, s-antigen and e-antigen decline and rebound after treatment initiation, and estimate treatment effectiveness. Such approach can inform the RNA interference drug therapy.
Factors Related to Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Queries for Veterans Receiving Long-Term Opioid Therapy.

Objective State prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) identify controlled medications dispensed across providers and systems. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy requires electronic health record documentation of PDMP queries at least annually for VA patients receiving controlled medications; however, queries are not uniformly conducted. We examined factors associated with PDMP queries for veterans receiving long-term opioid therapy. Methods Veterans with a VA provider who received long-term opioid therapy between August 2015 and August 2016 within a four-state region were identified; 9,879 were due for a PDMP query between August 2016 and February 2017. Likelihood of veterans' PDMP queries during this follow-up period was modeled as a function of patient, provider, and facility characteristics of interest in mixed-effects modified Poisson models estimating relative risk and 95% confidence intervals. Multivariable models controlled for potential confounders identified through the use of directed acyclic graphs. Results PDMP queries were documented for 62.1% of veterans that were due for a PDMP query. Veterans were more likely to be queried if they were Hispanic or if they received methadone, had average daily milligram morphine equivalents >20, or received urine drug screening during the studied period. Veterans were less likely to be queried if they had a rural address, mail order medication, or cancer diagnosis. Likelihood of PDMP queries was also lower for veterans whose opioid-prescribing provider was an oncologist or working in a low-complexity facility. Conclusions Adherence to PDMP query policy within the VA varied by patient, clinician, and facility factors. Mechanisms to standardize the conduct of PDMP queries may be needed.
The Stock Market and Household Financial Behavior

In this JPMorgan Chase Institute report, we document a high-frequency relationship between stock market returns and patterns observed in consumer spending and investing behavior. The analysis draws from a core sample of approximately 12 million active Chase credit card users since 2012, and we seek to explain how the distribution of monthly credit card spending changes responds to stock market returns. The right tail of this distribution—characterized by spending increases double or triple a person’s typical level— is over two times more sensitive to the market than the center of the distribution. The relationship is more pronounced for male investors than non-investors and women. Applying the same econometric framework for stock market returns to changes in checking account-based spending and changes in labor income does not yield a statistically discernible relationship in our sample. Meanwhile, individuals’ transfers to investment accounts display a notable correlation with lagged stock returns, consistent with “returns chasing.” Such transfers roughly doubled around the onset of the COVID national emergency, alongside sharp declines in spending. Our findings imply that policies seeking to exert control over business cycles via the stock market may be successful over short time horizons. However, since stock market gains are associated with spending “splurges” on credit cards and flows into investment brokerage accounts, stimulus aimed at supporting asset prices can come with costs in the form of households’ financial vulnerability. If gains in stock prices are not followed by an improving labor market, households that over-extend themselves in terms of spending or equity market exposure would face risks.