cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Real-time Degradation Study of HgBa2CaCu2O6+δ?Thin Film Using Near-field Scanning Microwave and Optical Dual Probe

All high- Tc superconductors are susceptible to humid environment. The mechanism behind this degradation process is not yet well known or even described. In an attempt to understand the mechanism, we studied the real-time degradation process of HgBa2CaCu2O6+δ (Hg-1212) thin film using scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques. A newly developed near-field scanning microwave and optical dual probe was employed to map simultaneously the spatial variation of microwave sheet resistance and optical transmittance of a sample. Mapping was performed at a regular time interval while the sample was exposed to a very high level of humidity (85%-90%). In a separate experiment, atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to monitor the surface roughness of a sample subjected to the same level of humidity. Results indicate that the degradation process of Hg-1212 involves the gradual transformation of the material into a colorless insulator accompanied by continuous surface deformations.
Probing Enzyme-Substrate Recognition and Catalytic Mechanism in Cu,Zn Superoxide Dismutase

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is a ubiquitous enzyme of aerobic organisms that protects against the toxic effects of dioxygen metabolism. SOD catalyzes the dismutation of the superoxide radical, O- 2, to molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide through the alternate reduction and oxidation of the active site metal ion (Cu, Mn, or Fe)1: Open image in new window Cu, Zn SOD occurs almost entirely in eukaryotic cells, while Mn or Fe SODs occur predominantly in prokaryotes and mitochondria. The catalytic rate of SOD is very rapid (2 × 109 M-1sec-1),2 suggesting the evolution of an optimal active site for the recognition and chemical catalysis of the substrate by the enzyme. This remarkably high catalytic rate makes the enzyme a simple model system in which to study the role of electrostatic forces in molecular recognition.
Topographic organization of areas V3 and V4 and its relation to supra-areal organization of the primate visual system.

Areas V3 and V4 are commonly thought of as individual entities in the primate visual system, based on definition criteria such as their representation of visual space, connectivity, functional response properties, and relative anatomical location in cortex. Yet, large-scale functional and anatomical organization patterns not only emphasize distinctions within each area, but also links across visual cortex. Specifically, the visuotopic organization of V3 and V4 appears to be part of a larger, supra-areal organization, clustering these areas with early visual areas V1 and V2. In addition, connectivity patterns across visual cortex appear to vary within these areas as a function of their supra-areal eccentricity organization. This complicates the traditional view of these regions as individual functional “areas.” Here, we will review the criteria for defining areas V3 and V4 and will discuss functional and anatomical studies in humans and monkeys that emphasize the integration of individual visual areas into broad, supra-areal clusters that work in concert for a common computational goal. Specifically, we propose that the visuotopic organization of V3 and V4, which provides the criteria for differentiating these areas, also unifies these areas into the supra-areal organization of early visual cortex. We propose that V3 and V4 play a critical role in this supra-areal organization by filtering information about the visual environment along parallel pathways across higher-order cortex.
The threat of rebellion: claiming entitled personhood in Central Africa

A recent anthropological literature on arms-carrying and violence has sought to understand these undertakings as modes of labour and work. In contrast, I focus on threats, specifically threats made in conjunction with rebellion in the Central African Republic (CAR). Doing so show what the violence/labour approach has missed. Far from seeking to adapt to the exigencies of flexible, uncertain labour circumstances, these men seek to leverage the interests of international interveners in Central African conflicts and revive a statist, entitlement-centred system in which getting paid indicates status, not work produced. As such, their threats are a critique of their expendability, and a critique of violence, at the same time as they perpetuate the importance of a capacity for violence as a political and personal asset.
Media-Aware Multi-User Rate Allocation over Wireless Mesh Network

When multiple video streams are transmitted in a wireless mesh network, each stream needs to adapt its rate to the time-varying traffic in the network. We propose a media-aware rate allocation algorithm that adjusts the video rate based on both video content and network congestion. This is combined with cross-layer information exchange: the video agent relies on estimated link state at each hop along the path, as well as accumulated congestion increment reported by the routing agent. We discuss in detail how the distributed optimization can be realized at each wireless node, and present simulations of the proposed rate allocation algorithm over an 802.11 wireless mesh network. Experimental results confirm that the proposed scheme can effectively adapt the allocated rate to the presence of new streams in the network in a congestion-distortion optimized manner. In comparison with TCP-Friendly Rate Control (TFRC), the proposed scheme can achieve a higher average video quality for all users while maintaining lower overall network congestion.
Evaluation of vegetation size and its relationship with embolism in infective endocarditis: a real-time 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography study.

Background— Two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography studies have shown that the maximum length of vegetation (MLV) ≥10 mm is a predictor of embolic events (EEs) in patients with infective endocarditis. However, 2D measurements probably underestimate the vegetation dimensions. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of real-time 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (RT3DTEE) in determining MLV and its accuracy in identifying the risk for EEs compared with 2D transesophageal echocardiography (2DTEE). Methods and Results— We analyzed 60 patients with vegetations. RT3DTEE measurement of MLV was obtained with Advanced QLAB Quantification Software by cropping the 3D volume with the appropriate 2D plane to obtain the largest value. The standard 2DTEE images were also evaluated to determine the MLV. Major EEs were registered from medical records, and a logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between MLV and EEs. The RT3DTEE MLV was larger than the 2DTEE value with a mean difference of 3.2 mm (95% confidence interval, 2.1–4.2 mm). The best cut-off value for prediction of EEs was MLV ≥20 mm with RT3DTEE and MLV ≥16 mm with 2DTEE. The positive predictive value increased from 59.1% to 65.2% when RT3DTEE was used. The accuracy of classification of patients with EEs increased from 65% to 70% with this new technique. Conclusions— RT3DTEE is a feasible technique for the analysis of vegetation morphology and size that may overcome the shortcoming of 2DTEE, leading to a better prediction of the embolism risk in patients with infective endocarditis.
Correlating wafer surface to DW saw profile and wire wear

The surface of diamond-wire sawn wafers is investigated as a function of different wires. The evolution of the pilgrim waves on the wafer surface is correlated with wire movement. Analysis of wafer surfaces indicated that some wires generate lower surface roughness than others, even using the same sawing recipe.
Imbalanced Data Learning

An imbalanced training dataset can pose serious problems for many real-world data-mining tasks that conduct supervised learning. In this chapter,\(^\dagger\) we present a kernel-boundary-alignment algorithm, which considers training-data imbalance as prior information to augment SVMs to improve class-prediction accuracy. Using a simple example, we first show that SVMs can suffer from high incidences of false negatives when the training instances of the target class are heavily outnumbered by the training instances of a non-target class. The remedy we propose is to adjust the class boundary by modifying the kernel matrix, according to the imbalanced data distribution. Through theoretical analysis backed by empirical study, we show that the kernel-boundary-alignment algorithm works effectively on several datasets.
How do en route events around the Gulf of Mexico influence migratory landbird populations

ABSTRACT Habitats around the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) provide critical resources for Nearctic–Neotropical migratory landbirds, the majority of which travel across or around the GOM every spring and fall as they migrate between temperate breeding grounds in North America and tropical wintering grounds in the Caribbean and Central and South America. At the same time, ecosystems in the GOM are changing rapidly, with unknown consequences for migratory landbird populations, many of which are experiencing population declines. In general, the extent to which events encountered en route limit migratory bird populations is not well understood. At the same time, information from weather surveillance radar, stable isotopes, tracking, eBird, and genetic datasets is increasingly available to address many of the unanswered questions about bird populations that migrate through stopover and airspace habitats in the GOM. We review the state of the science and identify key research needs to understand the impacts of en route e...
REACTIONS OF RABBITS TO INTRACUTANEOUS INJECTIONS OF PNEUMOCOCCI AND THEIR PRODUCTS : II. RESISTANCE TO INFECTION.

1. Injection of suspensions of heat-killed pneumococci into the skin of rabbits is followed by an active immunity which is effective against intravenous infection by homologous and heterologous types of Pneumococcus. 2. This form of active immunity may be induced by the injection of S or R strains of Pneumococcus. 3. Intracutaneous immunization with soluble derivatives of Pneumococcus does not induce active immunity to infection. 4. The sera of seventy-nine per cent of the rabbits immunized to Type I Pneumococcus by intracutaneous injections afforded no protection to mice against infection with pneumococci. 5. None of the sera of rabbits intracutaneously immunized to the type-specific Type III (S) pneumococci, to R cells, or to soluble derivatives of Pneumococcus protected white mice against infection. 6. The sera of rabbits immunized first intracutaneously and subsequently intravenously possess a high titre of protective antibodies. 7. It may be concluded that when type-specific pneumococci are injected into the skin they lose the property of stimulating an active immunity of a specific type and of stimulating the production of type-specific antibodies, but they act just as do the degraded or R forms, causing the animals to become resistant to infection with pneumococci of all types without the development of any type-specific antibodies in the serum.
Application of the Fokker-Planck molecular mixing model to turbulent scalar mixing using moment methods

An extended quadrature method of moments using the β kernel density function (β-EQMOM) is used to approximate solutions to the evolution equation for univariate and bivariate composition probability distribution functions (PDFs) of a passive scalar for binary and ternary mixing. The key element of interest is the molecular mixing term, which is described using the Fokker–Planck (FP) molecular mixing model. The direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of Eswaran and Pope [“Direct numerical simulations of the turbulent mixing of a passive scalar,” Phys. Fluids 31, 506 (1988)] and the amplitude mapping closure (AMC) of Pope [“Mapping closures for turbulent mixing and reaction,” Theor. Comput. Fluid Dyn. 2, 255 (1991)] are taken as reference solutions to establish the accuracy of the FP model in the case of binary mixing. The DNSs of Juneja and Pope [“A DNS study of turbulent mixing of two passive scalars,” Phys. Fluids 8, 2161 (1996)] are used to validate the results obtained for ternary mixing. Simulations are p...
Comparison of Public-Domain Software and Services For Probabilistic Record Linkage and Address Standardization

Probabilistic record linkage (PRL) refers to the process of matching records from various data sources such as database tables with some missing or corrupted index values. Human is often involved in a loop to review cases that an algorithm cannot match. PRL can be applied to join or de-duplicate records, or to impute missing data, resulting in better overall data quality. An important subproblem in PRL is to parse a field such as address into its components, e.g., street number, street name, city, state, and zip code. Various data analysis techniques such as natural language processing and machine learning methods are often gainfully employed in both PRL and address standardization to achieve higher accuracies of linking or prediction. This work compares the performance of four reputable PRL packages freely available in the public domain, namely FRIL, Link Plus, R RecordLinkage, and SERF. In addition, we evaluate the baseline performance and sensitivity of four address-parsing web services including the Data Science Toolkit, Geocoder.us, Google Maps APIs, and the U.S. address parser. Finally, we present some of the strengths and limitations of the software and services we have evaluated.
Teaching Radically with Koch Money

This essay narrates my experiences applying for a grant from my university’s Koch Center for Leadership and Ethics, and teaching the redesigned Survey of Later American Literature the grant funded. In it, I explore the Koch Center’s rhetoric, focusing especially on the space between their putative neutrality and their clear embrace of right-wing definitions of freedom. I detail my grant proposal, addressing primarily my methods for redeploying their language about “leadership,” “ethics,” and “freedom” in order to echo their putative neutrality while allowing myself room to foreground their circumscribed notions of “freedom.” Then, I outline the course I redesigned with the Koch Center’s funds, addressing both the course’s content and its pedagogical strategies. In closing, this essay offers some thoughts about how we might resist higher education’s seemingly inexorable shift rightward by reshaping the language and emphases of organizations like the Koch Center, ultimately suggesting we combat these neoliberal tendencies by battling them directly on the ground of “freedom.”
In Situ Identification of Nanoparticle Structural Information Using Optical Microscopy.

Diffraction-limited optical microscopy lacks the resolution to directly characterize nanoscale features of single nanoparticles. This paper describes how structural features of gold nanostars can be identified using differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy. First, we established structure–property relationships between categories of nanoparticle shapes and DIC optical images and then validated the correlation with electrodynamic simulations and electron microscopy. We found that DIC image patterns of single nanostars could be differentiated between 2D and 3D geometries. DIC images were also used to distinguish asymmetric and 4-fold symmetric structures and track nanoparticle orientation. Finally, we demonstrated how this wide-field optical technique can be used for in situ characterization of single nanoparticles rotating at a glass–water interface.
δ-Hyperbolicity and the Core-Periphery Structure in Graphs

δ-Hyperbolicity is a graph parameter that shows how close to a tree a graph is metrically. In this work, we propose a method that reduces the size of the graph to only a subset that is responsible for maximizing its δ-hyperbolicity using the local dominance relationship between vertices. Furthermore, we empirically show that the hyperbolicity of a graph can be found in a set of vertices that are in close proximity and that concentrate in the core of the graph. We adopt two core definitions each of which represents a different notion of vertex coreness. The minimum-cover-set core, which is a transport-based core, and the k-core, which is a density-based core. Our observations have crucial implications on computing the δ-hyperbolicity of large graphs. (Parts of this work were published in Alrasheed (On the δ-hyperbolicity of complex networks. In: Proceedings of the IEEE/ACM international conference on advances in social networks analysis and mining (ASONAM), 2016).)
Tracer Methods in Chemical Reactors. Techniques and Applications

Tracer methods are encountered in many areas of science and engineering. The diversity of their uses is illustrated by measurement of blood flow and capillary permeability of the microcirculation in medicine and by flow visualization in channels and around airplane wings in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Other applications are flow and transport measurements in rivers in hydrology, transport measurements of pollutants in soils in civil engineering, and measurements of spreading of plumes in the atmosphere in environmental engineering. Additional uses involve identification of reaction mechanisms of chemical and catalytic reactions, measurement of diffusion rates, etc. All these methods rely on perturbing the system under investigation and monitoring the system’s response to such perturbations. This response is then interpreted. Some conclusions can be obtained on a model-free basis, others are model dependent.
Starting a business as a nurse consultant: practical considerations.

Nursing experience translates well to self employment in the occupational and environmental health field. However, nurses must conduct a self assessment to determine whether owning a business is a good fit for their personality and work style. Exploring which services to offer is the next step in starting a business and consists of determining not only which service to offer (e.g., writing policies or protocols, providing clinical services) but also which type of consultation model to use (i.e., purchase of expertise, doctor/client, process consultation). Every business must have a plan. A business plan is essential to starting a business. It solidifies the entrepreneur's focus, lays the foundation for the business, provides a tool for evaluating success, and is a strong tool for soliciting financial support. The name of the business is an important consideration because it is often the first contact the customers have with the occupational health nurse consultant. The name must be descriptive, appropriate, and memorable.
Untangling the web of e-health: multiple sclerosis patients' perceptions of online health information, information literacy, and the impact on treatment decision making

Social media have changed how patients, caregivers and physicians produce, manage and use information when making medical treatment decisions. Because Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients rely on online information to self-educate about treatment options, it is important to determine whether online decision-making tools are reliable and useful given patients' knowledge of their disease and varying information literacy skills. Therefore, this study investigates the online search practices, perceptions, and usability of web-based information among MS patients. Perceptions of MS patients are measured by a questionnaire administered to a convenience sample of MS patients. Their online search practices are evaluated to determine the kind of information sought and used. Second, online search behaviors and needs are examined for trends related to MS disease type, stage and severity. Third, the relationship between online search behaviors and perceived impact on patient-neurologist communication is examined. Recommendations are offered for improved patient-neurologist communication and the development of inclusive treatment decision-making tools.
Foundations for a Natural Science of Philosophy

The functional relations among philosophy, science, technology, and intuition are examined. Those domains are each defined as behaviors, and each of them is then classified either as verbal, nonverbal, or both. Finally, those classes of behavior are organized into one integral behavioral system. The concept of a science of philosophy is introduced. A science and technology of philosophy are not only possible but necessary. Such an approach to the discipline of philosophy could lead to a new disciplinary structure for philosophy. Philosophy could be taught in academic departments as a verbal behavioral science. The discipline of behaviorology provides the foundations necessary to capacitate the traditional discipline of philosophy as a science and technology of verbal behavior commensurate with its potential cultural mission.
Magnetism in Mn-nanowires and -clusters as δ-doped layers in group IV semiconductors (Si, Ge)

Mn doping of group-IV semiconductors (Si/Ge) is achieved by embedding nanostructured Mn-layers in group-IV matrix. The Mn-nanostructures are monoatomic Mn-wires or Mn-clusters and capped with an amorphous Si or Ge layer. The precise fabrication of δ-doped Mn-layers is combined with element-specific detection of the magnetic signature with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. The largest moment (2.5 μB/Mn) is measured for Mn-wires with ionic bonding character and a-Ge overlayer cap; a-Si capping reduces the moment due to variations of bonding in agreement with theoretical predictions. The moments in δ-doped layers dominated by clusters is quenched with an antiferromagnetic component from Mn–Mn bonding.
Deep mixed model for marginal epistasis detection and population stratification correction in genome-wide association studies

Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS) have contributed to unraveling associations between genetic variants in the human genome and complex traits for more than a decade. While many works have been invented as follow-ups to detect interactions between SNPs, epistasis are still yet to be modeled and discovered more thoroughly. In this paper, following the previous study of detecting marginal epistasis signals, and motivated by the universal approximation power of deep learning, we propose a neural network method that can potentially model arbitrary interactions between SNPs in genetic association studies as an extension to the mixed models in correcting confounding factors. Our method, namely Deep Mixed Model, consists of two components: 1) a confounding factor correction component, which is a large-kernel convolution neural network that focuses on calibrating the residual phenotypes by removing factors such as population stratification, and 2) a fixed-effect estimation component, which mainly consists of an Long-short Term Memory (LSTM) model that estimates the association effect size of SNPs with the residual phenotype. After validating the performance of our method using simulation experiments, we further apply it to Alzheimer’s disease data sets. Our results help gain some explorative understandings of the genetic architecture of Alzheimer’s disease.
A Computational Model of Hurricane Evacuation Decision

Hurricanes are devastating natural disasters. In deciding how to respond to a hurricane, in particular whether and when to evacuate, a decision-maker must weigh often highly uncertain and contradictory information about the future path and intensity of the storm. To effectively plan to help people during a hurricane, it is crucial to be able to predict and understand this evacuation decision. To this end, we propose a computational model of human sequential decision-making in response to a hurricane based on a Partial Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP) that models concerns, uncertain beliefs about the hurricane, and future information. We evaluate the model in two ways. First, hurricane data from 2018 was used to evaluate the model's predictive ability on real data. Second, a simulation study was conducted to qualitatively evaluate the sequential aspect of the model to illustrate the role that the acquisition of future, more accurate information can play on current decision-making. The evaluation with 2018 hurricane season data shows that our proposed features are significant predictors and the model can predict the data well, within and across distinct hurricane datasets. The simulation results show that, across different setups, our model generates predictions on the sequential decisions making aspect that align with expectations qualitatively and suggests the importance of modeling information.
Machine Learning Assisted Nanoparticle-Based Chemiresistor Array for Explosive Detection

In this work, we report the detection and discrimination of five commercially available NESTT K-9 explosive compounds, including 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), potassium nitrate, and potassium chlorate. An array of 48 chemiresistors were fabricated and assembled with four types of gold nanoparticle sensing materials. The functional groups include tetradecylamine (TDA), octadecylamine (ODA), 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), and 4-aminothiophenol (ATP). Machine learning methods were applied to analyze sensor data. The discrimination accuracy of the sensor array was studied over time at various vapor concentrations ( ${p}/{p}_{0}$ ), using several classifiers, including linear discriminant analysis (LDA), support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), and bagged trees (BT), with five-fold cross-validation. More than 90% accuracy was achieved using datasets with more than 2500 sensor measurements. Sensor arrays and classification algorithms exhibit good stability over a range of vapor concentrations. The results demonstrate the utility of machine learning for detection and classification of volatiles, including explosive and related compounds.
Impact of numeracy preferences on information needs for genome sequencing results

Abstract Objective This study investigated how self-reported numeracy ability and preferences predict preferences for the amount and types of information provided about genome sequencing results among 1080 women diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 or younger. Methods Participants reported their level of interest in 14 topics related to genome sequencing results on a survey. We calculated a Participant Information Needs (PIN) value based on the number of topics for which a participant wanted “a lot” of information. Numeracy was assessed using the Subjective Numeracy Scale. Analyses examined associations between the numeracy ability and preferences subscales, information needs for individual content topics, and PIN. Results Higher preference for numeric data was correlated with increased PIN (β = 0.60, p Conclusion There may be utility in separating numeracy ability and preferences into two components in future research in order to investigate how numeracy impacts the return of genetic testing results. Practice Implications These data suggest that numeracy preferences may be important to inform strategies for the return of genetic results.
Structural brain imaging predicts individual-level task activation maps using deep learning

Accurate individual functional mapping of task activations is a potential tool for biomarker discovery and is critically important for clinical care. While structural imaging does not directly map task activation, we hypothesized that structural imaging contains information that can accurately predict variations in task activation between individuals. To this end, we trained a convolutional neural network to use structural imaging (T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and diffusion tensor imaging) to predict 47 different functional MRI task activation volumes across seven task domains. The U-Net model was trained on 654 subjects and then subsequently tested on 122 unrelated subjects. The predicted activation maps correlated more strongly with their actual maps than with the maps of the other test subjects. An ablation study revealed that a model using the shape of the cortex alone or the shape of the subcortical matter alone was sufficient to predict individual-level differences in task activation maps, but a model using the shape of the whole brain resulted in markedly decreased performance. The ablation study also showed that the additional information provided by the T2-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging strengthened the predictions as compared to using the T1-weighted imaging alone. These results indicate that structural imaging contains information that is predictive of inter-subject variability in task activation mapping and cortical folding patterns as well as microstructural features may be a key component to linking brain structure to brain function.
The Antebellum Origins of the Modern Constitution: Slavery and the Spirit of the American Founding

This book argues that conflicts over slavery and abolition in the early American Republic generated a mode of constitutional interpretation that remains powerful today: the belief that the historical spirit of founding holds authority over the current moment. Simon J. Gilhooley traces how debates around the existence of slavery in the District of Columbia gave rise to the articulation of this constitutional interpretation, which constrained the radical potential of the constitutional text. To reconstruct the origins of this interpretation, Gilhooley draws on rich sources that include historical newspapers, pamphlets, and congressional debates. Examining free black activism in the North, Abolitionism in the 1830s, and the evolution of pro-slavery thought, this book shows how in navigating the existence of slavery in the District and the fundamental constitutional issue of the enslaved's personhood, Antebellum opponents of abolition came to promote an enduring but constraining constitutional imaginary.
Uterine contractions in rodent models and humans

Aberrant uterine contractions can lead to preterm birth and other labour complications and are a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. To investigate the mechanisms underlying dysfunctional uterine contractions, researchers have used experimentally tractable small animal models. However, biological differences between humans and rodents change how researchers select their animal model and interpret their results. Here, we provide a general review of studies of uterine excitation and contractions in mice, rats, guinea pigs, and humans, in an effort to introduce new researchers to the field and help in the design and interpretation of experiments in rodent models.
Video-based Method for Plant Animation Synthesis

Plant animation synthesis is a research hotspot nowadays. Extraction and reconstruction of plant motion information are basic and key works in computer to realize efficient and realistic plant animation synthesis. Taking maize as research object,video sequence of real plant motion was captured and converted into image sequences and then several key frames were selected. By studying digital image processing algorithms,image foreground object was extract,and a clear and complete binary skeleton image of plant was get through thinning and deburring the target.Based on the plant skeleton images,an approach to extract plant animation feature points data were proposed. Finally the extracted plant animation feature points were mapped to 3 dimensional plant models and data-driven plant animation synthesis was realized. These experimental results showed the validity and effectiveness of this method.
Incomplete Cholesky Conjugate Gradient Method for the Threedimensional Forward Problem in Magnetic Induction Tomography Using Finite Element Method

In 3D forward problem of Magnetic Induction Tomography(MIT), the problems are slow computation speeds and incorrect results due to round-off errors, when calculating the finite element equations with the direct method. Incomplete Cholesky Conjugate Gradient(ICCG) iteration method is used to solve these problems. Round-off errors are compensated by iteration method. An Finite-Element Model(FEM) is built based on the ANSYS software. The FEM equations are solved by the ICCG method. The optimal convergence tolerance value is calculated. Simulation result shows that the ICCG method has advantages in speed and stability compared with direct and Jacobi Conjugate Gradient(JCG) method. The results show that the ICCG method is not affected by meshing perturbation, it can solve the 3D forward problem of MIT correctly.
Mechanobiological wound model for improved design and evaluation of collagen dermal replacement scaffolds

Abstract Skin wounds are among the most common and costly medical problems experienced. Despite the myriad of treatment options, such wounds continue to lead to displeasing cosmetic outcomes and also carry a high burden of loss-of-function, scarring, contraction, or nonhealing. As a result, the need exists for new therapeutic options that rapidly and reliably restore skin cosmesis and function. Here we present a new mechanobiological computational model to further the design and evaluation of next-generation regenerative dermal scaffolds fabricated from polymerizable collagen. A Bayesian framework, along with microstructure and mechanical property data from engineered dermal scaffolds and autograft skin, were used to calibrate constitutive models for collagen density, fiber alignment and dispersion, and stiffness. A chemo-bio-mechanical finite element model including collagen, cells, and representative cytokine signaling was adapted to simulate no-fill, dermal scaffold, and autograft skin outcomes observed in a preclinical animal model of full-thickness skin wounds, with a focus on permanent contraction, collagen realignment, and cellularization. Finite element model simulations demonstrated wound cellularization and contraction behavior that was similar to that observed experimentally. A sensitivity analysis suggested collagen fiber stiffness and density are important scaffold design features for predictably controlling wound contraction. Finally, prospective simulations indicated that scaffolds with increased fiber dispersion (isotropy) exhibited reduced and more uniform wound contraction while supporting cell infiltration. By capturing the link between multi-scale scaffold biomechanics and cell-scaffold mechanochemical interactions, simulated healing outcomes aligned well with preclinical animal model data. Statement of significance Skin wounds continue to be a significant burden to patients, physicians, and the healthcare system. Advancing the mechanistic understanding of the wound healing process, including multi-scale mechanobiological interactions amongst cells, the collagen scaffolding, and signaling molecules, will aide in the design of new skin restoration therapies. This work represents the first step towards integrating mechanobiology-based computational tools with in vitro and in vivo preclinical testing data for improving the design and evaluation of custom-fabricated collagen scaffolds for dermal replacement. Such an approach has potential to expedite development of new and more effective skin restoration therapies as well as improve patient-centered wound treatment.
The roots of racialized travel behavior

Abstract Transportation inequities, particularly in the United States, result in part from historical and contemporary racism in planning, policy, urban development, decision making, and societal institutions. They have limited the mobility and access to opportunity for Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and shaped the ways that they travel. This chapter reviews the literature on racial and ethnic identity in travel behavior, examining the history and claims of transportation injustice. The chapter explores the barriers that historically marginalized communities experience as a result of disproportionate policing, safety and security issues, and neighborhood othering and belonging—that is, inviting suspicion because a person appears to be “out of place” in a neighborhood. It concludes by making the case for why transportation planners must consider race and racism explanatory factors in travel and why race-neutral planning processes exacerbate disparities.
An improved factor based approach to precedential constraint

In this article I argue for rule-based, non-monotonic theories of common law judicial reasoning and improve upon one such theory offered by Horty and Bench-Capon. The improvements reveal some of the interconnections between formal theories of judicial reasoning and traditional issues within jurisprudence regarding the notions of the ratio decidendi and obiter dicta. Though I do not purport to resolve the long-standing jurisprudential issues here, it is beneficial for theorists both of legal philosophy and formalizing legal reasoning to see where the two projects interact.
Wound problems in TKR—A knee is not a hip!

Abstract Wound problems after total knee replacement are more common than after total hip replacement because of the more superficial location of the knee joint and a more tenuous blood supply to the overlying soft tissues. Because of the lack of overlying fat or muscle around the knee joint, the skin vascularity can be compromised and result in delayed healing, wound drainage, or tissue necrosis. Surgeons should be aware of the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors that may contribute to wound problems so that patients can be optimized. Once recognized, wound problems should be dealt aggressively to curtail drainage and stimulate the healing process.
Pricing strategy for incentivizing selfish nodes to share resources in peer-to-peer (P2P) networks

In this paper we describe a novel pricing strategy for carrying out lookups and obtaining data in peer-to-peer (P2P) networks with selfish nodes. Both the resource provider and intermediate nodes that assist in routing of lookup messages are appropriately compensated so as to cover their cost of providing service. This is in contrast to the traditional lookup schemes, which assume that data is freely available, and intermediate nodes selflessly cooperate and truthfully follow a given protocol in carrying out resource lookups. The proposed scheme provides efficient and natural means to prevent free-riding problem in P2P networks, and does not require prior trust relationships among nodes. Moreover, unlike other schemes it does not rely on any centralized entity or require specialized trusted hardware at each node.
Evaluation of placental steroid 3-sulfatase and aromatase activities as regulators of estrogen production in human pregnancy

Abstract The importance of variations in the activity of placental steroidogenic enzymes in regulating estrogen production has been investigated. Maternal estrogen excretion during the final week of gestation and placental aromatase and steroid 3-sulfatase activities were determined in a series of 22 normal and 39 complicated pregnancies. There were no significant correlations between estrogen excretion and enzyme activities. The data do not confirm previous reports that placental aromatizing capacity is reduced in diabetes and toxemia. It is concluded that variations in these enzyme activities, as determined in vitro, are largely independent of maternal disease and do not provide a general mechanism for regulation of estrogen production.
An approximation to the greedy algorithm for differential compression of very large files

This paper presents a new differential compression algorithm that combines the hash value and suffix array technique. In this algorithm, hash values for every block of the reference file is computed. Next, suffix arrays on these block hash values are computed. This algorithm finds the longest matches for every offset of the version file. This algorithm depends upon the utilization of three new data structures, the block hash table, the quick index array, and the pointer array, which improves the run-time of the algorithm, and compress very large files.
The Effect of Gender Congruency Between Perceiver and Target on Emotional Recognition

Several meta-analyses have concluded that women are more accurate at reading emotions than men, especially the recognition of nonverbal behavior shown through facial expressions. A few studies have demonstrated that women are more accurate at identifying the nonverbal behavior of other women, compared to the ability of men to read the nonverbal behavior of other men. While on average women typically outperform men in tasks involving nonverbal behavior, they also succeed at reading other women whereas men do not show this gender congruency effect. The goal of this research was to further explore this effect of congruency between the gender of the target (the stimuli) and the gender of the perceiver (the participant), and the accuracy in reading nonverbal behavior. Three tasks were used involving reading nonverbal behavior. The Diagnostic Accuracy of Nonverbal Analysis (DANVA) and the Profile of Nonverbal Accuracy (PONS) depicted individuals engaging in natural behavior, while the Emotional Bias Task portrayed morphed pictures of human actors to displaying various emotions.
Purification and properties of homoserine dehydrogenase from Neurospora crassa.

Abstract 1. 1. Homoserine dehydrogenase ( l -homoserine:NADP+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.3) was purified a minimum of 800-fold from wild-type Neurospora crassa. 2. 2. This enzyme is dependent on the presence of relatively high concentrations of certain ionic compounds for stability and for maximal activity. 3. 3. The enzyme possesses simple Michaelis-type kinetics and is insensitive at any stage of purification to pathway end products threonine, methionine and isoleucine. 4. 4. Growth of wild-type Neurospora on excess methionine and (or) threonine does not repress the synthesis of homoserine dehydrogenase. Growth of homoserineless mutants (mutationally affected at the aspartokinase step in the pathway) on limiting supplement does not depress the synthesis of this enzyme. 5. 5. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 68 000 as determined by gel filtration.
Low-dielectric-constant photoresists for insulation on TFT array

This paper describes a low dielectric constant, high resolution and high brightness single layer positive photoresist on TFT array. A currently used positive photoresist comprising of low dielectric constant materials and a chemically amplified resis system is designed for the insulation layer on TFT array to enlarge pixel aperture ration of TFT-LCD.
Comparison of mu, delta, and kappa opiate binding sites in rat brain and spinal cord

The binding characteristics of mu, delta, and kappa opiate sites were studied in rat brain and spinal cord membrane homogenates. Scatchard analysis of 3H-Dihydromorphine, 3H-D-Ala2-D-Leu5-Enkephalin (in the presence of morphiceptin), and 3H-Ethylketocyclazocine (in the presence of morphiceptin and D-Ala2-D-Leu5-Enkephalin) binding sites revealed similar high affinities of these ligands for their respective sites in brain and spinal cord. The majority of binding in brain and spinal cord was attributed to mu and delta sites, with only about 10% of the combined total binding capacity being kappa.
Simulation of collisions between buckyballs and graphene sheets

The phenomena of buckyball–graphene collisions were investigated by classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation using the empirical Tersoff potential. Three cases were investigated: collisions between a buckyball and a single-layer graphene; collisions between a nano-onion (a double-layer concentric spherical nanostructure: a C60 in a C320) and a single-layer graphene; collisions between a nano-onion and a double-layer graphene. The impact velocity of the buckyball or nano-onion ranged from 4.37 km/s to 15.31 km/s. Simulation results for the buckyball–graphene collisions show that the buckyball bounces back when the impact velocity is less than 8.75 km/s, sticks to the graphene when the impact velocity is between 8.75 km/s and 12.03 km/s, and breaks when the impact velocity is greater than 12.03 km/s. Similar phenomena are observed for the other two cases. A single buckyball can never go through a single-layer graphene intact; however, the inner structure (C60) of a nano-onion can penetrate through a sin...
Hearing loss in migrant agricultural workers.

Abstract Background: Farmers have high rates of hearing loss, yet little is known about the hearing status of migrant agricultural workers. We performed a cross-sectional survey to assess the prevalence and impact of hearing loss in this population. Methods: One hundred fifty migrant and seasonal agricultural workers were surveyed at a series of health fairs held at migrant camps. A bilingual questionnaire included items related to hearing loss risk factors and subjective hearing difficulties. Pure tone audiometry and tympanometry were performed in a mobile testing van. Results: More than half the subjects had some degree of hearing loss at audiometric frequencies between 500 and 6000 Hz, especially in the higher frequencies. Hispanic males in the sample had significantly greater prevalence of high-frequency hearing loss compared to adults in the national Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES). More than 35% of respondents complained of subjective difficulty hearing or understanding spe...
Continuous-wave blue and green TEM00 mode solid state lasers: state-of-the-art and applications (Invited Paper)

An overview of cw lasers emitting in the blue (440nm - 495nm) and in the green wavelength range (505nm - 540nm) is given. Different architectures, including diode-pumped solid state lasers, fiber lasers, and semiconductor lasers, are compared in regards to laser performance, accessible power levels and emission wavelengths, and their use in industrial and scientific applications.
On the precipitation of relativistic electrons from the outer belt

A model in which a partially filled drift loss cone plays a prominent role is presently used to investigate relativistic electron data obtained by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft in the outer belt region. The good agreement obtained between model predictions and observations indicates that electron drift in the drift loss cone, which is known to dominate electron precipitation phenomena at lower latitudes, is also important at outer beta latitudes. In conjunction with the degree of partial filling of the drift loss cone, this effect indicates that slow pitch angle diffusion dominates the morphology of outer belt electrons. It is concluded that half of the electron precipitation from the outer belt is due to wave-particle interactions, and the other half by auroral activity and electron drift in the drift loss cone.
Approaches to the Prediction of Language Abilities in a Sample of Children Who Have Developmental Delays.

Prediction of the quality of language was explored using planned comparisons of three approaches, one cognitive, one neurodevelopmental, and one a combination of the two. Subjects were 37 children, ages 5–9 years, whose significant developmental delays included language and speech skills. The cognitive predictors were mental age (MA) and IQ from the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Neurodevelopmental predictors consisted of fine motor skill quotients (MQs) and dichotic speech processing scores. Chronological age (CA) was also evaluated as a predictor. A composite language ability score constituted the dependent variable. Results of regression analyses showed that CA and MQ, and MA and MQ, were nearly equal in their predictive strengths and were substantial predictors of composite language scores. Larger multiple correlations (low .8 range) were found when combinations of MA, IQ, and MQ or CA, IQ, and MQ were used as predictors. Statistical control over the 4-year age range revealed that approximately eq...