cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multifunctional double-bimorph piezoelectric composite for bending-twisting actuation, adaptive stiffness change, and energy harvesting

The double-bimorph piezoelectric composite architecture is presented, and its bendingtwisting motion is dynamically investigated under different input voltage levels and airflow speeds. A two degree-of-freedom lumped parameter model is applied for the linear electroelastic behavior (low voltage actuation). Softening nonlinearity (predominantly in the bending mode) and hardening nonlinearity (in the twisting mode) are observed under high voltage actuation of piezoelectric laminates. Aeroelastic flutter that couples bending and twist modes is explored during high airflow speeds under dynamic actuation. In addition, the double bimorph architecture is investigated for active stiffness change and energy harvesting from ambient vibration. By applying static actuation between -400 V and 1400 V, 60 % stiffness change is reported. For the optimum resistance condition, the double bimorph with an active region area of 4144 mm produced 7.5 mW/g power from base excitation.
Inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone. An overview of the syndrome.

Inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone occurs in association with many disorders and circumstances. Hyponatremia is a cardinal feature of the resulting syndrome; treatment with fluid restriction is usually effective.
Routine computed tomographic scans, selective mediastinoscopy, and other factors in evaluation of lung cancer.

Routine computed tomographic scan is advocated as the best noninvasive method of evaluating mediastinal nodes for cancer spread. Positive studies should be confirmed histologically. Large size, central location, unfavorable cell type, poor cellular differentiation of the primary cancer, and weight loss also correlate with increased likelihood of mediastinal involvement
SU-F-T-88: Field’s Metal for Electron Beam Inserts and Blocks

Purpose: The aim of this work is to show that Field's metal can be used as a viable alternative material to lead-based low-melting temperature alloys (e.g., Cerrobend) for electron beam inserts and blocks. The goal is to eliminate exposure risks associated with lead and cadmium. Methods: Field's metal (51% Indium, 32.5% Bismuth, 16.5% Tin) is a low-melting point eutectic alloy, and is proposed as a lead-free replacement for Cadmium-free alloy (52.5% Bismuth, 32% Lead, 15.5% Tin). The experiments were done using a Varian 21EX linac equipped with 6, 9, 12, and 16 MeV beams. The 10×10 cone was used with 1.8cm thick insert made of Fields metal, Cd-Free alloy or open field. The transmitted radiation was measured using a diode at various depths in water. Block transmission factor (BTF) is determined as the ratio of maximum transmission radiation dose over the dose at dmax of the open field. Results: The data shows BTFs for both alloys are very similar, well below 5% for 6, 9, and 12 MeV beams. For 16 MeV, the BTF of the Fields metal is about 5.3%; the Cd-free metal 4.2%. The peak dose of the transmitted radiation occurs less than 1 cm below the water surface, at a much shallower depth than the dmax of the electron beam in the open field. The beam profile shows the maximum block transmission is along the central axis of the beam. Conclusion: The present study shows that Fields metal can be used to make electron cutouts and blocks for 6, 9, 12, and 16 MeV beams. Because it has a similar density as other lead-based alloys, the same thickness of Fields metal would be adequate for shielding the electron beams. This means that it can be used as a replacement without modification to the existing block holder.
Temporal behavior of seizures and interictal bursts in prolonged intracranial recordings from epileptic canines

SummaryObjective Epilepsy is a chronic disorder, but seizure recordings are usually obtained in the acute setting. The chronic behavior of seizures and the interictal bursts that sometimes initiate them is unknown. We investigate the variability of these electrographic patterns over an extended period of time using chronic intracranial recordings in canine epilepsy. Methods Continuous, yearlong intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) recordings from four dogs with naturally occurring epilepsy were analyzed for seizures and interictal bursts. Following automated detection and clinician verification of interictal bursts and seizures, temporal trends of seizures, burst count, and burst–burst similarities were determined. One dog developed status epilepticus, the recordings of which were also investigated. Results Multiple seizure types, determined by onset channels, were observed in each dog, with significant temporal variation between types. The first 14 days of invasive recording, analogous to the average duration of clinical invasive recordings in humans, did not capture the entirety of seizure types. Seizures typically occurred in clusters, and isolated seizures were rare. The count and dynamics of interictal bursts form distinct groups and do not stabilize until several weeks after implantation. Significance There is significant temporal variability in seizures and interictal bursts after electrode implantation that requires several weeks to reach steady state. These findings, comparable to those reported in humans implanted with the NeuroPace Responsive Neurostimulator System (RNS) device, suggest that transient network changes following electrode implantation may need to be taken into account when interpreting or analyzing iEEG during evaluation for epilepsy surgery. Chronic, ambulatory iEEG may be better suited to accurately map epileptic networks in appropriate individuals.
Reduction of Sufficient Conditions for Optimal Control Problems With Subgroup Symmetry

In this paper, we apply symmetry reduction techniques from geometric mechanics to sufficient conditions for local optimality in optimal control problems. After reinterpreting some previous results for left-invariant problems on Lie groups, we focus on optimal control problems with subgroup symmetry. For these problems, the necessary conditions for optimality can be simplified by exploiting symmetries so as to reduce the number of variables needed to describe trajectories of the system. We show that sufficient conditions for optimality, based on the non-existence of conjugate points, can be simplified in an analogous way to the necessary conditions. We demonstrate these simplifications by analyzing an optimal control problem that models a spinning top in a gravitational field, and we give particular attention to the example of an axisymmetric sleeping top. The results we derive in this paper allow us to determine which trajectories of a sleeping top are locally optimal solutions of the optimal control problem, which is a new result that has not appeared in previous literature.
2013 Russell Ross memorial lecture in vascular biology: cellular and molecular mechanisms of diabetes mellitus-accelerated atherosclerosis.

Adults with diabetes mellitus are much more likely to have cardiovascular disease than those without diabetes mellitus. Genetically engineered mouse models have started to provide important insight into the mechanisms whereby diabetes mellitus promotes atherosclerosis. Such models have demonstrated that diabetes mellitus promotes formation of atherosclerotic lesions, progression of lesions into advanced hemorrhaged lesions, and that it prevents lesion regression. The proatherosclerotic effects of diabetes mellitus are driven in part by the altered function of myeloid cells. The protein S100A9 and the receptor for advanced glycation end-products are important modulators of the effect of diabetes mellitus on myelopoiesis, which might promote monocyte accumulation in lesions. Furthermore, myeloid cell expression of the enzyme acyl-CoA synthetase 1 (ACSL1), which converts long-chain fatty acids into their acyl-CoA derivatives, has emerged as causal to diabetes mellitus–induced lesion initiation. The protective effects of myeloid ACSL1-deficiency in diabetic mice, but not in nondiabetic mice, indicate that myeloid cells are activated by diabetes mellitus through mechanisms that play minor roles in the absence of diabetes mellitus. The roles of reactive oxygen species and insulin resistance in diabetes mellitus–accelerated atherosclerosis are also discussed, primarily in relation to endothelial cells. Translational studies addressing whether the mechanisms identified in mouse models are equally important in humans with diabetes mellitus will be paramount. # ATVB Named Lecture Review—Insight into Author {#article-title-87}
How Otto did not extend his mind, but might have: Dynamic systems theory and social-cultural group selection

Abstract Proponents of cognitive Situationism argue that the human mind is embodied, embedded in both natural and social-cultural environments and extended creating both extended and distributed cognition. Anti-situationists reject all or some of these claims. I argue that four major objections to extended cognition: (1) the mark of the cognitive, (2) the function-identity fallacy, (3) cognitive bloat, and (4) scientific irrelevance lose much of their sting in the case of distributed cognition, the extension of cognitive agency to a group of cognitive agents, such as a scientific research team. However, I claim that a crucial fifth challenge, that advocates of the extended mind commit the causal-constitution fallacy, has yet to be satisfactorily addressed. I focus on Spyridon Palermos’ use of dynamic systems theory to refute this charge and I argue that his appeal to dynamic systems theory as a way of understanding system-constitution fails. Instead, I suggest a social-cultural group selection hypothesis for understanding system-constitution. But, I leave it for another day to elaborate that hypothesis’ empirical plausibility.
ST-Based Fusion Nuclear Science Facility: Breeding Issues and Challenges of Protecting HTS Magnets

AbstractThe Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) is viewed as an essential element of the US developmental roadmap to fusion energy. The spherical tokamak-based FNSF has been designed through a national collaborative effort led by the Princeton Plasma Physics laboratory. High-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets are potentially attractive for such applications. Among other aspects, the magnet shielding and tritium breeding assessments represent key elements for achieving the design engineering objectives. Numerous inboard shielding and cooling materials have been examined to select an optimal shield that protects the inboard HTS magnet and in the meanwhile enhances the outboard breeding. The breeding blanket of choice is the dual-cooled lead lithium (DCLL) blanket. Our 3-D neutronics model included all blanket internals in great details along with nine specialized ports for blanket testing, materials testing, plasma heating, and current drive. The inclusion of a thin DCLL blanket on the inboard sid...
Data Augmentation by Pairing Samples for Images Classification

Data augmentation is a widely used technique in many machine learning tasks, such as image classification, to virtually enlarge the training dataset size and avoid overfitting. Traditional data augmentation techniques for image classification tasks create new samples from the original training data by, for example, flipping, distorting, adding a small amount of noise to, or cropping a patch from an original image. In this paper, we introduce a simple but surprisingly effective data augmentation technique for image classification tasks. With our technique, named SamplePairing, we synthesize a new sample from one image by overlaying another image randomly chosen from the training data (i.e., taking an average of two images for each pixel). By using two images randomly selected from the training set, we can generate N^2 new samples from N training samples. This simple data augmentation technique significantly improved classification accuracy for all the tested datasets; for example, the top-1 error rate was reduced from 33.5% to 29.0% for the ILSVRC 2012 dataset with GoogLeNet and from 8.22% to 6.93% in the CIFAR-10 dataset. We also show that our SamplePairing technique largely improved accuracy when the number of samples in the training set was very small. Therefore, our technique is more valuable for tasks with a limited amount of training data, such as medical imaging tasks.
Electron-density-sensitive Line Ratios of Fe XIII--XVI from Laboratory Sources Compared to CHIANTI

We present electron-density-sensitive line ratios for Fe xiii– xvi measured in the spectral wavelength range of 200–440 A and an electron density range of (1–4) × 1013 cm−3. The results provide a test at the high-density limit of density-sensitive line ratios useful for astrophysical studies. The measurements were performed on the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade, where electron densities were measured independently by the laser Thomson scattering diagnostic. Spectra were collected with a flat-field grazing-incidence spectrometer, which provided a spectral resolution of up to 0.3 A, i.e., high resolution across the broad wavelength range. The response of the instrument was relatively calibrated using spectroscopic techniques in order to improve accuracy. The line ratios are compared to other laboratory sources and the latest version of CHIANTI (8.0.2), and an agreement within 30% is found.
The irrepressible and uncontrollable urge: sex, experience, and consumption

In the face of innumerable marketing articles that provide safe, sanitized, and staid interpretations of sex, this research attempts, in the words of one notorious rock band, to put the X back in s...
The acute and long-term care interface: integrating the continuum

Acute and long-term care traditionally have been distinctly different health care services, separated by reimbursement mechanisms, types and numbers of providers, and overall approach to the management of chronic illness. Considerable effort has been made of late, primarily due to financial incentives, to integrate these two levels of care into a "seamless" continuum. Barriers to such an integration process must first be identified. Physician and other health care providers will need to develop the tools and resources necessary to manage frail, chronically ill patients in settings other than the traditional acute care hospital, as well as to develop information systems that allow communication to flow easily between all levels of care. As subacute or transitional care becomes a central piece of a health care delivery system, those tools become critical to the provision of quality, integrated care.
Relative Incremental Cost of Postoperative Complications of Esophagectomy.

The purpose of this study was to quantify the cost impact of complications of esophagectomy and identify opportunities for reducing costs while optimizing outcomes. Patients undergoing esophagectomy at a single institution between 2002 and 2017 were included. Complications were tabulated from clinical data. Direct hospital costs were determined for all encounters between the day of surgery and postoperative day 90. Risk factors were assessed using logistic regression. The relative incremental cost of complications was assessed using multivariable linear regression. A total of 761 patients were included in this study. 428 patients (56%) experienced at least 1 complication. Factors associated with increased likelihood of complications included age (P
Water content, relative permittivity, and ion sorption properties of polymers for membrane desalination

Abstract The interplay of polymer water content, dielectric relative permittivity, and ion sorption properties was studied using a cross-linked poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (XL-pGMA) polymer. The water content of the base XL-pGMA polymer was increased, by partial hydrolysis of the epoxide ring on the polymer side chain, to prepare a series of hydrolyzed XL-pGMA materials. Microwave dielectric spectroscopy, performed from 45 MHz to 26.5 GHz, revealed lower relative permittivity at a given water content compared to Nafion® 117. This observation suggests that knowledge of polymer water content alone may be insufficient for estimating relative permittivity properties of hydrated polymers. State of water analysis suggested that (for polymers that contain similar total amounts of sorbed water) more water in hydrolyzed XL-pGMA interacts with the polymer compared to that in Nafion® 117, and this result may be related to the observed differences in the relative permittivity properties of the two materials. The hydrolyzed polymers were more water/ion sorption selective, important for desalination applications, compared to many uncharged materials reported in the literature but less selective compared to Nafion® 117. Membrane phase mean ionic activity coefficients suggest that Nafion® 117 is more thermodynamically ideal (i.e., the mean ionic activity coefficients are closer to unity) than the hydrolyzed XL-pGMA materials, and thus, ion exclusion in Nafion® 117 is primarily due to Donnan exclusion. Measured static relative permittivity values were used to estimate, via electrostatic theory, the free energy barrier for ion sorption in each material, and these values were qualitatively consistent with values determined using measured ion sorption data. This study suggests that polymer chemistry, not water content alone, influences the relative permittivity properties of hydrated polymers and that relative permittivity measurements can provide qualitative insight into ion sorption properties, which is important for designing advanced desalination membranes.
Cortical-Basal Ganglia-Cerebellar Networks in Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis: A Pilot Study.

Objectives/hypothesis To evaluate differences in cortical-basal ganglia-cerebellar functional connectivity between treated unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) and healthy control cohorts using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI). Study design Cross-sectional. Methods Ten UVFP study patients treated by type I thyroplasty and 12 control subjects underwent RS-fMRI on a 3-Tesla scanner to evaluate differences in functional connectivity of whole-brain networks. Spontaneous RS-fMRI data were collected using a gradient echo planar pulse sequence, preprocessed, and analyzed to compare seed-to-voxel maps between the two cohorts. Seeds were placed in the caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus divisions of the basal ganglia in both hemispheres. Group contrasts were tested for statistical significance using two-tailed unpaired t tests corrected for multiple comparisons with a cluster false discovery rate threshold of P Results UVFP patients demonstrated increased connectivity between both caudate nuclei and the precuneus, a node of the default mode network, compared to healthy controls. Both caudate nuclei also showed decreased connectivity with the left cerebellar hemisphere. The putamen and globus pallidus divisions of the basal ganglia were not abnormally connected to other brain structures. Conclusions UVFP patients treated by type I thyroplasty exhibited long-term alterations of cortical-basal ganglia-cerebellar networks thought to be important for self-referential voice quality awareness and learning processes that compensate for changes to the paralyzed hemilarynx. This pilot study on relatively small cohorts adds to growing evidence for persistent central nervous system changes in treated UVFP. Replication studies with larger numbers of subjects will be essential to validate and extend findings. Level of evidence 3b Laryngoscope, 130:460-464, 2020.
Anthropometric, cognitive, and schooling benefits of measles vaccination: Longitudinal cohort analysis in Ethiopia, India, and Vietnam.

Abstract Objective To estimate the associations between measles vaccination and child anthropometry, cognition, and schooling outcomes in Ethiopia, India, and Vietnam. Methods Longitudinal survey data from Young Lives were used to compare outcomes at ages 7–8 and 11–12 years between children who reported receipt or non-receipt of measles vaccine at 6–18 months-of-life ( n = ∼2000/country). Z-scores of height-for-age (HAZ), BMI-for-age (BMIZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), early grade reading assessment (EGRA), language and mathematics tests, and attained schooling grade were examined. Propensity score matching was used to control for systematic differences between measles-vaccinated and measles-unvaccinated children. Findings Using age- and country-matched measles-unvaccinated children as comparisons, measles-vaccinated children had better anthropometrics, cognition, and schooling. Measles-vaccinated children had 0.1 higher HAZ in India and 0.2 higher BMIZ and WAZ in Vietnam at age 7–8 years, and 0.2 higher BMIZ at age 11–12 years in Vietnam. At ages 7–8 years, they scored 4.5 and 2.9 percentage points (pp) more on PPVT and mathematics, and 2.3 points more on EGRA in Ethiopia, 2.5 points more on EGRA in India, and 2.6 pp, 4 pp, and 2.7 points more respectively on PPVT, mathematics, and EGRA in Vietnam. At ages 11–12 years, they scored 3 pp more on English and PPVT in India, and 1.7 pp more on PPVT in Vietnam. They also attained 0.2–0.3 additional schooling grades across all ages and countries. Conclusion Our findings suggest that measles vaccination may have benefits on cognitive gains and school-grade attainment that can have broad educational and economic consequences which extend beyond early childhood.
Formation Control and Navigation of a Quadrotor Swarm

We investigate the formation control of a team of homogeneous quadrotor aerial vehicles. We formulate the multiquadrotor formation as a rigid body that moves in the space with 4 degrees of freedom, which greatly reduces the modelling complexity. By combining a high-level coordination layer with the low-level control layer, aggressive formation motion can be achieved. The quadrotor formation is navigated to move in 3D space by following a reference trajectory that is outlined by a series of discrete waypoints specified as external inputs. We have validated our method through both simulations and real quadrotor experiments. Our results show that the quadrotor formation can move as fast as 2. 5 m/s within a confined indoor environment where the designated formations are always well maintained.
Improved Mutual Information Estimation.

We propose to estimate the KL divergence using a relaxed likelihood ratio estimation in a Reproducing Kernel Hilbert space. We show that the dual of our ratio estimator for KL in the particular case of Mutual Information estimation corresponds to a lower bound on the MI that is related to the so called Donsker Varadhan lower bound. In this dual form, MI is estimated via learning a witness function discriminating between the joint density and the product of marginal, as well as an auxiliary scalar variable that enforces a normalization constraint on the likelihood ratio. By extending the function space to neural networks, we propose an efficient neural MI estimator, and validate its performance on synthetic examples, showing advantage over the existing baselines. We demonstrate its strength in large-scale self-supervised representation learning through MI maximization.
Educating junior doctors on DNACPR and ceiling of treatment policy improves compliance with form completion and documentation of resuscitation decisions.

Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) orders are important in avoiding inappropriate CPR attempts. Clear and full documentation of decisions about CPR, the reasons for them, and the discussions with those involved in the decisions, is an essential part of high-quality care.1 A new combined Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn DNACPR and Ceiling of Treatment form was implemented in July 2018. A new audit tool was developed by the resuscitation department to ensure accurate completion of DNACPR forms was captured. Subsequent re-audits …
Brodifacoum Poisoning Linked to Synthetic Marijuana Use in Wisconsin.

Introduction Recent outbreaks of brodifacoum-induced coagulopathy resulting from the use of synthetic cannabinoids represents a growing public health concern. Brodifacoum is a commonly used and commercially available rodenticide that has anticoagulant properties. As new, unregulated synthetic cannabinoids enter the market, the potential for further outbreaks continues to rise. Case presentation We report a case of severe bleeding secondary to inhalation of synthetic cannabinoids contaminated with brodifacoum. The patient had been evaluated for several months of ongoing, unexplained vaginal bleeding and developed hematemesis and rectal bleeding 2 weeks after her last reported use. Discussion There have been previous reports of hemorrhage after exposure to synthetic marijuana in rare cases, including an outbreak of severe bleeding and reported synthetic marijuana use in the Midwestern region of the United States in 2018. Conclusion While hemorrhaging after exposure to synthetic cannabinoids has been reported previously, we use this case to increase awareness of the potentially deadly exposures to brodifacoum from synthetic cannabinoids use in Wisconsin. By increasing awareness, emergency department physicians and state agencies can collaborate more effectively when responding in these cases.
The Unnatural Growth of the Natural

In the Anthropocene, we can do more than we can understand. This raises the question of whether we can think through climate change at all. “The Unnatural Growth of the Natural” surveys the paradoxes bedeviling the Anthropocene. High-energy civilization has unleashed natural metabolic energies beyond all natural limits. This is known as economic growth. If this cannot be sustained, then we are in a crisis that calls for radical change. Yet, although many pay lip service to the “climate crisis,” few really believe it. Most of us belong to the energy orthodoxy, a belief that we can grow and tech-fix our way out of climate change. The chapter concludes with an overview of the paradoxes that are explored in the remainder of the book.
An assessment of seed head and flag leaf contributions to reproductive effort in sagebrush steppe bunchgrasses

Abstract North American sagebrush-steppe bunchgrasses primarily establish from seed; however, the importance of parental plant carbon from flag leaves or within the seed head itself to reproduction in perennial bunchgrasses is unknown. To address this, we experimentally removed flag leaves and shaded seed heads to assess their importance to reproduction in the exotic bunchgrass crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum), which has high seed head photosynthetic capacity and readily establishes from seed, and the native grass, squirreltail (Elymus elymoides), which has lower seed head photosysnthetic capacity and does not establish as readily from seed. We hypothesized that inflorescence shading would have a greater negative impact on crested wheatgrass reproduction than in squirreltail. In crested wheatgrass, shading did not affect total propagule production but did reduce both total filled seeds and filled seed specific mass (dry mass per unit area). Flag leaf removal stimulated seed filling and increased seed specific mass, especially in unshaded seed heads, suggesting flag leaves are competitive carbon sinks in crested wheatgrass. In contrast, flag leaf removal and shading in squirreltail resulted in similar reductions in total propagules, fewer filled seed produced and lower specific seed mass, indicating similar contributions to reproductive effort by both structures. These results indicate seed head photosynthetic activity is an adaptive reproductive feature in both grasses, but the contrasting effects of flag leaf removal may reflect long-term adaptive responses to grazing pressures that differed in crested wheatgrass's native range compared to those in North American sagebrush steppe.
The New Pro-Majoritarian Powers

In her Jorde Lecture, Pam Karlan paints a grim picture of American democracy under siege. Together, the malapportioned Senate, the obsolete Electoral College, rampant voter suppression and gerrymandering, and a Supreme Court happy to greenlight these practices, threaten the very notion of majority rule. I share Karlan’s bleak assessment. I’m also skeptical that conventional tools—judicial decisions and congressional statutes—will solve our current problems. So in this response, I explore a pair of less familiar but possibly more potent alternatives: the authority of each chamber of Congress to judge its members’ elections, and presidential enforcement of the Guarantee Clause. These powers are explicitly delineated by the Constitution. They can’t be stymied by either the Senate’s filibuster or the Court’s hostility. And they hold enormous democratic potential, especially if channeled through the procedures I outline.
[Multimodal, multiparametric and genetic breast imaging].

Die multiparametrische Magnetresonanztomographie (MRT) zielt auf die Darstellung, Beschreibung und Quantifizierung biologischer, physiologischer und pathologischer Prozesse auf zellularer und molekularer Ebene ab und liefert wertvolle Informationen uber die Schlusselprozesse in der Krebsentstehung und -progression. „Omics“-Strategien (Genomics, Transcriptomics, Proteomics, Metabolomics) kommen heute in vielen Bereichen der Onkologie zum Einsatz. Die multiparametrische MRT der Brust umfasst derzeit die T2- und diffusionsgewichtete Bildgebung sowie die dynamische kontrastmittelverstarkte MRT (DCE-MRT). Weitere Parameter, wie Protonen- Magnetresonanz Spektroskopie (MRS), „chemical exchange saturation transfer“ (CEST), die „blood oxygen level-dependent“ (BOLD), die hyperpolarisierte (HP) MRT oder die Lipid-MRS sind derzeit in Entwicklung und werden in der Brustkrebsdiagnostik evaluiert. Radiogenomics ist eine neue Richtung in der medizinischen Wissenschaft, die durch signifikante Fortschritte in Bildgebungs- und Bildanalysemethoden sowie die Entwicklung von Techniken zur Extraktion und Korrelation verschiedenster Bildgebungsparameter mit „Omics“-Daten ermoglicht wurde. Radiogenomics hat das Ziel, Bildgebungscharakteristika (Phenotypen) mit Genexpressionsmustern, Genmutationen und weiteren genomassoziierten Eigenschaften zu korrelieren. Quantitative und qualitative Imaging-Biomarker erlauben Einblicke in die komplexe Tumorbiologie. Erste Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass Radiogemics eine wichtige Rolle in Diagnostik, Prognose und Behandlung von Brustkrebs spielen werden. Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Uberblick uber den derzeitigen Stand von Radiogenomics der Brust und zukunftige Anwendungen und Herausforderungen.
The Limits of Political Theology

Although the title, God, Evil and the Limits of Theology, might not suggest as much, the topic of political theology comes up repeatedly in this wonderfully lucid and engaging collection of essays ...
Wilson’s Disease

Wilson’s disease (WD) is a monogenetic, autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the ATP7B gene, which codes for the transmembrane copper-transporting ATPase (ATP7B).
Earnings Announcement Beta and Accrual of Risk Premium

Earnings announcements present a clear risk to investors and, under rational asset pricing theory, such risk should be consistently priced in stocks. However, we find that stocks with high earnings announcement risk earn significantly higher returns only during months when firms have earnings or M&A announcements. Moreover, the higher returns are realized mostly around the date of announcements. The findings seem to suggest that the risk premium is accrued concurrently when investors adjust stock valuation in response to significant information events. We provide additional evidence to substantiate the conjecture based on the effects of information updates and investor information consumption.
FcER1: A Novel Molecule Implicated in the Progression of Human Diabetic Kidney Disease

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a key microvascular complication of diabetes, with few therapies for targeting renal disease pathogenesis and progression. We performed transcriptional and protein studies on 103 unique blood and kidney tissue samples from patients with and without diabetes to understand the pathophysiology of DKD injury and its progression. The study was based on the use of 3 unique patient cohorts: peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) transcriptional studies were conducted on 30 patients with DKD with advancing kidney injury; Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data was downloaded, containing transcriptional measures from 51 microdissected glomerulus from patients with DKD. Additionally, 12 independent kidney tissue sections from patients with or without DKD were used for validation of target genes in diabetic kidney injury by kidney tissue immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. PBMC DKD transcriptional analysis identified 853 genes (p < 0.05) with increasing expression with progression of albuminuria and kidney injury in patients with diabetes. GEO data was downloaded, normalized, and analyzed for significantly changed genes. Of the 325 significantly upregulated genes in DKD glomerulus (p < 0.05), 28 overlapped in PBMC and diabetic kidney, with perturbed FcER1 signaling as a significantly enriched canonical pathway. FcER1 was validated to be significantly increased in advanced DKD, where it was also seen to be specifically co-expressed in the kidney biopsy with tissue mast cells. In conclusion, we demonstrate how leveraging public and private human transcriptional datasets can discover and validate innate immunity and inflammation as key mechanistic pathways in DKD progression, and uncover FcER1 as a putative new DKD target for rational drug design.
Least square fitting with one explicit parameter less

It is shown that whenever the multiplicative normalization of a fitting function is not known, least square fitting by χ2χ2 minimization can be performed with one parameter less than usual by converting the normalization parameter into a function of the remaining parameters and the data. Program summary Program title: FITM1 Catalogue identifier: AEYG_v1_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEYG_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 354261 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 2627533 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Fortran 77 with standard extensions (tested with g95 on a Mac). Computer: Any which supports a Fortran 77 compatible compiler. Operating system: Any with a Fortran 77 compatible compiler. RAM: 1 Mbyte Classification: 4.9. Nature of problem: Least square minimization when one of the free parameters is the multiplicative normalization of the fitting function. Solution method: Conversion of the normalization constant into a function of the other parameters and the data, resulting into one explicit fitting parameter less. Running time: Less than 1 s on modern PCs
Tradition and Innovation: Some Economics of the Creative Arts, Science, Scholarship, and Technical Development

This paper is concerned with the role of tradition in the creative arts and sciences. Tradition is conceived as an intangible collective stock of capital. Additions to tradition are joint products of current output. These constitute an externality that at least in part cannot be internalized by means of property rights following from the interaction of tradition and innovation in the cognitive evolution of the creative arts. The first section explores the growth and transformation of tradition in the light of some elementary ideas of cognitive psychology. The second section explores the implications of tradition for resource allocation, and the last summarizes and points out policy conclusions.
Allocation of Health Care Resources

This chapter looks at the currently intractable justice problems of health care distribution: the explosion of health care costs, the vastly unequal access to health care, the disconnect between patient responsibility and medical decision-making, the perverse incentives embedded in the location of health care in the private sector. A solution is proposed and described, returning monitoring of health to the local public health facilities; discussion indicates the low probability of adoption.
Langlands’ Conjecture on Plancherel Measures for p-Adic Groups

One of the major achievements of Harish-Chandra was a derivation of the Plancherel formula for real and p-adic groups [9,10]. To have an explicit formula, one will have to compute the measures appearing in the formula; the so called Plancherel measures and formal degrees [12]. (For reasons stemming from L-indistinguishability, we would like to distinguish between the formal degrees for discrete series and the Plancherel measures for non-discrete tempered representations, cf. Proposition 9.3 of [29].) While for real groups the Plancherel measures are completely understood [1, 9, 22], until recently little was known in any generality for p-adic groups [29] (except for their rationality and general form due to Silberger [39]). On the other hand any systematic study of the non-discrete tempered spectrum of a p-adic group would very likely have to follow the path of Knapp and Stein [20, 21] and their theory of 72-groups. Since the basic reducibility theorems for p-adic groups are available [40, 41], it is the knowledge of Plancherel measures which would be necessary to determine the R-groups. This is particularly evident from the important and the fundamental work of Keys [16, 17, 18] and the work of the author [29, 30, 31].
Role of polyphenol-rich blackcurrant and black chokeberry extracts in the stimulation of transintestinal cholesterol excretion in vitro (1045.22)

We previously reported that polyphenol-rich blackcurrant extract (BCE) and black chokeberry extract (CBE) altered the expression of genes involved in transintestinal cholesterol excretion (TICE) of LDL-derived cholesterol in Caco-2 cells. BCE and CBE increased the expression of LDL receptor (LDLR) via post-transcriptional and transcriptional mechanisms, respectively. As mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is known to increase LDLR protein by inhibiting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) that promotes LDLR degradation, we explored this pathway to gain mechanistic insight into the post-transcriptional regulation of LDLR by BCE. PCSK9 mRNA and protein were drastically increased, while LDLR was markedly induced, by BCE and CBE. However, when Caco-2 cells were treated with rapamycin, an mTORC1 inhibitor, together with 100 μg/mL of BCE or CBE, rapamycin partly abolished the induction of LDLR protein by BCE, but with no effect on CBE-induced LDLR protein. Importantly, BCE signif...
Robust Deadtime Compensation for Nonlinear Processes

Many industrially important processes are nonlinear and also have a process deadtime. Powerful deadtime compensation methods, such as the Smith predictor, are available for linear systems. Additionaly, recent work has shown that state feedback, such as in the Globally Linearizing Control structure, can provide linear input/output behavior for delay-free nonlinear systems. A combination of these two approaches is proposed. A state feedback is found for general SISO systems which makes the nonlinear process with deadtime behave like a linear process with deadtime. An external Smith predictor is then used to compensate for the deadtime of this linear system. Computer simulations for an example system demonstrate the high controller performance that can be obtained using the proposed method.
AlP04-Al203 catalysts with low-alumina content: II. Acidity and catalytic activity in cyclohexene conversion and cumene cracking of catalysts obtained with aqueous ammonia

Abstract The influence of γ-Al 2 O 3 loading (5–25 wt.-%) and the calcination temperature of AlPO 4 -Al 2 O 3 (APALA) catalysts on their surface acidity (number and strength distribution) was studied by means of the chemisorption (gas-chromatographically measured) of pyridine (PY) and 2,6-dimethylpyridine (DMPY) at temperatures in the 473–673 K range. In addition, cyclohexene skeletal isomerization (CSI) and cumene conversion (CC), were selected as dynamic methods for surface acid characterization. The AlPO 4 -Al 2 O 3 catalysts were found to show greater number and strength of acid sites than each individual component. The addition of Al 2 O 3 even in a small amount (5 wt.-%), could significantly improve the activity and catalytic activity of AlPO 4 catalysts. Moreover, the catalytic activity of the APAl-A catalyst for both reactions varied with Al 2 O 3 loading and, thus, it increased gradually as the Al 2 O 3 content of the catalyst increased up to 15 wt.-%, after which it decreased. Good correlations between catalytic activity and the increase in acidic properties of the AlPO 4 by Al 2 O 3 loading (as determined by base chemisorption) have been obtained for both reactions. Qualitative DRIFT spectroscopy of probe molecules [pyridine (PY), 2,6-dimethylpyridine (DMPY) and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS)] showed that P-OH and Al-OH groups disappeared on adsorption and that both Lewis and Brensted acid sites existed on the surface of APA1-A catalysts. Furthermore, the involvement of strong acid sites in CSI and CC reactions has been investigated by selectively poisoning the acid sites with PY, DMPY and HMDS. The catalytic activity and selectivity of the APAl-A catalyst were strongly affected by this poisoning. Thus, Bronsted acidity was considered to be the common active site on APA1-A catalysts.
Isolated Singularities of Nonlinear Polyharmonic Inequalities

We obtain results for the following question where $m\ge 1$ and $n\ge 2$ are integers. {\bf Question.} For which continuous functions $f\colon [0,\infty)\to [0,\infty)$ does there exist a continuous function $\phi\colon (0,1)\to (0,\infty)$ such that every $C^{2m}$ nonnegative solution $u(x)$ of 0 \le -\Delta^m u\le f(u)\quad \text{in}\quad B_2(0)\backslash\{0\}\subset {\bb R}^n satisfies u(x) = O(\phi(|x|))\quad \text{as}\quad x\to 0 and what is the optimal such $\phi$ when one exists?
LeafArea : an R package for rapid digital image analysis of leaf area

Measuring leaf area is essential to quantifying other leaf functional traits. This paper introduces a new R package, LeafArea, which allows one to conveniently run ImageJ ( http://imagej.nih.gov/ij/ ) within R. The functions in this package analyze multiple scanned leaf images in the target directory, generate multiple output files containing the leaf area of each leaf image, and then process and combine these files into a single file in a format that is convenient for subsequent analyses. Leaf area data from multiple images from the same sample can be combined automatically. This function allows users to cut large leaves into several pieces during scanning. The package provides a user-friendly, automated tool for measuring leaf area from scanned images.
Polarimetric contrast optimization

It is often desirable to select radar antenna polarizations that maximize the contrast in received powers from two classes of scatterers. A terrain-mapping radar may use polarization to maximize the contrast between forested areas and farmland. For another radar, polarizations may be chosen to optimize an aircraft target return relative to clutter. Polarizations chosen for either purpose may give a target return that is small compared to external noise or internal receiver noise, and it may therefore be more appropriate to choose polarizations that maximize signal-to-noise ratio. An outline of methods for choosing polarizations in all of these cases is presented.
“Our Goal Is Not to Punish but to Reconcile”: Mediation in Postgenocide Rwanda

In this article, I explore what is at stake in embedding mediation efforts in legal forums backed by force across a wide range of disputes in postgenocide Rwanda as well as what is at stake in participants’ contestation over the terms of unity. Considering genocide courts, mediation committees, and a legal aid clinic in one analytic frame underscores continuities in both their top-down social engineering goals and people's experience of the mediation focus across them. Building on Laura Nader's research to analyze the emphasis on harmony in these forums, I illustrate how mediation served as a technique of governance intended to reshape postgenocide Rwanda into a particular kind of community and how exhortations to unity were linked to broader forms of cultural control. I argue that although law-based mediation was framed as benign and is often promoted by the transitional justice movement on the basis of local culture, its implementation always involves coercion and accompanying resistance. What emerges, I argue, is not the creation of idealistic state versions of national belonging, nor simply coercive silencing, but, rather, a space in which people contest the terms of community and shape new moral orders.
Neural Networks and Natural Intelligence

From the Publisher: Stephen Grossberg and his colleagues at Boston University's Center for Adaptive Systems are producing some of the most exciting research in the neural network approach to making computers "think." Packed with real-time computer simulations and rigorous demonstrations of these phenomena, this book includes results on vision, speech, cognitive information processing; adaptive pattern recognition, adaptive robotics, conditioning and attention, cognitive-emotional interactions, and decision making under risk.
Functional properties of the rat and human beta 3-adrenergic receptors: differential agonist activation of recombinant receptors in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

beta 3-Adrenergic receptors (beta 3AR) mediate lipolytic and thermogenic responses in rodent adipose tissues in vitro, and "atypical" beta AR agonists that active these receptors have potent therapeutic effects in in vivo rodent models of adult-onset diabetes and obesity. However, experiments with rodent cells that natively express the beta 3AR, as well as those with cells that express cloned rodent beta 3AR, have suggested that the pharmacological properties of the rodent and human beta 3AR differ. Given that rodent models of obesity and diabetes are used to develop human therapeutic agents, we sought to compare directly the ligand-binding and functional properties of the rat and human beta 3AR in parallel studies using Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing the recombinant receptors. The endogenous catecholamines epinephrine (EPI) and norepinephrine (NE) were found to have low affinities (micromolar) for the beta 3AR of both species. The rank orders of potency of various agonists in stimulating adenylyl cyclase were clearly different, i.e., for the human beta 3AR, CGP12177 (CGP) > isoproterenol (ISO) > or = BRL34377 (BRL) = Pindolol > NE > EPI; for the rat, CGP > or = BRL > ISO > or = NE > Pindolol > EPI. The intrinsic activities of various agonists were also different, with the following rank orders (compared with ISO): for the human beta 3AR, NE > EPI > BRL = CGP > Pindolol; for the rat beta 3AR, BRL > NE > EPI > CGP > Pindolol. Competition binding studies with 125I-cyanopindolol and these agonists gave similar rank orders of potency. Thus, although the human and rat receptors exhibited similar properties with respect to catecholamine agonists, numerous differences in the potency and efficacy of synthetic noncatecholamine agonists were noted, indicating that the action of atypical agonists at rodent beta 3AR may not be predictive of therapeutic potential in humans.
Minitrack on deep issues in security

This paper discusses a series of large-scale multi-agency exercises conducted to address security issues common to large organizations, sectors, and the government. The exercises tested the organization’s ability to respond to a cyber security event involving multiple sectors and agencies. This paper explores the lessons learned and proposes an approach to coordinating security between all levels of government as well as between the critical infrastructures and sectors. A discussion on how the cyber security exercises were conducted is included to provide a framework for organizations to conduct their own exercise.