cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Approximate and Efficient Method for Optimal Rotation Alignment of 3D Models

In many shape analysis applications, the ability to find the best rotation that aligns two models is an essential first step in the analysis process. In the past, methods for model alignment have either used normalization techniques, such as PCA alignment, or have performed an exhaustive search over the space of rotation to find the best optimal alignment. While normalization techniques have the advantage of efficiency, providing a quick method for registering two shapes, they are often imprecise and can give rise to poor alignments. Conversely, exhaustive search is guaranteed to provide the correct answer, but, even using efficient signal processing techniques, this type of approach can be prohibitively slow. In this paper, we present a new method for aligning two 3D shapes. We show that the method is markedly faster than existing approaches based on efficient signal processing and we provide registration results demonstrating that the alignments obtained using our method have a high degree of precision and are markedly better than those obtained using normalization.
Creating social networks to improve peer-to-peer networking

We use knowledge discovery techniques to guide the creation of efficient overlay networks for peer-to-peer file sharing. An overlay network specifies the logical connections among peers in a network and is distinct from the physical connections of the network. It determines the order in which peers will be queried when a user is searching for a specific file. To better understand the role of the network overlay structure in the performance of peer-to-peer file sharing protocols, we compare several methods for creating overlay networks. We analyze the networks using data from a campus network for peer-to-peer file sharing that recorded anonymized data on 6,528 users sharing 291,925 music files over an 81-day period. We propose a novel protocol for overlay creation based on a model of user preference identified by latent-variable clustering with hierarchical Dirichlet processes (HDPs). Our simulations and empirical studies show that the clusters of songs created by HDPs effectively model user behavior and can be used to create desirable network overlays that outperform alternative approaches.
Atrophy of the Brain and Spinal Cord in Multiple Sclerosis

The destructive nature of the multiple sclerosis disease process is of growing clinical and neuroscientific interest. Axonal transection, neuronal loss, Wallerian degeneration, and chronic demyelination likely contribute to macroscopic atrophy of the brain and spinal cord in patients with the disease. This neurodegenerative process belies the traditional view of multiple sclerosis as an inflammatory demyelinating disease. Magnetic resonance imaging is a key tool in the diagnosis and longitudinal monitoring of central nervous system atrophy. This supplement to theJournal of Neuroimaging is devoted to brain and spinal cord atrophy in MS, with a focus on the role of magnetic resonance imaging. The authors and topics of the articles have been chosen by the Guest Editor to provide a state-of-the-art review of this important field. An emphasis is placed on several key issues pertaining to central nervous system atrophy in multiple sclerosis: pathogenesis, magnetic resonance imaging techniques for quantification, clinical relevance, and effects of disease-modifying therapies.
Promoting Prosocial Beliefs And Behavior Toward People With Disabilities In Nepal Through A Children’s Entertainment-Education Program

Purpose This quasi-experimental field study examines the prosocial influences of a children's entertainment-education television programme, Khushi Ko Sansar, on children’s beliefs and intended behaviour towards people with disabilities in Nepal. Method Pre-test and post-test survey data were gathered from 357 Nepali children from nine communities that took part in the study. The children were shown two television episodes in which the star of the programmes, a dog named Khush, befriends and visits people with disabilities. Results Post-test results show that children developed strong identification with Khush and adopted his prosocial beliefs and behaviour towards people with disabilities. Conclusions The authors conclude that the entertainment-education television programme, Khushi Ko Sansar, provided a positive role model for children who encounter people with disabilities. Implications of these findings suggest that entertainment-education media can improve the treatment of people with disabilities and can promote beneficial health beliefs and practices. Key words: Children’s television, entertainment-education, Nepal, people with disabilities, role models doi 10.5463/DCID.v22i2.33
A segmented algorithm for solving a class of state constrained discrete optimal control problems

A segmented algorithm for solving state constrained optimal control problems is presented. Its main feature is that it may be implemented on an array of digital computers. Such an implementation exhibits two attractive properties. The first one is that the computational time is reduced due to the parallelism of computations achieved. The second property is that a graceful degradation of performance is realized, i.e., the array produces approximate solutions in the presence of hardware faults.
Pathogen pollution and the emergence of a deadly amphibian pathogen

Imagine a single pathogen that is responsible for mass mortality of over a third of an entire vertebrate class. For example, if a single pathogen were causing the death, decline and extinction of 30% of mammal species (including humans), the entire world would be paying attention. This is what has been happening to the world's amphibians - the frogs, toads and salamanders that are affected by the chytrid fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (referred to as Bd), which are consequently declining at an alarming rate. It has aptly been described as the worst pathogen in history in terms of its effects on biodiversity (Kilpatrick et al. 2010). The pathogen was only formally described about 13 years ago (Longcore et al. 1999), and scientists are still in the process of determining where it came from and investigating the question: why now? Healthy debate has ensued as to whether Bd is a globally endemic organism that only recently started causing high mortality due to shifting host responses and/or environmental change (e.g. Pounds et al. 2006) or whether a virulent strain of the pathogen has rapidly disseminated around the world in recent decades, affecting new regions with a vengeance (e.g. Morehouse et al. 2003; Weldon et al. 2004; Lips et al. 2008). We are finally beginning to shed more light on this question, due to significant discoveries that have emerged as a result of intensive DNA-sequencing methods comparing Bd isolates from different amphibian species across the globe. Evidence is mounting that there is indeed a global panzootic lineage of Bd (BdGPL) in addition to what appear to be more localized endemic strains (Fisher et al. 2009; James et al. 2009; Farrer et al. 2011). Additionally, BdGPL appears to be a hypervirulent strain that has resulted from the hybridization of different Bd strains that came into contact in recent decades, and is now potentially replacing the less-virulent endemic strains of the pathogen (Farrer et al. 2011). In a new study published in this issue of Molecular Ecology, Schloegel et al. (2012) identify an additional unique Bd lineage that is endemic to the Atlantic Brazilian rainforests (Bd-Brazil) and provide striking evidence that the Bd-Brazil lineage has sexually recombined with the BdGPL lineage in an area where the two lineages likely came into contact as a result of classic anthropogenically mediated 'pathogen pollution'(see below). Fungal pathogens, including Bd, have the propensity to form recombinant lineages when allopatric populations that have not yet formed genetic reproductive barriers are provided with opportunities to intermingle, and virulent strains may be selected for because they tend to be highly transmissible (Fisher et al. 2012). As Schloegel et al. (2012) point out, the demonstrated ability for Bd to undergo meiosis may also mean that it has the capacity to form a resistant spore stage (as yet undiscovered), based on extrapolation from other sexually reproducing chytrids that all have spore stages.
Emission gated device issues

A review of linear and nonlinear analyses applicable to emission gated devices is provided with an explicit declaration of the physical assumptions for each model. The authors consider density gating, not velocity modulation, emphasizing high-power and high-efficiency applications. Increased efficiency through the use of density gating for the RF input bunching of an electron beam is expected. The authors review the basic dynamics of bunch formation and describe the gating technologies currently available for the production of a prebunched beam. Considerable insight into the basic physics of emission gating, such as beam dynamics and frequency spectra, is obtainable from numerical modeling. Some unresolved issues are presented for investigation. >
Evolution of Massive Stars: Observational Evidence

The stellar population of O, B and Wolf-Rayet stars within 3 kpc of the Sun is discussed. In addition to providing observational data for comparison with evolutionary models, the observations suggest a galactic gradient in the initial mass function of these stars. Differences in the massive stellar population between the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud are starting to appear. Understanding these differences will provide important insight into the evolution of galaxies.
High Bandwidth Adaptive Flight Control

This paper presents a novel approach to adaptive output feedback control. The approach permits adaptation to both parametric uncertainty and unmodeled dynamics. Of particular interest here is its use in high bandwidth flight control, which is made possible through interaction with poorly modeled high frequency dynamics. Adaptation is achieved using only input/output sequences of the uncertain system. The approach is illustrated by the design of pitch-rate flight control system for an R-50 experimental helicopter.
Adaptive filtering for moving-target-detection in severely inhomogeneous clutter

An adaptive multiband detector that is based on the principle of the generalized-likelihood-ratio test (GLR) is presented. Its detection performance is studied and compared with that of the corresponding single-band GLR detector. The adaptive multiband detector is shown to be able to outperform the single-band significantly under the equal-energy constraint, especially in severely nonstationary and/or inhomogeneous environments. >
Banach Algebras Associated to Lax Pairs

Lax pairs featuring in the theory of integrable systems are known to be constructed from a commutative algebra of formal pseudodifferential operators known as the Burchnall– Chaundy algebra. Such pairs induce the well known KP flows on a restricted infinite-dimensional Grassmannian. The latter can be exhibited as a Banach homogeneous space constructed from a Banach *-algebra. It is shown that this commutative algebra of operators generating Lax pairs can be associated with a commutative C*-subalgebra in the C*-norm completion of the *-algebra. In relationship to the Bose–Fermi correspondence and the theory of vertex operators, this C*-algebra has an association with the CAR algebra of operators as represented on Fermionic Fock space by the Gelfand–Naimark–Segal construction. Instrumental is the Plucker embedding of the restricted Grassmannian into the projective space of the associated Hilbert space. The related Baker and tau-functions provide a connection between these two C*-algebras, following which their respective state spaces and Jordan–Lie–Banach algebras structures can be compared.
New cholesterol reagent.

A study was carried out on a new cholesterol reagent which was reported to be a saturated solution of ferrous sulfate in glacial acetic acid. This solution was shown to be unstable and it is suggested that the reactive state of the metal involved is that of the more stable trivalent ferric iron.
2-(3-Nitro­phen­yl)-3-phenyl-2,3-di­hydro-4H-1,3-benzo­thia­zin-4-one

The title compound, C20H14N2O3S, has three aromatic rings, viz. (i) a phenyl ring, (ii) a 3-nitro­phenyl and (iii) a 1,3-benzo­thia­zine fused-ring system. The dihedral angle between (i) and (ii) is 85.31 (15)°, between (ii) and (iii) is 81.33 (15)° and between (i) and (iii) is 75.73 (15)°. The six-membered 1,3-thia­zine ring has an envelope conformation with the C atom in the 2-position forming the flap. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by weak C—H⋯O inter­actions, forming a three-dimensional network.
Presidential Address: The Supreme Court and the South

In late 2000, the full import of the role of the Supreme Court in the political system was realized when, by the narrowest of margins, five Justices effectively decided the outcome of the November presidential election. In a case that presented the Court with issues of states rights, the proper role of the federal judiciary, and even the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, the reputedly judicial activist adverse majority failed to see the irony of ruling that the Florida Supreme Court had incorrectly interpreted Florida law.' Bush v. Gore (2000), which originated in a Southern state, had impact far beyond the state of Florida and highlighted the highly political role of federal courts, especially the Supreme Court. Clearly, the Supreme Court of the United States can never again be referred to as the "least dangerous branch of government." There is no question that the Court can disturb the political "equilibrium by injecting new or rediscovered social problems or policy alternatives into the national dialogue" (Flemming, Bohte, and Wood 1997, 1247). While de facto selection of a president is not per se a policy alternative, a whole host of policies from abortion to education to taxes, as well as the future composition of the Court, will be affected by the Court's decision in Bush v. Gore. This decision in many ways crystallized my general level of discomfort with the state of judicial politics research. As a student of constitutional law, I believed that many in the judicial politics subfield had traded an understanding in the richness of the output of the courts for the opportunity to explain why decisions already made were made without much attention to the actual politics of the Court or the implications of its output. The creation and distribution of the U.S. Supreme Court Judicial Database, which includes 40 fields of infor-
Aging, cellular senescence and disease: the influence of diet and exercise (880.7)

Nutrient excess and physical inactivity are primary drivers of numerous age-related chronic diseases. A growing body of evidence has implicated cellular senescence, a process in which cells lose the ability to divide and concurrently damage neighboring cells by the factors they secrete, as an underlying mechanism of aging and its associated conditions. However, the impact of lifestyle choices on the age-associated accumulation of senescent cells remains poorly understood. Thus, we examined the effects of a fast food diet (FFD) and a voluntary exercise intervention on multiple parameters of healthspan and cellular senescence using a transgenic mouse model that expresses green fluorescent protein (GFP) in p16Ink4a-positive senescent cells. As expected, 12-month old male mice that had received the FFD diet for 5 months demonstrated significantly greater gains in body weight and fat mass compared to mice fed a standard chow diet. Moreover, mice fed the FFD exhibited hyperinsulinemia, impaired glucose toleranc...
Supreme Court Review: Analysis: Rule 11 Decisions Targeted Clients, Not Just Lawyers

Commentary and analysis of four Supreme Court decisions in procedure cases decided by the Court during its 1990-91 term. The article discusses Business Guides v. Chromatic Communications Enterprises Inc.; Chambers v. Nasco; West Virginia University Hospitals Inc. v. Casey; and Kay v. Ehler. In Business Guides the Court held that federal district courts may sanctions clients (as well as lawyers) under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. The Business Guides decision is likely to have impact on the attorney-client relationship, where the client may now be held accountable for allegations made in pleadings and motions. In Chambers v. Nasco, the Court additionally rules that district court judges may sanction attorneys for their conduct before the tribunal, invoking the doctrine of the inherent powers of the court. This sanctioning power exists separate from the court’s sanctioning power under Rule 11. In West Virginia University Hospitals Inc., the Court rules that a prevailing party may not recover expert witness fees as part of attorney fees under the civil rights laws. And, in Kay v. Ehler, a unanimous Court held that a pro se litigant who also happens to be a lawyer may not recover attorney fees under statutory authority. The two sanctioning decisions reflect a get-tough policy by the Court against abusive litigation practices, while the two attorney fee cases embody a parsimonious approach to the dispensation of attorney fee awards. The attorney fee awards may have consequences for the pursuit of plaintiffs’ civil rights litigation.
Management of mixed arterial venous lower extremity ulceration: A review

Mixed arterial venous disease is estimated to affect up to 26% of patients with lower extremity ulcerations. However, its clinical significance and pathophysiology are incompletely understood. Furthermore, there is no consensus on the optimal treatment modality, whether conservative or operative. In this review paper, we describe the current understanding of the pathophysiology of mixed arterial venous lower extremity ulcers. Guidelines for diagnostic tests for patients with mixed arterial venous diseases are discussed. We review some of the newer biological skin substitutes for conservative wound care. Finally, we propose a treatment algorithm based on current available data.
Genetics of the Pink Bollworm: Sooty Body and Purple Eye

Two mutant characters are described for the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders). The 1st, sooty (S), is a melanic body-color mutant inherited as an autosomal dominant. The 2nd, purple (p), is an eye-color mutant inherited as a sex-linked recessive. The results of various crosses to wild-type strains suggest that both mutations are not significantly different from wild-type moths in viability and reproductive potential. Examples are given to show how these mutations can serve as markers for biological studies and in the development of autocidal techniques for control of the pink bollworm.
Evaluation of Representative California Spray Oils against Citrus Red Mite and California Red Scale

Laboratory spray trials were conducted to determine LD-95 values for several representative California light-medium-grade and medium-grade foliage spray oils against citrus red mite ( Panonychus citri (McG.)) eggs and adult female California red scale ( Aonidiella aurantii (Mask)). Correlations of LD-95 values and physical-chemical properties of the oils are discussed. The results obtained lead to the following conclusions. The magnitude of the LD-95 of the oils that were most efficient against citrus red mite eggs is about half that of the LD-95 of the same oils against adult female red scale. The killing action of light-medium-grade and medium-grade California spray oils against citrus red mite eggs is associated with the highest boiling portion of the oil. Five of the 8 oils tested were more efficient against citrus red mite eggs and 7 of the 8 oils were less efficient against adult female California red scale than was expected on the basis of respective values for average molecular weight.
Characteristics of Marijuana Acquisition Among a National Sample of Adolescent Users

Background: Because marijuana is becoming more accessible and perceived norms of use are becoming increasingly more favorable, research is needed to understand characteristics of marijuana acquisition among adolescents. Purpose: The study purpose was to examine whether sources and locations where adolescent users obtain and use marijuana differed based on past month use, age of first use, time since last used, number of days used in the past month, perceived ease of access, perceived peer use, and demographics. Methods: We conducted a secondary data analysis (n = 3102) of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were performed. Results: Adolescents at highest risk for buying marijuana were male, older, used in the past month, and older when they first used. Adolescents at highest risk for buying marijuana inside a home/apartment/dorm were more likely to have used in the past month. Adolescents at highest risk for buying marijuana outside in a publ...
Photosystem II, a Structural Perspective

Publisher Summary This chapter elucidates the structure and function of the photosystem II (PS II) apparatus. PS II, a multi-subunit protein–cofactor complex is overviewed with D1, D2 polypeptides, P680 the primary donor and pheophytins. QA and QB, the stable electron acceptor of photosystem II and the herbicide-binding site is elaborated with the view of non-heme iron. Models for the PS II complex are discussed in the context of the partial reactions leading to the trapping of excited states, charge separation, and the generation of molecular oxygen and reduced plastoquinone. PS II is a multi-subunit protein–cofactor complex embedded in the thylakoid membranes, which catalyzes the oxidation of water and the reduction of plastoquinone. The holocomplex consists of no less than 20 protein subunits and has at least 77 cofactors. X-ray diffraction studies have led to the elucidation of cofactor–protein interactions at near-atomic resolution. The electron-deficient primary donor P680 + is subsequently reduced via a four-step (S-state transitions) oxidation of water to molecular oxygen by the water-oxidizing complex (also known as the oxygen-evolving complex, OEC) that includes an Mn4-Ca cluster, finally P680+ is reduced and becomes available for another round of the light-driven charge separation.
Lifting the Lid: How Prison Writing Workshops Shed Light on the Social Shadow

Abstract: While the social, political, economic, educational, and cultural consequences of high rates of incarceration have been well documented, the social psychological dynamics have not received as much discussion. I offer here a first person narrative reflection on the connections between a writing workshops and raising social awareness of the realities of day-to-day lives of inmates. Appropriate writing pedagogy, personal challenges to meeting to the workshops, and the need to publish inmate stories inform the essay.
Bioactive phytochemicals in barley

Epidemiological studies have consistently shown that regular consumption of whole grain barley reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases. The presence of barley fiber, especially β-glucan in whole grain barley, has been largely credited for these health benefits. However, it is now widely believed that the actions of the fiber component alone do not explain the observed health benefits associated with the consumption of whole grain barley. Whole grain barley also contains phytochemicals including phenolic acids, flavonoids, lignans, tocols, phytosterols, and folate. These phytochemicals exhibit strong antioxidant, antiproliferative, and cholesterol lowering abilities, which are potentially useful in lowering the risk of certain diseases. Therefore, the high concentration of phytochemicals in barley may be largely responsible for its health benefits. This paper reviews available information regarding barley phytochemicals and their potential to combat common nutrition-related diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Maintaining electric grid reliability under hydrologic drought and heat wave conditions

Abstract During droughts and heat waves, thermal power plants that discharge heated effluent into rivers are often granted thermal variances permitting them to exceed the temperature restrictions imposed on effluent for protection of local aquatic ecosystems. These thermal variances are often justified as necessary for maintaining electricity reliability, particularly as heat waves typically cause an increase in electricity demand. However, current practice lacks tools for the development of grid-scale operational policies that specify the minimal thermal variances required to ensure reliable electricity supply. Creating these policies requires consideration of characteristics of individual power plants, topology and characteristics of the electricity grid, and locations of power plants within the river basin. We develop a methodology for creating such policies that considers these necessary factors. Conceptually, the operational policies developed are similar to the widely used rule curves of reservoir management, as we develop optimal rules for different hydrological and meteorological conditions. The rules are conditioned on leading modes of the ambient hydrological and meteorological conditions at the different power plant locations, leveraging the statistical correlation that exists between these conditions due to geographical proximity and hydrological connectedness. Heat dissipation in rivers and cooling ponds is modeled using the equilibrium temperature concept. Optimal rules are determined through a linear optimization with stochastic costs. We illustrate the methodology with a representative electricity grid model of eight power plants in Illinois that were granted thermal variances in the summer of 2012. Our methodology can facilitate cooperative decision making between environmental agencies, power grid operators, and power plant operators.
The New Fiscal Sociology: Taxation in Comparative Perspective, I.W. Martin, A.K. Mehrotra, M. Prasad (Eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2009), xiii+313 pp., Price: US$ 55.00, Paperback, ISBN: 978-0-521-73839-2

Government finance is an important area of economic study for which the theory is well developed yet its usefulness as a guide to policy is not always apparent. Taxation theory guides us into discu...
Hearing Capabilities of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) Throughout Ontogeny

Sea turtles are one group of endangered marine animals potentially impacted by anthropogenic sound production. Similar to other migratory marine species, sea turtles occupy different ecological niches throughout ontogeny, each characterized by unique acoustic conditions. Developing sea turtle hatchlings remain in pelagic habitats but then migrate to shallower neritic waters to forage as juveniles and reproduce as adults. Near-shore habitats are typically inundated with low-frequency human-generated sounds (Hawkins and Myrberg 1983) including recreational boating, commercial shipping, and high-intensity signals associated with seismic exploration (Greene and Moore 1995).
The puzzling mechanism of compensatory lung growth.

In a recent publication, Lechner et al . (“Recruited monocytes and type 2 immunity promote lung regeneration following pneumonectomy”, Cell Stem Cell 2017;21:120-34.e7) have contributed an important missing piece to the enigmatic puzzle of compensatory lung growth (1).
In Situ Prediction Driven Feature Analysis in Jet Engine Simulations

Efficient feature exploration in large-scale data sets using traditional post-hoc analysis approaches is becoming prohibitive due to the bottleneck stemming from I/O and output data sizes. This problem becomes more challenging when an ensemble of simulations are required to run for studying the influence of input parameters on the model output. As a result, scientists are inclining more towards analyzing the data in situ while it resides in the memory. In situ analysis aims at minimizing expensive data movement while maximizing the resource utilization for extraction of important information from the data. In this work, we study the evolution of rotating stall in jet engines using data generated from a large-scale flow simulation under various input conditions. Since the features of interest lack a precise descriptor, we adopt a fuzzy rule-based machine learning algorithm for efficient and robust extraction of such features. For scalable exploration, we advocate for an off-line learning and in situ prediction driven strategy that facilitates in-depth study of the stall. Task-specific information estimated in situ is visualized interactively during the post-hoc analysis revealing important details about the inception and evolution of stall. We verify and validate our method through comprehensive expert evaluation demonstrating the efficacy of our approach.
Human-Drone Interaction: Drone Delivery & Services for Social Events

In recent years, there has been an increasing research interest in drones and its applications such as a drone delivery service, ping-pong play companion, and jogging companion. However, despite the growing interest in drones for social scenarios, there are only a few drones have paid attention to factors such as drone's movements, appearance, and comfortable distance for natural human-robot interaction (HRI). In this study, we explore the critical factors for successful human-drone interactions (HDI) in a social scenario, and proposed a social friendly design by implementing new appearance and behaviors of a drone.
Searching Wide and Far: Sequences of Organizational Learning Types in High Novelty Innovations

In spite of longstanding interest in the importance of organizational learning for new product development efforts, there is a dearth of research into the sequencing of learning types as the innova...
High power piezoelectric materials

: Heat generation is one of the significant problems in piezoelectrics for high power density applications. In this chapter, we review first the loss mechanisms in piezoelectrics, followed by the experimental techniques to measure dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric losses separately. Second, heat generation processes for various drive conditions are discussed. Heat generation at off-resonance is attributed mainly to intensive dielectric loss tan δ′ (i.e., Polarization (P) – Field (E) hysteresis loss), not to mechanical loss, while the heat generation at resonance originates mainly from the intensive mechanical loss tan ϕ′. Third, the maximum vibration velocity and the mechanical quality factor (an amplification factor of the impedance or displacement of a piezoelectric at its resonant status) are discussed in terms of driving voltage level. Fourth, practical high power ‘hard’ Pb(Zr,Ti) O3 (PZT)-based materials are introduced, which exhibit vibration velocities more than 1 m/s, leading to the power density capability 10 times that of commercially available ‘hard’ PZTs. We propose an internal bias field model to explain the low loss and high power origin of these materials, which are suitable for actuator (ultrasonic motor) applications. We also describe ‘semi-hard’ materials based on PZT–Pb(Zn,Nb)O3–Pb(Ni, Nb)O3, with reasonable electromechanical coupling k factors, which are suitable for piezoelectric transducers. Finally, using a low temperature sinterable ‘semi-hard’ PZT, we demonstrate high power multilayer piezoelectric transformers with Cu or Ag internal electrodes.
Molecular Genetic Approaches to Maize Improvement – an Introduction

In the following chapters prominent scientists will discuss the recent genetic improvements in maize that have brought us to this point, as well as the potential for future improvement. A review of historical improvements is an instructive base from which to launch this discussion. Let’s look back to 1944, when much like today, the United States was planting as many acres of maize as possible and trying to get as much yield as possible from every acre. According to the US Department of Agriculture, about 85 million acres in the US were planted to maize in 1944 – about the same acreage as 2007. The total production of maize in the US in 1944 was 2.3 billion bushels. In 2007, it was 13.1 billion bushels – that’s an increase of 470%. The average yield in 1944 was 33 bushels per acre, production typical of that era. That figure has jumped by 360% to 151 bushels per acre. Given this stark contrast, the question we must ask ourselves is, how did we come so far so fast? What are some of the factors contributing to higher maize yields? Will these trends continue? From a historical perspective, the most striking advance in maize production in the last century was the introduction of hybrids. By inbreeding and crossing the resultant lines, maize breeders were able to produce hybrid offspring with higher yields through the phenomenon known as heterosis or “hybrid vigor.” In order to harness the power of hybrid vigor, breeders initially began “double-crossing,” or crossing two inbred parents at the same time as two other inbred parents. Resulting hybrids are then crossed together to produce a hybrid with the characteristics of all four parents. This method was used into the 1960s, by which time inbreds had improved to the point where single cross hybrids became standard in US maize production and have been widely adopted around the world. Along with advances in breeding, the steady rate of yield gain in maize benefited from improvements in nutrient management, tillage practices and chemical
The Rhetorical Work of YouTube’s Beauty Community: Relationship- and Identity-Building in User-Created Procedural Discourse

This study investigates YouTube’s beauty community, an online group of women who make videos about makeup products and techniques. The videos contain makeup application instructions and challenge i...
Muscarinic agonist, (±)-quinuclidin-3-yl-(4-fluorophenethyl)(phenyl)carbamate: High affinity, but low subtype selectivity for human M1 - M5 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors.

Novel quinuclidinyl N-phenylcarbamate analogs were synthesized, and binding affinities at M1-M5 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) subtypes were determined using Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell membranes stably expressing one specific subtype of human mAChR. Although not subtype selective, the lead analog (±)-quinuclidin-3-yl-(4-fluorophenethyl)(phenyl)carbamate (3c) exhibited the highest affinity (Ki = 2.0, 13, 2.6, 2.2, 1.8 nM) at each of the M1-M5 mAChRs, respectively. Based on results from the [3H]dopamine release assay using rat striatal slices, 3c acted as an agonist at mAChRs. The effect of 3c was inhibited by the nonselective mAChR antagonist, scopolamine, and 3c augmented release evoked by oxotremorine. A potent analog from the same scaffold, (±)-quinuclidin-3-yl-(4-methoxyphenethyl)(phenyl)-carbamate (3b) exhibited the greatest selectivity (17-fold) at M3 over M2 mAChRs. These analogs could serve as leads for further discovery of novel subtype-selective muscarinic ligands with the goal of providing therapeutics for substance use disorders and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A Smart Sensor Network for an Automated Urban Greenhouse

An effective and efficient sensor network is an essential component of an automated urban greenhouse (AUG). This paper describes a design process that prototyped a smart sensor network as part of a capstone design project. This smart sensor network communicates among sensing, power and automation, and visualization and user interface aspects of the AUG to provide automatic monitoring of lighting, heating, watering, and ventilation. This automated urban greenhouse, along with the sensor network, is being installed at a local elementary school in downtown York, Pennsylvania. It will serve as an educational tool and create awareness of the importance of fresh foods.
The Equitable Distribution of Injustice: Raising Twain

To contemporary readers, the book's ending seems rushed, unsatisfactory, and quite brutal. Some critics, in fact, emphasize the ending as they portray Hank Morgan as a fascist precursor-or perhaps worse. Justin Kaplan, who argues that Twain generally was "capable of sustaining two moods of belief at the same time," views Connecticut Yankee as opposite to Twain's customary secular religion and his general faith in progress. To Kaplan, this book "as far as it preaches anything, preaches irreverence, the guillotine, a reign of terror, and a kind of generalized despair. . .Though his good friend William Dean Howells praised Connecticut Yankee for its charm and moral soundness, Clemens bitterly complained as he finally "let it go" because of things he had left out that could never again be said and that would in any event require "a pen warmed up in hell." Is this Twain's final, bleak word about leadership? Is the somber message that east is east, and west is west, and the twain is an hour late?
Abstract 3716: Conditional reprogramming technology for Next Generation Living Biobanks (NGLB)

As one of the next generation biobanks, living biobanks (iPSC, organoids, CRC, PDX, etc.) and related functional analyses are rapidly growing in basic research, clinics, and industry (especially immune-oncology and targeting therapies) as well. Most recently NCI launched PDMR (patient-derived model repository) using PDX, CRC and organoid cultures, NCI/ATCC/Broad/Sanger launched HCMI (Human Cancer Models Initiative) using Organoids and CRC cultures. In this study, we established a conditional reprogramming (CR) protocol which allows to generate cell cultures from cryopreserve fresh tissue specimens from surgery, core biopsies, needle biopsies, and brushed cells.It has been extremely difficult to generate primary cultures from tumor specimens, it has not been possible to expand and indefinitely propagate cells derived from adult tissues while retaining lineage-commitment, normal growth control and differentiation potential. The CR method rapidly expands both normal and malignant epithelial cells from diverse anatomic sites and mammalian species and does not require transfection with exogenous viral or cellular genes. Establishment of cell cultures from both normal and tumor tissue (many types) is highly efficient. The robust nature of the technique is exemplified by the ability to produce 2 x 10 6 cells in 5 days from a core biopsy of breast tumor. Normal cultures retain a normal karyotype and differentiation potential and cell lines derived from tumors retain their tumorigenic phenotype. We were also able to generate their corresponding fibroblast cultures from the same specimens. These fibroblasts can be immortalized by exogenously expressed hTERT. This approach allows to establish in vitro "epithelial-stroma interactions" to study normal cell differentiation and tumor microenvironment. The ability to produce inexhaustible cell populations from small biopsies and cryopreserved specimens has the potential to transform biobanking repositories (termed as NGLB - next generation living biobanks) and current pathology practice by enabling genetic, biochemical, metabolomic, proteomic, and biological assays, including chemosensitivity testing as a functional diagnostics tool (or a living biomarker) for precision cancer medicine. CR cells can be also an inexhaustible resource to generate CR cells derived iPSC, organoids, and xenografts (CDXs). Citation Format: Xuefeng Liu. Conditional reprogramming technology for Next Generation Living Biobanks (NGLB) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3716.
Introducing Feedback Control to Middle and High School STEM Students, Part 2: Control System Math

Abstract This paper presents some insights on introducing control concepts to middle and high school STEM students. It summarizes the author’s experience in introducing control to such students at multiple workshops preceding control conferences. In Part 1 (Abramovitch (2019)), we share here the ideas behind the success of these talks. In Part 2 (this paper), we show how to discuss control systems math to students who have not had calculus or differential equations.
An engineered ScCas9 with broad PAM range and high specificity and activity

CRISPR enzymes require a protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM) near the target cleavage site, constraining the sequences accessible for editing. In the present study, we combine protein motifs from several orthologs to engineer two variants of Streptococcus canis Cas9-Sc++ and a higher-fidelity mutant HiFi-Sc++-that have simultaneously broad 5'-NNG-3' PAM compatibility, robust DNA-cleavage activity and minimal off-target activity. Sc++ and HiFi-Sc++ extend the use of CRISPR editing for diverse applications.
Nernstian Li+ intercalation into few-layer graphene and its use for the determination of K+ co-intercalation processes.

Alkali ion intercalation is fundamental to battery technologies for a wide spectrum of potential applications that permeate our modern lifestyle, including portable electronics, electric vehicles, and the electric grid. In spite of its importance, the Nernstian nature of the charge transfer process describing lithiation of carbon has not been described previously. Here we use the ultrathin few-layer graphene (FLG) with micron-sized grains as a powerful platform for exploring intercalation and co-intercalation mechanisms of alkali ions with high versatility. Using voltammetric and chronoamperometric methods and bolstered by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we show the kinetically facile co-intercalation of Li+ and K+ within an ultrathin FLG electrode. While changes in the solution concentration of Li+ lead to a displacement of the staging voltammetric signature with characteristic slopes ca. 54–58 mV per decade, modification of the K+/Li+ ratio in the electrolyte leads to distinct shifts in the voltammetric peaks for (de)intercalation, with a changing slope as low as ca. 30 mV per decade. Bulk ion diffusion coefficients in the carbon host, as measured using the potentiometric intermittent titration technique (PITT) were similarly sensitive to solution composition. DFT results showed that co-intercalation of Li+ and K+ within the same layer in FLG can form thermodynamically favorable systems. Calculated binding energies for co-intercalation systems increased with respect to the area of Li+-only domains and decreased with respect to the concentration of –K–Li– phases. While previous studies of co-intercalation on a graphitic anode typically focus on co-intercalation of solvents and one particular alkali ion, this is to the best of our knowledge the first study elucidating the intercalation behavior of two monovalent alkali ions. This study establishes ultrathin graphitic electrodes as an enabling electroanalytical platform to uncover thermodynamic and kinetic processes of ion intercalation with high versatility.
Drivers of high US healthcare spending: an international comparative study

It is well known that the USA spends a lot more than any other country on healthcare but it is less known why and how. In this paper, we systematically investigated the healthcare spending differences between the USA and 11 similar OECD developed nations, and found the healthcare spending difference was mainly caused by a combination of lower volume, lower efficiency, and much higher prices in America. Particularly, we estimated Americans received 40% less per capita healthcare volume/quantity. On average, they spent $1977.4 more on insurance billing and payment administration, and the US healthcare delivery system was 27% less efficient. Also, the US healthcare price was about 129% higher than the average of the sampled countries. Based on these research findings, we discuss various implications on the US healthcare reform and future research directions.
Effect of backdoor attacks over the complexity of the latent space distribution.

The input space complexity determines the model's capabilities to extract their knowledge and translate the space of attributes into a function which is assumed in general, as a concatenation of non-linear functions between layers. In the presence of backdoor attacks, the space complexity changes, and induces similarities between classes that directly affect the model's training. As a consequence, the model tends to overfit the input set. In this research, we suggest the D-vine Copula Auto-Encoder (VCAE) as a tool to estimate the latent space distribution under the presence of backdoor triggers. Since no assumptions are made on the distribution estimation, like in Variational Autoencoders (VAE). It is possible to observe the backdoor stamp in non-attacked categories randomly generated. We exhibit the differences between a clean model (baseline) and the attacked one (backdoor) in a pairwise representation of the distribution. The idea is to illustrate the dependency structure change in the input space induced by backdoor features. Finally, we quantify the entropy's changes and the Kullback-Leibler divergence between models. In our results, we found the entropy in the latent space increases by around 27\% due to the backdoor trigger added to the input
Three-dimensional imaging of bladder cancer using optical coherence tomography and fluorescence laminar optical tomography

Early assessment of sub-surface bladder tumor extension is challenging as there are no acceptable imaging modalities to determine sub-surface three-dimensional (3D) tumor extension. Current existing cystoscopy guided transurethral resection technique is limited on direct visualization of tumor surface. In this paper, a multi-modal optical imaging modality combing high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) and depth-resolved high-sensitivity fluorescence laminar optical tomography (FLOT) for structural and molecular imaging was developed. Bladder tissues from UPII-SV40T mice model were imaged by the multi-modal system ex vivo and sub-surface tumor extension was reconstructed. Algorithm was developed to further quantified 3D bladder tumor morphology and molecular alterations.
Examining the Perception of Work-Related Skills for Transgender Employees

The current research sought to identify potential reasons for the prejudice and discrimination that transgender employees face in the workplace. Participants viewed a photograph of a potential employee with some participants randomly assigned to the experimental condition, which suggested the employee was transgender. Work-related skills and potential success in the workplace were evaluated. Participants tended to evaluate transgender employees lower on traits and skills important in the workplace, but there was no difference in the evaluation of potential success in the workplace. Results are discussed in terms of practical barriers that exist for transgender employees in the workplace.