cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Field experiment of a fully autonomous multiple UAV/UGS intruder detection and monitoring system

This document describes the motivation, theoretical description, development, and field test of a system utilizing multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)s that cooperate with each other, using Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS), to monitor an area, detect intruder vehicles, capture imagery of the intruders, and deliver that imagery to the home base. Since the UAVs have no sensors/perception algorithms that they can use to detect the intruder, they rely on off-board sensors, the UGS, to do this. The experiment was conducted in a realistic environment and during the experiment, the UAVs made all decisions and took all actions without human intervention.
MEMS—the view back…and the vistas ahead

The revolutionary changes in electronics brought about by the integrated circuit, are the clear forerunners to MEMS, and initial developments in the field have capitalized strongly on the IC background. As MEMS has matured, however, a continually widening circle of potential users are becoming aware of its values, and discovering its limitations. The newer perspectives they bring are straining the IC-technology linkages, while introducing a host of new ideas, technologies, and materials. The future for MEMS is full both of challenge and of extraordinary opportunity.
Emergence of Intraverbal Responding Following Tact Instruction with Compound Stimuli

Effective intraverbal responding often requires control by multiple elements of a verbal stimulus. The purpose of this study was to examine the emergence of such intraverbal relations following tact instruction with compound stimuli and to analyze any resulting error patterns. Participants were seven typically developing children between 3 and 5 years of age. After being taught to tact four overlapping compound stimuli that differed along color and shape dimensions, participants were tested for emergent intraverbal responding. Three participants performed with high accuracy and four with intermediate accuracy when correct intraverbal responding required control by multiple elements (i.e., color names and shape names) of the verbal stimulus. Five participants performed with high accuracy when intraverbal responding required control by only a single stimulus element, and all participants showed emergence of reverse intraverbal relations when the response required naming only a single stimulus element (i.e., color or shape). There was an insufficient number of errors to perform detailed error analyses at the individual level, but overall, the first element of a verbal stimulus was more likely to exert control over the response than the second element, and color words were more likely to exert control than shape words. Results suggest that individual stimulus elements acquired independent control over the responses that had been established as tacts.
A new cardiac motion vector field estimation method based on the optical-flow method with additional constraint from motion of an anatomical feature in 4D cardiac PET

148 Objectives The goal is to develop and evaluate a new cardiac motion vector field (MVF) estimation method based on the conventional optical-flow algorithm with an additional constraint from the motion of an anatomical feature from 4D cardiac gated PET images to improve cardiac motion estimation accuracy. Methods Noisy cardiac-gated PET projection data were generated from the 4D XCAT phantom with realistic cardiac MVF model with 8 gated frames and reconstructed using the STIR package. A customized high-resolution PET scanner with a system resolution of 0.78 mm was used in the analytical simulation for accurate feature extraction and the iterative OS-EM algorithm was used in image reconstruction. The interventricular sulcus (IS) was extracted from 3D cardiac PET image at each gated frame, and the motion along its length was estimated and decomposed into the radial, circumferential, and longitudinal components. Similar to our previous implementation, a sulcus-based initial cardiac MVF estimate was extrapolated from the motion of extracted IS based on the a priori knowledge about the spatial variation of three cardiac motion components in myocardium. It was also used as an additional constraint in the new optical-flow algorithm to enforce sulcus matching between two cardiac frames. The constraint was assigned larger weight for voxels closer to the IS. The new motion estimation algorithm was combined with the S-initial, which was based on the extracted IS motion and cardiac motion model, for feature-based cardiac motion estimation. In comparison, the conventional optical flow algorithm was applied with initial estimates: 0-initial, where the initial cardiac MVF has zero values; T-initial, where the ‘true’ cardiac MVF of the 4D XCAT phantom was used; as well as the S-initial. The motion estimation results with four methods were compared to the true cardiac MVF of the 4D XCAT phantom for quantitative evaluation. Results In frames with significant cardiac motion, the cardiac MVF estimates using the conventional optical-flow algorithm and the S-initial were more accurate than that using the 0-initial, and were comparable to that using the T-initial. When the new motion estimation method with the additional constraint term and the S-initial were used, the accuracy of the cardiac MVF estimate is further improved, surpassing that of the conventional motion estimation method using the T-initial. Conclusions A cardiac MVF estimation method based on the conventional optical flow algorithm and an additional constraint term that incorporate the motion of the IS was developed and evaluated using analytically simulated 4D cardiac-gated MP PET data. The new motion estimation method provides improved estimate of the cardiac MVF, providing important additional diagnostic information from 4D MP PET studies.
Polarization-resolved terahertz imaging of hybrid fiber-reinforced composite laminate subject to low-velocity impact

By taking advantage of the interaction between terahertz polarization and carbon-fiber orientation, impact-induced intra- and inter-laminar damages at the same interface are differentiated via terahertz polarization-resolved imaging in three dimensions.
On seeing and being seen

The paper addresses John Roemer’s recent work on Kantian optimization and Kantian equilibria. Roemer argues that the standard economic theory of Nash equilibria is incapable of accounting for cooperative behavior such as recycling, reporting one’s income honestly, and voting in national elections. Instead we should assume that a cooperator is motivated to do what would most benefit her if all did the same. In commenting on this proposal, the first section of the paper summarizes Kant’s original formulation of the categorical imperative and relates it to psychological and historical studies of magical thinking. The next section distinguishes between unconditional and conditional norms of behavior and, within the latter, between the social norms of cooperation that can be triggered when what the agent does is being observed by others and the quasi-moral norms of cooperation that can be triggered when an agent observes what others do. To illustrate these ideas, the paper cites many experiments and historical case studies, the most important being the non-consumption, non-importation, and non-exportation movements in the American revolution. The concluding section summarizes Roemer’s own empirical work, and discusses critically his argument that his findings can be explained by assuming that agents are conditional Kantians.
Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians

This guideline from the ACP provides clinical recommendations about noninvasive pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment of low back pain.
The history and evolution of pancreaticoduodenectomy

Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is the procedure of choice for periampullary cancers, which include four separate malignancies occurring in the region of the ampulla of Vater: pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), ampullary cancer, distal cholangiocarcinoma, and duodenal adenocarcinoma. The evolution of PD began as a series of isolated, independent resection attempts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but the procedure failed to gain momentum because of its great technical difficulty and dismal outcomes. Allen O. Whipple and colleagues were the first to adopt a systematic approach to radical pancreaticoduodenal resections and by 1935, they had demonstrated the technical feasibility of the procedure. However, the highly morbid operation was nearly abandoned altogether after postoperative outcomes failed to improve in the decades following Whipple’s initial success. Fortunately, a trend in centralization and standardization of care beginning in the 1980s fueled a decrease in perioperative mortality rates that now stands at 1-2% at high volume centers.
Campaigns, descriptive representation, quotas and women’s political engagement in Mexico

ABSTRACTTo what extent does the presence of a competitive female legislative candidate influence women’s political engagement in the context of a gender quota regime? Existing work on the effects of increasing descriptive representation on women’s engagement suggests a positive effect, but less attention is paid to how gender quotas may alter the relationship. We develop and test two hypotheses, one suggesting female candidates positively influence women’s engagement, while the other suggests female candidates in a gender quota regime may create a backlash effect and negatively influence women’s engagement. We draw on two nationally representative post-election surveys from Mexico and original data on the number and competitiveness of female candidates to examine the influence of these candidacies on multiple measures of political engagement. Overall, our results are more consistent with a backlash effect. We find female legislative candidates have little positive effect on increasing political engagement...
A Simple Approach to the 1:1 Resonance Bifurcation in Follower-Load Problems

We consider the problem of 1:1 resonance in autonomous, timereversible systems. We first present an abstract treatment for n-dimensionalsecond-order systems, and then apply our method to two simplemechanical examples involving follower loads. As the magnitude of the follower load is increased past a criticalvalue, the trivial solution loses stability as the real-valuedfrequencies of the linearized system first coalesce and then splitapart with complex-conjugate values. In Hamiltonian systems this isusually referred to as the Hamiltonian–Hopf bifurcation. Some novelfeatures of our analysis are the direct exploitation of reversibilityand a Liapunov–Schmidt reduction of the second-order (Newtonian)equations of motion, the latter of which requires no complexification.The analysis of the resulting two-parameter, one-dimensionalbifurcation equation yields the possibility that families ofnontrivial periodic solutions may exist for load values in excess of the critical value.
Care Configurations and Unmet Care Needs in Older Men and Women

Older adults frequently experience adverse consequences as the result of unmet care needs, including not getting dressed and going without food when hungry. Previous studies have noted that characteristics of the caregiver network may be associated with unmet needs. Using National Health and Aging Trends Study data, I modeled the association between care configurations and unmet needs for men and women. In generalized linear models, formal care was not associated with unmet need among women or men. Compared with recipients of spousal care, men receiving care from one nonspousal caregiver, and men and women receiving care from any other configuration, had higher odds of unmet needs. The level of difficulty with daily tasks was strongly associated with unmet needs. These findings support monitoring older adults not receiving spousal care, increasing access to formal care, and regularly assessing level of difficulty with daily tasks in clinical and research settings.
Task-Specific Sites and Paleoindian Landscape Use in the Shaw Creek Flats, Alaska

The Shaw Creek Flats and nearby middle Tanana river, in central Alaska, constitute one of the areas in the Americas with the densest known distribution of Late Glacial (about 14,500–11,700 cal. B.P.) archaeological sites. Local high rates of sediment deposition and low post-depositional disturbance allow for the interpretation of the function of archaeological occupations within larger economic and mobility strategies. Residential sites used over the long term seem to be located near critical but immovable resources such as clear water and vegetation. The spatial association of artifacts and faunal remains at other sites in the Flats suggest that they were specialized, short-lived locations dedicated to a single or few activities. For instance, the site of Swan Point Cultural Zone 4b is interpreted as a workshop related to the production of composite tools, particularly on mammoth ivory, and the site of Keystone Dune is interpreted as a camp related to wapiti (Cervus elaphus) hunting. These task-specific sites and others were probably used as part of a predominantly logistical mobility and economy strategy, which maximized efficiency in harvesting and processing resources that were distributed heterogeneously on the landscape.
Contesting multiculturalism: ethno-regionalism and contending forms of nationalism in late colonial Nigeria

ABSTRACTIs multiculturalism the best way to deal with diversity in an emerging but divided (African) nation-state? Is multiculturalism antithetical to nation-building and mutual recognition of equa...
Biomimetic Nanosponges for Treating Antibody-Mediated Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases are characterized by overactive immunity, where the body’s defense system launches an attack against itself. If left unchecked, this can result in the destruction of healthy tissue and significantly affect patient well-being. In the case of type II autoimmune hypersensitivities, autoreactive antibodies attack the host’s own cells or extracellular matrix. Current clinical treatment modalities for managing this class of disease are generally nonspecific and face considerable limitations. In this Topical Review, we cover emerging therapeutic strategies, with an emphasis on novel nanomedicine platforms. Specifically, the use of biomimetic cell membrane-coated nanosponges that are capable of specifically binding and neutralizing pathological antibodies will be explored. There is significant untapped potential in the application of nanotechnology for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, and continued development along this line may help to eventually change the clinical landscape.
Posterior Tibial Artery Pseudoaneurysm with Arteriovenous Fistula: Impact of Duplex Ultrasound on Diagnosis and Treatment:

Post traumatic peripheral vascular injuries resulting in pseudoaneurysm (PSA) or arterial venous fistula (AVF) are rarely reported and may occur independently, or less commonly, concomitantly, foll...
Uncemented Tantalum Monoblock Tibial Fixation for Total Knee Arthroplasty in Patients Less Than 60 Years of Age: Mean 10-Year Follow-up

Background:Although tibial component loosening has been considered a concern after total knee arthroplasty without cement, such implants have been used in younger patients because of the potential for ingrowth and preservation of bone stock. However, mid-term and long-term studies of modern uncement
Ultrafilter Pairs and Elementary Embeddings

An ultrafilter pair , F> consists of a non-empty set Γ and an ultrafilter F on I. The next two theorems extend results of Frayne et al. (1962).
Response of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv phaseoli to acidity

Soil acidity constraints grain legume production in tropical soils, both limiting Rhizobium survival and reducing nodulation. Strains of rhizobia with greater tolerance to hydrogen-ion concentration have been identified, but the basis for strain differences in pH tolerance has yet to be determined. In this study, strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum by phaseoli which differed in their tolerance to acidity were exposed to acid pH, then cell levels of potassium and calcium determined, and specific ‘acid-shock’ proteins identified. Lowering the external pH to 4.6–4.7 resulted in an immediate efflux of calcium from the cell of both acid tolerant and sensitive bean strains. Change in cell potassium levels on exposure to acidity varied with the strain. Strain UMR 1899 and an acid-sensitive mutant derived from it maintained high cytoplasmic potassium at acid pH, whereas an acid-sensitive strain UMR 1632 underwent a marked decline in cell potassium at pH 4.6. Exposure of these strains to pH 4.5 in the presence of [35S]-labeled methionine enhanced production of a number of proteins, while synthesis of other proteins at this pH was significantly reduced. Differences in banding pattern were also evident between UMR1899 and the Tn5-induced pH-sensitive mutant UMR5005 derived from it, and between cells grown in the presence and absence of calcium and phosphorus.
Relationship Between Heart Rate Variability and Acute:Chronic Load Ratio Throughout a Season in NCAA D1 Men's Soccer Players.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR)-based training load (TL) metrics and (b) to examine relationships across various A:C ratio-based TL metrics. Heart rate variability in 23 male college soccer players (mean ± SD; age, 21 ± 1 years; body mass, 80.3 ± 5.8 kg; height, 181.9 ± 6.5 cm; %body fat, 11.9 ± 2.0%; and V[Combining Dot Above]O2max, 51.9 ± 5.0 ml·kg-1·min-1) was measured at 5 time points: week(W)1, W3, W7, W12, and W14 during the 2015 NCAA men's soccer season. Heart rate variability was calculated from beat to beat intervals using a heart rate monitor. Players donned a global position satellite–enabled device that measured the following TL metrics: session time (ST), Player Load (PL), PL·min-1, and total distance (TD). Acute:chronic workload ratio was calculated for each TL metric: ACWR-based ST (ACWRST), ACWR-based PL (ACWRPL), ACWR-based PL·min-1 (ACWRPLM), and ACWR-based TD (ACWRTD): ACWR = week average TLs/mo average (30 ± 1 days) TLs. Relationships between HRV and ACWR-based each TL metric were evaluated using mixed effects models. Tukey pairwise comparisons were used to examine differences between types of ACWR-based TL metrics. An increase in ACWRST significantly reduced HRV throughout a season (-7.4 ± 3.6 m·s-1; p = 0.04). There were significant differences between ACWRPLM and ACWRST, ACWRPL and ACWRTD at W1, ACWRPLM and ACWRST at W3 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, ACWRST, ACWRPL, and ACWRTD were significantly different from ACWRPLM. ACWRST was found to significantly predict HRV; higher ACWRST was significantly associated with lower HRV. Therefore, tracking of the ACWR using ST may help to optimize athlete's physiological state throughout a season.
A System for Real-Time Syringe Classification and Volume Measurement Using a Combination of Image Processing and Artificial Neural Networks

The purpose of this research was to develop a system that can read and report the volume of liquid medication present in syringes. The system is comprised of a digital webcam which is designed to communicate with a computer program developed using MATLAB. The system includes two functional modules, one supporting syringe classification, and another supporting volume measurement. Adaptive template matching was used to determine the best match point between target and template images. The connected component labeling method was used during volume measurement. An artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed using MATLAB to support the intended volume measurement functionality. The developed ANN was designed as a classifier which determines the plunger depth of the syringe and then leverages this result to calculate and derive the volume of medication inside the syringe as the final system output. Commercial Luer-lock syringes of sizes from 1 to 30 ml were used in conjunction with syringe tip caps of blue and yellow color. Tap water or aqueous dye solutions of yellow, red, and blue color simulated liquid medication in the syringe. The developed syringe classification system successfully detected and categorized all tested syringes according to their size. The best accuracy of the system was found to be 99.95% with a 3-ml syringe, while the worst accuracy was 95.82% with a 5-ml syringe. It took approximately 6 s to perform the entire task demonstrating the utility of this system to report volumes in real time. The developed system can be used across a variety of settings that routinely support measuring and handling liquids in syringes including hospitals, pharmacies, and the pharmaceutical industry.
Down regulation of androgen receptor (AR) and its target gene (PSA) expressions by B-DIM leads to sensitization of prostate cancer cells to Taxotere-induced apoptosis.

466 Despite initial response to androgen deprivation, patients with prostate cancer usually develop hormone refractory metastasis and eventually succumb to the disease. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed to overcome drug resistance for the treatment of prostate cancer. Epidemiological studies have shown that the consumption of cruciferous vegetables is associated with reduced cancer risk. 3,3’-diindolymethane (DIM) is an acid condensation product of I3C, which is present in almost all members of the cruciferous vegetable family. DIM has been shown to down-regulate AR, suggesting the growth inhibitory effects of DIM on hormone related cancers. A formulated DIM (B-DIM, BioResponse) has been shown to exhibit approximately 50% higher bioavailability. However, no molecular studies have been reported to date to elucidate the effect of B-DIM on prostate cancer cells. To investigate the effects of B-DIM on prostate cancer cells, we treated hormone sensitive LNCaP cells and hormone insensitive PC-3 cells with 0 to 60 μM of B-DIM for one to three days. MTT, ELISA, and Western blot analysis were conducted to test cell growth inhibition, apoptosis, and the expression of AR and prostate specific antigen (PSA). Microarray analysis was also conducted to assess global alternations in gene expression profile. We found that B-DIM inhibited the growth of prostate cancer cells and induced apoptosis in a dose and time dependent manner. Microarray gene expression analysis showed that B-DIM regulated the expression of genes which are critical for the control of cell growth and apoptosis. Western blot analysis showed that B-DIM significantly inhibited AR and PSA protein expression in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. It has been recently reported that increases in androgen receptor mRNA and proteins are both necessary and sufficient to convert prostate cancer from a hormone-sensitive to a hormone refractory stage, suggesting that over-expression of AR is an important factor for acquired resistance of prostate cancer to hormone ablation therapy. Since our results showed decreased AR and PSA expression with concomitant inhibition of cell growth and induction of apoptosis by B-DIM, we suggest that the resistance acquired by prostate cancer cells to androgen ablation therapy could be reversed by B-DIM treatment. Moreover, we tested our hypothesis whether B-DIM could sensitize hormone insensitive PC-3 prostate cancer cells to Taxotere. We found that Taxotere (1 nM) in combination with 50 μM B-DIM exerted significantly more growth inhibitory effects compared to Taxotere or B-DIM treatment alone. In conclusion, our results provide a solid foundation for devising novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of hormone or chemo-resistant metastatic prostate cancer by including B-DIM, a non-toxic agent, with other therapeutic agents.
Filing Taxes Early, Getting Healthcare Late: Insights from 1.2 Million Households

For a large majority of American households, tax season brings one of the most significant positive cash flow events of the year in the form of tax refunds. Leveraging data on 1.2 million accounts receiving tax refunds in 2016, we investigate variation in the timing of tax filing across socioeconomic and demographic groups, and variation in the impact of the tax refund on out-of-pocket healthcare spending. To our knowledge, this is the first analysis in 30 years to look at how the timing and size of tax refunds varies across a broad income distribution. We find that among tax filers who were owed refunds, lower-income and younger people filed earlier in the season. Even within an income or age group, those who were owed larger refunds tended to file earlier. Healthcare spending out of accounts held by earlier filers, younger people, women, and lower-income people increased by the largest proportion in response to the tax refund. Deferred care represented a larger fraction of deferred healthcare spending out of accounts held by earlier filers, women, and lower-income people. Cash flow dynamics affected the timing of out-of-pocket healthcare payments even among higher-income groups.Regardless of income, those who filed earlier in the season put a larger fraction of their refund toward deferred healthcare spending.
Acetyl coenzyme A synthetase catalyzed reactions of coenzyme A with α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acids

alpha, beta-Unsaturated coenzyme A (CoA) thioesters including acrylyl CoA, methacrylyl CoA, and propiolyl CoA were synthesized by catalysis with acetyl CoA synthetase (EC 6.2.1.1.). After isolation from the enzymatic reactions, the products were found to be the result of 1,4 addition of CoASH to the double bond and addition of water to the triple bond of the initial acyl CoA adducts. Structural determinations of these products by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and the chemical reactions leading to their formation are described.
Feasibility Study of Problem-Solving Training for Care Partners of Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Burn Injury, or Stroke During the Inpatient Hospital Stay.

Abstract Objective To determine the feasibility of delivering an evidence-based self-management intervention, problem-solving training (PST), to care partners of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), burn injury, or stroke during the inpatient hospital stay. Design In this single group pre-post intervention pilot feasibility study. Setting Inpatient rehabilitation or acute care and community. Participants Care partners (spouse or partner, family member, friend who is in any way responsible for the health or well-being of the care recipient) of individuals with TBI, SCI, burn injury, or stroke (N=39). Intervention PST is a metacognitive self-management intervention that teaches individuals a global strategy for addressing self-selected problems. Participants received up to 6 sessions of PST in person or via telephone during their care recipient’s inpatient stay. Main Outcome Measures We measured feasibility of recruitment, intervention delivery, and postintervention use of a smartphone app (Care Partner Problem Solving [CaPPS]) and participant satisfaction (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire [CSQ]) and engagement (Pittsburgh Rehabilitation Participation Scale [PRPS]) with the intervention. Results Of 39 care partners approached, n=10 (25.6%) were ineligible. Of n=29 (74.4%) who were eligible, n=17 (58.6%) refused, and n=12 (41.4%) consented, of whom n=8 (66.7%) completed ≥3 PST sessions. Not perceiving any benefit was the most common reason for refusal, followed by no interest in research. Participants were very satisfied with PST (CSQ mean=3.35, SD=0.60), reported strong working alliance (Working Alliance Inventory mean=6.8, SD=3.1), and demonstrated very good engagement (PRPS mean=4.75, SD=1.41). CaPPS was downloaded and used by only n=3 participants. Conclusions Delivering a self-management intervention to care partners during the care recipient’s acute hospital stay is feasible for a subset of potential participants. Short lengths of stay, language fluency, and perceiving no potential benefit were noted barriers. Boosters via smartphone app have potential, but several barriers must first be overcome.
No in disguise: algorithmically targeted conversations about sexual consent in a multimedia art installation

As the distinction between our online and offline selves collapses, how we are able to express ourselves digitally has direct consequences for the world we experience offline. This paper examines those consequences through a work of art that explores how a popular dating app prestructures sexual relationships: The author's collaborative multimedia installation No in Disguise features procedurally composited video of men reading interviews with dating app users algorithmically targeted by their views on sexual consent as expressed in their profiles.
Utility of Botulinum Injections in Stiff-Person Syndrome

Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is an uncommon neurological disorder characterized by significant rigidity and muscle spasms primarily affecting the truncal and proximal musculature. Furthermore, a wide-based gait with functional impairment is generally seen. High-dose benzodiazepines or baclofen are widely considered the optimal initial therapy; however, major adverse effects often preclude adequate dosing. Refractory cases may be treated with intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG), plasma exchange, or B-cell depletion with rituximab, although these are also associated with major, sometimes fatal, adverse reactions. Several reports have validated the safety and utility of botulinum injections in this setting, yet botulinum remains markedly underutilized in this cohort. Below, a case report and review of the literature show botulinum can decrease pain and stiffness, improve gait and balance, and decrease dependence on powerful systemic treatments in this group.
Electrical properties of laser-deposited aluminum oxynitride films on indium phosphide

Here we report on the electrical properties of laser-assisted chemical vapor deposited (CVD) aluminum oxynitride (AION) films on InP substrates for use as metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) diodes. From previous investigations, the major problems associated with InP MIS devices related to current drift phenomena and interfacial instabilities. These instabilities depend on surface preparation and surface damage induced during insulator deposition. Laser-assisted CVD may provide a less radiation damaging deposition technique, and thus InP MIS devices may be improved.
Solar/Photovoltaic dc Systems: Information for Electrical Workers and Firefighters

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems are common and continue to gain popularity. This article helps electrical workers and firefighters understand basic operating principles and hazards of PV dc arrays.
Implementation of Pregnancy Checklist into Clinic Workflow: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Abstract Study Objective This project aims to implement the Pregnancy Reasonably Excluded Guide in an outpatient family planning teen clinic using the EPIDEM quality improvement (QI) framework. Design Quality improvement. Setting Outpatient family planning teen clinic in an urban center. Participants Female teen clinic patients (13-19 years of age). Interventions We used the EPIDEM (Explore relevant issues and contextual factors, Promote to the right people, Implement timely solutions, Document steps, Evaluate with meaningful measures, Make modifications to improve interventions further) QI framework to implement the Pregnancy Reasonably Excluded Guide in our clinic. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome was the percentage of eligible visits in which the checklist was used. The secondary outcome was the percentage of encounters in which a UPT was ordered pre- and post-implementation. Results A total of 383 eligible encounters were reviewed pre- and post-implementation. Before implementation, there was no use of the checklist in clinic. After implementation, 81.8% of eligible encounters used the checklist. Before implementation, 37.3 % of encounters had a UPT ordered. After implementation, 27.0% of encounters had a UPT ordered; there was a 27.6% decrease in UPTs ordered (P = .036). Conclusion The pregnancy checklist can be successfully implemented using QI methodology, and the EPIDEM QI framework is a valuable clinical tool for the implementation of a context-sensitive protocol. Use of the pregnancy checklist is standard of care and has the capacity to reduce the number of unnecessary UPTs, which may provide time and cost savings in a broad range of clinical settings.
Open Ventral Hernia Repair with Underlay Mesh

This chapter discusses technical aspects of open ventral hernia repair with underlay mesh, including instrumentation and equipment, patient positioning, and surgical steps. The authors also offer pearls and pitfalls.
Measurement of stress-time avalanches inside polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete beams during flexure

Abstract In this work, we studied stress variations of loading histories on polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete beams during flexure. A new experimental system was created to collect the stress-time curves at 100 kHz sampling rate to reveal temporal profiles of stress drops in high resolution. Concrete beams prepared at the early age of seven days with different fiber volume fractions were loaded at various rates during four-point bending tests. Stress drops induced by interactions between polypropylene fibers and cementitious matrices or matrix cracking were modeled as avalanches along the time history. We used the mean field model to predict statistics and dynamics of avalanches occurred inside polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete beams during flexure. Good agreement was obtained between measurements and predicted power law exponents and scaling functions from the mean field model. Two types of avalanches were observed for polypropylene fiber reinforced beams during flexure, i.e., small avalanches collapsed onto the scaling regime and large avalanches beyond the regime. Maximum stress drop rates of small avalanches were on the order of kPa/s, whereas maximum stress drop rates of large avalanches could reach the order of MPa/s. Observations of different avalanches revealed insights into the essential failure evolved during flexure concrete beams, i.e., small avalanches with limited plastic deformation and large avalanches with extended incubation periods. Findings from this study could help measure the evolved damage of concrete structural members under service loads, which provide valuable hints to improve the durability of reinforced concrete structures.
A Modular, Non-Newtonian, Model, Library Framework (DebrisLib)for Post-Wildfire Flood Risk Management

Abstract. Wildfires increase flow and sediment load through removal of vegetation, alteration of soils, decreasing infiltration, and production of ash commonly generating a wide variety of geophysical flows (i.e., hyperconcentrated flows, mudflows, debris flows, etc.). Numerical modellers have developed a variety of Non-Newtonian algorithms to simulate each of these processes, and therefore, it can be difficult to understand the assumptions and limitations in any given model or replicate work. This diversity in the processes and approach to non-Newtonian simulations makes a modular computation library approach advantageous. A computational library consolidates the algorithms for each process and discriminates between these processes and algorithms with quantitative non-dimensional thresholds. This work presents a flexible numerical library framework (DebrisLib) to simulate large-scale, post-wildfire, non-Newtonian geophysical flows using both kinematic wave and shallow-water models. DebrisLib is derived from a variety of non-Newtonian closure approaches that predict a range of non-Newtonian flow conditions. It is a modular code designed to operate with any Newtonian, shallow-water parent code architecture. This paper presents the non-Newtonian model framework and demonstrates its effectiveness by calling it from two very different modelling frameworks developed by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), specifically, within the one-dimensional and two-dimensional Hydrologic Engineering Centre River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) and two-dimensional Adaptive Hydraulics (AdH) numerical models. The development and linkage-architecture were verified and validated using two non-Newtonian flume experiments selected to represent a range of non-Newtonian flow conditions (i.e., hyperconcentrated flow, mudflow, debris flow) commonly associated with post-wildfire flooding.
Paradigms of Sex Research and Women in Stem

Scientists’ identities and social locations influence their work, but the content of scientific work can also influence scientists. Theory from feminist science studies, autoethnographic accounts, ...
To drink or not to drink: When drinking intentions predict alcohol consumption and consequences

OBJECTIVES We examined daily associations between drinking intentions and drinking behaviour and tested past drinking behaviour and current social environment as potential moderators of the daily intention-behaviour association. We expected both more frequent past drinking and being in a high drinking environment to weaken the intention-behaviour association. We also tested intentionality as a moderator of the association between alcohol consumption and next-day negative outcomes, expecting that less intentional alcohol consumption would be related to greater stress and regret. DESIGN We tested these hypotheses using two separate micro-longitudinal studies of college students (Ns = 1,641, 540). METHODS In two samples, participants completed bursts of data collection in which they indicated their previous alcohol consumption and then completed 30 days of diary surveys in which they reported their alcohol consumption and social environment the previous evening and their levels of stress, regret, and drinking intentions that day. RESULT Consistent with our predictions, drinking intentions more strongly predicted drinking behaviour among individuals with less frequent past drinking behaviour, and, in Sample 1, drinking intentions more strongly predicted drinking behaviour among individuals in a low drinking environment. Contrary to hypotheses, results indicated that individuals with low drinking intentions were more likely to experience stress the next day, particularly if they consumed less alcohol. Greater consumption, however, was related to greater odds of experiencing regret, but this was stronger among individuals with higher drinking intentions. CONCLUSIONS Findings are discussed in terms of the complex interplay between intentions and both social environment and contextual factors with respect to predicting drinking level and related problems.
Tracing protein and proteome history with chronologies and networks: folding recapitulates evolution

Introduction While the origin and evolution of proteins remain mysterious, advances in evolutionary genomics and systems biology are facilitating the historical exploration of the structure, function and organization of proteins and proteomes. Molecular chronologies are series of time events describing the history of biological systems and subsystems and the rise of biological innovations. Together with time-varying networks, these chronologies provide a window into the past. Areas covered Here, we review molecular chronologies and networks built with modern methods of phylogeny reconstruction. We discuss how chronologies of structural domain families uncover the explosive emergence of metabolism, the late rise of translation, the co-evolution of ribosomal proteins and rRNA, and the late development of the ribosomal exit tunnel; events that coincided with a tendency to shorten folding time. Evolving networks described the early emergence of domains and a late 'big bang' of domain combinations. Expert opinion Two processes, folding and recruitment appear central to the evolutionary progression. The former increases protein persistence. The later fosters diversity. Chronologically, protein evolution mirrors folding by combining supersecondary structures into domains, developing translation machinery to facilitate folding speed and stability, and enhancing structural complexity by establishing long-distance interactions in novel structural and architectural designs.
Cutting Edge: Physiologic Attenuation of Proinflammatory Transcription by the Gs Protein-Coupled A2A Adenosine Receptor In Vivo

The A2A adenosine receptor plays a critical role in the physiologic immunosuppressive pathway that protects normal tissues from excessive collateral damage by overactive immune cells and their proinflammatory cytokines. In this study, we examine and clarify the mechanism of tissue protection by extracellular adenosine using A2AR-deficient mice and show that the A2AR inhibits TLR-induced transcription of proinflammatory cytokines in vivo. The observed increase in proinflammatory cytokines mRNA in A2AR-deficient mice was associated with enhanced activity of the NF-κB transcription factor. These observations provide the genetic in vivo evidence for attenuation of proinflammatory transcriptional activity of NF-κB by a “metabokine” adenosine and point to the need to re-evaluate the regulation of other transcription factors in hypoxic and adenosine-rich microenvironments of inflamed normal tissues and solid tumors.
Abstract 368: Inferred regulatory interaction network from prostate cancer reveals potential regulators coordinating progression and metastasis

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA Introduction: Significant genomic reprogramming occurs when prostate cancer cells acquire androgen receptor (AR) independent growth and metastasize to remote sites. Recent whole genome sequencing studies have noted recurrent gene deletion, amplification, fusion and widespread chromoplexy associated with prostate cancer progression. Synchronizing such a multistep multicomponent process, involving both cancer cells and tumor microenvironment, to gain growth advantage is challenging without a master coordinator. Genome-wide siRNA screenings have been undertaken to identify regulators driving such a reprogramming process affecting cancer cell themselves, but not the necessary interaction with host tissue. Thereby a novel approach was developed in the current work to uncover potential regulators that coordinate major cancer hallmarks and tumor-host interactions leading to prostate cancer progression. Methods: A network of potential regulatory interactions among genes was derived from matched prostate cancer expression profiles and copy number variation (CNV) datasets. The relevance of the inferred network was examined by experimentally derived AR target networks and literature mining- based cancer gene interaction networks. Subsequently, a network topology-based matrix, critical node index, was established to identify network modules significantly associated with biochemical recurrence—a clinical surrogate marker representing prostate cancer progression. Results: When bench-marked with established prostate cancer gene sets, the critical node downstream modules were more significantly enriched for individual genes with strong prognostic power (P<1E-5). Furthermore, compounds, which are capable of reversing expression patterns of individual top critical node downstream modules, either inhibited cancer cell growth or tumor progression in public datasets and literature. More importantly, overexpression or knock down of individual critical nodes in LNCaP, 22RV1, and PC3 prostate cancer cell lines demonstrated the potential of critical nodes to coordinate AR-independent growth through regulating host tissue immune interactions. Conclusion: Our preliminary results imply the existence of network modules that can synchronize the effects of genomic reprogramming during prostate cancer progression and metastasis. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Xudong Dai, Yixuang Gong, Matthew D. Galsky, Eric E. Schadt, William K. Oh, Jun Zhu. Inferred regulatory interaction network from prostate cancer reveals potential regulators coordinating progression and metastasis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 368. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-368
Seradjeh, Wu, and Phillips Reply:

In a Comment [arXiv:0910.1256], Behnia contends that the surface theory put forward in our recent Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 136803 (2009); arXiv:0905.0689] as an alternative explanation of the anomalous peaks observed in Nernst measurement on a single-crystal bismuth sample at high (> 9 T) magnetic fields [Science 317, 1729 (2007); arXiv:0802.1993] is not consistent with the order of magnitude and shape of the anomalous peaks observed in the experiment. We explain in this Reply why this contention is not true.
A new on-line negentropy-based algorithm for blind source separation

Negentropy is one of the principal techniques for independent component analysis. It serves as a multi-purpose tool for both blind signal separation (BSS) and blind signal extraction (BSE). However, the main and most widely used algorithm based on negentropy, namely Fast-IC works in batch mode. A fast on-line operation with a fast convergence rate is very useful in tracking non-stationary sources. In this paper, we modify the cost function of negentropy to produce an improved on-line algorithm. Simulation results of the proposed algorithm prove its good performance and remarkable convergence rate.
Modeling the grid as a customer-driven system: emerging challenges and opportunities for self-healing infrastructures

Summary form only given, as follows. The Consortium for the Intelligent Management of the Electric Power Grid (CIMEG) is developing a new theoretical approach to modeling the deregulated power grid as a customer-driven system. The approach is demonstrated through TELOS, an agent-based anticipatory system that is under development in the service areas of ComEd and TVA. When the grid is viewed through the temporal behavior of customers several possibilities for defensive and ameliorative strategies become easy to implement in an efficient and reliable manner. Yet, new modeling, identification and prediction challenges emerge. The authors present new contributions and give a status report on the CIMEG's accomplishments and work in progress.