cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Three‐dimensional bright‐field scanning transmission electron microscopy elucidate novel nanostructure in microbial biofilms

Bacterial biofilms play key roles in environmental and biomedical processes, and understanding their activities requires comprehension of their nanoarchitectural characteristics. Electron microscopy (EM) is an essential tool for nanostructural analysis, but conventional EM methods are limited in that they either provide topographical information alone, or are suitable for imaging only relatively thin (<300 nm) sample volumes. For biofilm investigations, these are significant restrictions. Understanding structural relations between cells requires imaging of a sample volume sufficiently large to encompass multiple cells and the capture of both external and internal details of cell structure. An emerging EM technique with such capabilities is bright-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (BF-STEM) and in the present report BF-STEM was coupled with tomography to elucidate nanostructure in biofilms formed by the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading soil bacterium, Delftia acidovorans Cs1-4. Dual-axis BF-STEM enabled high-resolution 3-D tomographic recontructions (6-10 nm) visualization of thick (1250 and 1500 nm) sections. The 3-D data revealed that novel extracellular structures, termed nanopods, were polymorphic and formed complex networks within cell clusters. BF-STEM tomography enabled visualization of conduits formed by nanopods that could enable intercellular movement of outer membrane vesicles, and thereby enable direct communication between cells. This report is the first to document application of dual-axis BF-STEM tomography to obtain high-resolution 3-D images of novel nanostructures in bacterial biofilms. Future work with dual-axis BF-STEM tomography combined with correlative light electron microscopy may provide deeper insights into physiological functions associated with nanopods as well as other nanostructures.
A Signal or a Silo? Title VII's Unexpected Hegemony

Title VII’s domination of employment discrimination law today was not inevitable. Indeed, when Title VII was initially enacted, its supporters viewed it as weak and flawed. They first sought to strengthen and improve the law by disseminating equal employment enforcement throughout the federal government. Only in the late 1970s did they instead favor consolidating enforcement under Title VII and its implementing agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Yet to labor historians and legal scholars, Title VII’s triumphs came at a steep cost to unions. They write wistfully of an alternative regime that would have better harmonized antidiscrimination with labor law’s recognition of workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively with employers. This chapter explains how these impulses played out during Title VII’s uncertain first fifteen years as advocates, legislators, administrators, and workers pursued a more powerful Title VII on the one hand and one more harmonized with labor rights on the other. Empowering Title VII via dissemination proved more costly and less effective than its proponents expected; achieving a more harmonious regime was more complicated than is currently thought. This history provides a cautionary tale to those today who seek to reinvigorate labor rights by incorporating them into Title VII.
Anomalous dispersion in 300 nm-thick Si 3 N 4 concentric-ring-resonators

We present a mode coupling scheme to achieve anomalous dispersion with concentric-ring-resonators, and demonstrate broadband anomalous dispersion with a peak value of 2700 ps/nm/km in a 300 nm-thick Si 3 N 4 platform in the near infrared.
Exercise Can Reverse the Phenotype of Biglycan Deficient Mice

Biglycan (Bgn) is a small leucine-rich proteoglycan (SLRP) that is enriched in bone and other skeletal connective tissues and is responsible, in part, for the regulation of postnatal skeletal growth (Bianco, 1990). Mice lacking Bgn display reduced skeletal development and a lower peak bone mass that leads to age-dependent osteopenia (Xu, 1998). We hypothesized that mechanical loading could reverse the skeletal phenotype of Bgn knockout mice. To test this hypothesis, we determined the effects of treadmill running on the geometric, mechanical and mineral properties of Bgn deficient mice bones. After sacrifice, femora and tibiae were tested in 4 point bending and cross-sectional geometric properties and bone mineral parameters were measured. Exercise was able to partially reverse the skeletal phenotype of the Bgn knockouts by increasing both the geometric and mechanical properties of the tibiae to values equal to or greater than those of wild type control mice.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Forest structure following tornado damage and salvage logging in northern Maine, USA

Understanding forest structural changes resulting from postdisturbance management practices such as salvage logging is critical for predicting forest recovery and developing appropriate management strategies. In 2013, a tornado and subsequent salvage operations in northern Maine, USA, created three conditions (i.e., treatments) with contrasting forest structure: blowdown, blowdown + salvage, and control (undisturbed). We sampled forest structure in five stands representing each of these three treatments. Our results document obvious and predictable changes to forest structure caused by the blowdown and salvage operations; however, they also include unexpected findings: downed coarse woody debris volume remained quite high in the salvaged areas, although its vertical distribution was markedly reduced; salvage operations did not reduce fine woody debris volume; and the salvage operation itself reduced the abundance of upturned root masses. Our study contributes to a growing body of literature highlighting t...
Providers’ Behaviors and Beliefs on Prescribing Antipsychotic Medication to Children: A Qualitative Study

Fragmentation in behavioral and mental health care to children has resulted in suboptimal care and high rates of psychotropic medication use, especially antipsychotic medications (APM). A qualitative study, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), aimed to better understand prescribing practices, barriers to optimal treatment, and potential interventions to safeguard the use of APM for children in Kentucky. The most common barrier to optimal care was access to mental health specialists. Social norms and pressure from families contribute to increased medication use. We identify promising interventions to safeguard the use of APM through the lens of the TPB.
Detection of CFTR function and modulation in primary human nasal cell spheroids

Abstract Background Expansion of CFTR modulators to patients with rare/undescribed mutations will be facilitated by patient-derived models quantifying CFTR function and restoration. We aimed to generate a personalized model system of CFTR function and modulation using non-surgically obtained nasal epithelial cells (NECs). Methods NECs obtained by curettage from healthy volunteers and CF patients were expanded and grown in 3-dimensional culture as spheroids, characterized, and stimulated with cAMP-inducing agents to activate CFTR. Spheroid swelling was quantified as a proxy for CFTR function. Results NEC spheroids recapitulated characteristics of pseudostratified respiratory epithelia. When stimulated with forskolin/IBMX, spheroids swelled in the presence of functional CFTR, and shrank in its absence. Spheroid swelling quantified mutant CFTR restoration in F508del homozygous cells using clinically available CFTR modulators. Conclusions NEC spheroids hold promise for understanding rare CFTR mutations and personalized modulator testing to drive evaluation for CF patients with common, rare or undescribed mutations. Portions of this data have previously been presented in abstract form at the 2016 meetings of the American Thoracic Society and the 2016 North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference.
Using participatory action research methodology to improve worker health.

This chapter explores why Participatory Action Research (PAR) is useful for and consistent with an examination of jobs or workplaces as entire systems, as opposed to viewing worker health outcomes as the outcome of individual behaviors or as the result of single work tasks or exposures. Investigations in the PAR context incorporate a systematic effort to generate knowledge about specific conditions that can influence changes in a given situation. PAR has its academic roots in sociology, social psychology, psychology, organizational studies, and education. Psychological distress and violence emerged as major factors linked to organizational factors and management practices, with negative effects on worker health and productivity. For a worker health study, where a change process is part of the study design, direct involvement with the participants is essential. PAR has also been used as a methodology to address community and organization issues, including management and labor issues in various countries.
Multi-objective security constrained unit commitment problem using normal boundary intersection technique

Over a past year due to rapid industrialization and increased in the living standards of consumers, the electric power requirement is increasing globally and creating the great concern for environmental protection. This paper attempts to address efficient implementation of the Normal Boundary Intersection (NBI) technique for the trade-off between total cost and total emission during certain scheduling Interval with appropriate analysis methods. Two phases are considered to check the effectiveness of the proposed approach. In the first phase Security constrained unit commitment is solved considering voltage as controlled variable. In the second phase impact of contingency analysis on the unit commitment solution is performed. To solve the above problem formulation Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) is used. IEEE 30-bus systems is considered to check the performance of the proposed method and numerical results show that the near-optimal solution can be obtained efficiently by the proposed method.
Stochastic programming solution for placement of satellite ground stations

Disaster recovery efforts are enhanced through the collection and dissemination of satellite data, which is downloaded from satellites to ground stations. The optimal ground station locations vary depending on the location of the disaster, but ground station construction occurs before the realization of a disaster. Thus, a stochastic optimization problem arises: decide the location of ground stations before disasters with uncertain locations. We use a stochastic programming approach to select the location of ground stations given a set of potential disaster scenarios. The objective is to maximize the expected amount of data downloaded. The problem formulation consists of a two-stage stochastic program where the first-stage determines the locations of the ground stations and the second-stage schedules the uploading and downloading of data. We solve the problem using the L-shaped method; we find that it significantly outperforms solving the deterministic equivalent problem directly. We also find that an alternate second-stage formulation significantly improves solution time. The optimized set of ground stations found by our algorithm is compared to the set of ground stations operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s; results confirm that the current placement is effective and demonstrate the benefit in adding additional ground stations.
Revised cytogenetic risk stratification in primary myelofibrosis: analysis based on 1002 informative patients.

Current cytogenetic risk stratification in primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is two-tiered: ‘favorable’ and ‘unfavorable’. Recent studies have suggested prognostic heterogeneity within the unfavorable risk category. In 1002 consecutive patients, we performed stepwise analysis of impact on survival from individual and prognostically ordered cytogenetic abnormalities, leading to a revised three-tiered risk model: ‘very high risk (VHR)’—single/multiple abnormalities of −7, i(17q), inv(3)/3q21, 12p−/12p11.2, 11q−/11q23, or other autosomal trisomies not including + 8/ + 9 (e.g., +21, +19); ‘favorable’—normal karyotype or sole abnormalities of 13q−, +9, 20q−, chromosome 1 translocation/duplication or sex chromosome abnormality including -Y; ‘unfavorable’—all other abnormalities. Median survivals for VHR (n = 75), unfavorable (n = 190) and favorable (n = 737) risk categories were 1.2 (HR 3.8, 95% CI 2.9–4.9), 2.9 (HR 1.7, 95% CI 1.4–2.0) and 4.4 years and survival impact was independent of clinically derived prognostic systems, driver and ASXL1/SRSF2 mutations. The revised model was also effective in predicting leukemic transformation: HRs (95% CI) were 4.4 (2.0–9.4) for VHR and 2.0 (1.2–3.4) for unfavorable. The impact of driver mutations on survival was confined to favorable and that of ASXL1/SRSF2 mutations to favorable/unfavorable cytogenetic risk categories. The current study clarifies the prognostic hierarchy of genetic risk factors in PMF and provides a more refined three-tiered cytogenetic risk model.
Catching a "MitraFly".

An 86-year-old woman presented with New York Heart Association functional class III symptoms and a large mitral valve prolapse involving the P2 and P3 segments (white arrows, [Figure 1A][1]) with severe mitral regurgitation. A MitraClip (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) was placed at the
Hypoxia-induced caspase-3 activation and DNA fragmentation in cortical neurons of newborn piglets: Role of nitric oxide

Hypoxia results in generation of nitric oxide (NO) free radicals, activation of caspase-3, and genomic DNA fragmentation. The present study tests the hypothesis that hypoxia-induced caspase-3 activation and DNA fragmentation are nitric oxide mediated. Studies were conducted in newborn piglets, divided into normoxic (n = 5), hypoxic (n = 5), and hypoxic-7-NINA (n = 6). Hypoxic-7-NINA group received the neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, 7-Nitroindazole (7-NINA). Caspase-3 activity was determined spectrofluorometrically using enzyme-specific substrates. Sections from the neocortex were stained with an antiserum recognizing active caspase-3. Purified DNA was separated by gel electrophoresis. Administration of 7-NINA resulted in decreased immunoreactivity of caspase-3 (mean LI: 20.2%) as compared to the untreated hypoxia group (mean LI: 57.5%) (P < 0.05). 7-NINA attenuated caspase-3 enzymatic activity as well in comparison to the untreated hypoxia group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, multiple low molecular weight bands corresponding to DNA fragments were present in the hypoxic but not in the normoxic or hypoxic-7-NINA groups. Inhibition of nNOS abates the hypoxia-induced increase in active caspase-3 immunoreactivity, as well as enzymatic activity in cortical neurons, and DNA fragmentation in brain homogenates. We conclude that the coordinate increase of capase-3 activity and fragmentation of nuclear DNA in the hypoxic newborn piglet brain are NO mediated.
Disparity of in Vitro and in Vivo Oleic Acid-Enhanced β-Estradiol Percutaneous Absorption Across Human Skin

The permeation enhancing property of 5% oleic acid in ethanol on β-estradiol was investigated in vitro and in vivo using symmetrical and asymmetrical side-by-side diffusion cells and the human skin sandwich flap, respectively. β-Estradiol permeability in vitro and in vivo was similar in 75% ethanol (ETOH). Oleic acid (5%) did not alter β-estradiol permeability in vivo but increased permeability sixfold in vitro in symmetrical diffusion cells. β-Estradiol permeability in oleic acid was not different from that in ETOH, however, using asymmetrical diffusion cells. Stratum corneum-to-vehicle partition coefficients of β-estradiol in the vehicles were similar, yet fourfold more steroid was detected in skin biopsies from the in vitro symmetrical diffusion cells. Thus, oleic acid increased β-estradiol permeability in vitro only when skin was equilibrated with fatty acid. Attention to in vitro diffusion cell design and its relevance in vivo is critical to defining the mechanisms of enhanced solute permeation.
Troubleshooting the Difficult Laparoscopic Case

This chapter outlines the approach to the difficult laparoscopic colorectal operation where access may be limited because of intra-abdominal pathology or adhesions. Complications and their avoidance are discussed in the current environment of more advanced laparoscopy. The objective of this chapter is to present a current opinion about troubleshooting the difficult laparoscopic case, focusing on minimizing complications and their management should intraoperative problems occur.
Modeling Student Dropout in Tutoring Systems

Intelligent tutors have been shown to be almost as effective as human tutors in supporting learning in many domains. However, the construction of intelligent tutors can be costly. One way to address this problem is to use previously collected data to generate models to provide intelligent feedback to otherwise non-personalized tutors. In this work, we explore how we can use previously collected data to build models of student dropout over time; we define dropout as ceasing to interact with the tutor before the completion of all required tasks. We use survival analysis, a statistical method of measuring time to event data, to model how long we can expect students to interact with a tutor. Future work will explore ways to use these models to to provide personalized feedback, with the goal of preventing students from dropping out.
Hippocrates: Theory of the Sign

This article shows how Hippocrates founded Greek medicine on the concept of what would later (after Augustine) be called specifically ‘natural signs.’ In developing and applying the original Greek conception of sign in this way, Hippocrates, as the ‘father of medicine,’ also came to represent the systematic beginnings of what would later expand into that general theory of signs called semiotics today.
Blockade by lobeline of potassium exchange in skeletal muscle. Relationship to receptor desensitization at the endplate.

Lobeline (0.05 to 2.5 mM) caused depolarization of muscle fibers in frog sartorius muscle bathed in chloride-free solution. When the extent of depolarization was plotted against the log of the concentration of lobeline, the relationship was described by a straight line with a slope of 57 mV for a 10-fold change in the concentration of lobeline (0.2 to 2.0 mM). Like lobeline, butacaine (0.1 to 0.5 mM) caused muscle depolarization with a 57 mV change in membrane potential for a 10-fold change in the concentration of the local anesthetic. Lobeline (0.05 to 0.15 mM) depressed the depolarization of the muscle fibers caused by the elevation of (K+]0 over a range of 2.5 to 50 mM. 42K-exchange in resting muscle was also depressed by lobeline (0.05 to 0.25 mM). The blockade by lobeline of 42K-efflux followed a typical dose-response relationship with 0.06 mM lobeline required to cause a 50% decrease of 42K-efflux. These findings show that lobeline in concentrations not much greater than those required to block neuromuscular transmission, has a direct action on ion exchange in skeletal muscle. These actions on electrogenic mechanisms may contribute to the anti-nicotinic action of lobeline and to the desensitization of endplate acetylcholine receptors caused by lobeline.
Bias by Default

Systems have biases. Their interfaces naturally guide a user toward specific patterns of action. For example, modern word-processors and spreadsheets are both capable of handling word wrapping, checking spelling and calculating formulas. You could write a paper in a spreadsheet or could do simple business modeling in a word-processor. However, their interfaces naturally communicate the function for which they are designed. Visual analytic interfaces also have biases. We outline why simple Markov models are a plausible tool for investigating that bias, even prior to user interactions, and how they might be applied to understand a priori system biases. We also discuss some anticipated difficulties in such modeling and touch briefly on what some Markov model extensions might provide.
On The Outside Looking In: The Fairness of Mentoring From Protégé and Non-Protégé Perspectives

This paper examined perceptions of mentoring fairness from the perspectives of both proteges and non-proteges. We proposed a conceptualization of perceptions of mentoring fairness that distinguished between the key concepts of access to mentors and treatment by mentors. A sample of 302 professionals was surveyed at two points in time. The results indicate that one’s status as a protege and the personality traits of locus of control and extraversion predicted perceptions of mentoring fairness in terms of access. Emotional stability predicted perceptions of fairness with regard to treatment of proteges in terms of both favoritism and abuse. Finally, perceptions of mentoring fairness in terms of both access and treatment predicted mentoring relationship quality.
Media Ethics and Global Justice in the Digital Age

Today's digital revolution is a worldwide phenomenon, with profound and often differential implications for communities around the world and their relationships to one another. This book presents a new, explicitly international theory of media ethics, incorporating non-Western perspectives and drawing deeply on both moral philosophy and the philosophy of technology. Clifford Christians develops an ethics grounded in three principles - truth, human dignity, and non-violence - and shows how these principles can be applied across a wide range of cases and domains. The book is a guide for media professionals, scholars, and educators who are concerned with the global ramifications of new technologies and with creating a more just world.
“They Kill People Over Nothing”: An Exploratory Study of Latina Immigrant Trauma

This article presents findings from an exploratory, mixed methods study to: (1) Ascertain whether Latina immigrant clients of a healthcare clinic for uninsured patients suffer a higher rate of PTSD...
Properties and Construction of Mappings

The idea of Chen, Chen and Kraichnan ([1], abbreviated by CCK) to apply mappings as tool to construct a closed form of the Pdf equations and to devise methods for their numerical solution (Kraichnan [2], Feng [3], Pope [4]) proved very successful for the case of a single scalar variable in homogeneous and non-homogeneous turbulence, in particular turbulent combustion, Pope [5], Valino et al. [6]. This goal is achieved by avoiding the Pdf equation altogether and solving the mapping equation instead, recovering the Pdf via a local relation involving the Jacobian of the mapping.
Early Experience with the Octopus Endovascular Strategy in the Management of Thoracoabdominal Aneurysms.

Background The Octopus endovascular strategy involves placement of multiple, stacked bifurcated grafts in the thoracic segment of a thoracoabdominal aneurysm (TAAA) to facilitate deployment of multiple parallel covered stents for visceral perfusion. This study aimed to review early outcomes of the Octopus TAAA repair strategy at a tertiary, high-volume referral center. Methods All patients who underwent this Octopus procedure from 2015 to 2018 were reviewed from a prospectively collected single-institution registry. Demographics, comorbidities, and aneurysm anatomy including side and extent, perioperative data including blood loss, length of procedure length of stay, morbidity, and mortality up to 3 years after the procedure were elevated. Results A total of 21 patients (48% female, age 72.9 years) underwent the Octopus procedure over the study period. Mean TAAA diameter was 6.7 cm, with 14% dissection related and 86% degenerative TAAA. All patients had been turned down for open repair and 3 (14%) were performed urgently of which 2 were ruptures. TAAA extent was 9% type 2, 62% type 3, and 29% type 4. A mean of 3.04 branches were revascularized per patient, with the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) (90%) perfused through its own limb, and both renals usually reconstructed in parallel graft fashion (left 90%, right 85.7%) with the distal abdominal extension through one of the limbs. Mean operative time was 8 hr, fluoroscopy time 164 min, contrast 182 mL, and blood loss 807 mL. We staged the thoracic and juxtavisceral portions of the cases in 24% of patients. 90% of cases were able to be completed with exclusion of the TAAA and all planned visceral branches cannulated. Perioperative complications included paraplegia (19%) (13.3% permanent, 26.6% temporary), acute kidney injury (24%), prolonged ventilation (19%), myocardial infarction (4.9%), and ischemic bowel (4.8%). Median follow-up was 13.5 months (range 1–26 months). At latest follow-up, type I endoleak rate was 9.5%, with all being treated with proximal cuffs. Other second interventions included restenting of a right renal, angioplasty of an iliac limb kink, and type 2 endoleak coiling. Primary patency of visceral branches was 93.8% at latest follow-up (celiac 100%, SMA 94.7%, right renal 88.9%, left renal 94.8%). In-hospital all-cause mortality rate was 14.2%, with 30-day survival being 90.5%, 6-month survival was 88.3%, one-year survival 71.4%, and 3-year survival was 52.1%. Conclusions The Octopus procedure is a high-risk option for urgent or emergent endovascular TAAA repair with off-the-shelf devices in patients who are not candidates for open repair.
Behavioral and Policy Responses to COVID-19: Evidence from Google Mobility Data on State-Level Stay-at-Home Orders

In early 2020, many states issued stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19. I analyze Google Mobility data to consider the extent to which state-level stay-at-home orders induced people to stay at home. I find that much of the change in residential, retail and recreational, park, workplace, transit station, and, to a lesser extent, grocery and pharmacy activity preceded state-level stay-at- home orders.
Prunus trees in Germany—a hideout of unknown fungi?

Prunus belongs to the economically most important genera of fruit crops in Germany. Although wood pathogens possess the capability to damage the host substantially, the knowledge of the fungal pathogenic community and the mycobiome of Prunus wood in general is low. During a survey in important fruit production areas in Germany, branches with symptoms of fungal infection were sampled in Prunus avium, P. cerasus and P. domestica orchards, and 1018 fungal isolates were obtained primarily from the transition zone of symptomatic to non-symptomatic wood. By a combination of blastn searches and phylogenetic analyses based on ITS and LSU sequences with a strong focus on reliable reference data, a diversity of 172 fungal taxa belonging to Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota were differentiated. The majority of the strains belonged to three classes of Ascomycota, namely Sordariomycetes, Leotiomycetes and Dothideomycetes. The dominant species were Aposphaeria corallinolutea (Dothideomycetes) and Pallidophorina paarla (Leotiomycetes) that were isolated more than a hundred times each, while all other taxa were isolated ≤ 30 times. Only part of them could be identified to species level. Because of the high plasticity of species boundaries, the identification certainty was divided into categories based on nucleotide differences to reference sequences. In total, 82 species were identified with high and 20 species with low (cf.) certainty. Moreover, about 70 species could not be assigned to a known species, which reveals Prunus wood to represent a habitat harbouring high numbers of potentially new species, even in a well-explored region like Germany.
Impact Ice Pressure: More Questions than Answers

Impact interaction between ice and engineering structures is always accompanied by ice failure. The failure modes can include crushing, cracking, bending, spalling, etc. Which mode is predominant depends mainly on the geometry of the colliding bodies, while the ice-induced impact loads depend both on the ice failure mode, and on the impact conditions. The earlier authors (Runeberg, 1888; Makarov, 1901) hypothesized that the ice-induced loads cannot exceed the strength of ice under corresponding types of loading. This presumption, which is now called the limiting ice strength approach, has been widely used as the basic criterion in specifying the design ice loads due to static (or quasi-static) and dynamic interactions. Here, the term “static” implies that the ice-structure interaction is not affected by the inertial forces of the interacting bodies. The “dynamic” or “impact” interaction has been thought of as the interaction which is either governed mainly by the inertial forces or when the latter may not be ignored. The wind-driven ice fields advancing on an offshore structure, a ship continuously progressing in consolidated ice, both can be treated as static or quasi-static interactions regardless of the advancement rate and the cyclicity of the induced load. A collision of a ship with an ice floe, or a wave-driven bergy bit hitting an offshore structure are the typical “impact” (dynamic) scenarios addressed in this work.
Decision Criteria to Tobacco Biofuel Production

This work presents a study to identify the potential of biofuel production from an energetic tobacco. The objective is to establish a priority scale under specific criteria for the possibilities of biofuels which have already been studied from various plants. This will provide a direction for research that aims to investigate biofuels, directing their efforts based on the priorities found. The priorities were obtained through multicriterial analysis, based on criteria chosen by the SAATY scale and defined with the DELPHI method. After being analyzed in WebPROA software to determine the order of importance using three methods: Borda, Condorcet, and Copeland, all indicated that biodiesel and bioethanol are the two priority fuels for development of studies of energy tobacco biofuels.
The Postdoc Problem under the Mallows Model

The well-known secretary problem in sequential analysis and optimal stopping theory asks one to maximize the probability of finding the optimal candidate in a sequentially examined list under the constraint that accept/reject decisions are made in real-time. The problem is related to practical questions arising in online search, data streaming, daily purchase modeling and multi-arm bandit mechanisms. An extension is the postdoc problem, for which one aims to identify the second-best candidate with highest possible probability of success. We solve the postdoc problem for the nontraditional setting where the candidates are not presented uniformly at random but rather according to permutations drawn from the Mallows distribution. The optimal stopping criteria depend on the choice of the Mallows model parameter $\theta$ : For $\theta > 1$ , we reject the first $k^{\prime}(\theta)$ candidates and then accept the next left-to-right second-best candidate (second-best ranked when comparing with all appeared candidates). This coincides with the optimal strategy for the classical postdoc problem, where the rankings being drawn uniformly at random $(\boldsymbol{i}.\boldsymbol{e}. \theta=1)$ . For $0 , we reject the first $k^{\prime \prime}(\theta)$ candidates and then accept the next left-to-right best candidate; if no selection is made before the last candidate, then the last candidate is accepted. For $1/2 , we reject the first $k_{1}(\theta)$ candidates and then accept the next left-to-right maximum, or reject the first $k_{2}(\theta)\geqslant k_{1}(\theta)$ candidates and then accept the next left-to-right second-maximum, whichever comes first.
Apples without Snakes: Proust’s Sapphic/Organic Rewritings of Eden

In this paper I propose a close reading of selected passages from Proust’s novel-sequence Remembrance of Things Past in which the Edenic model surfaces and creates lastingly resonant imagery, especially with reference to fragments of Sappho’s lyrical poetry which are woven into the complex thematics of the Proustian text in such a way as to suggest an alternative vision to the Biblical model of ‘paradise lost.’ Proust’s famous edict that ‘the true paradises are those which we have lost’ will be shown to evince a deeper sense of poignancy upon examination of the ‘mixing of memory and desire’ active in the creation of the character of Albertine. The young heroine’s ambiguous status in current Proust studies1 will also be considered with reference to the conflicting extant editions of the second-last volume of the novel, variously titled (in translation) The Sweet Cheat Gone, Lost Albertine, The Fugitive, etc. The principal focus of these editorial disputes concerns the various ‘deaths’ of Albertine, real, threatened or imagined; these disappearances also connect with the Sappho model, since as Joan DeJean2 and Elaine Marks3 have recently reminded us, Western authors since Ovid have frequently imagined legendary ‘deaths’ for the poet of Lesbos. I suggest that the Sappho model provides a key to the understanding of the character of Albertine and thus to Proust’s evocations of utopian desire. The ‘elemental passion of place’ evoked in the novel will be explored in relation to Albertine’s death ‘on the banks of the Vivonne’ in the new editions; this new development in Proust interpretation acts as a ‘unifying stroke’4 drawing together the constellations of poetic and thematic associations related to the ‘jeune fille en fleurs.’ Proust’s subtle poetic devices will be further explored with reference to the famous ‘hawthorn’ passage of Swann’s Way; which I intend to read as a rewriting of Sappho’s wedding celebration lyric, truly a celebration of “apples without snakes.”
Cell-Free Solubilization of Coal by Polyporus versicolor.

Solubilization of coal was demonstrated with filtrates (0.45-μm-pore-size filters) obtained from the broth in which Polyporus versicolor had grown. The rate and extent of solubilization were dependent on the age of the fungal cultures, the particle size of the coal, the pH of the filtrates, and the presence of proteins in the filtrates. The rate of solubilization of coal was significantly reduced after proteins in the filtrates were denatured by acid hydrolysis.
A Comparison of Bit-Parallel and Bit-Serial Architectures for WDM Networks

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is emerging as a viable solution to reduce the electronic processing bottleneck in very high-speed optical networks. A set of parallel and independent channels are created on a single fiber using this technique. Parallel communication utilizing the WDM channels may be accomplished in two ways: (i) bit serial, where each source-destination pair communicates using one wavelength and data are sent serially on this wavelength; and (ii) bit parallel, where each source-destination pair communicates using a subset of channels and data are sent in multiple-bit words. Three architectures are studied in the paper: single-hop bit-serial star, single-hop bit-parallel star, and multi-hop bit-parallel shufflenet. The objective of this paper is to evaluate these architectures with respect to average packet delay, network utilization, and link throughput. It is shown that the Shufflenet offers the lowest latency but suffers from high cost and low link throughput. The star topology with bit-parallel access offers lower latency than the bit-serial star, but is more expensive to implement.
Mechanical Verification of Adder Circuits using Rewrite RuleLaboratory

A methodology for mechanically verifying generic adder circuits is proposed using the rewrite-rule based theorem prover {\it Rewrite\ Rule\ Laboratory} ({\it RRL}). Proofs of properties of adder circuit descriptions are done by rewriting and induction. Carry lookahead adder circuit is described using {\it powerlists}, a data structure introduced by Misra to support {\it divide-and-conquer} strategy used for designing data-parallel algorithms. This description uses an algorithm for {\it parallel\ prefix} computation on powerlists due to Adams. Reasoning about properties of this algorithm can be of independent interest since parallel prefix operator has been found useful in many data-parallel algorithms. The correctness of the carry-lookahead adder (i.e., the adder indeed implements addition on numbers) is established by showing its equivalence to a recursive description of the ripple-carry adder, which is shown to correctly implement addition on natural numbers. The ripple carry adde r circuit is described in two different but equivalent ways: using powerlists employing the divide-and-conquer strategy, as well as using linear lists employing the linear decomposition strategy. The description of the ripple carry adder using powerlists is useful for showing equivalence of its input-output behavior to that of carry lookahead adder, whereas the description using linear lists is useful for showing its correctness with respect to addition on natural numbers. Descriptions of adder circuits using powerlists are based on Adams‘ work who also gave a hand proof of their correctness using the powerlist algebra. The emphasis in this paper is to {\it generate\ proofs\ mechanically\ by\ a\ theorem\ prover} . {\em RRL} exploits the algebraic laws of the powerlist algebra as rewrite rules, and uses heuristics for mechanizing proofs by induction using the cover set method to generate such proofs. The regularity in hardware circuits gets refl ected in compact descriptions generated using the divide-and-conquer strategy as well as in mechanically generated proofs by induction. Mechanical proofs generated by {\em RRL} closely follow the well-crafted hand-proofs which is quite encouraging. A comparison with Adams‘ hand generated proof is also made. There is strong evidence that the proposed methodology for generating proofs should scale up for large circuits exhibiting regularity that can be described using divide-and-conquer strategy in terms of powerlists.
Abstract T MP82: Can Patients Select the Best Hospital for Carotid Revascularization?

Introduction: Carotid revascularization guidelines have emphasized for the past two decades that the periprocedural complication rates should be monitored and made available to referring physicians. There has also been a movement in recent years towards greater transparency with regard to the communication of health outcomes directly to patients. Objective: To evaluate the hypothesis that publicly available data for patients contemplating a carotid revascularization procedure would be sparse. Methods: The Federal government’s Medicare Hospital Compare website (www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare) was evaluated with regard to carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS). Information was sought regarding procedural volumes at 30 hospitals within 50 miles of a single metropolitan area. We also determined whether hospital or surgeon CEA or CAS complication rates were provided. Hospital characteristics were evaluated in relation to release of information. Results: A 12 month data collection period was evaluated (2011-12). Information was available for CEA only (DRG codes 38 and 39, with and without complications or comorbidities). Eight of 30 hospitals (27%) provided procedural volumes for these two codes, nine hospitals (30%) provided partial data, and 13 hospitals (43%) did not provide any information. During the 12 month period, procedural volumes ranged from 12-56. No information was provided regarding hospital periprocedural stroke/death rates. No information was provided regarding individual surgeon outcomes. None of the four hospitals affiliated with a for-profit health system provided complete information and neither of two Veterans Affairs hospitals provided data on CEA volumes. No data was provided with regard to CAS volumes or outcomes. Conclusions: Despite the importance of determining a hospital’s and surgeon’s track record with regard to CEA and CAS outcomes, the quality of information publicly available to patients (and referring physicians) is dismal. Almost half of the hospitals in this metropolitan area did not even provide CEA procedural volumes. Patients and referring physicians should be provided with higher quality information if they are to make informed medical decisions regarding CEA and CAS.
Biomedical knowledge, clinical cognition and diagnostic justification: a structural equation model

Context The process whereby medical students employ integrated analytic and non-analytic diagnostic strategies is not fully understood. Analysing academic performance data could provide a perspective complementary to that of laboratory experiments when investigating the nature of diagnostic strategy. This study examined the performance data of medical students in an integrated curriculum to determine the relative contributions of biomedical knowledge and clinical pattern recognition to diagnostic strategy. Methods Structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationship between biomedical knowledge and clinical cognition (clinical information gathering and interpretation) assessed in Years 1 and 2 of medical school and their relative contributions to diagnostic justification assessed at the beginning of Year 4. Modelling was applied to the academic performance data of 133 medical students who received their md degrees in 2011 and 2012. Results The model satisfactorily fit the data. The correlation between biomedical knowledge and clinical cognition was low–moderate (0.26). The paths between these two constructs and diagnostic justification were moderate and slightly favoured biomedical knowledge (0.47 and 0.40 for biomedical knowledge and clinical cognition, respectively). Conclusions The findings suggest that within the first 2 years of medical school, students possessed separate, but complementary, cognitive tools, comprising biomedical knowledge and clinical pattern recognition, which contributed to an integrated diagnostic strategy at the beginning of Year 4. Assessing diagnostic justification, which requires students to make their thinking explicit, may promote the integration of analytic and non-analytic processing into diagnostic strategy.
Design of Fiber Optic Sensors for Control of Flexible Structures

A theory is presented for designing fiber optic sensors to measure feedback control laws based on distributed models of flexible structures. The sensors are designed so that the compensator requires only a first-order dynamic observer, as opposed to an infinite-dimensional state estimator. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the existence of such sensors, and numerical results for optimal control of an Euler-Bernoulli beam are presented.
Optimizing the performance of parallel applications on a 5D torus via task mapping

Six of the ten fastest supercomputers in the world in 2014 use a torus interconnection network for message passing between compute nodes. Torus networks provide high bandwidth links to near-neighbors and low latencies over multiple hops on the network. However, large diameters of such networks necessitate a careful placement of parallel tasks on the compute nodes to minimize network congestion. This paper presents a methodological study of optimizing application performance on a five-dimensional torus network via the technique of topology-aware task mapping. Task mapping refers to the placement of processes on compute nodes while carefully considering the network topology between the nodes and the communication behavior of the application. We focus on the IBM Blue Gene/Q machine and two production applications — a laser-plasma interaction code called pF3D and a lattice QCD application called MILC. Optimizations presented in the paper improve the communication performance of pF3D by 90% and that of MILC by up to 47%.
A Survey of Removable Singularities

Suppose \( P\left( {x,D} \right) = \sum\limits_{{1\alpha 1m}} {{{a}_{\alpha }}\left( x \right){{D}^{\alpha }}} \) is a linear partial differential operator defined on an open set ⋂ ⊂ ℝ n, and that A ⊂ ⋂ is closed.
Role of Toxins in Intake of Varied Diets by Sheep

Herbivores foraging on toxic plants may consume a variety of foods that contain different toxins to increase food intake and to avoid toxicosis. We studied whether lambs offered two foods, each containing a different toxin, could ingest more food than lambs offered one food with a single toxin. Thirty-two lambs were allotted to four groups that received: (1) a ration with toxin A, (2) a ration with toxin B, (3) two rations, one with toxin A and the other with toxin B, and (4) a ration with no toxins. Toxin pairs used in the study were (1) amygdalin and lithium chloride (LiCl), (2) LiCl and LiCl, (3) sparteine and saponin, (4) oxalate and nitrate, and (5) tannin and saponin. For an hour each morning, lambs were offered their ration(s) and intakes were measured. Lambs were maintained on an alfalfa pellet or grass hay diet. Each trial lasted either five or six days. Whether or not lambs ate more when offered foods with different toxins depended on the kind and amount of toxin in the food. Lambs offered rations with amygdalin and LiCl or oxalate and nitrate consumed more food than lambs offered a ration with only one of these toxins. Lambs offered rations with sparteine and saponin or tannin and saponin did not eat more food than lambs offered a ration with either saponin or sparteine or tannin alone. Nor did lambs eat more when offered two rations both containing LiCl. In all trials, lambs offered toxins showed no signs of toxicosis, and they ate less food than lambs offered rations without toxins. Our results indicate that in some cases ruminants can increase intake of toxic foods by consuming foods containing different toxins. However, currently the only way to determine how specific toxins may interact in the body to influence intake would be to conduct feeding trials using plants or ground diets that contain toxins.
Cognitive dysfunction associated with pain and quality of life in chronic rhinosinusitis

Background Cognitive dysfunction and its relationship to both pain and disease-specific quality of life (QOL) in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) have not been investigated previously. We sought to analyze the correlations of pain and disease-specific QOL with cognitive function in CRS. Methods Adults with CRS were prospectively enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Participants’ cognitive function was assessed using the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire. Pain was characterized using the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) and the Brief Pain Inventory Short Form. Disease-specific QOL was ascertained using the Rhinosinusitis Disability Index (RSDI) and 22-item Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22). Disease severity was assessed using nasal endoscopy and computed tomography. Bivariate correlations of pain and cognitive dysfunction, disease-specific QOL, and clinical measures of disease severity were ascertained. Results In patients with CRS (n = 70) there was a significant correlation between cognitive dysfunction and pain severity scores (Spearman's correlation [Rs] = 0.321, p < 0.01). A similar correlation was identified with pain interference (Rs = 0.317, p < 0.01) and cognitive dysfunction scores. This is mirrored by a significant correlation between another measure of pain severity, the SF-MPQ and cognitive dysfunction (Rs = 0.498, p < 0.01). In patients with CRS there was a significant correlation between disease-specific QOL scores and cognitive function scores as measured by the SNOT-22 (Rs = 0.395, p < 0.01) and the RSDI (Rs = 0.528, p < 0.01). Conclusion In patients with CRS, increasing pain and worse QOL are associated with cognitive dysfunction. Possible mechanisms for this cognitive dysfunction include differential neural activation secondary to chronic pain and/or the sequela of a chronic inflammatory state.
Whither the child? The iSchool approach to research relating to children and adolescents

This alternative event investigates how iSchools are approaching research in the area of children and adolescents. Participants will work together to tackle this overarching question: Where does youth research fit in to the iSchool movement? Participants will be asked to contribute to the development of a collaborative agenda for youth-related research in the iSchools by identifying related challenges and opportunities within the iSchool community.