cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Protecting One's Own Privacy in a Big Data Economy

Big Data is the vast quantities of information amenable to large-scale collection, storage, and analysis. Using such data, companies and researchers can deploy complex algorithms and artificial intelligence technologies to reveal otherwise unascertained patterns, links, behaviors, trends, identities, and practical knowledge. The information that comprises Big Data arises from government and business practices, consumer transactions, and the digital applications sometimes referred to as the “Internet of Things.” Individuals invisibly contribute to Big Data whenever they live digital lifestyles or otherwise participate in the digital economy, such as when they shop with a credit card, get treated at a hospital, apply for a job online, research a topic on Google, or post on Facebook.Privacy advocates and civil libertarians say Big Data amounts to digital surveillance that potentially results in unwanted personal disclosures, identity theft, and discrimination in contexts such as employment, housing, and financial services. These advocates and activists say typical consumers and internet users do not understand the extent to which their activities generate data that is being collected, analyzed, and put to use for varied governmental and business purposes.I have argued elsewhere that individuals have a moral obligation to respect not only other people’s privacy but also their own. Here, I wish to comment first on whether the notion that individuals have a moral obligation to protect their own information privacy is rendered utterly implausible by current and likely future Big Data practices; and on whether a conception of an ethical duty to self-help in the Big Data context may be more pragmatically framed as a duty to be part of collective actions encouraging business and government to adopt more robust privacy protections and data security measures.
The Profusion of Tribes as a Determinant Factor in SSA

The particularity of tribal allegiance in SSA is linked to a peculiar feature of the region: its profusion of tribes. SSA has more tribes than North Africa, Asia, and South America—the regions with which SSA is compared. This profusion makes tribes in SSA a special category, which cannot be equated with “ethnicity” or be regarded as a creation of colonial rule. To support this assertion, this chapter makes a comparative and quantitative inventory of tribes in these four regions: SSA, North Africa, Asia, and South America. The quantitative evidence helps to draw the conceptual implications for the distinctiveness of tribal allegiance in SSA.
The Structure of the UDP-Glc/GlcNAc 4-Epimerase from the Human Pathogen Campylobacter jejuni

Worldwide, the food-born pathogen Campylobacter jejuni is the leading bacterial source of human gastroenteritis. C. jejuni produces a large number of atypical cell-surface carbohydrates that facilitate infections. A major component of these oligo- and polysaccharides is the sugar N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc). The sole source of this critical sugar is derived by the epimerization of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) catalyzed by the enzyme UDP-GlcNAc 4-epimerase (GNE). This enzyme is unique among known bacterial epimerases in that it also catalyzes the equivalent reaction with the non-N-acetylated sugars. Understanding how CjGNE catalyzes these various interconversions is critical to designing novel inhibitors of this enzyme. Here, to further the mechanistic understanding we present a 2.0A crystal structure of CjGNE with its NAD+ co-factor bound. Based on novel features found in the structure we perform a variety of biochemical studies to probe the mechanism and compare these results to the only other structurally characterized bi-functional epimerase, the human homolog GalE. We further show that ebselen, previously identified for inhibition of HsGalE, is active against CjGNE, suggesting a route for antibiotic development.
Surveillance as Communicating Relational Messages: Advancing Understandings of the Surveilled Subject

Theoretical understandings of how and why surveilled subjects perceive and react to surveillance have rarely been engaged in the field of surveillance studies. This research introduces relational models of procedural justice as a framework through which the attitudes and behaviours of surveilled subjects can be more consistently understood in particular (but not singular) surveillance contexts. Qualitative analysis of encounters with surveillance at Pearson International Airport (Toronto, Canada) demonstrates that participants were attentive to relational concerns during these encounters. The findings are positioned in relation to the procedural justice literature to demonstrate the importance of the process of surveillance alongside, or even apart from, its outcomes in terms of understanding and explaining surveilled subjects’ experiences and formation of subjectivities at airports and perhaps more generally.
Probing Interactions between Hydrocarbons and Auxiliary Guests inside Cucurbit[8]uril

The affinities of 20 hydrocarbons for the cavity formed by the inner wall of cucurbit[8]uril and a tolyl unit linked to an auxiliary guest were measured in aqueous solution. Cucurbit[8]uril and the auxiliary guest, a substituted ruthenium tris(2,2′-bipyridyl) complex bearing a trifluoromethyl 19F NMR probe, displayed perfect selectivity toward cyclic hydrocarbons, and cis- and trans-decalin, in particular. Unlike π–π interactions, CH−π interactions, as well as differences in hydrocarbon solvation, contribute significantly to the recognition process.
Large Uncertainties in Urban-Scale Carbon Emissions

Accurate estimates of fossil fuel carbon dioxide (FFCO2) emissions are a critical component of local, regional, and global climate agreements. Current global inventories of FFCO2 emissions do not directly quantify emissions at local scales, instead spatial proxies like population density, nighttime lights, and powerplant databases are used to downscale emissions from national totals. We have developed a high-resolution (hourly, 1km2) bottom-up Anthropogenic Carbon Emissions System (ACES) for FFCO2, based on local activity data for the year 2011 across the Northeastern U.S. We compare ACES with three widely used global inventories, finding significant differences at regional (20%) and city scales (50-250%). At a spatial resolution of 0.1°, inventories differ by over 100% for half of the grid cells in the domain, with the largest differences in urban areas and oil and gas production regions. Given recent US federal policy pull-backs regarding greenhouse gas emissions reductions, inventories like ACES are crucial for US actions, as the impetus for climate leadership has shifted to city and state governments. The development of a robust carbon monitoring system to track carbon fluxes is critical for emissions benchmarking and verification. We show that existing downscaled inventories are not suitable for urban emissions monitoring, as they do not consider important local activity patterns. The ACES methodology is designed for easy updating, making it suitable for emissions monitoring under most city, regional, and state greenhouse gas mitigation initiatives, in particular for the small and medium-sized cities that lack the resources to regularly perform their own bottom-up emissions inventories.
Illuminating the role of the Gα heterotrimeric G protein subunit, RGA1, in regulating photoprotection and photoavoidance in rice

We studied physiological mechanisms of photoavoidance and photoprotection of a dwarf rice mutant with erect leaves, d1, in which the RGA1 gene, which encodes the Gα subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein, is non-functional. Leaves of d1 exhibit lower leaf temperature and higher photochemical reflectance index relative to wild type (WT), indicative of increased photoavoidance and more efficient light harvesting. RNA sequencing analysis of flag leaves revealed that messenger RNA levels of genes encoding heat shock proteins, enzymes associated with chlorophyll breakdown, and ROS scavengers were down-regulated in d1. By contrast, genes encoding proteins associated with light harvesting, Photosystem II, cyclic electron transport, Photosystem I, and chlorophyll biosynthesis were up-regulated in d1. Consistent with these observations, when WT and d1 plants were experimentally subjected to the same light intensity, d1 plants exhibited a greater capacity to dissipate excess irradiance (increased nonphotochemical quenching) relative to WT. The increased capacity in d1 for both photoavoidance and photoprotection reduced sustained photoinhibitory damage, as revealed by a higher Fv /Fm . We therefore propose RGA1 as a regulator of photoavoidance and photoprotection mechanisms in rice and highlight the prospect of exploiting modulation of heterotrimeric G protein signalling to increase these characteristics and improve the yield of cereals in the event of abiotic stress.
Comparison of efficiency of elastic and non-elastic taping on induced quadriceps fatigue by knee extension exercise

[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of elastic and non-elastic taping on induced quadriceps fatigue by knee extension exercise. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty healthy females were randomly assigned to an elastic tape group (ET, n=10), a non-elastic tape group (NET, n=10), or a no tape group (NT, n=10). Taping groups attached taping on quadriceps femoris. Three groups are conducted knee extension exercise for 10 times and 3 sets during 10 minutes. Knee extension peak torque measured before and after knee extension exercise. One-way analysis of variance was used to assess the statistical significance of knee extension peak torque. [Results] No significant difference in changes in maximum muscle strength per unit weight from before to after the muscle fatigue exercise was found in the ET, NET, or NT groups (12.1 ± 4.2, 11.7 ± 7.1, and 6.7 ± 3.4 N/kg, respectively). [Conclusion] Taping facilitated muscle performance, but it also increased susceptibility to fatigue resulting from greater muscle activation.
Lipotropic Factors and Carcinogenesis

The lipotropes (choline, methionine, vitamin B12, and folic acid) have an interesting history with respect to their role in cancer causation, a part of which will be briefly reviewed here (Broad, 1982).
Projecting wildfire emissions over the south-eastern United States to mid-century

Wildfires can impair human health because of the toxicity of emitted pollutants, and threaten communities, structures and the integrity of ecosystems sensitive to disturbance. Climate and socioeconomic factors (e.g. population and income growth) are known regional drivers of wildfires. Reflecting changes in these factors in wildfire emissions estimates is thus a critical need in air quality and health risk assessments in the south-eastern United States. We developed such a methodology leveraging published statistical models of annual area burned (AAB) over the US Southeast for 2011–2060, based on county-level socioeconomic and climate projections, to estimate daily wildfire emissions in selected historical and future years. Projected AABs were 7 to 150% lower on average than the historical mean AABs for 1992–2010; projected wildfire fine-particulate emissions were 13 to 62% lower than those based on historical AABs, with a temporal variability driven by the climate system. The greatest differences were in areas of large wildfire impacts from socioeconomic factors, suggesting that historically based (static) wildfire inventories cannot properly represent future air quality responses to changes in these factors. The results also underscore the need to correct biases in the dynamical downscaling of wildfire climate drivers to project the health risks of wildfire emissions more reliably.
Genetic Testing and the Demand for Cancer Insurance

There has been an expansion of the availability of disease-specific insurance policies in the United States over the past decade. At the same time, recently developed medical tests are providing consumers with new information regarding their risk of contracting particularly serious diseases. This exploratory study makes use of data from two groups of women to examine the demand for one type of disease-specific policy, cancer insurance. Members of the first group have been tested for a BRCA1 gene mutation that is associated with an 88% risk of contracting breast and/or ovarian cancer by age 70. The other group consists of women from the general population who have not been tested for any BRCA1 gene mutation. The study results indicate that women who have been tested for the BRCA1 gene mutation are more likely than untested respondents to have purchased cancer insurance and to have recently thought about purchasing cancer insurance. The results also indicate that older women and women who have modest household incomes are more likely to have purchased cancer insurance. Women who have minor children, who are more highly educated, who have no health insurance, who have had cancer, or who report that they are in poor health are more likely to have recently contemplated purchasing cancer insurance. Our discussion of the findings highlights several issues that merit further consideration on the part of consumer policy makers working in the area of insurance regulation.
Normal Sleep in Women

Sleep in women may differ from sleep in men due to sex differences in neurobiology and physiology and sex/gender differences in psychology, social and societal roles, and behavior. This article provides an overview of different factors that influence sleep in women. Mechanisms affecting sleep in women including (1) hormonal transitions, (2) social roles and psychosocial functioning, and (3) mood disorders and psychological symptoms are described. Data supporting sources of sex/gender differences in sleep are discussed. The article aims to provide a framework for researchers and clinicians to study and evaluate sleep in women.
Echocardiographic Estimation of Pulmonary Artery Pulsatility Index in Pulmonary Hypertension

Purpose Pulmonary Artery Pulsatility Index (PAPi) has been studied extensively in predicting right ventricular failure after left ventricular assist device implantation and in those with inferior wall myocardial infarction. More recently, this physiologic index has shown prognostic value in the setting of pulmonary arterial hypertension and advanced heart failure. We hypothesize that an echocardiographic estimation of PAPi will correlate with the index derived from right heart catheterization (RHC). Our goal is to enhance the echocardiographic examination to determine a physiologic parameter currently limited to invasive hemodynamic assessment. Methods This was a single center, retrospective observational study of twenty patients that had underwent RHC and transthoracic echocardiography within a two week timeframe. The study was performed via retrospective chart review conducted at Allegheny General Hospital. Echocardiograms were reviewed by a single observer that was blinded to all recorded invasive hemodynamic measurements. PAPi was estimated by the standard calculation used in invasive hemodynamic assessment. Individual intracardiac pressures were obtained via inferior vena cava diameter and collapsibility, peak systolic pressure gradient of the tricuspid regurgitant jet, and end diastolic pressure gradient of the pulmonic regurgitant jet. Correlation between invasive and noninvasive indices was assessed via Pearson's test. Results Pearson's coefficient (r) showed a positive correlation with r = 0.63. There was improved correlation at lower index values (see Graph 1). Conclusion Calculation of PAPi appears to be feasible via echocardiographic estimation. Given the impact of this index in assessment of right ventricular function, further investigation of the above findings may provide benefit in the setting of pulmonary hypertension and congestive heart failure.
Elementary Special Education Teachers' Use of CBM Data: A 20-Year Follow-Up.

This 20-year follow-up study examined elementary special educators’ use of curriculum-based measurement. Elementary special educators (N = 1,077) in four Midwest states participated in the survey. ...
New Histories of Capitalism: A Comment

In 2013, the New York Times published a flattering profile of a clutch of young US historians working on topics of finance, debt, insurance, and risk. ‘In History Departments, It's Up with Capitali...
Medical Morbidity and Mortality

Psychiatrists are instrumental in improving the medical care that patients with schizophrenia receive. Given the mortality gap between patients with schizophrenia and their peers, this is not an academic issue, and a medical prevention mind-set is needed. In this chapter, I review what psychiatrists can do to prevent medical diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease. Guideline-concordant metabolic monitoring is one specific task that falls onto our shoulders. Taking on a leadership role to reduce substandard care will require reverse care integration (bringing medical care to psychiatric patients) and novel models of care.
Hot Deformation and Superconductivity of YBa2Cu3O7-x Ceramics

Compressive deformation of dense polycrystalline YBa2Cu3O7-x and that of porous one were studied at elevated temperatures between 850°C and 960°C. The stress exponent measured in plastic deformation of dense material was 2.5. The stress exponent and microstructural observation suggested the intra-granular deformation mechanism. The densification occurred during compressive deformation of porous material till true strain of -0.4, but the crack formation caused by further deformation decreased the apparent density. Tc on of deformed and annealed sample was 94K due to enhanced grain connectivity by compression. However, zero resistance couldn’t be achieved due to the destruction of some superconducting phase.
Paradoxes of Professionalism: Rethinking Civil-Military Relations in the United States

The U.S. military's prevailing norms of professionalism exhibit three paradoxes that render the organization poorly suited to meet contemporary challenges to its nonpartisan ethic, and that undermi...
Patterns of metastases of prostatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND The current study was conducted to investigate the patterns of metastases in men with metastatic prostatic ductal adenocarcinoma (DAC) and recurrence patterns after therapy. METHODS All patients with a new diagnosis of DAC with de novo metastases and those with localized disease who developed metastases after treatment and were treated at the study institution from January 2005 to November 2018 were included. All patient and tumor characteristics and outcome data were collected. RESULTS A total of 164 patients (37.7%) had metastatic DAC, including 112 with de novo metastases and 52 who developed metastases after treatment. Men with de novo metastases were found to have a significantly higher median prostate-specific antigen level and International Society of Urological Pathology grade but a lower cT3 and/or T4 classification compared with those with metastases that developed after treatment (all P < .05). Approximately 87% of men with de novo metastases progressed despite multiple systemic therapies, 37.6% required intervention for the palliation of symptoms, and 10.1% responded to systemic therapy and underwent treatment of the primary tumor. Men with de novo metastatic DAC and those who developed metastases after treatment had multiple metastatic sites (including bone and viscera), with higher rates of lung metastases noted in the posttreatment group (23.2% vs 44.2%; P = .01). A total of 45 patients who were treated with curative intent developed metastases at a median of 22 months (range, 0.9-74.8 months) after treatment, at low prostate-specific antigen levels (median, 4.4 ng/mL [interquartile range, 1.7-11.1 ng/mL]). CONCLUSIONS The current study described the metastatic patterns of DAC in both patients with de novo metastatic disease and those who later progress to metastases. Men receiving treatment for DAC with curative intent require stringent long-term follow-up with imaging modalities, including chest imaging given the predilection toward lung metastases noted among these patients.
Characterization of the Ce,Pr:LuAG phosphor for Co-doped aerosol phosphor thermometry

Abstract The Ce,Pr:LuAG phosphor is investigated for use in co-doped aerosol phosphor thermometry (APT). The phosphor was characterized by measuring the emission intensity for each ion as a function of excitation laser fluence and temperature. A simplified three-level model was used to interpret and fit the data. The phosphor was then used for co-doped APT temperature-imaging experiments performed in a heated air jet up to a maximum temperature of 694 K. The three-level model fit was used to analyze sources of bias in the imaging measurements. Both ions’ emission intensities show a nonlinear dependence on excitation fluence that can potentially be explained by temperature-dependent ground- and excited-state absorption processes included in the three-level model. Single-shot temperature precision from the temperature-imaging experiments was measured to be 22, 23, and 32 K for mean temperatures of 497, 603, and 694 K, respectively, at a spatial resolution of ~ 1.12 lp/mm and average fluence of 33 mJ/cm2. The results extend the measurement range for co-doped APT to at least 700 K. The findings also provide a simple model for phosphor signal non-linearity with excitation fluence for low activator ion concentrations, and provide a method for estimating temperature bias from several sources including laser fluence.
The 1953 Cosmic Ray Conference at Bagnères de Bigorre: the Birth of Sub Atomic Physics

The cosmic ray conference at Bagneres de Bigorre in July, 1953 organized by Patrick Blackett and Louis Leprince-Ringuet was a seminal one. It marked the beginning of sub atomic physics and its shift from cosmic ray research to research at the new high energy accelerators. The knowledge of the heavy unstable particles found in the cosmic rays was essentially correct in fact and interpretation and defined the experiments that needed to be carried out with the new accelerators. A large fraction of the physicists who had been using cosmic rays for their research moved to the accelerators. This conference can be placed in importance in the same category as two other famous conferences, the Solvay congress of 1927 and the Shelter Island Conference of 1948.
Summary of Engineering Quality Equations in This Book

This chapter presents a summary of all the findings in the book found consistently significant enough in different periods tested to be considered engineering coefficients.
Tournament and non-tournament anglers have little effect on a largemouth bass population compared to natural mortality

Popularity of bass (Micropterus spp.) catch and release and tournament angling during the past decade has resulted in increased potential for these activities to induce population level effects. Un...
Emotion regulation strategies moderate the impact of negative affect induction on alcohol craving in college drinkers: an experimental paradigm.

OBJECTIVES Observational studies suggest emotion regulation (ER) as a potential treatment target for problematic college drinking. The primary aim of this laboratory study was to determine whether trait ER strategies would moderate the impact of negative affect induction on alcohol craving in college drinkers. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to a neutral (n = 74) or a negative affect induction (n = 76) and reported their craving after the affect inductions. Results: Greater use of drinking to cope and less use of cognitive reappraisal predicted greater alcohol craving after the negative affect induction, but not after the neutral condition. In contrast, emotion suppression did not predict alcohol craving in either condition. Conclusion: Our results highlight the role of ER tendencies-particularly the benefits of cognitive reappraisal-on alcohol craving when experiencing emotional distress. Therefore, ER strategies may be an important target for college drinkers to prevent and reduce problematic drinking.
Monitoring malignant T-cell clones by direct TCR expression assay in patients with leukemic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma during extracorporeal photopheresis.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Accurate assessment of malignant T-cell clones in patients with leukemic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (L-CTCL) is crucial for diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring disease. Although multiple approaches to quantitate malignant T-cell clones have been reported, a cost-effective assay with broad coverage is not available. We report a NanoString-nCounter-Technology-based direct TCR expression assay (DTEA) that was previously developed to quantify both TCR-Vα and TCR-Vβ usages after adoptive immunotherapy. This study was performed to test the effectiveness of DTEA in assessing malignant T-cell clones in L-CTCL patients. METHODS Total RNAs extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients before starting extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) (n = 15) and during therapy at 3 months and 6 months (n = 12) were used for DTEA, with customized probes for 45 TCR-Vα and 46 TCR-Vβ family members. RESULTS At baseline, DTEA detected TCR-Vβ clones in all 15 patients (100%) compared to flow cytometry that detected TCR-Vβ clones in 9 of 13 patients (69.2%). In addition to predominant TCR-Vβ clones, DTEA also detected additional TCR-Vβ clones in 8 of 15 patients (53.3%). Furthermore, DTEA simultaneously identified clonal TCR-Vα usages, which allowed us to pair TCR-Vα and TCRVβ usages by malignant T-cells and identify diversified clonotypes. Changes in the relative frequencies of clonal TCR-Vβ and TCRVα usages over therapy were consistent with patients' clinical responses. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that DTEA can effectively assess malignant T-cell clones by detecting clonal TCR-Vα and TCR-Vβ usages. By providing a global view of TCR repertoires, DTEA may also help us understand the origin(s) of malignant T-cells and pathogenesis of CTCL.
A Proactive Resilience Enhancement Strategy to Electric Distribution Systems during Hurricanes

This paper proposes a probabilistic proactive strategy to enhance operational resilience of distribution power grids in preparation to and during hurricanes. Many of current resilience enhancement strategies focus on determining optimal locations and sizes of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in electric distribution systems to reduce load curtailments during extreme events. Other approaches enhance distribution system resilience through utilizing the concept of microgrid formulation to split the grid into smaller and stable standalone grids. However, the rapid changing conditions and constraints of the power system during extreme events exhibit further computational burden and complexities to provide a fast acting decision process. In this work, a multi-objective mixed integer linear programming optimization problem is formulated to minimize the amount of load curtailments and operational costs. A Markov decision process is developed to model transitions between system states to determine the optimal generation level of each DER considering component failure probabilities, hurricane spatiotemporal properties, and load variations. To maintain reliable and stable operation of electric distribution systems integrated with DERs, system operational and technical constraints should be fulfilled. The CPLEX solver is integrated with MATLAB to formulate and solve the optimization problem. The proposed strategy is demonstrated using a modified IEEE 33-feeder distribution system under various system characteristics. Results show the role of proactive generation redispatch to improve resilience levels and reduce the total amount of load curtailments by 30%-45%.
Prejudice in Past Pandemics

Accompanying the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) across the globe was a proliferation in anti-Asian hate crimes and political rhetoric. These discriminatory actions mirrored the prejudice exhibited towards other groups in past pandemics, such as Jewish populations in Europe during the Black Death between 1346 and 1353. This study aimed to determine similar patterns relating to and underlying the prejudice seen in past pandemics, focusing on three categories: hate crimes, political rhetoric, and religiosity. Prejudice against Jewish people during the Bubonic plague, Immigrants in America during the 1918 Flu, and Asian Americans during COVID-19 were investigated in this study because of the historical record of existing prejudice against these groups before the start of the pandemics. Overall, this study found that there was no general pattern of hate crimes during past pandemics without accompanying political rhetoric. In addition, there was no general pattern in religiosity in the pandemics studied, suggesting that the prejudice was not fueled by religious motivations. Given the small selection of pandemics analyzed in this study, further analysis with more pandemics could present more robust conclusions.
Saturation and Pragmatism’s Challenge

The challenge posed by Linguistic Pragmatists stems from many examples of context relativity. In arguing for a semantic explanation of these, I divide them into two groups, one concerned with saturations, discussed in this chapter, the other concerned with polysemy, discussed in the next. I argue that a range of phenomena, including weather reports, quantifications, ‘ready’, ‘qualified’, genitives, and ‘enough’ should be explained by taking their linguistic meanings to demand saturations in context; the conventionally established meaning has an implicit slot to be filled. This is the best explanation of the regular saturation of these expression to convey messages. The rival explanation is that these saturations arise from pragmatic modifications of one sort or another. But these explanations face the heavy onus of the psychological-reality requirement: they must show that the pragmatic processes have an appropriately active place in cognitive lives. This requirement has not been met, nor has there been any psycholinguistic attempt to meet it. According to the Developmental Objection it is unlikely to be met. According to the Occamist Objection, we should then prefer a semantic explanation. Bach has a syntactic objection to such slot-filling explanations. I reject this “tyranny of syntax”. It is always an open question to what extent, if any, a meaning is to be explained in terms of a matching syntactic structure. I reinforce this point by siding with Perry and Neale against two syntax-driven critics of Perry’s discussion of “unarticulated constituents”.
Revisiting the effects of the Spectre and Meltdown patches using the top-down microarchitectural method and purchasing power parity theory

Abstract Software patches are made available to fix security vulnerabilities, enhance performance, and usability. Previous works focused on measuring the performance effect of patches on benchmark runtimes. In this study, we used the Top-Down microarchitecture analysis method to understand how pipeline bottlenecks were affected by the application of the Spectre and Meltdown security patches. Bottleneck analysis makes it possible to better understand how different hardware resources are being utilized, highlighting portions of the pipeline where possible improvements could be achieved. We complement the Top-Down analysis technique with the use a normalization technique from the field of economics, purchasing power parity (PPP), to better understand the relative difference between patched and unpatched runs. In this study, we showed that security patches had an effect that was reflected on the corresponding Top-Down metrics. We showed that recent compilers are not as negatively affected as previously reported. Out of the 14 benchmarks that make up the SPEC OMP2012 suite, three had noticeable slowdowns when the patches were applied. We also found that Top-Down metrics had large relative differences when the security patches were applied, differences that standard techniques based in absolute, non-normalized, metrics failed to highlight.
Object recognition with features inspired by visual cortex

We introduce a novel set of features for robust object recognition. Each element of this set is a complex feature obtained by combining position- and scale-tolerant edge-detectors over neighboring positions and multiple orientations. Our system's architecture is motivated by a quantitative model of visual cortex. We show that our approach exhibits excellent recognition performance and outperforms several state-of-the-art systems on a variety of image datasets including many different object categories. We also demonstrate that our system is able to learn from very few examples. The performance of the approach constitutes a suggestive plausibility proof for a class of feedforward models of object recognition in cortex.
Linkage Analysis of Molecular Markers and Quantitative Trait Loci in Populations of Inbred Backcross Lines of Brassica napus L.

Backcross populations are often used to study quantitative trait loci (QTL) after they are initially discovered in balanced populations, such as F(2), BC(1), or recombinant inbreds. While the latter are more powerful for mapping marker loci, the former have the reduced background genetic variation necessary for more precise estimation of QTL effects. Many populations of inbred backcross lines (IBLs) have been developed in plant and animal systems to permit simultaneous study and dissection of quantitative genetic variation introgressed from one source to another. Such populations have a genetic structure that can be used for linkage estimation and discovery of QTL. In this study, four populations of IBLs of oilseed Brassica napus were developed and analyzed to map genomic regions from the donor parent (a winter-type cultivar) that affect agronomic traits in spring-type inbreds and hybrids. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) identified among the IBLs were used to calculate two-point recombination fractions and LOD scores through grid searches. This information allowed the enrichment of a composite genetic map of B. napus with 72 new RFLP loci. The selfed and hybrid progenies of the IBLs were evaluated during two growing seasons for several agronomic traits. Both pedigree structure and map information were incorporated into the QTL analysis by using a regression approach. The number of QTL detected for each trait and the number of effective factors calculated by using biometrical methods were of similar magnitude. Populations of IBLs were shown to be valuable for both marker mapping and QTL analysis.
Plasma Cell Granuloma of the Thyroid

Plasma cell granuloma of the thyroid is an uncommon lesion; only 6 cases have been reported in the English literature to date. All reported cases occurred in women, mostly after the age of 50 years. We report a case of plasma cell granuloma of the thyroid in a 46-year-old woman with a 20-year history of euthyroid goiter and a positive family history of goiter in 3 close relatives. The lesion was composed of sheets of plasma cells involving the entire parenchyma that histologically resembled plasmacytoma. Plasmacytoma was excluded by demonstration of polyclonal kappa/lambda light chain immunostaining and by lack of evidence of clonal bands by polymerase chain reaction for immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene rearrangement. Similarly, the predominant histologic pattern in all previously reported cases is that of marked plasma cell infiltration. A family history of thyroid disease (goiter, thyroiditis) was associated with diffuse involvement of the thyroid. Prognosis after surgery is excellent, and to our knowledge no cases of malignant transformation or recurrence have been described.
Cervical spinal cord stimulation for the management of pain from brachial plexus avulsion.

Dear Editor, Almost 80% of patients with brachial plexus avulsion develop chronic pain. The pain can be treated medically or with more invasive surgical procedures. However, in most cases, the pain is resistant to medical treatment and has a high-recurrence rate after invasive procedures like dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) lesioning. Cervical spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is one of the underutilized treatment modalities with several reports of good outcome. We report a case of significant improvement in pain from brachial plexus avulsion injury after implanting a cervical SCS. A 25-year-old male patient was involved in a motor vehicle accident 5 years ago. He suffered from multiple injuries including injury to his right brachial plexus. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed complete nerve root avulsion from C6 to T1. He lost sensation and motor function below the deltoid in his right upper extremity, however his main debilitating problem was severe chronic pain. He described his pain as burning, stabbing, and sometime like an electric shock, starting at the shoulder and radiating to the arm and his five fingers, with an intensity of 7/10 on a numeric pain rating scale. On examination, he had no sensation or motor function below the deltoid. He was not interested in functional recovery and was only concerned about relieving the pain. Medical management with a combination of an antidepressant, an anticonvulsant, a …
Multidimensional risk profiles on teen parenthood: evidence from Britain in the 1970s.

Research on the antecedents of teen parenthood has most often focused on the family of origin as the primary locus for understanding parenthood risk; however, several theoretical perspectives promo...
Milling Bifurcations from Structural Asymmetry and Nonlinear Regeneration

This paper investigates multiple modeling choices for analyzing the rich and complex dynamics of high-speed milling processes. Various models are introduced to capture the effects of asymmetric structural modes and the influence of nonlinear regeneration in a discontinuous cutting force model. Stability is determined from the development of a dynamic map for the resulting variational system. The general case of asymmetric structural elements is investigated with a fixed frame and rotating frame model to show differences in the predicted unstable regions due to parametric excitation. Analytical and numerical investigations are confirmed through a series of experimental cutting tests. The principal results are additional unstable regions, hysteresis in the bifurcation diagrams, and the presence of coexisting periodic and quasiperiodic attractors which is confirmed through experimentation.
Prognostic factors in metastatic testicular cancer

The prognosis for metastatic testicular cancer has been analysed in seven reports using multivariate analysis. Serum hCG is the most important factor. Volume of metastases, serum LDH and serum AFP are also of prognostic value. Bone, liver, nodal or retroperitoneal metastases are not independent prognostic factors. The prognosis for extragonadal nonseminomas remains in dispute. Future studies should categorize poor prognosis patients using one of the several available prognostic formulas. No consensus yet exists on optimal treatment for such patients.
Preliminary Checklist of Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) from the Laurentian Great Lakes

A preliminary compilation indicates the occurrence of at least 1611 diatom taxa in the Great Lakes. Included are 81 genera, 1059 species, and 471 subordinate taxa. Although the present list is known to be incomplete, it furnishes some indication of the diversity of the flora and indicates problem areas which deserve further attention.
Locomotion Strategies and Mobility Characterization of a Spherical Multi-Legged Robot

Mobile robotics has seen a wide variety of mechanisms and strategies for motion in diverse terrain. Some robots employ rolling, some use legs for walking, some can hop, and some are capable of multiple of these modes. In this paper, we present the latest Robotic All-Terrain Surveyor (RATS) prototype as a unique design that can emulate a variety of locomotion modes by virtue of its geometric design and type of actuation. The novel robot has a spherical body the size of a soccer ball with 12 legs symmetrically distributed around its surface. Each leg is a single-DOF pneumatic linear actuator, oriented normal to the spherical body. Thorough investigation of this prototype’s mobility and actuation behavior has demonstrated the feasibility of tipping, hopping, and prolonged rolling locomotion by altering the actuation patterns of its legs. Here we summarize the experimental results of this characterization and present an understanding of the system’s performance limitations in an effort to draw insight for controlling its movements. We also discuss the effectiveness of RATS mobility strategies for varied terrains in light of initial testing on flat surfaces.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
In-Vivo Screening of Platelet-Biomaterial Interactions in a Baboon Model

A percutaneous in-vig venous model was characterized by testing platelet deposition on standard vascular prosthetic materials in the baboon. The model detected significant difference in platelet deposition on ePTFE compared to Dacron. Low molecular weight dextran was administered following a baseline test period. A significant decrease in platelet depositionr occurred for both materials and coincided with a prolongation in bleeding time. No consistent decrease was found in control experiments which used no bolus or a saline bolus for treatment. Advantages of the model included ease of use and adaptability to test large numbers of materials. The model was suItable for in-vivo screening of platelet interactions with biomaterials placed in the bloodstream.
Agricultural development in western Central Asia in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages

This paper lays out archaeobotanical evidence of cereals and fruits from 5th–2nd millennium B.C. sites in Turkmenistan (Anau, Gonur) and Uzbekistan (Djarkutan). Our current research program (1989-present) focuses on systematic recovery of botanical remains in their stratigraphic context. The cereals from these sites includeHordeum vulgare L. ssp.vulgare (6-row barley) andTrilicum aestivum L. s.l. (bread wheat). The presence of plump grains of 6-row barley and bread wheat may indicate that small-scale irrigation was practised at Anau as early as the Chalcolithic period. The possibility is also raised that these plump-grained types may have come from the east rather than through northern Iran. Fruit pit remains ofVilis vinifera L. (grape) andPislacia (pistachio) make their first significant appearance in Bronze Age deposits.
PRO: Patients with Polyps Smaller Than 1 cm on Computed Tomographic Colonography Should Be Offered Colonoscopy and Polypectomy

PRO: Patients with Polyps Smaller Than 1 cm on Computed Tomographic Colonography Should Be Offered Colonoscopy and Polypectomy
A description of commonly observed behaviors for the kori bustard (Ardeotis kori)

The kori bustard (Ardeotis kori), a large ground-dwelling bird found in southern and eastern Africa, is declining throughout its entire range. We present an ethogram of the kori bustard in which we describe 63 individual behaviors. These behaviors are grouped into ten categories: resting, comfort/maintenance, locomotion, ingestive/excretory, antagonistic, inter-specific response, sexual, maternal, vocalizations and miscellaneous. The precise descriptions of kori bustard behaviors presented here provide a standard that can be used for systematic and quantitative study of kori bustard behavior, both in the wild and in captivity. A greater understanding of kori bustard behavior can help improve breeding success of captive birds and aid future conservation efforts.
Metabolism of modified LDL by cultured human placental cells

Abstract All major classes of normal circulating lipoproteins can be metabolized by human placental cells. However, the metabolism of abnormal or modified lipoproteins has been little studied. We therefore investigated whether placental cells metabolize acetylated low density lipoprotein (ac-LDL) or oxidatively-modified LDL (ox-LDL), both of which are metabolized by scavenger receptors, and if so, whether modified LDL stimulates progesterone secretion as does normal LDL. Placental macrophages and trophoblasts were isolated on a 40% Percoll gradient after enzymatic digestion. The cellular uptake and degradation of [ 125 I]-ac-LDL was 20-fold higher than [ 125 I]-LDL in both macrophages and trophoblasts. Both cell types demonstrated high affinity and saturable degradation. Similarly, increased esterification of [ 14 C]-labelled oleic acid to cholesterol was observed when cells were incubated with ac-LDL vs. LDL. Uptake of ac-LDL by trophoblasts also was demonstrated by colocalization of fluorescently labelled ac-LDL and fluorescent antibodies specific for trophoblasts. Similar colocalization of fluorescent ac-LDL and fluorescent anti-macrophage specific epitopes was seen in macrophages. Uptake and degradation of [ 125 I]-ac-LDL by placental cells was inhibited by increasing concentrations of unlabelled ac-LDL or fucoidin but not LDL, indicating uptake by a scavenger receptor. Both unlabelled ac-LDL and ox-LDL inhibited uptake of [ 125 I]-labelled ox-LDL, suggesting uptake by a common mechanism. Although secretion of progesterone by trophoblasts was stimulated by incubation with LDL, progesterone secretion by trophoblasts was not stimulated by ac-LDL and only minimally stimulated by ox-LDL. Conclusions : Scavenger receptors are present in human placental trophoblasts as well as macrophages. Scavenger receptor activity greatly exceeds that of LDL receptor activity in both cell types. However, cholesterol assimilated via the scavenger receptor pathway appears to be disconnected from endocrine steroidogenesis in trophoblasts. Thus, we hypothesize that scavenger receptors function in trophoblasts to degrade modified lipoproteins and prevent toxic effects on placental cellular function and fetal growth and development.
Quantity and quality of seston in an impounded and a free-flowing river in Virginia, U.S.A.

Seston in the impounded North Anna River (NAR) was analyzed and compared to that in the free-flowing South Anna River (SAR) in Virginia, U.S.A. A wet filtration technique was used to separate seston into five size classes. The overall quantity of organic seston was much lower in the NAR than in the SAR. The seston in the NAR was composed of more living organisms, in particular zooplankters in the medium large (234–864 µm) and small (105–234 µm) size classes and diatoms and other algae in the fine (43–105 µm) and very fine (25–43 µm) size classes. The percentage of zooplankton declined sharply before reaching the downstream study site (32 km). The seston in the NAR tended to consist of slightly larger particles, but 80–85% of the seston in both rivers was in the ultrafine (0.45–25 µm) size class, which was almost entirely composed of detritus. One indication of seston food quality, the organic/inorganic ratio, was considerably higher for the medium large and small size classes in the NAR immediately below the dam and for the fine and very fine size classes farther downstream. Another indication of food quality, the usable caloric content, showed that the seston in the NAR contained considerably less total assimilable energy as far as 32 km downstream from the dam, but that the medium large and small size classes were rich in assimilable energy immediately below the dam because of zooplankton released from the reservoir. Thus, the overall quantity and quality of seston was lower in the NAR, but the quality of the seston, for at least a short distance below the dam, was higher in a well-defined size range that can be effectively utilized by certain filter feeders.
Phenomenology and the claiming of essential knowledge

L'A. analyse les theories de la phenomenologie en cherchant a savoir si, malgre l'echec des tentatives faites, la possibilite existe de trouver une methode fiable d'exploration des elements essentiels d'un phenomene, avec des criteres explicites