cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Application of System Dynamics to Corporate Strategy: An Evolution of Issues and Frameworks

Abstract This paper discusses five landmark projects which highlighted issues and produced frameworks that became important building blocks in the application of System Dynamics to corporate strategy. The early models were primarily at the level of the firm. The first model described in the paper captures the tension among conflicting performance objectives and shows how the conflicts impact mid-term company performance. The second model represents the behavior of an R&D organization as it responds to changing pressures and direction from corporate management. Over time the focus shifted to market behavior and competition. The third model explains powerful long-term dynamics that lead to “commoditization" of products and services. Recent work analyzed the social dynamics of markets, e.g., as they affect innovation and technology substitution. The fourth model in the paper represents the fundamental dynamics of innovative industries, building on an extensive body of research and publications. The final model focuses on the market impacts of social factors, e.g., trust, fashion, the characteristics of lead users, how trends are perceived and extrapolated, the flow of information, bandwagon effects, and network effects. The progression started with classical Industrial Dynamics, models of the firm which focused on orders, production, and shipments. At each milestone more behavioral richness and complexity were recognized and represented. What do we know now that we did not know when the field was founded fifty years ago? The most important lessons are about the critical roles of organizational, social, and psychological factors in important business decisions, competitive behaviors, and the evolution of markets.
Aerodynamic sound in a relaxing medium

A theory of aerodynamic sound propagation, when inhomogeneities characterized by a relaxation process are present in both the source and propagation region, is formulated. The details of the relaxation process need not be specified at the outset, although the relaxation process is characterized by a relaxation time and by an equilibrium and a frozen sound speed in a propagation region which is otherwise in equilibrium. Propagation is described in terms of a D'Alembertian characterized by the frozen sound speed relaxing toward one characterized by the equilibrium sound speed, while the source is interpreted in terms of a frozen Lighthill stress tensor relaxing toward the equilibrium stress tensor. An appropriate Green's function for the three-dimensional relaxing wave propagation operator is used to construct an exact integral for the aerodynamic sound. The sound generated far from the source is then estimated in terms of the aerodynamic sound source.
Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as an initial weight-loss procedure for high-risk patients with morbid obesity

The surgical treatment of obesity in the high-risk, high-body-mass-index (BMI) (>60) patient remains a challenge. Major morbidity and mortality in these patients can approach 38% and 6%, respectively. In an effort to achieve more favorable outcomes, we have employed a two-stage approach to such high-risk patients. This study evaluates our initial outcomes with this technique. In this study, patients underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) as a first stage during the period January 2002–February 2004. After achieving significant weight loss and reduction in co-morbidities, these patients then proceeded with the second stage, laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGBP). During this time, 126 patients underwent LSG (53% female). The mean age was 49.5 ± 0.9 years, and the mean BMI was 65.3 ± 0.8 (range 45–91). Operative risk assessment determined that 42% were American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status score (ASA) III and 52% were ASA IV. The mean number of co-morbid conditions per patient was 9.3 ± 0.3 with a median of 10 (range 3–17). There was one distant mortality and the incidence of major complications was 13%. Mean excess weight after LSG at 1 year was 46%. Thirty-six patients with a mean BMI of 49.1 ± 1.3 (excess weight loss, EWL, 38%) had the second-stage LRYGBP. The mean number of co-morbidities in this group was 6.4 ± 0.1 (reduced from 9). The ASA class of the majority of patients had been downstaged at the time of LRYGB. The mean time interval between the first and second stages was 12.6 ± 0.8 months. The mean and median hospital stays were 3 ± 1.7 and 2.5 (range 2–7) days, respectively. There were no deaths, and the incidence of major complications was 8%. The staging concept of LSG followed by LRYGBP is a safe and effective surgical approach for high-risk patients seeking bariatric surgery.
Radar the next generation - sensors as robots

One can easily envisage future military operations and emerging civilian requirements (e.g. intelligent unmanned vehicles for urban warfare, intelligent manufacturing plants) that will be both complex and stressing and will demand innovative sensors and sensor configurations. The goal of our research into sensors as robots is to develop a cost effective and extendable approach for providing surveillance for a variety of applications in dynamically changing military and civilian environments. We discuss the development of a futuristic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance concept utilizing the innovative integration of cutting edge technologies such as: knowledge-based signal processing; robotics; wireless networking; waveform diversity; the semantic Web; advanced computer architectures and supporting software languages. This concept is projected as an autonomous constellation of air, space, and ground vehicles that would offer a robust paradigm to build toward future deployments.
On importance sampling Monte Carlo approach to uncertainty analysis for flow and transport in porous media

In this study we introduce a new approach named importance sampling or quick simulations. The method has been extensively used in communication theory in estimating probability of rare events. The basic idea behind importance sampling techniques is that certain values of the input random variables (or vectors) have more important impact on the parameters being estimated than others, and if these ‘‘important’’ values are sampled more frequently than others, i.e., sampled from a biased density function, the variance of the estimator can be reduced. The outputs from simulations are then weighted to correct such biased sampling. Two illustrative examples are given to show the general procedure of the importance sampling approach as well as its applicability to subsurface flow and transport problems. In one example we estimated the mean and variance of hydraulic head for one-dimensional flow, and in the other we estimated the probability of a particle’s travel time t less than a given critical value T . In both examples, we compared results from analytical solutions, the conventional Monte Carlo (CMC) simulations, and the importance sampling approach. It is shown that when an importance density function is chosen appropriately, importance sampling techniques may be many orders of magnitude more efficient than the CMC simulations and have a great potential in simulating subsurface flow and transport. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
CLOSED-FORM APPROXIMATION OF PERPETUAL TIMER OPTION PRICES

We develop an asymptotic expansion technique for pricing timer options in stochastic volatility models when the effect of volatility of variance is small. Based on the pricing PDE, closed-form approximation formulas have been obtained. The approximation has an easy-to-understand Black–Scholes-like form and many other attractive properties. Numerical analysis shows that the approximation formulas are very fast and accurate, especially when the volatility of variance is not large.
Frequency of Recurrent Extremes under Nonstationarity

AbstractThe concepts and methods for planning and design of hydraulic structures subject to hydrologic extreme events that arise from nonstationary conditions have emerged in the last few years. The traditional approaches such as return period, risk, and reliability assume that extreme events are stationary and they are being reformulated for applications under nonstationary conditions. For this purpose, some of the previous developments have been based on the nonhomogeneous geometric distribution. The particular importance of this paper relates to the frequency of extreme events as time evolves, say for a given time period n. For stationary extreme events, the number of events exceeding the design quantity (e.g., design flood) over the design life of the project, say n, can be determined from the binomial distribution. The main objective of the research reported in this paper is to develop a conceptual framework so that the frequency of extreme events when the extremes are nonstationary can be determined...
Selected Reference Books of 2001

This article follows the pattern set by the semiannual series initiated by the late Constance M.Winchell more than sixty years ago and continued by Eugene Sheehy. Because the purpose of the list is to present a selection of recent scholarly and general reference works, it does not pretend to be either well balanced or comprehensive. A brief roundup of new editions of standard works is provided at the end of the articles. Code numbers (such as BD111) have been used to refer to titles in the Guide to Reference Books , 11 th ed. (Chicago: ALA, 1996).
Complications of central venous access in children

Central venous access has become a frequent requirement in the management of seriously ill or injured infants and children with a wide variety of conditions. This report evaluates the complications observed with the use of central venous catheters in 1,378 cases. Central venous catheters (n = 2,281) were placed in 1,378 children (728 boys:650 girls). There were 1,012 temporary catheters (noncuffed/percutaneously placed) while 1,268 were inserted operatively, including 37 portacaths and 1,231 with dacron cuffs (Hickman, Broviac) for long-term use. A single catheter was inserted in 542 cases and multiple catheters in 836. Indications for catheter insertion included emergency resuscitation or access (501), malignancy (462), and intestinal dysfunction (415). Catheter infection occurred in 430 cases (18.8%). Of 219 infected temporary access catheters, 123 were removed while 96 were changed over a guide wire. Of 211 infected permanent catheters, 18 were immediately removed while 193 were treated with i.v. (vancomycin, gentamicin) antibiotics. Forty-seven of 193 (24%) catheters were eventually removed because of persistent or recurrent infection (16 cases) or subsequent fungal sepsis due to Candida albicans (31 cases). Only 3 of 37 portacaths were removed because of infection. Bacterial isolates were single in 125 cases and multiple in 86. Organisms included Staphylococcus epidermidis in 104 cases, Staph. aureus in 65, Klebsiella pneumoniae in 51, Escherichia coli in 51, and others in 18. Catheter complications occurred in 107 (5%) cases, including symptomatic vessel thrombosis in 49, pneumothorax in 26, catheter migration in 25, vessel injury in 5, and catheter embolus in 2. Despite the relatively high complication rate there were no catheter-related deaths. Multiple-lumen catheters had twice the complication rate and infection rate of single lumen catheters (P < 0.05). Temporary percutaneous catheters had a complication/infection rate 1.5 times greater than permanent catheters (P < 0.05) that were operatively placed. Bacterial infection cleared with antibiotics in 76% of cases with catheter sepsis, however secondary fungal infection necessitated prompt catheter removal. These data indicate that percutaneously placed catheters and multilumen catheters are associated with significantly higher complication and infection rates. Surgeons should balance the risks of convenience vs. complications in their choice of catheters and methods of insertion.
Legislative-Judicial Relations: A Game-Theoretic Approach to Constitutional Review

from 1983 to1995. ourts with the power to exercise constitutional review-as constitutional courts or in a decentralized system of judicial reviewconstitute central institutions of governance in most Western-style democracies. I present a simple game-theoretic model that provides a unified account of the multi-faceted interactions between such courts and the legislatures they are, at least in part, intended to control. The model addresses legislative anticipation of judicial review, legislative reactions to judicial rulings, and investigates the implications for judicial behavior. It demonstrates that the political environment in which a court must act is crucially important to the manner in which it will use its powers. As a result, the analysis provides important insights into the extent and the limits of judicial influence, thereby addressing questions that have been a recurring topic of debate among judicial scholars in the last decade (e.g., Holland 1991; Stone 1992; Tate and Vallinder 1995). In addition, the model lends insight into the current debate concerning the extent of strategic behavior by justices, demonstrating under which circumstances justices are likely to be constrained by strategic considerations and when this will not be the case (e.g., Carrubba 2000; Ferejohn and Weingast 1992; Rogers 2001; Segal 1997). The article is organized as follows. The next section introduces the substantive feature of legislative-judicial relations that is central to the analysis. The third section describes the model. In the fourth section, I present the equilibria of the game and interpret the results. The fifth section provides an empirical test of some of the model's conclusions using data on the decisions of the German Constitutional Court. The final section concludes.
POTENTIATION BETWEEN GASTRIN AND HISTAMINE IN STIMULATION OF GASTRIC SECRETION.

SummaryHistamine and gastrin extracts were given separately and in various combinations of doses to dogs with Heidenhain pouches. Most of the combinations of histamine plus gastrin gave higher rates of secretion of acid than could be accounted for on the basis of summation of stimulatory effects. The maximal rate of secretion of acid was higher with the combination of agents than with either agent alone. It is concluded that there is potentiation between exogenous gastrin and exogenous histamine in stimulation of gastric secretion of acid.
Grabbing Assets and Opportunities

This chapter focuses on overt, explicit policy initiatives to redistribute income and wealth. To be sure, almost all economic policies have some redistributive impacts. In the short run, at least, both regulation and spending policies have winners and losers: regulations limit the behavior of some at the expense of others; budget allocations require taxation or diversion of allocations from one set of actors to another. The promotion of one sector or region entails relative neglect of others. The fundamental economic parameters, such as exchange rates, tax rates, and interest rates, strongly influence the comparative prosperity of importers versus exporters, the urban sector versus the rural sector, and so on. Therefore, the examination of “redistributive policies” as a general category would not be useful. However, a much smaller subset of economic policies is explicitly and primarily redistributive. Because of the strong potential of these overtly redistributive policies to provoke conflict, it is worth focusing separately on them.
A Smart Grid-oriented Data Placement Strategy for Data-intensive Cloud Environment

In a distributed environment of the smart grid,data-intensive applications often involve complex transmissions between and within the data centers which may have to use large amounts of datasets.An application may need several datasets located in different data centers facing great challenges including the high cost of data movement between data centers and data dependency within the same center.Considering the efficient storage and management of large scale data in the smart grid,a two-stage strategy is proposed for the data placement.In the first stage,an initial classification is achieved by the K-means;while in the second,datasets are placed in different centers by a clustering scheme based on the data dependency.Simulations show that the algorithm can effectively reduce the cost of data movement while performing an even data distribution.
Interventions to Improve Safe Sleep Among Hospitalized Infants at Eight Children’s Hospitals

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Within hospital pediatric units, there is a lack of consistent application or modeling of the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for safe infant sleep. The purpose of this study was to improve safe sleep practices for infants in nonneonatal pediatric units with implementation of specific interventions. METHODS: This multi-institutional study was conducted by using baseline observations collected for sleep location, position, and environment (collectively, “safe sleep”) of infants admitted to pediatric units. Interventions consisted of: (1) staff education, including a commitment to promote safe sleep; (2) implementing site-generated safe sleep policies; (3) designating supply storage in patient rooms; and/or (4) caregiver education. Postintervention observations of safe sleep were collected. Eight hospitals participated from the Inpatient FOCUS Group of the Children’s Hospital Association. Each site received institutional review board approval/exemption. RESULTS: Safe sleep was observed for 4.9% of 264 infants at baseline and 31.2% of 234 infants postintervention (P 50% (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of site-specific interventions seems to improve overall safe sleep in inpatient pediatric units, although continued improvement is needed. Specifically, extra items are persistently left in the sleeping environment. Moving forward, hospitals should evaluate their compliance with American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations and embrace initiatives to improve modeling of safe sleep.
Histologic study of the early events in oxalate induced intranephronic calculosis

The early phases of calcium oxalate crystal formation in rat kidneys after intraperitoneal challenge with sodium oxalate were examined. From the results we conclude that the crystals are formed intraluminally in the proximal tubules of the renal cortex. The size, number, and distribution of calcium oxalate particles depend on the amount of sodium oxalate injected and the time interval after its injection. Tubular necrosis and dilation were evident after administration of higher doses of sodium oxalate. The papillary tip and corticomedullary junction were the preferential sites for crystal localization after longer periods of injections of higher doses of sodium oxalate.
CASE RECORDS of the MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL. Case 18-2016. A 52-Year-Old Woman with a Pleural Effusion.

A 52-year-old woman presented with a unilateral pleural effusion. Several weeks later, uterine bleeding, pelvic fullness, and bloating developed. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large pelvic mass. Diagnostic procedures were performed.
Chi-square tests for overdispersion with multiparameter estimates

When a vector of sample proportions is not obtained through simple random sampling, the covariance matrix for the sample vector can differ substantially from that corresponding to the multinomial model. For example, clustering effects or subject effects in repeated measure experiments can cause the variance of the observed proportions to be much larger than variances under the multinomial model. The phenomenon is generally referred to as overdispersion. This paper presents a method of analysing categorical data in the presence of overdispersion. The actual distribution of the sample proportion need not be known but it is assumed that the covariance matrix is a function of the population proportions and a limited number of scaling parameters. Parameter estimates are obtained through a combination of generalized least squares and moment estimation techniques and large sample chisquare tests are developed. Tests of fit of the models proposed are also developed and illustrated. Comparisons are made with other methods proposed in the literature, for overdispersed data.
Power hardware-in-the-loop testing of multiple photovoltaic inverters' volt-var control with real-time grid model

Traditional testing methods fall short in evaluating interactions between multiple smart inverters providing advanced grid support functions due to the fact that such interactions largely depend on their placements on the electric distribution systems with impedances between them. Even though significant concerns have been raised by the utilities on the effects of such interactions, little effort has been made to evaluate them. In this paper, power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) based testing was utilized to evaluate autonomous volt-var operations of multiple smart photovoltaic (PV) inverters connected to a simple distribution feeder model. The results provided in this paper show that depending on volt-var control (VVC) parameters and grid parameters, interaction between inverters and between the inverter and the grid is possible in some extreme cases with very high VVC slopes, fast response times and large VVC response delays.
Non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution function in a pulsed plasma modeled with dual effective temperatures

A non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution function (EEDF) has been modeled within a pulsed rf inductively coupled plasma source with the aid of experimental emission spectra and Ar metastable measurements obtained by laser diode absorption. The lower energy portion of the EEDF up to the first excited state energy of 11.5 eV for argon was accurately measured with a Langmuir probe and satisfactorily modeled with a generalized two-parameter expression. Above 11.5 eV, though, inelastic collisions caused the EEDF to deviate from the lower energy generalized expression and soon after, the energy limit of accuracy of the Langmuir probe was approached. In this work, a unique EEDF model was applied for electron energies above 11.5 eV that accounts for spectral effects due to both direct excitation from the Ar ground state and step-wise excitation from the metastable state. Previously tabulated optical cross sections were used with experimental data to simulate the optical emission spectra using a theoretical n...
Muricidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of the Esmeraldas Beds, Northwestern Ecuador

Inasmuch as the Bolivar Trough, or Atrato Strait, of Colombia and Ecuador is probably the largest and most long-lasting trans-American Tertiary seaway, a study of the muricid gastropods of the Pliocene Esmeraldas beds of Ecuador was undertaken to compare relationships with the contemporaneous Caribbean fauna. The results show much less correlation with the Caribbean fauna than anticipated; only seven of the 21 species studied occur in the Pliocene of the western Atlantic. The greatest number in common with any fauna proves to be 11 that are still living on the coast of western America. But, of these, six no longer occur in Ecuador (one is confined to the Galapagos, one to California, two are found only in the Gulf of California, and two do not extend south of Panama). Of the 21 species treated systematically, three are new: Murexsul pitti and Ceratostoma notiale, both confined to the Esmeraldas beds; and Murex (Haustellum) ruthae, from the Esmeraldas beds and the Recent fauna of the Gulf of California. In terms of presumed ancestry. 12 of the species have unmistakable Caribbean ancestors, and an additional three are worldwide Tethyan genera that may have come from the Caribbean. However, three are northern California-Japanese in relationship, two probably came directly from West Africa, and one seems to be endemic to the tropical eastern Pacific.
Dissipativity of finite and hybrid automata: An overview

This paper presents an overview of dissipativity concepts for discrete event and hybrid systems modeled as finite and hybrid automata respectively. Discrete event systems are event driven and lack a continuous time driven state evolution making the control analysis challenging. On the other hand, hybrid systems are a combination of discrete dynamics, similar to that of discrete event systems, and continuous dynamics associated with every discrete state. This interaction of heterogeneous dynamics gives rise to complex system behavior. The energy-like concept of dissipativity appears to provide an attractive analysis and design tool for these systems.
Tracking objects with point clouds from vision and touch

We present an object-tracking framework that fuses point cloud information from an RGB-D camera with tactile information from a GelSight contact sensor. GelSight can be treated as a source of dense local geometric information, which we incorporate directly into a conventional point-cloud-based articulated object tracker based on signed-distance functions. Our implementation runs at 12 Hz using an online depth reconstruction algorithm for GelSight and a modified second-order update for the tracking algorithm. We present data from hardware experiments demonstrating that the addition of contact-based geometric information significantly improves the pose accuracy during contact, and provides robustness to occlusions of small objects by the robot's end effector.
Teaching the body: a systematic review of posture interventions in primary schools

Many modern school systems require children to assume sedentary positions for extended periods of time, and the increasing use of classroom-based technology adds to the number of hours seated. With...
Dimensions of Credibility for the Ideal Debater

A national survey of debate coaches revealed three central factors associated with the ideal debater. These factors were labeled task competencies, social competencies, and assertiveness.
Static Modeling of Multisection Soft Continuum Manipulator for Stiff-Flop Project

This paper describes the design and implementation of a staticmodel used for position estimation of a flexible modular medical manipulator equipped with optic-fiber based sensors. Flexible manipulators are emerging technology in medical applications especially in minimally invasive surgery as it allows to perform the operation with tight space constraints without damaging other organs. Such option is often impossible with use of rigid surgical instrument. However one of the technical challenges in implementation of the flexible manipulator is to be able to determine the position of the manipulator during operation. A theoretical model of use of different information derived from opti-fiber based sensors to allow measurement of the position and deformation of the manipulator has been proposed. In comparison to typical constant curvature bending approach, proposed model allow to estimate deformation caused by external force applied to the structure. Simulation test has been carried out to present the advantages and possibilities of use of that model in data fusion algorithms to obtain precise positioning of the manipulator during the operation.
Three Species Competition

Although the quadratic population models for two species were not very satisfactory in the cases of Predator-Prey and Mutualism, in the case of Competition we discovered the well accepted Principle of Competitive Exclusion. We will therefore choose to extend the simple quadratic model of competition to include three interacting species.
The impact of brand equity on the financial performance of marketing cooperatives

Because of inherent constraints, few farmer cooperatives use branding to pursue differentiation and competitiveness in the agri‐food industry. Considering the complete lack of applied research on the brand–performance relationship for farmer cooperatives, it is unknown if branding is even profitable. This paper addresses the gap in our understanding with a novel panel study of 707 US marketing cooperatives for the 2005–2011 period. Informed by lagged observations of trademark and service mark data, the empirical analysis indicates a positive relationship of brand equity to the financial performance of marketing cooperatives. Specifically, 1% increases in the total stock of trademarks and service marks have a positive impact of $130,441 and $141,921, respectively, on the net sales of the mean marketing cooperative. The corresponding impact on net income is estimated at $3,815 and $17,286, respectively. Following the estimation of further specifications, there is also indication most of the impact is facilitated by older trademarks (>3 years) in the stock, which implies a delayed impact of brand equity on financial performance. Overall, the reported evidence serves as motivation to directors and managers of marketing cooperatives to pursue opportunities to build brand equity. To do so, however, may first require a solution to the equity constraint which appears at the foundation of most farmer cooperatives.
Extracting Conflict Models from Interaction Traces in Virtual Collaborative Work

This paper develops a model of conflicts that relies on extracting text and argument features from traces of interactions in collaborative work. Much prior research about collaborative work is aimed at improving the support for virtual work. In contrast, we are interested in detecting conflicts in collaborative work because conflict undetected can escalate and cause disruptions to productive work. It is a difficult problem because it requires untangling conflict-related interactions from normal interactions. Few models or methods are available for this purpose. The extracted features, interpreted with the help of foundational theories, suggests a conceptual model of conflicts that include categories of argumentation such as reasoning and modality; and informative language features. We illustrate the extraction approach and the model with a dataset from Bugzilla. The paper concludes with a discussion of evaluation possibilities and potential implications of the approach for detecting and managing conflicts in collaborative work.
Orion: a distributed file system for non-volatile main memories and RDMA-capable networks

High-performance, byte-addressable non-volatile main memories (NVMMs) force system designers to rethink tradeoffs throughout the system stack, often leading to dramatic changes in system architecture. Conventional distributed file systems are a prime example. When faster NVMM replaces block-based storage, the dramatic improvement in storage performance makes networking and software overhead a critical bottleneck. In this paper, we present Orion, a distributed file system for NVMM-based storage. By taking a clean slate design and leveraging the characteristics of NVMM and high-speed, RDMA-based networking, Orion provides high-performance metadata and data access while maintaining the byte addressability of NVMM. Our evaluation shows Orion achieves performance comparable to local NVMM file systems and outperforms existing distributed file systems by a large margin.
Highly Multiplexed Spatial Mapping of Microbial Communities

ABSTRACT Mapping the complex biogeography of microbial communities in situ with high taxonomic and spatial resolution poses a major challenge because of the high density and rich diversity of species in environmental microbiomes and the limitations of optical imaging technology. Here, we introduce High Phylogenetic Resolution microbiome mapping by Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization (HiPR-FISH), a versatile and cost-effective technology that uses binary encoding and spectral imaging and machine learning based decoding to create micron-scale maps of the locations and identities of hundreds of microbial species in complex communities. We demonstrate the ability of 10-bit HiPR-FISH to distinguish 1023 E. coli strains, each fluorescently labeled with a unique binary barcode. HiPR-FISH, in conjunction with custom algorithms for automated probe design and segmentation of single-cells in the native context of tissues, reveals the intricate spatial architectures formed by bacteria in the human oral plaque microbiome and disruption of spatial networks in the mouse gut microbiome in response to antibiotic treatment. HiPR-FISH provides a framework for analyzing the spatial organization of microbial communities in tissues and the environment at single cell resolution.
The Use of Preoperative Antibiotics in Elective Soft-Tissue Procedures in the Hand: A Critical Analysis Review.

The use of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis is not supported for elective cases of patients undergoing soft-tissue hand procedures that are ≤2 hours in length.The use of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis is not supported for patients with diabetes undergoing elective, soft-tissue hand surgical
2.6 A 16nm 3.5B+ Transistor >14TOPS 2-to-10W Multicore SoC Platform for Automotive and Embedded Applications with Integrated Safety MCU, 512b Vector VLIW DSP, Embedded Vision and Imaging Acceleration

The 7th generation Jacinto™ SoC platform is an evolution of prior architectures [1], [2] and integrates new capabilities to support a wide set of applications, including automotive, industrial, and broad market. This drives a diverse set of requirements which need IP innovation and new techniques across the entire SoC stack including: high-reliability techniques for automotive, including circuit analysis and screening; new IP development including new DSP, signal processing and data movement architectures; embedded vision, machine learning, and imaging and video acceleration; new security and safety innovations, including an integrated safety MCU; dedicated security controller, and hardware features to enable ASIL-D support. This SoC platform and first implementation also integrates techniques for simplified power-supply management and support for cost-sensitive systems through on-die micro-architecture solutions.
A Multivalent ICAM-1 Binding Nanoparticle which Inhibits ICAM-1 and LFA-1 Interaction Represents a New Tool for the Investigation of Autoimmune-Mediated Dry Eye.

The autoimmune disorder, Sjogren's syndrome (SS), is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration and loss of function of exocrine glands such as the lacrimal gland (LG) and salivary gland. SS-associated changes in the LG are associated with the development of autoimmune-mediated dry eye disease. We have previously reported the accumulation of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) in the LG of Non-Obese Diabetic (NOD) mice, a murine model of autoimmune-mediated dry eye in SS, in both LG acinar cells and infiltrating lymphocytes. ICAM-1 initiates T-cell activation and can trigger T-cell migration through binding to lymphocyte function-associated 1 antigen (LFA). To modulate this interaction, this study introduces a new tool, a multivalent biopolymeric nanoparticle assembled from a diblock elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) using the S48I48 (SI) ELP scaffold fused with a mouse ICAM-1 targeting peptide to form IBP-SI. IBP-SI forms a multivalent, monodisperse nanoparticle with a radius of 21.9 nm. Unlike the parent SI, IBP-SI binds mouse ICAM-1 and is internalized by endocytosis into transfected HeLa cells before it accumulates in lysosomes. In vitro assays measuring lymphocyte adhesion to Tumor Necrosis Factor TNF-α-treated bEnd.3 cells, which express high levels of ICAM-1, show that adhesion is inhibited by IBP-SI but not by SI, with IC50 values of 62.7 μM and 81.2 μM, respectively, in two different assay formats. IBP-SI, but not SI, also blocked T-cell proliferation in a mixed lymphocyte reaction by 74% relative to proliferation in an untreated mixed cell reaction. These data suggest that a biopolymeric nanoparticle with affinity for ICAM-1 can disrupt ICAM-1 and LFA interactions in vitro and may have further utility as an in vivo tool or potential therapeutic.
The silent wars of the ordinary: bitter neighborliness and the judiciary in Haiti

The general concern of this paper revolves around the interplay between state and unofficial law in rural Haiti. By looking at the complex relation between legal and extrajudicial means of managing...
Narrative accounts and their influence on treatment recommendations in medical interviews

Abstract Previous research exploring the use of narratives in medical interviews has primarily examined the history-taking phase to illustrate the ways in which physicians and patients discursively collaborate to organize and interpret patients’ illness experiences ( Eggly, 2002 ; Halkowski, 2006 ; Stivers & Heritage, 2001 ). In this paper, the scope will be expanded to demonstrate that narrative accounts are interwoven and unfold across various phases of the medical interview, not only the history-taking phase, and are utilized in a variety of ways to collaboratively accomplish specific social practices. A narrative as talk-in-interaction approach is used to examine narrative accounts using audio-recordings of naturally occurring medical interview data (US, American English). This paper examines the ways in which narratives are locally occasioned to do a variety of things (e.g., raise difficult topics, actively resist treatment, reinforce identities), including influencing the treatment decision making process.
Thermodynamics of Modularity: Structural Costs Beyond the Landauer Bound

Author(s): Boyd, AB; Mandal, D; Crutchfield, JP | Abstract: Information processing typically occurs via the composition of modular units, such as the universal logic gates found in discrete computation circuits. The benefit of modular information processing, in contrast to globally integrated information processing, is that complex computations are more easily and flexibly implemented via a series of simpler, localized information processing operations that only control and change local degrees of freedom. We show that, despite these benefits, there are unavoidable thermodynamic costs to modularity - costs that arise directly from the operation of localized processing and that go beyond Landauer's bound on the work required to erase information. Localized operations are unable to leverage global correlations, which are a thermodynamic fuel. We quantify the minimum irretrievable dissipation of modular computations in terms of the difference between the change in global nonequilibrium free energy, which captures these global correlations, and the local (marginal) change in nonequilibrium free energy, which bounds modular work production. This modularity dissipation is proportional to the amount of additional work required to perform a computational task modularly, measuring a structural energy cost. It determines the thermodynamic efficiency of different modular implementations of the same computation, and so it has immediate consequences for the architecture of physically embedded transducers, known as information ratchets. Constructively, we show how to circumvent modularity dissipation by designing internal ratchet states that capture the information reservoir's global correlations and patterns. Thus, there are routes to thermodynamic efficiency that circumvent globally integrated protocols and instead reduce modularity dissipation to optimize the architecture of computations composed of a series of localized operations.
Abstract 16497: Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation and Traditional Cardiac Rehabilitation are Markedly Underutilized: Results From a Medicare Sample Analysis

Introduction: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is proven to improve cardiovascular outcomes in patients with heart disease. Intensive cardiac rehabilitation (ICR) was developed to enhance CR by adding s...
Caged lipids for subcellular manipulation.

Abstract We present recently developed strategies to manipulate lipid levels in live cells by light. We focus on photoremovable protecting groups that lead to subcellular restricted localization and activation and discuss alternative techniques. We emphasize the development of organelle targeting of caged lipids and discuss recent advances in chromatic orthogonality of caging groups for future applications.
Arterial spin labeling as an ancillary assessment to postoperative conventional angiogram in pediatric moyamoya disease.

Objective Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is commonly performed after pial synangiosis surgery for pediatric moyamoya disease to assess the degree of neovascularization. However, angiography is invasive, and the risk of ionizing radiation is a concern in children. In this study, the authors aimed to identify whether arterial spin labeling (ASL) can predict postoperative angiogram grading. In addition, they sought to determine whether patients who underwent ASL imaging without DSA had similar postoperative outcomes when compared with patients who received ASL imaging and postoperative DSA. Methods The medical records of pediatric patients who underwent pial synangiosis for moyamoya disease at a quaternary children's hospital were reviewed during a 10-year period. ASL-only and ASL+DSA cohorts were analyzed. The frequency of preoperative and postoperative symptoms was analyzed within each cohort. Three neuroradiologists assigned a visual ASL grade for each patient indicating the change from the preoperative to postoperative ASL perfusion sequences. A postoperative neovascularization grade was also assigned for patients who underwent DSA. Results Overall, 21 hemispheres of 14 patients with ASL only and 14 hemispheres of 8 patients with ASL+DSA were analyzed. The groups had similar rates of MRI evidence of acute or chronic stroke preoperatively (61.9% in the ASL-only group and 64.3% in the ASL+DSA group). In the entire cohort, transient ischemic attack (TIA) (p = 0.027), TIA composite (TIA or unexplained neurological symptoms; p = 0.0006), chronic headaches (p = 0.035), aphasia (p = 0.019), and weakness (p = 0.001) all had decreased frequency after intervention. The authors found a positive association between revascularization observed on DSA and the visual ASL grading (p = 0.048). The visual ASL grades in patients with an angiogram indicating robust neovascularization demonstrated improved perfusion when compared with the ASL grades of patients with a poor neovascularization. Conclusions Noninvasive ASL perfusion imaging had an association with postoperative DSA neoangiogenesis following pial synangiosis surgery in children. There were no significant postoperative stroke differences between the ASL-only and ASL+DSA cohorts. Both cohorts demonstrated significant improvement in preoperative symptoms after surgery. Further study in larger cohorts is necessary to determine whether the results of this study are validated in order to circumvent the invasive catheter angiogram.
SU-E-T-349: Effective Dose-Volume-Histogram Prediction Method Using Euclidean Distance Volume Histogram for Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy to Treat Prostate Cancer

Purpose: Manually checking the plan dose-volume histograms (DVH) quality is time consuming, thereby limiting the patient throughput and leading to inconsistent plan quality across institutions. We propose to use Euclidean distance volume histogram (EDVH) to automate this process in volumetric-modulated arch therapy (VMAT) to treat prostate cancer patients by predicting DVH of a new patient based on prior expert patients. Methods: 52 prostate cancer patients treated by VMAT at our institution were randomly selected. 3D distance transformation was performed on the simulation CTs to get Euclidean distance for each voxel inside every organ-at-risk with respect to the tumor. EDVH was then constructed, analogous to computing a DVH. In order to evaluate our proposed method, we utilize the leave-one-patient-out cross validation. For each test patient, we select 5 patients with the closest EDVHs from the remaining 51 patients and determine whether the DVH of this patient is within the band bounded by these 5 patients’ DVHs with a ratio defined as AREA5/AREA6, where AREA5 is the area-between-curves (ABC) bounded by the DVHs of the 5 selected patients and AREA6 is the ABC bounded by the DVHs of the 5 selected patients plus the test patient. The higher the ratio is, the better prediction performance is. Results: From the process of leave-one-patient-out cross validation, we obtained a prediction ratio (0.94±0.11) for each patient. 48 out of 52 patients (92.3%) for bladder and 46 out of 52 patients (88.5%) for rectum had prediction ratios above 0.80. 41 out of 52 patients (78.9%) for bladder and 38 out of 52 patients (73.1%) for rectum had prediction ratios above 0.90. Conclusion: EDVH can effectively capture the overall geometric relationship between the tumor and organ-at-risks, which can be used to confidently predict the DVH based on prior expert patients for VMAT to treat prostate cancer. NIH/NCI K25CA168984, Eagles Cancer Research Career Development, The Lawrence W. and Marilyn W. Matteson Fund for Cancer Research, Mayo ASU Seed Grant, and The Kemper Marley Foundation.
Design equations for selective harmonic elimination and microcontroller implementation

The paper presents an analytical approach to find switching angles for an optimal PWM signal. The solution is in closed form that eliminates the need for numerical solution to find the transition angles. The disadvantage in iterative computation is overhead in computational effort as it requires a PC with expensive software and solution time can be a problem in real-time operation. Such an approach is prohibitive in low cost applications. In the proposed work, the equations can be programmed into a microcontroller and the PWM is generated by the micro with a digital control of the fundamental. The approach has been illustrated for three switching angles to avoid complexity although it is applicable to more transition angles. The paper also focuses on three phase systems where it is not necessary to eliminate the triplen harmonics. The analysis provides an insight for multiple solutions that exist in triplen system. The modulation depth can be altered digitally and this feature makes the approach attractive for MPPT integrated inverter. Simulation and microcontroller implementation results are included.
Delay and power tradeoffs for static and dynamic register files

Register file (RF) memory is important in low power SOCs due to its inherent low voltage stability. Moreover, designs increasingly use compiled instead of custom memory blocks, which frequently employ static, rather than pre-charged dynamic register files. In this paper, we compare static and dynamic RF power dissipation and timing characteristics. The relative timing and power advantages of the designs are shown to be dependent on the memory aspect ratio, i.e. array width and height. One version, fabricated on a foundry bulk CMOS 90-nm low standby power (LP) process provides a baseline for the analyses.