cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Terrorism and Immigration: A Risk Analysis

Terrorism is a hazard to human life and material prosperity that should be addressed in a sensible manner whereby the benefits of actions to contain it outweigh the costs. Foreign-born terrorists who entered the country, either as immigrants or tourists, were responsible for 88 percent (or 3,024) of the 3,432 murders caused by terrorists on U.S. soil from 1975 through the end of 2015. This paper presents the first terrorism risk analysis of the visa categories those foreign-born terrorists used to enter the United States.Including those murdered in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), the chance of an American perishing in a terrorist attack on U.S. soil that was committed by a foreigner over the 41-year period studied here is 1 in 3.6 million per year. The hazard posed by foreigners who entered on different visa categories varies considerably. For instance, the chance of an American being murdered in a terrorist attack caused by a refugee is 1 in 3.64 billion per year while the chance of being murdered in an attack committed by an illegal immigrant is an astronomical 1 in 10.9 billion per year. By contrast, the chance of being murdered by a tourist on a B visa, the most common tourist visa, is 1 in 3.9 million per year. Any government response to terrorism must take account of the wide range of hazards posed by foreign-born terrorists who entered under various visa categories.The federal government has an important role to play in screening foreigners who enter the United States, and to exclude those who pose a threat to the national security, safety, or health of Americans. This terrorism risk analysis of individual visa categories can aid in the efficient allocation of scarce government security resources to those categories that are most exploitable by terrorists. The hazards posed by foreign-born terrorists are not large enough to warrant extreme actions like a moratorium on all immigration or tourism.
Root xylem plasticity to improve water use and yield in water-stressed soybean

We tested the hypothesis that increasing the number of metaxylem vessels would enhance the efficiency of water uptake in soybean (Glycine max) and decrease the yield gap in water-limited environments. A panel of 41 soybean accessions was evaluated in greenhouse, rainout shelter, and rain-fed field environments. The metaxylem number influenced the internal capture of CO2 and improved stomatal conductance, enhancing water uptake/use in soybeans exposed to stress during the reproductive stage. We determined that other root anatomical features, such as cortex cell area and the percentage of stele that comprised cortical cells, also affected seed yield under similar growth parameters. Seed yield was also impacted by pod retention rates under drought stress (24-80 pods/plant). We surmise that effective biomass allocation, that is, the transport of available photosynthates to floral structures at late reproductive growth stages (R6-R7), enables yield protection under drought stress. A mesocosm study of contrasting lines for yield under drought stress and root anatomical features revealed that increases in metaxylem number as an adaptation to drought in the high-yielding lines improved root hydraulic conductivity, which reduced the metabolic cost of exploring water in deeper soil strata and enhanced water transport. This allowed the maintenance of shoot physiological processes under water-limited conditions.
Apparent Life-Threatening Events (ALTE) or Brief Resolved Unexplained Events (BRUE)

Abstract Apparent life-threatening events (ALTE) have recently been renamed by the American Academy of Pediatrics to "Brief Resolved Unexplained Events" (BRUE), which include events with cyanosis or pallor; absent, decreased, or irregular breathing; marked change in tone, and an altered level of responsiveness, with no explanation being found during an initial work-up. Epidemiologically, low and high risk events can be identified. Low-risk events occur in children more than 60 days of age, with birth at ≥32 weeks gestation, no previous event, an estimated duration less than 1 minute, no need for resuscitation by trained medical personnel and no concerning historical features or physical examination findings. Low-risk events usually do not require hospital admission, an extensive diagnostic work-up or home monitoring. In contrast, children with high-risk events should be admitted and carefully monitored. Where available, provision of a memory monitor for home use for 4–6 weeks can help to identify treatable pathologies. Important risk factors for future events include a history of prematurity, multiple ALTE and suspected child maltreatment. Finally, the separate entity of neonatal ALTE, often related to positional upper airway obstruction, should be considered, as these may be best prevented by instructing parents and midwives to ensure that their baby's airway remains unobstructed at all times.
Internal dose escalation is associated with increased local control for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) brain metastases treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)

Abstract Objective To identify potentially actionable dosimetric predictors of local control (LC) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) brain metastases treated with single-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Methods and materials Patients with NSCLC brain metastases treated with single-fraction SRS were identified. Eligible patients had at least 1 follow-up magnetic resonance imaging scan and were without prior metastasectomy or SRS to the same lesion. LC and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox proportional hazards model was used for univariate (UVA) and multivariate analysis (MVA). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to identify optimal cut points for dose-volume histogram metrics relative to LC. Results A total of 612 NSCLC brain metastasis were identified in 299 patients with single-fraction SRS between 1999 and 2014. Median follow-up was 10 months. Median OS from time of SRS was 11 months. Overall LC was 75% and 66% at 1 and 2 years, respectively. On UVA, increasing dose by any measure was associated with improved LC. On MVA, volume receiving at least 32 Gy (V32; hazard ratio [HR], 0.069; P Conclusions Volume, prescription isodose line, and V32 are independent predictors of LC. V32 represents an actionable SRS treatment planning parameter for NSCLC brain metastases.
História de vida como história do mundo - Walter Benjamin reescreve A Crônica da Rua dos Pardais, de Wilhelm Raabe

PARTE DO PREÂMBULO AO ARTIGO: O presente artigo mostra de modo sutil como o fato aparentemente secundario e muitas vezes esquecido de que um autor tenha atuado ele mesmo como tradutor pode determinar o proprio modo de apropriacao do acervo da tradicao literaria, sobretudo por parte de um escritor moderno. De fato, e gracas tambem a experiencia de traduzir a obra de Marcel Proust em colaboracao com Franz Hessel que Walter Benjamin se torna cada vez mais consciente de seu metodo da incorporacao velada da obra de escritores do passado. Trata-se certamente de uma especie de memoria interna da literatura que opera, tanto na obra das Passagens , quanto na Cronica Berlinense e na Infância em Berlim por volta de 1900 , com a apropriacao benjaminiana de elementos, entre outros, da obra de Wilhelm Raabe, A Cronica da Rua dos Pardais , uma obra considerada por Otto Maria Carpeaux como verdadeiro idilio urbano alemao - uma evidente contradicao em termos, naturalmente. Em tempos de uma pos-modernidade que se apresenta como renovada e insistentemente tardia, e urgente o exame de tais sutis mecanismos de reescrita e reelaboracao literaria para desvendar seu nexo com operacoes de carater fundamentalmente translaticio.
Do Pre-Clinical Experiences Adequately Prepare Students for Their Pediatrics Clerkship: A Needs Assessment to Inform Curricular Development

Medical schools teach a broad overview of basic science and clinical skills in the first 2 years of medical school, with a focus on adult medicine. There is limited emphasis on childhood disease and interactions with children. Previous data illustrated pediatric clerkship directors perceive student preparedness for the pediatric clerkship to be inconsistent. We aimed to examine how pre-clinical experiences prepare medical students for their pediatric clerkship by creating a needs assessment to inform curriculum development. An anonymous survey was administered to 525 medical students completing their third year pediatrics rotations at four medical schools. Using a 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) scale, students rated their perception of how well their first 2 years of medical school prepared them for: the clerkship (overall), pediatric communication skills, age-appropriate physical exam skills, and pediatric-specific medical knowledge. Thirty-three percent (33%) of respondents felt their pre-clinical education inadequately prepared them for their pediatric clerkship overall and 40% reported inadequate preparation for pediatric physical examination skills. Open-ended responses were qualitatively categorized into themes. The most frequent theme was a need for more pediatric-specific medical knowledge with the next highlighting more pediatric physical exam training. One third or more of students in our study reported feeling inadequately prepared for their pediatric clerkship based on the first 2 years of medical school in several key competency areas, especially physical examination skills. Although variability in student responses exists between schools, these results suggest improvements in pre-clinical pediatric education are needed.
Julius Caesar and the numbers

This article offers an interpretation of a controversial aspect of Frege’s The Foundations of Arithmetic, the so-called Julius Caesar problem. Frege raises the Caesar problem against proposed purely logical definitions for ‘0’, ‘successor’, and ‘number’, and also against a proposed definition for ‘direction’ as applied to lines in geometry. Dummett and other interpreters have seen in Frege’s criticism a demanding requirement on such definitions, often put by saying that such definitions must provide a criterion of identity of a certain kind (for numbers or for linear directions). These interpretations are criticized and an alternative interpretation is defended. The Caesar problem is that the proposed definitions fail to well-define ‘number’ and ‘direction’. That is, the proposed definitions, even when taken together with the extra-definitional facts (such as that Caesar is not a number and that England is not a direction), fail to fix unique semantic extensions for ‘number’ and ‘direction’, and thereby fail to fix unique truth-values for sentences like ‘Caesar is a number’ and ‘England is a direction’. A minor modification of the criticized definitions well-defines ‘0’, ‘successor’ and ‘number’, thereby avoiding the Caesar problem as Frege understands it, but without providing any criterion of number identity in the usual sense.
Peak alpha frequency is a neural marker of cognitive function across the autism spectrum.

Cognitive function varies substantially and serves as a key predictor of outcome and response to intervention in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet we know little about the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie cognitive function in children with ASD. The dynamics of neuronal oscillations in the alpha range (6-12 Hz) are associated with cognition in typical development. Peak alpha frequency is also highly sensitive to developmental changes in neural networks, which underlie cognitive function, and therefore, it holds promise as a developmentally sensitive neural marker of cognitive function in ASD. Here, we measured peak alpha band frequency under a task-free condition in a heterogeneous sample of children with ASD (N = 59) and age-matched typically developing (TD) children (N = 38). At a group level, peak alpha frequency was decreased in ASD compared to TD children. Moreover, within the ASD group, peak alpha frequency correlated strongly with non-verbal cognition. As peak alpha frequency reflects the integrity of neural networks, our results suggest that deviations in network development may underlie cognitive function in individuals with ASD. By shedding light on the neurobiological correlates of cognitive function in ASD, our findings lay the groundwork for considering peak alpha frequency as a useful biomarker of cognitive function within this population which, in turn, will facilitate investigations of early markers of cognitive impairment and predictors of outcome in high risk infants.
An Inexpensive Esophageal Balloon Tamponade Trainer

Abstract Background Emergency medicine practitioners must be able to perform rare, life-saving procedures. One such example is esophageal balloon tamponade, which is complex, fraught with complications, and difficult to demonstrate and practice. Discussion We constructed a simple, inexpensive model esophagus and stomach that we attached to a mannequin, allowing emergency medicine residents to visualize and practice esophageal balloon tamponade device placement. Conclusion Our esophageal balloon tamponade model was easy to construct and allowed demonstration, conceptual visualization, and simulated performance of the procedure.
Federating natural language question answering services of a cognitive enterprise data platform

An enterprise data lake (EDL) combines big data storage, governance, and query abilities for structured and unstructured data with a navigable, searchable data catalogue. We define a cognitive enterprise data platform (CEDP) to be an EDL that is further equipped with a scalable deployment platform and an extensible catalogue of deployable cognitive computing services as well as a data science and data engineering environment to develop and train the cognitive computing services and publish them to the CEDP catalogue. A natural language question answering (NLQA) service is a CEDP cognitive computing service trained to recognize natural language questions and respond using CEDP data queries or cognitive computing services. In order to scale this form of cognition to the enterprise, business units must be able to crowd source the catalogue of trained NLQA that the CEDP must then deploy and federate automatically. However, the machine learned models that contribute to answer confidence values are separately trained, so the answer confidence values from any two NLQA services are not directly comparable. Therefore, federating separately trained NLQA services requires an answer ranking methodology. This paper includes a solution that is based on two insights. The first is that the problem of answering ranking across separately trained NLQA services is analogous to the left side of Bayes' formula. The second insight is that the factors in the right side of Bayes' formula can be automatically machine learned using the test sets of the NLQA services. Thus, calibrated answer ranking across separately trained NLQA services is achieved via Bayesian inferences on their answer confidence values. In turn, this baseline answer ranking methodology enables a cognitive enterprise data platform to automatically federate a dynamic changeable crowd-sourced catalogue of NLQA services.
A note on exact finite difference schemes for modified Lotka–Volterra differential equations

We construct a class of modified Lotka–Volterra ordinary differential equations (ODE’s) and show that a nonlinear change of the dependent variables transform them into a set of coupled, linear ODE’...
Joint Synoptic and Cloud Variability over the Northeast Atlantic near the Azores

AbstractMarine boundary layer clouds are modified by processes at different spatial and temporal scales. To isolate the processes governing aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions, multiday synoptic variability of the environment must be accounted for. Information on the location of low clouds relative to the ridge–trough pattern gives insight into how cloud properties vary as a function of environmental subsidence and stability. The technique of self-organizing maps (SOMs) is employed to objectively classify the 500-hPa geopotential height patterns for 33 years of reanalysis fields (ERA-Interim) into pretrough, trough, posttrough, ridge, and zonal-flow categories. The SOM technique is applied to a region of prevalent marine low cloudiness over the eastern North Atlantic Ocean that is centered on the Azores island chain, the location of a long-term U.S. Department of Energy observation site. The Azores consistently lie in an area of substantial variability in synoptic configuration, thermodynamic environ...
Abstract 15955: Central Arterial Hemodynamics of Hypertension at High Altitude: The INTERVENCION Trial

Background: Altitude above sea level is a key regulator of cardiovascular function. Whereas much is known about the short-term cardiovascular effects of altitude, data are lacking about the differences in the patterns of hypertension between populations living at low and high altitude. Hemodynamic patterns of hypertension can provide important clues about vascular status. Mean arterial pressure is dependent on microvascular resistance and cardiac output, whereas pulsatile hemodynamics are dependent on large and medium-sized conduit artery function. Methods: We performed an analysis of the baseline measurements in the INTERVENCION study, a prospective randomized multicenter trial which enrolled subjects with untreated hypertension at low altitude (LA, 3500 m) in Peru. At each altitude level, enrollment was stratified by age group and gender to achieve an equal distribution. Central pressure profiles were measured with carotid high-fidelity arterial tonometry (Millar tonometer and Sphygmocor device). Results: Age, gender and body mass index in the sample did not differ between altitude levels. Despite similar mean arterial pressure (LA: 106.3±1.9; IA: 107.9±1.3; HA: 104.3±1.1; P=0.12), central systolic pressure was progressively lower with increasing altitude (SL: 144.8±3.3; IA: 139.2±2.2; HA: 133.7±1.7; P=0.007). This was due to both a lower amplitude of the first systolic peak (forward pressure) (LA=47.8±1.7; IA=42.2±1.4; HA: 38.1±1.3 mmHg; P Conclusions: Despite similar levels of mean pressure, we demonstrate for the first time, marked altitude-related differences in central hemodynamics in hypertension. Hypertensives living chronically at increasing altitude demonstrated less adverse pulsatile hemodynamics, which may translate in differences in cardiovascular risk and response to therapy.
Analyzing the variations in cost-efficiency of marine cage lobster aquaculture in Vietnam: A two-stage bootstrap DEA approach

This study measures cost-efficiency and its determinants for 353 marine cage lobster farms in Vietnam using a two-stage bootstrap data envelopment analysis (DEA). In the first stage, the bootstrap ...
Improving tumor co-segmentation on PET-CT images with 3D co-matting

Positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) plays a critically important role in modern cancer therapy. In this paper, we focus on automated tumor delineation on PET-CT image pairs. Inspired by co-segmentation model, we develop a novel 3D image co-matting technique making use of the inner-modality information of PET and CT for matting. The obtained co-matting results are then incorporated in the graph-cut based PET-CT co-segmentation framework. Our comparative experiments on 32 PET-CT scan pairs of lung cancer patients demonstrate that the proposed 3D image co-matting technique can significantly improve the quality of cost images for the co-segmentation, resulting in highly accurate tumor segmentation on both PET and CT scan pairs.
‘Friends and Neighbors’ Voting Under Mixed-Member Majoritarian Electoral Systems: Evidence from Lithuania

ABSTRACTThe concept of ‘friends and neighbors’ voting, in which voters are more likely to support locally-affiliated candidates, has a long tradition in the study of elections and representation. The concept was established in the study of American politics and has been tested in other political and social environments. The focus of ‘friends and neighbors’ voting has been on single and multi-seat constituency-based elections. This emphasis leaves open an important question: Does the concept carry over to party-list elections? This article takes advantage of the features of Lithuania's mixed-member electoral system to assess how ‘friends and neighbors’ voting may influence constituency and party-list races. We find that the magnitude of effect for ‘localness’ is greater when candidates dual-list in constituencies and on party lists. However, residency has a significant effect on voting outcomes even for candidates contesting only on the party list and for those in hopeless list positions, suggesting that ‘...
Effects of Soil Compaction and Flooding on the Growth of 12 Willow (Salix L.) Species

Abstract Responses to soil compaction and flooding by 12 Salix species were studied in small mesocosms in a greenhouse over a period of 8 weeks. Two independent experiments were conducted: response...
Postdisaster Decision Framework for Bridge Repair Prioritization to Improve Road Network Resilience

Road networks are critical to a community’s ability to recover from a disaster. The ability to move goods and people efficiently is dramatically affected by disruptions to vulnerable components of ...
Synchrotron X-ray Raman scattering shows the changes of the Ca environment in C-S-H exposed to high pressure

Abstract X-ray Raman Scattering (XRS) is a new probe to analyze the local chemical environment of elements of interest. In this communication, XRS is, for the first time, used in the field of cement study. In situ high-pressure XRS (HP-XRS) at Ca L2,3-edge was used to examine the pressure-induced change of Ca environment of C-S-H under a loading/unloading cycle of combined deviatoric stress and hydrostatic pressure up to 20 GPa. The peak positions of the Ca L2,3-edge systematically shifted to lower energies upon loading, suggesting a shortening of the Ca O bonds. The peak positions of the Ca L2,3-edge shifted to higher energies upon unloading, but permanent shifts in edge positions were observed after unloading to 0 GPa, suggesting a permanent deformation mainly due to a distortion in the interlayer Ca and a sliding at interlayer region. For the first time, the pressure-induced structural change of C-S-H is evidenced at the atomic scale.
Continuous infusion factor replacement in haemophilia B during and after cardiac surgery: the better choice?

A 57-year-old man with mild haemophilia B was admitted for coronary artery bypass graft surgery. His factor IX (FIX) activity was 15% on admission. Our goal was to maintain his FIX activity at 80%–100% for post-op days (PODs) 0–3, and at 60%–80% for PODs 4–14. Preoperatively, the patient was given recombinant FIX (rFIX) bolus using the formula: Dosage needed=%(desired FIX level−current level of FIX)×weight (kg)×1.3. This increased his activity to 100%. One IU of rFIX increased FIX activity by 0.8%; the half-life of rFIX is 18–24 hours. The rFIX infusion was started intraoperatively and continued after surgery to maintain target FIX activity. He was discharged on POD 9 on rFIX bolus dosing of 5000 IU every 12 hours for an additional 5 days. Using continuous factor infusion, we managed to decrease the amount rFIX used by >60% while maintaining steady state FIX activity level.
Recommending pull request reviewers based on code changes

Pull-based development supports collaborative distributed development. It enables developers to collaborate on projects hosted on GitHub. If a developer wants to collaborate on a project, he/she will fork the repository, make modifications on the forked repository and send a pull request to the development team to ask for a merge of the code changes to the official repository. When the development team receives a pull request, the team members will review the changes and make a decision on whether to accept the changes or not. However, efficiently finding suitable pull request reviewers is a challenge. In this paper, we propose a multi-instance-based deep neural network model to recommend reviewers for pull requests. Given a pull request, our model extracts three features, which pull request title, commit message, and code change. The proposed model extracts the three features automatically from the code changes of every commit in the pull request. The features of different commits are then merged to predict the likelihood that a reviewer candidate is the appropriate reviewer. We use CNN and LSTM-network to learn features since the pull requisition and commit message feature have different structures than code change, written in a programming language. To test the effectiveness of our model, we performed a set of experiments using 43,986 pull requests extracted from 12 open-source projects. We compare our model with two baselines approaches, CoreDevRec and Majority Classes. Experiments demonstrate that our model outperforms two state-of-the-art baselines. For instance, for the TensorFlow project, our model’s accuracy in determining the appropriate reviewers is 50.80%, 74.70%, and 84.04%, respectively, in Top-1, Top-3, and Top-5 recommendation.
Is coracoclavicular reconstruction necessary in hook plate fixation for acute unstable acromioclavicular dislocation

Acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) dislocation is a relatively common shoulder injury. For the treatment of cases of severe ACJ dislocation (Rockwood type III–V), hook plate fixation is an easy-to-master and minimally-invasive approach to surgical intervention. Over stress on the acromion following hook plate fixation often leads to acromial complications such as osteolysis and loss of reduction. We hypothesized that suspensory reconstruction alongside hook plate fixation might provide a superior stability and reduce complications as compared with hook plate fixation alone. The purpose of the study was to assess the clinical and radiographic outcomes of these two surgical modalities. We retrospectively enrolled 49 patients with acute ACJ dislocation from May 2010 to December 2018. Among them, 19 patients received hook plate fixation only (HP group), and 19 underwent concomitant hook plate fixation and loop suspension fixation with two mersilene sutures (HM group). The demographic data of the patients were recorded and analyzed. All patients underwent a shoulder X-ray initially, immediately postoperatively, and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months to measure the relative coracoclavicular distance (rCCD). Clinical assessment of shoulder function outcome was conducted using the Constant Murley Score (CMS); the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Shoulder Score was also measured at the latest follow-up. There were no significant differences in the demographic data between the two groups. With regards to the CMS and the UCLA score, the HM group and HP group both had excellent outcomes, and no significant differences in scores were observed between groups (CMS: 93.90 ± 6.16 versus 94.47 ± 7.26, p = 0.47; UCLA score: 32.84 ± 2.91 versus 34.32 ± 1.16, p = 0.07). However, the HM group demonstrated substantial superiority in terms of maintenance of the rCCD over the HP group (91.47 ± 27.47 versus 100.75 ± 48.70, p = 0.015). In addition, there was less subacromial osteolysis in the HM group than the HP group (52.6% versus 15.8%, p = 0.038). Both fixations yielded excellent functional outcomes. However, concomitant hook plate fixation with loop suspensory reconstruction demonstrated the fewer acromion complications and statistical differences in reduction maintenance with less clinical significance.
Surgical Treatment of Benign Cardiac Tumors

Myxoma and papillary fibroelastoma are the most common benign cardiac tumors accounting for the majority of the benign tumors a surgeon will see. (2) Myxomas occur most commonly in the left atrium but can occur in any cardiac chamber and represent over 50% of the benign tumors. Fibroelastomas are the second most common benign tumors and generally involve the cardiac valves but can occur within the chambers. Surgical resection is the appropriate approach for myxoma and most fibroelastomas and the surgical techniques needed have been well established. This manuscript presents our approach to the evaluation, preparation and surgical techniques required for treating these primary benign cardiac tumors.
“To Rise from the Darkest Ignorance”: Black Texans’ Engagement with the Politics of Racial Uplift

Black newspapers are an important yet underused source for historically contextualizing African American sites. The Black press helped shape notions of African American identity and community throu...
Space groups and crystallographic symmetry: writing a multi-featured tutorial in a new style.

Knowledge of space groups and the implications of space group symmetry on the physical and chemical properties of solids are pivotal factors in all areas of crystalline solids. As Jerry Jasinski and I met to bring our ideas in teaching this subject to life, we both felt that `early and often' – teaching the concepts with textual and visual reinforcement, is the key to providing a sound basis for students in this subject. The tutorial contains > 200 PowerPoint `slides', in five modules, arranged by crystal class; a sixth module covers special topics. A `credits' module gives the direct addresses of all embedded links. Space-group diagrams appear in Inter­national Tables format. The triclinic and monoclinic groups (2 + 13) are built from `scratch', and are derived from the Hermann–Mauguin symbol. An additional section provides practice on many (but not all) of the ortho­rhom­bic groups in crystal class 222. Finally, a `Special Topics' section on enanti­omorphous space groups features space groups P41 and P43. In the tutorial, lattice points build iteratively and inter­actively via keyclick, and the coordinates of points `pop up' as the unit cell is filled. We trust that the elements of guidance, inquiry and occasional humor will make the learning process enjoyable.
Comparative study of the solvolytic deconstruction of corn stover lignin in batch and flow-through reactors

Solvolysis of industrial corn stover lignin was carried out in methanol and ethanol to deconstruct lignin into monomers and small oligomers using various reactor configurations. We demonstrate that it is possible to overcome the limitations inherent to batch reactors by carrying out the solvolytic deconstruction in flow-through reactor systems as they allow for the continuous removal and rapid cooling of the products. Monomers and solvent-soluble product yields achieved in flow-through reactors were higher under all tested reaction conditions. We also investigated the effects of various reaction parameters and phase of solvent (sub- and supercritical) on the distribution and yield of lignin-derived products using complementary characterization techniques. p-Coumaric acid and ferulic acid were obtained as primary monomers with very high selectivity and a maximum monomer yield of 14.45 wt% was achieved at 250 °C and 85 bar in ethanol. Subsequent upgrading of the deconstructed fractions through fast pyrolysis was also studied. In addition to the increased yield of phenolic monomers (23.86 wt% vs. 10.29 wt%), char formation during pyrolysis was substantially decreased (26.36 wt% vs. 40.95 wt%) under optimized conditions. The beneficial impact of the solvolytic pretreatment was also reflected in an enhanced aromatic hydrocarbon yield during catalytic fast pyrolysis.
Advances in systemic therapy for non-small cell lung cancer

ABSTRACT Lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer related mortality worldwide. Despite numerous advances in treatments over the past decade, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains an incurable disease for most patients. The optimal treatment for all patients with locally advanced, but surgically resectable, NSCLC contains at least chemoradiation. Trimodality treatment with surgical resection has been a subject of debate for decades. For patients with unresectable or inoperable locally advanced disease, the incorporation of immunotherapy consolidation after chemoradiation has defined a new standard of care. For decades, the standard of care treatment for advanced stage NSCLC included only cytotoxic chemotherapy. However, with the introduction of targeted therapies and immunotherapy, the landscape of treatment has rapidly evolved. This review discusses the integration of these innovative therapies in the management of patients with newly diagnosed NSCLC.
Integrated control of microactuators and integrated circuits: a new turning approach in MEMS technology

Advances in micro-machining, micro-, nano- and meso-scale electromechanical devices and integrated circuits (ICs), when combined, provide enabling benefits and capabilities to manufacture microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Critical issues to be solved are to improve power and thermal management, circuitry and actuator/sensor integration, and embedded electronically controlled micro-actuator assemblies. Very large scale integrated circuit and micromachining silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenic technologies have been developed and used to manufacture ICs and micro-actuators. While promising developments have been deployed to fabricate MEMS, a spectrum of challenging problems to be solved remains. In order to improve the performance, the motion control problem must be addressed and solved, particularly in prospective applications of MEMS in aerospace and automotive industry, where microactuators, multistable relays, micro-connectors, micropropulsion, micro-optical systems, as well as active control micro-devices are used. The solution of a spectrum of problems in nonlinear analysis, design and optimization of MEMS lead to the development of superior MEMS. Analytical, numerical, and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the methods and algorithms applied in nonlinear analysis, design, and control.
An active variant of staphylococcal nuclease containing norleucine in place of methionine.

Abstract A methionine auxotroph of Staphylococcus aureus was grown with limiting methionine in the presence of a large excess of l-norleucine. Extracellular nuclease was produced that contained significant amounts of the latter amino acid. Treatment of such enzyme preparations with CNBr destroyed methionine-containing nuclease. The residual enzyme exhibited essentially normal activity, and it contained norleucine residues in place of the usual methionine residues.
Wittgenstein as a Gricean Intentionalist

According to the dominant view, the later Wittgenstein identified the meaning of an expression with its use in the language and vehemently rejected any kind of mentalism or intentionalism about linguistic meaning. I argue that the dominant view is wrong. The textual evidence, which has either been misunderstood or overlooked, indicates that at least since the Blue Book Wittgenstein thought speaker's intentions determine the contents of linguistic utterances. His remarks on use are only intended to emphasize the heterogeneity of natural language. Taking into account remarks written after he finished the Investigations, I show how Wittgenstein anticipated the basic tenets of Gricean intention-based semantics. These are, in particular, the distinction between ‘natural’ and ‘non-natural’ meaning and the distinction between what a speaker means by an utterance and what the expression uttered means in the speaker's natural language. Importantly, Wittgenstein also believed that only the meaning of the speaker de...
The Cross-Linguistic Prevalence of SOV and SVO Word Orders Reflects the Sequential and Hierarchical Representation of Action in Broca’s Area

Despite the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the language sciences, so far relatively little effort has been devoted to exploring potential connections between typology and neuroscience. To illustrate some of the insights that can be gained from pursuing such an integration, this paper focuses on one of the most well established and frequently cited typological generalizations, namely that in the vast majority of human languages, the basic word order is either SOV (about 48%) or SVO (about 41%). It has been suggested that these strong tendencies can be explained cognitively in terms of the prototypical transitive action scenario, in which an animate agent acts forcefully on an inanimate patient to induce a change of state. Two forms of iconicity are especially relevant: first, because the agent is at the head of the causal chain that affects the patient, subjects usually precede objects; and second, because it is the agent’s action, rather than the agent per se, that changes the state of the patient, verbs and objects are usually adjacent. The purpose of this paper is to show that this account converges with, and hence receives further support from, recent research on how actions are represented in the brain. Specifically, several lines of evidence are reviewed which suggest that Broca’s area plays a pivotal role in schematically representing the sequential and hierarchical organization of goal-directed bodily movements, not only when they are performed and perceived in the real world, but also when they are conceptualized and symbolically expressed as transitive clauses. Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis that the most cross-linguistically prevalent word order patterns reflect the most natural ways of linearizing and nesting the core conceptual components of actions in Broca’s area.
Automated worm fingerprinting

Network worms are a clear and growing threat to the security of today's Internet-connected hosts and networks. The combination of the Internet's unrestricted connectivity and widespread software homogeneity allows network pathogens to exploit tremendous parallelism in their propagation. In fact, modern worms can spread so quickly, and so widely, that no human-mediated reaction can hope to contain an outbreak. In this paper, we propose an automated approach for quickly detecting previously unknown worms and viruses based on two key behavioral characteristics - a common exploit sequence together with a range of unique sources generating infections and destinations being targeted. More importantly, our approach - called "content sifting" - automatically generates precise signatures that can then be used to filter or moderate the spread of the worm elsewhere in the network. Using a combination of existing and novel algorithms we have developed a scalable content sifting implementation with low memory and CPU requirements. Over months of active use at UCSD, our Earlybird prototype system has automatically detected and generated signatures for all pathogens known to be active on our network as well as for several new worms and viruses which were unknown at the time our system identified them. Our initial experience suggests that, for a wide range of network pathogens, it may be practical to construct fully automated defenses - even against so-called "zero-day" epidemics.
Studying the effect of lipid chain length on the precipitation of a poorly water soluble drug from self‐emulsifying drug delivery system on dispersion into aqueous medium

Objective The lipid excipients of the self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS) could play a role in interfering with the drug precipitation to maintain its supersaturation, a step with possible major significance on the SEDDS. Thus, the effect of lipid chain length on indomethacin precipitation rate from SEDDS upon dilution was studied. Method Indomethacin SEDDS were prepared using medium and long chain lipids at 5% and 13% (w/w) drug load. Two medium chain lipids Lauroglycol and Capryol, and two long chain lipids Labrafil and castor oil, were studied. The 13% w/w SEDDS were evaluated for drug release, and the physicochemical properties of the precipitated drug were characterized by PXRD, DSC, IR and Raman. Key findings The final optimized SEDDS consisted of Lauroglycol (lipid): Transcutol (co-solvent): Labrasol (surfactant). No precipitate was observed with long chain lipids SEDDS, whereas medium chain lipids SEDDS showed precipitation within 30 min of drug release from 13% w/w formulations. Precipitation studies showed that the medium chain lipids resulted in a modified indomethacin form possibly an ester. The ester formation signifies the interaction between indomethacin and medium chain length lipids. Conclusions The study emphasizes the importance of lipids chain length of excipients in successful SEDDS formulations. The study provides insight into the underlying drug lipid interactions in SEDDS formulations.
An Unusual Presentation of Metastatic Colon Cancer to the Lung

A 75-year-old man with a history of resected colon carcinoma presented to his primary care physician because of a new onset of coughing. The patient had expectorated a small piece of solid tissue; pathologic examination of the tissue found it to be consistent with metastatic colon adenocarcinoma. After further work-up, a right upper lobectomy was performed. The surgical specimen removed during the lobectomy showed a tumor that was histologically identical to the patient's prior colonic primary tumor.
Spike-generation in dendrites and synaptic inhibition in immature cerebral cortex.

THE extent to which dendrites of neurones in the central nervous system are capable of supporting conductile activity has been a matter of considerable controversy1. Impulse initiation in the vast majority of neurones occurs in the initial axonal segment or cell body and this is followed by a variable degree of dendritic invasion by the spike potential2–5. Partial spikes in dendrites, which electrotonically influence low-threshold trigger zones in the initial axonal segment, have been observed in a small proportion of hippocampal neurones6 but only rarely in neocortical neurones7,8. Spike-generation in dendrites with conduction into the soma has not been demonstrated with intracellular recording in the mammalian brain although such a mode of impulse initiation has recently been shown for crustacean pit receptor neurones9. In contrast to the stereotyped pattern of impulse initiation in neurones of adult animals, we have observed a remarkable lability in respect to spike-generation in neurones of immature cerebral cortex.
Neonatal diabetes mellitus: A model for personalized medicine

Neonatal diabetes mellitus occurs in approximately 1 out of every 100,000 live births. It can be either permanent or transient, and recent studies indicate that is likely to have an underlying genetic cause, particularly when diagnosed before 6 months of age. Permanent neonatal diabetes is most commonly due to activating mutations in either of the genes encoding the two subunits of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel. In most of these patients, switching from insulin to oral sulfonylurea therapy leads to improved metabolic control, as well as possible amelioration of occasional associated neurodevelopmental disabilities. It remains to be determined what is the most appropriate treatment of other causes. The diagnosis and treatment of neonatal diabetes, therefore, represents a model for personalized medicine.
Some Chandrasekhar-type algorithms for quadratic regulators

The by-now classical method for the quadratic regulator problem is based on the solution of an n × n matrix nonlinear Riccati differential equation, where n is the dimension of the state-vector. Care has to be exercised in numerical solution of the Riccati equation to ensure nonnegative-definiteness of its solution, from which the optimum m × n feedback gain matrix K(?) is calculated by a further matrix multiplication. For constant-parameter systems, we present a new algorithm that requires only the solution of n(m + p) simultaneous equations: the nm elements of the feed-back gain matrix K(?) and the np elements of a rank-p square-root of the derivative of P(?), where p is the rank of the nonnegative-definite weighting matrix Q that measures the contribution of the state trajectory to the cost functional. If n is large compared with p and m, our algorithm can provide considerable computational savings over direct solution of the Riccati equation, where n(n + 1)/2 simultaneous equations have to be solved. Also the square-root feature means that with reasonable care the automatic nonnegative-definiteness of the derivative matrix-P(?) can be carried over to P(?) itself. Similar results can be obtained for indefinite Q matrices, but with n(m + 2p) equations rather than n(m + p). The equations of our algorithm have the same form as certain famous equations introduced into astrophysics by S. Chandrasekhar, which explains our terminology. The method used in the paper can also be applied to Lyapunov differential equations, as discussed in an Appendix, and to the linear least-squares estimation of stationary processes, as discussed elsewhere.
Opioid receptor alterations in a genetic model of generalized epilepsy.

Autoradiography was used to examine opioid receptor binding in the Mongolian gerbil, a genetic model of the epilepsies. Coronal brain sections of seizure-resistant (SR) and seizure-sensitive (SS) (both pre- and post-seizure conditions) gerbils were labeled with [3H]dihydromorphine. SS (pre-seizure) gerbils demonstrated overall greater brain opioid binding when compared to SR animals. The periaqueductal gray, substantia nigra and medial geniculate body were specific areas in SS (pre-seizure) gerbils which demonstrated highly significant increases in opioid binding compared to SR animals (% increase vs SR were 98%, 91.3% and 42.9%, respectively). Scatchard analysis demonstrated that the increase in opioid binding was due to an increase in the total number of receptors without a significant change in receptor affinity (i.e. periaqueductal gray area: total number of binding sites was 12.7 (SR) and 18.0 fmol/mg tissue (SS pre-seizure), while Kd values were 4.0 (SR) and 4.0 mM (SS pre-seizure). Opioid binding was also increased in the SS (post-seizure) animals when compared to SR animals, especially in the substantia nigra. However, when compared to SS (pre-seizure) gerbils, there was a general but not significant, decrease in opioid binding in SS post-seizure gerbils. The increased opioid binding in the SS (pre-seizure) gerbil compared to SR gerbils could reflect an up-regulation due to a deficit in endogenous ligand (e.g. a deficit in synthesis or decreased release) which could underlie the seizure diathesis in the gerbil.
Optimization Algorithms for Phase and Pupil Amplitude Recovery

Phase retrieval and pupil amplitude recovery performance are summarized using a suite of non-linear optimization (NLO) algorithms. Test data is included from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) instrument test program.
Government Policy for a Partially Deregulated Industry: Deregulate It Fully

Alfred Kahn was a major force behind regulatory reform that initially benefited air travelers and subsequently consumers in other industries by placing greater reliance on markets than on regulators to allocate resources. Kahn also believed that effective governance was important for deregulation's success. In this paper, I argue that such governance has not occurred in practice and that problems that persist in partially deregulated industries are more likely to be solved by full deregulation and, if necessary, privatization than by government intervention.