cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Estimation of electrical heating load-shares for sintering of powder mixtures

Rapid, energy-efficient sintering of materials comprised heterogeneous powders is of critical importance in emerging technologies where traditional manufacturing processes may be difficult to apply. In particular, electrically aided sintering, which uses the material9s inherent resistance to flowing current—resulting in Joule heating to bond the powder components—has great promise because it produces desired materials without much post-processing. Furthermore, it has advantages over other methods, such as high purity of processed materials, in particular, because there are few steps during the approach. In order to electrically process the material properly, one must ascertain the externally applied field to properly Joule heat the various material components in the powder mixture. The Joule-heating field is mathematically expressed by the inner product ( J ⋅ E ) of the current ( J ) and electric ( E ) fields throughout the system. This study develops estimates for the Joule-heating fields carried by each phase in a powder mixture, using knowledge of only the externally applied current, and the material properties of the components comprising the mixture. These estimates are useful in guiding and reducing time-consuming material synthesis involving laboratory experiments and/or large-scale numerical simulation.
Observation of a Spreading Factor Present in Mammary Gland Extracts.

Summary1. Spreading type assays made on extracts of mammary glands taken from female albino rats pregnant from 3 to 18 days indicated the presence of a spreading factor. The concentration of the factor increased until about the twelfth day followed by a gradual decline. 2. Extracts of mammary glands from normal male and female rats, as well as castrate animals, assayed by the spreading method failed to exhibit any spreading effect at the dilution employed. 3. Turbidimetric assays of mammary gland extract showed that the spreading factor did not hydrolyze the substrate, hyaluronidate. 4. Tests showed that after heating at 60°C for 10 minutes, the spreading factor was still active but inactive after heating at 70°C for 10 minutes.
Facilitating Communication About Sexual Health Between Aging Women and Their Health Care Providers

Many women experience changes in sexual health as they age, and discussing these changes with health care providers is an essential component of optimal health management. The purpose of this study was to understand aging women's perspectives about communicating with providers about sexual health. We used the integrative model of behavioral prediction as a theoretical lens to explore women's attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived self-efficacy that promote or inhibit the likelihood of communicating about sexual health. In this theory-based qualitative study, we interviewed 28 community-dwelling older women in the Midwestern United States. Through thematic analysis, we identified both positive and negative attitudes about communicating with providers. Women seemed most inclined to discuss sexual health if they perceived that important patient-provider conditions, such as trust and rapport, were in place. Despite situational obstacles and perceived norms, these women held strong beliefs about their abilities to discuss sexual health topics with providers.
An optimal whitening approach to linear multiuser detection

We propose a new linear multiuser receiver for synchronous code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems, referred to as the orthogonal multiuser (OMU) receiver. Unlike the linear minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) receiver, the OMU receiver depends only on the signature vectors and does not require knowledge of the received amplitudes or the channel signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Several equivalent representations of the receiver are developed with different implications in terms of implementation. In the first, the receiver consists of a decorrelator demodulator followed by an optimal whitening transformation on a space formed by the signatures. In the second, the receiver consists of a bank of correlators with correlating vectors that are projections of a set of orthogonal vectors, and are closest in a least squares sense to the decorrelator vectors and also closest in a least squares sense to the signature vectors. In the third, the receiver consists of a single-user matched filter (MF) followed by an optimal whitening transformation on a space formed by the signatures. We derive exact and approximate expressions for the probability of bit error, as well as the asymptotic signal-to-interference+noise ratio (SINR) in the large system limit. The analysis suggests that over a wide range of channel parameters the OMU receiver can outperform both the decorrelator and the single-user MF and perform similarly to the linear MMSE receiver, despite not knowing the channel parameters.
Orphan Counties and the Effect of Irrelevant Information on Turnout in Statewide Races

Over 10% of the American electorate lives in counties served by out-of-state media because of the mismatch between media markets and state boundaries. Frequently, these “orphan” counties face a different information environment than others in their home state: they receive no news coverage and political advertising for their own statewide races, irrelevant information pertaining to candidates in the neighboring state who will not appear on their ballots, or both. With a combination of county-level, individual-level, and political advertising data, our analysis evaluates the effect of orphan county residency and irrelevant political information on political participation. Results indicate that orphan counties have lower turnout rates than non-orphan counties and that this difference is explained by lower levels of interest in the campaign stemming from exposure to irrelevant information.
Blood Pressure Response to Transcendental Meditation: A Meta-analysis

Background Prior clinical trials suggest that the Transcendental Meditation technique may decrease blood pressure of normotensive and hypertensive individuals but study-quality issues have been raised. This study was designed to assess effects of Transcendental Meditation on blood pressure using objective quality assessments and meta-analyses. Methods PubMed and Cochrane databases through December 2006 and collected publications on Transcendental Meditation were searched. Randomized, controlled trials comparing blood pressure responses to the Transcendental Meditation technique with a control group were evaluated. Primary outcome measures were changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure after practicing Transcendental Meditation or following control procedures. A specific rating system (0-20 points) was used to evaluate studies and random-effects models were used for meta-analyses. Results Nine randomized, controlled trials met eligibility criteria. Study-quality scores ranged from low (score, 7) to high (16) with three studies of high quality (15 or 16) and three of acceptable quality (11 or 12). The random-effects meta-analysis model for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively, indicated that Transcendental Meditation, compared to control, was associated with the following changes: -4.7 mm Hg (95% confidence interval (CI), -7.4 to -1.9 mm Hg) and -3.2 mm Hg (95% CI, -5.4 to -1.3 mm Hg). Subgroup analyses of hypertensive groups and high-quality studies showed similar reductions. Conclusions The regular practice of Transcendental Meditation may have the potential to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure by approximately 4.7 and 3.2 mm Hg, respectively. These are clinically meaningful changes.
Prevalence of DSM/ICD-defined nicotine dependence

Abstract We conducted a qualitative review to estimate for adults (1) the lifetime and current prevalence of DSM/ICD-defined nicotine dependence and (2) the prevalence of individual DSM/ICD dependence criteria. Systematic computer searches and other methods located eleven population-based surveys of adults (≥18 year olds) and two of young adults (18–30 year olds). In the USA and Germany, about 25% of adults had been dependent on nicotine in their lifetime, including 15% who were currently dependent. Similar or higher rates were seen in Asian men but
Discovering the Mechanism of H2 Adsorption on Aromatic Carbon Nanostructures to Develop Adsorbents for Vehicular Applications

Hydrogen adsorption has been observed with a binding energy of ~ 50 kJ /mol on as- synthesized carbon multi-wall nanotubes (MWNTs). The MWNTs are virtually free of nonnanotube carbon impurities but contain residual iron catalyst particles. The MWNTs are also highly graphitic. No hydrogen adsorption is observed at near ambient temperatures for purified MWNTs that are free of iron particles. However, hydrogen adsorption is also not observed on bare iron particles even following reduction in the presence of hydrogen at 775 K. These results imply that a special synergy occurs when small iron particles or atoms are in intimate contact with sp2-hybridized aromatic carbon. Interestingly, reducing the as- synthesized MWNTs in H2 at 573 K results in an increased hydrogen capacity. Understanding this hydrogen storage mechanism could facilitate the economical engineering of a hydrogen storage material that meets the United States Department of Energy targets for vehicular fuel cell applications. Recent theoretical studies have shown that an iron ad atom forms a complex with a C36 fullerene and shares charge with four carbon atoms of a bent five-membered ring. Three H2 ligands then coordinate with the iron forming a stable 18- electron organometallic complex. Here the binding energy of the molecular hydrogen ligands is ~43 kJ /mol. These theoretical results could possibly explain the unique hydrogen storage properties of MWNTs that are grown with an iron catalyst.
Helmet Wearing Among Users of a Public Bicycle-Sharing Program in the District of Columbia and Comparable Riders on Personal Bicycles

Bicycle-sharing programs are increasingly popular and have the potential to increase physical activity and decrease air pollution, but anecdotal evidence suggests helmet use is lower among users of bicycle-sharing programs than cyclists on private bicycles. We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess helmet use among users of a bicycle-sharing program in Washington, DC. Helmet use was significantly lower among cyclists on shared bicycles than private bicycles, highlighting a need for targeted helmet promotion activities.
Interactive, mobile, AGIle and novel education (IMAGINE): a conceptual framework to support students with mobility challenges in higher education

AbstractInteractive, mobile, AGIle and novel education (IMAGINE) is a conceptual framework to help students with disabilities (SwD) participate more in the physical space and become more engaged in school. IMAGINE recommends and reminds students, and allows them to make requests of key learning resources (LRs). The goal of IMAGINE is to provide SwD with the location and time for attending a LR that is most optimal with respect to their learning style and preference, learning performance and other activities. IMAGINE will be a means through which SWD will be provided with tailored recommendations with respect to their daily activities to improve learning outcomes. A pilot was conducted with SwD who used IMAGINE’s navigation and wayfinding functionality, and the subjects reported that it aligns well with their needs. Preliminary results suggest that after completing a training and using the tool, SwD reported that they are more likely to use the tool and their participation may increase as a result. In cont...
Radical-Promoted Visible Light Photoinitiated Cationic Polymerization of Epoxides

Herein is described the development of a three-component photoinitiator system that employs the free radical promoted decomposition of diaryliodonium salts for the visible light induced cationic polymerization of epoxides. A long wavelength, titanium-complex free radical photoinitiator is used to generate radicals that abstract hydrogen atoms from benzyl alcohol synergists. The resulting benzyl radical species efficiently reduce diaryliodonium salts thereby generating oxycarbenium ions that spontaneously fragment to form the corresponding aldehyde and a Br⊘nsted superacid. The superacid subsequently initiates the cationic ring-opening polymerization of a wide variety of epoxide monomers.
Quantifying the effect of compression hearing aid release time on speech acoustics and intelligibility.

Compression hearing aids have the inherent, and often adjustable, feature of release time from compression. Research to date does not provide a consensus on how to choose or set release time. The c...
Genetic analysis of the 9.5-kilobase virulence plasmid of Yersinia pestis.

The 9.5-kilobase plasmid of Yersinia pestis determines plasminogen activator, coagulase, pesticin, and pesticin immunity activities. We have mapped and cloned the loci encoding these activities and demonstrated that both plasminogen activator and coagulase were determined by the same gene, designated pla. The primary translation product of this gene (38 kilodaltons [kDa]) was processed in two sequential steps to produce peptides of 37 and 35 kDa. The first step in this processing occurred rapidly and probably cotranslationally and was blocked when protein export was inhibited. The second step was much slower and resulted in the presence of both the 37- and 35-kDa species in significant quantities. We also showed that the plasmid had a polA-dependent replicon and identified the region that contained its origin of replication and incompatibility functions. Images
Comments on Warren Wagar's "Toward a Praxis of World Integration"

There is much in Warren Wagar's paper with which I agree. He questions the viability of a multiculturalist politics, draws our attention to the problematical nature of many movements that world-system theory would deem "antisystemic," and rejects "a purely relativistic multiculturalism." Similarly, I have addressed the deficiencies of political cultural movements based on various claims of identity (sec Moghadam, 1994), argued against a "mindless cultural relativism" (Moghadam, 1989), and described a secular intellectualism in the Middle East (Moghadam, 1990). I would agree with Wagar that the "ideology of a Left Enlightenment" holds the best promise for the future--but up to a point. I would also be much in favour of a World Party-but with some qualifications. There are gaps in Wagar's scenario. His rejection of all contemporary social movements as equally incapable of helping to effect a progressive trans formative politics (global democratic socialism) is both politically and methodologically flawed.
Probing Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer in Quantum Rod-Luciferase Nanoconjugates.

We describe the necessary design criteria to create highly efficient energy transfer conjugates containing luciferase enzymes derived from Photinus pyralis (Ppy) and semiconductor quantum rods (QRs) with rod-in-rod (r/r) microstructure. By fine-tuning the synthetic conditions, CdSe/CdS r/r-QRs were prepared with two different emission colors and three different aspect ratios (l/w) each. These were hybridized with blue, green, and red emitting Ppy, leading to a number of new BRET nanoconjugates. Measurements of the emission BRET ratio (BR) indicate that the resulting energy transfer is highly dependent on QR energy accepting properties, which include absorption, quantum yield, and optical anisotropy, as well as its morphological and topological properties, such as aspect ratio and defect concentration. The highest BR was found using r/r-QRs with lower l/w that were conjugated with red Ppy, which may be activating one of the anisotropic CdSe core energy levels. The role QR surface defects play on Ppy bindin...
Brazilian migration to North America

Brazilian immigration to North America. This article is a comparative study of Brazilian immigration to Canada and the United States. Analyses of recently collected data, In Toronto, Ontario, as well as in a medium sized U.S. community permit this study to examine the adaptation and adjustment experiences of a new group of immigrants to North America. This article begins with a discussion of the origins of this recent immigrant group, and its rapid expansion. Next, this study focuses on the labor force activities of Brazilian immigrants and compares and contrasts their experiences in the U. S. and Canada. A final section examines social adaptation in North America by exploring linguistic and cultural dimensions. This paper closes with a section on the future aspirations of these immigrants.
Part 3.4: Full Autonomy - An Attainable Ideal

Part III. Section 4. Full Autonomy - An Attainable Ideal: Maximal or full autonomy is an unrealistic goal for all people. Contrary to a common assumption, however, masculine socialization does not generally result in full autonomy, but rather in medial autonomy. Conformism is as much of an obstacle to the full autonomy of men as it is for women. Still, men in western cultures are more likely to be more autonomous than women, and this discrepancy calls for change.
Discrimination of inflammatory bowel disease using Raman spectroscopy and linear discriminant analysis methods

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an idiopathic disease that is typically characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Recently much effort has been devoted to the development of novel diagnostic tools that can assist physicians for fast, accurate, and automated diagnosis of the disease. Previous research based on Raman spectroscopy has shown promising results in differentiating IBD patients from normal screening cases. In the current study, we examined IBD patients in vivo through a colonoscope-coupled Raman system. Optical diagnosis for IBD discrimination was conducted based on full-range spectra using multivariate statistical methods. Further, we incorporated several feature selection methods in machine learning into the classification model. The diagnostic performance for disease differentiation was significantly improved after feature selection. Our results showed that improved IBD diagnosis can be achieved using Raman spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis and feature selection.
The RICO Trend in Class Action Warfare

Aggregate litigation, including class actions and mass actions, have been under attack for decades. Recent Supreme Court cases have further weakened class actions, and the current Congress is considering numerous aggregate litigation and tort reform efforts. Recently, defendants in aggregate litigation have employed an additional tactic by filing civil RICO cases against plaintiffs’ counsel. In a number of these cases, defendants’ primarily allegation is that plaintiffs’ counsel are fraudulently inflating the value of lawsuits by filing baseless lawsuits as part of aggregate litigation. In some of these cases, the predicate acts consist solely of litigation filings: the filing of complaints and related litigation documents in aggregate litigation. Members of the defense bar have made no secret of the fact that these RICO cases are part of a larger strategy to prevent plaintiffs’ attorneys from bringing large-scale litigation. Despite the rich literature on aggregate litigation, there is little scholarship exploring this recent aggressive use of RICO by the defense bar and corporate interest groups to punish plaintiffs’ attorneys for the alleged fraudulent filing of aggregate litigation.This Article pulls together several previously unassociated areas of law -- including RICO, Rule 11, complex litigation, SLAPP motions, and asbestos litigation -- to develop a model for defendants’ use of RICO as a tool of reprisal. It argues that holding plaintiffs’ attorneys liable under civil RICO solely for litigation activities is illegal, results in the lamentable federalization of state common law, and leads to improper forum shopping. The RICO reprisal also avoids legitimate state protections for litigation activity and is a thinly veiled attempt by the defense bar to further weaken aggregate litigation by targeting the plaintiffs’ attorneys themselves. This use of RICO punishes the aggregate litigation device itself, rather than the underlying fraudulent conduct; as a remedy for frivolous aggregate litigation conduct, it is both over- and under-inclusive. The Article concludes by proposing several alternatives, including effectively barring any civil RICO action targeting attorneys’ pure litigation activities without a showing of malicious intent -- a proposal that draws on existing common law litigation privilege doctrine.
475 INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RESTRICTION AFFECTS POSTNATAL CEREBRAL N-METHYL-D-ASPARTATE RECEPTOR SUBTYPE EXPRESSION.

Background IUGR predisposes to postnatal learning impairment. NMDA receptors play a role in the remodeling of synaptic conditions during postnatal development and adult associative learning. NMDA receptors are composed of a combination of NR1 and NR2 subunits, the latter of which includes NR2A and NR2B. The proportion of NR1/NR2A versus NR1/NR2B affects the function of the NMDA receptor. Yet, despite the NMDA receptors9 importance in learning, little is known on how IUGR affects postnatal expression of these proteins in the brain. Objective We hypothesized that IUGR would affect NR1, NR2A, and NR2B subunit expression in the brains of juvenile rats. Design/Methods To induce IUGR, bilateral uterine artery ligation was performed on day 19 of gestation (term-21.5 d). Litters were culled to 6 after birth, and brain was harvested at day 21 of postnatal life. NR1, NR2A, and NR2B protein levels were quantified by Western blotting using membrane fractions. NR1, NR2A, NR2B mRNA were quantified by real-time RT-PCR ( n = 6-8 litters). Results Protein data expressed as arbitrary densitometry units ± SEM . In day 21 females, IUGR increased both NR2A protein (0.63-0.15* vs 0.34-0.06, p Conclusions IUGR increased membrane protein levels of NR1 and NR2A subunits in female IUGR rat brains, whereas mRNA levels of all three subunit were increased in both genders. These results are intriguing because IUGR rats are characterized by increased levels of glucocorticoids, which previous studies demonstrate up-regulate female NR1 and NR2A cerebral expression but not male. We speculate that the increased levels of NR1 and NR2A subunits in the female IUGR brains may be due to gender-specific steroid-induced affect upon protein translation or stability. Supported by CHRC, March of Dimes.
Adaptive removal of salt-pepper noises through fast noise ratio estimation

An adaptive salt-pepper removal algorithm is proposed, which can estimate noise ratio and change the filtering window automatically. In non-ideal image with salt-pepper noises, some regions are chosen at random from which every pixel is filtered by median filter through different filtering windows. Numbers of noise pixels for every region are obtained by comparing the filtered regions before filtering. These numbers are ranked and the median three numbers are taken to be weighted to get a ratio for every kind of window, thus three ratios are got and they are weighted to sum up to achieve the noise ratio. Then through T-S fuzzy model, choose the filtering model and the max filtering window and exclude noise pixels by way of thresholding in the filtering window. The rest pixels are summed up with adaptive weight according to the distance from centered pixel to get the estimation of the center pixel. Experiments prove that the proposed algorithm has higher accuracy with NMSE 20% smaller and is one time faster than classical median filter and center weighted median filters etc.
First-Principles Molecular Dynamics Study of Carbon Corrosion in PEFC Catalyst Materials

Carbon corrosion plays an important role in ORR catalyst durability for both Pt-based catalysts as well as Pt group metal-free (PGM-free) catalysts. This corrosion process is attributed to CO2 generation during one of several probable, kinetically controlled electrochemical reactions. Previous relative stability studies considered only thermodynamic formation energy and thus do not include the kinetic nature of the carbon corrosion mechanism. In this manuscript, a model for electron beam damage utilizing first-principles molecular dynamics is applied to the understanding of how defects and surface species may affect the durability and corrosion susceptibility of graphene support structures at the atomic scale. Based on the outcomes of these studies, the calculated knock-on displacement threshold energy is hypothesized to be a computationally accessible durability descriptor sensitive to kinetics of C removal and local atomic structure.
Dynamic Stability Issues in Force Control of Manipulators

Robots in force control mode often become unstable during contact with stiff environments, due mainly to the high gain nature of wrist force-sensor feedback. Three methods are presented for achieving stable force control compliant coverings or soft sensors, sell-tuning of force gains after estimation of environmental impedance, and reliance on fast open-loop joint torque control and using tip force sensor feedback in a slow loop to maintain accuracy. The latter method is proposed as the best one. Dynamic stability is analysed with a simple model of the robot and its environment. The analyses are verified by single-link experiments on the MIT Serial Link Direct Drive Arm.
On a Recent Quantitative Framework Examining the Critical Factors for Localized Corrosion and Its Impact on the Galvele Pit Stability Criterion

A quantitative framework examining the Galvele pit stability criterion in the context of repassivation using information from experiments on 1D stainless steel artificial pit electrodes and mass transport modeling is discussed. The framework is built principally upon three studies that have systematically evaluated the critical electrochemical conditions describing the transition of a corroding surface from active dissolution to repassivation. First, the applicability of the Galvele pit stability product for the interpretation of the results of artificial pit experiments was assessed by analyzing the 1D flux as a function of pit geometry, which delineated the parameter space for appropriate data collection and analysis. Mass transport modeling of the 1D pit in combination with experimental measurements of the pit stability product and the repassivation potential provided an estimate of the critical concentration of metal ions at the corroding surface of the pit as it transitioned from stability to repassi...
VUV and XUV Generation with Multiphoton Excitation

Experimental findings obtained over the last several years clearly demonstrate that spectrally bright tunable coherent radiation in the 10- to 100-nm spectral range can be generated with the use of rare-gas halogen (RGH) laser systems of special high-brightness design. Evidence consisting of (1) the established scaling properties of RGH media, (2) the discovery of anomalous radiative coupling1 to high-Z atoms involving as many as N = 99 quanta, and (3) the observation of state selective atomic inner-shell multiquantum excitation2,3 enabling the generation of stimulated emission at wavelengths as short as 91.6 nm supports the conclusion that coherent short-wavelength generation may be extended to the kilovolt spectral region. The experimental data available have conclusively shown that the direct multiquantum excitation of appropriate gain media is the superior approach for the production of short-wavelength radiation.
Resonant tidal excitation of oscillation modes in merging binary neutron stars: Inertial-gravity modes

In coalescing neutron star (NS) binaries, tidal force can resonantly excite low-frequency ($\ensuremath{\lesssim}500\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Hz}$) oscillation modes in the NS, transferring energy between the orbit and the NS. This resonant tide can induce phase shift in the gravitational waveforms, and potentially provide a new window of studying NS interior using gravitational waves. Previous works have considered tidal excitations of pure g-modes (due to stable stratification of the star) and pure inertial modes (due to Coriolis force), with the rotational effect treated in an approximate manner. However, for realistic NSs, the buoyancy and rotational effects can be comparable, giving rise to mixed inertial-gravity modes. We develop a nonperturbative numerical spectral code to compute the frequencies and tidal coupling coefficients of these modes. We then calculate the phase shift in the gravitational waveform due to each resonance during binary inspiral. Given the uncertainties in the NS equation of state and stratification property, we adopt polytropic NS models with a parametrized stratification. We derive relevant scaling relations and survey how the phase shift depends on various properties of the NS. We find that for canonical NSs (with mass $M=1.4\text{ }\text{ }{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$ and radius $R=10\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{km}$) and modest rotation rates ($\ensuremath{\lesssim}300\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Hz}$), the gravitational wave phase shift due to a resonance is generally less than 0.01 radian. But the phase shift is a strong function of $R$ and $M$, and can reach a radian or more for low-mass NSs with larger radii ($R\ensuremath{\gtrsim}15\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{km}$). Significant phase shift can also be produced when the combination of stratification and rotation gives rise to a very low frequency ($\ensuremath{\lesssim}20\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Hz}$ in the inertial frame) modified g-mode. As a by-product of our precise calculation of oscillation modes in rotating NSs, we find that some inertial modes can be strongly affected by stratification; we also find that the $m=1\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{r}$-mode, previously identified to have a small but finite inertial-frame frequency based on the Cowling approximation, in fact has essentially zero frequency, and therefore cannot be excited during the inspiral phase of NS binaries.
Multistep Flow Synthesis of Diazepam Guided by Droplet-Accelerated Reaction Screening with Mechanistic Insights from Rapid Mass Spectrometry Analysis

Electrospray and Leidenfrost droplet accelerated reactions were used as a predictive tool for estimating the outcome of microfluidic synthesis as demonstrated by Wleklinski et al. Rapid analysis by electrospray-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) also provided immediate feedback on reaction outcomes in flow reactions. Significant reaction acceleration was observed in electrospray relative to the corresponding bulk reaction. This rapid reaction screening and analysis method has allowed for the detection of previously unreported outcomes in the reaction between 5-chloro-2-(methylamino)benzophenone and haloacetyl chloride (halo = Cl or Br) in the continuous synthesis of diazepam. In our current study, a more detailed extension of the previous work, we report acceleration factors that are solvent dependent; additional byproducts that were observed on the microfluidic scale that were absent in the droplet reactions. Gaining insight from this combined droplet and microfluidic screening/rapid ESI-MS analysis approach, we...
Fly Catcher Effect in Harmonia axyridis (Pallas)? No Attraction to Lady Beetle Images on Flight Traps

Field tests were conducted to determine if, at the conclusion of their autumn migratory flight, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) are attracted to and preferentially alight on targets covered with the printed images of lady beetles. There was no significant difference in the number of beetles that landed on targets bearing depictions of coccinellids compared with the number that landed on blank, white controls. Results suggest that commercial traps that rely on images of lady beetles to attract incoming coccinellids are of little practical value.
Six-Month Outcomes for Collaborative Care Management of Depression Among Smoking and Nonsmoking Patients:

Background:Collaborative care management (CCM) is an evidence-based model that contributes to better outcomes for depression treatment in the primary care setting. Tobacco use increases overall eco...
Using Particle Lithography to Tailor the Architecture of Au Nanoparticle Plasmonic Nanoring Arrays

The facile assembly of metal nanostructured arrays is a fundamental step in the design of plasmon enhanced chemical sensing and solar cell architectures. Here we have investigated methods of creating controlled formations of two-dimensional periodic arrays comprised of 20 nm Au nanoparticles (NPs) on a hydrophilic polymer surface using particle lithography. To direct the assembly process, capillary force and NP concentration both play critical roles on the resulting nanostructured arrays. As such, tuning these experimental parameters can directly be used to modify the nature of the nanostructures formed. To explore this, two different concentrations of Au NP solutions (~7 x 1011 NPs/mL or 4 x 1012 NPs/mL) were used in conjunction with a fixed concentration of polystyrene microspheres (PS MS, ~ 6 x 109 PS MS/mL). Assembly at a relative humidity (RH) of 45% with the higher concentration resulted in the formation of well-defined Au nanorings of ca. 23 nm in height and 881 nm in diameter with a pitch of 2.5 μ...
Desalination of hypersaline brines via Joule-heating: Experimental investigations and comparison of results to existing models

Abstract Thermodynamic data of multicomponent brines are needed to properly treat brines from oil/gas and CO2 sequestration operations. Joule-heating treatment of hypersaline brine is a unique methodology that allows for direct heating of brines without the need of external heating, potentially simplifying operation and reducing process footprint. The thermodynamic properties of multicomponent hypersaline brine (> 3.5 wt%) are unknown and limited to estimations based on single component brine data. Experimental data for multicomponent brines at elevated temperatures and pressures do not exist due to operating conditions above the pseudocritical point of pure water. This study combines experimental results for multicomponent brines using a Joule- heated desalinator at pressures of 230 to 280 bar and temperatures of 387 to 406 °C with thermodynamic models previously created for single component NaCl brines to identify the deviations resulting from the additional species. In addition, a comparison between an Aspen Plus® v9 simulation using the ELECTNRTL model with experimental results is provided.
Minor Perambulations, Political Horizons: Comment on Kathy Ferguson’s “Anarchist Women and the Politics of Walking”:

In “Anarchist Women and the Politics of Walking,” Kathy Ferguson identifies rich and unexpected connections between anarchist feminists, walking, and Whitehead’s process philosophy. In attuning rea...
A Low-Power Wearable Stand-Alone Tongue Drive System for People With Severe Disabilities

This paper presents a low-power stand-alone tongue drive system (sTDS) used for individuals with severe disabilities to potentially control their environment such as computer, smartphone, and wheelchair using their voluntary tongue movements. A low-power local processor is proposed, which can perform signal processing to convert raw magnetic sensor signals to user-defined commands, on the sTDS wearable headset, rather than sending all raw data out to a PC or smartphone. The proposed sTDS significantly reduces the transmitter power consumption and subsequently increases the battery life. Assuming the sTDS user issues one command every 20 ms, the proposed local processor reduces the data volume that needs to be wirelessly transmitted by a factor of 64, from 9.6 to 0.15 kb/s. The proposed processor consists of three main blocks: serial peripheral interface bus for receiving raw data from magnetic sensors, external magnetic interference attenuation to attenuate external magnetic field from the raw magnetic signal, and a machine learning classifier for command detection. A proof-of-concept prototype sTDS has been implemented with a low-power IGLOO-nano field programmable gate array (FPGA), bluetooth low energy, battery and magnetic sensors on a headset, and tested. At clock frequency of 20 MHz, the processor takes 6.6 μs and consumes 27 nJ for detecting a command with a detection accuracy of 96.9%. To further reduce power consumption, an application-specified integrated circuit processor for the sTDS is implemented at the postlayout level in 65-nm CMOS technology with 1-V power supply, and it consumes 0.43 mW, which is 10× lower than FPGA power consumption and occupies an area of only 0.016 mm 2 .
Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and the Fabliau

As far as I know, E. K. Chambers was the first to call Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor a “fabliau.” To be precise, he called the play “acted fabliau” and went on to declare that “of acted fabliau, The Merry Wives is the best English specimen, just as Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale and Reeve’s Tale are the best English specimens of fabliau in narrative.” The identification of the play’s genre stuck: in her introduction to The Merry Wives of Windsor for The Riverside Shakespeare, Anne Barton wrote, “the tradition to which it belongs has never been in doubt. It is a fabliau …” The purpose of this essay is to examine Shakespeare’s handling of this medieval genre in his early modern Merry Wives—the least studied of all Shakespeare’s comedies. The nineteenth-century French medievalist, Joseph Bedier, who famously defined the fabliau as “contes a rire en vers” would not have considered the genre part of the courtly legacy, the subject of this collection of essays exploring the ways in which courtly literature has influenced literature of the modern period. For Bedier, the fabliaux were the “amusettes” of bourgeois audiences while the romances were the secular delights of aristocratic chateaux. His view was effectively challenged, however, in 1957 by the Danish scholar, Per Nykrog, who argued that the origins of the thirteenth-century French fabliaux are courtly, not bourgeois, as Bedier proposed, and that their tone reflects the condescension of the upper classes.
Large scale 2D/3D hybrids based on gallium nitride and transition metal dichalcogenides

Two and three-dimensional (2D/3D) hybrid materials have the potential to advance communication and sensing technologies by enabling new or improved device functionality. To date, most 2D/3D hybrid devices utilize mechanical exfoliation or post-synthesis transfer, which can be fundamentally different from directly synthesized layers that are compatible with large scale industrial needs. Therefore, understanding the process/property relationship of synthetic heterostructures is priority for industrially relevant material architectures. Here we demonstrate the scalable synthesis of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and tungsten diselenide (WSe2) via metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on gallium nitride (GaN), and elucidate the structure, chemistry, and vertical transport properties of the 2D/3D hybrid. We find that the 2D layer thickness and transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) choice plays an important role in the transport properties of the hybrid structure, where monolayer TMDs exhibit direct tunneling through the layer, while transport in few layer TMDs on GaN is dominated by p–n diode behavior and varies with the 2D/3D hybrid structure. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), low energy electron microscopy (LEEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveal a strong intrinsic dipole and charge transfer between n-MoS2 and p-GaN, leading to a degraded interface and high p-type leakage current. Finally, we demonstrate integration of heterogeneous 2D layer stacks of MoS2/WSe2 on GaN with atomically sharp interface. Monolayer MoS2/WSe2/n-GaN stacks lead to near Ohmic transport due to the tunneling and non-degenerated doping, while few layer stacking is Schottky barrier dominated.
Health-environment futures: Complexity, uncertainty, and bodies

The relationships between human health and the environment have captivated scholarly attention across a number of disciplinary and policy domains. This article reviews emerging health-environment r...
The Future of Neuromodulation

Neuromodulation for the treatment of urological conditions including overactive bladder symptoms has been available for decades but minimal advances have been made to improve efficacy, decrease cost and decrease morbidity. In the past few years, however, many novel devices that take advantage of new technologies have been developed and are currently in testing phases. These new devices address current limitations by using wireless battery charging, external power source technology and minimally invasive percutaneous implantation techniques. In addition to innovative devices, neuromodulation is also expanding for use for broader patient indications and targeting novel nerve targets including the dorsal genital and cavernous nerves.
In vivo three-photon imaging of deep cerebellum

We demonstrate three-photon microscopy (3PM) of mouse cerebellum at 1 mm depth by imaging both blood vessels and neurons. We compared 3PM and 2PM in the mouse cerebellum for imaging green (using excitation sources at 1300 nm and 920 nm, respectively) and red fluorescence (using excitation sources at 1680 nm and 1064 nm, respectively). 3PM enabled deeper imaging than 2PM because the use of longer excitation wavelength reduces the scattering in biological tissue and the higher order nonlinear excitation provides better 3D localization. To illustrate these two advantages quantitatively, we measured the signal decay as well as the signal-to-background ratio (SBR) as a function of depth. We performed 2-photon imaging from the brain surface all the way down to the area where the SBR reaches ~ 1, while at the same depth, 3PM still has SBR above 30. The segmented decay curve shows that the mouse cerebellum has different effective attenuation lengths at different depths, indicating heterogeneous tissue property for this brain region. We compared the third harmonic generation (THG) signal, which is used to visualize myelinated fibers, with the decay curve. We found that the regions with shorter effective attenuation lengths correspond to the regions with more fibers. Our results indicate that the widespread, non-uniformly distributed myelinated fibers adds heterogeneity to mouse cerebellum, which poses additional challenges in deep imaging of this brain region.
NOSOCOMIAL CANDIDA: Epidemiology, Transmission, and Prevention

Candida species, especially Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis are increasingly being identified as etiologic agents in nosocomial infections. 23,25,32,34,36,43,63 Despite the organisms' clinical importance, the ability to prevent, diagnose, and treat candida infections is deficient, particularly in immunocompromised patients. 1,17,23,30,32,36,42,63 Nevertheless, the costs of caring for patients with candidemia in the managed care era demand increased efficiency at infection prevention, rapid diagnosis, and early therapeutic intervention. Special effort must be made to clarify the epidemiology and pathogenesis of these infections. Recent studies elucidating the sequence of colonization and subsequent infection have provided important information from which new approaches are likely to develop.
Genitourinary Cancer Survivorship Management

Genitourinary (GU) cancer encompasses several cancers, occurring in both the young and the old, and affecting predominantly men. Survivors of GU cancers constitute more than 50 % of male cancer survivors, and primary care clinicians and specialists will likely see an increasing number of GU cancer survivors in their practice. Long-term cancer survivors have ongoing needs, and evidence-based guidelines can assist busy clinicians in understanding and confidently managing these needs. This chapter summarizes the needs of long-term GU cancer survivors, using evidence-based cancer-specific algorithms. The algorithms were developed for the purpose of addressing the many needs of long-term survivors, on the basis of the Institute of Medicine’s survivorship model of care.
Model Studies of Background Ozone Formation

Because of inhomogeneity in the NOx distribution, the troposphere can be divided into several net production and net loss regions for O3. The net production regions include the industrial area, the free troposphere, and the biomass burning area. The net loss regions are the oceanic boundary layer and clean continental boundary layer. In summer, the net production and the net loss are about the same magnitude as the O3 flux from the stratosphere. In winter, the production of O3 depends critically on nighttime reactions involving NO3 and N2O5. Without these reactions, the O3 production in winter can be as large as in summer.
Stage II Nonseminomatous Germ Cell Tumors of the Testis: An Analysis of Treatment Options in Patients with Low Volume Retroperitoneal Disease

Abstract The management of patients with nonseminomatous germ cell tumors of the testis and low volume retroperitoneal disease remains controversial. We analyzed the treatment modalities of 56 patients divided into 3 groups: group I—18 clinical stage I cancer patients who had pathological stage II disease after retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, group II—31 patients with abdominopelvic computerized tomography abnormalities of 5 cm. or less with or without positive biological markers and group III—7 patients with persistently positive biological markers after orchiectomy with normal abdominopelvic computerized tomography scans. In group I 4 of 18 patients received chemotherapy after retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. Two patients met criteria for post-dissection chemotherapy, but they did not receive it and subsequently had relapse. Of the remaining 12 patients who were observed after dissection only 1 (8 per cent) had relapse. In group II 19 of 31 patients were treated with initial chemotherapy: 13 (68 per cent) achieved a complete response, while 6 required retroperitoneal lymph node dissection after chemotherapy. Of 31 patients 12 were treated with initial retroperitoneal lymph node dissection and 9 (75 per cent) received post-dissection chemotherapy. In group III 5 of 7 patients were treated with initial retroperitoneal lymph node dissection and 3 of the 5 subsequently required chemotherapy. Of the 7 patients 2 received initial chemotherapy and achieved a complete response. All 56 patients are without disease at 4+ to 106+ months (median 28 months). We conclude that patients with the characteristics of groups II and III should be managed initially with chemotherapy, with retroperitoneal lymph node dissection reserved for patients who fail to achieve a complete response. In group I retroperitoneal lymph node dissection is sufficient initial treatment if pathological evaluation of the retroperitoneal lymph nodes does not meet our criteria for post-dissection adjuvant chemotherapy.