cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pharmacogenetics of lipid diseases

The genetic basis for most of the rare lipid monogenic disorders have been elucidated, but the challenge remains in determining the combination of genes that contribute to the genetic variability in lipid levels in the general population; this has been estimated to be in the range of 40-60 per cent of the total variability. Therefore, the effect of common polymorphisms on lipid phenotypes will be greatly modulated by gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. This approach can also be used to characterise the individuality of the response to lipid-lowering therapies, whether using drugs (pharmacogenetics) or dietary interventions (nutrigenetics). In this regard, multiple studies have already described significant interactions between candidate genes for lipid and drug metabolism that modulate therapeutic response--although the outcomes of these studies have been controversial and call for more rigorous experimental design and analytical approaches. Once solid evidence about the predictive value of genetic panels is obtained, risk and therapeutic algorithms can begin to be generated that should provide an accurate measure of genetic predisposition, as well as targeted behavioural modifications or drugs of choice and personalised dosages of these drugs.
Sensitivity of the Earthquake Response of Tall Steel Moment Frame Buildings to Ground Motion Features

The seismic response of two tall steel moment frame buildings and their variants is explored through parametric nonlinear analysis using idealized sawtooth-like ground velocity waveforms, with a characteristic period (T), amplitude (peak ground velocity, PGV), and duration (number of cycles, N). Collapse-level response is induced only by long-period, moderate to large PGV ground excitation. This agrees well with a simple energy balance analysis. The collapse initiation regime expands to lower ground motion periods and amplitudes with increasing number of ground motion cycles.
Financing Transit-Oriented Development: Understanding and Overcoming Obstacles

Although the development and lending communities have become much more aware of transit-oriented development (TOD) in the past 5 years, the lending process remains highly institutionalized and compartmentalized. TOD developers still face significant challenges in obtaining financing and structuring deals. After a brief review of common sources and structures of financing, this paper details obstacles to financing that TOD developers face, starting with the increasingly high risk attached to construction lending and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's recent actions emphasizing increased bank oversight in this area. Complexity, design, and construction challenges, along with mixed-use and related lender concerns, compound the difficulties presented by the relative newness of the mixed-use, TOD product, as compared with the conventional real estate products that are more commonly underwritten and traded on the secondary market. This puts more pressure on TOD developers to present a solid equity posi...
Seeding Science, Courting Conclusions: Reexamining the Intersection of Science, Corporate Cash, and the Law

Social scientists have expressed strong views on corporate influences over science, but most attention has been devoted to broad, Black/White arguments, rather than to actual mechanisms of influence. This paper summarizes an experience where involvement in a lawsuit led to the discovery of an unexpected mechanism: A large corporation facing a multibillion-dollar court judgment quietly provided generous funding to well-known scientists (including at least one Nobel prize winner) who would submit articles to “open,” peer-reviewed journals, so that their “unbiased science” could be cited in an appeal to the Supreme Court. On balance, the corporation’s most effective techniques of influence may have been provided not by overt pressure, but by encouraging scientists to continue thinking of themselves as independent and impartial.
Discrete Optimization Via Marginal Analysis

Discrete optimization subject to one constraint is attacked by Lagrangian analysis. Incremental allocation schemes are given that generate undominated allocations. In an important special case, the complete family of undominated allocations is generated.
Alcohol Impairs Protein Synthesis and Degradation in Cultured Skeletal Muscle Cells

Background: Acute and chronic alcohol intoxication decreases skeletal muscle protein synthesis under in vivo conditions. We investigated whether ethanol (EtOH) and its major metabolites, acetaldehyde and acetate, can directly modulate protein balance under in vitro conditions. Methods: Human myocytes were incubated with different doses of EtOH for varying periods of time (i.e., 4–72 hr). Alternatively, cells were incubated with acetaldehyde, acetate, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), or with a combination of EtOH plus insulin or IGF-I. Rates of protein synthesis or degradation were determined by 35S-methionine/cysteine incorporation into or release from cellular protein. Results: A significant, 15% to 20%, decrease in basal protein synthesis was observed after 24 hr, but not at earlier time points, in response to 80 mM EtOH. Incubation of myocytes for 72 hr decreased synthesis in cells incubated with EtOH ranging between 60 and 120 mM. The ability of IGF-I or insulin to stimulate protein synthesis was impaired by 30% and 60%, respectively, in cells incubated with 80 mM EtOH for 72 hr. Exposure of cells to 200 μM acetaldehyde or 5 mM Na-acetate also decreased basal protein synthesis. In contrast, neither EtOH, acetaldehyde, nor acetate altered the basal rate of protein degradation. However, EtOH completely impaired the ability of insulin and IGF-I to inhibit proteolysis. Finally, EtOH did not impair IGF-I receptor autophosphorylation, but inhibited the ability of insulin to phosphorylate its own receptor. EtOH also did not alter the number of insulin or IGF-I receptors or the formation of insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that EtOH can directly inhibit muscle protein synthesis under in vitro conditions. Neither EtOH nor its metabolites altered basal protein degradation, although EtOH did compromise the ability of both insulin and IGF-I to slow proteolysis. This impairment seems to be mediated by different defects in signal transduction.
Total Factor Productivity Growth and the Sources of Growth in Korean Manufacturing Industries, 1971-1993

A growth accounting framework is used to measure total factor productivity (TFP) in Korean manufacturing industries at a disaggregated level for 1971-93. The contributions of capital, labor manhours, labor education, and productivity growth to the growth in output are presented. The average annual rate of increase in total factor productivity on a value added basis in the total, heavy, and light manufacturing industries are about 3,4.5, and l.l percent, respectively. The contribution by capital input is the largest and comprised about 54 percent of the output growth in the total manufacturing sector. Labor man-hours and labor-education inputs contributed about 21 percent and 4 percent, respectively. The growth in TFP accounted for about 22 percent of the growth of value added. In the period 1989-93, the growth rate of TFP in the manufacturing sector fell to 0.6 percent, and its contribution declined to about 9.4 percent. For manufacturing industry, the average rate of increase in the unit labor cost, about 13 percent, is higher than average inflation rate, about in percent. The estimates of TFP growth by other studies for the Korean manufacturing based on net value added range from I percent to 7 percent. The selected estimates of TFP growth based on gross output are from-2.5 percent to +8.8 percent. Despite a wide difference, TFP estimates all indicate that productivity growth has been slowing in recent years. The empirical results support Krugman's view that the East Asia economies would not sustain high growth unless a low growth in TFP reverses. Future rapid growth thus depends on accepting decentralized institutions and the dispersion of decision making. It is an unescapable arrangement to achieve productivity growth and an increasing-return-to-scale economy.
Borates: Solid-State Chemistry

This chapter presents the basic principles of borate crystal chemistry including the electronic structure of the basic BO3 and BO4 groups. Several typical examples for the combination of these groups to complex crystal structures with an additional view into glass-forming systems are presented. Next to an introduction into the synthesis of borates, special examples of technologically important borates are described. Keywords: borates; boron oxide; solid-state synthesis; crystal structure; second harmonic generation
Combining phase contrast microscopy and laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy to characterize germination of single bacterial spores

We report a method that combines external phase contrast microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and optical tweezers to monitor a variety of changes during the germination of single bacterial spores.
A Mechanistic Model for Genetic Machinery of Ontogenetic Growth

Two different genetic mechanisms can be proposed to explain variation in growth trajectories. The allelic sensitivity hypothesis states that growth trajectory is controlled by the time-dependent expression of alleles at the deterministic quantitative trait loci (dQTL) formed during embryogenesis. The gene regulation hypothesis states that the differentiation in growth process is due to the opportunistic quantitative trait loci (oQTL) through their mediation with new developmental signals. These two hypotheses of genetic control have been elucidated in the literature. Here, we propose a new statistical model for discerning these two mechanisms in the context of growth trajectories by integrating growth laws within a QTL-mapping framework. This model is developed within the maximum-likelihood context, implemented with a grid approach for estimating the genomic positions of the deterministic and opportunistic QTL and the simplex algorithm for estimating the growth curve parameters of the genotypes at these QTL and the parameters modeling the residual (co)variance matrix. Our model allows for extensive hypothesis tests for the genetic control of growth processes and developmental events by these two types of QTL. The application of this new model to an F2 progeny in mice leads to the detection of deterministic and opportunistic QTL on chromosome 1 for mouse body mass growth. The estimates of QTL positions and effects from our model are broadly in agreement with those by traditional interval-mapping approaches. The implications of this model for biological and biomedical research are discussed.
Effect of acute glucose antagonism on hypophyseal hormones and concentrations of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and IGF-binding proteins in serum, anterior pituitary, and hypothalamus of ewes.

The objectives of this study were to determine whether 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG), a metabolic inhibitor of glucose, 1) differentially affected release of LH, growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL); 2) decreased anterior pituitary response to GnRH; and 3) altered concentrations of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and intensity of 125I-IGF-I binding to proteins (IGFBPs) in serum, anterior pituitary (AP), and hypothalamus (preoptic are [POA], medial basal hypothalamus [MBH], and stalk median eminence [SME]). In trial 1, mature, ovariectomized, crossbred ewes were treated with a single s.c. injection of either saline (n = 5) or 2DG (n = 5; 0.1 g/kg BW). Administration of 2DG suppressed (p 0.05) serum concentrations of GH or PRL. In trial 2, ovariectomized ewes received injections of saline or 2DG, and each group was subdivided to receive either saline or GnRH analog (5 micrograms; Des-Gly10-[D-Ala6]) 2 h later. Administration of 2DG suppressed (p 0.05) concentrations of FSH before or after administration of GnRH. In trial 3, 10 ovariectomized ewes were slaughtered 2 h after treatment with saline (n = 5) or 2DG (n = 5). Serum and tissues collected at slaughter (AP, MBH, SME, and POA) were analyzed for concentrations of IGF-I by RIA and intensity of 125I-IGF-I binding to proteins by ligand blotting.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Thermal Magnetic Noise From Synthetic Antiferromagnets in Magnetoresistive Heads

Thermal magnetic noise in magnetoresistive read heads was studied extensively in recent years. It is believed that thermal magnetic noise is becoming the dominant noise source in read heads for hard-disk drive applications. Most previous work concentrated on magnetic white noise from free layers. This work shows that magnetic noise from a synthetic antiferromagnet can be comparable to that from a free layer in tunneling read heads for current and future hard-disk drives. An analytical model is established for thermal magnetic noise based on the single domain particle assumption. The model agrees well with results from a full micromagnetic model. This indicates that magnetic thermal fluctuations in current tunneling heads are close to being coherent.
A low-cost test method for embedded RF passive circuits using two-tone input signals

In the last decade, substantial research has been preformed for designing RF passive filters for embedding them in RF substrates to miniaturize RF front-ends. However, little work has been done to test these embedded RF passive filters at low-cost. Currently, embedded RF filters are tested by performing highfrequency (GHz) measurements using costly instruments such as Vector Network Analyzers (VNAs) on the production floor. Since the test cost of RF substrates with embedded RF filters can be substantial, there is a need for low-cost methods for testing such embedded filters. In this paper, a low-cost method is proposed that enables the testing of embedded RF filters by using two-tone input signals and regression analysis. This method eliminates the use of VNAs for production-level testing of RF filters and also enables testing of high-frequency (GHz) passive filters at MHz frequencies. In this test method, insertion loss of a RF filter at high frequencies (in GHz range) is predicted from low-frequency response (in MHz range) of the proposed test setup using regression analysis. Thus, the test-setup cost reduces significantly. The proposed test method is demonstrated with both simulations and measurements.
Whole-Exome Enrichment with the Roche NimbleGen SeqCap EZ Exome Library SR Platform

Multiple platforms are available for whole-exome enrichment and sequencing (WES). This protocol is based on the Roche NimbleGen SeqCap EZ Exome Library SR platform, which enriches for ∼44 Mb of the human exonic regions. The SeqCap system uses 55- to 105-base DNA probes to capture known coding DNA sequences (CDS) from the NCBI Consensus CDS Database, RefSeq, and Sanger miRBase. The protocol can be performed at the benchside without the need for automation, and the resulting library can be used for targeted next-generation sequencing on an Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencer.
Identification of patients with sleep disordered breathing: comparing the four-variable screening tool, STOP, STOP-Bang, and Epworth Sleepiness Scales.

Study Objective: The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) has been used to detect patients with potential sleep disordered breathing (SDB). Recently, a 4-Variable screening tool was proposed to identify patients with SDB, in addition to the STOP and STOP-Bang questionnaires. This study evaluated the abilities of the 4-Variable screening tool, STOP, STOP-Bang, and ESS questionnaires in identifying subjects at risk for SDB.
Hall number, optical sum rule and carrier density for the t − t ′ − J model

We revisit the relationship between three classical measures of particle number, namely, the chemical doping $x$, the Hall number ${x}_{\mathit{\text{Hall}}}$, and the particle number inferred from the optical sum rule ${x}_{\mathit{opt}}$. We study the $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}{t}^{\ensuremath{'}}\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model of correlations on a square lattice, as a minimal model for high ${T}_{c}$ systems, using numerical methods to evaluate the low temperature Kubo conductivities. These measures disagree significantly in this type of system, owing to Mott Hubbard correlations. The Hall constant has a complex behavior with several changes of sign as a function of filling $x$, depending on the model parameters. Thus, ${x}_{\mathit{\text{Hall}}}$ depends sensitively on ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ and $J$ due to a kind of quantum interference.
The language of worry: examining linguistic elements of worry models.

Despite strong evidence that worry is a verbal process, studies examining linguistic features in individuals with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) are lacking. The aim of the present study is to investigate language use in individuals with GAD and controls based on GAD and worry theoretical models. More specifically, the degree to which linguistic elements of the avoidance and intolerance of uncertainty worry models can predict diagnostic status was analysed. Participants were 19 women diagnosed with GAD and 22 control women and their children. After participating in a diagnostic semi-structured interview, dyads engaged in a free-play interaction where mothers' language sample was collected. Overall, the findings provided evidence for distinctive linguistic features of individuals with GAD. That is, after controlling for the effect of demographic variables, present tense, future tense, prepositions and number of questions correctly classified those with GAD and controls such that a considerable amount o...
Recommendations for Broader Coverage Antifungal Prophylaxis in Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia: ASH Evidence-Based Review 2011

A 16-year-old female diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with inversion 16, a favorable prognostic indicator, has persistent neutropenia after her fourth cycle of dose-intensified chemotherapy. She was recently admitted for treatment with empiric antibiotics for febrile neutropenia, and an astute intern noticed a new lesion on her right foot with a dark necrotic center. A biopsy of the lesion showed spreading hyphae, consistent with Aspergillus. Despite her compliance with fluconazole fungal prophylaxis, computed tomography imaging revealed disseminated aspergillosis involving her lungs, liver, and kidneys. Amphotericin was started, but systemic fungemia and the development of multiorgan failure resulted in her death. You are in the difficult position of having to explain to her parents that she died in remission from chemotherapy-related complications. All of those involved in this unfortunate scenario wonder if something could have been done to prevent her death.
The supramolecular architecture of the polyhydroxyalkanoate inclusions in Pseudomonas oleovorans

A study has been initiated to further clarify the role of H2O and protein in maintaining a functional amorphous state of poly-β-hydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) in the living cell. It has been clearly demonstrated that the ordered hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains of these materials crystallize at varying rates, depending on repeating unit heterogeneity, subsequent to the removal of the polymer granule from the cell and after solvent extraction. Both isolation and extraction procedures remove water and some protein from the polymer granule, and the polymer crystallizes. We have developed a procedure for the isolation of poly-β-hydroxyoctanoate (PHO) containing granules that maintain their “in vivo” fluid, amorphous and functional state with water and proteins intact. These purified granules have been observed and their purity determined by ‘in vivo’ Nomarski computer-enhanced imaging light microscopy. Both this technique and low temperature rapid freeze-fracture electron microscopy have demonstrated an organized para-crystalline network of proteins on the surface of the granule. The structural role of these proteins in maintaining granule integrity and function both in the cell and after granule isolation is discussed. It is suggested that these procedures may permit in vitro studies of the mechanisms of synthesis and degradation of PHAs in a variety of polyester producing microbial systems.
Managing and monitoring house visits with Home Visitor Logger

Home Visitor Logger (HVL) presents a solution to an everyday issue: to monitor and log house visits in a central repository. The project features sensors to detect potential visitors, image processing for an automatic facial recognition of the visitors, front-end software for administration and monitoring with web accessibility to keep track online. HVL can be used in a variety of applications other than house visits such as parking, marketing or security systems.
Long-range correlations in choice sequences of schizophrenic patients

Schizophrenic patients significantly greater than normals exhibit long-range correlations in sequences of choices in a simple binary choice task. Moreover, schizophrenic patients also are significantly less influenced by external stimuli than are normal comparison subjects. These effects are not significantly correlated with each other, suggesting that they do not result from a uniform attentional deficit nor are they due to simple perseverative responding or any other uniform process. The interdependence of responses over many trials suggests that the response history of many previous behavioral responses contributes significantly to the temporal architecture of schizophrenic patients. In agreement with others (Lyon et al., 1994), we find that similar organizational principles apply to physical, economical, or biological systems and seem to play an important role in human psychopathology.
Implementing extreme upsampling filters with a multiply-less architecture

For ease of implementation, communications systems have been steadily converted to digital implementations. FPGA technologies and high-quality, high-speed DACs have enabled this trend. While this is commonly done for modern high bit-rate communications systems, legacy systems like the MIL-STD-188-165A modem are not often considered. One issue is the need to up-sample these slower standards by factors of tens of thousands in order to interface them with the modulation system. This paper presents an architectural case study on the implementation of a direct digital synthesis MIL-STD-188-165A modem. It briefly describes a multiply-less single stage filter architecture with unlimited up-sampling capabilities. The filter implements a Farrow type design. By selecting the appropriate filter coefficients from a set of look-up-tables (LUT) the filter can be designed to suppress harmonic distortion below the required filter mask. Mathematical evaluation of these properties proves that a reasonable size LUT of 1024×14 bits is sufficient to suppress harmonics below - 60dB. A full analysis of harmonic suppression vs. LUT size is included to extend this work beyond the MIL-STD-188-165A case study.
Strategic adaptations to PPS by rural hospitals: implications for theory and research.

: Medicare's Prospective Payment System (PPS) has introduced a new environment in which hospitals must either alter their strategies for delivering services or face closure. This is a challenge for rural hospitals that often lack the resources and supportive economic climate of their urban counterparts. Few guidelines are available to assist rural hospitals in responding organizationally to PPS-induced constraints. This article examines the plight of rural hospitals from the perspective of strategic adaptation. A conceptual framework is proposed for studying strategic adaptations to PPS by rural hospitals. The implications for developing a sound research methodology are also discussed. On the basis of this research agenda, it may be possible to clarify how rural hospitals should adapt to PPS (and similar) constraints now, and in the future.
A three-level DC-DC converter with wide-input voltage operations for ship-electric-power-distribution systems

This paper describes a newly developed three-level dc-dc converter with wide-input voltage operations for ship-electric-power-distribution systems. The proposed converter is designed with zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) techniques. The operational principles, design details and performances of the converter are discussed along with soft-switching characteristics through experimental results. Furthermore, design criteria on the dc-dc converter are focused on the minimization of the circulation current between main switches and a transformer under soft switching. The converter has achieved about 95% efficiency over wide 7-kW load conditions.
Shifting racial stereotypes in late adolescence: Heterogeneous resources for developmental change in the New Latino Diaspora

Abstract In this paper we examine how resources, drawn from various spatial and temporal scales, contribute to shifts in how three Latina girls' deploy racial models of personhood as they move from eighth to eleventh grade. We argue that these changing perceptions are made possible by a set of contingent, heterogeneous resources, not by any predictable social or developmental process. We describe the relevant resources by telling the stories of Valeria and her friends Maria and Gabriela, as they move from middle school through high school in Marshall, a New Latino Diaspora town.
Projection-based consensus for continuous-time multi-agent systems with state constraints

This paper studies the consensus problem in multi-agent systems with distinct state constraints. We present a projection-based consensus protocol for continuous-time systems with connected and undirected communication topology. Under this protocol each agent does not have to know additional information of its neighbors' other than their states. When the state of an agent is close to its boundary, the projection operator will drive it back to the constraint set. We prove that if the constraint sets are convex and the intersection of those sets is non-empty, global consensus can always be achieved without violation of the constraints.
Prenatal and Postnatal Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among US Women: Associations with WIC Participation

Objective Evaluate variation in fruit and vegetable intake by Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participation and poverty status among pregnant, and postpartum women participating in the Infant Feeding Practice Study II (IFPSII). Methods IFPSII (2005-2007) followed US women from third trimester through 1 year postpartum through mailed questionnaires measuring income, WIC participation, breastfeeding; and dietary history questionnaires (DHQ) assessing prenatal/postnatal fruit and vegetable consumption. Poverty measurements used U.S. Census Bureau Federal Poverty thresholds to calculate percent of poverty index ratio (PIR) corresponding to WIC's financial eligibility (≤185 % PIR). Comparison groups: WIC recipients; WIC eligible (≤185 % PIR), but non-recipients; and women not financially WIC eligible (>185 % PIR). IFPSII participants who completed at least one DHQ were included. Intake variation among WIC/poverty groups was assessed by Kruskal-Wallis tests and between groups by Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon tests and logistic regression. Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon tests examined postnatal intake by breastfeeding. Results Prenatal vegetable intake significantly varied by WIC/poverty groups (p = 0.04) with WIC recipients reporting significantly higher intake than women not financially WIC eligible (p = 0.02); association remained significant adjusting for confounders [odds ratio 0.66 (95 % confidence interval: 0.49-0.90)]. Prenatal fruit and postnatal consumption did not significantly differ by WIC/poverty groups. Postnatal intake was significantly higher among breastfeeding than non-breastfeeding women (fruit: p < 0.0001; vegetable: p = 0.006). Conclusions for Practice Most intakes did not significantly differ by WIC/poverty groups and thus prompts research on WIC recipient's dietary behaviors, reasons for non-participation in WIC, and the influence of the recent changes to the WIC food package.
Umbilical Cord Monitoring of In Utero Drug Exposure to Buprenorphine and Correlation with Maternal Dose and Neonatal Outcomes

Buprenorphine is under investigation in the U.S. as pharmacotherapy for opioid-dependent pregnant women. Buprenorphine and metabolites were quantified in umbilical cord specimens from women receiving daily buprenorphine doses. Correlations between maternal buprenorphine dose, buprenorphine and metabolite umbilical cord concentrations, and neonatal outcomes were investigated, as well as the ability to identify heroin and cocaine relapse during pregnancy. Umbilical cord concentrations were compared to those of matched umbilical cord plasma and meconium. Buprenorphine metabolites were detected in all cords, but buprenorphine itself was absent. Concentration ranges were 1.2-5.1 ng/g norbuprenorphine, 1.7-4.2 ng/g buprenorphine-glucuronide, and 8.3-23 ng/g norbuprenorphine-glucuronide. Cord concentrations were similar to those in plasma, and lower (16-210-fold), although statistically correlated, than those in meconium. Significant positive correlations were observed for buprenorphine-glucuronide concentrations in umbilical cord and mean maternal BUP daily dose throughout pregnancy and third trimester, but buprenorphine biomarker concentrations did not predict neonatal outcomes. Opiate concentrations were lower (200-fold) in umbilical cord than in meconium, and when cocaine was present in meconium, it was not identified in cord. Umbilical cord can serve as an alternative matrix for identifying prenatal drug-exposure, but is much less sensitive than meconium. Buprenorphine provided a controlled drug administration model for evaluating drug disposition in the maternal-fetal dyad.
Riociguat for the management of pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive disease that is accompanied by a poor prognosis. Pulmonary vasoconstriction is facilitated through multiple pathways and results in increased pulmonary vascular pressure leading to cell proliferation, vascular remodeling, right ventricular hypertrophy/failure, and ultimately death. Until recently, just six medications were approved -all for one subclass of PH. On October 8, 2013, riociguat became the first medication approved for multiple etiologies of PH. Preclinical studies have demonstrated safety and efficacy with significant clinical trials supporting its advancement into phase IV trials. Although long-term safety and efficacy and place in therapy remain to be established, riociguat presents as an exciting new option for the treatment of PH and potentially has additional indications in the near future.
Radiation heat transfer in three-dimensional irregular geometries

The finite volume method is used to model radiative heat transfer in three-dimensional irregular geometries. Transparent and participating media are examined. These test cases indicate that the finite volume method is a viable radiation heat transfer solution procedures for three-dimensional enclosures. NOMENCLATURE a coefficient in the discretization equation b source term in the discretization equation Dc direction cosine integrated over An I actual intensity L total number of control angles n outward unit normal of control volume face ./V, Number of control volumes in / direction Ng, Nj Number of control angles in 6 and directions ex, ey, ez unit vectors in x, y and z directions q heat flux q* nondimensional incident intensities, q/0Tg s distance traveled by a beam S source function Sm modified source function T temperature x, y, z coordinate directions /3 extinction coefficient, K+ a f3m modified extinction coefficient M area of control volume faces Av volume of the control volume AH control angle 9 polar angle measured from e2 K absorption coefficient a scattering coefficient or Stefan-Boltzmann constant O scattering phase function azimuthal angle measured from ex f, 77, Y curvilinear coordinates Copyright 1996 by J. C. Chai. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. with permission. *Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, P. O. Box 5014, Cookeville, TN 38505, Member AIAA +Aerospace Engineer, Internal Fluid Mechanics Division & Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Mechanical Engineering: Presently: Research Engineer, Honeywell Technology Center, MN. Subscripts b blackbody E, W, N, S, east, west, north, south, rear and front R, F neighbors of P e, w, n, s, east, west, north, south, rear and front control r,f volume faces g gas P control volume P x, y, z coordinate directions £, 77, Y curvilinear coordinates Superscripts I, I' angular directions
Develop and Demonstrate Fundamental Basis for Selectors to Improve Activated Sludge Settleability: Phase II Lab Investigation

The primary objective of this research was to compare dilute sludge volume index (DSVI) control in equally-sized single- and multi-stage anoxic and anaerobic selectors relative to a control aerobic reactor without a selector, using a synthetic wastewater feed containing both readily biodegradable and slowly biodegradable substrates. A further objective was to compare filamentous microorganism populations and microbial community composition for the different systems by an automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) (Fisher and Triplett, 1999) method. This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series ISBN: 9781843397939 (eBook)
SU-F-T-564: 3 Year Experience of Treatment Plan QualityAssurance for Vero SBRT Patients

Purpose: To verify treatment plan monitor units from iPlan treatment planning system for Vero Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) treatment using both software-based and (homogeneous and heterogeneous) phantom-based approaches. Methods: Dynamic conformal arcs (DCA) were used for SBRT treatment of oligometastasis patients using Vero linear accelerator. For each plan, Monte Carlo calculated treatment plans MU (prescribed dose to water with 1% variance) is verified first by RadCalc software with 3% difference threshold. Beyond 3% differences, treatment plans were copied onto (homogeneous) Scanditronix phantom for non-lung patients and copied onto (heterogeneous) CIRS phantom for lung patients and the corresponding plan dose was measured using a cc01 ion chamber. The difference between the planed and measured dose was recorded. For the past 3 years, we have treated 180 patients with 315 targets. Out of these patients, 99 targets treatment plan RadCalc calculation exceeded 3% threshold and phantom based measurements were performed with 26 plans using Scanditronix phantom and 73 plans using CIRS phantom. Mean and standard deviation of the dose differences were obtained and presented. Results: For all patient RadCalc calculations, the mean dose difference is 0.76% with a standard deviation of 5.97%. For non-lung patient plan Scanditronix phantom measurements, the mean dose difference is 0.54% with standard deviation of 2.53%; for lung patient plan CIRS phantom measurements, the mean dose difference is −0.04% with a standard deviation of 1.09%; The maximum dose difference is 3.47% for Scanditronix phantom measurements and 3.08% for CIRS phantom measurements. Conclusion: Limitations in secondary MU check software lead to perceived large dose discrepancies for some of the lung patient SBRT treatment plans. Homogeneous and heterogeneous phantoms were used in plan quality assurance for non-lung patients and lung patients, respectively. Phantom based QA showed the relative good agreement between iPlan calculated dose and measured dose.
Songs of the Sailorman

Along with spinning yarns, sailors loved to sing. When Herman Melville decided to portray the ideal seaman as an “upright barbarian,” as close to nature as Adam in the Garden of Eden, Billy Budd, besides being “Invariably a proficient in his calling” and regardless of the fact that he could not read, was a great singer, “and like the illiterate nightingale [he] was sometimes the composer of his own song.” For Melville, and for many sailors, skill as a seaman went hand in hand with skill in music. Just as with spinning yarns, having the talent to carry and create a tune garnered respect among the men who went to sea. Whether on the deck during the dogwatch, idle moments in the forecastle, ashore in taverns, in theaters, or even in the streets, sailors enjoyed the pleasures of song. Samuel Leech described the musical celebrity of two British seamen during his service aboard the HMS Macedonian . The first was a crew member who was “quite popular” with his shipmates “for his lively disposition and his talents as a comic singer, which last gift is always prized in a man of war.” The second was called “happy Jack” and visited the frigate while it was in port. As soon as this jovial sailor came aboard, the crew ran toward him. “Every voice was hushed, all work was brought to a stand still” as the men listened “to his unequalled performances.” Another measure of music's importance to mariners is the number of songs found written in journals and logbooks kept at sea and elsewhere. Privateersman Timothy Connor wrote down more than fifty songs in a notebook while held as a prisoner of war during the American Revolution. Among the seamen in Dartmoor Prison in the War of 1812 “Music was a favourite amusement.” The sailors “met at one another's mess tables with their instruments and note books, and could easily wear away a few hours each day, which otherwise would have hung heavily upon them.” Sailor songs ran the gamut from the sentimental to the sensational and from true love to the bawdy. On the sentimental side, a favorite theme was that of distressed lovers separated by the man going to sea, but sailors also sang about family and an idealized vision of home.
High performance parallel computing CFD simulations of projectiles with flow control

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a computational study undertaken to determine the aerodynamic effect of flow control in the afterbody regions at subsonic and supersonic speeds using an advanced scalable unstructured flow solver on various parallel computers such as SGI, IBM, and Linux Cluster. High parallel efficiency is achieved for both steady and time-accurate unsteady flow field simulations using advanced scalable Navier–Stokes computational techniques on SGI and IBM machines. Some results relating to the code's portability and its performance on the Linux clusters are also presented. Numerical simulations with the unsteady synthetic jet show the jets to substantially alter the flow field both near the jet and the base region of the projectile that in turn affects the forces and moments even at zero degree angle of attack. The results show the potential of high-performance computing computational fluid dynamics simulations on parallel machines to provide insights into the jet interaction flow fields leading to improve designs. The same flow solver is applied to a different type of flow control problem for a finned configuration at a supersonic speed.
Attack and Defense: Weapons of the Immune System

I don’t think of myself as being particularly germophobic. I wash my hands regularly but not obsessively, and I keep the kitchen and bathroom reasonably disinfected. Sometimes, however, I can understand our society’s growing obsession with germs. Based on what I hear on the news, a pandemic often seems just around the corner.
A multiscale study of the boundary layer development for microfluidic system

AbstractThe evolution and characterisation of the boundary layer are critical in many CFD applications. In microfluidic systems, the performance of microfluidic fuel cells is based on the boundary layer development of two fluid streams. In this article, the Micropolar theory (MPT) is used as a multiscale theory to study the boundary layer development for small scales. Different scale simulations are performed to study the molecule size effect in the boundary layer development. Different boundary conditions for gyration are examined and interpreted as surface roughness for microfluidic systems. Therefore, the effects of surface roughness on the boundary layer growth are explored. The multiscale nature of the MPT is used to study the energy transfer between the two scales in the theory.
Prison break: Karl Menninger's The Crime of Punishment and its reception in U.S. psychology

In 1968, Karl Menninger, a highly visible and vocal U.S. psychiatrist, published a call to action on prison reform, The Crime of Punishment (Menninger, 1966/1968). This widely circulated book's central idea is that punishment as practiced in penal settings is an injustice amounting to a crime. At the outset, The Crime of Punishment quickly achieved national attention. Within mainstream psychology, its antipunishment message encountered a changed climate in which punishment, thought ineffective during the period 1930 through 1960, was redefined as an effective component in learning. It also met competition from the contemporaneous Stanford Prison Experiment (Haney, Banks, & Zimbardo, 1973), which quickly rose to equivalent media presence and superior disciplinary prominence. Both the Stanford Prison Experiment and The Crime of Punishment survived in the antireform era of hyperincarceration after 1974 as parallel examples of reform activism, one secular and one religious in character, illustrating some convergences of aim between psychology and psychiatry outside of specifically clinical issues. (PsycINFO Database Record
Psychological Altruism, Evolutionary Origins, and Moral Rules

Soulignant le lien biologique entre la moralite de l'homme et son histoire evolutionniste, l'A. montre que les origines naturelles de l'homme permettent d'expliquer ses attitudes psychlogiques et de le definir comme un altruiste psychologique. Distinguant l'altruisme biologique minimal, defini en termes de selection naturelle et de preference des organismes, de l'altruisme psychologique proprement moral, defini en terme de disposition a l'evaluation reciproque du bien d'autrui, l'A. avance l'hypothese d'une intelligence machiavelienne dans l'organisation sociale des hommes comme celles des animaux
Probability and Probability Distribution

The theory of probability and statistics underlies all quantitative assessments relevant to pathology. Probability is a concept that occurs due to randomness. A random event or experiment has two main components of interest: the first is the “outcome” which is the result of the event that is being recorded. The second is “parameter” which is a constant in the experiment which can affect the outcome. Most events in biology are random and thus are governed by laws of probability, and, consequently, laboratory medicine where our concern is to measure these biological events is also governed by randomness and probability. Pathology and laboratory medicine employ the concepts of probability to provide us with a posttest probability of someone having a disease based on their test result, pretest probability, and the likelihood associated with the test. Another important concept is probability distribution which is the probability of occurrence of different possible outcomes of a random trial or experiment. Test characteristics such as “confidence interval,” “mean,” “reference range,” “error,” etc. are all determined using probability distribution.
Can Tariffs be Used to Enforce Paris Climate Commitments

We evaluate the potential of border carbon adjustments (BCAs) and strategic tariffs to compel noncompliant countries to meet emission reduction targets pledged under the Paris Climate Agreement. Our analysis employs a numerical economy‐wide model with energy sector detail and, given recent actions by the US administration, considers BCAs on US exports. We find that when the US does not restrict emissions and faces BCAs on its exports, US welfare losses are smaller than when the US meets its Paris commitments. Hence, BCAs are preferable for the US and cannot be used to enforce Paris climate commitments. The use of strategic tariffs, on the contrary, would result in a trade war and a larger welfare decrease in US welfare than when it meets its Paris commitments. Strategic tariffs also decrease welfare in countries that meet their Paris pledges. Accordingly, strategic tariffs, which are much higher than BCA rates, can be used to enforce Paris climate commitments if compliant countries are willing to incur welfare losses to punish non‐compliant countries.
Religious Accommodation, and Its Limits, in a Pluralist Society

Conflicts between religious freedom and equality are all around us. Persons of faith object to laws that require them to participate in conduct they deem sinful — such as performing an abortion or officiating a same-sex marriage. They also object to complying with laws requiring businesses not to discriminate or requiring healthcare professionals to serve patients, on the grounds that compliance would enable others to engage in sin and would sanction their wrongdoing. In our writing, we have focused extensively on these complicity-based conscience claims. Today, claims of this kind arise in high-profile conflicts ranging from Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, where a baker refused to provide a wedding cake to a same-sex couple, to recent Trump Administration regulations exempting employers from requirements that they include contraceptive coverage in employee insurance benefits. This brief essay makes three points about claims for religious exemption in the context of LGBT equality and reproductive healthcare. First, claims for religious exemption from laws that protect contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage differ from accommodation claims involving ritual observance in dress or prayer, most importantly in their capacity to inflict targeted harms on other citizens who do not share the claimant’s beliefs. Second, U.S. constitutional and statutory law recognizes concerns about third-party harm as reason for limiting religious accommodation. Third, religious accommodation serves pluralist ends only when the accommodation is structured in such a way that other citizens who do not share the objectors’ beliefs are protected from material and dignitary harm.
Optical breakdown as a broadband underwater acoustic source

Current underwater transducers provide little support for remote measurement of material properties. Such measurements are often limited by high impedance contrast, and target inhomogeneities that arise from biofouling and corrosion. In the presence of these limitations, a sensing system would benefit from broadband, spatially-localized target excitation. The high bandwidth would allow a return signal to encode broader information content about the target, while spatial localization would provide stronger target excitation and higher spatial resolution for measurements. Although these source properties are not achievable with traditional transducer designs, they can be produced through laser-induced optical breakdown in water. During optical breakdown, focused laser light excites a localized plasma, which expands and produces a mechanical shock wave. The shock properties are set by both the medium hydrodynamics and the laser parameters, allowing the acoustic source to be optically tuned. In laboratory experiments, breakdown from a 4 mJ/ 4ns laser pulse emits an exponential pressure wave with a decay constant under 250 ns and peak pressure near 600 kPa at 2 cm range. Here, I discuss the physics and fundamental limitations of acoustic transduction via underwater optical breakdown. Experimental results illustrate how the acoustic source properties can be tuned through optical control.