cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Simultaneous consumption of bacteria and dissolved organic matter by Tetrahymena pyriformis

The addition of ciliated protozoa to aquatic microcosms and bench-scale sewage treatment plants increases decomposition rates. This is surprising, inasmuch as protozoa consume bacteria, which are the primary decomposers. One possible mechanism of the increase in decomposition rate is the direct consumption of dissolved organic matter by protozoa that are feeding primarily on bacteria. This possibility was explored experimentally in two-stage continuous cultures, with glucose limitingEscherichia coli in the first stage andE. coli limitingTetrahymena pyriformis in the second. Glycine and histidine were the test nutrients. The results of adding them to the second stages suggested that direct uptake by ciliates does not affect the dynamics of dissolved amino acids in pelagic environments or activated sludge plants. Ciliates might, however, affect the dynamics of amino acid pools in environments high in nutrients and ciliates, perhaps including some microenvironments near decomposing material or in benthic sediments. Direct uptake of dissolved amino acids by ciliates probably does not affect ciliate or bacterial populations substantially.
Multivariate analysis of Kenya's urban system.

The study analyzes the structure, spatial interaction, and dimension of the post-colonial urban systems of Kenya using component factor analysis and based on selected socio-cultural, economic, and demographic variables. The study identified seven major dimensions of variation accounting for 72.0%. The analysis of the urban spatial variation is compared and intertwined with studies done in other countries to find out the regional variation of the loadings. Finally, a seven-order characteristics of Kenya urban systems is suggested, based on the study. The accurate knowledge of these salient characteristics of Kenya urban sub-systems is important before any viable spatial planning should be implemented.
Multiferroic thin film circulator with tunable bandpass behavior

Multiferroic composite materials consisting both magnetic and ferroelectric phase are of great interests, as its magnetoelectric (ME) coupling property may lead to novel RF devices. Multiferroic thin film devices have the advantage of the low tuning voltage requirement which is essential for compact and power efficient devices. In addition, thin film material is easier to fabricate with nano fabrication techniques such as sputtering or MBE growth. It can also be precisely patterned with lithography and made compatible with IC technology.
Measures not charging semipolars and equations of schrödinger type

SupposeX is a Borel right process andm is a σ-finite excessive measure forX. Given a positive measure μ not chargingm-semipolars we associate an exact multiplicative functionalM(μ). No finiteness assumptions are made on μ. Given two such measures μ and ν,M(μ)=M(ν) if and only if μ and ν agree on all finely open measurable sets. The equation (q−L)u+uμ=f whereL is the generator of (a subprocess of)X may be solved for appropriatef by means of the Feynman-Kac formula based onM(μ). Both uniqueness and existence are considered.
IEEE Education Society: Global leader in Engineering Education

The IEEE Education Society (EdSoc) is pleased to be a sponsor of EDUCON and technical co-sponsor of TAEE. EdSoc leaders view this conference as vital for carrying out the mission of our society and believe that EDUCON will be at the forefront of global Engineering Education in the future. In this talk, I will describe some of the history of the Education Society, its recent strategic planning process, and its hopes for the future. What is the Education Society? In April 2009, EdSoc leaders developed new vision and mission statements to introduce EdSoc to the world. The vision of EdSoc is “The IEEE Education Society strives to be the global leader in Engineering Education”.
Ground-state and excited-state structures of tungsten-benzylidyne complexes.

The molecular structure of the tungsten–benzylidyne complex trans-W(≡CPh)(dppe)2Cl (1; dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane) in the singlet (dxy)2 ground state and luminescent triplet (dxy)1(π*(WCPh))1 excited state (1*) has been studied using X-ray transient absorption spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Molecular-orbital considerations suggest that the W–C and W–P bond lengths should increase in the excited state because of the reduction of the formal W–C bond order and decrease in W→P π-backbonding, respectively, between 1 and 1*. This latter conclusion is supported by comparisons among the W–P bond lengths obtained from the X-ray crystal structures of 1, (dxy)1-configured 1+, and (dxy)2 [W(CPh)(dppe)2(NCMe)]+ (2+). X-ray transient absorption spectroscopic measurements of the excited-state structure of 1* reveal that the W–C bond length is the same (within experimental error) as that determined by X-ray crystallography for the ground state 1, while ...
A Monte Carlo calculation of secondary electron bremsstrahlung in PIXE

Abstract One of the primary components of the background in PIXE spectra is secondary electron bremsstrahlung (SEB). However, in order to evaluate the integral usually used to calculate SEB cross sections, certain simplifications must be made, such as assuming an infinite target thickness. In order to more realistically model the physical processes involved in SEB, a Monte Carlo approach is useful. SEB cross sections are calculated by Monte Carlo techniques and the results are compared with the work of Ishii, Morita, and Tarawa [Phys. Rev. A13 (1976) 131; Int. J. PIXE l (1990) 1]. To demonstrate the flexibility of the Monte Carlo method, effects due to the target thickness and the proton-electron cross section are examined.
Infrared Spectra of Indium Hydrides in Solid Hydrogen and Neon

Reactions of laser-ablated In atoms with pure hydrogen and pure deuterium give sharp absorptions for the InH and InD intermediate species. Ultraviolet irradiation produces InH2 and InD2 and maximizes the yield of the indane monomers InH3 and InD3, which are observed as the hypervalent complexes (H2)InH3 and (D2)InD3. In addition In+(H2)n and In+(D2)n cations and H-(H2)n and D-(D2)n anions are observed in these samples. Irradiation at 193 nm photoionizes In, increases the yields of both cation and ion, excites In to activate the endothermic reaction with H2 to form InH, and promotes the conversion of InH to InH3. Annealing to 6−8 K provides evidence for In2H2, In2D2, In2H4, and In2D4 isomers, In2H6, and In2D6, and warming the samples to allow evaporation of the H2 and D2 matrix hosts replaces the sharp absorptions by broad 1460 and 1060 cm-1 bands with dominant contributions from solid indane (InH3)n and (InD3)n, respectively. Diindane is unstable on ultraviolet photolysis in contrast to digallane and dial...
Observability analysis and critical measurement detection for power systems measured by PMUs

Classical observability analysis and critical measurement detection methods cannot be applied to the Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs), since Jacobian matrix of current phasor measurements cannot be decoupled as in the case of power measurements. This paper proposes a method to investigate the observability and criticality of PMUs.
Morphometric analysis of hepatocytes from rats subjected to compound 48/80-induced anaphylactic shock.

Morphometric and biochemical techniques were used to analyze hepatic glycogen, endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondrial matrix granules in rats treated with compound 48/80 to induce an anaphylactic-like state of shock. Thirty minutes after insult there was a significant decrease in glycogen and mitochondrial matrix granules, an increase in rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), and no change in smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER). Less glycogen in experimental rats substantiated a previously described glycogenolytic response to compound 48/80. The decrease in matrix granules implies a loss and/or shift in intramitochondrial calcium as occurs in epinephrine-induced glycogenolysis in the rat. Since other glycogenolytic agents, e.g. glucagon, and starvation stimulate an increase in SER presumably from RER, the present morphological data suggest the increase in RER may precede proliferation of SER from RER.
A framework for the static verification of api calls

A number of tools can statically check program code to identify commonly encountered bug patterns. At the same time, programs are increasingly relying on external apis for performing the bulk of their work: the bug-prone program logic is being fleshed-out, and many errors involve tricky subroutine calls to the constantly growing set of external libraries. Extending the static analysis tools to cover the available apis is an approach that replicates scarce human effort across different tools and does not scale. Instead, we propose moving the static api call verification code into the api implementation, and distributing the verification code together with the library proper. We have designed a framework for providing static verification code together with Java classes, and have extended the FindBugs static analysis tool to check the corresponding method invocations. To validate our approach we wrote verification tests for 100 different methods, and ran FindBugs on 6.9 million method invocations on what amounts to about 13 million lines of production-quality code. In the set of 55 thousand method invocations that could potentially be statically verified our approach identified 800 probable errors.
High Schmidt mass transfer in a laminar impinging slot jet flow

Abstract In this paper, high Schmidt-number mass transfer to a line electrode in laminar impinging slot-jet flows is investigated experimentally and numerically. Slot-based Reynolds numbers from 220 to 690 are considered. The mass-transfer measurements, made by the electrochemical method on 100 μm electrodes, are compared to the computed wall shear via an established analytical relationship. The local shear is obtained from steady, two-dimensional flow-field simulations of the Navier–Stokes equations. The use of an isolated line electrode and a small electrode size (100 μm) makes it possible to resolve the sharp variations in shear and mass transfer in the stagnation region. Both the experimental and theoretical results show that the peak values in Nusselt number occur at a point one-half to one jet width away from the stagnation point. Earlier experimental studies of heat transfer (Prandtl number of 0.72) reported by Gardon and Akfirat [R. Gardon, J.C. Akfirat, Heat transfer characterstics of impinging two-dimensional air jets, ASME Journal of heat Transfer 101 (1966) 101–108] (referred to in the figures as GA66) and mass transfer by Alkire and Ju [R., Alkire, J. Ju, High speed selective electroplating with impinging two-dimensional slot jet flow, J. Electrochemical Society 134 (2) (1987) 294–299] (referred to in the figures as AJ87) were not able to observe this behavior near the stagnation point.
The Eyewitness Post Identification Feedback Effect 15 Years Later: Theoretical and Policy Implications

Eyewitnesses' retrospective reports of certainty, view, attention, and other judgments constitute central variables used by courts to assess the credibility of eyewitness identification evidence. Recently, important state Supreme Court decisions (e.g., New Jersey v. Henderson, 2011; Oregon v. Lawson, 2012) have relied on psychological research regarding the post-identification feedback effect to revamp their assumptions about when witness retrospective self-reports can be trusted. The post-identification feedback effect, originally demonstrated by Wells and Bradfield (1998), refers to the way in which witness self-reports are distorted by feedback to the witnesses that suggests that their identifications were accurate or mistaken. We present a meta-analysis of the post-identification effect involving 7,000 participants from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. The results show that confirming feedback robustly inflates eyewitnesses' retrospective judgments across experimental manipulations and laboratory settings with large effect sizes. We describe the policy implications of the feedback effect with regard to the need for double-blind lineup procedures. Moreover, we propose that testimony-relevant witness judgments should be collected and documented, preferably with videotape, before feedback can occur. We use moderator analyses to examine the current explanation of the feedback effect and delineate new research questions that could help develop a more complete theoretical understanding of the processes giving rise to the effect.
IFN-γ Stimulates the Expression of a Novel Secretoglobin That Regulates Chemotactic Cell Migration and Invasion

IFNs are a family of cytokines that alert the immune system against viral infections of host cells. The IFNs (IFN-α, IFN-β, and IFN-γ) interact with specific cellular receptors and stimulate the production of second messengers, leading to the expression of antiviral and immunomodulatory proteins. We report in this study that IFN-γ stimulates the expression of a novel gene that encodes a protein with 30% amino acid sequence identity with uteroglobin, the founding member of the newly formed Secretoglobin (SCGB) superfamily. We named this protein IFN-γ-inducible SCGB (IIS), because its expression in lymphoblast cells is augmented by IFN-γ treatment. IIS is expressed in virtually all tissues, and the highest level of expression is detectable in lymph nodes, tonsil, cultured lymphoblasts, and the ovary. Interestingly, although the expression of IIS mRNA is not significantly different in resting lymphoid cells, it is markedly elevated in activated CD8+ and CD19+ cells. Furthermore, treatment of lymphoblast cells with IIS antisense phosphorothioate (S)-oligonucleotides prevents chemotactic migration and invasion. Taken together, these results raise the possibility that this novel SCGB has immunological functions.
Lorca's ‘Agonía republicana’ and Its Aftermath

The afterlives of Federico Garcia Lorca are many. His violent death at the hands of the extreme right during the Civil War has been remembered and imagined in a variety of ways, thus bringing the Republican poet back to life in a strange kind of afterglow and symbolically completing his earthly trajectory. Republicans naturally claimed him for their own cause, but surprisingly, a few on the right made similar title to Lorca. I focus on that claim as part of the aftermath of the poet's death, re-examining some of the early right-wing reaction to Lorca's assassination, subsequent commentary, and one especially pertinent case, that of the South African poet, Roy Campbell. The aim is to shed more light on the motivation or circumstances that produced such claims and on the ideological contentiousness that so politicised Lorca's life and work.
Images as embedding maps and minimal surfaces: a unified approach for image diffusion

We introduce a new geometrical framework for image processing. This framework finds a seamless link between the TV-L/sub 1/ and the L/sub 2/ norms that are often used in image processing, based on the geometry of the image and its interpretation as a surface. It unifies most of the current "scale space" models for images by a simple selection of one parameter, yet more important, it enables one to introduce new methods to deal with images in a simple and natural way. A functional called "Polyakov (1981) action", borrowed from high energy physics, is shown to be useful for image enhancement in color, texture, volumetric medical data, movies, and more.
A Sociocultural Analysis of Teacher Talk in Inquiry-Based Professional Development.

In this article we examine a teacher-authored narrative in which Steve Mann (2002), an English as a second language teacher, critically reflects on how his teaching beliefs were transformed as a re...
Complications of Oral Exposure to Fentanyl Transdermal Delivery System Patches

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid available therapeutically as an intravenous, transbucal, or transdermal preparation. It is also used as a drug of abuse through a variety of different methods, including the oral abuse of transdermal fentanyl patches. This is a series of patients with oral fentanyl patch exposure reported to our center and represents the first series of oral fentanyl patch exposures collected outside of the postmortem setting. In this series, we examined the New York Poison Control Center database for all cases of oral abuse of fentanyl reported between January 2000 and April 2008. Twenty cases were reported, nine were asymptomatic or had symptoms of opioid withdrawal; 11 had symptoms of opioid intoxication. Eight patients were administered naloxone and all showed improvement in clinical status. Only one case resulted in a confirmed fatality—this patient had an orally adherent patch discovered at intubation. Oral exposure may result in life-threatening toxicity. Patients should be closely assessed and monitored for the opioid toxidrome, and if symptomatic, should be managed with opioid antagonists and ventilatory support.
Daily variation in ingress of fall-spawned larval fishes into Delaware Bay in relation to alongshore and along-estuary wind components

Identifying factors that affect ingress of larval fishes from offshore spawning areas into estuarine nurseries is important to improve understanding of variability in recruitment of many coastal marine species. This study investigated the ingress of larval Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus), Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), and summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) at Roosevelt Inlet, near the mouth of Delaware Bay, USA in relation to short-term wind events. Nightly abundances, from November 15 to December 15, 2010, were analyzed with alongshore and along-estuary wind components (direction and speed) using cross-correlation analysis to determine if winds affect larval ingress. Ingress of Atlantic croaker and summer flounder correlated with along-estuary winds, whereas Atlantic menhaden showed no significant correlations with either alongshore or along-estuary winds. Although along-estuary winds during this period were predominantly down-estuary, Atlantic croaker ingress was correlated with positive along-estuary winds (blowing up-estuary), with a three-day lag; and a particularly large ingress peak occurred following the largest up-estuary wind peak. Ingress of summer flounder was correlated with negative along-estuary winds (blowing down-estuary), with a two-day lag. These results suggest that species-specific vertical position in the water column influenced ingress into Delaware Bay. The lag results also suggest that ingressing Atlantic croaker and summer flounder may have a pooling stage outside the mouth of Delaware Bay.
A random pore model for fluid‐solid reactions: II. Diffusion and transport effects

The prior random pore model for kinetically controlled fluid-solid reaction (Bhatia and Perlmutter, 1980) is generalized to include transport effects arising from boundary layer, intraparticle, and product layer diffusion. Numerical solutions are presented for a variety of conditions. The results show that the rate and surface area maxima predicted in the kinetic regime are shifted to lower conversions as intraparticle or product layer diffusional resistances increase. In addition, with increasing temperature a decrease in the overall reaction surface is predicted, in agreement with experimental findings (Kawahata and Walker, 1962). For reactions accompanied by an increase in the volume of the solid phase, it is shown that incomplete conversion may be expected, the ultimate conversion decreasing with an increase in the intrapellet diffusional resistance. Optimal temperatures for such reactions are also identified.
Profiling over Adaptive Ranges

Modern computer systems are called on to deal with billions of events every second, whether they are instructions executed, memory locations accessed, or packets forwarded. This presents a serious challenge to those who seek to quantify, analyze, or optimize such systems, because important trends and behaviors may easily be lost in a sea of data. We present range adaptive profiling (RAP) as a new and general purpose profiling method capable of hierarchically classifying streams of data efficiently in hardware. Through the use of RAP, events in an input stream are dynamically classified into increasingly precise categories based on the frequency with which they occur. The more important a class, or range of events, the more precisely it is quantified. Despite the dynamic nature of our technique, we build upon tight theoretic bounds covering both worst-case error as well as the required memory. In the limit, it is known that error and the memory bounds can be independent of the stream size, and grow only linearly with the level of precision desired. Significantly, we expose the critical constants in these algorithms and through careful engineering, algorithm re-design, and use of heuristics, we show how a high performance profile system can be implemented for range adaptive profiling. RAP can be used on various profiles such as PCs, load values, and memory addresses, and has a broad range of uses, from hot-region profiling to quantifying cache miss value locality. We propose two methods of implementation, one in software and the other with specialized hardware, and we show that with just 8k bytes of memory range profiles can be gathered with an average accuracy of 98%.
Tolerance tag team

During oral tolerance cells communicate with each other to dampen the immune response, creating an agreeable environment for oral antigens. Even T cells directed against non-oral antigens are suppressed, generating a response known as the 'bystander effect'. Dendritic cells now emerge as mediators of this communication.
The enhancement of gate-induced-drain-leakage (GIDL) current in short-channel SOI MOSFET and its application in measuring lateral bipolar current gain beta

An off-state leakage current unique for short-channel SOI MOSFETs is reported. This off-state leakage is the amplification of gate-induced-drain-leakage current by the lateral bipolar transistor in an SOI device due to the floating body. The leakage current can be enhanced by as much as 100 times for 1/4 mu m SOI devices. This can pose severe constraints in future 0.1 mu m SOI device design. A novel technique was developed based on this mechanism to measure the lateral bipolar transistor current gain beta of SOI devices without using a body contact. >
An expert system to convert knowledge-based geological engineering systems into Fortran

A knowledge-based geographic information system (KBGIS) for geological engineering map (GEM) production was developed in GoldWorks, an expert system development shell. Using this shell, the geological engineer is able to develop a rule base for a particular application that results in a valid GEM. However, this implementation failed as a practical production system due to the excessive execution time required to produce a GEM. To solve this problem, a conversion expert system was developed which accepted, as input, a KBGIS and produced, as output, the equivalent Fortran code. Two major objectives are accomplished as a result of this system: GEN production time is dramatically reduced and the versatility of the KBGIS development environment is retained. The conversion expert system was tested by converting the Midwestern KBGIS expert system. >
The Impact Of Business Faculty Attire On Student Perceptions And Engagement

Certainly not a new phenomenon, professors continue to strive to discover the magic elixir that will cause all students to become active participants in the learning process. It seems logical that if students find a topic interesting or pertinent to their career objectives, they will tend to take a more active role in a course. Perhaps as reasonable to assume, if instructors are engaging and have the respect of the class, students will naturally put forth more effort to master the material. Prior studies have also shown that certain pedagogical devices and innovations, such as the usage of presentation technology, can positively impact student motivation. This study explored whether something as basic as the professor’s attire could also have a motivating effect on student perceptions and behavior in a college classroom setting. This paper summarizes the results of a survey pertaining to faculty dress that was administered to students enrolled in selected business courses at a mid-sized Midwestern university. Students were asked their opinion of whether the professional or unprofessional dress of the instructor would conceivably impact their own learning and effort. The survey results show that, in general, students perceive professional dress positively, and adjust their behavior accordingly.
Direct Target Network of the Neurospora crassa Plant Cell Wall Deconstruction Regulators CLR-1, CLR-2, and XLR-1

ABSTRACT Fungal deconstruction of the plant cell requires a complex orchestration of a wide array of intracellular and extracellular enzymes. In Neurospora crassa, CLR-1, CLR-2, and XLR-1 have been identified as key transcription factors regulating plant cell wall degradation in response to soluble sugars. The XLR-1 regulon was defined using a constitutively active mutant allele, resulting in hemicellulase gene expression and secretion under noninducing conditions. To define genes directly regulated by CLR-1, CLR-2, and XLR-1, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation and next-generation sequencing (ChIPseq) on epitope-tagged constructs of these three transcription factors. When N. crassa is exposed to plant cell wall material, CLR-1, CLR-2, and XLR-1 individually bind to the promoters of the most strongly induced genes in their respective regulons. These include promoters of genes encoding cellulases for CLR-1 and CLR-2 (CLR-1/CLR-2) and promoters of genes encoding hemicellulases for XLR-1. CLR-1 bound to its regulon under noninducing conditions; however, this binding alone did not translate into gene expression and enzyme secretion. Motif analysis of the bound genes revealed conserved DNA binding motifs, with the CLR-2 motif matching that of its closest paralog in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Gal4p. Coimmunoprecipitation studies showed that CLR-1 and CLR-2 act in a homocomplex but not as a CLR-1/CLR-2 heterocomplex. IMPORTANCE Understanding fungal regulation of complex plant cell wall deconstruction pathways in response to multiple environmental signals via interconnected transcriptional circuits provides insight into fungus/plant interactions and eukaryotic nutrient sensing. Coordinated optimization of these regulatory networks is likely required for optimal microbial enzyme production.
Translational Rodent Paradigms to Investigate Neuromechanisms Underlying Behaviors Relevant to Amotivation and Altered Reward Processing in Schizophrenia

Amotivation and reward-processing deficits have long been described in patients with schizophrenia and considered large contributors to patients’ inability to integrate well in society. No effective treatments exist for these symptoms, partly because the neuromechanisms mediating such symptoms are poorly understood. Here, we propose a translational neuroscientific approach that can be used to assess reward/motivational deficits related to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia using behavioral paradigms that can also be conducted in experimental animals. By designing and using objective laboratory behavioral tools that are parallel in their parameters in rodents and humans, the neuromechanisms underlying behaviors with relevance to these symptoms of schizophrenia can be investigated. We describe tasks that measure the motivation of rodents to expend physical and cognitive effort to gain rewards, as well as probabilistic learning tasks that assess both reward learning and feedback-based decision making. The latter tasks are relevant because of demonstrated links of performance deficits correlating with negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. These tasks utilize operant techniques in order to investigate neural circuits targeting a specific domain across species. These tasks therefore enable the development of insights into altered mechanisms leading to negative symptom-relevant behaviors in patients with schizophrenia. Such findings will then enable the development of targeted treatments for these altered neuromechanisms and behaviors seen in schizophrenia.
Customer portfolio management (CPM) for improved customer relationship management (CRM): Are your customers platinum, gold, silver, or bronze?

Abstract This article uses the customer portfolio management (CPM) approach to examine how a company can define the value of customers and segment these customers into portfolios. By segmenting customers into portfolios, an organization can better understand the relative importance of each customer to the company's total profit. Such an understanding will help companies retain valuable customers create additional value with these customers through relationship development. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the body of customer relationship management (CRM) literature by introducing a conceptual framework of the customer portfolio management (CPM) matrix, which focuses on two issues: (1) cost to serve and (2) value of the customer to the company. From this framework, a firm can segment its customer base into four portfolios, platinum, gold, silver, and bronze, and deliver services accordingly.
“The Parish Boy's Progress”: The Evolving Form of Oliver Twist

Dickens progressively transforms the controlling conventions of Oliver Twist during the course of the novel to explore deeply rooted moral tensions involving innocence, evil, and the law. The opening satire degenerates into moralistic melodrama as Oliver changes from a typical parish boy to “the principle of Good.” But this sentimental Providentialism breaks down at the country funeral, and in the city the narrative form evolves to discover a more complex and humane morality. Although the plot remains occupied with the triumph of good, the symbolic pattern of the action suggests a hidden resemblance between Oliver and the thieves. The point of view moves toward closer identification with the harried, but increasingly humanized, criminals. The life of the novel resists repression even as the ending enforces the law. “The Parish Boy’s Progress” ends at the gallows, but Fagin takes Oliver’s place there.
A Skew-Free 10 GS/s 6 bit CMOS ADC With Compact Time-Domain Signal Folding and Inherent DEM

An area-efficient, time-domain folding ADC achieves a 10 GS/s conversion speed and a 6 bit resolution in 65 nm CMOS. The natural time-domain folding effect of the ring oscillator (RO) leads to an inherently linear and compact folding operation. The single front-end voltage-to-time converter (VTC) running at the full conversion speed obviates any input buffer or clock-skew calibration often needed in large arrays of time-interleaved (TI) ADCs. The converter back-end consists of a four-way TI, RO-based time-to-digital converter (TDC) array with inherent dynamic element matching (DEM) that achieves high conversion speed and good linearity simultaneously. The prototype ADC was fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS process with an active area of only 0.073 mm2. Thanks to the built-in DEM, the measured DNL and INL are +0.27/−0.28 LSBs and +0.48/−0.49 LSBs, respectively. The measured SFDR and SNDR are over 42 dB and 27 dB with a Nyquist input at 10 GS/s.
Ethical Considerations of Biologics to Treat Substance Use Disorders

The development of biologic products to treat substance use disorders (SUDs) poses important and sometimes unique ethical challenges due to the clinical characteristics of patients with the disorders and the nature of these products. Historically, there has been a great deal of discussion about the ethics of conducting clinical research in individuals with SUDs. They include the stigma associated with drug abuse, the legal issues associated with disclosing the use of illicit drugs, and the protection of subject’s confidentiality from disclosure of potentially harmful information. Moreover, the behavioral manifestations associated with SUDs, which often include chaotic lifestyles, may hinder recruitment and retention of subjects in clinical studies, study protocol adherence, and reliability of self-reported data (Cohen 1997). Recently, biologics such as vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and enzymes have been investigated to treat SUDs because they prevent the access of drugs of abuse to the brain, attenuate their rewarding effects, and protect against drug use relapse. Currently, there are no biologics approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for any SUDs. New products, as well as new and more efficient methods of production, are offering vast opportunities to advance the discovery and development of biologics to treat SUDs and drug overdose. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of some ethical issues of clinical studies of SUDs, each of type of the biologic product, and the clinical indications being investigated.
Understanding What Men Do and Understanding the Lives Men Live

If I say anything, I have committed myself in certain ways. There are questions which it would be sensible to ask me and there are certain things which I should be expected to admit or to deny. If I say that my neighbour has gone to France, then you will wonder what I am talking about if I tell you that I have just seen him in town. If this were not so — if there were not such consequences — then it would make no difference what I said; saying one thing would be no different from saying another. I should just have made two different noises.
Are Immigration Inflows Good for Business? The Role of Informality in Developing Countries

This article examines the effects of large inflows of displaced persons (IDPs) resulting from violence on firms' behavior in an economy that contains a large informal sector, as is commonly observed in developing countries. To identify causal effects, we exploit the fact that areas closer to the displaced persons' locations of origin should receive higher immigration inflows. We find that large IDPs induce sizable negative effects on the performance of formal firms. These effects are mainly driven by the positive association between large IDPs and the size of the informal sector.
Highly Signal-Responsive Gene Regulatory Network Governing Myxococcus Development

The bacterium Myxococcus xanthus undergoes multicellular development when starved. Thousands of cells build mounds in which some differentiate into spores. This remarkable feat and the genetic tractability of Myxococcus provide a unique opportunity to understand the evolution of gene regulatory networks (GRNs). Recent work has revealed a GRN involving interconnected cascades of signal-responsive transcriptional activators. Initially, starvation-induced intracellular signals direct changes in gene expression. Subsequently, self-generated extracellular signals provide morphological cues that regulate certain transcriptional activators. However, signals for many of the activators remain to be discovered. A key insight is that activators often work combinatorially, allowing signal integration. The Myxococcus GRN differs strikingly from those governing sporulation of Bacillus and Streptomyces, suggesting that Myxococcus evolved a highly signal-responsive GRN to enable complex multicellular development.
UNMASKING DIASTOLIC FAILURE

Background: Dyspnea with exertion is a common presenting complaint. Often heart failure is the cause of these complaints. Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) is the cause of half of heart failure, and is increasing relative to Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF).
A trithiol bifunctional chelate for 72,77As: A matched pair theranostic complex with high in vivo stability.

Abstract Introduction Trithiol chelates are suitable for labeling radioarsenic (72As: 2.49 MeV β+, 26 h; 77As: 0.683 MeV β−, 38.8 h) to form potential theranostic radiopharmaceuticals for PET imaging and therapy. To investigate the in vivo stability of trithiol chelates complexed with no carrier added (nca) radioarsenic, a bifunctional trithiol chelate was developed, and conjugated to bombesin(7–14)NH2 as a model peptide. Methods A trithiol-BBN(7–14)NH2 bioconjugate and its arsenic complex were synthesized and characterized. The trithiol-BBN(7–14)NH2 conjugate was radiolabeled with 77As, its in vitro stability assessed, and biodistribution studies were performed in CF-1 normal mice of free [77As]arsenate and 77As-trithiol- BBN(7–14)NH2. Results The trithiol-BBN(7–14)NH2 conjugate, its precursors and its As-trithiol-BBN(7–14)NH2 complex were fully characterized. Radiolabeling studies with nca 77As resulted in over 90% radiochemical yield of 77As-trithiol-BBN, which was stable for over 48 h. Biodistribution studies were performed with both free [77As]arsenate and Sep-Pak® purified 77As-trithiol-BBN(7–14)NH2. Compared to the fast renal clearance of free [77As]arsenate, 77As-trithiol-BBN(7–14)NH2 demonstrated increased retention with clearance mainly through the hepatobiliary system, consistent with the lipophilicity of the 77As-trithiol-BBN(714)NH2 complex. Conclusion The combined in vitro stability of 77As-trithiol-BBN(7–14)NH2 and the biodistribution results demonstrate its high in vivo stability, making the trithiol a promising platform for developing radioarsenic-based theranostic radiopharmaceuticals.
The Use of Interventional Endovascular Techniques Immediately before Hysterectomy for a Large Uterine Arteriovenous Malformation

Abstract Background: Interventional radiologic techniques can be used to aid in the management of complex obstetric and gynecological disorders such as postpartum hemorrhage, fibroids, placenta accreta/percreta, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and other disorders associated with morbidity and mortality. Case: A 36-year-old female, with a history of 2 second-trimester spontaneous abortions, presented for surgical evaluation for a planned hysterectomy after pelvic magnetic resonance imaging showed a significant uterine AVM. Due to concern about hemorrhage during the surgery, bilateral iliac and bilateral ovarian arterial balloon catheters were placed intra-arterially, under fluoroscopic guidance, prior to surgery. After placement of the balloon catheters, with the patient under conscious sedation, she was transferred to the operating room and given general anesthesia. Diagnostic hysteroscopy showed that she had intrauterine scarring consistent with prior dilations and curettages. The balloons were inflat...
Intracranial Compliance Monitoring with Computerized ICP Waveform Analysis in 55 Comatose Patients

A computerized system that estimated the intracranial compliance (ICC) from an analysis of the frequency content of the intracranial pressure (ICP) waveform has been previously described as a means of monitoring ICC continuously and avoiding the volumetric manipulations of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) system (Bray et al. 1976). We have reported earlier that shifts within the frequency range of 4 to 15 Hz were related to changes in the compliance of the brain (Bray et al. 1976). The power weighted mean frequency within this range was defined as the High Frequency Centroid (HFC = C2 centroid) and was shown to have an excellent inverse relationship to the pressure volume index (PVI). A HFC of 6.5–7.0 Hz was normal, and a HFC of 9.0 Hz corresponded to a critical reduction in the PVI to approximately 13 ml (Bray et al. 1976).
Environmental Applications of the NRL Flow Immunosensor

An antibody-based biosensor developed at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is being tested at several United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) remediation sites to examine the utility of the technology for monitoring explosives levels in groundwater and soil. Using antibodies as the recognition element and fluorescently labeled explosive analogs as reporters of binding events, the biosensor can detect contamination at the sub-parts per billion level in under two minutes. A portable version of the device, known as the FAST 2000, has been engineered by Research International, Woodinville, WA, for convenient use in rapid on-site evaluation and characterization of contaminated areas. Alternatively, the device can be used to follow cleanup progress on a routine basis or to monitor air samples for the presence of explosives or other small-molecular-weight contaminants.
eLearning support systems

Students who choose Web-based education (WBE) declare their preference for time- and place-independent learning. They reject relocating or commuting to university campuses and instead seek courses that they can take from the comfort of their homes or offices. Such students are seeking education that is accessible, practical, and convenient, while still providing a quality learning experience. In the WBE market, students view themselves as customers, and universities and other educational providers must consider how they plan to attract, serve, and retain students throughout the educational experience. The authors propose the development of an integrated educational support system infrastructure to help shepherd WBE students from application to graduation. Such support systems should address many aspects of the teaching and learning process, including administrative support, faculty and instructional design support, technical support, library and reference services, and student and program support services.
Measuring the value of central bank commitment in the benchmark New Keynesian model

Abstract We measure the value of commitment in executing monetary policies in context of the benchmark New Keynesian model and where “value” is represented by the standard quadratic welfare function containing weighted output gap and inflation variances. The value of commitment is calculated as the difference in this welfare across commitment regimes of which there are at least six. Inspired by Bilbie (2014) we show how by means of selecting the optimal level of a single parameter in the setup of several so-called “discretionary” targeting regimes (price-targeting, speed-limit, etc.) one can produce optimal inertia identical to that of the Clarida, Gali, and Gertler (1999) “global commitment.” Combining the targeting regimes with the commitment regime, we are left with three levels of commitment. Deriving welfare analytically as a function of all permissible parameters, rather the standard practice of calculating welfare based on a single or handful of parameter sets, we can measure the gain that would occur from jumping to higher commitment levels over all permissible sets. We also compare welfare surfaces with parameter combinations we have sampled. Result: depending on parameter selection the gains from optimal inertia may be high or low. Our sample of parameters actually used in the literature puts many near the high end, a few not. We find no parameter sets where a switch from no- to high-commitment would imply low or negligible gains. A side-effect of the analysis is that the optimal inertia regimes reduce nominal and real interest rate variance even when interest stability is not an objective of the central bank. We include Taylor-type rules that satisfy the requirements of each commitment level. Conceptually, the results indicate that at least in the benchmark NKM long-time questions such as whether price- or inflation-targeting is preferable are off point. The pertinent question is: in what commitment regime does the central bank find itself in?
Care Practices for Patients With Advanced Kidney Disease Who Forgo Maintenance Dialysis

Importance Although maintenance dialysis is a treatment choice with potential benefits and harms, little is known about care practices for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease who forgo this treatment. Objective To describe how decisions not to start dialysis unfold in the clinical setting. Design, Setting, and Participants A qualitative study was performed of documentation in the electronic medical records of 851 adults receiving care from the US Veterans Health Administration between January 1, 2000, and October 1, 2011, who had chosen not to start dialysis. Qualitative analysis was performed between March 1, 2017, and April 1, 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures Dominant themes that emerged from clinician documentation of clinical events and health care interactions between patients, family members, and clinicians relevant to the decision to forgo dialysis. Results In the cohort of 851 patients (842 men and 9 women; mean [SD] age, 75.0 [10.3] years), 567 (66.6%) were white. Three major dynamics relevant to understanding how decisions to forgo dialysis unfolded were identified. The first dynamic was that of dialysis as the norm: when patients expressed a desire to forgo dialysis, it was unusual for clinicians to readily accept patients’ decisions. Clinicians tended to repeatedly question this preference over time, deliberated about patients’ competency to make this decision, used a variety of strategies to encourage patients to initiate dialysis, and prepared for patients to change their minds and start dialysis. The second dynamic arose when patients were not candidates for dialysis: clinicians viewed particular patients as not candidates or appropriate for dialysis, usually on the basis of specific characteristics and/or expected prognosis, rather than after consideration of patients’ goals and values. When clinicians decided patients were not candidates for dialysis, there seemed to be little room for uncertainty in these decisions. The third dynamic occurred when clinicians believed they had little to offer patients beyond dialysis: when it was clear that patients would not be starting dialysis, nephrologists often signed off from their care and had few recommendations other than referral to hospice care. Conclusions and Relevance These findings describe an all-or-nothing approach to caring for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease in which initiation of dialysis served as a powerful default option with few perceived alternatives. Stronger efforts are needed to develop a more patient-centered approach to caring for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease that is capable of proactively supporting those who do not wish to start dialysis.
Childhood and Adolescence: Developmental Assets

This article is a revision of the previous edition article by P.L. Benson, volume 3, pp. 1690–1697, © 2001, Elsevier Ltd.
Graphene Stabilized Two-Dimensional Crystals

The spectrum of two-dimensional (2D) and layered materials “beyond graphene” has been continually expanding. The realization of wide bandgap 2D materials “beyond hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)”, however, has been limited. Group-III nitride semiconductors such as indium nitride (InN), gallium nitride (GaN), and aluminum nitride (AlN) are proposed to have thickness tunable energy bandgaps ranging from 0.7 – 7.0 eV as a result of quantum confinement. Despite the extensive computational discovery of 2D materials, the synthesis of 2D III-nitrides “beyond hBN” is still elusive. We demonstrate for the first time that 2D atomic layers of GaN not only can be stabilized, but also exhibit unique structural properties from that of bulk material.
A Multi-Theoretical Perspective on Cyber Dating Abuse Victimization and Perpetration within Intimate Relationships: A Test of General Strain, Social Learning, and Self-Control Theories

Cyber abuse within intimate relationships is an increasingly common, but poorly understood, criminological issue. The present study applies a multi-theoretical lens to both cyber abuse perpetration...