cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Biomedical Applications of Quantum Dots, Nucleic Acid-Based Aptamers, and Nanostructures in Biosensors

This review is a survey of the biomedical applications of semiconductor quantum dots, nucleic acid-based aptamers, and nanosensors as molecular biosensors. It focuses on the detection of analytes in biomedical applications using (1) advances in molecular beacons incorporating semiconductor quantum dots and nanoscale quenching elements; (2) aptamer-based nanosensors on a variety of platforms, including graphene; (3) Raman scattering and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) using nanostructures for enhanced SERS spectra of biomolecules, including aptamers; and (4) the electrical and optical properties of nanostructures incorporated into molecular beacons and aptamer-based nanosensors. Research done at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is highlighted throughout since it emphasizes the specific approaches taken by the bioengineering department at UIC.
Simulation and Test Research on Induced Voltage and Current of Double-circuit Transmission Line

According to electro-magnetic transient program ATP,this paper establishes a simulation model,calculates and analyzes induced voltage and current of 750 kV double-circuit transmission line.For examining disjunction of grounding switch,it carries out tests for switching capacitive current and reactive current by using ATP to calculate steady state induced voltage and transient recovery voltage of grounding switching and taking one 800 kV grounding switching as an object.ATP simulation result and testing result show that this 800 kV grounding switching is suitable for 750 kV double-circuit transmission line.
Rough set model based on variable parameter classification in incomplete information systems

In incomplete information systems,the tolerance relation is too loose while the similarity relation is too strict.According to these explanations,a new kind of rough set model that is based on the variable parameter classification of objects is proposed.The variable parameter classification is a kind of generalized classification form and it is more flexible than tolerance and similarity relations in practical applications.Furthermore,it can be regarded as an improvement of the limited tolerance relation.From what have been discussed above,the new-defined generalized rough set model is compared with expanded rough sets those are on the basis of tolerance and similarity relations.Finally,the immediate method of certain and possible rules' induction is studied by the new expanded rough set model,an illustrative example is used to show its validity.
Trends in Breastfeeding Initiation and Duration by Birth Weight Among US Children, 1999-2012.

In the United States, breastfeeding initiation rates have risen to 80%.1 We report secular trends of breastfeeding initiation and duration by birth weight using nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Engineering Convexity Positions

Pricing equations depend on one or more risk factors. When the pricing functions are nonlinear, replicating portfolios that use linear assets with periodically adjusted weights will lead to positive or negative cash flows during the hedging process. If the underlying volatilities and correlations are significant, trading gains from these may exceed the transaction costs implied by periodic rebalancing, and the underlying nonlinearity can be traded. This chapter gives two basic examples of this: one from the fixed income sector which made convexity of bonds valuable, and the second from quanto instruments, which also brought in the covariance among risks. The example on quantos is a good illustration of what happens when term structure models depend on more than one factor. In such an environment, the covariances as well as the volatilities among the underlying risks may become important.
Quantified Cost-Benefit Analysis at the SEC

Following a number of high-profile judicial setbacks, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has devoted considerable resources towards enhancing its economic analyses in support of rulemaking activities. An ensuing discussion has emerged among academics, policymakers, and regulators concerning the SEC’s ongoing efforts to quantify the costs and benefits of its rules.In their recent Article, Jeff Schwartz and Alexandra Nelson provide an important contribution to this conversation by critiquing the SEC’s quantification of the expected compliance costs for the Conflict Minerals Rule. They contend that the SEC produced a poorly constructed and inaccurate cost estimate that continues to misinform deliberations on supply chain transparency efforts, and advocate against forced quantification of costs and benefits in SEC rulemaking.In my Response, I review criticisms levied in the Article about the SEC’s cost estimate for this rule, and the Commission’s overall efforts to integrate quantification into its economic analyses. I also discuss where the SEC’s economic analysis of the Conflict Minerals Rule followed and deviated from its own stated framework of best practices. Finally, I suggest pragmatic approaches to improve both the economic analysis of this rule and quantified cost-benefit analysis in general.
Beyond Damage Control Surgery: Abdominal Wall Reconstruction and Complex Hernia Repair

Reconstruction of complex abdominal wall defects and recreating functional abdominal wall following damage control surgery (DCS) that may result in loss of domain or major abdominal wall defects represent a major challenge, often requiring surgical creativity and a strategy that involves different aspects of care along the various stages of treatment. Damage control concepts and techniques have been part of our clinical armamentarium in trauma for decades, but recently DCS has expanded to other surgical disciplines: emergency general surgery; neurosurgery (craniectomies); orthopedics surgery, particularly for trauma; thoracic surgery; vascular surgery; liver transplant surgery; and other surgical fields. DCS is characterized by termination of the surgical intervention after control of bleeding and contamination, followed by hemostatic resuscitation and definitive management. It is a staged approach that takes into consideration the physiologic reserves of the patient, and it is designed to avoid or treat the lethal triad of hypothermia, acidosis, and coagulopathy. The decision to perform DCS is complex and requires solid knowledge of physiology of the patient as well as the associated injuries or comorbid disease. Moreover, it takes a complete situational awareness about the patient, his/her physiology, all end-point resuscitation, and surgical team dynamics and skills.
PixelDust: supporting dynamic area of interest tagging in programming studies with eye tracking

Eye tracking studies are valuable for evaluating program- ming environments, but annotating what the programmer is looking at in a dynamic environment can be repetitive, time- consuming, and error prone. Through a participatory design exercise with two eye tracking researchers, I identified three significant challenges: search, extraction of code, and annotat- ing transient objects. By applying computer vision algorithms to video traces, I developed a mixed-initiative system called PIXELDUST, which allows the researcher to train a system to recognize different objects on a screen. My preliminary results demonstrate the versatility of the approach; for ex- ample, the system can recognize return statements, method signatures, tool tips, and dialog boxes.
The role of ethanol in the etiology of primary liver cancer.

Although emphasis has been placed on the role of chemicals in carcinogenesis, recent theories have attributed the etiology of a large percentage of cancers to a variety of extrinsic factors. Included in these factors are stress, diet, tobacco, and ethanol (Doll and Peto, 1981). For the most part, these factors do not initiate cancer but influence the preferential selection and growth of carcinogen-altered cells. Thus, they determine the rate of tumor development. Therefore, by alteration of these factors, the development of many tumors could be retarded to such an extent that mortality becomes significantly influenced. The possible mechanisms by which these factors alter the “material continuity” of carcinogenesis (Foulds, 1975) are of interest for their potential in inhibiting or promoting this disease process.
The Trysil District: IFZ Sample

Trysil District is in southeastern Norway about 175 km. (105 mi.) NNE of Oslo (Fig. 1). It is on the western lower slopes of Kjolen Mountains in an area of stony morainic soils, irregularly distributed swamps, and a thick cover of predominantly Scotch pine. The district is a part of Hedmark Fylke (County) which was described and analyzed rather thoroughly in 1955 (Fig. 6).35
Hospital Readmission within 30 Days: A New Benchmark for Quality Care among Children with Sickle Cell Disease.

Abstract The National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) has established benchmarks for measuring quality of care in children that are hospitalized. Readmission within 30 days of discharge is the benchmark chosen to assess the quality of care for patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Limited data exist to determine risk factors for re-admission and whether such risk factors are modifiable. We performed a retrospective case-control study to identify risk factors for hospital readmission in children with SCD. All hospital admissions of patients with SCD for one year were reviewed. Cases were defined as children with SCD who were readmitted within 30 days of their first admission during the 12 month study period. Controls were defined as children with SCD who were not readmitted within 30 days of their first admission. A total of 30 cases and 70 controls were identified. The average time between admissions was 10.7 days with 50% readmitted within 8 days and 77% readmitted within 21 days. No difference in demographic data was found between cases and controls. The most common admission and readmission diagnosis was pain, 78% and 70%, respectively. The greatest risk factor for readmission was no follow-up appointment within 30 days after discharge in the SCD clinic (OR 7.7, 95% CI 2.4–24.4). The second highest risk factor was severity of disease, defined as patients with ≥ 3 hospitalizations in the previous 12 months versus patients with ≤ 2 hospitalizations in the previous 12 months (OR 7.3, 95% CI 2.8–18.9). A diagnosis of asthma was also a risk factor for readmission (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.2–7.3). Patients who initially required supplemental oxygen to maintain their oxygen saturation in the normal range and were subsequently on room air for ≤ 24 hours at discharge were also more likely to be readmitted (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.1–9.7). Steroid administration was not a risk factor for readmission (OR 1.2, 95% CT 0.5–3.2). Potential modifiable risk factors exist to decrease the rate of readmission. Specifically, strategies targeted at the modification of disease severity, aggressive management of asthma, and outpatient follow-up after hospitalization may decrease the 30 day readmission rate.
Sequential water molecule binding enthalpies for aqueous nanodrops containing a mono-, di- or trivalent ion and between 20 and 500 water molecules.

Sequential water molecule binding enthalpies, ΔHn,n−1, are important for a detailed understanding of competitive interactions between ions, water and solute molecules, and how these interactions affect physical properties of ion-containing nanodrops that are important in aerosol chemistry. Water molecule binding enthalpies have been measured for small clusters of many different ions, but these values for ion-containing nanodrops containing more than 20 water molecules are scarce. Here, ΔHn,n−1 values are deduced from high-precision ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) measurements as a function of ion identity, charge state and cluster size between 20–500 water molecules and for ions with +1, +2 and +3 charges. The ΔHn,n−1 values are obtained from the number of water molecules lost upon photoexcitation at a known wavelength, and modeling of the release of energy into the translational, rotational and vibrational motions of the products. The ΔHn,n−1 values range from 36.82 to 50.21 kJ mol−1. For clusters containing more than ∼250 water molecules, the binding enthalpies are between the bulk heat of vaporization (44.8 kJ mol−1) and the sublimation enthalpy of bulk ice (51.0 kJ mol−1). These values depend on ion charge state for clusters with fewer than 150 water molecules, but there is a negligible dependence at larger size. There is a minimum in the ΔHn,n−1 values that depends on the cluster size and ion charge state, which can be attributed to the competing effects of ion solvation and surface energy. The experimental ΔHn,n−1 values can be fit to the Thomson liquid drop model (TLDM) using bulk ice parameters. By optimizing the surface tension and temperature change of the logarithmic partial pressure for the TLDM, the experimental sequential water molecule binding enthalpies can be fit with an accuracy of ±3.3 kJ mol−1 over the entire range of cluster sizes.
The Relationship between Ethical Decision Making and Ethical Reasoning in Information Technology Students

This study examined undergraduate information technology (IT) students’ (N =122) level of ethical reasoning and decision making at a Midwestern university. The purpose was to determine whether IT students’ level of ethical reasoning provided information about the degree of their ethical decision making. The Defining Issues Test-2 (DIT-2) was used as well as an Ethics in IT survey instrument containing 21 vignettes related to the field of information technology. The findings did reveal a correlation between ethical reasoning scores (as measured by the DIT-2) and the level of ethical decision making related to an IT setting (as measured by the Ethics in IT survey).
Pericardial Effusion and Cardiac Tamponade in the New Millennium

The purpose of this paper is to review current approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of pericardial effusions and cardiac tamponade. Recent recommendations from the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Society of Cardiology have refined our approaches to the patient with pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade, but significant knowledge gaps remain. New diagnostic and triage strategies have been proposed, and recent data have advanced our ability to assess the presence and size of a pericardial effusion, assess its hemodynamic impact, and establish its cause. Despite these recent findings, there is a paucity of evidence-based data to guide the management of pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade. While the first-line function of echocardiography in managing these disorders is unquestioned, there are increasing niche roles for multimodality imaging.
Glutathionylation of Yersinia pestis LcrV and Its Effects on Plague Pathogenesis.

ABSTRACT Glutathionylation, the formation of reversible mixed disulfides between glutathione and protein cysteine residues, is a posttranslational modification previously observed for intracellular proteins of bacteria. Here we show that Yersinia pestis LcrV, a secreted protein capping the type III secretion machine, is glutathionylated at Cys273 and that this modification promotes association with host ribosomal protein S3 (RPS3), moderates Y. pestis type III effector transport and killing of macrophages, and enhances bubonic plague pathogenesis in mice and rats. Secreted LcrV was purified and analyzed by mass spectrometry to reveal glutathionylation, a modification that is abolished by the codon substitution Cys273Ala in lcrV. Moreover, the lcrVC273A mutation enhanced the survival of animals in models of bubonic plague. Investigating the molecular mechanism responsible for these virulence attributes, we identified macrophage RPS3 as a ligand of LcrV, an association that is perturbed by the Cys273Ala substitution. Furthermore, macrophages infected by the lcrVC273A variant displayed accelerated apoptotic death and diminished proinflammatory cytokine release. Deletion of gshB, which encodes glutathione synthetase of Y. pestis, resulted in undetectable levels of intracellular glutathione, and we used a Y. pestis ΔgshB mutant to characterize the biochemical pathway of LcrV glutathionylation, establishing that LcrV is modified after its transport to the type III needle via disulfide bond formation with extracellular oxidized glutathione. IMPORTANCEYersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, has killed large segments of the human population; however, the molecular bases for the extraordinary virulence attributes of this pathogen are not well understood. We show here that LcrV, the cap protein of bacterial type III secretion needles, is modified by host glutathione and that this modification contributes to the high virulence of Y. pestis in mouse and rat models for bubonic plague. These data suggest that Y. pestis exploits glutathione in host tissues to activate a virulence strategy, thereby accelerating plague pathogenesis.
Abstract 3972:Ex vivoprofiling of PD-1 blockade using organotypic tumor spheroids

Despite the impressive activity of PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade in melanoma, lung, and other cancers, the majority of patients are intrinsically resistant to this therapy. Furthermore, despite years of effort few robust biomarkers of response exist, and tumor PD-L1 expression and mutational load are only partially predictive of activity. Nearly all attempts at biomarker development have relied on fixed tumor tissue or studies in plasma. Meanwhile, emerging functional approaches to study patient derived samples, such as organoid development and circulating tumor cell culture, lack features of the native tumor immune microenvironment and thus are limited in the ability to assess ex vivo anti-PD-1 response. We have developed a novel approach to study short-term ex vivo response to immune checkpoint blockade based upon short term culture of murine- and patient-derived organotypic tumor spheroids (MDOTS/PDOTS) in a 3-dimensional microfluidic system. Spheroids derived from fresh mouse and human tumor samples through partial collagenase digestion and filtration retain autologous tumor infiltrating immune cells, including PD-1 positive CD8 T lymphocytes. Using murine syngeneic mouse cancer models with known responsiveness or resistance to PD-1 blockade, we demonstrate the ability to recapitulate tumor killing ex vivo or lack thereof. Multiplexed cytokine profiling of conditioned media in this system further enables characterization of the cytokine and chemokine response to PD-1 and/or CTLA-4 blockade. We thus analyzed the secreted cytokine/chemokine response to PD-1 inhibition across a large panel of PDOTS, and observed pronounced induction of CCL19/CXCL13, which associated with % PD-1 positive CD8 T cells. This strategy further uncovered production of a class of myeloid attracting chemokines and cytokines in major proportion of samples, which clustered with the presence of plasmacytoid dendritic cells and myeloid derived suppressor cells. Importantly, the presence of this maladaptive cytokine/chemokine signature correlated with lack of response in the subset of patients that had been treated with PD-1 blockade. Together, these data demonstrate the ability to profile the functional response to tumor PD-1 blockade ex vivo and unveil a novel strategy to advance precision immuno-oncology. Citation Format: David A. Barbie, Russell Jenkins, Kwok-Kin Wong. Ex vivo profiling of PD-1 blockade using organotypic tumor spheroids [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3972. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-3972
LU Factorization and Banded Matrices

When solving a linear system of equations with a changing righthand side, the bulk of the work can be done by factoring the system's matrix into the product of an upper and lower triangular matrix. This factorization, called LU factorization, allows one to obtain the solution to the system through a forward and backward substitution. The work to obtain the LU factorization is the same as Gaussian elimination, and the need for pivoting is the same. Finally, we discuss the types of matrices that arise in engineering calculations and their common structures.
Consumer Law As Tax Alternative

Policymakers and scholars have in distributional conversations traditionally ignored consumer laws. Tax law dominates distributional conversations partly because legal rules are seen as less efficient and partly because consumer law research speaks to narrow and siloed contexts. Even millions of dollars in reduced credit card fees seem trivial compared to the trillion-dollar growth in income inequality that has sparked concern in recent decades. This Article is the first to synthesize the fragmented studies quantifying inefficiently higher consumer prices across diverse markets — called overcharge. These studies indicate that laws reducing overcharge could make a substantial reduction in inequality. Moreover, this massive redistribution would be driven by laws making markets more competitive, rather than tax increases that distort markets. If the empirical literature currently available is right, consumer law — defined more broadly as including antitrust and consumer protection — merits serious consideration as an alternative to tax.
Three-dimensional geophysical mapping of shallow water saturated altered rocks at Mount Baker, Washington: Implications for slope stability

Abstract Water-saturated hydrothermal alteration reduces the strength of volcanic edifices, increasing the potential for catastrophic sector collapses that can lead to far traveled and destructive debris flows. Intense hydrothermal alteration significantly lowers the resistivity and magnetization of volcanic rock and therefore hydrothermally altered rocks can be identified with helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic measurements. Geophysical models constrained by rock properties and geologic mapping show that intensely altered rock is restricted to two small (500 m diameter), >150 m thick regions around Sherman Crater and Dorr Fumarole Field at Mount Baker, Washington. This distribution of alteration contrasts with much thicker and widespread alteration encompassing the summits of Mounts Adams and Rainier prior to the 5600 year old Osceola collapse, which is most likely due to extreme erosion and the limited duration of summit magmatism at Mount Baker. In addition, the models suggest that the upper ~300 m of rock contains water which could help to lubricate potential debris flows. Slope stability modeling incorporating the geophysically modeled distribution of alteration and water indicates that the most likely and largest (~0.1 km3) collapses are from the east side of Sherman Crater. Alteration at Dorr Fumarole Field raises the collapse hazard there, but not significantly because of its lower slope angles. Geochemistry and analogs from other volcanoes suggest a model for the edifice hydrothermal system.
SPIDR: small-molecule peptide-influenced drug repurposing.

Conventional de novo drug design is costly and time consuming, making it accessible to only the best resourced research organizations. An emergent approach to new drug development is drug repurposing, in which compounds that have already gone through some level of clinical testing are examined for efficacy against diseases divergent than their original application. Repurposing of existing drugs circumvents the time and considerable cost of early stages of drug development, and can be accelerated by using software to screen existing chemical databases to identify suitable drug candidates. Small-molecule Peptide-Influenced Drug Repurposing (SPIDR) was developed to identify small molecule drugs that target a specific receptor by exploring the conformational binding space of peptide ligands. SPIDR was tested using the potent and selective 16-amino acid peptide α-conotoxin MII ligand and the α3β2-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) isoform. SPIDR incorporates a genetic algorithm-based, heuristic search procedure, which was used to explore the ligand binding domain of the α3β2-nAChR isoform using a library consisting of 640,000 α-conotoxin MII peptide analogs. The peptides that exhibited the highest affinity for α3β2-nAChR were used as models for a small-molecule structure similarity search of the PubChem Compound database. SPIDR incorporates the SimSearcher utility, which generates shape distribution signatures of molecules and employs multi-level K-means clustering to insure fast database queries. SPIDR identified non-peptide drugs with estimated binding affinities nearly double that of the native α-conotoxin MII peptide. SPIDR has been generalized and integrated into DockoMatic v 2.1. This software contains an intuitive graphical interface for peptide mutant screening workflow and facilitates mapping, clustering, and searching of local molecular databases, making DockoMatic a valuable tool for researchers in drug design and repurposing.
Loss of Tumorigenicity Following in Vitro MuLV Infection is Associated with Induction of Peritoneal Natural Killer Cell Activity

Infection by an attenuated replication-competent murine retrovirus (Friend leukemia virus-FLV4) ,but not other non-transforming retroviruses, stimulated rejection of transplantable thymomas (RL-cell line) and subsequent tumor immunity in syngeneic mouse recipients. FLV-infected RL-cells (RL-FLV) were unaltered in their in vitro growth, and grew progressively to kill sublethally irradiated animals and nude mice. Primary RL-FLV rejection was due to induction of increased natural killer (NK)-cell activity limited to peritoneal sites of tumor inoculation with a minor cytolytic macrophage population. Syngeneic mutant beige (NK-deficient) mice similarly rejected RL-FLV cells with increased peritoneal NK-cell activity and acquired immunity to the parental RL-tumor. While RL-FLV stimulated far greater peritoneal NK activity than did other tested retrovirus-infected RL-cells, the inherent susceptibility of these cells to lysis by normal NK cells was not altered by virus. RL-FLV induced NK effectors showed an indiscriminant lysis pattern that was independent of target cell type and retrovirus expression. Reconstitution studies revealed a necessary T-lymphocyte component for NK-cell stimulation by RL-FLV in mice, which may be lymphokine-mediated, but not
Zolpidem Improves Tardive Dyskinesia with and without Akathisia (P07.205)

OBJECTIVE: To present two cases of tardive dyskinesia (TD) markedly improved with administration of zolpidem, and to discuss potential use of zolpidem in TD. BACKGROUND: TD is a group of delayed-onset, iatrogenic movement disorders caused by dopamine-receptor blocking agents. TD frequently persists after eliminating offending drugs, and is often resistant to pharmacological treatment. Zolpidem is a nonbenzodiazepine-related hypnotic drug that binds to the omega site of the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex found in high density in basal ganglia. Zolpidem was previously reported to be effective in a variety of movement disorders including Parkinson9s disease, myoclonus-dystonia syndrome, primary dystonia, progressive supranuclear palsy, and ataxia. One animal study concluded that zolpidem exhibits neuroprotective and anti-oxidant qualities and therefore can prevent and treat TD.There were no human studies or reports of zolpidem effectiveness in TD. DESIGN/METHODS: Patients with TD who reported improvement of the symptoms with zolpidem were identified from our video database from 9/2006 through 10/2012. Patients9 videos before and after administration of a single dose of zolpidem were compared. RESULTS: Patient 1. 67 year-old woman was treated with neuroleptics for multiple personality disorder with psychosis and developed TD with oro-bucco-lingual stereotypy, craniocervical dystonia, dystonic respiratory dysregulation, resistant to conventional medications. All symptoms markedly improved after a single dose of 15 mg of zolpidem. Patient 2. 25 year-old woman with recurrent psychotic episodes treated with neuroleptics, developed generalized TD, tardive craniocervical dystonia and severe akathisia, unresponsive to tetrabenazine. All symptoms dramatically improved after 10 mg of zolpidem. Both patients continued having good benefit from zolpidem administered a few times daily without side effects of drowsiness. CONCLUSIONS: Zolpidem can be safe and effective alternative treatment of TD with and without akathisia, resistant to other medications. A placebo-controlled study is needed to further investigate the effectiveness of zolpidem in TD. Disclosure: Dr. Waln has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jankovic has received personal compensation for activities with Allergan, Inc., Chelsea Therapeutics, EMD Serono, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Lundbeck, and Teva Neuroscience as a consultant. Dr. Jankovic has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Medlink: Neurology in Clinical Practice. Dr. Jankovic has received research support from Allergan, Inc, Allon Therapeutics, Ceregene, Inc, Chelsea Therapeutics, Diana Helis Henry Medical Research Foundation, EMD Serono, Huntington9s Disease Society of America, Huntington Study Group, Impax Pharmaceuticals, and Ipsen Limited.
Formal Reliability Analysis of Protective Relays in Power Distribution Systems

Relays are widely used in power distribution systems to isolate their faulty components and thus avoid disruption of power and damaging expensive equipment. The reliability of relay-based protection of power distribution systems is of utmost importance and is judged by first constructing Markovian models of individual modules and then analyzing these models analytically or using simulation. However, due to their inherent limitations, simulations and analytical methods cannot ascertain accurate results and are not scalable, respectively. To overcome these limitations, we propose a modular approach for developing Markovian models of relay-based protected components and then analyzing the reliability of the overall power distribution system by executing its individual modules in parallel using the PRISM probabilistic model checker. The paper presents a foundational model for a relay-based protected component that can be incrementally updated to represent more advanced behaviors, such as self-checking, routine test and continuous monitoring. Moreover, the paper provides a set of reliability assessment properties of power distribution systems that can be formally verified by PRISM. For illustration purposes, we present the analysis of a typical power distribution substation.
Magnets and Magnetic Field Effects

The magnets of the circular accelerators that comprise the Fermilab complex have contributed to, responded to, and solved a string of accelerator physics issues. Most importantly, the magnets are supposed to generate high quality magnetic fields needed for stable long-term dynamics of the particles circulating in the rings. The quality of the transverse magnetic field B is given by the multipole coefficients in the expansion: $$ {B}_x+i\cdot {B}_y={B}_0{\displaystyle \sum_{n=0}\left({b}_n+i{a}_n\right){\left[\frac{x+ iy}{R_0}\right]}^n}, $$ (3.1) where R 0 is the reference radius (1 in. in the Fermilab accelerators), the pole number is 2(n + 1) and b n (a n ) are the normal (skew) multipole coefficients, and b 0 is unity. For example, the multipoles allowed by dipole symmetry, b 2, b 4, b 6, … are designed to be small and would be 0 for a pure cos θ coil winding. The precise coil placement, and hence good magnetic field uniformity at the relative level of the multipole coefficients of few 10−4, had the biggest effect on the accelerator performance.
Visual Hallucinations in Neurodegenerative Disorders

Neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as hallucinations, are common in ­neurodegenerative disorders and primarily in Parkinson’s disease, where they ­contribute significantly to disease morbidity and caregiver burden, ­eventually ­leading to early nursing home placement. As the average life expectancy in ­developed nations continues on an upward trend, the incidence of ­neurodegenerative disease and their neuropsychiatric complications follows in parallel. This review provides an ­overview of synucleinopathies, tauopathies, prion diseases, and ­heredodegenerative disorders in which visual hallucinations (VH) are ­present. Epidemiological ­information along with factors associated with symptom ­presentation is outlined. The clinical characteristics of visual disturbances and their impact on disease ­management are discussed. Relevant treatment options for VH in each ­neurodegenerative syndrome are also reviewed.
Genetic Instability in Plant Cell Cultures: Utilization in Plant Breeding and Genetic Studies

Plant cell cultures are now acknowledged as a rich source of genetic variation. Numerous recent reviews have summarized observations on the genetic instability of cultured plant cells and the associated variability among regenerated plants (Evans and Sharp 1985; Larkin et al. 1985; Reisch 1983). Variation associated with culture conditions has also permitted the selection of numerous types of biochemical and agronomic mutants at the cellular level (Chaleff 1983). The list of agriculturally useful in vitro selected mutant plants is growing rapidly. In light of the amount of culture induced variability, it is not surprising that the addition of mutagens has not often resulted in significant increase s in mutant recovery. Yet, not all cultures are inherently variable (Krikorian et al. 1983). Before the notion that variability is inherent in the tissue culture process can be broadly accepted, a wide number of species, genotypes and culture conditions must be surveyed for conditions associated with variability.
A sensitive, low noise, DC to 12 MHz, large area photodiode preamplifier for photothermal heterodyne imaging

We report a compact, fast, and low-noise large area photodiode preamplifier designed for photothermal heterodyne imaging (PHI). The preamplifier exhibits a noise level of 7 nV/Hz1/2 and a bandwidth from DC to 12 MHz sufficient for PHI experiments. Simulations of the preamplifier bandwidth and noise agree with the observed experimental characterization and performance in our home-built PHI system. The observed noise is close to the inherent limitations of the SR844 lock-in amplifier used. The results indicate that the preamplifier is also useful for any other single frequency pump-probe detection technique, such as stimulated Raman scattering.
Emerging Methods and Design Principles for Cell-Penetrant Peptides

Biomolecules such as antibodies, proteins, and peptides are important tools for chemical biology and leads for drug development. They have been used to inhibit a variety of extracellular proteins, but accessing intracellular proteins has been much more challenging. In this review, we discuss diverse chemical approaches that have yielded cell-penetrant peptides and identify three distinct strategies: masking backbone amides, guanidinium group patterning, and amphipathic patterning. We summarize a growing number of large data sets, which are starting to reveal more specific design guidelines for each strategy. We also discuss advantages and disadvantages of current methods for quantifying cell penetration. Finally, we provide an overview of best-odds approaches for applying these new methods and design principles to optimize cytosolic penetration for a given bioactive peptide.
Joint Bayesian inversion for analyzing conservative and reactive breakthrough curves

Abstract We present a joint Bayesian inverse method for analyzing conservative and reactive tracer data, which estimates non-parametric transfer functions and effective first-order reaction rate coefficients simultaneously. A stochastic sampling approach based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods was used to simulate samples from the posteriors, with a Metropolis within Gibbs sampler used for transfer functions and reaction rate coefficients. Non-negativity constraints were realized by choosing a reflected Gaussian prior for the transfer function and a lognormal prior for the reaction rate coefficient. The approach was tested by synthetic sparse datasets with introduced normal random errors or periodic errors, and then it was applied to the tracer test data collected at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The results indicate that the developed approach was well capable of characterizing anomalous transfer functions, such as multi-modal functions, and quantifying the uncertainty of both transfer functions and reaction rate coefficients. In particular, compared with the approach of individual inversion of sparse data, the joint inversion approach taking advantage of the sharing of information regarding transport processes across the conservative tracer and reactive tracer data leads to the improved estimation of transfer functions and reaction rate coefficients for sparse datasets.
Chapter 6 - Coronal Magnetism as a Universal Phenomenon

Abstract In the 60 years after E. N. Parker's prediction of the existence of the solar wind and the magnetic origin of coronal heating, space-borne and ground-based observations have built a conceptually complete phenomenology of the corona as a fully ionized hydromagnetic atmosphere responding in step to the global magnetic reversals of the Sun in 11-year cycles. This phenomenology is reviewed with the theoretical ideas it motivated, describing the photospheric emergence of new-cycle magnetic fluxes of a reversed polarity into the corona, ubiquitous coronal heating, hydromagnetic self-organization, explosive energy release, and the breaking of self-confinement into flows of expansion winds and episodic ejections of magnetic structures. High electrical and thermal conductivities at coronal million-degree temperatures have central roles. The corona obeys a hemispherical rule independent of magnetic cycle, that self-organized structures have a statistical preference for left- and right-handed magnetic twists, respectively, in the northern and southern hemispheres relative to the rotational axis. It is pointed out, perhaps for the first time, that this hemispherical rule is a hydromagnetic implication of the Parker (1955a,b) dynamo, straightforward to deduce graphically from his book Cosmical Magnetic Fields (1979). Solar physics has reached a broad-brush physical understanding of the corona solar-wind system as the prototype of a universal astrophysical phenomenon.
Description, Sampling, and Analysis of Cryosols

In addition to the usual properties described in low-latitude soils, properties that are unique to cryosols that should be described include patterned ground, cryoturbation features, the depth to the top and bottom of each horizon (for broken horizons), cryostructures, and the depth to and nature of permafrost. Sketches or field-ready photographs are recommended for diagramming soil horizons, cryoturbation, and other features. There are no universally accepted guidelines for delineating soil horizons; Table 3.2 compares horizon symbols used in the US, Russian, Canadian, and WRB systems.
Probing hydraulically-fractured wells in unconventional shale reservoirs under cyclic CO2 injection: Variation of thermophysical properties

Abstract Despite the recent growth in oil production from unconventional reservoirs, existing hydraulically-fractured horizontal wells face challenges of poor recovery with the rapid production decline over a short life span. Enhanced recovery techniques, such as cyclic CO2 injection can be a solution to this impending problem and lead to energy independence for the foreseeable future. However, mechanisms occurring around the hydraulically fractured wells are far from fully understood. The primary motivation of this study revolves around addressing this limitation. Specifically, we explored the evolution of various thermophysical properties occurring around hydraulically-fractured wells in liquid-rich unconventional reservoirs using a holistic, integrated modeling framework. Available well-logs and other data from Howard County in the Midland Basin formed the basis for constructing representative 3D structural models that capture the Midland Basin stratigraphy. We used a simulator to create multistage hydraulic fractures that allowed integration into numerical reservoir-flow simulation models. Then, both convective and diffusive flow within a multicomponent compositional simulation modeling paradigm is used to examine the role of molecular diffusion in performance under cyclic CO2 injections in hydraulically-fractured well. The simulation results indicate that molecular diffusion yields an incremental oil recovery of 6% compared to models that do not. Our analysis reveals different thermophysical properties transition from near wellbore regions to outer regions into the rock matrix. Changes in total mole fractions of CO2, methane, and hydrocarbons with C7+ fraction, pressure and saturation variation, viscosity reduction and the surface tension over 14 injection-soaking-production cycles are tracked. The analyses of the evolution of these thermophysical properties provide us with means to evaluate the efficiency of the solvent injection process. The simulation results explain how, when, and where CO2 disperses into the reservoir.
The SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Pipeline: an Overview.

The goal of this review is to provide a timely overview on efforts to develop a vaccine for the 2019 novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Previous research efforts to develop a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) vaccine in the years following the 2003 pandemic have opened the door for investigators to design vaccine concepts and approaches for the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 exhibit a high degree of genetic similarity and bind to the same host cell ACE2 receptor. Based on previous experience with SARS-CoV vaccines, it is expected that all COVID-19 vaccines will require careful safety evaluations for immunopotentiation that could lead to increased infectivity or eosinophilic infiltration. Besides this, a COVID-19 vaccine target product profile must address vaccinating at-risk human populations including frontline healthcare workers, individuals over the age of 60, and those with underlying and debilitating chronic conditions. Among the vaccine technologies under evaluation are whole virus vaccines, recombinant protein subunit vaccines, and nucleic acid vaccines. Each current vaccine strategy has distinct advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is paramount that multiple strategies be advanced quickly and then evaluated for safety and efficacy. Ultimately, the safety studies to minimize undesired immunopotentiation will become the most significant bottleneck in terms of time.
Identification and Characterization of a DmoB Flavin Oxidoreductase from a Putative Two-Component DMS C-Monooxygenase

The compound dimethyl sulfide (DMS) links terrestrial and oceanic sulfur with the atmosphere because of its volatility. Atmospheric DMS is responsible for cloud formation and radiation backscatteri...
Cliques with many colors in triple systems

Erdős and Hajnal constructed a 4-coloring of the triples of an $N$-element set such that every $n$-element subset contains 2 triples with distinct colors, and $N$ is double exponential in $n$. Conlon, Fox and Rodl asked whether there is some integer $q\ge 3$ and a $q$-coloring of the triples of an $N$-element set such that every $n$-element subset has 3 triples with distinct colors, and $N$ is double exponential in $n$. We make the first nontrivial progress on this problem by providing a $q$-coloring with this property for all $q\geq 9$, where $N$ is exponential in $n^{2+cq}$ and $c>0$ is an absolute constant.
“I Am Not an Angel”: Madness and Addiction in Neo-Victorian Appropriations of Jane Eyre

Three neo-Victorian transformations of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre: An Autobiography (1847)—Margot Livesey’s The Flight of Gemma Hardy (2012), April Linder’s Jane (2010) and Nessa Aref and Alysson Hall’s web series Autobiography of Jane Eyre (2013–2014)—underscore how female characters who suffer from substance use disorders are understood to be mad, revealing anxieties specifically centred on women, sexuality and motherhood. These women are scapegoats, releasing the community from responsibility to protect them due to the perception that addiction is a form of insanity. This stigma runs deep enough to justify first neglecting and then murdering female characters who are addicts, whose deaths enable the romantic consummation of the heteronormative couple.
Deep Convolutional Neural Network for the Inverse Design of Layered Photonic Structures

We report a neural network trained for the inverse design of layered planar photonic structures, able to handle arbitrary incidence conditions and high spectral complexity using a selection of candidate materials in the design.
Automation of Post-Processing in Additive Manufacturing with Industrial Robots

The use of industrial robots for the production of small scale manufacturing or even single pieces is rarely economical. The high investment of time and money required to teach a collision-free trajectory under consideration of all boundary conditions prevents the usage of robots until now. That is why it is still common practice in the industry for individual post-processing steps to be carried out manually, although they could be automated with today’s technical possibilities. In this paper, we present an approach on how to use existing production data (STL and G-code) to generate trajectories to automate post-processing steps. These paths can then be executed by an industrial robot, for example to post-process an additive manufactured object and remove its support structures. The object may not be damaged during the process, so all movements of the robot and its tool are checked for collisions with certain parts of the object and the environment. While material is being removed, the corresponding data structure is updated accordingly to always provide a realistic representation of the current state. This approach was evaluated by removing support structures from multiple and different-shaped objects successfully. Furthermore, we used the same approach to mill pockets in material just by changing the input data.
Bridging Education and Service Learning Through Palliative Care

Service learning can bridge the gap between traditional and transformational learning, as students are able to relate the course terminology directly to field experience. This project was set up to determine if volunteering for a semester at Hospice had any effect on emotional intelligence and positivity. A paired samples t-test compared differences in pre- and post-test scores on the Positivity Scale (PS) and the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT). The PS revealed a significant difference in pre- and post-test surveys: t (5)=-2.4, p =.03.
Trends in Venture Capital Investments in Ophthalmology Companies (2011 - 2021)

Abstract We summarize venture capital investment into ophthalmology companies from 2011 to 2021 and quantify early-stage investments in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, surgical devices, and diagnostic equipment. We describe the companies and investors most active in ophthalmologic innovation.
Implementation of a Sediment Transport Model for CE-QUAL-W2

The CE-QUAL-W2 model, developed by Portland State University, simulates water quality and flow. Recommendations to expand on this model and have it include sediment transport are implemented in this report. Existing one-, two-, and three-dimensional models are reviewed and assessed for their sediment transport methodology. A laterally (width) averaged sediment concentration model is developed as an Upwind Center Space Scheme using CE-QUAL-W2 data. The scheme includes a method to calculate scour for sediment concentration and results of the model are shown for a simulated branch of the Spokane River.