cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ORIF FOR DISPLACED FEMORAL NECK FX'S IN THE <60 ACTIVE PATIENT – OPPOSES

Femoral neck fractures continue to be one of the most common orthopaedic injuries treated today. Owing to the increased longevity of patients, enduring activity of older patients, and widespread osteoporosis in the population, there are more femoral neck fractures treated nowadays than ever before. Over 1 million femoral neck fractures were treated in the >65 year old population, in the United States, between the years 1991–2008. The treatment of femoral neck fractures is unique because some fractures are amenable to internal fixation, while others require endoprosthetic replacement, either with a hemiarthroplasty or total hip replacement. Traditionally, less displaced fractures are treated with internal fixation; however, in younger patients, an attempt to fix the displaced fractures may be performed, in order to avoid a joint replacement in this population. The age at which an attempt at internal fixation is performed is still controversial, and treatment must be individualised to each patient. In general, patients younger than 60 would likely have internal fixation of the femoral neck fracture, rather than joint replacement. The paradigm for the treatment of femoral neck fractures has been changing in the last 10 years, due to advances in implant technology, surgical technique, and scientific papers that have compared the results of all three treatment options. Larger diameter femoral heads in combination with highly crosslinked polyethylene, or dual mobility head options, provide greater joint stability today than was possible in the past, thus making THA a more appealing option. Furthermore, greater use of the direct anterior approach to THA may also reduce the post-operative dislocation rate, due to preservation of the posterior capsule and short external rotators. Therefore, the author will propose the use of arthroplasty for displaced femoral neck fractures in patients younger than 60 years of age, owing to the reliability and reproducibility of THA over ORIF. Furthermore, the advances in arthroplasty materials and surgical techniques can restore function in this group of younger patients, with greater longevity of the implant than in the past.
Reverse time migration for microseismic sources using the geometric mean as an imaging condition

ABSTRACTTime reversal is a powerful tool used to image directly the location and mechanism of passive seismic sources. This technique assumes seismic velocities in the medium and propagates time-reversed observations of ground motion at each receiver location. Assuming an accurate velocity model and adequate array aperture, the waves will focus at the source location. Because we do not know the location and the origin time a priori, we need to scan the entire 4D image (3D in space and 1D in time) to localize the source, which makes time-reversal imaging computationally demanding. We have developed a new approach of time-reversal imaging that reduces the computational cost and the scanning dimensions from 4D to 3D (no time) and increases the spatial resolution of the source image. We first individually extrapolate wavefields at each receiver, and then we crosscorrelate these wavefields (the product in the frequency domain: geometric mean). This crosscorrelation creates another imaging condition, and focusi...
Spectral-Domain Computation of Fields Radiated by Sources in Non-Birefringent Anisotropic Media

We derive the key expressions to robustly address the eigenfunction expansion-based analysis of electromagnetic (EM) fields produced by current sources within planar non-birefringent anisotropic medium (NBAM) layers. In NBAM, the highly symmetric permeability and permittivity tensors can induce directionally dependent, but polarization-independent, propagation properties supporting “degenerate” characteristic polarizations, i.e., four linearly-independent eigenvectors associated with only two (rather than four) unique, nondefective eigenvalues. We first explain problems that can arise when the source(s) specifically reside within NBAM planar layers when using canonical field expressions. To remedy these problems, we exhibit alternative spectral-domain field expressions, immune to such problems, that form the foundation for a robust eigenfunction expansion-based analysis of time-harmonic EM radiation and scattering within such type of planar-layered media. Numerical results demonstrate the high accuracy and stability achievable using this algorithm.
Integrating a Machine Shop Class into the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum: Experiential and Inductive Learning

Research has demonstrated that inductive learning promotes deep knowledge structures, critical thinking and intellectual development. Industrial employers seek graduates with integrated knowledge and hands-on skills. This paper shows how a project-oriented machine shop practice course has been integrated with other courses, following an active and inductive learning model. Specific projects included a fast-return actuator, a simple acoustic guitar, a compressed-air engine and a catapult. These projects were chosen and executed to interface with concurrent and future courses, adding depth, ownership, enthusiasm and an experiential basis for the entire learning experience. Assessment data indicate high course value and support for future coursework. This model transforms the traditional, deductive learning model into inductive and active learning.
Parasitization of Irradiated Eggs and Eggs From Irradiated Adults of the Indianmeal Moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) by Trichogramma pretiosum (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)

Eggs of Plodia interpunctella (Hubner), either irradiated with 35, 50, or 100 krad or obtained from irradiated adults (5, 10, 15, or 50 krad), were exposed to adults of the egg parasite, Trichogramma pretiosum Riley. In paired host preference tests, eggs irradiated with 35 krad were not preferred to control eggs, but those irradiated with 50 or 100 krad were preferred. Eggs from adults irradiated with 5, 10, or 15 krad were parasitized at the same rate as control eggs, but eggs from 50-krad irradiated adults were significanlty less preferred. Eggs irradiated with 50 krad were preferred to eggs from adults irradiated with 50 krad. The data indicate that Indianmeal moth eggs killed by irradiation could be used for the rearing and release of T. pretiosum into commodity storages, or alternatively the use of T. pretiosum could be combined with the release of substerilized adult moths as part of an integrated control approach for Indianmeal moth population suppression in commodity storages.
Dinitrogen Binding and Cleavage by Multinuclear Iron Complexes

ConspectusThe iron–molybdenum cofactor of nitrogenase has unprecedented coordination chemistry, including a high-spin iron cluster called the iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMoco). Thus, understanding the mechanism of nitrogenase challenges coordination chemists to understand the fundamental N2 chemistry of high-spin iron sites. This Account summarizes a series of studies in which we have synthesized a number of new compounds with multiple iron atoms, characterized them using crystallography and spectroscopy, and studied their reactions in detail. These studies show that formally iron(I) and iron(0) complexes with three- and four-coordinate metal atoms have the ability to weaken and break the triple bond of N2. These reactions occur at or below room temperature, indicating that they are kinetically facile. This in turn implies that iron sites in the FeMoco are chemically reasonable locations for N2 binding and reduction.The careful evaluation of these compounds and their reaction pathways has taught important...
Frozen Section Methods for Enzyme Histochemistry of Insect Eggs

Insect eggs are among the most refractory of tissues for microscopic study (Anderson 1964, Harber and Mutchmor 1970). This difficulty is probably mainly a result of the high yolk content in early stages and the impermeability of the chorion to fixatives. The yolk globules are difficult to retain because they are delicate (Telfer 1961), and there is no connective structure to hold them in place. The complications encountered in methods aimed at structural preservation alone are compounded when experimental needs also require the retention of enzyme activity. The only report of insect egg enzyme histochemistry of which we are aware is that of Salkeld (1961). She effected fixative penetration by cutting the egg into pieces; this method was adequate for her purposes because she was concerned mainly with embryonated eggs. However, it has shortcomings when one needs sections of eggs in the early stages of development.
Acoustic wave-equation traveltime and waveform inversion of crosshole seismic data

A hybrid wave‐equation traveltime and waveform inversion method is presented that reconstructs the interwell velocity distribution from crosshole seismic data. This inversion method, designated as WTW, retains the advantages of both full wave inversion and traveltime inversion; i.e., it is characterized by reasonably fast convergence which is somewhat independent of the initial model, and it can resolve detailed features of the velocity model. In principle, no traveltime picking is required and the computational cost of the WTW method is about the same as that for full wave inversion. We apply the WTW method to synthetic data and field crosshole data collected by Exxon at their Friendswood, Texas, test site. Results show that the WTW tomograms are much richer in structural information relative to the traveltime tomograms. Subtle structural features in the WTW Friendswood tomogram are resolved to a spatial resolution of about 1.5 m, yet are smeared or completely absent in the traveltime tomogram. This sugg...
Intake of Specific Fruits and Vegetables in Relation to Risk of Estrogen Receptor-Negative Breast Cancer among Postmenopausal Women

In previous studies of postmenopausal women, overall intake of fruits and vegetables groups has been inversely associated with estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) breast cancer. In this analysis, we prospectively examined the associations of specific fruits and vegetables with risk of ER- postmenopausal breast cancer among 75,929 women aged 38-63 years at baseline and followed for up to 24 years. Dietary data were collected seven times during this period. Cox proportional hazard models were used, adjusting for potential confounders, including a modified Alternate Mediterranean Diet score. We ascertained 792 incident cases of ER- postmenopausal breast cancer. The multivariate relative risk (RR) for every 2 servings/week consumption for total berries was 0.82 (95 % CI = 0.71-0.96, p = 0.01), and the RR for women who consumed at least one serving of blueberries a week was 0.69 (95 % CI = 0.50-0.95, p = 0.02) compared with non-consumers. Also, the RR for consuming at least 2 servings of peaches/nectarines per week was 0.59 (95 % CI = 0.37-0.93, p = 0.02). Risk of ER- breast cancer was not associated with intakes of other specific fruits or vegetables. In conclusion, higher intake of berries and peaches was associated with lower risk of ER- breast cancer among postmenopausal women. These results are considered exploratory and need to be confirmed in further studies.
Acoustic Radiation Force Optical Coherence Elastography

An acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography (ARF-OCE) system was developed that combines high speed ARF with high resolution of phase resolved optical coherence tomography to image and quantify tissue biomechanical properties.
PBS, satellites, and digital video compression

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) established American television's first satellite program distribution system in 1978. PBS presently uses one C-band transponder and six Ku-band transponders on the AT&T Telstar 401 satellite to distribute television program material to the approximately 200 satellite receiving earth stations that serve some 346 public television stations. The replacement satellite system now being implemented to take public television well into the 21st century includes digital video compression. This paper provides the details on the implementation of digital video compression within the framework of the public television satellite replacement project
The Economist: Henry Thoreau and Enterprise

Buku ini memberikan tentang perusahaan, ekonomi, dan panggilan: perusahaan budaya diri dalam budaya perusahaan, ekonomi walden, tuntutan komparatif, walden, dan buku panduan untuk remaja putra: panduan pemuda, panduan sukses Amerika untuk remaja laki-laki, dan Walden sebagai parodi.
Silos: Establishing the Distributional Baseline in Cross-Border Bankruptcies

The first two decades of law reform related to cross-border bankruptcy are the paired story of the UNCITRAL Model Law (Chapter 15 in the United States) and the EU Insolvency Regulation (the EU Reg). Both seek to create an architecture whereby a court located at a debtor’s center of main interest (COMI) can coordinate the insolvency of a debtor with assets and operations in multiple jurisdictions. The Model Law focuses on the automatic recognition of foreign representatives, and the creation of an ancillary proceeding to administer local assets and claims or transfer them for administration in the main case. The EU Reg creates a structure where the main case, “opened” at the debtor’s COMI, administers the case, while secondary winding up proceedings are opened in jurisdictions where the debtor has an establishment. 3 Both statutes focus on centralizing administrative power in the “main case.” Centralized, or at least coordinated, administration should facilitate rescue (reorganization) where efficient, and allow for a value maximizing liquidation or going-concern sale where necessary. Law reform efforts have paid relatively less attention to how assets should be administered in the main case pending at the debtor’s COMI. Indeed, short of establishing a norm of cooperation with the main case, the same can be said with regard to ancillaries. Governing law has been
Efficient Activity Detection in Untrimmed Video with Max-Subgraph Search

We propose an efficient approach for activity detection in video that unifies activity categorization with space-time localization. The main idea is to pose activity detection as a maximum-weight connected subgraph problem. Offline, we learn a binary classifier for an activity category using positive video exemplars that are “trimmed” in time to the activity of interest. Then, given a novel untrimmed video sequence, we decompose it into a 3D array of space-time nodes, which are weighted based on the extent to which their component features support the learned activity model. To perform detection, we then directly localize instances of the activity by solving for the maximum-weight connected subgraph in the test video’s space-time graph. We show that this detection strategy permits an efficient branch-and-cut solution for the best-scoring—and possibly non-cubically shaped—portion of the video for a given activity classifier. The upshot is a fast method that can search a broader space of space-time region candidates than was previously practical, which we find often leads to more accurate detection. We demonstrate the proposed algorithm on four datasets, and we show its speed and accuracy advantages over multiple existing search strategies.
Computer aided detection of oral lesions on CT images

Oral lesions are important findings on computed tomography (CT) images. In this study, a fully automatic method to detect oral lesions in mandibular region from dental CT images is proposed. Two methods were developed to recognize two types of lesions namely (1) Close border (CB) lesions and (2) Open border (OB) lesions, which cover most of the lesion types that can be found on CT images. For the detection of CB lesions, fifteen features were extracted from each initial lesion candidates and multi layer perceptron (MLP) neural network was used to classify suspicious regions. Moreover, OB lesions were detected using a rule based image processing method, where no feature extraction or classification algorithm were used. The results were validated using a CT dataset of 52 patients, where 22 patients had abnormalities and 30 patients were normal. Using non-training dataset, CB detection algorithm yielded 71% sensitivity with 0.31 false positives per patient. Furthermore, OB detection algorithm achieved 100% sensitivity with 0.13 false positives per patient. Results suggest that, the proposed framework, which consists of two methods, has the potential to be used in clinical context, and assist radiologists for better diagnosis.
Changes in Marriage and Divorce as Drivers of Employment and Retirement of Older Women

We study associations among women’s current marital status, past marital history, and later-life labor force participation. We first document these relationships using data from the 1986 to 2008 waves of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). We then exploit variation in laws governing divorce across states and over time to quasi-experimentally identify how the timing of an exogenous increase in divorce risk (that is, the introduction of unilateral divorce) impacts employment and retirement outcomes for older women. The spread of unilateral divorce, we find, was associated with cross-cohort differences in the probability of divorce over the lifecycle. For women with a low risk of divorce, later exposure to unilateral divorce significantly increases the probability of full-time employment later in life, and significantly decreases retirement wealth. This finding suggests that ever-divorced women are working longer remedially; when a woman unexpectedly divorces later in life, she is less likely to have engaged in precautionary human capital investment and might have to work longer to increase her assets prior to retirement. For women with a high risk of divorce, later exposure to increases in divorce risk does not impact full-time employment after age 50 but is positively associated with investment in education post marriage. These women invest more in their own human capital within marriage, which might insure them against increases in exogenous divorce risk at later ages.
Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type II (HEMPAS)

L’anemie dyserythropoietique congenitale (CDA) de type II est une affection autosomique recessive. La rate est le site majeur de destruction erythrocytaire, d’ou la splenomegalie observee dans CDAII. L’analyse des glycoproteines et des glycolipides de la membrane erythrocytaire montre que les glycoproteines glycosylees a l’etat normal par les polylactosamines sont depourvues de cet hydrate de carbone dans la CDAII. L’analyse structurale des carbohydrates a suggere une interruption de la synthese des N-glycanes aux etapes de la N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase II (GnT-II) et de l’a-mannosidase II (MII). Les etudes genetiques ulterieures n’ont cependant jamais identifie de defaut au niveau de GnT-II, et il est devenu clair que le phenotype CDAII est du a un defaut de MII. Les souris dont MII a ete invalide sont anemiques et splenomegaliques, comme les malades CDAII. Ce phenotype murin est en faveur d’un lien avec un defaut genetique de MII. Il semble, cependant, qu’il faille limiter cette explication par un defaut premier du gene MII aux sujets originaires d’Angleterre. Chez la majorite des sujets de l’Italie du Sud on trouve une mutation du gene CDAN2 localise sur le chromosome 20 au niveau de la bande q11. On ne connait pas la fonction de la proteine codee par ce gene. La maladie presente donc une heterogeneite genetique. Et il reste a expliquer comment un gene qui code pour une proteine qui n’est pas une enzyme de glycosylation peut entrainer une interruption de la synthese des N-glycanes.
Evaluation of instrument error and method agreement.

Safely operating life support equipment and evaluating new technology both require some basic understanding of measurement theory. Measurement errors fall into two main categories: systematic errors (predictable problems usually due to calibration) and random errors (unpredictable). These two types of errors can be quantified by experiments involving repeated measurements of standards or "true" values. Systematic error (called bias) is usually expressed as the mean difference between measured and true values. Random error, called imprecision, can be expressed as the standard deviation of measured values. Total error can be expressed as an error interval, being the sum of bias and some multiple of imprecision. An error interval is a prediction about the error of some proportion of future measurements (e.g., 95%) at some level of confidence (e.g., 99%) based on the variability of the sample data and the sample size. Specifically, a tolerance interval gives an estimate of the true value of some variable given repeated measurements with an assumed valid measurement system. An inaccuracy interval predicts the validity of a measurement system with an estimate of the difference between measured true values (given that a standard or true value is available for measurement). An agreement interval evaluates whether or not one measurement system (e.g., a known valid system) can be used in place of another (e.g., a new unknown system). Statistical analyses such as correlation and linear regression are commonly seen in the literature, but not usually appropriate for evaluation of new equipment. Instrument performance evaluation studies should start out with a decision about the level of allowable error. Next, experiments are designed to obtain repeated measurements of known quantities (inaccuracy studies) or of unknown quantities by two different measurement systems (i.e., agreement studies). The first step in data analysis is to generate scatter plots of the raw data for review of validity (e.g., outliers). The next step is to make sure the data adhere to the assumption of normality. The third step is to calculate basic descriptive statistics, such as the mean and standard deviation. Finally, the data should be presented in graphic form with the differences plotted against the reference values and including numerical values for the calculated error intervals. The key idea to remember is that device evaluation and method agreement studies are based on the desire to know how much trust we should place in single measurements that may be used to make life support decisions.
From query to usable code: an analysis of stack overflow code snippets

Enriched by natural language texts, Stack Overflow code snippets arean invaluable code-centric knowledge base of small units ofsource code. Besides being useful for software developers, theseannotated snippets can potentially serve as the basis for automatedtools that provide working code solutions to specific natural languagequeries. With the goal of developing automated tools with the Stack Overflowsnippets and surrounding text, this paper investigates the followingquestions: (1) How usable are the Stack Overflow code snippets? and(2) When using text search engines for matching on the naturallanguage questions and answers around the snippets, what percentage ofthe top results contain usable code snippets?A total of 3M code snippets are analyzed across four languages: C\#,Java, JavaScript, and Python. Python and JavaScript proved to be thelanguages for which the most code snippets are usable. Conversely,Java and C\# proved to be the languages with the lowest usabilityrate. Further qualitative analysis on usable Python snippets showsthe characteristics of the answers that solve the original question. Finally,we use Google search to investigate the alignment ofusability and the natural language annotations around code snippets, andexplore how to make snippets in Stack Overflow anadequate base for future automatic program generation.
Refinance and Mortgage Default: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of HARP’s Impact on Default Rates

This paper examines the impact of refinancing on mortgage defaults based on an empirical investigation of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). We study a unique dataset from Freddie Mac which includes loans funded right before and after the HARP eligibility cutoff date, an exogenous event. Using a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design method, we show that receiving a HARP refinance decreases the expected monthly default rate by about 48–62 percent using different bandwidth specifications.
Effect of snow grain shape on snow albedo

AbstractRadiative transfer models of snow albedo have usually assumed a spherical shape for the snow grains, using Mie theory to compute single-scattering properties. The scattering by more realistic nonspherical snow grains is less in the forward direction and more to the sides, resulting in a smaller asymmetry factor g (the mean cosine of the scattering angle). Compared to a snowpack of spherical grains with the same area-to-mass ratio, a snowpack of nonspherical grains will have a higher albedo, thin snowpacks of nonspherical grains will more effectively hide the underlying surface, and light-absorbing particles in the snowpack will be exposed to less sunlight. These effects are examined here for nonspherical snow grains with aspect ratios from 0.1 to 10. The albedo of an opaque snowpack with equidimensional (i.e., aspect ratio 1) nonspherical snow grains is higher than that with spherical snow grains by 0.032 and 0.050, for effective grain radii of 100 and 1000 μm, respectively. For an effective radiu...
Catalysis of aryl-halogen exchange by nickel(II) complexes using NaOCl

As a result of this and previous research in this area, we view macrocyclic Ni II complexes as versatile catalysts for a wide variety of synthetically useful transformations. In addition to catalyzing the epoxidation of olefins with high turnover numbers, the synthesis of haloarenes can now be conducted under conditions that employ readily available Ni II catalysts and an inexpensive oxidant such as domestic bleach
Settling for Academia? H-1B Visas and the Career Choices of International Students in the United States

The yearly cap on H-1B visas became binding for the first time in 2004, making it harder for college-educated foreigners to work in the United States. However, academic institutions are exempt from the cap, and citizens of five countries (Canada, Mexico, Chile, Singapore, and Australia) have access to alternative work visas. We exploit these exemptions to gauge how immigrant career choices have been affected by the binding visa cap. Among other impacts, the binding cap raises international students' likelihood of employment in academia, even outside of their field of study, a result consistent with the notion of "settling" for academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Juniper: a functional reactive programming language for the Arduino

This paper presents the design and implementation of Juniper: a functional reactive programming language (FRP) targeting the Arduino and related microcontroller systems. Juniper provides a number of high level features, including parametric polymorphic functions, anonymous functions, automatic memory management, and immutable data structures. Also included is a standard library which offers many useful FRP signal processing functions. Juniper is translated to standard C++ and compiled with the existing Arduino development tools, allowing Juniper programs to fit on resource-constrained devices, and enabling seamless interoperability with existing C++ libraries for these devices.
Management approach for recurrent brain metastases following upfront radiosurgery may affect risk of subsequent radiation necrosis

Purpose Many patients treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) alone as initial treatment require 1 or more subsequent salvage therapies. This study aimed to determine if commonly used salvage strategies are associated with differing risks of radiation necrosis (RN). Methods and materials All patients treated with upfront SRS alone for brain metastases at our institution were retrospectively analyzed. Salvage treatment details were obtained for brain failures. Patients who underwent repeat SRS to the same lesion were excluded. RN was determined based on pathological confirmation or advanced brain imaging consistent with RN in a symptomatic patient. Patients were grouped according to salvage treatment and rates of RN were compared via Fisher's exact tests. Results Of 284 patients treated with upfront SRS alone, 132 received salvage therapy and 44 received multiple salvage treatments. This included 31 repeat SRS alone, 58 whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) alone, 28 SRS and WBRT, 7 surgery alone, and 8 surgery with adjuvant radiation. With a median follow-up of 10 months, the rate of RN among all patients was 3.17% (9/284), salvaged patients 4.55% (6/132), and never salvaged patients 1.97% (3/152). Receiving salvage therapy did not significantly increase RN risk (P = .31). Of the patients requiring salvage treatments, the highest RN rate was among patients that had both salvage SRS and WBRT (delivered as separate salvage therapies) (6/28, 21.42%). RN rate in this group was significantly higher than in those treated with repeat SRS alone (0/31), WBRT alone (0/58), surgery alone (0/7), and surgery with adjuvant radiation (0/8). Comparing salvage WBRT doses <30 Gy versus ≥30 Gy revealed no effect of dose on RN rate. Additionally, among patients who received multiple SRS treatments, number of treated lesions was not predictive of RN incidence. Conclusion Our results suggest that initial management approach for recurrent brain metastasis after upfront SRS does not affect the rate of RN. However, the risk of RN significantly increases when patients are treated with both repeat SRS and salvage WBRT. Methods to improve prediction of toxicity and optimize patient selection for salvage treatments are needed.
Distributed algorithms for peak ramp minimization problem in smart grid

The arrival of small-scale distributed energy generation in the future smart grid has led to the emergence of so-called prosumers, who can both consume as well as produce energy. By using local generation from renewable energy resources, the stress on power generation and supply system can be significantly reduced during high demand periods. However, this also creates a significant challenge for conventional power plants that suddenly need to ramp up quickly when the renewable energy drops off. In this paper, we propose an energy consumption scheduling problem for prosumers to minimize the peak ramp of the system. The optimal schedule of prosumers can be obtained by solving the centralized optimization problem. However, due to the privacy concerns and the distributed topology of the power system, the centralized design is difficult to implement in practice. Therefore, we propose the distributed algorithms to efficiently solve the centralized problem using the alternating direction method of multiplier (ADMM), in which each prosumer independently schedules its energy consumption profile. The simulation results demonstrate the convergence performance of the proposed algorithms as well as the capability of our model in reducing the peak ramp of the system.
An improved carbon dioxide snow spectral albedo model: Application to Martian conditions

Carbon dioxide ice is abundant on the Martian surface and plays an important role in the planet's energy budget due to its high reflectivity and seasonal variation. Here we adapt the terrestrial Snow, Ice, and Aerosol Radiation (SNICAR) model to simulate CO2 snow albedo across the ultraviolet, visible, and near-IR spectra (0.2–5.0 µm). We apply recent laboratory-derived refractive indices of CO2 ice, which produce higher broadband CO2 snow albedo (0.93–0.98) than previously estimated. Compared with H2O snow, we find that CO2 snow albedo is much higher in the near-IR spectrum, less dependent on ice grain size, less dependent on solar zenith angle, and more susceptible to darkening from dust. A mass concentration of 0.01% Martian dust reduces visible and near-IR CO2 snow albedos by about 60% and 35%, respectively. The presence of small amounts of H2O snow on top of CO2 snow can substantially decrease the surface albedo. Whereas 2.5 cm of H2O snow can completely mask the impact of underlying CO2 ice or the surface, roughly twice as much overlying CO2 snow is required to mask underlying H2O snow. Similarly, a 10% mixing ratio of H2O ice embedded in CO2 snow decreases broadband albedo by 0.18, while 10% CO2 ice elevates H2O snow broadband albedo by 0.10. We also present comparisons between hemispherical albedo produced by SNICAR and observations of directional reflectance of Martian polar ice caps. While imperfect, this best fit analysis provides general ranges of physical parameters in different Martian environments that produce reasonable model-observation agreement.
Implications of Einstein-Weyl Causality on Quantum Mechanics

An investigation of the topological consequences of Einstein-Weyl causality by others has shown that a denumerable space-time would be admitted, but they were left with an experimentally unresolvable question regarding the nature of the physical line E, e.g., whether E = R, the real line of mathematics. We propose a nonstandard constructible set-theoretical foundation and find it indeed provides a dense, denumerable space-time that still allows physical functions and their derivatives to be continuous. We show here that this leads to a novel approach to quantum mechanics and, in addition, has important implications for relational space-time and the avoidance of physical infinities.
Relating microstructure and particle-level stress in colloidal crystals under increased confinement

The mechanical properties of crystalline materials can be substantially modified under confinement. Such modified macroscopic properties are usually governed by the altered microstructures and internal stress fields. Here, we use a parallel plate geometry to apply a quasi-static squeeze flow crushing a colloidal polycrystal while simultaneously imaging it with confocal microscopy. The confocal images are used to quantify the local structure order and, in conjunction with Stress Assessment from Local Structural Anisotropy (SALSA), determine the stress at the single-particle scale. We find that during compression, the crystalline regions break into small domains with different geometric packing. These domains are characterized by a pressure and deviatoric stress that are highly localized with correlation lengths that are half those found in bulk. Furthermore, the mean deviatoric stress almost doubles, suggesting a higher brittleness in the highly-confined samples.
Inhibition of microbial biofuel production in drought-stressed switchgrass hydrolysate

Interannual variability in precipitation, particularly drought, can affect lignocellulosic crop biomass yields and composition, and is expected to increase biofuel yield variability. However, the effect of precipitation on downstream fermentation processes has never been directly characterized. In order to investigate the impact of interannual climate variability on biofuel production, corn stover and switchgrass were collected during 3 years with significantly different precipitation profiles, representing a major drought year (2012) and 2 years with average precipitation for the entire season (2010 and 2013). All feedstocks were AFEX (ammonia fiber expansion)-pretreated, enzymatically hydrolyzed, and the hydrolysates separately fermented using xylose-utilizing strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis. A chemical genomics approach was also used to evaluate the growth of yeast mutants in the hydrolysates. While most corn stover and switchgrass hydrolysates were readily fermented, growth of S. cerevisiae was completely inhibited in hydrolysate generated from drought-stressed switchgrass. Based on chemical genomics analysis, yeast strains deficient in genes related to protein trafficking within the cell were significantly more resistant to the drought-year switchgrass hydrolysate. Detailed biomass and hydrolysate characterization revealed that switchgrass accumulated greater concentrations of soluble sugars in response to the drought and these sugars were subsequently degraded to pyrazines and imidazoles during ammonia-based pretreatment. When added ex situ to normal switchgrass hydrolysate, imidazoles and pyrazines caused anaerobic growth inhibition of S. cerevisiae. In response to the osmotic pressures experienced during drought stress, plants accumulate soluble sugars that are susceptible to degradation during chemical pretreatments. For ammonia-based pretreatment, these sugars degrade to imidazoles and pyrazines. These compounds contribute to S. cerevisiae growth inhibition in drought-year switchgrass hydrolysate. This work discovered that variation in environmental conditions during the growth of bioenergy crops could have significant detrimental effects on fermentation organisms during biofuel production. These findings are relevant to regions where climate change is predicted to cause an increased incidence of drought and to marginal lands with poor water-holding capacity, where fluctuations in soil moisture may trigger frequent drought stress response in lignocellulosic feedstocks.
Subcutaneous Phaeohyphomycosis Caused by Cladophialophora Bantiana

Primary subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis can rarely be caused by Cladophialophora bantiana. Only two cases have been reported and we present the histologic and culture findings of another. A 32-year-old black female with systemic lupus erythematosus presented with a two-year history of multiple, recurrent, tender, ulcerated skin nodules with purulent drainage involving an area measuring approximately 27.0 × 15.0 cm on her upper back. She had been involved in a tornado at age 10 and had sustained traumatic implantation of wood splinters in this area. Sections of the excision showed scattered dark pinpoint foci with surrounding suppuration extending to the deep aspect of the specimen. Histology demonstrated features of phaeohyphomycosis – foci of granulomatous and acute inflammation with central clusters of dematiaceous fungal hyphae within a fibrotic dermis and subcutaneous tissue. Chains of brown-pigmented septate hyphae and unicellular conidia were identified. Culture revealed pigmented septate, branched hyphae and unbranched acropetal chains of conidia with no attachment hila. Dark gray, velvety colonies formed in one week on a potato dextrose agar plate incubated at 25 degrees Celsius. These culture features were characteristic of Cladophialophora bantiana. Despite surgical excision and itraconazole therapy, her skin lesions persisted for the next two years necessitating a re-excision.
CoMET: Composite-Input Magnetoelectric- Based Logic Technology

This paper proposes composite-input magnetoelectric-based logic technology (CoMET), a fast and energy-efficient spintronics device for logic applications. An input voltage is applied to a ferroelectric (FE) material, in contact with a composite structure—a ferromagnet (FM) with in-plane magnetic anisotropy placed on top of an intragate FM interconnect with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). Through the magnetoelectric (ME) effect, the input voltage nucleates a domain wall (DW) at the input end of the PMA-FM interconnect. An applied current then rapidly propagates the DW toward the output FE structure, where the inverse-ME effect generates an output voltage. This voltage is propagated to the input of the next CoMET device using a novel circuit structure that enables efficient device cascading. The material parameters for CoMET are optimized by systematically exploring the impact of parameter choices on device performance. Simulations on a 7-nm CoMET device show fast, low-energy operation, with a delay/energy of 99 ps/68 aJ for INV and 135 ps/85 aJ for MAJ3.
The stability of fixed points for a Kuramoto model with Hebbian interactions.

We consider a variation of the Kuramoto model with dynamic coupling, where the coupling strengths are allowed to evolve in response to the phase difference between the oscillators, a model first considered by Ha, Noh, and Park. We demonstrate that the fixed points of this model, as well as their stability, can be completely expressed in terms of the fixed points and stability of the analogous classical Kuramoto problem where the coupling strengths are fixed to a constant (the same for all edges). In particular, for the “all-to-all” network, where the underlying graph is the complete graph, the problem reduces to the problem of understanding the fixed points and stability of the all-to-all Kuramoto model with equal edge weights, a problem that is well understood.
Chaotic edge density fluctuations in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak

Analysis of the time series obtained with the O-Mode reflectometer [Rhodes et al., 1997 Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 40, 493–510 (1998)] and the gas puff imaging [Cziegler et al., Phys. Plasmas 17(5), 056120 (2010)] systems on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak reveals that the turbulent edge density fluctuations are chaotic. Supporting evidence for this conclusion includes the observation of exponential power spectra (which is associated with Lorentzian-shaped pulses in the time series), the population of the corresponding Bandt-Pompe probability distributions [Bandt and Pompe, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 174102 (2002)], and the location of the signal on the complexity-entropy plane (C-H plane) [Rosso et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 154102 (2007)]. The classification of edge turbulence as chaotic opens the door for further work to understand the underlying process and the impact on turbulent transport.
A normality theorem for decentralized control of discrete-event systems

Derives a necessary condition, formulated as a normality theorem, for decentralized control of discrete event systems. The result is of practical interest since it can be tested to determine whether decentralization is possible. This result is applied to the classical coordination problem of the "dining philosophers" for illustrative purposes. >
Precision Stellar Characterization of FGKM Stars using an Empirical Spectral Library

Classification of stars, by comparing their optical spectra to a few dozen spectral standards, has been a workhorse of observational astronomy for more than a century. Here, we extend this technique by compiling a library of optical spectra of 404 touchstone stars observed with Keck/HIRES by the California Planet Search. The spectra have high resolution (R ≈ 60,000), high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ≈ 150/pixel), and are registered onto a common wavelength scale. The library stars have properties derived from interferometry, asteroseismology, LTE spectral synthesis, and spectrophotometry. To address a lack of well-characterized late-K dwarfs in the literature, we measure stellar radii and temperatures for 23 nearby K dwarfs, using modeling of the spectral energy distribution and Gaia parallaxes. This library represents a uniform data set spanning the spectral types ~M5–F1 (T_(eff) ≈ 3000–7000 K, R_★ ≈ 0.1–16 R ⊙). We also present "Empirical SpecMatch" (SpecMatch-Emp), a tool for parameterizing unknown spectra by comparing them against our spectral library. For FGKM stars, SpecMatch-Emp achieves accuracies of 100 K in effective temperature (T_(eff)), 15% in stellar radius (R_★), and 0.09 dex in metallicity ([Fe/H]). Because the code relies on empirical spectra it performs particularly well for stars ~K4 and later, which are challenging to model with existing spectral synthesizers, reaching accuracies of 70 K in T_(eff), 10% in R_★, and 0.12 dex in [Fe/H]. We also validate the performance of SpecMatch-Emp, finding it to be robust at lower spectral resolution and S/N, enabling the characterization of faint late-type stars. Both the library and stellar characterization code are publicly available.
Discordance of Patient-Reported and Clinician-Ordered Resuscitation Status in Patients Hospitalized With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

Abstract Context Accurate documentation of preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation at hospital admission is critical to ensure that patients receive resuscitation or not in accordance with their wishes. Objectives We sought to identify and characterize inconsistencies in patient-reported and clinician-ordered resuscitation status in patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Methods Southeastern Minnesota residents hospitalized with ADHF were prospectively enrolled into a study that included the administration of face-to-face questionnaires from January 2014 to February 2016. Patient-reported resuscitation status was assessed at enrollment using a validated question. Clinician-ordered resuscitation preferences at hospital admission were abstracted from the electronic medical record. Results Of the 400 patients administered the questionnaire; 213 (53.3%) stated their resuscitation preference as Full Code, 166 (41.5%) do-not-resuscitate (DNR), and 21 (5.3%) were unsure. In comparison, clinician-ordered resuscitation status was Full Code in 263 (65.8%) patients, DNR in 133 (33.3%), and not documented in four (1.0%). Patient-reported and clinician-ordered resuscitation status was discordant in 20% of patients, of whom 5.6% elected Full Code by questionnaire and had a DNR clinician order, and 14.4% elected DNR by questionnaire but had a Full Code clinician order. Differences in age, comorbidities, health literacy, marital status, completion of advance directives, hospital length of stay, and discharge destination in patients with discordant vs. concordant resuscitation preferences were observed. Conclusions Patient-reported and clinician-ordered resuscitation preferences were discordant in 20% of patients hospitalized with ADHF. The underlying etiology of these inconsistencies may reflect factors such as patient indecisiveness or patient-clinician miscommunication and requires further exploration.
Two-dimensional structure-embedded acoustic lenses based on periodic acoustic black holes

Recent studies have introduced a new class of two-dimensional acoustic metamaterials whose dispersion and propagation properties result from the use of geometric inhomogeneities in the form of Acoustic Black Holes (ABH). The ABH is an element able to smoothly bend acoustic rays and slow down elastic bending waves, therefore providing a variety of unconventional dispersion and propagation properties that are typically observed in more complex multi-material and locally resonant designs. Our approach enables full integration of acoustic lenses in thin-walled structural elements while preserving the structural character. The lenses are capable of different high-level functionalities such as focusing, collimation, and negative refraction. Numerical and experimental results show that such structures exhibit broadband operating conditions that span both the metamaterial and the phononic range.
Pillbox intervention fidelity in medication adherence research: A systematic review.

Abstract Background Pillboxes are widely available, have evidence of effectiveness, but translating pillboxes in self-management interventions requires an understanding of intervention components. Purpose To review components of intervention design, interventionist training, delivery, receipt, enactment, and targeted behaviors in adherence studies. Methods Five multidisciplinary databases were searched to find reports of controlled trials testing pillboxes and medication adherence interventions in adults managing medications. Details of treatment fidelity, that is, design, training, delivery, receipt, and enactment, were abstracted. Findings A total of 38 articles reporting 40 studies were included. Treatment fidelity descriptions were often lacking, especially reporting receipt and enactment, important for both control and intervention groups. Clearly reported details are needed to avoid making assumptions when translating evidence. Conclusion These findings serve as a call to action to explicitly state intervention details. Lack of reported intervention detail is a barrier to translating which components of pillboxes work in influencing medication adherence behaviors and outcomes.