cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Semicircular elements induced by p-adic number fields

In this paper, we study semicircular-like elements, and semicircular elements induced by \(p\)-adic analysis, for each prime \(p\). Starting from a \(p\)-adic number field \(\mathbb{Q}_{p}\), we construct a Banach \(*\)-algebra \(\mathfrak{LS}_{p}\), for a fixed prime \(p\), and show the generating elements \(Q_{p,j}\) of \(\mathfrak{LS}_{p}\) form weighted-semicircular elements, and the corresponding scalar-multiples \(\Theta_{p,j}\) of \(Q_{p,j}\) become semicircular elements, for all \(j\in\mathbb{Z}\). The main result of this paper is the very construction of suitable linear functionals \(\tau_{p,j}^{0}\) on \(\mathfrak{LS}_{p}\), making \(Q_{p,j}\) be weighted-semicircular, for all \(j\in\mathbb{Z}\).
Physical activity and obesity among nine-year-old children with and without chronic health problems, illness, or disabilities in Ireland

Abstract Background Regular engagement in physical activity can help youth control their weight during childhood while decreasing one's chances of developing chronic diseases (e.g., coronary heart disease, diabetes) throughout the lifespan. While numerous studies have explored physical activity participation and weight status among typically developing children, few epidemiological studies utilizing nationally representative data has focused on children with chronic health problems, illness, or disabilities (CHID). Objective Thus, the primary purpose of this secondary-data analysis was to examine physical activity participation and the prevalence of overweight/obesity among nine-year-old children with CHID in Ireland. Methods The weighted nationally-represented data for the obesity analysis (N = 6114) and physical activity analysis (N = 6165) were derived from the Growing up in Ireland national study. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between child weight status and likelihood of meeting physical activity guidelines. Children's primary caregiver weight status, child gender, and CHID status were correlates, while estimated household income, reported hours of weekly physical education, and locale were covariates. Results Children with CHID had significantly higher odds (1.51, 95% CI 1.19–1.91) of being classified as overweight/obese compared to peers without CHID, when controlling for locale, income, and weekly physical education hours. Conversely, having a CHID was not significantly associated with the odds of children meeting recommended physical activity guidelines. Conclusions Children with CHID had significantly higher odds of being overweight/obese, and these odds increased if the child had a primary caregiver who was overweight/obese. Physical activity levels did not differ between children with and without CHID.
The Strength-Based Counseling Model

This article proposes a strength-based model for counseling at-risk youth. The author presents the assumptions, basic concepts, and values of the strength perspective in counseling and offers strength categories as a conceptual model for viewing clients’ behavior. Propositions leading toward a theory of strength-based counseling and stages of this model are given, representative strength-based counseling techniques are examined, and a case study is used to illustrate risk factors, protective factors, and strength assessment. Ethical, research, and training implications of the strength-based model of counseling are discussed.
Basic Algebraic Structures

In this Chapter we present the main concepts and definitions which appear in this book. Such concepts have come from geometry and have not been studied properly, yet, in a purely algebraic way, although the exploration of them is of evident importance.
TCT-593 Caliber and Fitness of the Axillary Artery as a Conduit for Large-Bore Cardiovascular Procedures

Patients referred for advanced catheter-based therapies frequently have lower extremity peripheral vascular disease that is prohibitive for the use of large bore arterial catheters. Utilization of upper extremity peripheral vasculature is rarely considered as an alternative access strategy. This may
Applications of Simulated Annealing in Electronic Structure Studies of Metallic Clusters

With the advent of the density functional formalism1, improved numerical schemes, and the steady increase in computational power, researchers are now confidently studying a wide variety of technologically important materials properties which in some cases are not amenable to laboratory observation. In this paper, we survey an all-electron, full potential computational algorithm which employs a compact basis set of Gaussian type function for such studies. In Sec. II, the computationally intensive steps of this problem and recent work-toward reducing the computational complexity, are briefly reviewed2,3. By incorporating a simulated annealing algorithm we are able to simultaneously vary both the linear and nonlinear “electronic coordinates” and, when necessary, bypass the direct diagonalization step. With this formulation, the computational cost increases linearly with the number of atoms in the regime of tens to hundreds of non-identical atoms3,4. This method enables the accurate evaluation of Hellmann-Feynman (HF) forces. In Sec. III through V we present static and dynamic simulations on a variety of lithium clusters ranging in size from two to twenty seven atoms. By way of these examples, we explicitly show how to predict vacancy formation energies, defect induced lattice relaxation, cohesive energies and vibrational phenomena in many-atom systems. In addition, by carrying out calculations on successively larger crystal fragments, we are able to simulate crystal growth and observe the transition from atomistic to bulk phenomena. The cohesive energies, bulk moduli and lattice constants are presented as a function of cluster size and are found to agree favorably with other theoretical and experimental perfect crystal results.
Abstract 227: Inhibition Of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Improves Hyperglycemic Impaired Angiogenesis

Our previous study shows that hyperglycemia impairs myocardial angiogenesis via impairment of angiopoietin-1(Ang-1)/Akt/eNOS phosphorylation. Protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) plays an essential role in intracellular signal transduction by regulating tyrosine phosphorylation. PTP inhibitor has been shown to modulate Akt/eNOS phosphorylation, but little is known about the inhibition of PTP on angiogenesis under hyperglycemic conditions. We investigated the role of inhibition of PTP on hyperglycemia-induced impairment of angiogenic signaling pathways and angiogenesis. Our data demonstrate that exposure of mouse heart microvascular endothelial cells (MHMECs) to hyperglycemia leads to an increase in caspase-3 activity. Pretreatment of cells with the protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, sodium orthovanadate (OV, 5 μM), significantly enhances the Ang-1-inhibitory effect on caspase-3 activity both under normal or hyperglycemic conditions. Pretreatment of MHMEC with the PTP inhibitor OV (0.5–20 μM) significantly enhances cell survival in a dose dependent manner under hyperglycemic conditions as measured by MTT assay. Pretreatment of MHMEC with OV (5 μM) enhances the effect of Ang-1 on endothelial cell survival under hyperglycemic conditions. As expected, Ang-1-induced Akt and eNOS phosphorylation is minimal under hyperglycemic conditions. Pretreatment of MHMEC with OV (5 μM) for 30 minutes leads to an increase in Akt phosphorylation at baseline and augments Ang-1-induced Akt and eNOS phosphorylation under hyperglycemic conditions. Additionally, systemic administration of bis(maltolato) oxovanadium(IV) (BMOV, 0.2g/L) in db/db mice results in a dramatic decrease in plasma glucose levels and an increase in vessel outgrowth in response to Ang-1 (250 ng/ml) stimulation. Treatment of db/db mice with BMOV significantly increases myocardial ischemia-induced HIF expression. Furthermore, bone marrow differentiation into endothelial cell progenitor cell is also significantly improved in the BMOV treated db/db mice. Our data implicate that upregulation of Ang-1/Akt/eNOS phosphorylation by PTP inhibitors should be considered as a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment or prevention of diabetic impaired angiogenesis.
Sex differences and factors influencing the duration of the QT interval in patients on anti-tuberculosis therapy

Sex has a strong influence on the QTc prolongation effect of first-line TB drugs and gatifloxacin http://ow.ly/UXtP30hJJCu
Structural-features of food-derived bioactive peptides with anti-inflammatory activity: A brief review

Chronic inflammatory conditions such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Hence, much research interest in bioactive peptides has been stimulated due to lack of potent pharmacological interventions. Although many such peptides have been identified from food proteins, insufficient information is available on their structure-function relationship. Presence of hydrophobic and positively charged amino acids is a common occurrence for the peptides with anti-inflammatory properties. However, inconsistent findings have also been reported. Most of the food-derived peptides exhibited their anti-inflammatory activities primarily by inhibiting signaling components of either NF-κB or MAPK pathway, which are the two major pathways involved in chronic inflammation following uncontrolled signal activation. This review highlighted the structural requirements of the peptides to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity based on the current knowledge about food-derived anti-inflammatory peptides and their underlying molecular mechanisms of action. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: While research in the food-derived bioactive peptide is gaining momentum, but the ability to translate these new findings into the commercial product such as nutraceuticals and functional foods, remains delayed. The most prominent reasons for this delay are the lack of detailed research on, (i) the structure-function relationship of the peptide and the underlying molecular mechanisms of these bioactive peptides, and (ii) the interaction of these peptides with different cellular elements in the disease pathophysiology. This review gives an insight into the structure-activity relationship of bioactive peptides involved in anti-inflammatory responses. The information provided here would be highly beneficial to describe the possible anti-inflammatory activity of any newly identified peptides from different food sources.
Quantum Dot-Organic Oligomer Nanostructures: Electronic Excitation Migration and Optical Memory Design

Energy, in the form of an electronic excitation, can be directed within an inorganicorganic composite of semiconductor quantum dots and organic oligomers by manipulating the structural conformations of the organic component or the size of the inorganic component. Continuous-wave and time-resolved photoluminescence studies indicate that weak electromagnetic resonant coupling between discrete intra-chain and inter-chain excitations of the oligomer and quantum dot excitations can be used to produce a potentially useful optical display material. Thin film blends demonstrate a thermally-induced luminescence-detected chainmelting phenomenon that has the potential for writable optical memory.
Improving Engineering Education Using Augmented Reality Environment

The purpose of the research is to compare the impact of students’ learning performance between an augmented reality (AR) environment and in-class environment. To create an efficient AR environment, we used Microsoft HoloLens, which is the next generation of a see-through holographic computer. We developed the AR learning module: ergonomic guidelines for manual material handling (MMH). We hypothesize that AR changes the way students understand the concepts of MMH. Our analysis includes a careful evaluation of student experimental skills during the learning activities. This new AR environment could allow students to engage hands-on training of MMH and strengthen their understanding. Student test score was used as metrics for performance assessment. We found a significant improvement on student understanding of MMH lecture after they used the AR module. The findings of this study indicated the potential benefits of using AR environment interfaces in engineering education and training.
Strategies to Integrate Laboratory Information into the Clinical Diagnosis of Hepatic and Acute Pancreatic Disease

Liver diseases provide a general model for the formal analysis of the relative diagnostic weights of information obtained from different sources. Diagnosis of liver disease has three basic purposes: (1) differentiation of hemolytic, parenchymatous, and obstructive jaundice, (2) evaluation of disease course and therapeutic success, and (3) evaluation of the nature of the liver lesion. The capabilities of diagnostic findings to attain these goals can be measured according to three criteria: (1) selectivity in differential diagnosis and etiologic selectivity, (2) sensitivity, and (3) specificity with regard to morphologic changes. Applying these yardsticks to information obtained from signs and symptoms, biophysical findings and laboratory findings establishes: (1) clinical findings and liver function tests are the underpinnings of differential diagnosis, (2) liver function tests are ideal for the evaluation of the disease course, and (3) laparoscopy and liver biopsy are ideal for the evaluation of the nature of the liver lesion, but imaging procedures and liver function tests are frequently simpler means that contribute to it.
The Pat1-Lsm Complex Stabilizes ATG mRNA during Nitrogen Starvation-Induced Autophagy

Summary Macroautophagy/autophagy is a key catabolic recycling pathway that requires fine-tuned regulation to prevent pathologies and preserve homeostasis. Here, we report a new post-transcriptional pathway regulating autophagy involving the Pat1-Lsm (Lsm1 to Lsm7) mRNA-binding complex. Under nitrogen-starvation conditions, Pat1-Lsm binds a specific subset of autophagy-related (ATG) transcripts and prevents their 3′ to 5′ degradation by the exosome complex, leading to ATG mRNA stabilization and accumulation. This process is regulated through Pat1 dephosphorylation, is necessary for the efficient expression of specific Atg proteins, and is required for robust autophagy induction during nitrogen starvation. To the best of our knowledge, this work presents the first example of ATG transcript regulation via 3′ binding factors and exosomal degradation.
An emerging environmental concern: Biochar-induced dust emissions and their potentially toxic properties.

Amending soils with biochar is increasingly proposed as a solution to many pressing agricultural and environmental challenges. Biochar, created by thermochemical conversion of biomass in an oxygen-limited environment, has several purported benefits, including remediation of contaminated soils, increased crop yields, reduced fertilizer demands, increased plant available water, and mitigation of climate change. Due to these potential benefits, biochar-related research has flourished in the past decade, though there remains a critically understudied area of research regarding biochar's potential impact on human health. Because biochar characteristically has low bulk density and high porosity, the material is susceptible to atmospheric release via natural or mechanical soil disturbance. The specific risks of biochar inhalation have not been elucidated; however, recent publications have demonstrated that biochar can increase soil dust emissions of particles <10 μm (PM10) or possess elevated levels of toxic chemicals. These data should not be interpreted to suggest that all biochars are problematic, but rather to highlight an important and overlooked field of study, and to stress the need to critically assess parameters for biochar production and management strategies that safeguard human health. Here the literature on biochar-related dust emissions and potentially toxic properties (PTPs) is reviewed in order to summarize what is known, highlight areas for future study, and aggregate solutions to minimize potential harm.
Entropic barriers in the kinetics of aqueous proton transfer

Aqueous proton transport is uniquely rapid among aqueous processes, mediated by fluctuating hydrogen bond reorganization in liquid water. In a process known as Grotthuss diffusion, the excess charge diffuses primarily by sequential proton transfers between water molecules rather than standard Brownian motion, which explains the anomalously high electrical conductivity of acidic solutions. Employing ultrafast IR spectroscopy, we use the orientational anisotropy decay of the bending vibrations of the hydrated proton complex to study the picosecond aqueous proton transfer kinetics as a function of temperature, concentration, and counterion. We find that the orientational anisotropy decay exhibits Arrhenius behavior, with an apparent activation energy of 2.4 kcal/mol in 1M and 2M HCl. Interestingly, acidic solutions at high concentration with longer proton transfer time scales display corresponding decreases in activation energy. We interpret this counterintuitive trend by considering the entropic and enthalpic contributions to the activation free energy for proton transfer. Halide counteranions at high concentrations impose entropic barriers to proton transfer in the form of constraints on the solution's collective H-bond fluctuations and obstruction of potential proton transfer pathways. The corresponding proton transfer barrier decreases due to weaker water-halide H-bonds in close proximity to the excess proton, but the entropic effects dominate and result in a net reduction in the proton transfer rate. We estimate the activation free energy for proton transfer as ∼1.0 kcal/mol at 280 K.
Security Tag Fields and Control Flow Management

Cybersecurity community now faces advanced threats: Rowhammer, Spectre, Meltdown, Foreshadow, PortSmash, and future unknown threats. Current cybersecurity threats have led to a renewed interest in security tag fields and program control flow. Security tag fields have their roots in 1950’s era hardware for system reliability. Today, there is great interest in tags for hardware-based cybersecurity. Current commodity microprocessors execute instructions. Future cybersecurity architectures need to understand and manage security. We investigate using security tag fields to enforce some control flow properties.
Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes Associated with Amniotomy among Nulliparous Women Undergoing Labor Induction at Term.

Objective The aim of the study is to evaluate the association between amniotomy at various time points during labor induction and maternal and neonatal outcomes among term, nulliparous women. Study Design Secondary analysis of a randomized trial of term labor induction versus expectant management in low-risk, nulliparous women (2014–2017) was conducted. Women met inclusion criteria if they underwent induction ≥38 weeks' gestation using oxytocin with documented time and type of membrane rupture. Women with antepartum stillbirth or fetal anomaly were excluded. The primary outcome was cesarean delivery. Secondary outcomes included maternal and neonatal complications. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were compared among women with amniotomy versus women with intact membranes and no amniotomy at six 2-hour time intervals: before oxytocin initiation, 0 to Results Of 6,106 women in the parent trial, 2,854 (46.7%) women met inclusion criteria. Of these 2,340 (82.0%) underwent amniotomy, and majority of the women had amniotomy performed between 2 and 24 hours. Amniotomy at time intervals ≥2 hours and 3 days. Amniotomy was not associated with postpartum or neonatal complications. Conclusion Among a contemporary cohort of nulliparous women undergoing term labor induction, amniotomy was associated with either lower or similar odds of cesarean delivery and other adverse outcomes, compared with no amniotomy.
Host adaptations in the fixLJ pathway of the Burkholderia cepacia complex increase virulence

Abstract The Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) is composed of multiple species, including B. multivorans and B. dolosa, that are significant pathogens for people with cystic fibrosis (CF) and are extensively resistant to many antibiotics. The fixL gene of the fixLJ 2-component system (TCS) in these BCC species shows evidence of positive selection for nonsynonymous mutations during chronic lung infection in CF. Previous work showed that the B. dolosa fixLJ system regulates 11% of the genome and modulates biofilm formation, motility, persistence within macrophages, and virulence in a murine pneumonia model. Here, we assess the impacts of clinically observed FixL evolved variants in fixLJ pathway-mediated phenotypes in B. dolosa and B. multivorans. BCC carrying the ancestral fixL sequence are less pathogenic than constructs carrying evolved variants in both a macrophage infection model and a murine pneumonia model. In vitro phospho-transfer experiments demonstrate that the evolved B. dolosa FixL variants are able to reduce fixLJ pathway activity by either having lower levels of kinase activity or increased phosphatase activity. Notably, the ancestral fixL genotype has increased ability to survive within the soil compared to isogenic constructs with evolved fixL genotypes, demonstrating that increased virulence comes at an expense. Modulation of the FixLJ system has profound effects on many BCC phenotypes including full pathogenicity, and this modulation is critical for BCC adaptation to the host.
Not All Areas Are Equal: Detecting Thoracic Disease With ChestWNet

Automating pneumonia diagnosis from X-ray images could significantly improve patient diagnosing outcomes. A major challenge is that disease information (features) must be extracted directly from the image backgrounds. Motivated by recent advances in Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), we propose a hierarchical weighting deep learning model, ChestWNet, that combines DenseNet and transfer learning to detect and localize thoracic diseases from chest x-rays. Hierarchical weighting networks are designed to assign scores reflecting the importance of specific pixels (regions), and learning weights at pixel-, region-, and image-levels, jointly learning these hierarchical weighting networks and the image classification network in an end-to-end manner. Chest X-ray datasets are customized to solve the unbalancing label problem in these datasets. Extensive experiments show that ChestWNet significantly outperforms other established prediction methods, and can also be applied to similar scenarios with fixed point-of-interest regions in images.
Campesinos, Latifundistas and Padrones: The Role of Subnational Actors in Venezuelan Land Reform

While much of the empirical literature on land reform focuses on national political economy, the qualitative literature increasingly stresses the important role of subnational actors in the land reform process. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence on the role of subnational factors as determinants of the extent of land reform among over 300 Venezuelan municipalities over the period 2007-2009. We find that including state political opposition, landowner power, and social capital have large, statistically significant impacts on the extent of land reform. We discuss these findings in light of calls to de-emphasize the central government in land reform policy.
Endovascular treatment of unique colonic arteriovenous malformation with dual supply from superior and inferior mesenteric arteries

Colonic arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are well recognized in the literature and commonly manifest as colitis, abdominal pain, and rare cases have been reported of liver congestion. Dual-supply superior artery/ inferior mesenteric artery (SMA/IMA) colonic AVMs have never been reported and only one case of treating portal hypertension due to an AVM with an endovascular approach has been reported. We present a case of dual-supply SMA/IMA colonic AVM manifesting as hepatic venous congestion and demonstrate an endovascular approach to treatment. Level of evidence: Level 4, case series.
Early changes in neural circuit function engaged by negative emotion and modified by behavioural intervention are associated with depression and problem-solving outcomes: A report from the ENGAGE randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Depression exerts a staggering toll that is worsened with co-occurring chronic conditions such as obesity. It is imperative to develop more effective interventions for depression and to identify objective and biological plausible neural mechanisms to understand intervention outcomes. The current study uses functional neuroimaging to determine whether a behavioural intervention changes the negative affect circuit and whether these changes relate to subsequent improvements in both symptom and problem-solving outcomes in depressed patients with co-occurring obesity. Methods This study (‘ENGAGE’) was a pre-planned element of the randomized controlled trial, ‘RAINBOW’ (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02246413). 108 depressed patients with obesity were randomized to receive an integrated collaborative care intervention (I-CARE) or usual care. Participants underwent functional neuroimaging using an established facial emotion task at baseline and two months (coinciding with the first two months of intervention focused on problem-solving therapy (‘PST’)). Amygdala, insula and anterior cingulate cortex activation was extracted using pre-planned definitions and standardized methods. The primary health and behavioural outcomes were depression symptom severity and problem-solving ability respectively, assessed at baseline, the main 6-month outcome point and at 12-month follow up. Mediation analyses used an intent-to-treat approach. Findings PST, relative to usual care, reduced amygdala activation engaged by threat stimuli at two months. This reduction mediated subsequent improvements in depression severity in an intervention-dependent manner. PST did not change insula activation at two months but did temper the strength of the relationship between insula activation and improvements in problem-solving ability. Interpretation The negative affect circuit may be an important neural target and potential mediator of PST in patients with comorbid obesity. Funding US National Institutes of Health/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute R01 HL119453 and UH2/UH3 HL132368
Multitrait transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) tests.

Multitrait tests can improve power to detect associations between individual single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and several related traits. Here, we develop methods for multi-SNP transcriptome-wide association (TWAS) tests to test the association between predicted gene expression levels and multiple phenotypes. We show that the correlation in TWAS test statistics for multiple phenotypes has the same form as multitrait statistics for the single-SNP setting. Thus, established methods for combining single-SNP test statistics across multiple traits can be extended directly to the TWAS setting. We performed an extensive evaluation across eight multitrait methods in simulations that varied gene-phenotype effect sizes in addition to the underlying covariance structure among the phenotypes. We found that all multitrait TWAS tests have well-calibrated Type I error (except ASSET, which can have a slightly elevated or depressed Type I error rate). Our results show that multitrait TWAS can improve statistical power compared with multiple single-trait TWAS followed by Bonferroni correction. To illustrate our approach to real data, we conducted a multitrait TWAS of four circulating lipid traits from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium. We found that our multitrait Wald TWAS approach identified 506 genes associated with lipid levels compared with 87 identified through Bonferroni-corrected single-trait TWAS. Overall, we find that our proposed multitrait TWAS framework outperforms single-trait approaches to identify new genetic associations, especially for functionally correlated phenotypes and phenotypes with overlapping genome-wide association studies samples, leading to insights into the genetic architecture of multiple phenotypes.
Renewing the future: Excluded imaginaries in the global energy transition

Abstract Sociotechnical imaginaries (STIs) are widely used in the ERSS literature, but their origins in the field of science and technology studies (STS), and the implications of their migration into ERSS, are not well theorized or thoroughly appreciated. We take as our starting point that the STI concept is an offshoot of co-production, the simultaneous production of natural and social order. We resituate STIs in relation to that origin story within co-productionist STS to enhance its analytic power in relation to energy research. We parse STIs along three dimensions of co-productionist analysis: integration, symmetry, and reflexivity. We then contrast the analytic purchase offered by STIs, grounded in co-production, with another popular STS approach, actor-network theory (ANT), by looking at two exemplary cases of the energy transition in the global South. Through these case studies, centering on the introduction of solar power in Senegal and India, we argue that a better theorized invocation of STIs, as mechanisms of co-production, can detect aspects of sociotechnical transitions that remain obscure unless they are illuminated through the meaning-making dimension of STIs. We use STIs to show that in global transitions to sustainability the discourse of renewable energy has privileged the transition’s material and technological dimensions over its cultural and sociopolitical ones. In particular, the STI lens brings to light alternative visions of sustainable lives based on ideas and practices of renewal that long predated the arrival of solar power, and are at risk of dying in the new political economy of renewables.
Therapeutic virtual reality in prison: Participatory design with incarcerated women:

Upon release from prison, women face barriers in every step of their journey home, with most reentry services designed for men. With virtual reality (VR) headsets increasingly affordable and normal...
Designing a Monte Carlo Model with Python to Predict the Life Cycle Disposal Costs for Grid-Level Electrical Energy Storage Systems

Over the last two decades, researchers have developed techniques and models to establish the total capital costs (TCC) related to installation of electrical energy storage systems (ESSs). There are three major impediments to developing a reliable dataset for the LCC: (1) much of the data needed to properly construct the ESS LCC model depends on proprietary information; (2) newer energy storage technologies do not have a sufficient disposal cost profile; and (3) determination of disposal costs involve uncertainties related to the function, performance, system configuration, and stacking of ESSs. To overcome these three challenges, this study uses a Monte Carlo model to predict and validate life cycle disposal costs. Five battery technologies are considered: lead acid, lithium, sodium sulfur, vanadium redox, and zinc bromine. This study determined that disposal costs are more sensitive to battery lifetime and replacement costs than annual worth, operating costs, and adjusted interest rate.
A Helpful Relocation Function for Augmenting Teaching in a Multiple User Shared Virtual Environment

Virtual reality platforms have dramatically both grown in popularity and uses over the past few years. Their critical uses as a teaching tool are currently being investigated; with promising preliminary results. While VR allows users to enter a virtual environment with unparalleled levels of immersion, there are some apparent limitations that arise when it is used as a teaching tool; primarily that it is difficult to achieve high levels of collaboration during utilization. As such, research has been done to develop shared virtual environments that allow multiple users to enter the same virtual space, represented by avatars, and interact with one another. However, these systems have additional drawbacks, i.e. it is incredibly difficult to find other users in a virtual environment. This becomes especially true in most teaching scenarios; for example, where an instructor desires to show students multiple noteworthy locations within the same anatomical environment. Here we propose a solution, an update to our current shared virtual reality anatomy environments, that allows users to instantly relocate to the position of the instructor/proctor. This solution reduces the time needed in the virtual environment to direct students to critical anatomic features: i.e., when users are attempting to locate the instructor. In other words, this feature aids to maximize the time spent instructing and learning critical aspects of the immersive virtual reality environments: here we will focus on scenes utilized for teaching human anatomy.
Application of SEM Techniques to the Characterization of Coal and Coal Ash Products

Coal is a major source of fuel for generating electrical power in the United States.(1) The last decade has seen a significant increase in the use of coal for power generation. The increased demand for coal and the tendency to use a variety of coals to meet economic and environmental restrictions has required a more detailed understanding of boiler operations. Ash species produced from inorganic impurities in coal during combustion can be a major operational problem.(2) These ash species can produce deposits on heat transfer surfaces (thereby reducing thermal efficiency), cause corrosion/ erosion of structural material, and lead to particulate emissions in excess of current standards. Industry is finding that a more detailed knowledge of ash behavior is valuable in the efficient and environmentally acceptable operation of coal-fired power plants. The inorganic impurities in coal are important with respect to fuel selection, the design and size of a boiler, and how the boiler is operated. Extensive research at the University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) has focused on methods to determine inorganic components in coals, mechanisms of ash formation, and the factors that influence the formation of ash deposits on heat transfer surfaces.
Discovering user information goals with semantic website media modeling

In this work we present an approach to capture the total semantics in multimedia-multimodal web pages. Our research improves upon the state-of-the-art with two key features: (1) capturing the semantics of text and image-based media for static and dynamic web content; and (2) recognizing that information goals are defined by emergent user behavior and not statically declared by web design alone. Given a user session, the proposed method accurately predicts user information goals and presents them as a list of most relevant words and images. Conversely, given a set of information goals, the technique predicts possible user navigation patterns as network flow with a semantically-derived flow distribution. In the latter case, differences between predicted optimal and observed user navigation patterns highlight points of suboptimal website design. We compare this approach to other content-based techniques for modeling web-usage and demonstrate its effectiveness.
Ball bearing inspection with an acoustic microscope

The authors have developed an amplitude- and phase-measuring acoustic microscope to detect surface defects a few micrometers deep in ceramic ball bearings. The system is capable of measuring phase variation on the order of 1 degrees . The phase detection capability is necessary to detect shallow surface depressions when no crack is present at the bottom of the depression, and the detection of the defect, through V(z) variation, requires operating the system in the gigahertz frequency range. A C-scan system is operational and allows the detection of fissures and gouges, even when shallow. A novel B-scan system has been designed in order to detect smaller cracks and to get full coverage of the bearings. >
Groping in the Dark

ABSTRACTGovernment mandated blackouts precipitated a crisis in the optical consciousness of the American public in the first years of the Second World War. In an effort to foil potential aerial bombardment, citizens were asked to turn off their lights and so break an otherwise unqualified promise of modernization: ubiquitous illumination. After decades of constantly increasing levels of artificial light, blackouts challenged not only nighttime visibility, but spatial perception more generally. Americans discussed ways to adjust to dimmer surroundings, to infer spatial information from non-visual senses and familiarize themselves with nightscapes based on specular rather than geometric properties of surfaces. Although the blackouts lasted only a few years in the USA, they reveal the profile, albeit in negative terms, of how the nation's visual environment was imagined around 1940.
Effects of Food Composition on the Bioavailability of Vitamin B-6 in the Rat

The effects of food composition and thermal processing on the relative bioavailability of vitamin B-6 in beef, spinach, potato, and cornmeal were assessed by a series of rat bioassays. The protein content of the basal diets was varied from 5 to 50%. Within each protein subgroup, graded levels of pyridoxine (PN) were added to basal diets to obtain standard PN dose-response curves. Poor correlation was observed between bioavailability values calculated from plasma pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) and the less specific bioassay criteria (growth and feed efficiency). Plasma PLP values indicated that: 1) the bioavailability of vitamin B-6 in beef was greater than that in cornmeal, spinach and potato; and 2) thermal processing of the tested foods or increasing dietary protein levels did not adversely affect, and often increased, the bioavailability of the vitamin. The results also showed that diet composition and food processing must be considered in evaluating the bioavailability of vitamin B-6.
Interface Corner Failure Analysis of Joint Strength: Effect of Adherend Stiffness

The strength of cylindrical butt joints, fabricated by bonding either aluminum or steel adherends together with an epoxy adhesive, has been determined for a wide range of bond thicknesses. Joint strength varied significantly with bond thickness. The measured strength of joints with steel adherends varied as the inverse cube root of bond thickness, while the strength of joints with aluminum adherends varied as the inverse fourth root of bond thickness. This bond thickness dependence is accurately predicted by an analysis that assumes failure occurs at a critical value of the interface corner stress intensity factor. The difference in the measured joint strength-bond thickness relation for joints with aluminum and steel adherends is a consequence of the difference in the order of the interface corner stress singularity.
The AdipoChaser mouse: A model tracking adipogenesis in vivo

White adipose tissue is considered to have high plasticity. Dynamic, abnormal expansion of white adipose tissue leads to obesity and associated metabolic disorders. Due to technical limitations, the life cycle and turnover rates of different white adipose depots during development and under various physiological conditions and environmental challenges has been assessed only through highly indirect approaches. We have recently described a system for the inducible, permanent labeling of mature adipocytes, the “AdipoChaser” mouse. Utilizing this AdipoChaser mouse model, we found that epididymal fat depots initiate adipogenesis after prolonged high fat diet feeding, whereas subcutaneous fat depots merely undergo hypertrophy and have a very low rate of adipogenesis. During cold exposure or β-3 agonist-induced “browning” of subcutaneous fat depot, most of the beige adipocytes arise from de novo adipogenesis. We also found that cold exposure or β-3 agonist stimulation induces massive white adipogenesis in the epididymal fat depot. Developmentally, adipocytes in the gonadal fat depot are differentiated postnatally, between birth and sexual maturation, while adipocytes in the subcutaneous fat are differentiated between embryonic days 14–18. Our study shed new insights into the developmental aspects of adipose tissue and its dynamics under a number of different physiological challenges.
Wide-angle ISAR imaging of vehicles

Wide-angle inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging of vehicles is examined. Measurement data of moving vehicles are collected using a stationary ultra-wideband radar. The baseline ISAR images generated show a clear distinction between different sized vehicles. The images are then further focused through motion compensation using a p-norm minimization. The resulting images are well focused and correspond closely to the physical dimensions of the vehicles.
Online Defamation: Bringing the Communications Decency Act of 1996 in Line With Sound Public Policy

According to the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a provider of an interactive computer service cannot be held liable for publishing a defamatory statement made by another party. In addition, the service provider cannot be held liable for refusing to remove the statement from its service. This article postulates that such immunity from producer and distributor liability is a suspect public policy, and argues that the statute should be amended to include a broad definition of “development” and a “take-down and put-back” provision.
High pressure Laue diffraction and its application to study microstructural changes during the α → β phase transition in Si.

An approach using polychromatic x-ray Laue diffraction is described for studying pressure induced microstructural changes of materials under pressure. The advantages of this approach with respect to application of monochromatic x-ray diffraction and other techniques are discussed. Experiments to demonstrate the applications of the method have been performed on the α → β phase transition in Si at high pressures using a diamond anvil cell. We present the characterization of microstructures across the α–β phase transition, such as morphology of both the parent and product phases, relative orientation of single-crystals, and deviatoric strains. Subtle inhomogeneous strain of the single-crystal sample caused by lattice rotations becomes detectable with the approach.
Longitudinal validation of the Brief Index of Lupus Damage.

Objective To provide further validation of the Brief Index of Lupus Damage (BILD), assessing its sensitivity to change in disease status and ability to predict mortality risk. Methods Data were from the University of California, San Francisco Lupus Outcomes Study (n = 958), in which the BILD was administered twice, approximately 5 years apart. We examined disease activity and health care utilization among participants who completed the BILD twice (n = 745). We identified increases in disease activity and utilization that would suggest a disease flare between the 2 BILD administrations and compared their occurrence by BILD score increases (0, 1, 2, 3, >3). Deaths were ascertained when annual interviews were attempted. Kaplan-Meier life-table analysis compared mortality rates for 4 groups of initial BILD scores (0, 1, 2, ≥3), and differences were tested using a log rank test. Using Cox proportional hazards models, we estimated the risk of death associated with higher BILD scores. Results BILD score increases were associated with spikes in disease activity (P = 0.05) and physician visits (P = 0.004) over baseline, and with hospitalizations (P 3, 84% were hospitalized prior to the second BILD. During followup, there were 60 deaths (6.3%). BILD scores of 2 (hazard ratio [HR] 6.1, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.3–30.0) and ≥3 (HR 10.8, 95% CI 2.5–46.2) were associated with higher risk of death. Conclusion This analysis provides evidence of the predictive validity of the BILD and its ability to detect change. While not intended to replace clinical evaluation of disease damage, the BILD appears to be a useful tool for research.
Detection of Correlations in tRNA Sequences with Structural Implications

Using an flexible representation of biological sequences, we have performed a comparative analysis of 1208 known tRNA sequences. We believe we our technique is a more sensitive method for detecting structural and functional relationships in sets of aligned sequences because we use a flexible representation (for sequences), as well as a general statistical method that can detect a wide range of relationships between positions in a sequence. Our method utilizes functional classifications of the sequence building-blocks (nucleotide bases and amino acids) based on physical or chemical properties. This flexibility in sequence representation improves the significance of finding sequence relationships mediated by the defining property. For example, using a purine/pyrimidine classification, we can detect base-stacking interactions in sets of nucleotide sequences that form base-paired helices. We use several statistical measures, including Z2-tests, Monte Carlo simulations and an information measure to detect significant correlations in sequences. In this paper we illustrate our method by analyzing a set of tRNA sequences and showing that the correlations our program discovers, in each case, correspond to the known base-pairing and higher order interactions observed in tRNA crystal structures. Furthermore, we show that novel and interesting features of tRNAs are detected when sequence correlations with the charged amino acid (and anticodon) are evaluated. This tecba~ique is a powerful method for predicting the structure of RNAs and for analyzing specific functional characteristics.
Increased summertime heat stress in the US

In the past half century, the mean summertime temperature in the United States has increased1,4, with nights warming more than days5,6. When humidity is high, hot weather can cause heat stress in humans. Here we show that the frequency of extreme heat-stress events in the United States, caused by extremely hot and humid days as well as by heatwaves lasting for several days, has increased over the period from 1949 to 1995.