cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recrystallized silicon-on-alumina as a monolithic circuit technology

A microwave monolithic technology based on zone-melt recrystallization (ZMR) of silicon films on alumina substrates using a phosphosilicate glass (PSG) buffer layer is described. While initial recrystallization results confirm the difficulty of obtaining device-quality films with a thermally mismatched substrate, the planarity and viscoelastic strain relief introduced by the PSG indicate that the technology should be feasible. A surface-oriented p-i-n diode device structure has been developed which is compatible with the recrystallized silicon films. Results obtained with this process using single-crystal substrates demonstrate the feasibility of the device structure. The potential of high-power monolithic control circuits is discussed. This technology particularly attractive for phased-array antenna modules from 1 to 5 GHz. >
Effects of UVB radiation on marine and freshwater organisms: a synthesis through meta‐analysis

Ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation is a global stressor with potentially far-reaching ecological impacts. In the first quantitative analysis of the effects of UVB on aquatic organisms, we used meta-analytic techniques to explore the effects of UVB on survival and growth in freshwater and marine systems. Based on the large body of literature on the effects of UVB in aquatic systems, we predicted that UVB would have different effects in different habitats, experimental venues, trophic groups and life history stages. Contrary to our predictions, we found an overall negative effect of UVB on both survival and growth that crossed life histories, trophic groups, habitats and experimental venues. UVB had larger negative effects on growth in embryos compared with later life history stages. Despite the overall negative effect of UVB, effect sizes varied widely. In the survival analyses, no relationship between mean effect size and taxonomic groups or levels of exposure to UVB was detected. In the growth analyses, a larger negative effect on protozoans was observed. Our analyses suggest that the effects of UVB in aquatic systems are large and negative but highly variable between organisms. Variation in susceptibility may have important implications for population and community structure.
DE-AEC: A differential evolution algorithm based on adaptive evolution control

A new differential evolution algorithm DE-AEC, is proposed based on adaptive evolution control utilizing the information provided by a surrogate model. The algorithm is useful for optimization problems with expensive function evaluations, because it can significantly reduce the number of true function evaluations. Specifically DE-AEC generates multiple offspring for each parent and chooses the promising one based on the accuracy and the predicted function value of the current surrogate model. The model's accuracy is also used as an indicator of potential false convergence and special measures are taken to improve the convergence reliability. Simulation results on a set of fifteen test functions show that, compared to an already improved DE algorithm DE-AEC reduces the number of true function evaluations by 30%-80% for fourteen functions in the achievement of either low-level (10-2 ) or high-level (10-8 ) accuracy.
Vaginal microbicide preferences among Midwestern urban adolescent women.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess adolescent women's preferences for specific microbicide characteristics including pregnancy prevention, timing of application, potential for side effects, and whether it targeted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or other sexually transmitted infections (STI). Potential differences in microbicide preferences by adolescent age group and behavioral patterns including engaging in sexual intercourse and use of hormonal contraception were examined, as it was hypothesized that as adolescents progress into adulthood and gain sexual experience their preferences in microbicide characteristics may shift. Method Adolescent and young women (N = 405, 56.0% African American; 24.0% Euro-American) between the ages of 14 and 20 (mean = 17.0, SD = 1.8) were recruited from urban community-based clinics. Video-Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviews were conducted with the young women, during which they were asked about their preferences regarding the characteristics of hypothetical vaginal microbicides. Conjoint analysis was utilized to determine adolescent women's relative preferences for each microbicide characteristic and intent-to-purchase microbicides based upon a combination of the selected properties. Results Overall, the results suggest adolescent and young women had an ordered preference for a microbicide with (1) no side effects, (2) pregnancy prevention, (3) postcoital application, and (4) protection against HIV. Age and behavioral group conjoint analyses resulted in the same pattern of preferences as those reported for the entire group. However, women having sex and not using hormonal contraception had a stronger preference for postcoital application. Conclusion The findings suggest that young women's ratings of microbicides were sensitive to characteristics such as side effects, pregnancy prevention, and timing of application and should be considered in microbicide development. The conjoint analysis approach is useful in understanding microbicide preferences, and should be utilized with other populations to assess preferences for specific microbicide characteristics.
Holism and Reductionism within Applied Behavioral Science: The Problem of Clinical Medicine

This article addresses the debate within the applied behavioral sciences over two paradigms:holism versus reductionism. A review of the literature reveals substantial support for the holistic approach, but most of the applied perspectives employed by policy practitioners are reductionist in character. Through a "sociology of knowledge" evaluation of clinical medicine-one of the most successful applied behavioral sciences-the prevalence of reductionism is related to several social structural factors, including the organizational and normative structure of the practitioner group and the broader interest structure of society. The author presents evidence indicating that the same factors account for the predominance of reductionism in all applied behavioral sciences.
Measurement of Elastic Properties of Kerogen

Summary To have good understanding of elastic properties of organic shale, it is fundamental to know the elastic properties of its mineral components. Kerogen is the most important component of organic shale, but information about its elastic properties is scarce. We have measured ultrasonic velocities on 9 laboratory isolated kerogen samples from Green River shale in Colorado. From data measured on both dry and saturated samples, we can invert the bulk modulus of kerogen using the Gassmanm equation, Reuss bound and Voigt bound. The bulk modulus of kerogen is estimated to lie around 3.5-5 GPa. We have also argued that the shear modulus of kerogen is around half of the bulk modulus. Sample description and molding The process of isolating kerogen from source rocks is complicated and time consuming, thus kerogen samples are very precious. For some kerogen samples, only a very tiny amount (less than half of one gram) is available for ultrasonic measurement. The kerogen samples are mostly in the form of powder (Figure 1) and some are in the form of small chunks. The colors vary from brown to black. All the kerogen samples belong to Type I kerogen. These 9 samples are classified into two groups: five samples are brown and appear less oily, which seems to be in early maturation stage; the other four samples are in dark brown to black color and oily, which seems in later maturation stage as shown in Figure 2. And they are all from Green River basin, Colorado. Measurement equipment and procedure
Diet and Habitat of Northern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) in the Black Hills of South Dakota

ABSTRACT. During the summers of 2005 and 2006, northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus Shaw) were live-captured in the northern Black Hills of South Dakota from mixed deciduous/coniferous and coniferous habitats. Squirrel captures were significantly correlated with volume of downed wood and number of snags. Diets were examined from scat collections (n = 40, deciduous/coniferous; n = 10, coniferous). Number of fungal spores in the scat was significantly correlated with number of snags. From each scat collection, the frequencies of plant, animal, fungal, and unidentified components were determined. Hypogeous fungi were a frequent component of the diet, being found in 98.3% and 78.8% of the scat observed in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, as the frequency of dietary fungi decreased, the frequency of plant material increased from <1.0% to 8.0% and frequency of unidentified material increased from 2.0% to 74.0%. Animal content in the scat was negligible (<1.0% to 1.0%) Rhizopogon was the most frequently occurrin...
Site-Specific Knowledge and Interference Measurement for Improving Frequency Allocations in Wireless Networks

We present new frequency allocation schemes for wireless networks and show that they outperform all other published work. Two categories of schemes are presented: 1) those purely based on measurements and 2) those that use site-specific knowledge, which refers to knowledge of building layouts, the locations and electrical properties of access points (APs), users, and physical objects. In our site-specific knowledge-based algorithms, a central network controller communicates with all APs and has site-specific knowledge so that it can a priori predict the received power from any transmitter to any receiver. Optimal frequency assignments are based on predicted powers to minimize interference and maximize throughput. In our measurement-based algorithms, clients periodically report in situ interference measurements to their associated APs; then, the APs' frequency allocations are adjusted based on the reported measurements. Unlike other work, we minimize interference seen by both users and APs, use a physical model rather than a binary model for interference, and mitigate the impact of rogue interference. Our algorithms consistently yield high throughput gains, irrespective of the network topology, AP activity level, number of APs, rogue interferers, and available channels. Our algorithms outperform the best published work by 18.5%, 97.6%, and 1180% for median, 25th percentile, and 15th percentile user throughputs, respectively.
Severe paediatric systemic lupus erythematosus nephritis—a single-centre experience

Background. Paediatric patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) often have severe presentations including lupus nephritis (LN). Few paediatric studies have evaluated the anticardiolipin antibody (aCL) and renal histology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinicopathologic features, including aCL, short-term clinical and renal histologic outcomes of paediatric patients with new-onset SLE nephritis. Methods. We conducted a single centre, retrospective inception cohort study. Charts were reviewed at presentation (initial renal biopsy), 6-month (follow-up biopsy) and 12-month follow-up. Results. The population consisted of 21 patients (median age, 14.5 years): 19/21 were female, 6/21 African American, 3/21 Asian, 9/21 Caucasian and 3/21 Hispanic. At presentation, 19/21 had elevated aCL, 15/21 hypertensive, 12/21 nephrotic and 7/21 required haemodialysis (HD)—2/7 HD patients had thrombotic microangiopathy, 1/7 crescentic glomerulonephritis. Two patients had thromboembolism: both had aCL, were taking oral contraceptives and required HD, one was nephrotic and the other had elevated lupus anticoagulant. Initial biopsies revealed 6/21 ISN/RPS class II nephritis, 3/21 class III, 7/21 class IV and 5/21 class V Treatment consisted of methylprednisolone, corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide or mycophenolate mofetil. Follow-up biopsies revealed 12/13 to have improved histology. Indication for a follow-up biopsy was severe illness at presentation. At 12-month follow-up, no patients were nephrotic (P < 0.001) or required HD (P < 0.001), and 3/14 had elevated aCL (P < 0.001). Conclusion. Elevated aCL, hypertension, nephrotic syndrome and need for HD were common presentations among our paediatric SLE nephritis population. Renal histology and aCL were helpful in the therapeutic management.
Preparation, characterization, and optimization of an in vitro C30 carotenoid pathway.

The ispA gene encoding farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) synthase from Escherichia coli and the crtM gene encoding 4,4′-diapophytoene (DAP) synthase from Staphylococcus aureus were overexpressed and purified for use in vitro. Steady-state kinetics for FPP synthase and DAP synthase, individually and in sequence, were determined under optimized reaction conditions. For the two-step reaction, the DAP product was unstable in aqueous buffer; however, in situ extraction using an aqueous-organic two-phase system resulted in a 100% conversion of isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate into DAP. This aqueous-organic two-phase system is the first demonstration of an in vitro carotenoid synthesis pathway performed with in situ extraction, which enables quantitative conversions. This approach, if extended to a wide range of isoprenoid-based pathways, could lead to the synthesis of novel carotenoids and their derivatives.
TOFU: Semi-Truthful Online Frequency Allocation Mechanism for Wireless Networks

In wireless networks, we need to allocate spectrum efficiently. One challenge is that the spectrum usage requests often come in an online fashion. The second challenge is that the secondary users in a cognitive radio network are often selfish and prefer to maximize their own benefits. In this paper, we address these two challenges by proposing TOFU, a semi-truthful online frequency allocation method for wireless networks when primary users can sublease the spectrums to secondary users. In our protocol, secondary users are required to submit the spectrum bid α time slots before its usage. Upon receiving an online spectrum request, our protocol will decide whether to grant its exclusive usage or not, within at least γ time slots of requests' arrival. We assume that existing spectrum usage can be preempted with some compensation. For various possible known information, we analytically prove that the competitive ratios of our methods are within small constant factors of the optimum online method. Furthermore, in our mechanisms, no selfish users will gain benefits by bidding lower than their willing payment. Our extensive simulation results show that they perform almost optimum: Our methods get a total profit that is more than 95% of the offline optimum when γ is about the duration of spectrum usage Δ.
Multiphase Flow Dynamics

The subject of two- or multiphase flow has become increasingly important in a wide variety of engineering systems for their optimum design and safe operations. It is, however, by no means limited to today’s modern industrial technology, and multiphase flow phenomena which require better understandings. Some of the important applications are listed below. A phase is simply one of the states of matter and can be a gas, either a liquid, or a solid. Multiphase flow is the simultaneous flow of several phases. Two-phase flow is the simplest case of multiphase flow.
Transgenic incorporation of skeletal TnT into cardiac myofilaments blunts PKC-mediated depression of force

Protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated phosphorylation of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and troponin T (cTnT) has been shown to diminish maximum activation of myofilaments. The functional role of cTnI phospho...
Belief in Food Addiction and Obesity-Related Policy Support

Objectives This study examines whether belief in the food addiction construct is associated with support for obesity-related policies (e.g., restrictions on foods served in schools and workplace cafeterias, subsidies on fruits and vegetables), while simultaneously examining other factors associated with policy support (e.g., political party affiliation). Design Cross-sectional. Setting Online Community. Participants 200 individuals were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Measurements Participants (n = 193) responded to three questions about belief in food addiction and a measure evaluating support for 13 obesity-related policy initiatives. Individuals also completed the modified Yale Food Addiction Scale (mYFAS), self-reported height and weight, and provided demographic information (age, gender, race, political party affiliation). Results Belief in food addiction was significantly associated with greater support for obesity-related initiatives, even when accounting for the significant associations of age, gender, and political party. Belief in food addiction and political party both had moderate effect sizes for predicting support for obesity-related policy. There was an interaction between age and belief in food addiction, with significant associations with policy support for both younger and older individuals, though the effect was larger for younger participants. Conclusion The current study provides evidence that belief in food addiction is associated with increased obesity-related policy support, comparable to the influence of one’s political party. Growing evidence for the role of an addictive process in obesity may have important implications for public support of obesity-related policy initiatives.
The ocean and the urban: Poe's “The Oblong Box”

ABSTRACTAt the end of Poe's oceanic tale “The Oblong Box,” the narrator makes the surprising confession that despite having solved the mystery of what lay inside the mysterious “box,” he rarely “sleeps soundly at night.” Given Poe's propensity for narrating the return of bodies, why might the loss, rather than the return, of a coffin evoke horror from the narrator in this tale at sea? This essay considers the ways that oceanic and urban spaces were constructed as interrelated and codependent, though contrasted, in antebellum literature. As opposed to the city, a space of surfaces and solidified forms, the ocean's fluidity presents a limitless depth, unable to be contained by figures like the city streets and solid geometric forms found in the true crime reporting of antebellum New York and imagined throughout Poe's urban detective fictions. The essay reads Poe's oceanic tale “The Oblong Box” in relation to conventions of detective and gothic fiction and with influence from studies of oceanic and spatial s...
The Supreme Court and Religious Liberty in the Public Schools

I oday one of the most challenging and controversial subjects in the area of church-state relations continues to be that of reli gion in public education. In addition to the widespread coverage given the subject by television and the popular press, numerous scholarly articles and books on religion and the schools have also been published.1 Although the ultimate issue addressed by this essay is likewise the relationship between religion and the public schools, the essay is not entitled "Religion and the Public Schools" but rather "Religious Liberty in the Public Schools." The latter wording was chosen over the former because of two beliefs firmly held by the author. The first is that any proposed resolution of the issue concerning religion and the schools should be one that protects and enhances as much as possible the religious liberty of all the parties who have a stake in the resolu tion of the issue. The second belief is that the same issue has the
Fashioning Appetite: Restaurants and the Making of Modern Identity

In Fashioning Appetite: Restaurants and the Making of Modern Identity, sociologist Joanne Finkelstein explores the connections between the rise of restaurants in nineteenth- and twentieth-century W...
Oracle-guided incremental SAT solving to reverse engineer camouflaged logic circuits

Layout-level gate camouflaging has attracted interest as a countermeasure against reverse engineering of combinational logic. In order to minimize area overhead, typically only a subset of gates in a circuit are camouflaged, and each camouflaged gate layout can implement a few different logic functions. The security of camouflaging relies on the difficulty of learning the overall combinational logic function without knowing which logic functions the camouflaged gates implement.
Epidemiological characteristics of syphilis in Shihe District of Xinyang City from 2005-2012

[Objective]To understand epidemiological characteristics of syphilis in Shihe District of Xinyang City from 2005-2012, provide a scientific basis for the development of prevention and control strategies.[Methods]The epidemic data of syphilis from the Infectious diseases reporting information management system in Shihe District from 2005-2012 were collected and analyzed. [Results]A total of 462 cases of syphilis were reported in Shihe District in 8 years,the average annual reported incidence rate was 920 / lakh,and the reported incidence rate was 25. 12lakh in 2012. The cases of early syphilis accounted for 61. 04%. The male-tofemale ratio was 0. 65∶ 1,and the number of female patients was larger than that of male patients. The youngest and oldest patient was 3 days old and 87 years old respectively,and 20-49 year-old age group accounted for 66. 02%. Farmers and migrant workers accounted for 35. 06%.[Conclusion]The incidence rate of syphilis in Shihe District of Xinyang City is increasing rapidly. Comprehensive prevention and control measures should be taken,which include the intervention in key population,the prevention of mother-to-child transmission,and improving the quality of epidemic situation report.
The experiment for occupational tricholoroethylene(TCE) poisoning

Objective To detect environmental sampling and urine specimens and analyse the volatile composition in solvent named "board-washing water" from a communication apparatus company, with the aim of providing scientific basis for diagonosis and treatment of occupational disease. Methods Air concentration of trichloroethylene(TCE) in workplace and level of urinary trichloroactic acid (TCA)of workers were determined by gas chromatography(GC) and headspace GC, respectively. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry(GC/MS) was applied to analyse the volatile composition in "board-washing water". Results The air concentration of TCE in the three representative sampling sites was from 31.2 mg/m3 to 120.1 mg/m3 and the average is 72.5mg/m3, 2.4 times higher than the national maximum allowable concentration . In the "board-washing water" , 93.24% of TCE has been detected. The average level of urinary TCA in workers exposed to TCE was 51.86±24.09 mg/L, significantly higher than control one (P0.001). Conclusions Combined with epidemiology information, we could concerned that this occupational poisoning was caused by TCE.
Discussion on the Culture Mechanism of Editing Personnel of Scientific Periodicals

To establish an effective personnel training mechanism is an effective way to speed up the pace of editing personnel of scientific periodicals. The paper has put forward the importance of establishing personnel training mechanism, and discussed practical way of editing personnel growth.
Winter Wheat Response to Nitrogen under Simulated Winterkill Conditions

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important crop in North America. Winterkill can reduce plant populations, subsequently causing significant yield losses. Agronomic management to mitigate yield losses associated with winterkill could be very important to wheat growers. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the potential of spring N fertilization to mitigate wheat winterkill-related yield loss. Field experiments were conducted in Wisconsin during the 2007–2008 and 2009–2010 growing seasons at two locations. Five seeding rates (in million seeds ha–¹) and simulated winterkill treatments (percentages, shown in parentheses) (1.85 (60%), 2.47 (45%), 3.09 (30%), 3.70 (15%), and 4.32 (0%)) and five urea N rates (0, 34, 67, 101, and 134 kg ha⁻¹) were applied. Simulated winterkill in the form of lower spring plant populations significantly reduced wheat yield, tiller and head formation, and harvested grain quality. Nitrogen fertilization did not fully mitigate the negative effects of winterkill on yield and head population. When wheat followed oat (Avena sativa L. var. nuda), 89 and 119 kg ha⁻¹ N maximized yield, whereas when soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] preceded wheat, 43 kg ha⁻¹ N maximized yield regardless of the winterkill level. Spring N fertilization reduced test weight by 5% in two out of three sites. The overall results suggest that additional N fertilization did not mitigate winterkill-related impacts on wheat yield. Plant breeding focused on winter-hardy cultivars and the potential of other agronomic factors to mitigate the impact of winterkill on wheat yield and quality should be evaluated.
Chitosan-alginate nanoparticles (CANPs) as potential nanosorbent for removal of Hg (II) ions

Abstract Chitosan-alginate nanoparticles were prepared using microemulsion method for removal of Hg (II) ions from aqueous solutions and optimization was done in terms of two biopolymers, crosslinker concentrations. Plausible interactions between the material and Hg(II) ions were explored after adsorption and explained by characterizing by various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Scanning electron microscopy(SEM), Particle size and Zeta-potential measurements. The adsorption capacity was evaluated by studying various parameters such as the effect of pH (optimum value 5 for adsorption and 1 for desorption), contact time (optimum value 90 min), adsorbent dose (optimum value 200 mg), initial metal ion concentration (optimum value 4 mg/L) and temperature (optimum value 30 °C). The maximum adsorption capacity of CANPs for Hg (II) was found to be 217.39 mg/g at 30 °C which is claimed to be one of the exceptionally obtained highest values reported in the literature so far. The equilibrium sorption data were fitted satisfactorily to the Langmuir adsorption model with R2 value of 0.96054. The progress of adsorption process was found to follow the second order kinetics. The results obtained in this study proved that the prepared biopolymer nanomaterial could be an effective and economically viable adsorbent for removal of Hg (II) ions. Moreover, the nanoparticles can be regenerated and reused subsequent for the metal removal.
My response to Nartoni's answer to postman's technopoly

L'A. presente les points de vue de Nartonis (D.) et Postman (N.) sur la nature de la technologie et la relation des techniques et des machines vis-a-vis de la culture
X-ray fluorescence measurements of dissolved gas and cavitation

The dynamics of dissolved gas and cavitation are strongly coupled, yet these phenomena are difficult to measure in-situ. Both create voids in the fluid that can be difficult to distinguish. We present an application of X-ray fluorescence in which liquid density and total noncondensible gas concentration (both dissolved and nucleated) are simultaneously measured. The liquid phase is doped with 400 ppm of a bromine tracer, and dissolved air is removed and substituted with krypton. Fluorescent emission at X-ray wavelengths is simultaneously excited from the Br and Kr with a focused monochromatic X-ray beam from a synchrotron source. We measure the flow in a cavitating nozzle 0.5 mm in diameter. From Br fluorescence, total displacement of the liquid is measured. From Kr fluorescence, the mass fraction of both dissolved and nucleated gas is measured. Volumetric displacement of liquid due to both cavitation and gas precipitation can be separated through estimation of the local equilibrium dissolved mass fraction. The uncertainty in the line of sight projected densities of the liquid and gas phases is 4–6 %. The high fluorescence yields and energies of Br and Kr allow small mass fractions of gas to be measured, down to 10−5, with an uncertainty of 8 %. These quantitative measurements complement existing optical diagnostic techniques and provide new insight into the diffusion of gas into cavitation bubbles, which can increase their internal density, pressure and lifetimes by orders of magnitude.
Directing 3D Topological Defects in Smectic Liquid Crystals and Their Applications as an Emerging Class of Building Blocks

Controlling topological defects in three-dimensional (3D) liquid crystals (LCs) with complex geometries is not only a scientific curiosity but also crucial to the development of advanced technologies, including displays, sensors and self-assembly of nanostructures. It was not until recently that the smectic phase of LCs, characterized by arrangement of anisotropic molecules into layers with the long molecular axis parallel to the layer normal, has drawn significant interests because in thin film geometry topological defects known as focal conic domains (FCDs) can self-organize into a variety of highly regular micro- and nanostructures over a large area. Depending on surface anchoring at interfaces and elastic properties of smectic LCs, FCDs of different size and symmetry can be obtained by tailoring surface chemistry and physical confinement from chemically or topographically patterned substrates. This chapter will review the recent advances in design of geometric confinement of smectic LCs with uniform and mixed surface anchoring to control FCD formation, its size, size distribution and packing symmetries. We then discuss the applications of these highly ordered structures to various technologies, including patterning, smart surfaces, microlen arrays and directed self-assembly of functional materials (e.g. nanoparticles). The review concludes with perspectives on future directions and potential technological impacts.
Immunotherapy based approaches in myelofibrosis

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Aberrant regulation of the immune system with up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines contributes to disease pathophysiology in myelofibrosis (MF). Therapeutic options for MF associated anemia, thrombocytopenia, and bone marrow fibrosis remain limited.Areas covered: This review focuses on immune based therapies in MF, including immunomodulatory imide drugs (IMiDs), interferons, monoclonal antibodies and targeted agents (SL-401), and checkpoint inhibitors. Published literature was reviewed using available databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus) and web pages (clinicaltrials.gov). IMiDs, such as thalidomide, lenalidomide and pomalidomide, have demonstrated efficacy in treating MF associated cytopenias. Interferon-alpha may be beneficial in early phase MF due to its effects on neoplastic bone marrow. Monoclonal antibodies are designed to target overexpressed antigens on tumor cells and induce targeted cell death by either delivering a toxic payload, or to unleash anti-tumor T-cells by ...
Trends in onroad transportation energy and emissions.

ABSTRACTGlobally, 1.3 billion on-road vehicles consume 79 quadrillion BTU of energy, mostly gasoline and diesel fuels, emit 5.7 gigatonnes of CO2, and emit other pollutants to which approximately 2...
Effects of Treatment-Associated Increases in Fruit and Vegetable Intake on the Consumption of Other Food Groups and Weight Through Self-Regulatory Processes.

CONTEXT Increased intake of fruits and vegetables (FV) may be useful for weight loss. OBJECTIVE This study was designed to evaluate the effects of changes in FV intake on the overall diet and to determine if self-regulation affects the association between changes in FV intake and weight. METHODS Women with obesity (N = 74, mean age = 47.7 years) participating in a year-long behavioral weight-loss treatment were assessed regarding changes in consumption of various food groups, physical activity, and eating self-regulation over 6, 12, and 24 months. RESULTS FV intake change significantly predicted changes in weight and consumption of dairy and bread products and sweets. The only other notable relationships were among changes in sweets, bread, and dairy consumption over 24 months. Over 6, 12, and 24 months, changes in self-regulation significantly mediated the FV intake-weight change relationship. The overall mediation models were significant (R2 values = 0.19, 0.13, and 0.32, respectively). A reciprocal relationship between changes in FV intake and self-regulation also was found. Significant increases in physical activity outputs did not influence weight changes. CONCLUSION Findings supported a relationship between FV intake and weight loss occurring through self-regulatory skills. Associations between FV intake and reduced consumption of other food groups provided data useful for improving the architecture of behavioral weight-loss treatments and the foci of medical practitioners' helping methods.
Anwendung der Hodographenmethode in der Theorie Schallnaher Strömungen

Die Hodographenmethode ist vor anderen Methoden der Gasdynamik dadurch ausgezeichnet, das in ihr die Stromungsdifferentialgleichung linear ist. Im schallnahen Gebiet ist die Linearisierung in der Stromungsebene, wie man sie bei Unterschall und Uberschall kennt, unmoglich, und daher hat die Hodographenmethode in diesem Falle besonderen Wert.
Genetic Improvement of Beef Cattle in the United States: Cattle, People and Their Interaction

The purpose of this essay is to develop a historic perspective of the beef cattle population and the legion of people directing its genetic change so that future leadership can increase the rate of breeding technology assimilation. Use of cattle for beef to feed millions is relatively recent. The beef industry of the United States has a rich, romantic heritage that combined Spanish exploitation with British tradition. Spanish cattle became adapted as the Texas longhorn and the European cattle became indigenous. Breeds developed in Britain replaced both. The Zebu was introduced to produce cattle adapted to the Gulf Coast. Selection for early maturity in the British breeds promoted by livestock shows was ended by the dwarf gene. The Charolais breed demonstrated growth potential. Then in 1967, Continental European breeds were imported, given an array of biological types from which to select. Beef cattle breeding research expanded after the second world war through the three regional projects. Performance Registry International was the focal point for performance. The Beef Improvement Federation produced guidelines for recording beef performance including those for national sire evaluation. U.S. Meat Animal Research Center evaluated the several newly introduced breeds. To date, breeding researchers have developed breeding technology for the use by breeder. The major breed association are keeping and utilizing performance records. The genetic structure of the beef breeds is being altered by the use of AI such that genetic change can be made rapidly by the use of superior sires evaluated on their progeny in many herds.
A Matched Observational Study

As a prelude to several chapters describing the construction of a matched control group, the current chapter presents an example of a matched observational study as it might (and did) appear in a scientific journal. When reporting a matched observational study, the matching methods are described very briefly in the Methods section. In more detail, the Results section presents tables or figures showing that the matching has been effective in balancing certain observed covariates, so that treated and control groups are comparable with respect to these specific variables. The Results section then compares outcomes in treated and control groups. Because matching has arranged matters to compare ostensibly comparable groups, the comparison of outcomes is often both simpler in form and more detailed in content than it might be if separate adjustments were required for each aspect of each outcome. Treated and control groups that appear comparable in terms of a specific list of measured covariates – groups that are ostensibly comparable – may nonetheless differ in terms of covariates that were not measured. Though not discussed in the current chapter, the important issue of unmeasured covariates in this example is discussed in Part III.
Remarkable glass transition breadths up to 120 K exhibited by block-gradient copolymers and by gradient copolymers plasticized by oligomer

Abstract The glass transition temperature (Tg) breadth of gradient copolymers can be dramatically increased by covalent attachment of homopolymer (or random copolymer heavy in one comonomer) leading to block-gradient copolymers or by blending with oligomer. Styrene/n-butyl acrylate (S/nBA) and styrene/4-vinyl pyridine (S/4VP) gradient and block-gradient copolymers were synthesized by one-pot, semi-batch nitroxide-mediated polymerization. The glass transition responses were characterized using derivative heat flow curves from differential scanning calorimetry. For moderately segregating S/nBA gradient copolymer, covalently attaching a homopolymer or quasi-homopolymer block leads to nanophase separation with extreme local compositions closer to those of neat S or neat nBA repeat units. The achievement of such extreme local compositions results in significant Tg breadth increases (from 87 K for gradient copolymer up to 120 K in the block-gradient copolymer) and the onset or endpoint of the block-gradient copolymer Tg breadth being close or equal to the Tg of high molecular weight (MW) polystyrene (PS) or poly(n-butyl acrylate). Equally notable, with 20 wt% PS oligomer blended as selective plasticizer, the Tg breadth of a strongly segregating S/4VP gradient copolymer nearly triples relative to that of neat gradient copolymer (109 K vs. 38 K) and exhibits an onset ∼80 K below the onset of neat gradient copolymer and the Tg of high MW PS. Besides its scientific significance in tuning local compositions accessible in nanophase-separated gradient copolymers, this study provides powerful tools for the design of gradient copolymer systems for potential applications as damping materials that are effective over extraordinarily broad temperature ranges.
Genomic variants concurrently listed in a somatic and a germline mutation database have implications for disease-variant discovery and genomic privacy

Background: Mutations arise in the human genome in two major settings: the germline and soma. These settings involve different inheritance patterns, chromatin structures, and environmental exposures, all of which might be predicted to differentially affect the distribution of substitutions found in these settings. Nonetheless, recent studies have found that somatic and germline mutation rates are similarly affected by endogenous mutational processes and epigenetic factors. Results: Here, we quantified the number of single nucleotide variants that co-occur between somatic and germline call-sets (cSNVs), compared this quantity with expectations, and explained noted departures. We found that three times as many variants are shared between the soma and germline than is expected by independence. We developed a new, general-purpose statistical framework to explain the observed excess of cSNVs in terms of the varying mutation rates of different kinds substitution types and of genomic regions. Using this metric, we find that more than 90% of this excess can be explained by our observation that the basic substitution types (such as N[C->T]G, C->A, etc.) have correlated mutation rates in the germline and soma. Matched-normal read depth analysis suggests that an appreciable fraction of this excess may also derive from germline contamination of somatic samples. Conclusion: Overall, our results highlight the commonalities in substitution patterns between the germline and soma. The universality of some aspects of human mutation rates offers insight into the potential molecular mechanisms of human mutation. The highlighted similarities between somatic and germline mutation rates also lay the groundwork for future studies that distinguish disease-causing variants from a genomic background informed by both somatic and germline variant data. Moreover, our results also indicate that the depth of matched normal sequencing necessary to ensure genomic privacy of donors of somatic samples may be higher than previously appreciated. Furthermore, the fact that we were able to explain such a high portion of recurrent variants using known determinants of mutation rates is evidence that the genomics community has already discovered the most important determinants of mutation rates.
Identifying Potentially Avoidable Hospitalizations in Medicare Patients With Prostate Cancer: A Retrospective Analysis

PURPOSE:If identifiable, potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAHs) can serve as an important target for cost containment efforts in oncology.METHODS:PAHs among a cohort of Medicare patients wit...
Tilted-Pulse-Front Space-Time Wave Packets

Tilted-pulse-front pulses, which are produced via dispersive devices that introduce angular dispersion, are useful in many areas of nonlinear optics. Such pulses typically have large transverse cro...
Resolving Phylogenetic Relationships for Streptococcus mitis and Streptococcus oralis through Core- and Pan-Genome Analyses

Taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships of Streptococcus mitis and Streptococcus oralis have been difficult to establish biochemically and genetically. We used core-genome analyses of S. mitis and S. oralis, as well as the closely related species Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus parasanguinis, to clarify the phylogenetic relationships between S. mitis and S. oralis, as well as within subclades of S. oralis. All S. mitis (n = 67), S. oralis (n = 89), S. parasanguinis (n = 27), and 27 S. pneumoniae genome assemblies were downloaded from NCBI and reannotated. All genes were delineated into homologous clusters and maximum-likelihood phylogenies built from putatively nonrecombinant core gene sets. Population structure was determined using Bayesian genome clustering, and patristic distance was calculated between populations. Population-specific gene content was assessed using a phylogenetic-based genome-wide association approach. Streptococcus mitis and S. oralis formed distinct clades, but species mixing suggests taxonomic misassignment. Patristic distance between populations suggests that S. oralis subsp. dentisani is a distinct species, whereas S. oralis subsp. tigurinus and subsp. oralis are supported as subspecies, and that S. mitis comprises two subspecies. None of the genes within the pan-genomes of S. mitis and S. oralis could be statistically correlated with either, and the dispensable genomes showed extensive variation among isolates. These are likely important factors contributing to established overlap in biochemical characteristics for these taxa. Based on core-genome analysis, the substructure of S. oralis and S. mitis should be redefined, and species assignments within S. oralis and S. mitis should be made based on whole-genome analysis to be robust to misassignment.
Safe Supra-Acetabular Pin Insertion in Relation to Intraosseous Depth.

In pelvic fractures, dysfunction of the pelvic ring is often stabilized with supra-acetabular pin insertion. In existing literature, there are heterogeneous indications on proper pins selection and inclinations. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the narrowing of safe pin corridors in the transverse and sagittal planes with increments of intraosseous screw depths. A computer algorithm created cross-sections over three-dimensional pelvic reconstructions at sagittal inclinations from 45° cranial to 45° caudal in 5° increments. Templates of screw depths spanning 60-120 mm in 15 mm increments were disposed in the transverse plane from 45° medial to 45° lateral. Each intraosseous screw depth and transverse angle were evaluated for intraosseous containment to evaluate ranges narrowing with increasing screw depths. The 60-mm depth resulted in the largest sagittal range (60.9° ± 6.9°) and transverse range (27.5° ± 4.1°) at 30° caudal. Increasing depths by 15 mm resulted in ranges being significantly different from one another (p < 0.01). The sagittal plane of 20° cranial had the highest frequency of insertion for all depths, while transverse ranges were narrowed (p < 0.01). Bisecting angles were similar for sagittal planes 20° cranial to 30° caudal with an average of 27.9° ± 1.2° (p ≥ 0.115). In conclusion, while 60 mm depths can be inserted with the highest discretion, 15 mm increments in depth significantly reduce safe ranges. Screws depths above 90 mm have low frequencies of insertion, should be inserted more cranially and must be considered prone to breaching. © 2019 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 37:1790-1797, 2019.
Let’s Make This Personal: Improving the User Experience on Support Portals Through Personalization

Information discovery can be improved by personalizing website content to the known attributes of the user. By filtering out content that is likely to be distracting, the chances a user will find the information they need is improved. In essence, you create a person-centric portal that caters to where that person sits, what they prefer, etc. In the following, we will discuss the benefits as well as some of the user experience challenges we had to overcome in order to deploy an IT Support site that leverages this form of personalization to enhance content, search, browse, navigation and system alerts, across the entire web site.
A 65-nm 8-to-3-b 1.0–0.36-V 9.1–1.1-TOPS/W Hybrid-Digital-Mixed-Signal Computing Platform for Accelerating Swarm Robotics

Low-power edge-intelligence is leading to spectacular advances in smart sensors, actuators, and human–machine interfaces. In particular, energy efficiency is driving key advances in robotics, where low-power computation is augmented with smart control and mechanical systems to enable small-sized and intelligent drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), micro-sized cars, and so on with applications in surveillance, disaster relief, and reconnaissance. Furthermore, for a variety of tasks, swarms of robots are often used as opposed to the individual robots. This article presents an energy-efficient computing platform that can enable a sample class of algorithms for swarm robotics. We demonstrate that both physical-model-based algorithms as well as learning-based algorithms can be supported on the same computing platform. We also demonstrate that with changing swarm sizes, the number of bits required to compute also scales. We take advantage of this observation to propose a hybrid-digital-mixed-signal computing platform, whose energy efficiency scales with the resolution of the data path and hence the swarm size. Measurements on a 65-nm CMOS test-chip demonstrate a peak energy efficiency of 9.1 TOPS/W at a 3-b resolution, and it scales down to 1.1 TOPS/W at an 8-b resolution.
Spectrum sharing via interference tolerant transform domain waveform design

This chapter focuses on the application of spectral diversity via transform domain (TD) waveform design instead of the traditional time domain formulation. The basic idea behind TD waveform design is to address interference at the transmitter and thereby minimize signalprocessing complexities at the receiver [3]. This approach is generalized within the spectrally-modulated-spectrally-encoded (SMSE) framework and includes all multicarrier waveform designs such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and multicarrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA) [4,5] as special cases. These multicarrier SMSE waveforms are utilized in the design of overlay and underlay cognitive radio waveforms. The vast majority of existing research on physical layer spectrum coexistence addresses cognitive radio systems, where the focus is mainly on the sharing of spectrum between multiple communication systems [2,6,7]. In this chapter, we introduce the foundational work for a transform domain communication system (TDCS) and SMSE framework, and then discuss the design of multicarrier communication and radar waveforms based on SMSE.