cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Selective area epitaxy of ultra-high density InGaN quantum dots by diblock copolymer lithography

Highly uniform InGaN-based quantum dots (QDs) grown on a nanopatterned dielectric layer defined by self-assembled diblock copolymer were performed by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The cylindrical-shaped nanopatterns were created on SiN x layers deposited on a GaN template, which provided the nanopatterning for the epitaxy of ultra-high density QD with uniform size and distribution. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements were conducted to investigate the QDs morphology. The InGaN/GaN QDs with density up to 8 × 1010 cm-2 are realized, which represents ultra-high dot density for highly uniform and well-controlled, nitride-based QDs, with QD diameter of approximately 22-25 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) studies indicated the importance of NH3 annealing and GaN spacer layer growth for improving the PL intensity of the SiN x -treated GaN surface, to achieve high optical-quality QDs applicable for photonics devices.
Prophylactic use of antibiotics and immunisations in patients with SLE

Early diagnosis and treatment of infections in SLE is a challenge Over the past several decades, medical research has improved our knowledge about the cause, recognition, and treatment of a variety of infectious diseases. Despite these advances, infections remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) throughout the world.1–3 Almost two decades ago, the Lupus Survival Study Group examined the causes of death of 1103 patients with SLE. Infections accounted for 33% of the deaths, whereas active disease for 31%.4 Table 1 summarises more recent studies, demonstrating the discouraging fact that the percentage of deaths due to infection has changed little since the earlier reports. View this table: Table 1 Infection as a cause of death in patients with SLE Doctors caring for patients with SLE are left to answer the vexing question: how do we control the inflammation related to disease activity without increasing the infection rate? Considering that corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive agents used to control the underlying disease also increase the susceptibility to infections, this is indeed a difficult question. Several strategies may be helpful in decreasing the morbidity and mortality related to infections. ### Simple hygiene Perhaps the simplest strategy is to educate patients and their healthcare providers about the importance of simple hygienic measures such as hand washing in order to reduce the transmission of …
Growth inhibition in mammalian cells exposed to thermal stress

Erhohter Temperatur ausgesetzte Schweinenieren-Zellen produzieren, bei 37 °C kultiviert, Mikrokolonien. Eine Reduktion in der Wachstumsrate ist proportional zur Dauer und Intensitat der Hitzebehandlung und verliert sich im Laufe der weitern Kultivierung.
Linear Riccati Dynamics, Constant Feedback, and Controllability in Linear Quadratic Control Problems

Conditions are derived for linear-quadratic control (LQC) problems to exhibit linear evolution of the Riccati matrix and constancy of the control feedback matrix. One of these conditions involves a matrix upon whose rank a necessary condition and a sufficient condition for controllability are based. Linearity of Riccati evolution allows for rapid iterative calculation, and constancy of the control feedback matrix allows for time-invariant comparative static analysis of policy reactions.
Test-first design pedagogy and support for introductory OO programming: tutorial presentation

The hands-on workshop will show how testing and test-first design can be incorporated into every introductory course on object-oriented programming using Java. We will show the syntax for the tests that use our novice-friendly tester library, and describe the pedagogy we use to enforce test-first design from the very first program students write. The tester library is freely available on our web site with extensive documentation that shows how to use it with Eclipse, NetBeans, BlueJ, or just command-line Java compilation.
Security games for controlling contagion

Many strategic actions carry a 'contagious' component beyond the immediate locale of the effort itself. Viral marketing and peacekeeping operations have both been observed to have a spreading effect. In this work, we use counterinsurgency as our illustrative domain. Defined as the effort to block the spread of support for an insurgency, such operations lack the manpower to defend the entire population and must focus on the opinions of a subset of local leaders. As past researchers of security resource allocation have done, we propose using game theory to develop such policies and model the interconnected network of leaders as a graph. Unlike this past work in security games, actions in these domains possess a probabilistic, non-local impact. To address this new class of security games, we combine recent research in influence blocking maximization with a double oracle approach and create novel heuristic oracles to generate mixed strategies for a real-world leadership network from Afghanistan, synthetic leadership networks, and a real social network. We find that leadership networks that exhibit highly interconnected clusters can be solved equally well by our heuristic methods, but our more sophisticated heuristics outperform simpler ones in less interconnected social networks.
Postoperative pain control with paravertebral catheters after pediatric total pancreatectomy and islet autotransplantation: a retrospective cohort study.

Summary Background Total pancreatectomy and islet autotransplantation (TPIAT) has been used to treat pediatric patients with chronic pancreatitis. The primary symptom of this disease is extreme poorly controlled pain. This results in significant alterations in the quality of life of the patient. We sought to determine if the addition of bilateral thoracic paravertebral catheters with continuous ropivacaine infusion would improve postoperative opioid use and pain control. Methods The medical records of 32 patients who underwent TPIAT from March 2011 to July 2014 were analyzed retrospectively (15 without paravertebral catheters and 17 with paravertebral catheters). Maximum and minimum pain scores, opioid use (mg·kg−1·day−1), percent opioid use above baseline, length of stay, and complications were recorded. Results Those patients who had bilateral thoracic paravertebral catheters had decreased total opioid use in the first 7 days postoperatively when compared to those who did not (612 (95% CI: 432–792) vs 943.7 (95% CI: 650–1237) mg of morphine equivalents; P = 0.043). The total opioid use remained significantly decreased when corrected for weight (12.53 (95% CI: 9.19–15.44) vs 18.85 (95% CI: 13.69–24.03) mg·kg−1 of morphine equivalents; P = 0.03). In addition, those on preoperative opioids had less percent opioid use above baseline on postoperative days 1, 2, and 7 as well as decreased opioid use (mg·kg−1·day−1) on postoperative days 1, 2, 3, and 7. There were no differences in complications or length of stay. Conclusions Bilateral paravertebral catheters may provide decreased opioid use and improved postoperative pain control after TPIAT.
Material and Process Impact on Aircraft Engine Designs of the 1990’s

For at least the next decade, as in the recent past, the materials and process area will assume a major role in the advancement of the propulsion gas turbine industry. The selection of promising material and process technologies, with highest payoff at lowest technical and financial risk, is a major challenge. Technology development programs undertaken in the laboratory are selected, based on design needs, compatibility with payoffs in specific and generic applications, and facilities requirements. Advanced materials and process technology efforts for exploitation include directional superalloys for turbine airfoils, clean superalloy blisk/disk materials, gas path seals for clearance control, thermal barrier coatings for airfoils and hybrid structures, composite materials, and rapidly solidified plasma deposited structures. These developments will contribute significantly to the major thrusts of performance improvement, weight reduction, reliability and life extension, and reduced initial ownership cost.Copyright © 1982 by ASME
Matrix Inversion of Demand Systems Reconsidered

This paper shows that there are serious problems with matrix inversion of firm-level demand systems. When firms sell differentiated, imperfect substitutes, matrix inversion does not control for the nature of the product when the number of firms is permitted to expand beyond duopoly. Under these conditions, matrix inversion imparts a bias is in favor of quantity competition relative to price competition in models explicitly designed to compare them and this can be significant. An alternative method for analytically inverting log-linear or linear demand systems involving any number of firms under any degree of product differentiation among symmetric firms is proposed. It is shown that this alternative does not suffer from the issues tied to matrix inversion in the context of linear and log-linear demand systems. The use of matrix inversion (or any other method that does not properly control for the nature of the product) in comparative studies of price vs. quantity competition involving more than two firms producing imperfect substitutes should be reconsidered.
Geothermal Power Plants in Central America and the Caribbean

The geothermal prospects in Central America and western South America owe their presence to subduction of the Cocos plate beneath the land masses of Central America, and the Nazca and Antarctic plates beneath South America (see Figure 1.2). Those in the Caribbean arise along the eastern boundary of the Caribbean plate where the North American and South American plates are diving beneath the Caribbean plate.
Direct Case Consultation

Because this aspect of practice tends to be the most straightforward and best understood, let us begin with a discussion (together with some specific case illustrations) of one model for carrying out direct case consultations in an obstetric setting. Space will not permit a description and an illustration of all possible situations in which the consultant may become involved, but the following conceptual points and illustrative cases may serve as a basis for developing a deeper understanding.
Sentinel lymph node assessment in endometrial cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background In the staging of endometrial cancer, controversy remains regarding the role of sentinel lymph node mapping compared with other nodal assessment strategies. Objective We conducted a systematic review to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and clinical impact of sentinel lymph node mapping in the management of endometrial cancer. Data Sources We searched Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled trials for studies published in English before March 25, 2016 (PROSPERO CRD42016036503). Study Eligibility Criteria Studies were included if they contained 10 or more women with endometrial cancer and reported on the detection rate, sensitivity, and/or impact on treatment or survival of sentinel lymph node mapping. Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods Two authors independently reviewed abstracts and full-text articles for inclusion and assessed study quality. The detection rate, sensitivity, and factors associated with successful mapping (study size, body mass index, tumor histology and grade, injection site, dye type) were synthesized through random-effects meta-analyses and meta-regression. Results We identified 55 eligible studies, which included 4915 women. The overall detection rate of sentinel lymph node mapping was 81% (95% confidence interval, 77–84) with a 50% (95% confidence interval, 44–56) bilateral pelvic node detection rate and 17% (95% confidence interval, 11–23) paraaortic detection rate. There was no difference in detection rates by patient body mass index or tumor histology and grade. Use of indocyanine green increased the bilateral detection rate compared with blue dye. Additionally, cervical injection increased the bilateral sentinel lymph node detection rate but decreased the paraaortic detection rate compared with alternative injection techniques. Intraoperative sentinel lymph node frozen section increased the overall and bilateral detection rates. The sensitivity of sentinel node mapping to detect metastases was 96% (95% confidence interval, 91–98); ultrastaging did not improve sensitivity. Compared with women staged with complete lymphadenectomy, women staged with sentinel lymph node mapping were more likely to receive adjuvant treatment. Conclusion Sentinel lymph node mapping is feasible and accurately predicts nodal status in women with endometrial cancer. The current data favors the use of cervical injection techniques with indocyanine green. Sentinel lymph mapping may be considered an alternative standard of care in the staging of women with endometrial cancer.
Rough Surface Effects of Aluminum Castings on Ultrasonic Sizing Algorithms

Several techniques for characterizing flaws and inclusions using ultrasonic scattering information have been developed in recent years. These algorithms assume a noise-free medium and are sensitive to perturbations in the acquired spectra. However, surface roughness and volumetric porosity effects alter the available data.
A dynamic compression technique for streaming kinect-based Point Cloud data

With the relative inexpensiveness of 3D sensors today, it has become easier to collect 3D spatial data. This opens up the usability for these data, called point clouds, in areas such as robotics, telemedicine, and entertainment. However, a primary issue is the data rate of point clouds being produced by sensors such as the Microsoft Kinect. When transmitted, the size of a single point cloud coupled with the high frame rate results in an impractical bandwidth requirement. Therefore, compression is required. However, current compression techniques offered by the Point Cloud Library (PCL) are static in terms of available network bandwidth, meaning the techniques do not adjust as the network changes. In this paper, we propose using a dynamic compression technique that adjusts the compression ratio in response to the network throughput. Experimental results under both static and dynamic network traffic conditions show that dynamic compression is promising in achieving higher and smoother frame rates compared with the built-in compression algorithm in PCL.
Retooling CFD for hypersonic aircraft

The CFD facility requirements of hypersonic aircraft configuration design development are different from those thus far employed for reentry vehicle design, because (1) the airframe and the propulsion system must be fully integrated to achieve the desired performance; (2) the vehicle must be reusable, with minimum refurbishment requirements between flights; and (3) vehicle performance must be optimized for a wide range of Mach numbers. An evaluation is presently made of flow resolution within shock waves, transition and turbulence phenomenon tractability, chemical reaction modeling, and hypersonic boundary layer transition, with state-of-the-art CFD.
Impact of muscle injury and accompanying inflammatory response on thermoregulation during exercise in the heat.

This study examined whether muscle injury and the accompanying inflammatory responses alter thermoregulation during subsequent exercise-heat stress. Sixteen subjects performed 50 min of treadmill e...
Magnitude and Sign Control of Index-Antiguided Coupling

We show the first theoretical analysis of the coupling coefficient in passive index-antiguided coupling. Both magnitude and sign of the coupling coefficient are controlled by the inter-element distance and index, enabling novel photonic applications.
Corporal punishment of children: discipline or abuse?

Introduction: Corporal punishment is a public health problem due to its impact on the physical, psychological, and social interactions of children. Objectives: To determine the knowledge of pediatricians in Lebanon regarding corporal punishment, their preventive, educational, and legal role. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study conducted on 153 pediatricians in Lebanon, by a questionnaire distributed at the 12th Annual Congress of the Lebanese Pediatric Society and the North Lebanon Pediatric Society. Results: Less than 50% and less then 60% of pediatricians know the effects of physical punishment on the physical and psychic health of the child, respectively. About 74.2% and 23.2% of pediatricians disagree with Article186 of the Lebanese Criminal Code and Lebanese Law422/02 (Article25), respectively. Only 76.2% of Lebanese pediatricians always advise the abandonment of corporal punishment and 4.7% advise its use for discipline. Conclusion: Pediatricians play a fundamental role in the abolition of corporal punishment, but this cannot be accomplished without improving their skills in this area. They are invited to seek legal reforms in Lebanon to abolish the use of corporal punishment as a means of disciplining children. Keywords: Corporal punishment; pediatricians’ role; knowledge
Sonderfragen der Behandlung von Investitionsausgaben im amerikanischen Rechnungswesen

Diese zusammenfassende Darstellung der Sonderfragen bei der Behandlung von Investitionsausgaben im amerikanischen Rechnungswesen verfolgt den Zweck, fur internationale Vergleiche die ersten Anhaltspunkte zu liefern. Bei der Auswahl der Fragen wurde darauf geachtet, das sie Besonderheiten gegenuber der deutschen Praxis aufweisen. Die Gliederung orientiert sich weitgehend an der zeitlichen Reihenfolge der Investitionsvorgange. Eingangs sei auf manche charakteristischen Merkmale des amerikanischen Rechnungswesens hingewiesen, die in diesem Zusammenhang von Bedeutung sind.
An Algorithm for Sampling Optimization for Semivariogram Estimation

This paper describes an algorithm for the optimal selection of sampling locations for semivariogram estimation. We assume that the semivariogram is estimated by fitting a parametric function of separation distance between observation sites to a selected subset of the squared differences of original observations (thereby restricting ourselves to isotropic fields). We apply standard regression design theory to construct an optimal configuration of distances in the lag space, which is then mapped into the site space in such a way that dependence among the observations is minimized.
Biological Phosphorus Cycling in Arctic and Alpine Soils

Organic phosphorus (P) is the predominant source of plant and microbial P in many arctic and alpine soils due to high moisture and low temperatures, which result in the accumulation of soil organic matter and P cycles dominated by biological processes. It has been hypothesized that the organic P accumulates in cold soils due to the inhibition of microbial activity by low temperatures. However, microbial activity has also been found to continue at low temperatures. Microbial biomass is one of the largest reservoirs of P in arctic and alpine soils, and a release of microbial P in the spring can be an important P flux. P availability in these soils is typically low during the growing season, but increases have been observed late in the growing season in arctic soils, probably due to root and microbial phosphatase activity. Fertilization studies in arctic and alpine ecosystems have had mixed results, with some plant communities typically responding more to P, whereas others are either nitrogen-limited or co-limited.
Data driven bandwidth for medoid shift algorithm

Adaptive data driven bandwidth for medoidshift algorithm has been proposed in this work. The proposed method has made it possible to perform clustering on a variety of high resolution statistically different images. Experiments are performed on natural images as well as daily life images. The images have been chosen such that a comparison analysis between fixed sample point estimator k and adaptive k can be carried out in detail. The results show that a fixed value of k=10 is good for statistically compact images but gives undesirable results in dispersed images. Data driven bandwidth is proposed for each data point/ pixel as well as the complete data set/ image. Experimental results have shown our algorithm to be robust. Performance is evaluated on the basis of root mean square error for the quality of clusters.
Automated Design of Combinational Logic Circuits by Genetic Algorithms

We introduce a method, based on a genetic algorithm (GA) approach, to design combinational logic circuits. This problem is quite difficult for a traditional GA, but we have overcome these difficulties and have implemented a computer program that can automatically generate high-quality circuit designs. We describe the important issues to consider when solving this circuit design problem: the importance of the representation scheme, the encoding function, and the definition of the fitness function. We present several circuits derived by our system under various assumed constraints, such as the maximum number of allowable gates and the types of available gates. We compare the solutions produced by our system against those generated by a human designer. We also show that our representation approach, when compared to a standard binary encoding, produces better performance both in terms of quality of solution and in terms of speed of convergence.
A population of gut epithelial enterochromaffin cells is mechanosensitive and requires Piezo2 to convert force into serotonin release

Enterochromaffin (EC) cells constitute the largest population of intestinal epithelial enteroendocrine (EE) cells. EC cells are proposed to be specialized mechanosensory cells that release serotonin in response to epithelial forces, and thereby regulate intestinal fluid secretion. However, it is unknown whether EE and EC cells are directly mechanosensitive, and if so, what the molecular mechanism of their mechanosensitivity is. Consequently, the role of EE and EC cells in gastrointestinal mechanobiology is unclear. Piezo2 mechanosensitive ion channels are important for some specialized epithelial mechanosensors, and they are expressed in mouse and human EC cells. Here, we use EC and EE cell lineage tracing in multiple mouse models to show that Piezo2 is expressed in a subset of murine EE and EC cells, and it is distributed near serotonin vesicles by superresolution microscopy. Mechanical stimulation of a subset of isolated EE cells leads to a rapid inward ionic current, which is diminished by Piezo2 knockdown and channel inhibitors. In these mechanosensitive EE cells force leads to Piezo2-dependent intracellular Ca2+ increase in isolated cells as well as in EE cells within intestinal organoids, and Piezo2-dependent mechanosensitive serotonin release in EC cells. Conditional knockout of intestinal epithelial Piezo2 results in a significant decrease in mechanically stimulated epithelial secretion. This study shows that a subset of primary EE and EC cells is mechanosensitive, uncovers Piezo2 as their primary mechanotransducer, defines the molecular mechanism of their mechanotransduction and mechanosensitive serotonin release, and establishes the role of epithelial Piezo2 mechanosensitive ion channels in regulation of intestinal physiology.
Medical Students’ Evaluation of Scientific Evidence and Their Justifications for Their Clinical Decisions: a Pilot Study

Medical school curricula teach students to apply scientific evidence for clinical decision-making. Research on whole-task evidence-based decision-making suggests that appraisal of scientific evidence is a challenge for trainees. This pilot study aimed to link medical students’ (MS) appraisal of scientific literature with clinical decision-making to inform future EBM instruction. Fifty-three MS evaluated scientific evidence and provided justifications for their clinical decisions. The MS group (n = 29) receiving more detailed evidence made a correct clinical decision against breast surgery (20; 69%) versus the comparison group (14; 58%; p < .05). MS justified their decisions predominantly on the evidence provided and personal experience.
Ecogenomic characterization of widespread, closely-related SAR11 clades of the freshwater genus “Candidatus Fonsibacter” and proposal of Ca. Fonsibacter lacus sp. nov

The ubiquitous alpha-proteobacteria of the order "Candidatus Pelagibacterales" (SAR11) are highly abundant in aquatic environments, and among them, members of the monophyletic lineage LD12 (also known as SAR11 clade IIIb) are specifically found in lacustrine ecosystems. Clade IIIb bacteria are some of the most prominent members of freshwater environments, but little is known about their biology due to the lack of genome representatives. Only recently, the first non-marine isolate was cultured and described as "Candidatus Fonsibacter ubiquis". Here, we expand the collection of freshwater IIIb representatives and describe a new IIIb species of the genus "Ca. Fonsibacter". Specifically, we assembled a collection of 67 freshwater metagenomic datasets from the interconnected lakes of the Chattahoochee River basin (GA, USA) and obtained nearly complete metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) representing 5 distinct IIIb subclades, roughly equivalent to species based on genomic standards, including the previously described "Ca. F. ubiquis". Genomic comparisons between members of the IIIb species revealed high similarity in gene content. However, when comparing their abundance profiles in the Chattahoochee basin and various aquatic environments, differences in temporal and spatial distributions among the distinct species were observed implying niche differentiation might be underlying the coexistence of the highly functionally similar representatives. The name Ca. Fonsibacter lacus sp. nov. is proposed for the most abundant and widespread species in the Chattahoochee River basin and various freshwater ecosystems.
Photooxidation of Methyldithiepins into Dithiepin Carboxaldehydes in Carbon Tetrachloride

Methyldihydrodithiepins are converted into the corresponding carboxaldehydes via a simple and efficient oxidation by oxygen in carbon tetrachloride. The reaction is not a radical chain process. The proposed mechanism involves photoinduced electron transfer from the starting dithiepin to solvent (CCl4) followed by a series of events depicted in Scheme 1. The critical feature of the mechanism is that formation of superoxide (O2•-) is avoided, preventing direct oxidation of sulfur atoms.
A matter of taste: Nietzsche and the structure of affective response

ABSTRACTNietzsche’s work is filled with references to taste. He frequently expresses his own judgements of taste and criticizes or praises individuals and groups on account of their taste. Some rec...
An experiential learning cybersecurity project for multiple STEM undergraduates

The human element is often regarded as the weakest link in cybersecurity, yet education efforts focus primarily on the technical aspects of cybersecurity and downplay the relevance of the human factor. One way to exploit this human vulnerability is through social engineering, in which cybercriminals utilize persuasion and manipulation to get targets to reveal private information. This paper shares an educator’s efforts to engage undergraduate students from multiple STEM disciplines in a hands-on social engineering project across the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 semesters. This activity was designed using the experiential learning framework that promotes “learning by doing.” The authors share the experiences and challenges of both the students and the educator in conducting this learning exercise. In addition, this paper details aspects of designing multidisciplinary hands-on projects that consider meeting university ethics standards; generating relevant project instructions and rubrics; engaging in and promoting cross-disciplinary STEM dialog; and evaluating student engagement and learning.
Field-effect passivation of metal/n-GaAs Schottky junction solar cells using atomic layer deposited Al2O3/ZnO ultrathin films

In this paper, a novel field-effect passivation technique is used to improve the photovoltaic properties of metal/n-GaAs Schottky junction solar cells. In this technique, a relatively large density of positive or negative fixed charges existing at the top surface of the dielectric thin films is used to create an electric field gradient to prevent the photogenerated charge carriers from recombining. Atomic layer deposition is used to grow high-quality Al2O3 and ZnO ultrathin films that are used as passivating materials. Electrical measurements demonstrate an improvement in both diodelike and photovoltaic properties of Schottky solar cells in the proposed stacked Al2O3/ZnO passivation structure compared to the single Al2O3 layer. This can be attributed to both higher equivalent capacitance/permittivity of the stacked passivation layer and increased density of negative fixed charges at the interface of the passivation layer and the semiconductor.
Multigrid methods for saddle point problems: Optimality systems

Abstract We develop multigrid methods for an elliptic distributed optimal control problem on convex domains that are robust with respect to a regularization parameter. We prove the uniform convergence of the W -cycle algorithm and demonstrate the performance of V -cycle and W -cycle algorithms through numerical experiments.
Avarice et psychopathologie. À propos de L’ Avare de Molière : persécution et compensation

Resume Objectif A partir de l’avarice pathologique d’Harpagon dans la piece L’Avare de Moliere, il s’agira de montrer que ce symptome a permis a Harpagon de ne pas sombrer dans la folie, de ne pas « derailler » ou « sortir du sillon » (selon l’etymologie du mot « delire »). L’objectif est donc de rendre compte de la valeur des « suppleances preventives », ou de certains symptomes dits de « compensation ». Methode L’article debute par une courte revue de la litterature consacree a la question de l’avarice dans ses rapports a la psychopathologie. Nous verrons ensuite tous les elements qui nous permettent d’envisager le personnage d’Harpagon non seulement comme un tyran domestique mais bien comme un veritable « persecute-persecuteur ». Le vol de la fameuse « cassette » viendra faire vaciller, ebranler profondement le monde d’Harpagon. On voit en cet instant pointer l’emergence du delire. Ce sera ainsi l’occasion de nous demander : a quoi l’avarice pouvait-elle servir a Harpagon jusqu’alors ? Resultats De toujours, Harpagon est connu comme un personnage desagreable, non seulement avare maladif, mais aussi sec, dur, tyrannique, mefiant, orgueilleux, suspicieux, etc. Notre etude amene a considerer l’avarice d’Harpagon – l’accumulation de son argent, de son or, sa cassette – comme un moyen (forme de « suppleance preventive ») pour combler un puits sans fond, un « gouffre » qu’il s’agit sans cesse de remplir, et un cumul qu’il s’agit surtout d’eviter de rogner. Cela peut se deduire en partie par ses reactions a la perte de son « objet-cassette » qui veritablement le fait decompenser : paranoia, elements melancoliques et de revendication, etc. Discussion La discussion porte essentiellement sur deux points, lies entre eux : les elements de persecution presents chez Harpagon, et la fonction de son avarice pathologique pour le maintien d’un etat de stabilite relative. L’on discutera notamment de l’importance de l’objet « cassette » pour Harpagon dans la mesure ou sa folie se declenche suite au vol de celle-ci. Conclusion L’Avare de Moliere est une comedie que certains qualifient de « sombre ». Le personnage d’Harpagon peut etre lu et interprete tres differemment : comique et/ou ridicule, ou bien tragique, emporte qu’il est par son avarice pathologique. A prendre celle-ci au serieux, a la lettre, la piece revele toute l’importance qu’a cette avarice pour l’equilibre precaire du personnage, autrement dit elle a pour Harpagon une fonction bien particuliere, celle de « support » pour son existence. On s’apercoit qu’un evenement en lien avec le fait d’etre vole, depossede, va venir faire vaciller son rapport a la realite et a la vie meme, puisque - Harpagon dans sa folie va jusqu’a penser au suicide.
Towards Training Robust Private Aggregation of Teacher Ensembles Under Noisy Labels

Deep learning models trained on large-scale data have achieved encouraging performance in many real-world tasks. Meanwhile, publishing those models trained on sensitive datasets, such as medical records, could pose serious privacy concerns. To counter these issues, one of the current state-of-the-art approaches is Private Aggregation of Teacher Ensembles, or PATE, which achieved promising results in preserving the utility of the model while providing a strong privacy guarantee. PATE combines an ensemble of "teacher models" trained on sensitive data and transfers the knowledge to a "student" model through the noisy aggregation of teachers’ votes for labeling unlabeled public data which the student model will be trained on. However, the knowledge or voted labels learned by the student are noisy due to private aggregation. Learning directly from noisy labels can significantly impact the accuracy of the student model. In this paper, we propose the PATE ++ mechanism, which combines the current advanced noisy label training mechanisms co-teaching(+) with the original PATE framework to enhance its accuracy. A novel structure of Generative Adversarial Nets with one generator and two discriminators is developed in order to integrate them effectively. Furthermore, we discuss the intrinsic limitations of the "update-by-disagreement" method in the co-teaching + mechanism and develop a novel noisy label detection mechanism for semi-supervised model training to further improve student model performance when training with noisy labels. We evaluate our method on Fashion-MNIST and SVHN to show the improvements on the original PATE on all measures.
Government Speech and First Amendment Capture

Alarm regarding government speech is not new. In earlier decades, scholars worried that the government’s speech might monopolize a marketplace and drown out opposing viewpoints. But today, using a move I term “First Amendment capture,” the government need not be the loudest speaker because it can become the only speaker. First Amendment capture has been made possible by the Supreme Court’s developing government speech doctrine, which holds that government speech is not subject to the Free Speech Clause. Consequently, once speech is declared governmental, the government may censor viewpoints it does not like. First Amendment capture—categorizing contested speech as government speech and then eliminating contrary viewpoints—is an increasingly frequent occurrence, and risks giving the government too much power to suppress those who would criticize it or blow the whistle on it. While one solution is to resist the government speech label, this Essay also proposes recognizing “mixed speech” as a potential means of curtailing the expansiveness of the government speech doctrine.
Things often get worse before they get better: using contest theory to explain the effect of informational risk around inclusion in S&P 500 on cost of capital

The link between cost of capital and information risk is one of the most fundamental and controversial issues in financial accounting. We need an exogenous shock to unequivocally tease out the link...
Effects of metabolic syndrome on cognitive outcomes in long-term survivors of childhood cancer.

12013Background: Childhood cancer therapy increases risk for cognitive impairment and other chronic conditions, which also may impact cognition. We assessed the unique impact of metabolic syndrome ...
Recycling of natural fiber composites: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract Natural fibers have been widely used for reinforcing polymers attributed to their sustainable nature, excellent stiffness to weight ratio, biodegradability, and low cost compared with synthetic fibers like carbon or glass fibers. Thermoplastic composites offer an advantage of recyclability after their service life, but challenges and opportunities remain in the recycling of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites (NFRPCs). This article summarized the effects of reprocessing/recycling on the material properties of NFRPCs. The material properties considered include mechanical performance, thermal properties, hygroscopic behavior, viscoelasticity, degradation, and durability. NFRPCs can generally be recycled approximately 4–6 times until their thermomechanical properties change. After recycling 7 times, the tensile strength of NFRPCs can decrease by 17%, and the tensile modulus can decrease by 28%. The mitigation approaches to overcome degradation of material properties of NFRPCs such as adding functional additives and virgin plastics are also discussed. The main challenges in these approaches such as degradation and incompatibility are discussed, and an effort is made to provide a rationale for reprocessing/recyclability assessment. Future applications of NFRPCs such as additive manufacturing and automotive part use are discussed.
Arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata shows reduced biomass in soils with high arsenic and low nutrient availability, leading to increased arsenic leaching from soil.

Abstract Plant-soil interactions affect arsenic and nutrient availability in arsenic-contaminated soils, with implications for arsenic uptake and tolerance in plants, and leaching from soil. In 22-week column experiments, we grew the arsenic hyperaccumulating fern Pteris vittata in a coarse- and a medium-textured soil to determine the effects of phosphorus fertilization and mycorrhizal fungi inoculation on P. vittata arsenic uptake and arsenic leaching. We investigated soil arsenic speciation using synchrotron-based spectromicroscopy. Greater soil arsenic availability and lower nutrient content in the coarse-textured soil were associated with greater fern arsenic uptake, lower biomass (apparently a metabolic cost of tolerance), and arsenic leaching from soil, due to lower transpiration. P. vittata hyperaccumulated arsenic from coarse- but not medium-textured soil. Mass of plant-accumulated arsenic was 1.2 to 2.4 times greater, but aboveground biomass was 74% smaller, in ferns growing in coarse-textured soil. In the presence of ferns, mean arsenic loss by leaching was 195% greater from coarse- compared to the medium-textured soil, and lower across both soils compared to the absence of ferns. In the medium-textured soil arsenic concentrations in leachate were higher in the presence of ferns. Fern arsenic uptake was always greater than loss by leaching. Most arsenic (>66%) accumulated in P. vittata appeared of rhizosphere origin. In the medium-textured soil with more clay and higher nutrient content, successful iron scavenging increased arsenic release from soil for leaching until transpiration curtailed leaching.
WE-AB-BRB-11: Portable Fast Neutron and Photon Dose Meter

Purpose: To develop an instrument for measuring neutron and photon dose rates from mixed fields with a single device. Methods: Stilbene organic scintillators can be used to detect fast neutrons and photons. Stilbene was used to measure emission from mixed particle sources californium-252 (Cf-252) and plutonium-beryllium (PuBe). Many source detector configurations were used, along with varying amounts of shielding. Collected spectra were analyzed using pulse shape discrimination software, to separate neutron and photon interactions. With a measured light output to energy relationship the pulse height spectrum was converted to energy deposited in the detector. Energy deposited was converted to dose with a variety of standard dose factors, for comparison to current methods. For validation, all measurements and processing was repeated using an EJ-309 liquid scintillator detector. Dose rates were also measured in the same configuration with commercially available dose meters for further validation. Results: Measurements of dose rates will show agreement across all methods. Higher accuracy of pulse shape discrimination at lower energies with stilbene leads to more accurate measurement of neutron and photon deposited dose. In strong fields of mixed particles discrimination can be performed well at a very low energy threshold. This shows accurate dose measurements over a large range of incident particle energy. Conclusion: Stilbene shows promise as a material for dose rate measurements due to its strong ability for separating neutrons and photon pulses and agreement with current methods. A dual particle dose meter would simplify methods which are currently limited to the measurement of only one particle type. Future work will investigate the use of a silicon photomultiplier to reduce the size and required voltage of the assembly, for practical use as a handheld survey meter, room monitor, or phantom installation. Funding From the United States Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Combining Sets with Elements

We address the problem of combining decision procedures for sets with decision procedures for objects that are not (necessarily) sets. We present Nelson-Oppen-based and tableau-based combination methods, we prove their correctness, analyze their complexity, and we describe heuristics that aim for efficiency.
Two-dimensional NMR investigation of iron-sulfur cluster electronic and molecular structure of oxidized Clostridium pasteurianum ferredoxin. Interpretability of contact shifts in terms of cysteine orientation.

A two-dimensional NMR study has been carried out on the four-iron clusters of a bacterial oxidized ferredoxin for the purpose of investigating the relationship between contact shift patterns and the orientation of the individual coordinated cysteines. The ferredoxin from Clostridium pasteurianum, CpFdox, was selected because of its extensive sequence homology, and likely close structural similarity, to the crystallographically characterized ferredoxin from Peptococcus aerogenes, Pa Fdox (Adman, E.T., Sieker, L.C., and Jensen, L. H. (1973) J. Biol. Chem. 248, 3987-3996). Rapid data collection rates with minimal but adequate acquisition time allowed the detection of numerous CpFdox cross-peaks from the contact-shifted and strongly relaxed coordinated cysteinyl C beta H protons in the resolved 10-20 ppm window. Relatively strong magnitude COSY cross peaks from the resolved eight cysteinyl C beta H resonance unambiguously locate the geminal C beta H partner for each residue; weaker cross-peaks locate the C alpha Hs from three of the residues. The geminal nature of the magnitude-COSY detected partners to the resolved C beta H peaks is confirmed by strong NOESY cross-peaks. The NOESY spectra, moreover, assign an additional two cysteinyl C alpha H resonances. The present results confirm some previous one-dimensional NOE assignments, revise others, and locate resonances previously undetected (Bertini, I., Briganti, F., Luchinat, C., and Scozzafara, A. (1990) Inorg. Chem. 29, 1874-1880). A striking pairwise pseudo-symmetry in cysteinyl contact shift patterns is observed which is attributed to the previously recognized pseudo-symmetry in the crystal of PaFdox. A detailed analysis of the structural/electronic determinants of the coordinated cysteine C beta H contact shift pattern is made, and the NMR data necessary for unique interpretation are identified. It is shown that analysis of the relaxation properties of cysteine beta-methylene protons provides the stereospecific assignments necessary for comparison of shift ratios with crystallographic structural data. The available structural data on PaFdox (Backes, G., Mino, Y., Loehr, T., Meyer, T., Cusanovich, M., Sweeney, W., Adman, E., and Sanders-Loehr, J. (1991) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 13, 2055-2064) are qualitatively but not quantitatively consistent with the observed cysteinyl contact shift pattern, with the NMR data reflecting more asymmetry than previous studies. A tentative assignment of a single pair of symmetry-related cysteines is proposed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Viral Pathogenesis, Modulation of Immune Receptor Signaling and Treatment

During the co-evolution of viruses and their hosts, the latter have equipped themselves with an elaborate immune system to defend themselves from the invading viruses. In order to establish a successful infection, replicate and persist in the host, viruses have evolved numerous strategies to counter and evade host antiviral immune responses as well as exploit them for productive viral replication. These strategies include those that target immune receptor transmembrane signaling. Uncovering the exact molecular mechanisms underlying these critical points in viral pathogenesis will not only help us understand strategies used by viruses to escape from the host immune surveillance but also reveal new therapeutic targets for antiviral as well as immunomodulatory therapy. In this chapter, based on our current understanding of transmembrane signal transduction mediated by multichain immune recognition receptors (MIRRs) and the results of sequence analysis, we discuss the MIRR-targeting viral strategies of immune evasion and suggest their possible mechanisms that, in turn, reveal new points of antiviral intervention. We also show how two unrelated enveloped viruses, human immunodeficiency virus and human cytomegalovirus, use a similar mechanism to modulate the host immune response mediated by two functionally different MIRRs—T-cell antigen receptor and natural killer cell receptor, NKp30. This suggests that it is very likely that similar general mechanisms can be or are used by other viral and possibly nonviral pathogens.
Comerciantes, precios y salarios en Sonora en el periodo colonial tardío. Caracterización de un circulo comercial cautivo

This paper offers a critical view on the existence of regional markets and the New Spain market, based on the analysis of the presence, in the state of Sonora, of different forms of participation in the deals that depended on, and nurtured, the local trade circuits. Sonoran economies are shown to have been part of a captive trade net managed at a distance from the center of New Spain by Mexico City merchants, and locally manipulated by several middlemen who transferred the system's operational costs to the final consumers through mechanisms such as salaries in kind and compulsory indebtedness.
Toward an Integrated Smart Sensing System and Data Interpretation Techniques for Pavement Fatigue Monitoring

Abstract: Currently, pavement instrumentation for condition monitoring is done on a localized and short-term basis. Existing technology does not allow for continuous long-term monitoring and network level deployment. Long-term monitoring of mechanical loading for pavement structures could reduce maintenance costs, improve longevity, and enhance safety. In this article, on-going research to develop and validate a smart pavement monitoring system is described. The system mainly consists of a novel self-powered wireless sensor based on the integration of piezoelectric transduction with floating-gate injection capable of detecting, storing, and transmitting strain history for long-term monitoring and a novel passive temperature gauge. A technique for estimating full-field strain distributions using measured data from a limited number of implemented sensors is also described. The ultimate purpose is to incorporate the traffic wander effect in the fatigue prediction algorithms. Preliminary results are shown and limitations are discussed.