cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimistic simulation of parallel architectures using program executables

A key tool of computer architects is computer simulation at the level of detail that can execute program executables. The time and memory requirements of such simulations can be enormous, especially when the machine under design-the target-is a parallel machine. Thus, it is attractive to use parallel simulation, as successfully demonstrated by the Wisconsin Wind Tunnel (WWT). WWT uses a conservative simulation algorithm and eschews network simulation to make lookahead adequate. Nevertheless, we find most of WWT's slowdown to be due to the synchronization overhead in the conservative simulation algorithm. This paper examines the use of optimistic algorithms to perform parallel simulations of parallel machines. We first show that we can make optimistic algorithms work correctly even with WWT's direct execution of program executables. We checkpoint processor registers (integer, floating-point, and condition codes) and use executable editing to log the value of memory words just before they are overwritten by stores. Second, we consider the performance of two optimistic algorithms. The first executes programs optimistically, but performs protocol events (e.g., sending messages) conservatively. The second executes everything optimistically and is similar to Time Warp with lazy message cancellation. Unfortunately, both approaches make parallel simulation performance worse for the default WWT assumptions. We conclude by speculating on the performance of optimistic simulation when simulating (1) target network details, and (2) on hosts with high message latencies and no synchronization hardware.
Capability Through Participatory Democracy: Sen, Freire, and Dewey

AbstractThis paper explores possible important relationships and sympathies between Amartya Sen’s Capabilities Approach framework for understanding the human condition and the educational ideas of John Dewey and Paolo Freire. All three focus on the importance of democratic values in a fair, well-functioning society, while Sen and Freire especially explore the difficulties and possibilities of oppressed populations. Sen suggests that all humans have a right to choice in determining their life trajectories and should be provided with the tools that allow them to flourish. Both education and democratic values play important roles in creating the types of context that allow individuals and communities to recognize a wide array of human capabilities. We suggest here that the theories of Dewey and Freire offer avenues through educational processes for developing these contexts for expanded human capability. Dewey suggests an educational approach that stresses democratic values and the ability and willingness of...
Parasitic-aware RF circuit design and optimization

RF circuit synthesis techniques based on particle swarm optimization and adaptive simulated annealing with tunneling are described, and comparisons of parasitic-aware designs of an RF distributed amplifier and a nonlinear power amplifier are presented. Synthesized in 0.35-/spl mu/m digital CMOS using a single 3.3-V power supply, the designs provide an 8-dB gain and 8-GHz bandwidth for a four-stage distributed amplifier, and 1.2-W output power with 55% drain efficiency at 900 MHz for a three-stage power amplifier. A standard circuit simulator, HSPICE or SPECTRE, embedded in an optimization loop is used to evaluate cost functions. The proposed design and optimization methodology is computationally efficient and robust in searching complex multidimensional design spaces.
Brain Network Analysis of Seizure Evolution

The human brain is one of the most complex biological systems. Neuroscientists seek to understand the brain function through detailed analysis of neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission. In this study, we propose a network analysis framework to study the evolution of epileptic seizures. We apply a signal processing approach, derived from information theory, to investigate the synchronization of neuronal activities, which can be captured by electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Two networktheoretic approaches are proposed to globally model the synchronization of the brain network. We observe some unique patterns related to the development of epileptic seizures, which can be used to illuminate the brain function governed by the epileptogenic process during the period before a seizure. The proposed framework can provide a global structural patterns in the brain network and may be used in the simulation study of dynamical systems (e.g. the brain) to predict oncoming events (e.g. seizures). To analyze long-term EEG recordings in the future, we discuss how the Markov-Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methodology can be applied to estimate the clique parameters. This MCMC framework fits very well with this work as the epileptic evolution can be considered to be a system with unobservable state variables and nonlinearities.
Herbivory as a factor in patterns of nutrient utilization in the sea1

A comparison of the horizontal nutrient gradients in coastal upwelling systems of the eastern boundary currents, in offshore divergences of high and low latitudes, and in the central gyres of the oceans suggests that changes in the dominant frequencies of variability of the physical habitat may define the importance of grazing stress as a constraint to nutrient utilization in the sea. Liebig’s (1840) “1 aw of the minimum” and Lindeman’s ( 1942 ) “trophic-dynamics” are rather general ecological concepts that are probably only applicable for brief periods during the life history of an organism. For example, simple consideration of single
Neuromuscular constraints on muscle coordination during overground walking in persons with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury.

Objective Incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) disrupts motor control and limits the ability to coordinate muscles for overground walking. Inappropriate muscle activity has been proposed as a source of clinically observed walking deficits after iSCI. We hypothesized that persons with iSCI exhibit lower locomotor complexity compared to able-body (AB) controls as reflected by fewer motor modules, as well as, altered module composition and activation.
Urban terrain tracking in high clutter with waveform-agility

We consider the problem of tracking a maneuvering target in urban terrain with high clutter. Although multipath has been previously exploited to improve target tracking in complex urban environments, when the clutter is high, multipath returns can suffer from large losses in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), reducing probability of detection (PD). Maneuvering, a common motion in urban terrain, can also affect PD as different multipaths occur at different times. We propose a waveform-agile probabilistic data association target tracker that allows for multiple interactive motion models. The new adaptive tracker computes the different PD values for the validated measurements of line-of-sight (LOS) and non-LOS (NLOS) returns from the target, while selecting the transmit waveform that minimizes the mean-squared error (MSE) at each time step. The proposed approach is demonstrated using simulations of a realistic high clutter urban environment.
Calculating speakers: Codeswitching in a rational choice model

Although the methodologies for describing many types of linguistic variation have been well developed, satisfactory theoretical links between data and explanation – especially links that include causal mechanisms – remain lacking. This article argues, somewhat paradoxically, that even though most choices reflect some societal pattern, speakers make linguistic choices as individuals. That is, choices ultimately lie with the individual and are rationally based. Rational Choice Models (e.g. Elster 1979, 1989, 1997) provide explanatory mechanisms for the ways actors in society select from alternative structures and available options. The Rational Choice approach taken here is enhanced by diverse theories of human action (e.g. Damasio 1996, Klein 1998, Lessig 1995). Analysis of codeswitching examples within a recasting of the Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton, e.g. 1993, 1998) suggests how a rationally based model offers better explanations for linguistic variation than do other approaches.
Do Earnings Announcements Affect Trading Volume? The Role of Speculators

This study documents that total market volume is almost entirely unrelated to intertemporal variation in the number of earnings announcements. Thus, while individual earnings announcements, on average, significantly impact trading volume (e.g., Beaver, 1968), in aggregate this impact is minimal. We provide evidence that this seeming inconsistency is reconciled by the very large presence of speculators in the market, who trade around information events not for what those say about intrinsic values, but for the short-term price momentum they generate.
Metal-Redox Synthesis of MnBi Hard Magnetic Nanoparticles

High coercivity MnBi alloy is a promising candidate as earth abundant permanent magnet for energy-critical technologies. We report here a new metal-redox method to synthesize colloidal MnBi nanoparticles, exhibiting a saturation magnetization of 49 emu/g and coercivity of 15 kOe. It is shown that the magnetic properties of the MnBi nanoalloys can be readily modified by precursor stoichiometry, temperature ramp rate, and reaction temperature, making it a versatile scalable strategy for generation of MnBi.
Further Investigations on the Preservation of Molds

Various methods have been used for preserving fungi and other microorganisms. This paper gives further evidence of the value of the procedures now in use, particularly that of lyophilization. Three reports have already appeared from this laboratory, Raper and Alexander (1945), Fennell et al. (1950) and Mehrotra and Hesseltine (1958). As a continuation, all species of fungi except the Aspergilli, the Penicillia and the yeasts, that have been in the ARS Culture Collection for a long time, were tested for viability. Also, some Actinomycetes received and lyophilized prior to 1949 were examined. Most of the cultures have been in lyophil for 17 years. Some Mucorales that had been preserved in 1945 by the mineral oil overlay method were also tested. Additional cultures of Mucorales on dried slants were covered with warm melted
Simvastatin was cost-effective for reducing major vascular events in vascular disease or diabetes mellitus.

Source Citation Mihaylova B, Briggs A, Armitage J, et al. Cost-effectiveness of simvastatin in people at different levels of vascular disease risk: economic analysis of a randomised trial in 20, 53...
Metalloproteins: A switch for blue copper proteins?

Nitric oxide (NO) has important functions in all forms of life and serves, for example, as a signalling molecule in mammals. Now, two complementary studies have uncovered how NO binds to blue copper proteins. This research suggests a mechanism by which NO could regulate the activity of blue copper proteins involved in denitrification.
Prevention of occupational skin disease through use of chemical protective gloves.

Selection of chemical protective gloves for use against industrial liquids in the controlled workplace is accomplished by risk analysis. Even after materials for chemical protective gloves are selected, they should be evaluated further by chemical resistance testing. Guidelines are provided for selecting gloves for specific hazards.
Maternal-fetal Incompatibility and Heterozygote Advantage in Mouse Transferrins

A mouse colony segregating for serum transferrins was established by crossing two inbred strains with different transferrin alleles, and randomly breeding subsequent generations. The progeny from the F3, F4, F5 and F6 generations were examined for transferrin type. There was significant deviation (P < 0.025) from the expected 1:1 ratio in the compatible matings a♂ × ab♀ and b♂ × ab♀, with 46.9% homozygotes and 53.1% heterozygotes. There was no segregation disturbance in the incompatible matings, equal numbers of homozygotes and heterozygotes being produced.
Following My Head and My Heart: Integrating Preschoolers' Empathy, Theory of Mind, and Moral Judgments

Associations among hypothetical, prototypic moral, and conventional judgments; theory of mind (ToM); empathy; and personal distress were examined in 108 socioeconomically diverse preschoolers (Mage = 42.94 months, SD = 1.42). Repeated measures analysis of covariance with empathy, false beliefs, and their interaction as covariates indicated that empathy was significantly associated with judgments of greater moral but not conventional transgression severity, particularly for psychological harm, and with deserved punishment for unfairness. False beliefs were associated with (combined) moral criterion judgments of rule and authority independence and inalterability. Empathy also was positively associated with criterion judgments but only for children low in ToM. Personal distress was unrelated to judgments. Results demonstrate the importance of both affective and cognitive processes in preschoolers' moral judgments.
Lens Glutathione: Metabolism and Possible Functions

Among the exceptional characteristics of the lens is an unusually high GSH content which may exceed 500 mg/100 g of cortex (Kuck, 1970). GSH is especially concentrated in the epithelium (Asghar et al., 1975) where, in the rabbit, it may reach 3 g/100 g of epithelium (Giblin et al., 1976). This high concentration appears to be a requirement for optical clarity since a low GSH content is not associated with optically clear lenses except in the transition period just prior to opacity formation in certain experimental cataracts. Generally, the GSH concentration decreases dramatically in a variety of experimental and human senile cataracts.
Disorders of the Midface

A patent nasal airway is crucial for normal neonatal respiration. Any functional or anatomic obstruction can lead to significant respiratory distress necessitating immediate intervention. This chapter presents an overview of conditions causing neonatal airway obstruction, focusing on syndromes causing midfacial narrowing and nasal obstructive lesions. A brief overview of the embryologic development of the midface, and important general history and physical exam findings are also included for completeness. Discussion of pyriform aperture stenosis and choanal atresia will be covered in the following chapter.
Platelet Rich Plasma Augments Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Growth and Differentiation.

Background Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are a powerful tool for cosmetic surgery and regenerative medicine. The use of autologous platelet rich plasma (PRP), particularly in combination with ASC-based therapy, has significantly expanded in recent years. Unfortunately, the mechanisms and optimal dosing responsible for the beneficial effects of PRP remain poorly understood. Here we investigate the effect of PRP on ASC growth and differentiation. Objectives To assess the impact of different PRP feeding and cryopreservation protocols on ASC isolation, expansion, and differentiation. Methods Human PRP was isolated using the Magellan System (Arteriocyte). Fresh PRP (fPRP), flash frozen PRP (ffPRP), and cryopreserved PRP (cPRP) were added to human ASCs isolated from healthy patients. A panel of PRP supplementation protocols was analyzed for ASC adherence, proliferation, and osteogenesis. Results The fresh and cryopreserved PRP groups demonstrated reduced cell adherence compared to control (non-PRP) groups (P < 0.001), while the flash frozen PRP groups showed cell adherence equivalent to or better than controls. After 7 days of growth, ASC populations for fPRP and ffPRP Single Administration protocols were significantly higher than other feeding protocols and controls. This benefit was lost in cPRP groups. Optimized ffPRP protocols showed potential for spontaneous osteogenesis. Conclusions Addition of ffPRP improves initial ASC adherence while a single administration of either fresh or flash frozen PRP without additional cell manipulation significantly augments subsequent ASC proliferation. The potential for spontaneous osteogenic differentiation upon PRP exposure invokes the need for additional molecular studies of PRP activity prior to further expansion to clinical applications.
Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Needle Fenestration and Corticosteroid Injection for Anterior and Anterolateral Ankle Impingement.

Background. Ankle impingement is a common cause of chronic ankle pain. We retrospectively studied the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle fenestration of the pathological soft ti...
Journalism Professors’ Information-Seeking Behaviors: Finding Online Tools for Teaching:

As the journalism profession continues to reinvent itself, journalism professors struggle to keep up with technological advancements that provide their students with industry-relevant skills. This ...
Effects of Previous Insect Feeding Injury to Sweet Potato on Resistance to Sweet Potato Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Storage Root Chemistry

The effects of root and foliage feeding on sweet potato resistance to sweet potato weevil, Cylas formicarius (F.), and on the levels of resin glycoside and caffeic acid in sweet potato storage root...
PANCREAS METASTASES FROM PAPILLARY THYROID CARCINOMA: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.

ABSTRACT Objective: Although locoregional metastases occur in 5 to 10% of patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), distant metastases are rare, especially to the pancreas. Here we review the literature regarding metastases to the pancreas from PTC and present an illustrative patient. Methods: The literature search was performed through using the PubMed database. The information regarding our illustrative case was obtained from the medical records of our institution. Results: Since 1991, 11 cases of pancreas metastases of PTC have been reported. The average age at diagnosis was 55.3 years. There were 8 males and 3 females. Three had classic PTC histology, 2 had tall cell variant, and 2 had follicular variant. Four had T4 tumors, and 2 had T3 tumors. Seven had thyroid cancer spread to regional lymph nodes. One had distant metastasis. Pancreas metastases were diagnosed from 1 month to 13 years after primary PTC was detected; the average was 7 years. Our patient was an 84-year-old female diagnosed with P...
Tuning Morphology and Melting Temperature in Polyethylene Films by MAPLE

The control of structure and thermal stability in semicrystalline polymer films remains an important challenge in applications ranging from solar energy devices to packaging films. Here, we demonstrate the ability to dramatically alter the morphology and melting temperature (Tm) of low-molecular-weight linear polyethylene (PE) by employing an innovative vapor-assisted deposition process termed matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE). We report the ability to tune Tm of PE films by 20 °C by simply adjusting the deposition temperature during MAPLE processing. This unique capability stems from the ability of MAPLE to exploit confined crystallization during thin film growth. In addition, we demonstrate the ability to exploit MAPLE to design PE films that exhibit the same Tm as their melt-crystallized analogues but have an ∼25% higher degree of crystallinity. Our investigation offers new insights into how confinement effects in polymer crystallization can be utilized in the emerging field of polymer f...
Tailoring vibration mode of a uniform beam by acoustic metamaterial synthesis

Acoustic metamaterials have attractive potential in elastic wave attenuation and wave guiding over specific frequency ranges. In this research, we apply acoustic metamaterial into the manipulation of stationary wave in a finite beam, i.e., tailoring vibration modes of the structure. Rather than geometrical modification, we demonstrate that vibration modes can be adjusted by combing the resonance and bandgap characteristics of piezoelectric metamaterial. For instance, it’s shown that new vibration modes can be created while the region with excitation applied has minimum displacement. Furthermore, it’s illustrated that resonance region of the metamaterial beam can be arbitrarily assigned due to the adaptiveness of the piezoelectric metamaterial beam. The analytical investigations are confirmed with finite element simulations.
Genetics of Bacteria: Role in Pathogenesis of Infection of the Respiratory Tract

A strong relationship exists between specific bacterial species and the ability to cause infection of the lower respiratory tract in human hosts with particular underlying conditions. For example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes potentially devastating infections in people with cystic fibrosis. Chronic bronchitis is strongly associated with infections caused by Haemo-philus influenzae, Branhamella catarrhalis, and Streptococcus pneu-moniae. Pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus aureus is seen after influenza but is rarely seen in other clinical settings.
Chapter 1 The Work of Albert Victor Crewe on the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope and Related Topics

Abstract The early work on the scanning transmission electron microscope in the Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago is recapitulated and subsequent work on electron lens properties and aberration correction is described.
Cholesterol Oxidation Products

The structural similarity of cholesterol oxidation products (COP) to native cholesterol and their xenobiotic effects prompt researchers to study the long-term effects of the assimilation of these compounds into our tissues. COP are present in our food system. The level of exposure changes as our food products and our food choices alter. Therefore, the presence of COP in our food system has to be carefully monitored and their presence in processed foods minimized by optimizing processing and storage conditions. This review will briefly discuss the chemistry of some commonly-occurring COP and their biological significance. A more in-depth survey of the literature on the pitfalls of COP determination is included. It is the intention of the author to impress the readers that ‘exogenous’ COP can easily form during sample preparation. These artifacts will hinder our understanding of factors that promote COP formation in foods. The effects of heating, dehydrating, packaging and the presence of highly unsaturated lipids on the levels of COP in cholesterol-containing foods are evaluated to gauge the levels of exposure to different consumer groups.
How does the brain solve the computational problems of spatial navigation

Flexible navigation in the real world involves the ability to maintain an ongoing estimate of one’s location in the environment, to use landmarks to help navigate, and to construct shortcuts and paths between locations. In mammals, these functions are believed to be performed by a circuit that includes the hippocampus and associated cortical areas. The physiological characterization of the neural substrates for navigation has progressed rapidly in the last four decades, together with plausible mechanistic models for the generation of such activity. However, questions about how the various components of the circuit interact to perform the overall computations that account for the navigational ability of mammals remain largely unsolved. We review physiological and anatomical data as well as models of hippocampal map building and self-localization to establish what is understood about the brain’s navigational circuits from a computational perspective. We discuss major areas where our understanding is incomplete.
Effects of finite notch width on the fracture of chevron – notched specimens

The chevron notched three-point bend test specimen is often used for measuring the fracture toughness of brittle materials such as ceramics. Specimen sizes are often very restricted when testing advanced materials due to limited volume of material available or high material costs. Since the minimum chevron notch width is limited by the size of the cutting wheels or wire saw used to produce it, as the sample size gets small enough, the notch width becomes large in relation to the sample size. It is shown via finite element analysis that the notch width has an important effect on the stress intensity factors of short cracks. The minimum in the normalized stress intensity factor versus crack length is lost, rendering the usual analysis of the experimental results invalid and contributing greatly to decreased fracture stability of such specimens. Previous analytical and numerical studies do not take into account the width of the chevron notch. Based on the calculations, a guideline to permissible notch widths is introduced.
Utilizing Reverse Viewshed Analysis in Image Geo-Localization

When users browse beautiful scenery photos uploaded on a social media website, they may have a passion to know about where those photos are taken so that they could view the similar sceneries when they go to the same spot. Advancement in computer vision technology enables the extraction of visual features from those images and the widespread of location-awareness devices makes image positioning possible with GPS coordinates or geo-tags (e.g., landmarks, place names). In this paper, we propose a novel method for image positioning by utilizing spatial analysis and computer vision techniques. A prototype system is implemented based on large-scale Flickr photos and a case-study of the Eiffel Tower is demonstrated. Both global and local visual features as well as the spatial context are utilized aiming at building a more accurate and efficient framework. The result illustrates that our approach can achieve a better accuracy compared with the baseline approach. To our knowledge, it is among the first researches that combine not only the visual features of photos, but also take the spatial context into consideration for the image geo-localization using high-density social media photos at the spatial scale of a landmark.
Length of Stay and ICU Stay Are Increased With Repair of Traumatic Superior Mesenteric Vein Injury.

Abstract Background Traumatic superior mesenteric vein (SMV) injury is rare, and the ideal treatment is controversial. We compared the outcomes of ligation versus repair of SMV injury using the National Trauma Databank. Materials and methods All adult patients who suffered from traumatic SMV injury were identified from the National Trauma Databank (2002-2014) by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. Patients were stratified by treatment modality into no repair, ligation, and surgical repair using ICD procedure codes. Patient characteristics were compared between ligation and surgical repair groups using the Kruskal–Wallis test for continuous variables and Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Outcomes, including mortality, rates of small bowel resection, length of stay (LOS), and ventilation days were compared using logistic regression. Results Among 952 patients with SMV injury, 192 patients (20.2%) had ligation, 428 (50%) underwent surgical repair, and 332 patients (34.9%) had neither repair nor ligation of the SMV. Overall hospital mortality was 32%. Age, gender, injury severity score (ISS), and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) were similar between groups that underwent ligation and surgical repair. Although the mortality rate (29.4% versus 36.5%, P = 0.20) and bowel resection rate (4% versus 3%, P = 0.12) were similar, patients who underwent repair had significantly longer hospital LOS (19.4 ± 24.8 versus15.2 ± 24.4 d, P Conclusions In patients with traumatic SMV injury, surgical repair does not appear to confer a significant survival advantage over ligation and can be associated with greater LOS and ICU LOS. Ligation may be an acceptable option for management of a traumatic SMV injury, especially when surgical repair cannot be performed, without compromising patient mortality or bowel resection rates.
Slicing and Dicing OpenHPC Infrastructure: Virtual Clusters in OpenStack

University research computing centers are increasingly faced with the need to support applications that are better suited for cloud infrastructure than HPC infrastructure. A common approach is to shoehorn cloud-based applications onto the university's existing HPC system, which has been done with varying levels of success. Another approach as been to create stand-alone HPC systems and private cloud systems, resulting in ineffective use of resources. A more recent approach has been to use hybrid systems where the HPC system "bursts" excess jobs to private cloud nodes configured as bare-metal nodes built from the same (expensive) hardware as the HPC system.This paper explores another model, namely the use of private cloud infrastructure (built from inexpensive commodity networks and storage systems) to host both HPC jobs and VMs simultaneously Utilizing VMs allows these emerging applications to leverage cloud frameworks specifically designed for them (e.g., OpenStack, Kubernetes, Mesos, Hadoop, and Spark), while at the same time effectively supporting a growing percentage of the HPC jobs (e.g., single node jobs, and embarrassingly parallel jobs). Because the system can be constructed from commodity cloud networks and storage, it makes cost-effective use of the resources as opposed to HPC systems used to run jobs that do not use (waste) its expensive resources.To demonstrate the advantages of using cloud infrastructure for both cloud applications and HPC applications, we describe a system that can dynamically launch OpenHPC systems on commodity OpenStack infrastructure. Moreover, users can use the system to deploy "personal" OpenHPC clusters, customized to their application's needs (e.g., number of nodes, cores per node, memory per node). We have used the system to effectively run OpenHPC work-loads on a cluster of large memory OpenStack nodes, allowing users to create, for example, a large memory HPC-style cluster of 500 GB nodes running OpenHPC, and a cluster of 1TB VMs operating simultaneously. Performance degradation due to virtualization has been insignificant, particularly when compared to the advantages of being able to use optimized frameworks running on cost-effective hardware.
Modeling for critical state line of granular soil with evolution of grain size distribution due to particle breakage

Abstract Determination of the critical state line (CSL) is important to characterize engineering properties of granular soils. Grain size distribution (GSD) has a significant influence on the location of CSL. The influence of particle breakage on the CSL is mainly attributed to the change in GSD due to particle breakage. However, GSD has not been properly considered in modeling the CSL with influence of particle breakage. This study aims to propose a quantitative model to determine the CSL considering the effect of GSD. We hypothesize that the change of critical state void ratio with respect to GSD is caused by the same mechanism that influences of the change of minimum void ratio with respect to GSD. Consequently, the particle packing model for minimum void ratio proposed by Chang et al. (2017) is extended to predict critical state void ratio. The developed model is validated by experimental results of CSLs for several types of granular materials. Then the evolution of GSD due to particle breakage is incorporated into the model. The model is further evaluated using the experimental results on rockfill material, which illustrates the applicability of the model in predicting CSL for granular material with particle breakage.
Working Hard or Making Work? Plaintiffs' Attorneys Fees in Securities Fraud Class Actions

In this paper, we study attorneys’ fees awarded in the largest securities class actions: “mega-settlements.” Consistent with prior work, we find larger fee awards but lower percentages in these cases. We also find that courts are more likely to reject or modify fee requests made in connection with the largest settlements. We conjecture that this scrutiny provides an incentive for law firms to bill more hours, not to advance the case, to help justify large fee awards – “make work.” The results of our empirical tests are consistent with plaintiffs’ attorneys investing more time in litigation against larger companies, particularly when there are multiple lead counsel firms. Using a difference-in-difference analysis, we show that “make work” increased in cases with multiple lead counsel after the Supreme Court validated a “price impact” defense in the Halliburton II case. We find a similar pattern with relative efficiency, with more hours per litigation day. We also find that courts award higher multipliers in cases with pre-litigation observable characteristics that indicate a lower risk of dismissal – and a correspondingly higher probability of settlement – particularly against larger companies. Overall, our results suggest that plaintiffs’ attorneys are receiving windfall fee awards in mega-settlement cases at shareholders’ expense.
Feasibility of a stationary head CT scanner using a CNT x-ray source array

Purpose: Today’s state-of-the-art CT systems rely on a rotating gantry to acquire projections spanning up to 360 degrees around the head and/or body. By replacing the rotating source and detector with a stationary array of x-ray sources and line detectors, a head CT scanner could be potentially constructed with a small footprint and fast scanning speed. The purpose of this project is to design and construct a stationary head CT (s-HCT) scanner capable of diagnosis of stroke and head trauma patients in limited resource areas such as forward operating bases. Here we present preliminary imaging results which demonstrate the feasibility of such a system using carbon nanotube (CNT) x-ray source arrays. Methods: The feasibility study was performed using a benchtop setup consisting of an x-ray source array with 45 distributed focal spots, each operating at 120kVp, and an Electronic Control System (ECS) for high speed control of the x-ray output from individual focal spots. The projection data was collected by an array of detectors configured specifically for head imaging. The basic performance of the CNT x-ray source array was characterized. By rotating the object in discrete angular steps, a potential s-HCT configuration was emulated. The collected projection images were reconstructed using an iterative reconstruction algorithm developed specifically for this configuration. Evaluation of the image quality was completed by comparing this image of the ACR CT phantom obtained with the s-HCT to that obtained by a clinical CT scanner. Results: The CNT x-ray source array was found to have a consistent focal spot size of 1.3×1.1 mm2 for all beams (IEC 1.0). At 120 kVp the HVL was measured to be 5.8 mm Al. Axial images have been acquired with slice thickness 2.5 mm to evaluate the imaging performance of the s-HCT system. Contrast-noise-ratio was measured for the acrylic (120 HU) and water (0 HU) materials in the ACR CT 464 phantom Module 01. A value of 5.2 is reported for the benchtop setup with an entrance dose of 2.9 mGy, compared to the clinical measurement of 30.5 found at 74.5 mGy. These images demonstrate that the s-HCT system based on CNT x-ray source arrays is feasible. Conclusion: Customized CNT x-ray sources were developed specifically for head CT imaging. The feasibility of using this source array to construct a s-HCT scanner has been demonstrated by emulating a potential CT configuration. It is shown that diagnostic quality CT images can be obtained using the proposed system geometry. These preliminary images provide confidence that a s-HCT system can be constructed for clinical evaluation.
Silicone granuloma mimicking Breast Implant Associated Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL): a case report.

We describe the case of a 75-year-old woman with textured silicone implants who was referred to our institution with concern for implant rupture and Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell ...
Facilitated Conversation: A Useful Tool in an Ethicist’s Toolbox

Soto’s syndrome is a rare form of genetic disorder, which is often non-life threatening. However, this case study will examine the case of a young lady with Soto’s syndrome who developed a pediatric cancer. The team and family had opposing goals of care. Ethical dilemmas in surrogate decision-making for mentally challenged individuals can often be resolved through facilitated conversation between the patient’s family and healthcare team.
Pathways toward PAH Formation during Fatty Acid and Triglyceride Pyrolysis.

Molecular beam mass spectrometry was used to follow model triglyceride pyrolysis with temperature. A selectively formed set of PAHs (276, 352, 444 amu) arose with increasing temperature. They were ...
Venous TOS: The Perspective of the Patient

While the diagnosis of NTOS is felt to be subtle, most who treat this disorder feel that that of VTOS is very straightforward. As you will see, however, this is not necessarily so!
Electrohydrodynamic assembly of colloidal particles on a drop interface

A mathematical model to simulate the dynamics of colloidal particles on a drop interface in an applied electric field is presented. The model accounts for the electric field driven flow within the drop and suspending fluid, particle-particle electrostatic interaction, and the particle motion and rotation due to the induced flow and the applied electric field. The model predicts the formation of chains in the case of conducting particles or an undulating band around the equator in the case of dielectric particles. The model results are in agreement with recent experimental work. A study is presented on the impact of particle concentration and electric field strength on the collective motions of the particles. In the case of non-conducting particles, we find that in the presence of Quincke rotation, the amplitude of the undulations of the observed equatorial particle belt increases with particle concentration but decreases with electric field strength. We also show that the wavelength of the undulations appears independent of the applied field strength.
At the intersection of gender and discrimination: Experiences of Congolese refugee women with social and cultural integration in the United States

Abstract Refugee resettlement services in the United States usually prioritize education, employment, and language skills. However, a more holistic approach to supporting refugees beyond the initial resettlement period is needed. Specifically, more attention should be focused on the social and cultural discrimination, particularly racism experienced by refugees who are Black. This is even more urgent for women who experience additional intersectionality of race, gender, and refugee status. We conducted longitudinal photovoice research with Congolese women refugees in the United States in 2016 after they had been resettled for approximately two years and then again three years later in 2019. Photovoice data was supplemented with semi-structured interviews in 2016 and interviewer-administered questionnaires in 2019. The paper shares three major themes highlighting social and cultural challenges—including raising kids in America and the related fear of the police; increasing experiences of discrimination; and the importance of social connection. Our findings indicate the need for more comprehensive and culturally tailored support from social services beyond the initial resettlement period.
Optimizing Error-Bounded Lossy Compression for Scientific Data on GPUs

Error-bounded lossy compression is a critical technique for significantly reducing scientific data volumes. With ever-emerging heterogeneous high-performance computing (HPC) architecture, GPU-accelerated error-bounded compressors (such as CUSZ and cuZFP) have been developed. However, they suffer from either low performance or low compression ratios. To this end, we propose CUSZ+ to target both high compression ratios and throughputs. We identify that data sparsity and data smoothness are key factors for high compression throughputs. Our key contributions in this work are fourfold: (1) We propose an efficient compression workflow to adaptively perform run-length encoding and/or variable-length encoding. (2) We derive Lorenzo reconstruction in decompression as multidimensional partial-sum computation and propose a fine-grained Lorenzo reconstruction algorithm for GPU architectures. (3) We carefully optimize each of CUSZ kernels by leveraging state-of-the-art CUDA parallel primitives. (4) We evaluate CU SZ+ using seven real-world HPC application datasets on V100 and A100 GPUs. Experiments show CUSZ+ improves the compression throughputs and ratios by up to 18.4× and 5.3×, respectively, over CUSZ on the tested datasets.
Neuropsychopharmacology: Recent MEG Investigations

Neuroimaging methods can play an increasingly important role in a highly complex drug development process by providing sensitive biomarkers of disease state and the effects of therapeutic intervention. Based on the functional mapping of the anatomical specificity of drug effects, neuroimaging methods can illuminate the basic mechanisms of a disease and can assist in guiding the development of drugs with high specificity and sensitivity in the context of clinical applications and the increased reliance on personalized medicine. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) reflects synaptic currents directly, it is free of vascular confounds, and its sources can be modeled with increasingly sophisticated algorithms that often incorporate complementary imaging modalities, making it highly applicable to neuropsychopharmacological investigations. Indeed, numerous MEG studies have examined spontaneous or task-related brain activity in response to neuromodulators and drugs of abuse. With emphasis on the spectral analysis models, this chapter briefly reviews the MEG studies manipulating GABA, acetylcholine, dopamine, glutamate and alcohol in healthy cohorts, as well as the research on Parkinson’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and anesthesia in epilepsy. These studies provide unique insight into the spatiotemporal characteristics of the effects of pharmacological agents on different neurofunctional systems in health and disease and can reveal their effects on the oscillatory synchrony in real time and at the level of an interactive multifocal system. The MEG is increasingly relevant for understanding the neuropharmacology of psychoactive substances and for developing realistic neural models of the neuropsychiatric disorders and their sensitivity to pharmacological intervention.
Chapter 6 Muscarine Alkaloids

Publisher Summary The alkaloid muscarine is found in a variety of fungi along with choline, acetylcholine, and other basic physiologically active compounds. Included among these fungi are mushrooms of the very poisonous Amanita species: A. phalloides (death cap) and A. muscaria (fly agaric). The effects of nutritional factors on muscarine production of Clitocybe riuulosa surface cultures were studied. Combinations of mannitol or sorbitol with beer wort afforded the best muscarine production. The chemical classes of compounds found in mushrooms that affect the nervous system are (1) muscarine, (2) acetylcholine, (3) ibotenic acid and muscimol, and (4) psilocybinpsilocin. This chapter explores the natural occurrence of muscarine and stereoisomers and how to isolate them. Structural and conformational studies of muscarine are undertaken, along with synthetic investigations of muscarones and dehydromuscarones and synthetic investigations of muscarines and stereoisomers. Biological activity of muscarines, muscarones, their stereoisomers, and analogs are presented, along with structure-activity relationships in muscarine, its stereoisomers, and analogs.
The control of ribonucleic acid synthesis in Escherichia coli. II. Stringent control of energy metabolism.

Abstract The effect of amino acid starvation on phosphate metabolism was examined in an isogenic relaxed and stringent pair of Escherichia coli strains. The entry of Pi into the intracellular pool of orthophosphate was only slightly affected by amino acid starvation while its incorporation into the four ribonucleoside triphosphates, glucose 6-phosphate, and glucose 1-phosphate was found to be subject to stringent control. Incorporation of 32Pi into glucose-6-P continued when RNA synthesis was inhibited by actinomycin D. Thus, the entry of Pi into glucose-6-P is not governed by the rate of RNA accumulation; therefore stringent control must regulate phosphate metabolism more directly. When crude, undialyzed extracts were prepared from amino acid-starved cultures, the endogenous capacity to form glucose-6-P was found to be reduced by the stringent response, and this deficiency could be overcome by addition of an exogenous supply of ATP. These results indicate a general role of the stringent control mechanism in energy metabolism. Presumably stringency of energy metabolism and RNA accumulation share a common mechanism.
On propagation of convergence

We discuss some classical theorems and some recent results in the field of complex approximation from the viewpoint of propagation of convergence. We also prove a theorem on propagation of convergence in C2.
Addressing Incarcerated Women's Unique and Unidentified Health Care Needs

Barbara J. Guthrie, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor and associate dean of academic affairs at the Yale University School of Nursing, New Haven, CT. Over the last three decades, the incarceration rate for females compared to males has steadily increased. The health status of female inmates overall is poorer than that of the general population. Their health background often includes physical and sexual abuse, chronic illness, and alcohol or other drug dependency, and these issues are often neglected or addressed from a male perspective. Thus, the unique social, physical, and mental health needs, long-term or end-of-life health care, and the importance of anticipatory guidance related to reentry have either not been identi¢ed or have been inconsistently addressed. This In Focus series is dedicated uncloaking the invisibility of women’s unique health needs that have gone unmet in the current correctional health care system. Together, these papers strongly suggest the need for a uni¢ed approach to providing timely and quality health care to women inmates.
A Review of: “Comparing Clinical Measurement Methods: A Practical Guide, by B. Carstensen”

The basic learning assumption in this book is that concepts regarding comparison of clinical measurement methods will be best understood in the context of the underlying statistical models that cou...
An Investigation Of 'Honesty Check' Items In Higher Education Course Evaluations

The reliability and validity of course evaluations in higher education is often assumed. The typical Likert-type surveys utilized when students' evaluate the course and instructor often overlook measurement issues, or deal with them in an ineffective manner. Given the importance that is placed on higher education course evaluations, with results impacting such events as merit raises and promotion, the proper construction and use of evaluation tools is a critical issue. In an effort to assure 'honesty' in student responses, many institutions include items written positively and negatively, which are intended to measure the same construct. Using 537 course evaluations for a mathematics faculty member at a Midwest college, an item analysis is conducted with attention given to means and standard deviations, frequency counts, nonparametric correlations and tests of significant differences between questions that should, in theory, produce a similar measure or exactly opposite. A contention is made that the way the item is asked does matter, at least in some instances, and it should not be assumed that an item written in the positive and negative should directly correlate. The survey research community and institutions utilizing similar rating scale instruments will benefit from the results of this study, as well as the education community in general.