cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chemical embrittlement of Fe grain boundaries: P and the P-Mo couple

Abstract Density functional theory is used in an embedded-cluster scheme to study the electronic effects of P and the P-Mo couple upon the chemical embrittlement of Fe grain boundaries. The results obtained for P alone in a model grain boundary (GB) are consistent with its observed behaviour as a chemical embrittling agent. Total energies calculated for P-Fe clusters indicate a lower free energy for P in a free surface (FS) relative to the GB, in agreement with the Rice-Wang thermodynamic model of intergranular embrittlement. It is found that the chemical interactions between the P and surrounding Fe atoms are similar in both environments but tend to favour the GB configuration. However, it is also found that the structural rearrangement of the GB when P is introduced leads to a sufficiently large reconstruction energy that, overall, the FS configuration is energetically favoured. The results obtained for P-Mo are consistent with the observed behaviour of Mo as a cohesion enhancer; total energies indicate...
Investigation of bias-free positioning estimators for the scintillation cameras

Bias-free positioning estimators for scintillation cameras are investigated. A linear correlation coefficient (LCC) and Chi square error (CSE) method are evaluated with respect to linearity and spatial resolution performance. The LCC method uses correlation information between the true function (i.e., light response function) and measured data in mapping an event characterization vector to the associated position. The CSE method estimates the position where the Chi square error between two functions becomes minimized. In order to determine true statistics as a function of position, the light response function (LRF) was estimated based on sample measurements by using a cubic spline interpolation technique which provides smooth first-order and continuous second-order derivative of the LRF. Both methods have superior linearity properties compared to the weighted centroid. Each method call be considered as a bias-free positioning estimator within the effective field of view of the detector. The spatial resolution performance of the CSE method is /spl sim/7% and /spl sim/16% better than the weighted centroid method for a 16- and 25-mm-thick crystal, respectively. The spatial resolution performance of the LCC method is comparable to that of the weighted centroid method.
Effect of Injection Angle on Liquid Injection in Supersonic Flow

The aim of this experimental work was a study of the influence of injection angle on the penetration and breakup of liquid jets in a supersonic airstream. All tests were conducted in the VPI 23-cm Supersonic Wind Tunnel at A/=3.0 with T0-ambient and P0=4.35 atm. A particular goal was to incorporate injection angle into the penetration correlations previously developed at VPI. This was accomplished. A secondary aim of the work was to assess the performance of liquid fuel jet injection from the top of a strut. This is one method that has been suggested for the "mechanical" enhancement of penetration. The penetration behavior was found to be essentially the same as for injection from a flat plate. A result of interest was the discovery of waves with sharp crests on the windward side of the jets for downstream angled injection. d d,
Describing the universal cover of a compact limit

If X is the Gromov-Hausdorff limit of a sequence of Riemannian manifolds M-i(n) with a uniform lower bound on Ricci curvature, Sormani and Wei have shown that the universal cover of (X) over bar exists [C. Sormani, G. Wei, Hausdorff convergence and universal covers, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 353 (9) (2001) 3585-3602 (electronic)]; [C. Sormani, G. Wei, Universal covers for Hausdorff limits of noncompact spaces, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 356 (3) (2004) 1233-1270 (electronic). [15]]. For the case where X is compact, we provide a description of (X) over tilde in terms of the universal covers (M) over tilde (i) of the manifolds. More specifically we show that if X is the pointed Gromov-Hausdorff limit of the universal covers (M) over tilde (i) then there is a subgroup H of Iso((X) over bar) such that (X) over bar = (X) over bar /H. We call H the small action limit group and prove a similar result for compact length spaces with uniformly bounded dimension. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Coordinated trafficking of synaptic vesicle and active zone proteins prior to synapse formation

Background The proteins required for synaptic transmission are rapidly assembled at nascent synapses, but the mechanisms through which these proteins are delivered to developing presynaptic terminals are not understood. Prior to synapse formation, active zone proteins and synaptic vesicle proteins are transported along axons in distinct organelles referred to as piccolo-bassoon transport vesicles (PTVs) and synaptic vesicle protein transport vesicles (STVs), respectively. Although both PTVs and STVs are recruited to the same site in the axon, often within minutes of axo-dendritic contact, it is not known whether or how PTV and STV trafficking is coordinated before synapse formation.
Gravity Gradient Induced Viscous Stress and Moment Fluctuations of Cryogenic Helium System in Microgravity

Fluctuations of fluid stress forces, fluid stress moments, and moment arm of fluid moment exerted on the dewar wall of the container due to slosh wave excitations driven by gravity gradient acceleration or gravity jitter acceleration are investigated.
Perceptions of Undergraduate Students on Criminology and Criminal Justice Education in the United States: An Empirical Analysis

Since the first criminology program for police officers was founded in 1916 at the University of California at Berkeley in the United States, experts have debated whether baccalaureate degrees in criminology/criminal justice (C&CJ) programs are necessary for individuals to become police officers, correctional officers, or probation/parole officers. This study examines how students currently enrolled in C&CJ programs in the U.S. perceive their programs, drawing on data collected through self- administered questionnaires and completed by 256 C&CJ undergraduates. The study finds that over all, students have positive perceptions on C&CJ education. It also finds that students' career focus (law enforcement vs. correction) affects their perceptions about C&CJ education.
Colloidal quantum dots for mid-infrared detection (Presentation Recording)

Colloidal quantum dots present an opportunity as infrared and liquid processed materials. Initial results in 2011 showed mid-infrared detection with HgTe colloidal quantum dots in the mi-IR range, 3-5 microns. This has been now extended to the long-wave IR, 8-12 microns. The infrared response from the HgTe colloidal quantum dots arises from the absorption of light across the gap created by the confinement. The large dots absorbing the LWIR are about 20 nm in size and the size dispersion will need improvements. While Interband absorption requires the material to be zero or small-gap semiconductors, intraband transitions have no such limitations. However, this requires doped colloidal quantum dots. Two colloidal quantum dot materials, the small gap (0.6 eV) b-HgS and the zero-gap HgSe turn out to be stably doped with electrons. This has led to the observation of Mid-IR intraband photoconduction in both systems and alternative materials for IR detection. There are several basic challenges, besides fabrication and reliability. The proximity of the surface from the excitation leads to very short excited lifetimes due to nonradiative processes. Controlling the surface will be the avenue to lengthen the lifetime, while plasmonic coupling may lead to shorter radiative lifetime. Since the surface is easily chemically modified, it also leads to strong changes in the Fermi level and this will need to be controlled. In this talk, I will describe my understanding of the potential and limitations of this material approach to infrared detection, while discussing aspects of transport, photoluminescence, doping and photovoltaic responses.
Radiology Trainee Performance in Digital Breast Tomosynthesis: Relationship Between Difficulty and Error-Making Patterns

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to better understand the relationship between digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) difficulty and radiology trainee performance. Methods Twenty-seven radiology residents and fellows and three expert breast imagers reviewed 60 DBT studies consisting of unilateral craniocaudal and medial lateral oblique views. Trainees had no prior DBT experience. All readers provided difficulty ratings and final BI-RADS ® scores. Expert breast imager consensus interpretations were used to determine the ground truth. Trainee sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were calculated for low- and high-difficulty subsets of cases as assessed by each trainee him or herself (self-assessed difficulty) and consensus expert-assessed difficulty. Results For self-assessed difficulty, the trainee AUC was 0.696 for high-difficulty and 0.704 for low-difficulty cases ( P = .753). Trainee sensitivity was 0.776 for high-difficulty and 0.538 for low-difficulty cases ( P P P P P = .021). Conclusions Cases deemed difficult by experts were associated with decreases in trainee AUC, sensitivity, and specificity. In contrast, for self-assessed more difficult cases, the trainee AUC was unchanged because of increased sensitivity and compensatory decreased specificity. Educators should incorporate these findings when developing educational materials to teach interpretation of DBT.
Male Incubation and Biparental Care in Mountain Quail

Abstract We examined the reproductive behavior of Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) in two ecologically different regions of Oregon. We used radio-telemetry to locate 57 Mountain Quail nests and determine breeding behavior and incubation patterns. Mountain Quail appeared socially monogamous and displayed few alternative reproductive strategies; only one bird renested and no birds produced consecutive clutches. Twenty-five of 57 nests were incubated exclusively by males, 30 by females, and two by birds of undetermined sex. We observed no nest switching, and males and females had similar clutch and brood sizes. Males brooded chicks, frequently without female assistance. Within six radio-marked pairs, males and females simultaneously incubated separate nests <200 m apart. The average production by females was 22 eggs (range 19–26) with a mean clutch size of 11 eggs (range 7–15). Simultaneous multiple clutches may enhance the reproductive potential of a species when environmental conditions limit double broodi...
Reproduction and embryology of Nautilus

In the past 15 years, there has been tremendous progress in our understanding of many aspects of Nautilus biology. This progress is due in part to an increase in the number of investigators now interested in this genus, but is largely due to successful collection and aquarium culture techniques (Carlson, 1979; Mikami et al., 1976) (see also Chapter 35). When I began writing this chapter, I jokingly offered to leave four blank pages to cover what was then known about the embryonic development of Nautilus. That same afternoon, I opened some neglected egg capsules and found the first living Nautilus embryo (Arnold and Carlson, 1986). What follows is more a progress report than an attempt to present definitive data and meaningful interpretations.
Development and industrial application of ultra-fast cooling technology

A new-generation TMCP(NG-TMCP) with ultra fast cooling(UFC) as core technique was suggested instead of the conventional TMCP in which some problems are to be solved. And the ultra fast cooling technology has been successfully applied to the plate rolling production in Shouqin Metal Materials Co. Ltd. Industrial trials are reported for the production of X70 pipeline steels (about 70000 t) under UFC conditions. Pipeline steels with reasonably good properties have been produced on an industrial scale. UFC can improve the temperature uniformity, the mechanical properties and the plate profile of X70 pipeline steel. The performance features of the trial plates can meet the standard of X70 pipeline steel. Spot test results have shown that the qualification rate of shape control, the performance and charpy impact properties for the trial plates are 95%, 97% and 98%, respectively. The impact values of X70 pipeline steel at UFC mode exceed the standard requirements of X80 pipeline steel. The productivity is enhanced because cutting quantity of head and tail of the plate is reduced. The enhancement of control accuracy of the red back temperatures is favorable for industrial production of X70 pipeline steel. The reduced production of the steel-making has been industrially achieved, since a new composition was designed by reducing the vanadium content to less than 0.045 wt.%.
A conserved structural mechanism of NMDA receptor inhibition: A comparison of ifenprodil and zinc.

N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, one of the three main types of ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs), are involved in excitatory synaptic transmission, and their dysfunction is implicated in various neurological disorders. NMDA receptors, heterotetramers typically composed of GluN1 and GluN2 subunits, are the only members of the iGluR family that bind allosteric modulators at their amino-terminal domains (ATDs). We used luminescence resonance energy transfer to characterize the conformational changes the receptor undergoes upon binding ifenprodil, a synthetic compound that specifically inhibits activation of NMDA receptors containing GluN2B. We found that ifenprodil induced an overall closure of the GluN2B ATD without affecting conformation of the GluN1 ATD or the upper lobes of the ATDs, the same mechanism whereby zinc inhibits GluN2A. These data demonstrate that the conformational changes induced by zinc and ifenprodil represent a conserved mechanism of NMDA receptor inhibition. Additionally, we compared the structural mechanism of zinc inhibition of GluN1–GluN2A receptors to that of ifenprodil inhibition of GluN1–GluN2B. The similarities in the conformational changes induced by inhibitor binding suggest a conserved structural mechanism of inhibition independent of the binding site of the modulator.
Machiavelli, for Example

A common complaint about Machiavelli as a political scientist is that he proceeds too much by the use of examples and not enough by way of argument. Commentators sympathetic to Machiavelli most often accept the substance of this criticism, and then the best they can do is appeal to some rhetorical purpose his language is trying to serve. Thus, in George Bull’s introduction to his translation of The Prince we read that “The Prince is a classic because of its shrewd psychological insight, its prophetic quality, and its hard, vehement prose, and because it has never lost the power to shock. The artist in Machiavelli, as much as the analyst, is often responsible for the shocks. He loved antithesis and generalization; he was intuitive rather than logical; he constantly dramatized his remarks and exaggerated his conclusions for the sake of impact” (xix). In Maurizio Viroli’s recent Machiavelli we are told that “Machiavelli’s examples… are ornaments, in the technical sense, rhetorical devices that serve the orator to attain his goal — that is, to persuade” (81). And, sometimes, such accounts are simply confused, as in Harvey Mansfield and Nathan Tarcov’s introduction to their translation of the Discourses: “[Machiavelli’s] constant use of examples does not signify an unphilosophical inability to formulate universal propositions or to think systematically…. In fact, he provides many universals but qualifies or contradicts them, partly with other universals and especially with examples. His universals must always be read and revised in light of his examples. He too has a system, but the system includes his examples. To make philosophy pay more regard to things as they are, he wants to teach it to speak through examples, just as political rulers govern through examples and not only through laws” (xli). There you have it: the man can do philosophy — that is, speak in general terms — though he also likes to contradict himself, and his system is supposed to be inclusive of such contradictions. With friends like that, as the saying goes, why would the Florentine thinker need enemies?
Mantle cell lymphoma of the colon

An 81-year-old man with a history of stage IV mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) diagnosed from a submental lymph node biopsy in 2006 was evaluated for new-onset melena and blood clots with bowel movements. He had been treated for his MCL with 6 cycles of CHOP-R (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone, and rituximab) in 2006, followed by 13 cycles of maintenance rituximab. In 2012, he was started on lenalidomide (Revlimid), but decided to stop after an exacerbation of his heart failure. On presentation, his hemoglobin was 5.2g/dL. Colonoscopy showed a 4-cm mass in the cecal base (●" Fig.1), a 5-cm ulcerated mass encircling the ileocecal valve, and six sessile odd-looking polypoid masses in the cecal base. Biopsy was consistent with MCL (●" Fig.2, ●" Fig.3, ●" Fig.4,●" Fig.5). Because of the patient’s heart failure, surgical resection was not favored. He was started on radiotherapy and chlorambucil. MCL is one of the mature B-cell nonHodgkin lymphomas. Most patients with MCL present with advanced-stage disease, and up to 80% have involvement of extranodal sites, including the spleen, bone marrow, and gastrointestinal tract. Gastrointestinal tract involvement was detected in 10%–28% of MCL cases in various series [1,2]. The typical appearance of intestinal MCL is multiple lymphomatous polyposis. Less commonly, it appears as protruded lesions or superficial lesions. MCL expresses pan-B-cell antigens, CD5, and FMC7. Cyclin D1 is helpful to distinguish MCL from other lymphomas.
Role of Nanotechnology in Skin Delivery of Drugs

Passive delivery through skin is favored for small molecules with moderate lipophilicity. Formulation strategies which improve skin penetration, allow controlled release, increase drug loading, and minimize skin irritancy have been explored. Nano-carrier systems (10–1000 nm) provide one such approach. This chapter discusses the role of nanotechnology in delivery of agents into/through the skin with focus on different types of nano-carriers including lipid-based vesicles, lipid-based carriers, polymer-based carriers, and nanocrystals. Success of these carrier systems in both pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries has been reviewed along with limitations associated with use of nanotechnology in skin delivery.
Joseph Constantine Carpue--first military plastic surgeon.

PLASTIC surgery has been likened to a phoenix arising anew from the ashes of war. Indeed, the late Dr. Jerome P. Web­ ster said that the story of plastic surgery was the story of military surgery. Everyone is familiar with the Army Instructional Courses in Plastic Surgery taught by Dr. Webster during World War II, which inspired many of our current leaders in plastic surgery. Most people in the audience realize that great advances in plastic surgery were made by such giants as Vilray Blair, Robert Ivy, Harold Gillies, and Varstad Kazanjian as a result of World War I. Some people might recognize the name Gurdon Buck and, as a result of Dr. Richard Stark's research, we know what plastic surgical feats Buck achieved during and after the American Civil War. However, few people realize that it was Joseph Con­ stantine Carpue (Fig. 1 ), the first military plastic surgeon, who was responsible for the renaissance of plastic surgery 160 years ago. Joseph Constantine Carpue was born into a Catholic family in London on May 4, 1764. His early career goals were uncertain, for at various times he wanted to be a priest, a bookseller, and a lawyer. He seemed to fulfill the require­ ments for a medical career described by a former president of Yale University; namely, that a person went into medi­ cine because he was too stupid for law, too lazy for business, and too immoral for the ministry. At the age of 32, Carpue enrolled at St. George's Hospital on August 5, 1796 as a pupil of surgeon Everard Home, John Hunter's son-in-law.3 Apparently, Carpue did well as Mr. Home's pupil because, at the end of a year, Home offered Carpue 500 pounds a year to remain as his assistant and clinical clerk.2 However, Carpue probably realized that, as a Catholic, his chances of being appointed Surgeon to St. George's Hospital someday were nil and, instead of accepting Mr. Home's offer, he joined the Army and was immediately appointed Staff Surgeon to the Duke of York's Hospital in Chelsea, a posi­ tion he would hold for a dozen years. The Lancet tells us, "His career as a lecturer on anatomy commenced in the year 1800 in the following manner. While at the York Hospital, he omitted no opportunity of perfecting his acquaintance with anatomy, and a gentleman, who was then studying medicine, one day said to him, 'I wish I knew anatomy as well as you, Carpue,' to which Carpue replied, 'If you desire it I will teach you.' They then set to work diligently, and the result was so satisfactory to the pupil, Mr. Norman, that he insisted on the acceptance of 20 guineas by his teacher. This circumstance suggested to Mr. Carpue the first idea of
The Objective Media

In 1928, a popular play The Front Page (later a movie) characterized reporters as tabloid creatures who ran from crime scene to crime scene, trying to get the most sensational tidbits to splash on the front page. Such reporters were not very knowledgeable, neither were they professionally trained nor terribly scrupulous in their pursuit of the news. If getting the story required bending the law or bribing a source, that was acceptable.
Rooms with a view

Sidney Perkowitz explains how the camera obscura ("dark room") and camera lucida ("luminous room") are still relevant today in science and art, despite the availability of much more modern cameras.
Redox Interactions Between Nanomaterials and Biological Systems

Nanomaterials are used for a wide variety of applications in medicine and industry. Because nanomaterials tend to have increased redox activity and reactivity compared to their bulk scale counterparts, there is concern over toxicity related to oxidative stress in biological systems. This chapter reviews the basic mechanisms by which nanomaterials have redox activity in biological systems. This chapter also reviews techniques used to evaluate redox damage to biomolecules. Finally, this chapter reviews analytical techniques used to determine the spatial distribution and redox state of nanomaterials within biological matrices.
Current Approaches to the Management of Oral Mucositis

Despite its frequency, impact on patients and health and economic costs, there are currently limited evidence-based options for the prevention or treatment of OM. A number of guidelines for the management of OM have been thoughtfully prepared by the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) panels. For the most part, they are in agreement. This chapter attempts to summarize the current standard of care for mucositis management in a way that presents a consensus of current recommendations.
Home-Based Exercise: A Therapeutic Option for Peripheral Artery Disease.

People with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) have impaired lower extremity functioning, increased rates of functional decline, and faster rates of mobility loss than people without PAD,1 yet few therapies are available for improving functional performance or preventing mobility loss in people with PAD. Only 2 medications, pentoxifylline and cilostazol, are US Food and Drug Administration–approved for treating PAD-related walking impairment. No medications for PAD-related walking impairment have been US Food and Drug Administration–approved since 1999. Recent evidence shows that pentoxifylline is not much more effective than placebo, and benefits from cilostazol are modest. Most patients with PAD without critical limb ischemia are not candidates for lower extremity revascularization. Among patients with PAD who undergo angioplasty with stenting, up to 25% to 30% of these stents develop restenosis within 1 year. Supervised treadmill exercise has greater benefit than medications and is recommended as first-line therapy to improve walking performance in PAD, yet barriers exist to participation in supervised treadmill exercise for patients with PAD. First, supervised exercise is not reimbursed by health insurance, including Medicare. Many patients with PAD cannot afford this highly effective treatment. Second, traveling to an exercise center 3 times weekly for supervised exercise is burdensome, especially for patients with PAD whose mobility is limited. Even when supervised exercise is offered without costs to patients with PAD in a research program, many decline participation.2 In a recent …
The Ehrenfest Theorem and Quantitative Predictions of HHG based on the Three-step Model

A primary challenge in high-harmonic generation (HHG) experiments is the optimization of the photon yield. To address this challenge, quantitative theoretical modeling of the single-atom response as well as propagation effects is needed. It has been shown that the three-step model (TSM) [1] gives an excellent qualitative description of the single-atom response to an intense laser pulse [2]. The structure of the spectrum and in particular the cutoff frequency are predicted correctly. However, so far there was only poor agreement between the photon yield predicted by the TSM and by direct numerical solutions of the Schrodinger equation (NSE). In fact, there is a discrepancy of about an order of magnitude in the radiation amplitude, which translates to a two orders of magnitude discrepancy in the photon yield. Moreover, the discrepancy is not constant over the spectrum. In other words, the TSM spectrum is also distorted in its shape.
Unreliable Inactivation of Viruses by Commonly Used Lysis Buffers

There is a common assumption that viral lysis buffers are sufficient to render viruses noninfectious. This assumption has a significant impact on the way biological samples are processed, labeled, ...
Critical Issues and Definitions

If drugs did not simultaneously affect both private and public behavior and provoke value judgments about pleasure, and if they did not influence a gamut of social, legal and economic interactions, we would neither be as concerned nor as confused as we are.
How “good” are real-time ground motion predictions from Earthquake Early Warning systems?

Real-time ground motion alerts, as can be provided by Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems, need to be both timely and sufficiently accurate to be useful. Yet how timely and how accurate the alerts of existing EEW algorithms are is often poorly understood. In part, this is because EEW algorithm performance is usually evaluated not in terms of ground motion prediction accuracy and timeliness but in terms of other metrics (e.g., magnitude and location estimation errors), which do not directly reflect the usefulness of the alerts from an end user perspective. Here we attempt to identify a suite of metrics for EEW algorithm performance evaluation that directly quantify an algorithm's ability to identify target sites that will experience ground motion above a critical (user-defined) ground motion threshold. We process 15,553 recordings from 238 earthquakes with M > 5 (mostly from Japan and southern California) in a pseudo-real-time environment and investigate two end-member EEW methods. We use the metrics to highlight both the potential and limitations of the two algorithms and to show under which circumstances useful alerts can be provided. Such metrics could be used by EEW algorithm developers to convincingly demonstrate the added value of new algorithms or algorithm components. They can complement existing performance metrics that quantify other relevant aspects of EEW algorithms (e.g., false event detection rates) for a comprehensive and meaningful EEW performance analysis.
Value of Bootstrapping Staged Deployment of Infrastructure: Case Study in Space Infrastructure Deployment

This paper analyzes the value of staged deployment for complex infrastructure system and propose a concept of bootstrapping staged deployment. Staged deployment has been well known for its advantage of providing flexibility in an uncertain environment. In contrast, this paper demonstrates that the proposed bootstrapping staged deployment can even add values in a deterministic environment. The key idea of bootstrapping staged deployment is to have the previously deployed stages support the subsequent deployment. We develop an analytical model to demonstrate the effects of bootstrapping staged deployment with a case study in space exploration. Our analysis results show that with a well-coordinated deployment plan, staged deployment can overperform single-stage deployment even in a deterministic environment, and that there is an optimal number of stages in terms of lifecycle cost under certain conditions. Our method can find the analytical expression for the optimal number of stages and its deployment strategies. The general findings from the proposed concept and analytical method can advance our knowledge about systems staged deployment, and make operational planning of resource generation infrastructure more efficient.Copyright © 2017 by ASME
SENSOR DEGRADATION DETECTION IN LINEAR SYSTEMS

As a result of aging and wear, the performance of machine and equipment deteriorates, which leads to a decrease in performance reliability and increase in the potential for faults and failures. To ensure proper functionality of complex systems, an ever-increasing number of increasingly sophisticated sensors and measurement devices have been employed for the purpose of performance diagnosis and control. Nevertheless, sensors themselves degrade, just as any other dynamic system. Therefore, to improve the reliability and performance of the system, it is essential to track and monitor the health conditions of the sensors as well. Without imposing requirements for redundant sensing equipment, the method developed in this paper utilizes the fact that sensor readings depict dynamic characteristics of the measured phenomenon in the plant as well as the dynamic characteristics of the sensor itself, which enables detection and quantification of sensor performance degradation as well as its isolation from degradation processes in the monitored or controlled plant. The method assesses sensor performance based on identification and tracing of time-constants and gains-changes associated with the sensor, which are obtained from using the subspace model based system identification method and that based on Autoregressive Moving Average model with eXogeneous variables (ARMAX model), respectively. The method was verified through high-fidelity simulations of an automotive electronic throttle system.
Isolated Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction with Semitendinosus Tendon Allograft.

Background Medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction is recommended to surgically stabilize the patella against excessive lateral patellar translation. It is currently the cornerstone of treatment for recurrent lateral patellar instability. The MPFL is often disrupted during acute patellar dislocations but may also be attenuated in the setting of recurrent lateral instability. Numerous techniques have been developed with the primary goal of restoring the static function of the MPFL in resisting lateral translation of the patella during early flexion of the knee. There are now numerous options for the surgical technique, fixation devices, and graft choice, with equal clinical results as long as key surgical principles are maintained1. This article provides a step-by-step description of our preferred technique as well as offering technical pearls and a review of patient outcomes. Description The MPFL is reconstructed anatomically using a hamstring allograft or autograft with an ideal width of 4 to 5 mm. The graft is secured to the femur with an interference screw at its anatomic insertion point, which can be defined by radiographic or anatomic landmarks, is passed through the soft tissues between the capsule and the medial retinaculum/vastus medialis oblique muscles, and is secured to the superomedial patellar border. Alternatives Nonoperative treatment of lateral patellar dislocations is associated with recurrent dislocation rates of 35% to 50%; surgical treatment for recurrent dislocations has afforded improved patient outcomes2,3. In general, there are 3 surgical options to restore the function of the MPFL. Historically, acute repair was thought to offer the MFPL a chance to "heal" and resume its function; however, the literature has failed to support this as a reliable option in the setting of lateral patellar instability4. Similarly, delayed tightening or imbrication of the MPFL in the setting of chronic laxity has not demonstrated worthwhile clinical results5. MPFL reconstruction with a graft, as described here, has provided the most consistent outcomes. Rationale Isolated reconstruction of the MPFL is indicated for patients with a history consistent with recurrent lateral patellar instability and a physical examination demonstrating excessive lateral patellar translation. Patients with high-grade trochlear dysplasia and patella alta may be better treated with concomitant osseous procedures such as trochleoplasty or tibial tubercle osteotomy.
Multi-view Mouth Renderization for Assisting Lip-reading

Previous work demonstrated that people who rely on lip-reading often prefer a frontal view of their interlocutor, but sometimes a profile view may display certain lip gestures more noticeably. This work refers to an assistive tool that receives an unconstrained video of a speaker, captured at an arbitrary view, and not only locates the mouth region but also displays augmented versions of the lips in the frontal and profile views. This is made using deep Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) trained on several pairs of images. In the training set, each pair contains a mouth picture taken at a random angle and the corresponding picture (i.e., relative to the same mouth shape, person, and lighting condition) taken at a fixed view. In the test phase, the networks are able to receive an unseen mouth image taken at an arbitrary angle and map it to the fixed views -- frontal and profile. Because building a large-scale pairwise dataset is time consuming, we use realistic synthetic 3D models for training, and videos of real subjects as input for testing. Our approach is speaker-independent, language-independent, and our results demonstrate that the GAN can produce visually compelling results that may assist people with hearing impairment.
Engineering Carbon Nanomaterials for Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering

Recent advances in creating carbon nanomaterials and their derivatives have led to several opportunities in biomedical research and clinical applications. The current and most promising biomedical applications of carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene includes but are not limited to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Owing to their unique intrinsic physical and chemical properties, they have been engineered by different methods to develop suitable two-dimensional and three-dimensional scaffolds. Such biocompatible nanostructured scaffolds were found to sustain growth, proliferation, and adhesion of different stem cells. While some of these scaffolds were found to accelerate the osteogenic, neurogenic, and adipogenic differentiation of various stem cells in the presence of specific medium, some scaffolds have been reported to support spontaneous differentiation of the stem cells into specific adult tissues even in normal medium. Several underlying mechanisms such as nanotopography, preconcentration of growth factors, electrostatic and chemical interactions have been proposed for such behavior of stem cells growing on different carbon nanomaterial-based scaffolds. Above results indicate them as excellent nanoplatforms for tissue engineering and stem cell-based regenerative medicine. However, most of these literature reports consist only of in vitro studies with specific stem cells. Therefore, sufficient in vivo studies together with relevant toxicity and biocompatibility data are necessary for their future application as an implantable tissue engineering material.
Bacteria and bacteriophages as biological agents for disease control in aquaculture

Abstract: Diseases afflicting aquaculture are a worldwide problem, and are in need of cost-effective and sustainable therapeutants. This chapter reviews the literature on both bacterial and bacteriophage agents that have been applied as biological control agents in aquaculture to reduce the severity and mortality associated with various infectious diseases. The specific interactions between pathogen, host, and biological control agent, and how these interactions are influenced by environmental factors, can be unique for each biological control application. Each biological control agent should be evaluated independently for its efficacy and potential for application in aquaculture. Taken together, these studies demonstrate both the successes and challenges of these approaches for biological control of disease, and point toward increasing adoption of efficacious biological control agents worldwide in aquaculture.
Gardener with primary lymphocutaneous nocardiosis.

A 57-year-old Caucasian woman with a history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hypothyroidism presented with an injury to the right index finger sustained while gardening 4 weeks ago. She noted direct contact to soil and mulch without the use of protective gloves. One week later, she
Inducing compliance with postmarket studies for drugs under FDA’s accelerated approval pathway

Problem definition: In 1992, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) instituted the accelerated approval pathway (AP) to allow promising drugs to enter the market based on limited evidence of effica...
Comparison of Pediatric Tracheostomy Stoma Cleaning Solutions.

Advances in medical care have increased the survival of preterm infants and children with an array of congenital medical conditions. Many have complex medical needs and require ongoing care as they make the transition from the hospital to home or to long-term care settings. Those with chronic lung
Fraud and Abuse in the Paycheck Protection Program? Evidence from Investment Advisory Firms

This study investigates the nature and magnitude of abuse in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP or the Program) using PPP loans made to 2,999 investment advisory firms registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We show an existing model of investment advisor fraud predicts unusually large PPP loans at a rate similar to actual cases of fraud. Investment advisors abusing the Program were significantly more likely to disclose a history of past fraud and other legal and/or regulatory misconduct. Using a conservative approach, we estimate that more than 6% of the $590 million in PPP funds received by companies in the investment management industry consisted of statutory overallocations to firms abusing the Program. We test a variety of hypotheses to shed further light on the nature of PPP abuse.
Ignoring Drug Trademarks

If you walk into a pharmacy with a prescription for Merck’s ZOCOR, which contains simvastatin, the pharmacist will probably give you a product containing simvastatin made by another company. The pharmacist will dispense a “generic” simvastatin product. State generic substitution laws, passed in the 1970s to help the government save money by switching patients to cheaper generic drugs, either permit or require this substitution. But drug brand names -- such as ZOCOR -- are trademarks. Like other trademarks, they distinguish goods in the market from others, and they signal the source of the goods. These state laws essentially treat the words as something else. As soon as generic drugs are available, state law instructs the pharmacist to read the brand name -- written by the doctor -- as an instruction to dispense a different company's product. This is the opposite of how trademarks are supposed to operate. This Article examines the history of substitution and drug trademarks over the last century and a half, as well as the relationship between the two, against the backdrop of an evolving drug industry, an evolving drug regulatory framework, and improvements in regulatory science. It shows that the generic drug substitution laws are an anomaly in our legal system. Substitution at the pharmacy was illegal, and it still is otherwise illegal. The substitution laws of the 1970s created an exception in pharmacy law and broke with long-standing policy in food and drug law as well as unfair competition law. This Article also shows that the substitution laws were intended to, and did, undermine proprietary (trademark) rights. This was done to achieve savings for payers, after efforts to mandate generic prescribing failed. As the Article points out, much has changed since the 1970s. The regulatory framework has changed, regulatory science has evolved, drug research and development has evolved, the industries have changed, the healthcare finance system is utterly different, the relationship among parties in healthcare delivery has evolved, and so on. The Article therefore concludes by reconsidering (and criticizing) the exception for generic drug substitution, with the benefit of a clear understanding of the relationship between a brand drug and its generic equivalents and a clear understanding of the role for drug trademark after patents have expired. The exception prioritizes short-term cost savings over the dynamic pro-competitive benefits of a properly functioning trademark system. And although the laws are more than 40 years old, this point is important today, because hostility to drug trademarks and devotion to generic substitution laws inform scholarship and policy proposals today.
Thermal effect of epilayer on phonon transport of semiconducting heterostructure interfaces

Abstract Heat dissipation through nanoscale heterostructures is of technological importance and fundamental research interest. Diamond is a desirable heat spreader, for integrating with semiconductors to dissipate quickly large amount of heat generated in electronics. The rapid development of GaN-on-diamond devices holds much promise for thermal management of high-power electronics and devices. Hitherto, the interfacial effect of an inherent epilayer between GaN and diamond to thermal dissipation is less investigated. One aim of this study is to understand and analyze the interfacial thermal boundary resistance (TBR) across a diamond/GaN heterostructure with the presence of an epilayer of either AlN, or Si3N4, or Si. It is found that with a 5 nm epilayer the Si3N4 gives the lowest TBR (4.58 m2K/GW) among the three types of diamond/GaN interface. The thickness effect of epilayer is also revealed; and it is found from theoretical calculations that the lowest TBR exists for the AlN and Si3N4 epilayers around 50 and 70 nm, respectively. Besides, c-BN is drawing increasing attention because it not only owns diamond-like thermal properties but also is a promising material for fabricating optoelectronic devices. The interfacial TBR reduced when the diamond cap or the GaN substrate was replaced by the c-BN. Further, c-BN can be directly grown on diamond without use of epilayer, resulting in an unprecedented low TBR of 0.4 m2K/GW in the diamond/c-BN interface.
Single-cell chromatin and gene-regulatory dynamics of mouse nephron progenitors

STRUCTURED ABSTRACTO_ST_ABSBackgroundC_ST_ABSCis-regulatory elements (CREs), such as enhancers and promoters, and their cognate transcription factors play a central role in cell fate specification. Bulk analysis of CREs has provided insights into gene regulation in nephron progenitor cells (NPCs). However, the cellular resolution required to unravel the dynamic changes in regulatory elements associated with cell fate choices remains to be defined. MethodsWe integrated single-cell chromatin accessibility (scATAC-seq) and gene expression (scRNA-seq) in embryonic E16.5 (self-renewing) and postnatal P2 (primed) mouse Six2GFP NPCs. This analysis revealed NPC diversity and identified candidate CREs. To validate these findings and gain additional insights into more differentiated cell types, we performed a multiome analysis of E16.5 and P2 kidneys. ResultsCRE accessibility recovered the diverse states of NPCs and precursors of differentiated cells. Single-cell types such as podocytes, proximal and distal precursors are marked by differentially accessible CREs. Domains of regulatory chromatin as defined by rich CRE-gene associations identified NPC fate-determining transcription factors (TF). Likewise, key TF expression correlates well with its regulon activity. Young NPCs exhibited enrichment in accessible motifs for bHLH, homeobox, and Forkhead TFs, while older NPCs were enriched in AP-1, HNF1, and HNF4 motif activity. A subset of Forkhead factors exhibiting high chromatin activity in podocyte precursors. ConclusionDefining the regulatory landscape of nephrogenesis at single-cell resolution informs the basic mechanisms of nephrogenesis and provides a foundation for future studies in disease states characterized by abnormal nephrogenesis. Significance StatementO_LINephron progenitor cells (NPCs) are a multipotent population giving rise to all cell types of the nephron. At any given time, the NPCs choice to self-renew or differentiate is determined not only by its transcription factor (TF) repertoire but also by the genome accessibility of the cognate cis-regulatory elements. C_LIO_LIUsing single-cell analysis, we demonstrate the heterogeneity of NPCs at the epigenetic level and observe dynamic and cell type-specific changes in chromatin accessibility. Fate-determining TFs harbor domains rich in interactive chromatin that are established prior to gene activation. C_LIO_LIThese findings illustrate the importance of chromatin-based mechanisms in the regulation of nephrogenesis and may have implications for nephron regeneration and repair. C_LI
Predispositions Toward UPC Scanning and Individual Product Price Removal

Based upon the results of a consumer survey, the authors analyze predispositions toward Universal Product Code scanning. Special attention is paid to consumer predisposition toward attributes of scanning, price removal for individual products, and the value of scanning as an attracting force to a retailer.
Customary International Law: A New Theory with Practical Applications

Customary international law, although long recognized as a primary source of international law, remains replete with enigmas, both conceptual and practical. These include how to determine the existence of opinio juris, the function of the state practice requirement, the definition of jus cogens customary norms, and the relationship between customary international law and ethics. In part because of these enigmas, the subject has generated a wide-ranging literature. However, no recent book-length work has attempted to articulate a comprehensive theory of customary international law that can effectively resolve these questions. This book sets out to accomplish this goal. Its approach is unique in a number of ways. For example, it is multidisciplinary and draws insights from fields such as legal theory, philosophy, political science, and game theory. In addition, it is anchored in a sophisticated ethical framework and explores at length the interconnections between customary international law and ethics.