cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Springsteen, Tradition, and the Purpose of the Artist

In 2012, Bruce Springsteen delivered the keynote address at the South By Southwest Music Conference and Festival. His task was daunting: reconnect authenticity to a traditional approach to creating art. By bringing together ideas on authenticity, creativity, and culture, Springsteen’s talk joins a lineage of essays that defend poetry, creativity, and culture, including famous works by William Wordsworth and T.S. Eliot. In this article, I connect Springsteen’s ideas to the “folk process,” which leads to considering Wordsworth’s ideas on the voice of the common citizen and Eliot’s ideas on historical tradition. In the end, I consider Springsteen’s legacy as cultural ambassador for the arts.
Waste not want not: life cycle implications of gold recovery and recycling from nanowaste

Commercial-scale applications of nanotechnology are rapidly increasing. Enhanced production of nanomaterials and nano-enabled products and their resultant disposal lead to concomitant increases in the volume of nanomaterial wastes (i.e., nanowaste). Many nanotechnologies employ resource-limited materials, such as precious metals and rare earth elements that ultimately end up as nanowaste. To make nanotechnology more sustainable it is essential to develop strategies to recover these high-value, resource-limited materials. To address this complex issue, we developed laboratory-scale methods to recover nanowaste gold. To this end, α-cyclodextrin facilitated host–guest inclusion complex formation involving second-sphere coordination of [AuBr4]− and [K(OH2)6]+ was used for gold recovery and the recovered gold was then used to produce new nanoparticles. To quantify the environmental impacts of this gold recycling process we then produced life cycle assessments to compare nanoparticulate gold production scenarios with and without recycling. The LCA results indicate that recovery and recycling of nanowaste gold can significantly reduce the environmental impacts of gold nanoparticle synthesis.
Exploiting Voltage Regulators to Enhance Various Power Attack Countermeasures

The security implications of on-chip voltage regulation on the effectiveness of various voltage/frequency scaling-based countermeasures such as random dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (RDVFS), random dynamic voltage scaling (RDVS), and aggressive voltage and frequency scaling (AVFS) are investigated. The side-channel leakage mechanisms of different on-chip voltage regulator topologies are mathematically analyzed and verified with circuit level simulations. Correlation coefficient between the input data and monitored power consumption of a cryptographic circuit is used as the security metric to compare the impact of different on-chip voltage regulators when implemented with the aforementioned countermeasures. As compared to a cryptographic circuit without countermeasure, the RDVFS technique implemented with an on-chip switched-capacitor voltage converter reduces the correlation coefficient over 80 percent and over 92 percent against differential and leakage power analysis attacks, respectively, through masking the leakage of the clock frequency and supply voltage information in the monitored power profile.
The Mediating Role of Self-Criticism in the Relationship between Parental Expressed Emotion and NSSI

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is found at high rates among adolescents and young adults and is associated with many negative consequences, warranting additional research. Two factors that may contribute to NSSI during this time period are one's levels of self-criticism and perceptions of their parental relationships; however, these relationships have received limited attention. The purpose of this current study was to address this gap in the literature. Adolescents and young adults (n=294) completed measures of perceived parental expressed emotion, self-criticism, and NSSI. Participants with a history of NSSI reported perceiving their parents as providing less emotional support, inducing more irritation, being more intrusive, and expressing more criticism compared to those without a history of NSSI. These individuals also endorsed greater self-criticism. Further, self-criticism mediated the relationship between perceived parental expressed emotion and NSSI occurrence, such that those with higher reported self-criticism and greater perceived parental expressed emotion were more likely to engage in NSSI.
The engineering design and construction of an ultra-high resolution high-sensitivity preclinical PET/CT — MuPET

An ultra-resolution high-sensitivity preclinical PET/CT — MuPET is designed and manufactured. The detector system is a triacontagon shape which is very close to a perfect cylindrical ring. The inner diameter of the ring is 165 mm and the axial length is 116 mm. The detector system is using 180 PMT-quadrant-sharing (PQS) blocks — 30 blocks per ring and 6 rings axially with 210 low-cost round PMTs for PQS decoding. Each block consists of 169 LYSO crystals in a 13×13 array. The Slab-Sandwich-Slab (SSS) production methodology is used for the mass production of the 19×19×10 mm3 cuboid blocks. The cuboid blocks are then ground into pentagon shape with a taper angle of 6° at the two side faces, which can eliminate the wedge shape gaps between blocks inside the detector ring to increase the sensitivity. Two crystal widths are used: the small one of 1.32 mm for the 11 crystals in the middle and the large one of 1.76 mm for the 2 crystals on both sides. Using large crystal size can compensate the volume loss due to the grinding, thus improve the uniformity of the individual crystal sensitivities which will benefit the data acquisition and processing. The no-gap detector ring is finished and mounted on the coliseum shape PMT holder with high accuracy. 210 Hamamatsu R1450 19-mm PMTs are selected and sorted base on their gain and dark current, and optical coupled to the detector ring. High voltage dividers and front-end electronics are also mounted inside the PET unit enclosure. The assembled PET module is then inserted into an existing PET/CT gantry which has a cone beam CT installed already. The new PET/CT system is under system debugging and tuning. The preliminary testing results show 5% sensitivity with energy window of 300 to 650 keV, which has the potential to be improved further. The resolution is better than 1.3 mm near the FOV center and the high quality Micro-Deluxe phantom image is obtained.
Measuring molecular motions inside single cells with improved analysis of single-particle trajectories

Abstract Single-molecule super-resolution imaging and tracking can measure molecular motions inside living cells on the scale of the molecules themselves. Diffusion in biological systems commonly exhibits multiple modes of motion, which can be effectively quantified by fitting the cumulative probability distribution of the squared step sizes in a two-step fitting process. Here we combine this two-step fit into a single least-squares minimization; this new method vastly reduces the total number of fitting parameters and increases the precision with which diffusion may be measured. We demonstrate this Global Fit approach on a simulated two-component system as well as on a mixture of diffusing 80 nm and 200 nm gold spheres to show improvements in fitting robustness and localization precision compared to the traditional Local Fit algorithm.
Induction and Suppression of the Hypersensitive Reaction Caused by Phytopathogenic Bacteria : Specific and Non-Specific Components

The development of simple, yet effective techniques to introduce bacterial cells into the intercellular spaces of plant leaves and the discovery that introduction of many incompatible phytopath-ogenic bacteria elicits the rapid cell collapse associated with a hypersensitive reaction (HR) have stimulated numerous investigations into the nature and specificity of this phenomenon (5, 12). Initial results provided the basis for the attractive hypothesis that the HR resulted from the interaction of a specific elicitor produced by the bacterium and a specific receptor site on the host cell (4). However, very little evidence has been presented for the existence of either the elicitor or the receptor site, and the mechanism responsible for cellular collapse has remained largely unexplained.
How to Enhance a General Student Motivation to Study: Asymmetric Paternalism

In the previous chapters, we provided examples of how uncertainty-related examples and ideas help explain, to the students, why a specific material is useful and interesting. In addition to this, we also need to make sure that the students are excited about studying in general, that their levels of interest and commitment remain high. If a math instructor convinces the engineering students that they need to learn math, this should not lead to them getting less interested in studying engineering disciplines, ideally they should be excited about all the topics that they study. In this chapter, we therefore analyze how to increase this general level of interest. It turns out that properly taking uncertainty into account can help with this task as well.
Entrepreneurial motives and their antecedents of men and women in North Africa and the Middle East

Our study investigates how educational attainment and entrepreneurial competencies affect entrepreneurial motives of women (vs. men) in the Middle East and North Africa. We show that education has ...
Blurring Lines? How Locally Based Collaborations Handle the Redistribution/Development Tradeoff

The tension between the pursuit of equity versus economic growth has been a central focus on the field of urban politics. Although local governance regimes have tended to focus on growth policies a...
Follow-up and Time to Treatment in an Urban Cohort of Children with Sleep-Disordered Breathing:

Objective To evaluate follow-up and timing of sleep-disordered breathing diagnosis and treatment in urban children referred from primary care. Study Design Retrospective longitudinal cohort analysis. Setting Tertiary health system. Subjects and Methods Pediatric outpatients with sleep-disordered breathing, referred from primary care for subspecialty appointment or polysomnography in 2014, followed for 2 years. Timing of polysomnography or subspecialty appointments, loss to follow-up, and sleep-disordered breathing severity were main outcomes. Chi-square and t-test identified differences in children referred for polysomnography, surgery, and loss to follow-up. Logistic regression identified predictors of loss to follow-up. Days to polysomnography or surgery were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier estimator, with Cox regression comparing estimates by polysomnography receipt and disease severity. Results Of 216 children, 188 (87%) had public insurance. Half (109 [50%]) were lost to follow-up after primary care referral. More children were lost to follow-up when referred for polysomnography (50 [76%]) compared with subspecialty evaluation (35 [32%]; P < .001). Children referred to both polysomnography and subspecialty were more likely to be lost to follow-up (odds ratio = 2.73, 95% confidence interval = 1.29-5.78; P = .009). For children who obtained polysomnography, an asymmetric distribution of obstructive sleep apnea severity was not observed ( P = .152). Median time to polysomnography and surgery was 75 and 226 days, respectively. Obstructive sleep apnea severity did not influence time to surgery ( P = .410). Conclusion In this urban population, half of the children referred for sleep-disordered breathing evaluation are lost to follow-up from primary care. Obstructive sleep apnea severity did not predict follow-up or timeliness of treatment. These findings suggest social determinants may pose barriers to care in addition to the clinical burden of sleep-disordered breathing.
Forging basic elements of cyber-physical systems in industry 4.0 with parametric characterization for FDC

Industry 4.0 builds its entirety on the foundation stones of cyber-physical systems and the key to their realizations depend critically on the capability of constructing functioning models of the physical systems. We present an alternative approach to the efficient construction of sufficiently accurate engineering models to capture the governing process dynamics from the available data-streams of semiconductor manufacturing tools. Characterizations of these dynamic parameters provide different insights from those static features of conventional applications of elementary statistics, including their inferences. It also enables integrated formulation of concurrent process-equipment controls, in addition to the wider scope and deeper insights of effective FDC applications.
Psychological heterogeneity among honors college students

Greater knowledge of the psychology of honors college students will help to inform program administrators, counselors, residence life assistants, and faculty about how they may provide support to t...
The Astronomical Origin of the Theory of Conic Sections

Appolonius’s theory of the conic sections (about 220 b.c.) is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of ancient mathematics and will remain one of the great classics of mathematical literature. Very little, however, is known about the origin of the theory of conic sections as such. It is well known that the familiar names of these curves, ellipse, hyperbola, and parabola, originated from Apollonius’s method of attack, which consists in applying the methods of “geometrical algebra” to the discussion of these curves. Apollonius obtains his curves by intersecting a fixed skew circular cone by a plane of variable angle. We also know that this approach is very different from the earliest known method to obtain conic sections. Menaechmus, a pupil of Eudoxus, is credited with the discovery of the conic sections (about 350 b.c.). These curves were obtained, however, by a very peculiar construction. The cone is a right circular cone; the intersecting plane is always perpendicular to one of the generating lines of the cone, and the three types of curves are obtained by varying the angle at the vertex of the cone.
New Orleans: America’s Creative Crescent

Society often views creativity as located in the mind, that the lone genius needs only the proper moment of inspiration for the magic (idea, object, solution) to be released. This essay proposes that creativity is also vitally located within the active body, and when these bodies are geographically positioned in highly creative places amazing leaps occur. Through the phenomenological lens of Ponty and Trigg, supported by the vibrant observations of Rebecca Solnit, we will examine the nature of creative places, illuminating the effects of place upon the generative body. Insight from specialist authors on creativity (Gardner, Csikszentmihayli) and historians of New Orleans’ African-American culture (Sublette, Johnson, Burns) reveal the impact of creative places upon the embodied creativity of musicians, artists, dancers, and the visual culture.
Beyond prophylaxis: Extended risk of venous thromboembolism following primary debulking surgery for ovarian cancer

Abstract Objective To determine the incidence and risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) within six months after primary debulking surgery (PDS) for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Methods In a historical cohort, we estimated the cumulative incidence of clinically diagnosed VTE within 6 months among consecutive women who underwent PDS for EOC at a single institution from 1/1/2003 to 12/31/2011. We evaluated perioperative variables as potential risk factors of VTE within 6 months during the postoperative period using univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results Among 860 women without an immediate history (past 30 days) of a VTE, the cumulative incidence of VTE was 7.5% (95% CI, 5.7–9.3) by 30 days and 13.8% (95% CI, 11.4–16.2) by 6 months following surgery. Macroscopic residual disease (adjusted HR 1.99 [95% CI 1.35–2.94] vs microscopic), increasing estimated blood loss (1.25 [1.05–1.49] per doubling), longer hospital length of stay (3.00 [1.57–5.75]), and experiencing a cardiac event within 30 postoperative days (2.72 [1.55–4.80]) were independently associated with subsequent VTE within 6 months. In-hospital VTE prophylaxis included heterogeneous approaches; dual prophylaxis did not impact 30-day or 6-month VTE rates. Conclusions VTE occurred in 1 in 7 women with EOC within 6 months of PDS—a substantial risk of VTE that extends into the adjuvant chemotherapy period. Novel prophylactic measures should be explored in these women at high risk for VTE.
The association of rising serum uric acid levels with survival in renal cell carcinoma.

608Background: To investigate the association of serum uric acid (SUA) levels along with statin use in Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC), as statins may be associated with improved outcomes in RCC and SUA...
Modulation of receptor binding to collagen by glycosylated 5‐hydroxylysine: Chemical biology approaches made feasible by Carpino's Fmoc group

The creation of the 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) group by the Carpino laboratory facilitated the synthesis of peptides containing acid-sensitive groups, such as O-linked glycosides. To fully investigative collagen biochemistry, one needs to assemble peptides that possess glycosylated 5-hydroxylysine (Hyl). A convenient method for the synthesis of Fmoc-Hyl(e-tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc),O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS)) and efficient methods for the synthesis of Fmoc-Hyl[e-Boc,O-(2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-β-D-galactopyranosyl)] have been developed. Glycosylated Fmoc-Hyl derivatives were used to construct a series of types I-IV collagen-model triple-helical peptides (THPs) that incorporated known or proposed receptor binding sites. Glycosylation of Hyl was found to strongly down-regulate the binding of CD44 and the α3β1 integrin to collagen, while the impact on α2β1 integrin binding was more modest. Molecular modeling of integrin binding indicated that Hyl glycosylation directly impacted the association between the α3β1 integrin metal ion-dependent adhesion site (MIDAS) and the receptor binding site within type IV collagen. The Fmoc solid-phase strategy ultimately allowed for chemical biology approaches to be utilized to study tumor cell interactions with glycosylated collagen sequences and document the modulation of receptor interactions by Hyl posttranslational modification.
A Mass-transfer Particle-tracking Method for Simulating Transport with Discontinuous Diffusion Coefficients

Abstract The problem of a spatially discontinuous diffusion coefficient (D(x)) is one that may be encountered in hydrogeologic systems due to natural geological features or as a consequence of numerical discretization of flow properties. To date, mass-transfer particle-tracking (MTPT) methods, a family of Lagrangian methods in which diffusion is jointly simulated by random walk and diffusive mass transfers, have been unable to solve this problem. This manuscript presents a new mass-transfer (MT) algorithm that enables MTPT methods to accurately solve the problem of discontinuous D(x). To achieve this, we derive a semi-analytical solution to the discontinuous D(x) problem by employing a predictor-corrector approach, and we use this semi-analytical solution as the weighting function in a reformulated MT algorithm. This semi-analytical solution is generalized for cases with multiple 1D interfaces as well as for 2D cases, including a 2 × 2 tiling of 4 subdomains that corresponds to a numerically-generated diffusion field. The solutions generated by this new mass-transfer algorithm closely agree with an analytical 1D solution or, in more complicated cases, trusted numerical results, demonstrating the success of our proposed approach.
Virtual Anatomy: expanding veterinary student learning

Traditionally, there are three primary ways to learn anatomy outside the classroom. Books provide foundational knowledge but are limited in terms of object manipulation for deeper exploration. Three-dimensional (3D) software programs produced by companies including Biosphera , Sciencein3D , and Anatomage allow deeper exploration but are often costly, offered through restrictive licenses, or require expensive hardware. A new approach to teaching anatomy is to utilize virtual reality (VR) environments. The Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and University Libraries have partnered to create open education–licensed VR anatomical programs for students to freely download, access, and use. The first and most developed program is the canine model. After beta testing, this program was integrated into the first-year students’ physical examination labs in fall 2019. The VR program enabled students to walk through the VR dog model to build their conceptual knowledge of the location of certain anatomical features and then apply that knowledge to live animals. This article briefly discusses the history, pedagogical goals, system requirements, and future plans of the VR program to further enrich student learning experiences. Virtual Projects are published on an annual basis in the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) following an annual call for virtual projects in MLAConnect and announcements to encourage submissions from all types of libraries. An advisory committee of recognized technology experts selects project entries based on their currency, innovation, and contribution to health sciences librarianship. Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-TW X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:6.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif; mso-ascii-font-family:"Book Antiqua"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:"Book Antiqua"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-TW X-NONE <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2
Modeling pedestrians’ near-accident events at signalized intersections using gated recurrent unit (GRU)

Abstract Pedestrian safety plays an important role in the transportation system. Intersections are dangerous locations for pedestrians with mixed traffic. This paper aims to predict the near-accident events between pedestrians and vehicles at signalized intersections using PET (Post Encroachment Time) and TTC (Time to Collision). With automated computer vision techniques, mobility features of pedestrians and vehicles are generated. Extreme Value Theory (EVT) is used to model PET and minimum TTC values to select the most appropriate threshold values to label pedestrians’ near-accident events. A Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) neural network is further used to predict these events. The established model reaches an AUC (Area Under the Curve) value of 0.865 on the test data set. Moreover, the proposed model can also be applied to develop collision warning systems under the Connected Vehicle environment.
PDE solution to UAV/UGV trajectory planning problem by spatio-temporal estimation during wildfires

Abstract Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) have been used in research and development community due to their strong potential in high-risk missions. One of the most important civilian implementations of UAV/UGV cooperative path planning is delivering medical or emergency supplies during disasters such as wildfires, the focus of this paper. However, wildfires themselves pose risk to the UAVs/UGVs and their paths should be planned to avert the risk as well as complete the mission. In this paper, wildfire growth is simulated using a coupled Partial Differential Equation (PDE) model, widely used in literature for modeling wildfires, in a grid environment with added process and measurement noise. Using principles of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD), and with an appropriate choice of decomposition modes, a low-dimensional equivalent fire growth model is obtained for the deployment of the space–time Kalman Filtering (KF) paradigm for estimation of wildfires using simulated data. The KF paradigm is then used to estimate and predict the propagation of wildfire based on local data obtained from a camera mounted on the UAV. This information is then used to obtain a safe path for the UGV that needs to travel from an initial location to the final position while the UAV’s path is planned to gather information on wildfire. Path planning of both UAV and UGV is carried out using a PDE based method that allows incorporation of threats due to wildfire and other obstacles in the form of risk function. The results from numerical simulation are presented to validate the proposed estimation and path planning methods.
Editorial Commentary: The Value of Time-Driven, Activity-Based Costing in Health Care Delivery.

Abstract Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) provides a powerful approach to more targeted cost accounting based on resources actually used by patients during a cycle of care. Since its introduction in 2004 by Kaplan and Anderson, TDABC has gained increasing popularity in defining the actual costs of care for various orthopaedic processes and pathways. TDABC may demonstrate lower costs of care compared with traditional cost accounting methods, including ratio of costs to charges and relative value units. Weaknesses of traditional methods include approaching costs through the lens of charges, revenue, processes and procedures, adopting a “top-down” approach, and potentially overestimating costs. In contrast, TDABC builds costs from the individual level, taking a front-line, condition-focused, and patient-centered view. Existing organizational decision-making is oriented around revenue metrics (relative value units and ratio of costs to charges) rather than cost metrics, yet alternative payment models are shifting toward fixed revenues for certain conditions or procedures. The variability, including both financial upside and loss, will primarily be a function of the cost of care—a number that is profoundly opaque in most health care settings. We view TDABC as an approach that sheds light on variation, offers a more granular differentiation of costs compared with traditional approaches, mitigates risk, and sparks opportunities for increasing operational efficiency and waste reduction. The goal is to identify and provide the greatest-value orthopaedic care.
Optimization-Based Estimation of Microgrid Equivalent Parameters for Voltage and Frequency Dynamics

Microgrid parameter estimation is essential to enable optimal voltage and frequency control using distributed energy resources (DER). Microgrid parameters vary through time, e.g., when generation is re-dispatched/committed, during microgrid reconfiguration. Furthermore, sensor measurements are noisy and preservation of the fast dynamics measurements is required, which is difficult to achieve with a lowpass filter. In this paper, a moving horizon estimation (MHE) approach is applied to estimate microgrid parameters for voltage and frequency support. The proposed approach estimates the states i.e., frequency, rate of change of frequency, grid voltage and current, and system parameters i.e., inertia, damping, and equivalent impedance. The MHE is formulated as an optimization problem using data over a fixed past horizon and solved online such that the sum of the square of measurement noise and process noise is minimized. Results showed that the proposed approach was able to estimate microgrid states, parameters, and disturbances within 5% for most values, which is sufficient to use in microgrid voltage and frequency control.
Moldable capillary suppressor for open tubular ion chromatography based on a polymeric ion exchanger.

Abstract We successfully fabricated 45 μm bore microchannels in PVA-Poly(styrenesulfonate) cation exchange polymers. by casting aqueous prepolymer mixtures around fine tungsten wire mandrels, curing, crosslinking by thermal annealing, and subsequently removing the microwire. This was then used as a chemically regenerated microsuppressor (with a cleaner MS background than its commercial macro counterparts) for open tubular ion chromatography, with an integrated tubular conductivity cell, tested to backpressures up to 600 psi. The overall system permits detection limits for common inorganic ions in the low μg/L levels with a 4-nL injection, isocratic elution and regeneration with poly(styrene sulfonic acid).
How does code obfuscation impact energy usage

Software piracy is an important concern for application developers. Such concerns are especially relevant in mobile application development, where piracy rates can be greater than 90%. The most common approach used by mobile developers to prevent piracy is code obfuscation. However, the decision to apply such transformations is currently made without regard to the impacts of obfuscations on another area of increasing concern for mobile application developers, energy usage. Because both software piracy and battery life are important concerns, mobile application developers must strike a balance between protecting their applications and preserving the battery lives of their users' devices. To help them make such choices, we conducted an empirical study of the effects of 18 code obfuscations on the amount of energy consumed by executing a total of 21 usage scenarios spread across 11 Android applications on four different mobile phone platforms. The results of the study indicate that, while obfuscations can have a statistically significant impact on energy usage and are more likely to increase energy usage than to decrease energy usage, the magnitudes of such impacts are unlikely to be meaningful to mobile application users. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Relational Distance-Based Clustering

Work on first-order clustering has primarily been focused on the task of conceptual clustering, i.e., forming clusters with symbolic generalizations in the given representation language. By contrast, for propositional representations, experience has shown that simple algorithms based exclusively on distance measures can often outperform their concept-based counterparts. In this paper, we therefore build on recent advances in the area of first-order distance metrics and present RDBC, a bottom-up agglomerative clustering algorithm for first-order representations that relies on distance information only and features a novel parameter-free pruning measure for selecting the final clustering from the cluster tree. The algorithm can empirically be shown to produce good clusterings (on the mutagenesis domain) that, when used for subsequent prediction tasks, improve on previous clustering results and approach the accuracies of dedicated predictive learners.
An Evaluation of Several System Protection Strategies

Let me begin by calling your attention to an excellent discussion of the general subject of protection in Computer Systems in a paper by J. Saltzer and M. Schroeder in the September, 1975 IEEE Proceedings (5). My talk will be confined to protection at the low level of machine addressing. I will describe some of the more common current approaches and then discuss some interesting alternatives.
Addicted to AA (Acetoacetate): A Point of Convergence between Metabolism and BRAF Signaling

In this issue Kang et al. (2015) show that oncogenic BRAF(V600E) stimulates expression of ketogenic enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase and promotes the formation of the ketone body acetoacetate, which subsequently enhances BRAF(V600E)/MEK/ERK signaling.
Spatial heterogeneity in striated muscle arteriolar tone, cell flow, and capillarity

Spatial variations in microvascular function are described at two tissue sites in hamster cremaster muscle (pentobarbital sodium, 70 mg/kg ip). Arterioles observed include terminal arterioles and their feeding vessels, termed capillary network controllers (CNC). Although terminal arterioles at both sites had similar maximum diameters and cell flows, those at site I were significantly more constricted at rest (2.7 +/- 0.3 vs. 5.1 +/- 0.3 microns at site II) and showed lower resting flows (19.0 +/- 5.5 vs. 174 +/- 34 cells/s at site II). There were no spatial differences in CNC maximal parameters or CNC resting tone, yet CNC resting flow at site II (798 +/- 118 cells/s) significantly exceeded the value at site I (460 +/- 85 cells/s). At rest, median capillary cell flow at site I (3.3 cells/s) was half that at site II (6.3 cells/s). During hyperemia, perfused capillary segment length per unit volume was 84% greater at site I and estimated tissue erythrocyte content nearly double that at site II. Thus significant spatial differences in microvascular function exist in cell flow and vessel tone among terminal arterioles, in cell flow among CNC, and in capillarity and indices of capillary exchange.
Organic Chemistry Applications

Structures are at the heart of organic chemistry. The brains are in using structures and structural theory to achieve desired chemical transformations. Before the 1920s, the only way to determine the way that the constituent atoms in an organic molecule are bonded together was by degradation and synthesis. For complex molecules, the process of determining structures was often arduous, particularly when there were few functional groups as with many steroids. Nonetheless, extraordinary progress was made, even if slowly, by a combination of experimental and deductive skills.
Laboratory-Scale Demonstration of the Fused Salt Volatility Process

The feasibility of processing enriched irradiated zirconium--uranium alloy fuel by the fused salt-fluoride volatility procedure has been demonstrated in laboratory tests with fuel having a burnup of over 10%. Uranium recoveries were greater than 99% and decontamination factors for radioactive fission products were 10/sup 6/ to 10/sup 6/. The UF/sub 6/ product contained significant quantities of nonradioactive impurities; additional work in this area is needed. (auth)
Triggering mechanism and tsunamogenic potential of the Cape Fear Slide complex, U.S. Atlantic margin

Analysis of new multibeam bathymetry data and seismic Chirp data acquired over the Cape Fear Slide complex on the U.S. Atlantic margin suggests that at least 5 major submarine slides have likely occurred there within the past 30,000 years, indicating that repetitive, large-scale mass wasting and associated tsunamis may be more common in this area than previously believed. Gas hydrate deposits and associated free gas as well as salt tectonics have been implicated in previous studies as triggers for the major Cape Fear slide events. Analysis of the interaction of the gas hydrate phase boundary and the various generations of slides indicates that only the most landward slide likely intersected the phase boundary and inferred high gas pressures below it. For much of the region, we believe that displacement along a newly recognized normal fault led to upward migration of salt, oversteepening of slopes, and repeated slope failures. Using new constraints on slide morphology, we develop the first tsunami model for the Cape Fear Slide complex. Our results indicate that if the most seaward Cape Fear slide event occurred today, it could produce waves in excess of 2 m at the present-day 100 m bathymetric contour.
Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging in childhood ataxia with diffuse central nervous system hypomyelination

The spatial distribution of metabolite signal intensities can be measured within entire sections of the brain by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (1) H-MRSI). A group of six patients (4 unrelated girls and 2 brothers from 5 families) with childhood ataxia with diffuse CNS hypomyelination (CACH) underwent long-echo-time, single-slice1 H-MRSI. Relative to controls, there was a decrease in the signal intensity of N-acetylaspartate, choline, and creatine throughout the white matter in all six patients. We identified lactate signals in white matter in three of them with advanced disease. The degree of white matter involvement was not homogeneous over the entire patient group, but did correlate with clinical presentation. Deep and posterior white matter tended to be more involved. There were no1 H-MRSI abnormalities in the gray matter.1 H-MRSI findings suggest that this syndrome is secondary to a metabolic defect causing hypomyelination, axonal degeneration, and, in the most compromised cases, accumulation of lactate. This study shows that CACH is not limited to girls. NEUROLOGY 1995;45: 1526-1532
Heat and mass transfer associated with a spray drop experiencing condensation: a fully transient analysis

Abstract The time-dependent hydrodynamics and heat/mass transport associated with condensation on a spray drop have been investigated for the Reynolds number of drop motion in the range, Re = O (100). The drop environment is a mixture of saturated vapor and a noncondensable. The formulation entails a simultaneous solution of the partial-differential equations that describe the flow field and transport in the gaseous and liquid phases. The trajectory of the droplet is established by solving the relevant gravitydrag force balance equations. Results have been provided for the temporal variations of drop bulk temperatures, various drag coefficients, average condensation velocity, and average heat flux. The effect of spray angle on the drop vertical-fall height before reaching thermal equilibration with the outside environment is discussed. Results show excellent agreement with experimental data where available. New correlations for the average condensation velocity and the average heat flux associated with condensation on a moving liquid drop in the presence of a noncondensable have been provided. The correlations are thought to be of considerable usefulness in the design of direct-contact heat/mass transfer equipment.
Stability of axisymmetric boundary layers on sharp cones at hypersonic Mach numbers

The stability of sharp-cone boundary layers at zero angle of attack is investigated. Standard linear stability theory is used to perform a numerical study at an edge Mach number M(e) of 6.8 of normal-mode stability characteristics on an adiabatic-wall cone with special reference to the conditions of the stability experiment of Stetson et al. (1983). Comparisons of the calculations with experimental measurements bring out major areas of disagreement which remain to be resolved even in this simple case. Finally, a series of calculations of both cone and flat-plate N factors at M(e) of 4.5, 5.8, and 6.8 is used to study the relation between transition on a cone and flat plate based on stability theory.
PROTEIN FOLDING AND THE REGULATION OF SIGNALING PATHWAYS

A growing number of intracellular signaling molecules are found associated with components of the cellular protein folding machinery. In this minireview we suggest that the same ancient cellular process that promotes the folding and assembly of nascent proteins plays a pivotal role in signal transduction by promoting the regulated folding or assembly and disassembly of mature signaling molecules between active and inactive states. Members of the protein folding machinery mediate the activity of various kinases, receptors, and transcription factors. These may be poised in late stages of folding or assembly until upstream signaling events trigger their biogenesis into activated molecules.
Deformation of a Shell Structure with Bonded/Embedded Smart Patch for Biomedical Applications

Vibrations caused by cyclic loads acting on structures are, in general, undesirable as they lead to fatigue failure. However, there are situations in which vibrations of structures are desirable. An outstanding example of this situation is the myocardium, the heart muscle. When arteries that supply blood to the heart become occluded due to heart disease, the heart muscle around the occlusion suffers oxygen depletion and results in a myocardial infarct. The presence of an infarct in the myocardium makes the pumping action of the heart weak thus making the heart partially dysfunctional. To address this difficulty, the problem of the myocardium with bonded/embedded smart patch, which is subjected to an electric field, is formulated and the deformations of the myocardium are calculated. The smart patches considered in this study include poly-vinylidene fluoride and lead zirconate titanate. The deformed configurations are calculated using a finite element method. The electric field is applied in a cyclic fashion to create a volume change in the closed myocardial structure to simulate the pumping action of the heart. The calculated shell-like configurations appear to be compatible with biomedical requirements.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Membrane Targeting of C2 Domains of Phospholipase C-δ Isoforms

The C2 domain is a Ca2+-dependent membrane-targeting module found in many cellular proteins involved in signal transduction or membrane trafficking. To understand the mechanisms by which the C2 domain mediates the membrane targeting of PLC-δ isoforms, we measured the in vitro membrane binding of the C2 domains of PLC-δ1, -δ3, and -δ4 by surface plasmon resonance and monolayer techniques and their subcellular localization by time-lapse confocal microscopy. The membrane binding of the PLC-δ1-C2 is driven by nonspecific electrostatic interactions between the Ca2+-induced cationic surface of protein and the anionic membrane and specific interactions involving Ca2+, Asn647, and phosphatidylserine (PS). The PS selectivity of PLC-δ1-C2 governs its specific Ca2+-dependent subcellular targeting to the plasma membrane. The membrane binding of the PLC-δ3-C2 also involves Ca2+-induced nonspecific electrostatic interactions and PS coordination, and the latter leads to specific subcellular targeting to the plasma membrane. In contrast to PLC-δ1-C2 and PLC-δ3-C2, PLC-δ4-C2 has significant Ca2+-independent membrane affinity and no PS selectivity due to the presence of cationic residues in the Ca2+-binding loops and the substitution of Ser for the Ca2+-coordinating Asp in position 717. Consequently, PLC-δ4-C2 exhibits unique pre-localization to the plasma membrane prior to Ca2+ import and non-selective Ca2+-mediated targeting to various cellular membranes, suggesting that PLC-δ4 might have a novel regulatory mechanism. Together, these results establish the C2 domains of PLC-δ isoforms as Ca2+-dependent membrane targeting domains that have distinct membrane binding properties that control their subcellular localization behaviors.
Weekly administration of rapamycin improves survival and biomarkers in obese male mice on high‐fat diet

Summary Recent discoveries have revealed the key role of mTOR (target of rapamycin) in aging. Furthermore, rapamycin extends lifespan in mice, especially in female mice. Here, we treated obese male mice on high-fat diet with rapamycin given intermittently: either weekly (once a week) or alternating bi-weekly (three injections every other week). While only marginally reducing obesity, intermittent administration of rapamycin significantly extended lifespan. Significance was achieved for weekly treated group and for the three rapamycin-received groups combined. In weekly treatment group, 100% mice were alive by the age of 2 years, whereas 60% of mice died in untreated group by this age. The effect of weekly treatment on survival was highly significant and cannot be fully explained by partial reduction in obesity. Alternating bi-weekly treatments seem to be less effective than weekly treatment, although effects of additional factors (see Discussion) may not be excluded. After one year of treatment, all survived mice were sacrificed 8 days after the last administration of rapamycin to avoid its direct interference with parameters examined. Fasting levels of cardiac and hepatic p-S6, a marker of mTORC1 activity, were lower in weekly treatment group compared with control mice. In contrast, levels of p-Akt (S473), glucose, triglycerides and insulin were unchanged, whereas leptin and IGF-1 tended to be lower. Thus, weekly treatment with rapamycin may slow down aging in obese male mice on high-fat diet.
Substitution of class II α chain polymorphic residues defines location of Akαserologic epitopes and alters association between αβ and li polypeptides

Structure-function studies of the MHC class II alpha chain have been performed by constructing a panel of A alpha k cDNA genes with one or more d allele substitutions at each polymorphic residue of the alpha 1 domain. The altered genes (A alpha k*) were transfected into a B lymphoma cell line (BKO), which is deficient in A alpha mRNA but retains constitutive wild-type A beta k mRNA expression. Cytofluorometric analysis of cell surface A alpha k* Ak beta molecules was used to map the polymorphic alpha chain residues comprising four serologic epitopes. A alpha k-reactive mAbs 1E9, 2A2, and 3F12 recognize an epitope that includes the polymorphic residue 44 of the A alpha k polypeptide, and the A alpha k-reactive antibody, K24-199, recognizes a conformationally determined epitope influenced by residues from all three polymorphic regions. In addition, we confirmed previous studies demonstrating that la.19 and la.2 mAbs bind to epitopes adjacent to residue 75 in A alpha k. A cell surface negative expression variant also was identified in the panel of mutant cell lines and biochemically characterized. Substitution of six d allele polymorphic residues at positions 11, 14, 28, 69, 70, and 75 in the A alpha k polypeptide (T.EG A alpha k* A beta k*) results in an A alpha k* polypeptide that associates with the A alpha k polypeptide but does not associate with the li polypeptide. This defect in li-A alpha k A beta k interaction is associated with a conformational change in the alpha 1 beta 1 domain that was identified by altered reactivity of the T.EG complex with conformationally dependent anti-alpha and anti-beta mAbs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Femtosecond excited-state dynamics of a conjugated ladder polymer.

Femtosecond time-resolved absorption measurements were performed on a thin film of the conjugated ladder polymer poly(benzimidazobenzophenanthroline) by using a 2-eV (620-nm) pump and a white-light-continuum probe. Transient photoinduced bleaching of the \ensuremath{\pi}-${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\pi}}}^{\mathrm{*}}$ transition accompanied by photoinduced absorption in the optical gap were observed. The photoinduced absorption decays with a fast subpicosecond component and a slow \ensuremath{\sim}20-ps component. The experimental results are well accounted for by the self-trapped exciton model.
Reproduction and Age Structure in a Population of Short-Tailed Shrews, Blarina Brevicauda

Age was found to vary with tooth wear in a curvilinear, not rectilinear, relationship. The apparent rapid elimination of adults from the population after the spring breeding season was due to a constant, age-independent mortality rate. Whereas most reproductive activity occurred in spring, scattered incidents of breeding were found throughout the year. Both sexes are capable of reproducing during their first year, and may breed 1 to 2 months after birth.
Fuzzy belief nets

This paper introduces fuzzy belief nets (FBN). The ability to invert arcs between nodes is key to solving belief nets. The inversion is accomplished by defining closeness measures which allow diagnostic reasoning from observed symptoms to cause of failures. The closeness measures are motivated by a Lukasiewicz operator which takes into account the distance from an observed symptom set to the modeled symptom set for all failure combinations. Hypothesized failures are then ranked according to maximum closeness measure and minimum cover, i.e., number of faults. Within the realm of fuzzy logic we show the graphical representation and solution of fuzzy belief nets.