Phase models and clustering in networks of oscillators with delayed coupling

We consider a general model for a network of oscillators with time delayed, circulant coupling. We use the theory of weakly coupled oscillators to reduce the system of delay differential equations to a phase model where the time delay enters as a phase shift. We use the phase model to study the existence and stability of cluster solutions. Cluster solutions are phase locked solutions where the oscillators separate into groups. Oscillators within a group are synchronized while those in different groups are phase-locked. We give model independent existence and stability results for symmetric cluster solutions. We show that the presence of the time delay can lead to the coexistence of multiple stable clustering solutions. We apply our analytical results to a network of Morris Lecar neurons and compare these results with numerical continuation and simulation studies

A mass that has no (EBUS) echo.

We report findings for a patient that underwent endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) guided transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) for diagnostic purposes after an abnormal chest CT. The patient initially presented with cough and shortness of breath. Chest CT revealed a 6 cm soft tissue mass with mildly enlarged right hilar lymph nodes (LNs) and a small right sided pleural effusion. Based on these radiologic findings, the patient underwent an EBUS guided FNA of the mass. To our surprise, the mass was hypoechoic by EBUS and on aspiration, the syringe filled with yellow fluid. This finding in combination with a re-review of the CT scans with a special focus on the Hounsfield Units of the lesion confirmed the diagnosis of a mediastinal bronchogenic cyst. This case demonstrates the role of Hounsfield units in analyzing mediastinal masses and highlights the effectiveness of EBUS guided TBNA in diagnosis and treatment of bronchogenic cysts

Project-based Language Learning in China: A Literature Review

Project-based language learning (PBLL) has great potential for language education because PBLL would be able to make learning relevant, personalized, and engaging. This is particularly true under today’s circumstances where language learners’ are expected to reach the five goals in areas of communication, cultures, comparison, connection and communities as put forward by the ACTFL (www.actfl.org). This paper presents a content analysis of 39 PBLL research studies published between 2002 and 2017 in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) context in China. The studies were collected from the two most frequently used Chinese academic journal databases—CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) and Wanfang Data. This paper presents a synthesis of the PBLL approach as applied in EFL instruction in China, discusses the research results, gaps, and future directions for PBLL research and pedagogy

Utility of Adaptive Strategy and Adaptive Design for Biomarker-facilitated Patient Selection in Pharmacogenomic or Pharmacogenetic Clinical Development Program

In the early to late phases of conventional clinical trials, improvement of disease status at study baseline is the anchor of an effective treatment measured by therapeutic response. These population-based clinical trials do not formally account for disease-associated marker genotype or genome-associated therapeutic response. We discuss alternative study designs in pharmacogenomic or pharmacogenetic clinical trials for genomic or genetic biomarker development, and for formally assessing the clinical utility of genomic or genetic (composite) biomarkers. A two-stage adaptive strategy from completed, ongoing or prospectively planned pharmacogenomic or pharmacogenetic clinical trials is described for development of a genomic or genetic biomarker. We present two types of adaptive design: (1) the genomic biomarker is developed external to the clinical trial, which is designed for treatment effect inference; and (2) first-stage data are used to explore a genomic biomarker, but statistical inference of treatment effect in the genomically or genetically defined biomarker subset is only performed at the second stage of the same trial. When the null hypothesis of no treatment effect in all randomized patients and the genomic patient subset are prospectively specified, we compare the statistical power between fixed and adaptive designs. We also compare the two types of adaptive design. Results from simulation studies showed that adaptive design is more powerful than fixed design for those genomic or genetic biomarkers whose clinical utility is predictive of treatment effect. Pursuit of adaptive design gains at least 20% to more than 30% genomic patient subset power when the genomic biomarker status is readily usable at study initiation, in comparison to when it is explored using the first-stage data of the same clinical trial. In exploratory studies, adaptive strategy provides wide flexibility in the process of genomic or genetic biomarker development. In contrast, an adaptive design trial that employs limited flexibility, and is an adequate and well-controlled investigation, has a greater power gain than a fixed design trial, in which the genomic biomarker is capable of predicting treatment effects that pertain only to the prespecified genomic or genetic patient subset

Transesterification of dimethyl teraphalate with ethylene glycol catalyzed by amberlyst 15.

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, page: . Thesis (M.A.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1978

State Constitutional Remedy Provisions and Article I, Section 10 of the Washington State Constitution: The Possibility of Greater Judicial Protection of Established Tort Causes of Action and Remedies

Several state courts interpret their states\u27 constitutional remedy provisions as justifying heightened judicial scrutiny of legislative alterations in tort law. This confers greater protection of tort causes of action and remedies established at the time of the state constitution\u27s adoption. This Comment considers whether article I, section 10 of the Washington constitution can support such an interpretation. Additionally, the author discusses the existing interpretations of other states\u27 remedy provisions and suggests a heightened scrutiny model that best balances the interest in retaining already recognized tort remedies against the interest in fostering positive change

Networked News Participation: Future Pathways

Civic participation in news production has been a trend under academic scrutiny for at least two decades. The prevalence of digital communication and the dominance of proprietary platforms are two combining forces that disrupt the established journalistic norms. In this article, we investigate news participation and make three grand statements regarding: 1) the holistic definition of participation, 2) the network structure of participation delineating the power dynamics of different media actors, and 3) the transnational context of participation exhibiting the structural constraints within nation-state sovereignty. It is our argument that news participation as a civic act in the digital, globalized age has not fundamentally democratized the information flow as early optimists predicted. Instead, a group of “information elite” have risen to power due to their access to institutional resources, their advantageous positioning in the media ecology, and their entrenchment in the dominant ideology. Participation on proprietary platforms can be easily co-opted to serve the interest of the new information elite

A hybrid Patterson-superposition/direct-method approach to the X-ray phase problem, and in-lab EXAFS techniques

Patterson manipulation methods and direct methods, such and those employing the well-known (SIGMA)(,2) relation, are often viewed as being distinctly different approaches to structure determination. In the first part of this thesis a method which combines the two approaches while retaining the advantages of both was developed;The basic assumption used in our method is that (rho)(\u272) (TURN) M(,ps) (.) (rho), where (rho) and M(,ps) are the electron density and Patterson superposi- tion functions, respectively. This results in a (SIGMA)(,2)-like relation in reciprocal space in which one of the E\u27s in the product is replaced by G, a structure factor-like quantity obtained from a Fourier trans- form of the Patterson superposition function;This new relation has been proven to be effective in both centric and acentric cases. The details of the theory and its application to both model and real structures are presented;The construction and development of an in-lab EXAFS facility using a rotating anode X-ray source are presented in the second part of this thesis. These include spectrometer alignment, automa- tion, tests of the electronic detector systems, improvement of the;energy resolution and developments of both data acquisition and data reduction programs; (\u271)DOE Report IS-T-1221. This work was performed under contract No. W-7405-Eng-82 with the U.S. Department of Energy