cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Test of the Communication Flow Optimization Model Through an Action Research Study at a Defense Contractor

Operational-level approaches to process redesign have traditionally focused on “workflows”, or the chronological flows of activities in processes. It is argued in this chapter that while this makes some sense in materials-transformation processes, whose final product usually is a tangible manufactured item (e.g., a car engine), this orientation is fundamentally inconsistent with the communication-intensive nature of the vast majority of processes found in organizations today. This chapter shows, through an action research study, that a focus on communication flow representations and methods is likely to lead to better process redesign outcomes than a focus on representations and methods in connection with “workflows”. It does so by developing a set of research questions based on the communication flow optimization model, and answering those questions in the context provided by three process redesign projects facilitated by the researcher at a defense contractor in the US.
Durch eine Flexibilisierung des Arbeitsrechts würde auch das Thema Frauen in Führung mehr Momentum gewinnen

Vor dem Hintergrund zunehmend internationaler Kontexte von Fuhrungskarrieren spricht sich Elisabeth Denison fur mehr Flexibilitat und Vielfalt in der Besetzung von Fuhrungspositionen aus. Gerade auch stark regulierte Branchen – wie die Finanzbranche und Professional Services – konnen von Offenheit und Flexibilisierung profitieren. Zur Forderung von Vielfalt in den Fuhrungsetagen ist es zentral, Einzelmasnahmen in einem gezielten Stufenplan zu vereinen, wobei unternehmerische Vorstose, politische Rahmensetzung und gesellschaftlicher Wandel sich zu einem Gesamtbild erganzen mussen.
Benchmarking laboratory observation uncertainty for in-pipe storm sewer discharge measurements.

Summary The uncertainty associated with discharge measurement in storm sewer systems is of fundamental importance for hydrologic/hydraulic model calibration and pollutant load estimation, although it is difficult to determine as field benchmarks are generally impractical. This study benchmarks discharge uncertainty in several commonly used sensors by laboratory flume testing with and without a woody debris model. The sensors are then installed in a field location where laboratory benchmarked uncertainty is applied to field measurements. Combined depth and velocity uncertainty from the laboratory ranged from ±0.207–0.710 in., and ±0.176–0.631 fps respectively, and when propagated and applied to discharge estimation in the field, resulted in field discharge uncertainties of between 13% and 256% of the observation. Average daily volume calculation based on these observations had uncertainties of between 58% and 99% of the estimated value, and the uncertainty bounds of storm flow volume and peak flow for nine storm events constituted between 31–84%, and 13–48% of the estimated value respectively. Subsequently, the implications of these observational uncertainties for stormwater best-management practice evaluation, hydrologic modeling, and Total Maximum Daily Load development are considered.
Understanding Relations Between Gesture and Chronotope: Embodiment and Meaning-Making in a Second-Language Classroom

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the inter-relationship between Bakhtin’s (1981) chronotope and the role of gesture in meaning-making processes in second language development. Chronotope— a unity of time, space, and qualitatively new experience, has been applied to the study of K-12 classrooms in the field of education with the repeated caveat concerning identification difficulties (Brown & Renshaw, 2009). Using Vygotskian sociocultural psychology (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986), the present study explores how gesture, as a material carrier, embodies and materializes chronotopes. Implications include the pedagogical importance for teachers to identify chronotope-gesture relations and diverge from prescripted curriculums in meeting second language learners’ needs.
Analysis and dynamic simulation of the synthetic voltage division controller for extending the parallel plate actuator stable range of motion

Parallel-plate actuators (PPAs) are useful in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) devices. The main drawback of a PPA is that it has limited stable motion range. The series capacitor method (SCM) is a common way to solve this issue. However, the SCM requires a much higher voltage input to drive the PPA and series capacitor, and it is deleteriously affected by parasitic capacitance in parallel with the PPA. Additionally, it is usually difficult to obtain a sufficiently small series capacitor, which has to be no greater than half of the minimum capacitance of the PPA. In this work, a synthetic voltage division (SVD) controller is proposed to solve these problems. Firstly, this paper reviews the system dynamics of PPAs and the SCM. The effects of parasitic capacitance are also explored. Then, the SVD controller is presented in detail. It is demonstrated through simulation that the SVD controller can increase the stable range of motion while reducing the required input voltage and cancelling the effect of the parasitic capacitance.
Effects of chlorpyrifos and environmental factors on the distribution of German cockroaches (Orthoptera: Blattellidae) in Ebeling choice boxes.

Investigations were conducted to determine the effects of environmental factors including the presence of insecticide on distribution of Blattella germanica (L.) in Ebeling choice boxes. Adult male Orlando normal B. germanica were used in all tests. A 23 and a 24 factorial experiment with partial confounding were used to investigate the effects of chlorpyrifos, food, water, and light on insect distribution in choice boxes. Numbers of insects in each chamber of the choice box were recorded at regular intervals for 24 or 120 h. The presence or absence of food and water had no influence on the distribution of B. germanica . Avoidance of light generally occurred; however, there was some indication of habituation to light conditions. The presence of chlorpyrifos strongly influenced distribution and was repellent under all conditions tested.
Interface Reactions in CdTe Solar Cell Processing

Currently, the best performing CdS/CdTe solar cells use a superstrate structure in which CdTe is deposited on a heated CdS/SnO{sub 2}/Glass substrate. In the close-spaced-sublimation (CSS) process, substrate temperatures in the range 550 C to 620 C are common. Understanding how these high processing temperatures impact reactions at the CdS/CdTe interface in addition to reactions between previously deposited layers is critical. At the SnO{sub 2}/CdS interface the authors have determined that SnO{sub 2} can be susceptible to reduction, particularly in H{sub 2} ambients. Room-temperature sputtered SnO{sub 2} shows the most susceptibility. In contrast, higher growth temperature chemical vapor deposited (CVD) SnO{sub 2} appears to be much more stable. Elimination of unstable SnO{sub 2} layers, and the substitution of thermal treatments for H{sub 2} anneals has produced total-area solar conversion efficiencies of 13.6% using non-optimized SnO{sub 2} substrates and chemical-bath deposited (CBD) CdS. Alloying and interdiffusion at the CdS/CdTe interface was studied using a new lift-off approach which allows enhanced compositional and structural analysis at the interface. Small-grained CdS, grown by a low-temperature CBD process, results in more CdTe{sub 1{minus}x}S{sub x} alloying (x = 12--13%) relative to larger-grained CdS grown by high-temperature CSS (x{approximately}2--3%). Interdiffusion of S and Te at themore » interface, measured with lift-off samples, appears to be inversely proportional to the amount of oxygen used during the CSS CdTe deposition. The highest efficiency to date using CSS-grown CdS is 10.7% and was accomplished by eliminating oxygen during the CdTe deposition.« less
Open-Access Single Balloon Enteroscopy: A Tertiary Care Experience.

Objectives To compare single balloon enteroscopy (SBE) between patients seen in consultation by a member of our gastroenterology team with those performed as open-access cases. Methods Retrospective study of all patients who underwent SBE at a single tertiary care center from April 2008 to January 2012. Open- and closed-access procedures were compared in terms of diagnostic and therapeutic yield, adverse events, and procedural success. Results A total of 125 SBEs were performed on 125 patients. The mean age was 63.1 (53% men) years. In all, 43 procedures were performed open access and 82 after face-to-face consultation. Indications included anemia/gastrointestinal bleeding (110), abdominal pain (8), and other (7). Diagnostic yield for open- and closed-access procedures was 53% and 60%, respectively (P = 0.501) and therapeutic yield was 37% and 52%, respectively (P = 0.11). Overall technical success was 91% with no difference between the groups (P = 0.27). There were no major adverse events in either group. Conclusions SBE can be performed as an open-access procedure without compromise to safety or diagnostic yield.
Is cholecystokinin the peptide that controls fat intake

Cholecystokinin (CCK) is released from the intestine following ingestion of lipids and other nutrients. Numerous studies indicate that exogenous CCK reduces meal size in animals and humans, and the availability of CCK antagonists has further helped to clarify this function. Although animal studies show that CCK is important in mediating fat intake, a recent report suggests this may not be the case in humans.
Conceptualizing Democracy and Democratization

The first part of this chapter attempts to briefly take stock of how contemporary democratic theories have made sense of the phenomenon and notion of democracy. Based on this notion, and to the extent that is relevant to the study, this part defines what is meant by “democracy.” Since the ultimate aim of the study is not to expound at great length the theoretical underpinning of democracy, the approach taken to theories of democracy is cursory and only aimed at defining democracy for the purposes of this study while depicting the bigger picture within which the study is situated. The second part of the section describes the process of democratization, especially what has come to be known as the third wave of democratization. On top of describing and defining the different phases of democratization, it proposes how one could measure the level of democratization and how to measure progress, regression, or the lack of both. The chapter ends with a note on what have come to be regarded as “African” theories of democracy.
Diverticular disease of the colon

Review of 475 cases of diverticular disease of the colon emphasized needs to stratify patients into clinical categories. Of 223 cases of diverticulosis coli,40 had significant colonic complaints which received no attention. Of 198 emergency admissions for acute diverticulitis, only 16 required emergency surgery. Resection in the face of serious peritonitis is not advisable. Twenty-seven elective resections gave excellent results. Three subtotal colectomies were successfully done for major bleeding. Final focus was on determination of therapy groups: medical, surgery advisable, and surgery inevitable.
Active engagement in a web-based tutorial to prevent obesity grounded in Fuzzy-Trace Theory predicts higher knowledge and gist comprehension

We used Sharable Knowledge Objects (SKOs) to create an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) grounded in Fuzzy-Trace Theory to teach women about obesity prevention: GistFit, getting the gist of healthy eating and exercise. The theory predicts that reliance on gist mental representations (as opposed to verbatim) is more effective in reducing health risks and improving decision making. Technical information was translated into decision-relevant gist representations and gist principles (i.e., healthy values). The SKO was hypothesized to facilitate extracting these gist representations and principles by engaging women in dialogue, "understanding" their responses, and replying appropriately to prompt additional engagement. Participants were randomly assigned to either the obesity prevention tutorial (GistFit) or a control tutorial containing different content using the same technology. Participants were administered assessments of knowledge about nutrition and exercise, gist comprehension, gist principles, behavioral intentions and self-reported behavior. An analysis of engagement in tutorial dialogues and responses to multiple-choice questions to check understanding throughout the tutorial revealed significant correlations between these conversations and scores on subsequent knowledge tests and gist comprehension. Knowledge and comprehension measures correlated with healthier behavior and greater intentions to perform healthy behavior. Differences between GistFit and control tutorials were greater for participants who engaged more fully. Thus, results are consistent with the hypothesis that active engagement with a new gist-based ITS, rather than a passive memorization of verbatim details, was associated with an array of known psychosocial mediators of preventive health decisions, such as knowledge acquisition, and gist comprehension.
Regret among tattooed adolescents

Abstract Tattoo regret among adolescents is an important, yet understudied, process. Among the 417 tattooed adolescents in a Colorado school district, one-third express regret. Developmental theory reasons that younger persons consider a tattoo decision more emotionally, anticipate regret less, and regulate regret less effectively; therefore, more of them experience regret. Non-delinquents are more prone to regret stemming from social control via bonding, negative labels and stigma. Higher risk-taking by men explains their generally larger, more controversial, more visible tattoos. These tattoos can conflict more with changes in identity and meaning, as well as evaluations from others, so more men experience regret. Results support these predictions. Findings suggest regret is part of a more mainstream developmental trajectory for tattooed adolescents.
Qualitative Case Study Research as Empirical Inquiry

This article introduces the concept of qualitative case study research as empirical inquiry. It defines and distinguishes what a case study is, the purposes, intentions, and types of case studies. It then describes how to determine if a qualitative case study is the preferred approach for conducting research. It overviews the essential steps in designing qualitative case study research, including the role of literature and theory, approaches for collecting data and analyzing it, as well as how to write up and present case study findings. It articulates how to avoid common pitfalls when engaging in qualitative case study research and concludes with the strengths and limitations associated with this form of empirical inquiry.
The theory, direction, and magnitude of ecosystem fire probability as constrained by precipitation and temperature

The effects of climate on wildland fire confronts society across a range of different ecosystems. Water and temperature affect the combustion dynamics, irrespective of whether those are associated with carbon fueled motors or ecosystems, but through different chemical, physical, and biological processes. We use an ecosystem combustion equation developed with the physical chemistry of atmospheric variables to estimate and simulate fire probability and mean fire interval (MFI). The calibration of ecosystem fire probability with basic combustion chemistry and physics offers a quantitative method to address wildland fire in addition to the well-studied forcing factors such as topography, ignition, and vegetation. We develop a graphic analysis tool for estimating climate forced fire probability with temperature and precipitation based on an empirical assessment of combustion theory and fire prediction in ecosystems. Climate-affected fire probability for any period, past or future, is estimated with given temperature and precipitation. A graphic analyses of wildland fire dynamics driven by climate supports a dialectic in hydrologic processes that affect ecosystem combustion: 1) the water needed by plants to produce carbon bonds (fuel) and 2) the inhibition of successful reactant collisions by water molecules (humidity and fuel moisture). These two postulates enable a classification scheme for ecosystems into three or more climate categories using their position relative to change points defined by precipitation in combustion dynamics equations. Three classifications of combustion dynamics in ecosystems fire probability include: 1) precipitation insensitive, 2) precipitation unstable, and 3) precipitation sensitive. All three classifications interact in different ways with variable levels of temperature.
A 50–66-GHz Phase-Domain Digital Frequency Synthesizer With Low Phase Noise and Low Fractional Spurs

Digital phase-locked loop (DPLL) frequency synthesizers have become popular for wireless applications in the sub-10-GHz range. However, mm-wave synthesizers still rely on analog PLLs, predominantly of the sub-harmonic, integer-N-type. This paper describes the design and implementation of a 50–66-GHz phase-domain DPLL that uses a fundamental frequency capacitively degenerated digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) with 40-kHz frequency step. Following frequency division with a modulus of only 4, a two-step 8-bit time-to-digital converter (TDC) digitizes the phase of the 12.5–16.5-GHz divider output with 450-fs resolution. Digital calibration based on the statistical element selection technique augmented by mean adaptation is used to mitigate TDC nonlinearity that results from random mismatches. Additional digital calibration techniques are introduced to mitigate DCO non-linearity and phase mismatches in the digital phase extraction sub-system, and to ensure robust operation of the inductor-less 4 $\times $ frequency divider over process, voltage and temperature (PVT) variations. A 65-nm CMOS prototype of the DPLL occupies 0.45 mm2 excluding pads and consumes 46 mA from a 1-V supply. The PLL achieves best (worst) case rms jitter of 220 (302) fs, best (worst) phase noise of −83/−94.5/−122 (−79/−88/ −116) dBc/Hz at 0.1/1/10 MHz offset, and −52.2(−48.3) dBc fractional spur.
Serous Fluids Analysis

Serous fluids, or those that arise from the liquid portion of blood, may be found in any of the bodily cavities of the human body. Accumulations of these fluids in and around tissues may lead to severe consequences, especially that of heart failure, where fluids gather around the heart and affect the contractions of the heart. When fluids accumulate in the lungs due to infection, the ability to obtain oxygen from the environment and to expel waste gases from the body may be compromised and lead to critical changes in the body.
Rotation-Pulsation Coupling in the Bipolar Preplanetary Nebula, V Hya

High-resolution optical spectra were taken of the carbon star V Hydrae at 10 different epochs spanning two stellar periods using the Hamilton Echelle Spectrograph at Lick Observatory. Velocities were determined at each epoch by performing a cross-correlation analysis against the spectra of standard stars with previously-determined velocities. The velocities of individual atomic absorption and emission lines, and their variations with phase, were also determined. The rising and falling of the photosphere is clearly in evidence, with an amplitude about the mean of ± 5 km s-1 and a phase consistent with the expectation that maximum light occurs at minimum radius. In addition, the spectra were subjected to a rotational broadening analysis, in which we determined V sin(i), where V is the presumed equatorial rotation velocity, by minimizing the differences between the spectra of V Hya and a number of artificially broadened comparison stars showing no evidence for broadening. Mechanisms other than stellar rotation, including both turbulence and opacity, were found to he unlikely contributors to the broadening. The very unusual rotation velocity (for a red giant) was found to vary between about 10 and 18 km s-1, with an average of ≈ l4 km s-1. The relative phase of the rotation velocity curve is consistent with the hypothesis that the pulsation leads to a periodically varying moment of inertia. The assumption of angular momentum conservation, coupled with the radial velocity and V sin(i) curves, permits a deduction of the equilibrium stellar radius: The similar magnitudes of the rotation and pulsation velocities imply that they are dynamically coupled, leading to a latitude-dependent circulation which probably affects the mass loss.
Clueless: explorations in unsupervised, knowledge-lean extraction of lexical-semantic information

I will discuss two current projects on automatically extracting certain types of lexical-semantic information in settings wherein we can rely neither on annotations nor existing knowledge resources to provide us with clues. The name of the game in such settings is to find and leverage auxiliary sources of information.
2.06 Formation of Enolates

Enolates, or oxyallyl anions, are versatile reagents for the formation of α-substituted carbonyl compounds and are therefore important intermediates for the synthesis of complex molecules. The stereochemical outcome of an enolate reaction often depends on the geometry of the enolate and therefore the selective formation of enolates is a key step in many bond-forming processes.
Manufacturing Sustainability Enhancement: A Model Predictive Control Based Approach

Abstract From the sustainability science point of view, a manufacturing system’s sustainability status change involves a series of system state transitions in an economics-environmentsociety- based three-dimensional space. To ensure the achievement of the sustainability goal effectively in this multi-stage process under uncertainty, continuous sustainability assessment and decision making is needed. In this paper, we formulate this type of sustainability problem as a terminal target control problem. A multi-objective optimization approach is applied for generating sustainability goal options for decision makers to select or adjust. A model predictive control (MPC) approach is then employed to derive sustainability actions for implementation in different sustainability improvement stages. The introduced methodology can provide a stage-wised guideline to industries in defining sustainable development strategies and deriving sustainability actions systematically. A comprehensive case study on biodiesel manufacturing is illustrated to demonstrate methodological efficacy.
Increasing charitable donation intentions with preliminary importance ratings

In the question-behavior effect (QBE), making a prediction about one’s behavior moves the behavior in the direction of the prediction. The current experiments explore the use of preliminary questions to increase the pro-social nature of such behavior predictions in both charitable giving and charitable bequests. Initially requesting importance ratings of charitable causes – as compared with simply referencing the charitable causes – significantly increased subsequent donation and bequest intentions to related charities. Requesting additional importance ratings for specific projects of named charities significantly increased subsequent cause importance ratings and donation and bequest intentions for both named and similar unnamed charities. Preliminary importance rating questions were also more effective than otherwise similar preliminary donation intention questions, potentially because of the non-monetary nature and greater malleability of importance ratings. Rather than merely revealing a fixed, underlying donative intent, these results suggest that the elicitation process can alter underlying donation intentions.
Expanding the Evidence Base in Criminology and Criminal Justice: Barriers and Opportunities to Bridging Research and Practice

Establishing a fair and equitable justice system through criminal justice reform has been a central element of the national conversation on the administration of justice. Issues like the relationsh...
Segmented radial cardiac MRI during arrhythmia using retrospective electrocardiogram and respiratory gating.

Purpose To improve segmented cardiac MRI image quality during arrhythmia. Methods Electrocardiogram (ECG) and respiratory waveforms were recorded during imaging. Imaging readouts were retrospectively classified into heartbeat-types based on the RR interval of the current and preceding beats, QRS morphology, and respiratory phase. Image data were sorted by these classifiers to generate separate cine images of different heartbeat-types during sinus rhythm and arrhythmia. A simulation study evaluated the efficiency of K-space sampling over a range of heart rhythms, heart rates, and respiratory rates. In vivo imaging was performed in volunteers with sinus rhythm, swine with arrhythmia simulated by pacing, and a human subject with spontaneous premature beats. Results K-space sampling uniformity and image quality incrementally improve with additional occurrences of the desired normal sinus or arrhythmia heartbeat-type. To approach the image quality of breath-hold imaging, sufficiently restrictive gating parameters are required. Compared with real-time imaging, retrospective gated images had reduced noise and improved sharpness while maintaining desired cine temporal resolution. Variations of cardiac function between arrhythmia heartbeats could be observed in arrhythmia imaging cases that are not captured by conventional segmented imaging. Conclusion Retrospective ECG and respiratory gating permits imaging of various heartbeats during arrhythmia with fewer resolution restrictions compared to real-time imaging. For a fixed imaging time, imaging quality depends on frequency of the imaged heartbeat-type. Imaging additional heartbeats permits incremental improvement in image quality.
Measuring Protein Concentration by Diffusion-Filtered Quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

The concentration of macromolecules in solution is a crucial property in many areas of research, including the development and commercialization of biological therapeutics. For proteins in particular, none of the reported methods for measuring concentration detect a molecular property that is known a priori; rather, they rely on ligand binding, degradation and derivitization, or an intrinsic property that must be determined experimentally. The purpose of this report is to describe (1) a diffusion-filtered qNMR experiment (DF-qNMR) for quantitating macromolecules in complex matrices and (2) an overall method for measuring absolute protein concentration based on this DF-qNMR experiment. This method combines protein denaturation with the diffusion filter to produce clean spectra of the protein with well-resolved resonances, regardless of the matrix complexity. The concentration is then obtained by comparing the peak area of the valine/isoleucine/leucine methyl groups to an external, certified, small-molecule...
CHAPTER 2 – Evolution of Pathogenic Escherichia coli

It is noted that E.coli is a genetically diverse species of considerable scientific, economic, and medical importance. It includes both pathogenic and nonpathogenic variants. Pathogenic variants refer to the strains that are able to cause enteric disease or diverse types of extraintestinal infection in human and animal hosts. On the other hand, nonpathogenic variants refer to strains having little ability to cause diseases. This chapter provides an evolutionary introduction by reviewing current understandings of the emergence of pathogenic variants of E.coli , including Shigella , in relation to the evolution of the species as a whole. This chapter specifically discusses general mechanisms of evolution, mechanisms of evolution of pathogenic E.coli , and the reason for the emergence of pathogenic variants. It is noted that the pathogenic E.coli variants have often emerged on multiple occasions within diverse segments of the highly clonal E.coli population. Different phylogenetic groups are favored as the background for the development of intestinal versus extraintestinal pathogens, which are largely mutually exclusive pathotypic categories.
Estimability of migration survival rates from integrated breeding and winter capture–recapture data

Long-distance migration is a common phenomenon across the animal kingdom but the scale of annual migratory movements has made it difficult for researchers to estimate survival rates during these periods of the annual cycle. Estimating migration survival is particularly challenging for small-bodied species that cannot carry satellite tags, a group that includes the vast majority of migratory species. When capture-recapture data are available for linked breeding and non-breeding populations, estimation of overall migration survival is possible but current methods do not allow separate estimation of spring and autumn survival rates. Recent development of a Bayesian integrated survival model has provided a method to separately estimate the latent spring and autumn survival rates using capture-recapture data, though the accuracy and precision of these estimates has not been formally tested. Here, I used simulated data to explore the estimability of migration survival rates using this model. Under a variety of biologically realistic scenarios, I demonstrate that spring and autumn migration survival can be estimated from the integrated survival model, though estimates are biased toward the overall migration survival probability. The direction and magnitude of this bias are influenced by the relative difference in spring and autumn survival rates as well as the degree of annual variation in these rates. The inclusion of covariates can improve the model's performance, especially when annual variation in migration survival rates is low. Migration survival rates can be estimated from relatively short time series (4-5 years), but bias and precision of estimates are improved when longer time series (10-12 years) are available. The ability to estimate seasonal survival rates of small, migratory organisms opens the door to advancing our understanding of the ecology and conservation of these species. Application of this method will enable researchers to better understand when mortality occurs across the annual cycle and how the migratory periods contribute to population dynamics. Integrating summer and winter capture data requires knowledge of the migratory connectivity of sampled populations and therefore efforts to simultaneously collect both survival and tracking data should be a high priority, especially for species of conservation concern.
The rise of e-cigarettes, pod mod devices, and JUUL among youth: Factors influencing use, health implications, and downstream effects.

Abstract Background Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) were first introduced in the U.S. market in 2006, with the more recent evolution of "pod-mod" e-cigarettes such as JUUL introduced in 2015. Although marketed as a smoking cessation tool, e-cigarettes are rarely used for this purpose in youth. This review aims to synthesize the literature regarding e-cigarette use among youth, and provides a resource for clinicians, educators, and families that helps answer commonly asked questions about e-cigarettes. Methods PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO search was performed using search terms "Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems," "e cigarettes," "e-cigarettes," "electronic cigarettes," "vaping," "JUUL," "e-cigs," and "vape pens." Search results were filtered to only include those related to adolescents and young adults. Results E-cigarette use among youth is common, with rates of use increasing from 1.5% in 2011 to 20.8% in 2018. Pod mod devices such as JUUL have gained favor among youth for their sleek design, user-friendly function, desirable flavors, and ability to be used discreetly in places where smoking is forbidden. Adolescents are often uninformed about the constituents of e-cigarettes, and little is known about the long-term effects of e-cigarettes. Studies have suggested a "gateway" effect for combustible cigarettes and cannabis use. Conclusions E-cigarette use is becoming increasingly common among youth, leading to a myriad of questions and concerns from providers, educators, and family members. More research is needed to determine the ultimate public health impact of e-cigarette use. The authors provide a summary table of frequently asked questions in order to help clarify these common concerns.
Time for Class

I hate abstracts. Concisely summarizing the content of a chapter or article suggests that the piece could have been shorter and more efficient, and if that were true, why write it in the first place, and certainly, why read it? Just read the abstract, which will give you the highlights. But since the whole point of my chapter is that it is easy for teaching to go awry if we don’t give it sufficient time, the notion of condensing my chapter into 125 words to enable more efficient digestion seems rather against the spirit of the exercise. So if you want to learn about how I tried, sometimes succeeded, sometimes failed to make sufficient time for teaching, you have no choice but to read the whole chapter.
Prognostic significance of pre- and post-operative serum carcinoembryonic antigen levels in patients presented with rectal carcinoma; an experience from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center Lahore.

Objective To explore the importance of serum carcinoembryonic antigen level as a tumour marker in rectal carcinoma. METHODS The retrospective study was conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised data of patients with rectal carcinoma from January 1996 to December 2015. Serum carcinoembryonic antigen levels were analysed using immulite@2000 system analyser. On the basis of serum carcinoembryonic antigen levels, data of patients was divided into four groups. Group A had normal serum levels both before and after surgical resection; Group B had normal levels pre-surgery but post-surgery levels were raised; Group C had raised levels pre-surgery that went down to normal post-surgery; and Group D had raised levels both before and after surgery. SPSS 23 was used for data analysis. RESULTS Of the 401 patients, 267(66.6%) were males, and 204(50.9%) were aged <50 years. Group A had 267(66.6%) patients, Group B 26(6.5%), Group C 79(`9.7) and Group D had 29(7.2%) patients. Stage III disease was the most common 343(85.5%) and it was true across the groups. Overall recurrence was in 141(35.2%) patients. Group D had the highest recurrence rate 26(89.7%), while Group C had the lowest 18(22.8%). CONCLUSIONS Fluctuating levels of carcinoembryonic antigen affected post-operative outcome.
Baseball Pitching Biomechanics Shortly After Ulnar Collateral Ligament Repair

Background:The probability of returning to competition for injured baseball pitchers is similar after ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) repair as after UCL reconstruction, but the time to return is s...
The Awe of the Lord is the Beginning of Knowledge: The Significance of Awe for Theological Epistemology:

The most common accounts of what constitutes theological knowledge emphasize the need to hold to true theological propositions. Such accounts ignore an important feature of knowledge, namely that t...
Explaining 'Not Disabled' Cases Ten Years After the ADAAA: A Story of Ignorance, Incompetence, and Possibly Animus

Ten years have passed since Congress enacted the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which criticized the courts’ narrow interpretation of the term “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Overturning the Supreme Court’s decisions that had decimated the protection of the ADA, Congress enacted the ADAAA to breathe new life into the statute, and explicitly stated that the ADA’s definition of disability is to be broadly construed and should not create a demanding standard for qualifying as disabled. My 2014 research project, which reviewed all of the ADAAA cases decided under the Amendments up until the end of 2013, was optimistic, perhaps naively so. I concluded in that article that most courts were following Congress’s mandate for broad coverage of the definition of disability under the ADA. Five years later (and ten years after the ADAAA was passed), I was shocked to review scores of cases that had erroneously held that the plaintiff was not disabled under the ADA. This paper will review those cases, attempting to determine what went wrong. What explains these cases holding that individuals are not disabled when a straightforward application of the ADAAA’s not-so-new interpretive principles should have led to the conclusion that the plaintiffs were disabled? The answer appears to be a combination of failures: a little bit of ignorance (courts who seemingly are unaware that the ADAAA was passed), a little bit of incompetence (parties that do not rely on the most helpful provisions interpreting the definition of disability), and possibly, a little bit of animus (courts that cite to the ADAAA but then improperly apply the amended statute to conclude that the plaintiff was not disabled).
Learning while shopping: an experimental investigation into the effect of learning on consumer search

In many search environments, searchers are learning about the distribution of offers in the market. I conduct an experiment exploring a broad class of search problems with learning about the distribution of payoffs. My results support the prediction that learning results in declining reservation values, providing evidence that learning may be an explanation for recall. Theory predicts a "one step" reservation value strategy, but many subjects instead choose to set a high reservation value in order to learn about the distribution before adjusting based on their observations. Under-searching in search experiments may stem from a reinforcement heuristic and lack of negative feedback after using sub-optimal strategies.
Understanding embryonic development for cell-based therapies of intervertebral disc degeneration: Toward an effort to treat disc degeneration subphenotypes

Chronic low back and neck pain are associated with intervertebral disc degeneration and are major contributors to the global burden of disability. New evidence now suggests that disc degeneration comprises a spectrum of subphenotypes influenced by genetic background, age, and environmental factors, which may be contributing to the mixed outcomes seen in clinical trials of cell-based therapies that aim to treat disc degeneration. This problem is further compounded by the fact that disc degeneration and aging coincide with an exhaustion of endogenous progenitor cells, imposing limitations on the regenerative capacity of the disc. At the bench-side, current work is focused on applying our knowledge of embryonic disc development to direct and refine differentiation of adult and human-induced pluripotent stem cells into notochord-like and nucleus pulposus-like cells for use in novel cell-based therapies. Accordingly, this review presents the salient features of intervertebral disc development, post-natal maintenance, and regeneration, with emphasis on recent advancements. We also discuss how a stratified approach can be undertaken for the development of future cell-based therapies to bring emerging subphenotypes into consideration. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Heart transplantation in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: A single-center case series.

The infectious disease coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on solid organ transplantations, including heart transplantation, is currently unclear. Many transplant programs have been forced to swiftly re-evaluate and adapt their practices, leading to a marked decrease in transplants performed. This trend has been due to various factors, including increased donor COVID-19 screening scrutiny and recipient waiting list management in anticipation of COVID-19 critical care surge capacity planning. In the face of these unknown variables, determining when and how to proceed with transplantation in our population of patients with end-stage cardiomyopathies is challenging. Here, we describe our center's experience with orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) in one of the country's pandemic epicenters, where we performed eight OHTs in the first 2 months after community spread began in late February 2020.
Dual function organic active materials for nonaqueous redox flow batteries

Nonaqueous electrolytes require the inclusion of supporting salts to achieve sufficient conductivity for battery applications. In redox flow batteries (RFBs) wherein solutions contain active species at molar values, the presence of supporting salts can reduce the solubility of organic active materials, limiting battery capacity. Here we sought to design organic materials in which permanently charged substituents keep ionic conductivity high while at the same time increasing the maximum concentration of the charge-storing redox moiety to operate all organic supporting-salt-free full flow cell cycling for the first time. Toward this goal, we synthesized redox-active phenothiazine and viologen derivatives bearing permanent charges. We employed these highly soluble materials as RFB electrolytes without adding supporting salts. Using an anion-selective membrane, a flow cell containing 0.25 M active species cycled stably over 100 cycles (433 h), losing an average of only 0.14% capacity per cycle and 0.75% per day, with post-cycling analysis showing no evidence of decomposition. Further, higher concentration cycling (0.75 M – electron) accessing both reductions of viologen, achieved a cell potential of 1.80 V with 18.3 A h L−1, high volumetric capacity, only losing an average of 0.90% capacity per day. These results show a new avenue to improve two performance aspects with one molecular modification.
Energy-Efficient Deep Neural Networks with Mixed-Signal Neurons and Dense-Local and Sparse-Global Connectivity

Neuromorphic Computing has become tremendously popular due to its ability to solve certain classes of learning tasks better than traditional von-Neumann computers. Data-intensive classification and pattern recognition problems have been of special interest to Neuromorphic Engineers, as these problems present complex use-cases for Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) which are motivated from the architecture of the human brain, and employ densely connected neurons and synapses organized in a hierarchical manner. However, as these systems become larger in order to handle an increasing amount of data and higher dimensionality of features, the designs often become connectivity constrained. To solve this, the computation is divided into multiple cores/islands, called processing engines (PEs). Today, the communication among these PEs are carried out through a power-hungry network-on-chip (NoC), and hence the optimal distribution of these islands along with energy-efficient compute and communication strategies become extremely important in reducing the overall energy of the neuromorphic computer, which is currently orders of magnitude higher than the biological human brain. In this paper, we extensively analyze the choice of the size of the islands based on mixed-signal neurons/synapses for 3-8 bit-resolution within allowable ranges for system-level classification error, determined by the analog non-idealities (noise and mismatch) in the neurons, and propose strategies involving local and global communication for reduction of the system-level energy consumption. AC-coupled mixed-signal neurons are shown to have 10X lower non-idealities than DC-coupled ones, while the choice of number of islands are shown to be a function of the network, constrained by the analog to digital conversion (or viceversa) power at the interface of the islands. The maximum number of layers in an island is analyzed and a global bus-based sparse connectivity is proposed, which consumes orders of magnitude lower power than the competing powerline communication techniques.
Factors influencing shared micromobility services: An analysis of e-scooters and bikeshare

Abstract This study explores how factors, including weather, day of the week, holidays, and special events, influence the trip frequency of two micromobility modes, shared e-scooters and bikeshare, in Louisville, Kentucky. Negative binomial generalized additive models (NBGAM) were estimated to model the trip frequency of each mode. NBGAM provides a rigorous modeling approach that accounts for temporal autocorrelation among variables. While results showed some differences exist between how various factors impact shared e-scooters and bikeshare trips, several similarities emerged between modes. Rain reduced trips for both, reducing bikeshare by 17% and shared e-scooters by 16%. Mondays, Thursdays, Friday, and Saturdays had increased use of both micromobility services though Tuesdays and Wednesdays only saw significant increases in bikeshare ridership. This study contributes to the existing literature in the micromobility realm by quantifying and comparing time-dependent relationships for e-scooters and bikeshare. Results of this study inform how providers distribute vehicles and how cities manage e-scooter policies.
Effects of Mechanosensory Input on the Tracking of Pulsatile Odor Stimuli by Moth Antennal Lobe Neurons.

Air turbulence ensures that in a natural environment insects tend to encounter odor stimuli in a pulsatile fashion. The frequency and duration of odor pulses varies with distance from the source, and hence successful mid-flight odor tracking requires resolution of spatiotemporal pulse dynamics. This requires both olfactory and mechanosensory input (from wind speed), a form of sensory integration observed within the antennal lobe (AL). In this work, we employ a model of the moth AL to study the effect of mechanosensory input on AL responses to pulsatile stimuli; in particular, we examine the ability of model neurons to: (1) encode the temporal length of a stimulus pulse; (2) resolve the temporal dynamics of a high frequency train of brief stimulus pulses. We find that AL glomeruli receiving olfactory input are adept at encoding the temporal length of a stimulus pulse but less effective at tracking the temporal dynamics of a pulse train, while glomeruli receiving mechanosensory input but little olfactory input can efficiently track the temporal dynamics of high frequency pulse delivery but poorly encode the duration of an individual pulse. Furthermore, we show that stronger intrinsic small-conductance calcium-dependent potassium (SK) currents tend to skew cells towards being better trackers of pulse frequency, while weaker SK currents tend to entail better encoding of the temporal length of individual pulses. We speculate a possible functional division of labor within the AL, wherein, for a particular odor, glomeruli receiving strong olfactory input exhibit prolonged spiking responses that facilitate detailed discrimination of odor features, while glomeruli receiving mechanosensory input (but little olfactory input) serve to resolve the temporal dynamics of brief, pulsatile odor encounters. Finally, we discuss how this hypothesis extends to explaining the functional significance of intraglomerular variability in observed phase II response patterns of AL neurons.