cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Correlates of Support for Community-Police Partnerships in Policing among Nigerian and US College Students: An Exploratory Study

While there is a growing body of research on people’s views of community policing, there have been a very few cross-national studies, especially concerning nonwestern countries. In order to compare and contrast students’ views on community policing partnerships, 274 Nigerian and 484 U.S. college students were surveyed. Ordinary least squares regression analysis of the data revealed that the majority of respondents supported a partnership between the community and the police, with the Nigerian students reporting slightly higher levels of support than their U.S. counterparts. Both attachment to conventional society and general confidence in the police were positively related to students’ support for community policing partnerships in both nations. A belief that the police should be civil, a perception that the police were effective, and support for community oversight of the police were significant predictors of support for community policing partnerships among the U.S. students but not the Nigerian student...
Learning by Drilling: Interfirm Learning and Relationship Persistence in the Texas Oilpatch

Production in many industries, such as construction and heavy manufacturing, relies on inputs from both lead firms and contractors. These firms’ joint productivity often hinges on their ability to share information and coordinate activities, suggesting that they have strong incentives to learn about each other’s personnel, procedures, and expertise. This learning differs from standard learning-by-doing in that it is relationship-specific: its benefits are not appropriable outside the relationship in which the learning takes place. In this paper, I empirically examine the importance of relationship-specific learning using high-frequency data from oil and gas drilling. I find that the joint productivity of a lead firm and its drilling contractor is enhanced significantly as they accumulate experience working together. This result is robust to other relationship specificities. I also find that firms appear to recognize the benefits of joint experience: controlling for other specificities, lead firms are more likely to work with contractors with which they have substantial prior experience than those with which they have worked relatively little.
Jurors' views on the value and objectivity of mental health experts testifying in sexually violent predator trials

Although psychologists and psychiatrists often testify in court, we know relatively little about the extent to which jurors value the testimony they hear from these experts. We surveyed 161 jurors who rendered opinions in 14 sex offender civil commitment trials after hearing testimony from psychologists and psychiatrists serving as expert witnesses. Most jurors reported that the experts they heard testify were honest, and they tended to attribute disagreements among experts to case complexity, as opposed to adversarial allegiance or bias. Most reported that hearing from the experts helped them make better decisions and that experts using risk assessment instruments could make more accurate predictions than those who did not. Jurors were, however, more skeptical about the ability of experts to accurately predict recidivism when they heard testimony from both prosecution and defense experts. Findings suggest that jurors value risk assessment testimony from experts, but that experts must think carefully about how to best make risk assessment instrument results accessible to jurors.
Bridging the digital divide: storage media + postal network = generic high-bandwidth communication

Making high-bandwidth Internet access pervasively available to a large worldwide audience is a difficult challenge, especially in many developing regions. As we wait for the uncertain takeoff of technologies that promise to improve the situation, we propose to explore an approach that is potentially more easily realizable: the use of digital storage media transported by the postal system as a general digital communication mechanism. We shall call such a system a Postmanet. Compared to more conventional wide-area connectivity options, the Postmanet has several important advantages, including wide global reach, great bandwidth potential, low cost, and ease of incremental adoption. While the idea of sending digital content via the postal system is not a new one, none of the existing attempts have turned the postal system into a generic and transparent communication channel that not only can cater to a wide array of applications, but also effectively manage the many idiosyncrasies associated with using the postal system. In the proposed Postmanet, we see two recurring themes at many different levels of the system. One is the simultaneous exploitation of the Internet and the postal system so we can combine their latency and bandwidth advantages. The other is the exploitation of the abundant capacity and bandwidth of the Postmanet to improve its latency, cost, and reliability.
Adjusting forward error correction with temporal scaling for TCP-friendly streaming MPEG

New TCP-friendly constraints require multimedia flows to reduce their data rates under packet loss to that of a conformant TCP flow. To reduce data rates while preserving real-time playout, temporal scaling can be used to discard the encoded multimedia frames that have the least impact on perceived video quality. To limit the impact of lost packets, Forward Error Correction (FEC) can be used to repair frames damaged by packet loss. However, adding FEC requires further reduction of multimedia data, making the decision of how much FEC to use of critical importance. Current approaches use either inflexible FEC patterns or adapt to packet loss on the network without regard to TCP-friendly data rate constraints. In this article, we analytically model the playable frame rate of a TCP-friendly MPEG stream with FEC and temporal scaling, capturing the impact of distributing FEC within MPEG frame types with interframe dependencies. For a given network condition and MPEG video encoding, we use our model to exhaustively search for the optimal combination of FEC and temporal scaling that yields the highest playable frame rate within TCP-friendly constraints. Analytic experiments over a range of network and application conditions indicate that adjustable FEC with temporal scaling can provide a significant performance improvement over current approaches. Extensive simulation experiments based on Internet traces show that our model can be effective as part of a streaming protocol that chooses FEC and temporal scaling patterns that meet dynamically-changing application and network conditions.
Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma arising from a Urethral Diverticulum

Carcinoma of the urethra is rare with only about 1,500 cases in the literature. Even more rare is carcinoma arising from a urethral diverticulum with about 100 cases reported to date. We report a case of clear cell adenocarcinoma arising from a urethral diverticulum.
Location Choices Across the Value Chain: How Activity and Capability Influence Collocation

There has been a recent revival of interest in the geographic component of firm strategy. Recent research suggests that two opposing forces---competition costs and agglomeration benefits---determine whether firms collocate in a given geographic market. Unexplored is (1) whether these forces have different impacts on R&D, production, and sales subsidiaries, leading to diverse collocation levels, and (2) how firm capabilities impact collocation by increasing or decreasing competition costs and agglomeration benefits. I explore these questions using the worldwide location decisions of firms in the cellular handset industry. I find that production and sales subsidiaries are more geographically dispersed, and R&D subsidiaries are more concentrated, than a random distribution would predict. When distinguishing firms by their capabilities, I find that more-capable firms collocate less than less-capable firms, regardless of the activity performed.
Small-Angle Neutron Scattering from Viscoelastic Polymer−Clay Solutions

The influence of shear on viscoelastic polymer−clay solutions was investigated by means of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) under shear. SANS was used to measure the shear-induced orientation of polymer and platelets. With increasing shear rate an anisotropic scattering pattern developed. At higher shear rates, the scattering anisotropy increased due to the enhanced orientation of the clay platelets in the shear field. The clay platelets aligned by the flow in an unusual direction, with the surface normal parallel to the vorticity direction. SANS on regular samples (contrast between D2O and solution components) measured the shear-induced orientation of polymer and platelets. However, with contrast matching the orientation of the polymer alone could be detected. With increasing shear rate, clay particles oriented first (SANS on regular samples) and then polymer chains started to stretch (SANS on contrast matched samples). Cessation of shear led to fast recovery, demonstrating the system to be highly e...
Coverage and adequacy in software product line testing

Software product line modeling has received a great deal of attention for its potential in fostering reuse of software artifacts across development phases. Research on the testing phase, has focused on identifying the potential for reuse of test cases across product line instances. While this offers potential reductions in test development effort for a given product line instance, it does not focus on and leverage the fundamental abstraction that is inherent in software product lines - variability.In this paper, we illustrate how rich software product line modeling notations can be mapped onto an underlying relational model that captures variability in the feasible product line instances. This relational model serves as the semantic basis for defining a family of coverage criteria for testing of a product line. These criteria make it possible to accumulate test coverage information for the product line itself over the course of multiple product line instance development efforts. Cumulative coverage, in turn, enables targeted testing efforts for new product line instances. We describe how combinatorial interaction testing methods can be applied to define test configurations that achieve a desired level of coverage and identify challenges to scaling such methods to large, complex software product lines.
Behavioural salinity preferences of juvenile green sturgeon Acipenser medirostris acclimated to fresh water and full-strength salt water

To quantify the salinity preference of juvenile green sturgeon Acipenser medirostris, two groups of A. medirostris [140 days post hatch (dph); total length (LT): 38·0‐52·5 cm] were acclimated to either near fresh water (mean ±s.e. salinity = 3·2 ± 0·6) or full-strength salt water (34·1 ± 1·2) over 8 weeks. Following acclimation, these two were further divided into experimental and control groups, where experimental A. medirostris from both freshwater and saltwater acclimation were individually introduced (200‐220 dph) into a rectangular salinity-preference flume (maximum salinity gradient: 5‐33). Control A. medirostris were presented with only their acclimation water (i.e. fresh water or salt water) on both sides of the flume. It was demonstrated that A. medirostris acclimated to both salt water and fresh water spent a significantly greater amount of time on the side of the testing area with the highest salinity concentration (P < 0·05 and P < 0·001, respectively) while control A. medirostris spent an equal amount of time on each side of the flume. These findings indicate that juvenile A. medirostris are not only capable of detecting salt water within the first year of their lives but perhaps are actively seeking out saline environments as they move through a watershed. Establishing A. medirostris salinity preferences provides a better understanding of the early life history of this threatened species, shedding light on possible outmigration
Internal architecture design and freeform fabrication of tissue replacement structures

Modeling, design and fabrication of tissue scaffolds with intricate architecture, porosity and pore size for desired tissue properties presents a challenge in tissue engineering. This paper will present the details of our development in the design and fabrication of the interior architecture of scaffolds using a novel design approach. The interior architecture design (IAD) approach seeks to generate layered scaffold freeform fabrication tool path without forming complicated 3D CAD scaffold models. This involves: applying the principle of layered manufacturing to determine the scaffold individual layered process planes and layered contours; defining the 2D characteristic patterns of the scaffold building blocks (unit cells) to form the Interior Scaffold Pattern; and the generating the process tool path for freeform fabrication of these scaffolds with the specified interior architecture. Feasibility studies applying the IAD algorithm to example models with multi-interior architecture and the generation of fabrication planning instructions will also be presented.
Vector Diffraction Theory of Refraction of Light by a Spherical Surface

Focusing of light by a curved surface is described using the vector Kirchhoff diffraction theory. The electromagnetic fields of a light beam incident as a plane wave on a curved surface separating two transparent media having different refractive indices are expressed as dimensionless double integrals. The integrals are evaluated for a few specific cases, and the three-dimensional distribution of irradiance near the focus is determined. The role of aberration in limiting the maximum achievable irradiance is studied. The distribution of the longitudinal components of the electric field in the focal region is also studied, and the region where the longitudinal fields maximize is determined.
Coping style and gender effects on attitudinal responses to incivility

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether emotion- and problem-focussed employee coping styles affect the relationship between workplace incivility and job attitudes (job satisfaction, sense of community), and whether these effects vary by gender. Design/methodology/approach – Survey methodology was used to obtain self-report data from a sample of 314 working adults (90 percent Hispanic, 62 percent female) enrolled in courses at a public university. Findings – Targets of workplace incivility experienced lower job satisfaction and sense of community at work. Employees who typically used problem-focussed coping (PFC) to respond to work stressors experienced greater negative outcomes associated with incivility. Mixed results were found for employees who typically engaged in emotion-focussed coping (EFC) at work: frequent use of avoidant coping and religious coping buffered against the impact of incivility, however, support seeking coping styles strengthened the negative outcomes associated wi...
Seminars in medicine of the Beth Israel Hospital, Boston: Pancreatic and islet transplantation for diabetes--cures or curiosities?

A PRESSING question in diabetes research is whether transplanting a pancreas or pancreatic islet cells can be used as successful therapy. In animals with insulin-dependent diabetes, pancreatic and islet transplantation has repeatedly been successful in establishing euglycemia. In humans with diabetes, successful transplantation of the pancreas maintains euglycemia, but at considerable cost in terms of morbidity and health care funds. Success with the less costly procedure of islet transplantation remains elusive. Resolution of the remaining technical difficulties with both these procedures is all the more urgent because, if pancreatic or islet transplantation or both are completely successful, they could provide . . .
Mathematics and Modern Technology

This paper is an attempt to illustrate and emphasize three points. First, that modern technology allows one to encourage students to ask and answer questions heretofore impossible to address fruitfully. Second, many (probably most) classical methods are as necessary as ever, but perhaps in a different setting, and third, simple calculus and a bit of reflection is amazingly effective. Although the examples presented are specific, I have attempted to approach each in a manner that has general applicability. Throughout I have tried to show how modern technology can provide insight and foster a spirit of inquiry. Machines do some things very well, some poorly. The same is true of humans. The two are often complementary; it seems best to search for uses of each that capitalize on their individual strengths. The topic of infinite series provides convenient examples. Given an infinite series, one asks two things. Does it converge, and if so, to what? The former question has been the concern of most calculus texts, while the latter has usually been left in abeyance. This is unfortunate for the applications-oriented student, for it is the value of the series that is most often the thing of primary concern.
Tunable Mechanics in Electrospun Composites via Hierarchical Organization

Design strategies from nature provide vital clues for the development of synthetic materials with tunable mechanical properties. Employing the concept of hierarchy and controlled percolation, a new class of polymer nanocomposites containing a montmorillonite (MMT)-reinforced electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) filler embedded within a polymeric matrix of either poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) or ethylene oxide–epichlorohydrin copolymer (EO–EPI) were developed to achieve a tunable mechanical response upon exposure to specific stimuli. Mechanical response and switching times upon hydration were shown to be dependent on the weight-fraction of MMT in the PVA electrospun fibers and type of composite matrix. PVA/MMT.PVAc composite films retained excellent two-way switchability for all MMT fractions; however, the switching time upon hydration was decreased dramatically as the MMT content was increased due to the highly hydrophilic nature of MMT. Additionally, for the first time, significant two-way switchability of...
Who gets a fair go? A Žižekian reading of representations of asylum seekers in Australia

In this paper I seek to utilise a Žižekian reading of ideological fantasy, of universality and of the Real to examine Australian representations of asylum seekers. I argue that, whilst Žižek’s work is of value in identifying the political and fantasmatic logics of the field, particularly the grip of the ‘fair go’, his applied analysis of the ‘global order’ has limited potential in these geo-politically bounded circumstances. Conversely, Žižek’s understanding of universality does offer the conceptual tools to provide an alternative political practice that seeks to evoke those moments of impossibility within the Australian narrative of the fair go.
Neurological Prognostication of Cardiac Arrest in an Era of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

A neuron-specific enolase level greater than 33 ng/mL at days 1 to 3 or status myoclonus within 1 day are traditional indicators of poor neurological prognosis in survivors of cardiac arrest. We report the case of a 70-year-old man who received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation following cardiac arrest. Despite having both an elevated neuron-specific enolase concentration of 68 ng/mL and status myoclonus, he made an excellent neurological recovery. The value of traditional markers of poor prognosis such as elevated neuron-specific enolase or status myoclonus has not been systematically validated in patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or therapeutic hypothermia. Straightforward application of practice guidelines in these cases may result in tragic outcomes. This case underscores the need for reliable prognostic markers that account for recent advances in cardiopulmonary and neurological therapies.
Diagnosis and Management of Male Genital Lichen Sclerosus

Lichen sclerosus is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that has the potential to result in substantial patient morbidity and discomfort. If not identified and addressed early, lichen sclerosus has the tendency to progress to involve the anterior urethra and can result in significant and bothersome urethral stricture disease. Depending on the extent of urethral involvement and patient symptoms, management strategies range from simple topical ointments to major multi-stage urethral reconstructive operations. Herein, we describe the evaluation and management of male genital lichen sclerosus and provide a stepwise approach to treatment. However, although the treatment armamentarium for this difficult disease process continues to improve, our overall understanding of the pathogenesis of lichen sclerosus remains limited. Further research is required to better elucidate the underlying mechanisms and pathways involved to learn how we may be better able to control and prevent lichen sclerosus as a whole.
Evidence-Based Practice and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

This chapter discusses ADHD and the concerns many people have over the growing numbers of children diagnosed with the problem, and the use of medications with potentially serious side effects. Limits on the efficacy of medication for ADHD are noted with the added problem of co-morbid conditions in children and/or parents a limiting factor in the effectiveness of medication. Research on psychosocial interventions, while promising, are too limited at present and much more research needs to be done on the efficacy of psychosocial interventions as an adjunct to medication and as the primary treatment without the use of medication.
Deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder: using functional magnetic resonance imaging and electrophysiological techniques: technical case report.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: To demonstrate the pattern of activation associated with electrical stimulation through bilateral deep brain stimulation electrodes placed within the anterior limb of the internal capsule to the level of the ventral striatum for treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 44-year-old man with a 26-year history of obsessive-compulsive disorder underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and deep brain stimulation-evoked cortical potential testing after bilateral implantation of deep brain stimulation leads. Stimulation was delivered bilaterally independently through the distal two contacts of each percutaneously extended lead using an external pulse generator. We used a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance system to measure changes in the fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent signal on postoperative Day 2. Changes were compared with stimulation parameters that were predetermined to demonstrate behavioral effects. INTERVENTION: All studies were well tolerated. Trial stimulations performed intraoperatively as well as on post-surgical Day 1 were associated with acutely elevated mood and reduced anxiety. Although the benefit achieved acutely was relatively symmetric between the bilaterally placed leads, follow-up programming showed a clear advantage to right-sided stimulation. Three of the four fMRI trials demonstrated good activation, with the fourth being moderately corrupted by motion artifact. The beneficial effects observed with right-sided stimulation were associated with activation of the ipsilateral head of the caudate, medial thalamus, and anterior cingulate cortex as well as the contralateral cerebellum. The distribution of the cortical evoked potentials was consistent with the locus of cortical activation observed with fMRI. CONCLUSION: High-frequency stimulation via a lead placed in the anterior limb of the internal capsule induced widespread hemodynamic changes at both the cortical and subcortical levels including areas typically associated with the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Who did the case? Perceptions on resident operative participation

Abstract Background The ACGME case log is one of the primary metrics used to determine resident competency; it is unclear if this is an accurate reflection of the residents' role and participation. Methods Residents and faculty were independently administered 16-question surveys following each case over a three-week period. The main outcome was agreement between resident and faculty on resident role and percent of the case performed by the resident. Results Matched responses were collected for 87 cases. Agreement on percent performed occurred in 61% of cases, on role in 63%, and on both in 47%. Disagreement was more often due to resident perception they performed more of the case. Faculty with Conclusions There was a high degree of disagreement between faculty and residents regarding percent of the case performed and role. Accurate understanding of participation and competency is vital for accrediting institutions and for resident self-assessment meriting further study of the causes for this disagreement to improve training and evaluation.
Study on operating performance of transformer and scaling model with DC bias

The impact of DC current on excitation characteristic of transformer is analyzed under bipolar asymmetric operation of HVDC power transmission system. The operating performance of single-phase transformer with three-limb core located near DC grounding pole is measured, and the relationship of vibration, noise and oil temperature of the transformer with such parameters as unbalance degree of HVDC bipolar power, apparent power of transformer are analyzed. The DC bias scaling model of transformer was designed and developed. The performance of transformer model under different DC bias condition was studied. The ability of transformer with three-limb core to withstand the bias current was deduced.
Outcomes of C1-2 joint injections.

Objective Intra-articular injections of the C1-2 joint are an effective therapeutic option for pain generated from degenerative and inflammatory conditions affecting the joint. Limited information exists about the adverse events (AEs) associated with these injections. The primary aim of this study is to describe the frequency and type of AEs associated with C1-2 joint injections. The secondary aim is to identify clinical factors associated with the occurrence of AEs of C1-2 joint injections. Design/methods A retrospective chart review was conducted on all C1-2 joint injections performed at the Mayo Pain Medicine Clinic in Rochester, MN, from January 1, 2005 through July 31, 2015. AE data were extracted from procedural and post-procedural clinical notes. Analysis was conducted to determine correlations between any AE and demographic and clinical characteristics. Using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, associations were determined. Results From January 1, 2005 to July 31, 2015, 135 C1-2 injections were performed on 72 patients. Overall, at least 1 AE was reported in 18.5% of the injections. The most common AEs were post-procedural increase in pain and procedural vascular contrast uptake. There was a significant association between AE occurrence and greater pre-procedural maximum pain score. Conclusions AEs from C1-2 joint injections occurred commonly, but there were no persistent or serious AEs associated with these injections. The data also demonstrate that patients with higher pre-procedural maximum pain scores are more likely to experience an AE.
Trends and Predictors of Participation in Cardiac Rehabilitation Following Acute Myocardial Infarction: Data From the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Background Participation in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) after acute myocardial infarction has been proven to significantly reduce morbidity and mortality. Historically, participation rates have been low, and although recent efforts have increased referral rates, current data on CR participation are limited. Methods and Results Utilizing data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System conducted by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we performed a population‐based, cross‐sectional analysis of CR post‐acute myocardial infarction. Unadjusted participation from 2005 to 2015 was evaluated by univariable logistic regression. Multivariable logistic regression was performed with patient characteristic variables to determine adjusted trends and associations with participation in CR in more recent years from 2011 to 2015. Among the 32 792 survey respondents between 2005 and 2015, participation ranged from 35% in 2005 to 39% in 2009 ( P =0.005) and from 38% in 2011 to 32% in 2015 ( P =0.066). Between 2011 and 2015, participants were less likely to be female (odds ratio [OR] 0.763, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.646‐0.903), black (OR 0.700, 95% CI 0.526‐0.931), uninsured (OR 0.528, 95% CI 0.372‐0.751), less educated (OR 0.471, 95% CI 0.367‐0.605), current smokers (OR 0.758, 95% CI 0.576‐0.999), and were more likely to be retired or self‐employed (OR 1.393, 95% CI 1.124‐1.726). Conclusions Only one third of patients participate in CR following acute myocardial infarction despite the known health benefits. Participants are less likely to be female, black, and uneducated. Future studies should focus on methods to maximize the proportion of CR referrals converted into CR participation.
Optimal Culture Temperature for Larval and Juvenile Pigfish, Orthopristis chrysoptera

Pigfish, Orthopristis chrysoptera, is a candidate for aquaculture because it is a regionally popular marine baitfish and commercial production could increase its supply and reduce fishing pressure on wild populations. Identifying optimal conditions for pigfish growout is needed for efficient production. We investigated the effects of temperature on growth and survival from hatching to market size at five constant temperatures, ranging from 22 to 30 C. Larval survival was greatest at 22 C, but growth was slowest. Complete mortality of larvae at 30 C occurred by 6 d after hatch, suggesting an upper thermal limit between 28 and 30 C. For juveniles, growth in length and weight was greatest at 28 and 30 C, but there were no differences in survival among temperatures. The predicted upper thermal limit for juveniles is 35 C. Results indicate that maximum growth and survival would be achieved by rearing larvae at 24 C and juveniles at 28 C. Under this temperature schedule, pigfish would reach preferred market sizes of 7.6 cm (for bay fishing) and 15 cm (for offshore fishing) after 2.5 and 4 mo of culture, respectively.
Decoupling address generation from loads and stores to improve data access energy efficiency

Level-one data cache (L1 DC) accesses impact energy usage as they frequently occur and use significantly more energy than register file accesses. A memory access instruction consists of an address generation operation calculating the location where the data item resides in memory and the data access operation that loads/stores a value from/to that location. We propose to decouple these two operations into separate machine instructions to reduce energy usage. By associating the data translation lookaside buffer (DTLB) access and level-one data cache (L1 DC) tag check with an address generation instruction, only a single data array in a set-associative L1 DC needs to be accessed during a load instruction when the result of the tag check is known at that point. In addition, many DTLB accesses and L1 DC tag checks are avoided by memoizing the DTLB way and L1 DC way with the register that holds the memory address to be dereferenced. Finally, we are able to often coalesce an ALU operation with a load or store data access using our technique to reduce the number of instructions executed.
Characterization of Titanium Silicide Contacts Deposited on Semiconducting Diamond Substrates

Abstract The first results pertaining to the growth and characterization of titanium silicide contacts deposited on natural semiconducting diamond substrates are reported. The titanium silicide films were formed by the co-deposition of silicon and titanium in ultra-high vacuum by electron-beam evaporation in a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system. The grown layers have been characterized using Raman spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and current-voltage (I-V) techniques. In particular, it has been shown from I-V measurements taken at room temperature that the titanium silicide film forms a low-barrier rectifying contact. Consistent with the observed low-barrier height, the corresponding I-V measurements recorded at 400°C exhibit ohmic-like behavior. However, on subsequent annealing of the titanium silicide contacts at 1100°C, stable rectifying I-V characteristics were observed in the 25 -400°C temperature range.
Gastric atony and the roux syndrome

The Roux limb syndrome is a symptom complex characterized by chronic postprandial epigastric pain, fullness, and vomiting observed in approximately one third of patients after gastric reconstructive surgery for reflux gastritis and other conditions in which vagotomy and Roux-en-Y gastroenterostomy have been preformed. The etiology of the symptom complex is controversial, with experimental evidence in animal and human studies suggesting dysfunction of both the gastric remnant and the Roux limb itself. Medical treatment is successful in only about half of cases, but surgical treatment to remove most or all of the gastric remnant is usually successful. These observations suggest that most of the symptoms of the Roux limb syndrome arise from postvagotomy gastric atony.
Does Sex Bias Play a Role for Dissatisfied Patients With Hypothyroidism

The current state of the diagnosis and management of thyroid disease cannot be separated from the larger context of women's health for the following reasons: (1) the disproportionate incidence and prevalence of functional and structural thyroid diseases among women vs men; (2) the role of thyroid health on fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum; and (3) the challenge posed in managing the nonspecific symptoms of functional thyroid disease in the context of menopause. Here, we explore the hypothesis that sex bias has played a role in the management of thyroid diseases historically and has extended into the modern medical era. Once knowledge gaps that may have resulted from sex bias are recognized, we can strive to overcome this bias and develop better treatments to improve patient outcomes universally.
Bundles, Handcuffs, and Local Freedom

We answer a question of J. Anderson's by producing infinitely many commensurability classes of fibered hyperbolic 3-manifolds whose fundamental groups contain subgroups that are locally free and not free. These manifolds are obtained by performing 0–surgery on a collection of knots with the same properties.
Gigs, Side Hustles, Freelance: What Work Means in the Platform Economy City

Lisa K. Bates Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USAOver the past year, taxi drivers around the world have protested the appearance of ride-hailin...
Antimicrobial Effects of Peroxyacetic Acid Acidified with Various Acids when Applied to Inoculated Prerigor Beef Carcass Surface Tissue

ObjectivesTwo studies were conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of blends of peroxyacetic acid (PAA) acidified with various acids against inoculated populations of nonpathogenic Escherichia coli biotype I surrogates for pathogenic E. coli and Salmonella on warm, prerigor beef carcass surface brisket tissue. Materials and MethodsIn phase I, 10 × 10 cm pieces (n = 10) of warm, prerigor beef carcass surface brisket tissue were inoculated (6 to 7 log CFU/cm²) with a 5-strain mixture of nonpathogenic E. coli biotype I surrogates. Samples were either left untreated (control) or were immersed for 10 s in PAA (400 ppm) acidified with lactic acid (3.5%), PAA (400 ppm) acidified with acetic acid (2%), PAA (400 ppm) acidified with citric acid (1%), PAA (400 ppm) acidified with a sulfuric acid and sodium sulfate blend (pH 1.2 and pH 1.8; SSS), and PAA (300 ppm) acidified with SSS (pH 1.2). All samples were analyzed 5 min post-treatment for surviving Enterobacteriaceae populations. In phase II, 10 × 10 cm pieces (n = 10) of prerigor beef tissue inoculated (6 to 7 log CFU/cm²) with the same 5-strain mixture of nonpathogenic E. coli surrogates were either left untreated or were spray-treated (10 s) with water, PAA (350 ppm), PAA (400 ppm), PAA (400 ppm) acidified with acetic acid (2%), PAA (400 ppm) acidified with SSS (pH 1.2), or PAA (350 ppm) acidified with SSS (pH 1.2). Untreated and treated beef tissue samples were analyzed 5 min post-treatment for E. coli counts. Data were analyzed using the lsmeans package in R (Rstudio, 2015, Boston, MA) with antimicrobial treatment (including surfactant treatments) as the independent variable. Least-squares means were separated using a significance level of ɑ = 0.05. ResultsAll immersion treatments evaluated in phase I effectively (P < 0.05) reduced inoculated E. coli populations on the prerigor beef carcass surface tissue by at least 2.3 log CFU/cm². The 400 ppm PAA treatments acidified with lactic acid, SSS (pH 1.2), or acetic acid were the most (P < 0.05) effective treatments, lowering inoculated bacterial counts from 6.2 log CFU/cm² to 3.4, 3.4, and 3.7 log CFU/cm², respectively. In phase II, all of the tested antimicrobial spray treatments effectively (P < 0.05) lowered initial inoculated E. coli counts (6.4 log CFU/cm²) by 1.7 to 1.9 log CFU/cm². No (P ≥ 0.05) differences in efficacy were observed between the 5 antimicrobial treatments. ConclusionSince acidifying PAA with acetic acid or SSS is comparable to utilizing PAA, this could provide the industry with alternative antimicrobial intervention systems. Alternating the use of antimicrobials in a multiple-hurdle system could aid in the prevention of antimicrobial resistance.
Estimating reference crop evapotranspiration under limited climate data in West Texas

Abstract Study region West Texas, USA Study focus Estimation of crop reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is essential for many aspects of water resources planning and management such as irrigation scheduling. Available widely used methods for calculating ETo include American Society of Civil Engineers’ Standardized Reference Evapotranspiration and Food and Agriculture Organization’s Penman-Monteith equations (FAO-ETo). These methods use complete climate datasets to estimate daily ETo, whereas simple evapotranspiration models based on radiation and temperature use limited climate data. In this study, daily ETo estimated using the temperature based Hargreaves-Samani (HS) equation were compared and evaluated with those estimated using the standard FAO-ETo at different stations of West Texas Mesonet. New hydrological insights for the region The results showed that the HS equation with original coefficients underestimated daily ETo values as compared to FAO-ETo data. New coefficients of the globally, monthly and regionally calibrated HS equation against FAO-ETo data were derived and proposed for more accurate daily ETo estimates in West Texas. Based on the results of global, monthly and regional calibration scenarios, ETo estimated by the calibrated and validated HS equation using fitted month-specific coefficients showed better agreement with FAO-ETo both within and outside the calibration region. No significant improvement in ETo estimation was observed for the HS equation using interpolated coefficients derived from station-specific calibrated coefficients as compared with commonly calibrated coefficients derived based on datasets of all selected meteorological stations in West Texas.
Attributes in Community and National News Coverage of the Parkland Mass Shootings

This chapter examines news coverage of the 2018 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The shootings were unique for several reasons, in particular that several survivors became well known, even controversial activists following the event. News coverage in the 45 days following the shootings in newspapers from communities surrounding Parkland (Broward-Palm Beach New Times, Miami New Times, Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald) and in national-level newspapers (New York Times, USA Today) was compared in regards to how the shootings’ salience, news coverage attributes, and shooter and victims/survivors were presented to news audiences. Results indicate that news coverage of the Parkland shootings was unlike coverage of previous shootings, both from utilizing the future level of time (rather than present) and the individual level of space (as opposed to the more commonly used societal) and by extending past the 30-day lifespan normally afforded to coverage of mass shootings.
Parental Exposure to Childhood Maltreatment and Offspring's Mental Health: Investigating Pathways Through Parental Adversity and Offspring Exposure to Maltreatment.

Parental exposure to child maltreatment (CM) is an important predictor of their offspring’s CM experiences and mental health. However, less attention has been paid to examine possible mechanisms of...
Accelerating Experimental Science Using Jupyter and NERSC HPC

Large scale experimental science workflows require support for a unified, interactive, real-time platform that can manage a distributed set of resources connected to High Performance Computing (HPC) systems. What is needed is a tool that provides the ease-of-use and interactivity of a web science gateway, while providing the scientist the ability to build custom, ad-hoc workflows in a composable way. The Jupyter platform can play a key role here to enable the ingestion and analysis of real-time streaming data, integrate with HPC resources in a closed-loop, and enable interactive ad-hoc analyses with running workflows.
A Pilot Study of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Adiposity, and Cardiometabolic Health in Youth With Overweight and Obesity.

OBJECTIVE To conduct a preliminary assessment of the relationships between cardiorespiratory fitness, adiposity, and cardiometabolic health using gold standard measures in diverse youth ranging from overweight to severe obesity. METHODS Twenty of 30 participants (mean [SD]; age 13.2 [1.8] y, 55% female, 45% African American) met the criteria for VO2peak during a graded cycle ergometer test to volitional fatigue. The body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (percentage of body fat, fat mass index, and fat-free mass) and magnetic resonance imaging (abdominal visceral and subcutaneous [SAT] adipose tissue). The VO2peak was expressed relative to fat-free mass. Fasting lipid levels, glycemic biomarkers, and vital signs were examined individually and used in a composite cardiometabolic risk score. Accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary time were included as covariates. RESULTS VO2peak was negatively associated with abdominal SAT (r = -.49, P < .05), but not visceral adipose tissue or markers of cardiometabolic health. The association between SAT and VO2peak was partly explained by habitual sedentary time. CONCLUSIONS We demonstrated a significant negative association between cardiorespiratory fitness and SAT in a diverse group of high-risk youth. The inclusion of rigorous, laboratory-based measures and youth with severe obesity extends the previous work in pediatric populations.
Retinal Periphery Is Insensitive to Sudden Transient Motion

Peripherally viewed targets moved around against a background of random dynamic noise. Slow movements were visible, fast movements were not. Thus, a target that repetitively drifted to the right and snapped back appeared to drift endlessly to the right with no visible snapbacks.
Lack of evidence supporting a role of IFN-β and TGF-β in differential polarization of Bordetella pertussis specific-T cell responses.

Abstract Bordetella Pertussis (BP) vaccine-induced immunity is waning worldwide despite excellent vaccine coverage. Replacement of the whole-cell inactivated vaccine (wP) by an acellular subunit vaccine (aP) is thought to play a major role and to be associated with the recurrence of whooping cough. Previously, we detected that the polarization towards a Th2 and Th1/Th17 response in aP and wP vaccinees, respectively, persists upon aP boosting in adolescents and adults. Additionally, IL-9 and TGF-β were found to be up-regulated in aP-primed donors and network analysis further identified IFN-β as a potential upstream regulator of IL-17 and IL-9. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that IFN-β produced following aP vaccination may lead to increased IL-9 and decreased IL-17 production. Also, due to the well characterized role of TGF-β in both Th17 and Th9 differentiation, we put forth that TGF-β addition to BP-stimulated CD4 + T cells might modulate IL-17 and IL-9 production. To test this hypothesis, we stimulated in vitro cultures of PBMC or isolated naive CD4 + T cells from aP vs wP donors with a pool of BP epitopes and assessed the effect of IFN-β or TGF-β in proliferative responses as well as in the cytokine secretion of IL-4, IL-9, IL-17, and IFN-γ. IFN-β reduced BP-specific proliferation in PBMC as well as cytokine production but increased IL-9, IL-4, and IFN-γ cytokines in naive CD4 + T cells. These effects were independent of the childhood vaccination received by the donors. Similarly, TGF-β reduced BP-specific proliferation in PBMC but induced proliferation in naive CD4 + T cells. However, stimulation was associated with a generalized inhibition of cytokine production regardless of the original aP or wP vaccination received by the donors. Our study suggests that key T cell functions such as cytokine secretion are under the control of antigen stimulation and environmental cues but molecular pathways different than the ones investigated here might underlie the long-lasting differential cytokine production associated with aP- vs wP-priming in childhood vaccination.
The Condensate for SU(2) Gauge Theory in 1 + 1 Dimensions Coupled to Massless Adjoint Fermions

We consider SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in 1+1 dimensions coupled to massless adjoint fermions. With all fields in the adjoint represention the gauge group is actually SU(2)/Z2, which possesses nontrivial topology. In particular, there are two distinct topological sectors and the physical vacuum state has a structure analogous to a θ vacuum. We show how this feature is realized in light-front quantization, using discretization of x- as an infrared regulator. We find exact expressions for the vacuum states and construct the analog of the θ vacuum. We calculate the bilinear condensate of the model. We argue that this condensate does not effect the spectrum of the massless theory but gives the string tenson of the massive theory.
The Biogeography of Human Diversity in Cognitive Ability

After many waves of out-migration from Africa, different human populations evolved within a great diversity of physical and community ecologies. These ambient ecologies should have at least partially determined the selective pressures that shaped the evolution and geographical distribution of human cognitive abilities across different parts of the world. Three different ecological hypotheses have been advanced to explain human global variation in intelligence: (1) cold winters theory (Lynn, 1991), (2) parasite stress theory (Eppig, Fincher, & Thornhill, 2010), and (3) life history theory (Rushton, 1999, 2000). To examine and summarize the relations among these and other ecological parameters, we divided a sample of 98 national polities for which we had sufficient information into zoogeographical regions (Wallace, 1876; Holt et al., 2013). We selected only those regions for this analysis that were still inhabited mostly by the aboriginal populations that were present there prior to the fifteenth century AD. We found that these zoogeographical regions explained 71.4% of the variance among national polities in our best measure of human cognitive ability, and also more concisely encapsulated the preponderance of the more specific information contained within the sampled set of continuous ecological parameters.