cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Wireless-Enabled Microdischarge-Based Radiation Detector Utilizing Stacked Electrode Arrays for Enhanced Detection Efficiency

This paper describes a wireless gas-based beta/ gamma radiation detector that uses an arrayed electrode structure to demonstrate a scalable path for increasing detection efficiency. The device uses an assembly of stainless-steel electrodes and a glass spacer structure within a TO-5 package. The components are manufactured by commercial micromachining methods, e.g., the electrodes are photochemically etched whereas the spacer structure is ultrasonically machined. Two different fill gases are evaluated near 760 torr-i.e., Ar and P-10. The detector diameter and height are 9 and 9.6 mm, respectively, and its weight is 1.01 g. With a 99-μCi Cs-137 source (which is a beta and gamma emitter), the detector provides >; 78 cpm to a hardwired inter face at a source-detector distance of 30.5 cm. Receiver operating characteristics evaluated for integration times ranging from 30 to 180 s have shown to improve with longer integration time. The estimated intrinsic detection efficiency (i.e., with the back ground rate subtracted) is ≈4%, as measured with the biasing arrangement described in this paper. Portable powering modules developed for these detectors are also presented. During operation, gas microdischarges between the electrodes, which are initiated by incident radiation, transmit wideband wireless signals. Wireless signaling has been demonstrated to exhibit fast transient durations on the order of tens of nanoseconds. Wireless-enabled radiation sensors are envisioned for use in rapidly deployable mobile net work configurations.
Characterization of a Large Group of Individuals with Huntington Disease and Their Relatives Enrolled in the COHORT Study

There was an error in the author byline. The correct byline should read: the Huntington Study Group COHORT Investigators. Author E. Ray Dorsey remains corresponding author of the article. The correct citation is: the Huntington Study Group COHORT Investigators (2012) Characterization of a Large Group of Individuals with Huntington Disease and Their Relatives Enrolled in the COHORT Study. PLoS ONE 7(2): e29522. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029522
Early Permian thrust faults in east-central California

One exposed and another inferred thrust fault in the southeastern Inyo Mountains of east-central California are interpreted as Early Permian in age. These faults, both apparently of local extent, are temporally and geographically related to a major episode of basin formation which occurred along a southeast-trending segment of the Permian North American plate margin. The close relationship between basin formation and thrust faulting supports a previous interpretation by us that this segment of the margin was undergoing active wrench tectonism during the Early Permian, resulting in the essentially simultaneous development of local extensional and compressional structures similar to those now forming in the California continental borderland.
Heterogeneous networks of polyisoprene/polyvinylethylene

Abstract High cis, 1,4-polyisoprene (PI) and polyvinylethylene (PVE) form a miscible blend, having a lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Networks of this blend were prepared by crosslinking with organic peroxide or by sulfur vulcanization. The very different reactivity of the two polymers leads to a disparity in the crosslinking, especially for sulfur curing—networks of PI can be formed without substantial reaction of the PVE. When the sulfur vulcanization is carried out at ca. 130 °C or higher (above the LCST), the polymers phase separate, yielding a PI network with PVE domains. Curing at lower temperatures maintains the miscible morphology, and a homogeneous blend network is obtained.
Molecular Phylogenetic and Biogeochemical Studies of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria in the Rhizosphere of Spartina alterniflora

The population composition and biogeochemistry of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the rhizosphere of the marsh grass Spartina alterniflora was investigated over two growing seasons by molecular probing, enumerations of culturable SRB, and measurements of SO42- reduction rates and geochemical parameters. SO42- reduction was rapid in marsh sediments with rates up to 3.5 mu mol ml(-1) day(-1). Rates increased greatly when plant growth began in April and decreased again when plants flowered in late July. Results with nucleic acid probes revealed that SRB rRNA accounted for up to 43% of the rRNA from members of the domain Bacteria in marsh sediments, with the highest percentages occurring in bacteria physically associated with root surfaces. The relative abundance (RA) of SRB rRNA in whole-sediment samples compared to that of Bacteria rRNA did not vary greatly throughout the year, despite Targe temporal changes in SO42- reduction activity. However, the RA of root-associated SRB did increase from 30% when plants were actively growing. rRNA from members of the family Desulfobacteriaceae comprised the majority of the SRB rRNA at 3 to 34% of Bacteria rRNA, with Desulfobulbus spp. accounting for 1 to 16%. The RA of Desulfovibrio rRNA generally comprised from 10(7) ml(-1). Ethanol utilizers were most abundant, followed by acetate utilizers. The high numbers of culturable SRB and the high RA of SRB rRNA compared to that of Bacteria rRNA may be due to the release of SRB substrates in plant root exudates, creating a microbial food web that circumvents fermentation.
Word—Initial and Word—Final Ngram Frequencies:

Every word-initial and word-final letter cluster, or ngram, that occurred in 30 or more different words in one million words of running text is listed along with the number of different words and the total number of words it appeared in. The relation of this list to other counts is discussed.
Evaluation of statistical outlier rejection methods for I/sub DDQ/ limit setting

The quiescent current testing (IDDQ testing) for CMOS ICs provides several advantages over other testing methods. However, the future of I/sub DDQ/ testing is threatened by increased sub-threshold leakage current for new technologies. The conventional pass/fail limit setting methodology cannot survive in its present form. In this paper we evaluate two statistical outlier rejection methods - the Chauvenet's criterion and the Tukey test - for their applicability to IDDQ testing. They are compared with the static-threshold method The results of the analysis of application of these methods to the SEMATECH data are presented.
Evocative gene-parenting correlations and academic performance at first grade: an exploratory study.

Academic performance during the first years of school lays the groundwork for subsequent trajectories of academic success throughout childhood and adolescence. The current study tests a model according to which a gene–parenting correlation in the first 3 years of life is associated with subsequent psychosocial adjustment and then academic performance in the first grade (as indicated by teachers' assessment of academic behavior and two subscales of the Woodcock–Johnson Test of Achievement, Third Edition). Drawing on multiple waves of data from the Durham Child Health and Development Study, we find that risk alleles for dopamine receptor genes (dopamine receptor D4 for girls, dopamine receptor D2 for boys) are associated with less sensitive parenting. For girls, parenting mediates the link between dopamine receptor D4 and all academic outcomes. There is some indication that parenting also influences girls' withdrawn behavior in the classroom, which in turn influences teachers' assessments of academic performance. For boys, some evidence suggests that parenting is associated with emotion regulation, which is associated with teachers' assessments of academic behavior and both subscales of the Woodcock–Johnson. Replications of this exploratory study are necessary, but these findings provide a first step in understanding how evocative correlations in the home may predict indicators of psychosocial adjustment that in turn influence performance and achievement at school.
On the rate loss of multiple description source codes and additive successive refinement codes

The rate loss of a multi-resolution source code (MRSC) describes the difference between the rate needed to achieve distortion D/sub i/ in resolution i and the rate-distortion function R(D/sub i/). We generalize the rate loss definition and bound the rate losses of multiple description source codes (MDSCs) and additive MRSCs (AMRSCs). For a 2-description MDSC (2DSC), the rate loss of description i with distortion D/sub i/ is defined as L/sub i/=R/sub i/-R(D/sub i/), i=1, 2, where R/sub i/ is the rate of the ith description; the rate loss associated with decoding the two descriptions together to achieve central distortion D/sub 0/ is measured as L/sub 0/=R/sub 1/+R/sub 2/-R(D/sub 0/) or as L/sub 12/=L/sub 1/+L/sub 2/. We show that given an arbitrary source with variance /spl sigma//sup 2/, there exists a 2DSC with L/sub 1//spl les/0.5 and (a) L/sub 0//spl les/1 if D/sub 0//spl les/D/sub 1/+D/sub 2/-/spl sigma//sup 2/, (b) L/sub 12//spl les/1 if 1/D/sub 0//spl les/1/D/sub 1/+1/D/sub 2/-1//spl sigma//sup 2/, (c) L/sub 0//spl les/L/sub G0/+1.5 and L/sub 12//spl les/L/sub G12/+1 otherwise, where L/sub G0/ and L/sub G12/ are the joint rate losses of a normal (0, /spl sigma//sup 2/) source. An AMRSC is an MRSC with the kth-resolution reconstruction equal to the sum of the first k side reproductions of an MDSC. We obtain one bound on the rate loss of an AMRSC.
EFFICIENT CONTOUR DETECTION BASED ON IMPROVED SNAKE MODEL

Active contour model, also called snake, adapts to edges in an image. A snake is defined as an energy minimizing spline – the snake's energy depends on its shape and location within the image. Problems associated with initialization and poor convergence to boundary concavities, however, have limited its utility. In this paper, we present a new external force field, named gravitation force field, for the snake model. We associate this force field with edge preserving smoothing to drive the snake for solving the problems. Our gravitation force field uses gradient values as particles to construct force field in the whole image. This force field will attract the active contour toward the edge boundary. The locations of the initial contour are very flexible, such that they can be very far away from the objects and can be inside, outside, or the mixture. The improved snake can converge toward the object boundary in a fast pace.
Structural Iron in Smectites

In the words of Ross and Hendricks (1945), “Clay minerals . . . are the dominant materials of shales and surficial rocks and so are among the most important structural materials of the earth’s surface.” Clay minerals play a significant role in many aspects of life, ranging from their domination of the properties of the soils and sediments beneath us to their ubiquitous commercial use in many products and industries (Newman, 1984; Odom, 1984; Jepson, 1984, 1987). Iron in the crystal structures of these layer silicates significantly affects their physical and chemical properties, and thus is of great importance in the world around us.
Enthalpy, Entropy, and Exergy Flow Losses in Pulse Tube Cryocoolers

The enthalpy, entropy, and exergy flows in ideal pulse tube cryocoolers have been described previously. This paper will describe how these flows are affected by phenomena in non-ideal cryocoolers.
The art of self-concretization as a necropolitical embodiment: The self-immolation of Chun Tae-il

ABSTRACTThis essay examines Chun Tae-il's self-immolation as an exemplar that showcases how a life deprived of public appearance can enter the public sphere through the willful destruction of one's body. Far from being a strange and curious deviation, self-immolation, I argue, is a necropolitical form of public embodiment for those who have been marginalized and excluded from the space of appearance. Chun Tae-il's self-immolation illustrates that there is an alternative form of self-suspension practiced by subaltern subjects: the art of self-concretization. While all subjects of publicity are required to bracket their self-interests when entering the public realm, Chun Tae-il's self-immolation indicates that the entrance fee for minoritized subjects can be life itself, thus epitomizing the limit condition of self-purgation in the public realm.
Effects of Thinning Young Forests on Chanterelle Mushroom Production

Chanterelle productivity responses were investigated in a replicated, landscape-scale thinning experiment in 50-year-old Douglas-fir stands in the Cascade Range of Oregon. Chanterelle numbers and weight were significantly decreased by thinning the first year after logging, more so in heavily thinned stands than lightly thinned stands for chanterelle numbers. Nearly all evidence of differences in chanterelle productivity among thinning treatment means disappeared within 6 years. Management implications and mitigation measures are discussed.
A Study of Potassium Ferrate for Treatment of Polymer-Containing Wastewater from Oil Field

Self-prepared potassium ferrate (K2FeO4) was used in studying the degradation and viscosity decreasing of the polyacrylamide-containing wastewater from oil field, with discussions made on the effects of the initial pH value, the dosage of potassium ferrate and the reaction temperature on the oxidative degradation and viscosity decrease. The results showed that with pH value controlled at 3 ~ 4 and temperature at about 45℃ and with 0.001 mol/L potassium ferrate added to the low-concentration and PAM-containing wastewater from oil field, the degradation rate of PAM exceeded 90% 15 minutes after the reaction started, while the viscosity of the wastewater decreased to a level close to that of distilled water and the oil content in the effluent water reached the discharge standard.
Negotiation-based resource provisioning and task scheduling algorithm for cloud systems

Cloud computing has drawn significant attention from both academia and industry as an emerging computing paradigm where data, applications, or processing power are provided as services through the Internet. Cloud computing extends the existing computing infrastructure owned by the cloud service providers (CSPs) to achieve the economies of scale through virtualization and aggregated computing resources. End users, on the other hand, can reach these services through an elastic utility computing environment with minimal upfront investment. Nevertheless, pervasive use of cloud computing and the resulting rise in the number of data centers have brought forth concerns about energy consumption and carbon emission. Therefore, this paper addresses the problem of resource provisioning and task scheduling on a cloud platform under given service level agreements, in order to minimize the electric bills and maximize the profitability for the CSP. User task graphs and dependencies are randomly generated, whereas user requests for CPU and memory resources are extracted from the Google cluster trace. A general type of dynamic pricing scenario is assumed where the energy price is both time-of-use and total power consumption-dependent. A negotiation-based iterative approach has been proposed for the resource provisioning and task scheduling that is inspired by a routing algorithm. More specifically, in each iteration, decisions made in the previous iteration are ripped-up and re-decided, while a congestion model is introduced to dynamically adjust the resource provisioning decisions and the schedule of each task based on the historical results as well as the current state of affairs. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves up to 63% improvement in the total electrical energy bill of an exemplary data center compared to the baseline.
The influence of age and gender on the utility of computed tomography to diagnose acute appendicitis.

Few studies have examined the effects of age and gender on the utility of diagnostic computed tomography (CT) for appendicitis. We retrospectively studied all adult patients undergoing appendectomy from January 2000 through December 2002 (633 patients). Patients 15-30 years old (younger) were compared to patients >30 (older) and further subdivided by gender. CT accuracy and the influence of CT on negative appendectomy (NA) rates for each group were evaluated. CT was associated with a lower NA rate in older patients (23% vs 8%, P = 0.004) but had no effect on NA rate in younger patients (26% vs 20%, P = 0.2). Appendiceal CT had greater sensitivity, negative predictive value, and accuracy in older than in younger patients. When subdivided by gender, CT was associated with lower NA rates for all female patients but had no effect in either age group of men. Although CT may be more accurate in patients older than 30 years, it has the greatest benefit in female patients, where it is associated with lower NA rates in all adult patients. CT should be strongly considered for all female patients before operation for suspected appendicitis. Further study is needed to determine which, if any, male patients benefit from preoperative CT.
Two-Dimensional Infrared Study of Vibrational Coupling between Azide and Nitrile Reporters in a RNA Nucleoside

The vibrations in the azide, N3, asymmetric stretching region and nitrile, CN, symmetric stretching region of 2′-azido-5-cyano-2′-deoxyuridine (N3CNdU) are examined by two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy. At earlier waiting times, the 2D IR spectrum shows the presence of both vibrational transitions along the diagonal and off-diagonal cross peaks indicating vibrational coupling. The coupling strength is determined from the off-diagonal anharmonicity to be 66 cm–1 for the intramolecular distance of ∼7.9 A, based on a structural map generated for this model system. In addition, the frequency–frequency correlation decay is detected, monitoring the solvent dynamics around each individual probe position. Overall, these vibrational reporters can be utilized in tandem to simultaneously track global structural information and fast structural fluctuations.
Abstract 2822: TPX2 overexpression is essential for the survival of MYC-driven triple negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) presents the most challenging subtype with the poorest clinical outcome and no targeted therapy. Our lab previously showed that oncogenic MYC pathways are deregulated in human TNBC tumors and predict patients’ poor prognosis. However, clinical development of small molecule inhibitors for MYC has not been successful yet. We identified a synthetic-lethal interaction in which inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) resulted in the selective killing of MYC overexpressing cancer cells. CDK1 is a mitotic kinase that regulates a large number of substrates and its inhibition causes proliferation arrest in all cells, which may be associated with toxicity. We hypothesize that the MYC-CDK1 synthetic lethality can be attributed to the loss of function of only one or a handful of CDK1 substrates. To identify those substrates, we combined bioinformatics analysis of gene expression data from patient samples and cell based screening approaches. We identified TPX2 depletion to efficiently kill MYC overexpressing cells, while sparing normal cells. Using analog-sensitive CDK1 we confirmed that TPX2 is a direct substrate of CDK1. TPX2 is highly overexpressed in TNBC and predicts patients’ poor prognosis. Its loss of function efficiently kills TNBC cells in a MYC dependent manner. We hypothesize that TPX2 is a novel synthetic lethal interaction partner of MYC. Our studies will help elucidate the biology of MYC-driven cancer such as TNBC, which will eventually lead to the development of less toxic and more efficacious targeted therapies. Citation Format: Julia Rohrberg, Alexandra Corella, Sanjeev Balakrishnan, Andrei Goga. TPX2 overexpression is essential for the survival of MYC-driven triple negative breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2822.
Surprise! Bayesian Weighting for De-Biasing Thematic Maps

Thematic maps are commonly used for visualizing the density of events in spatial data. However, these maps can mislead by giving visual prominence to known base rates (such as population densities) or to artifacts of sample size and normalization (such as outliers arising from smaller, and thus more variable, samples). In this work, we adapt Bayesian surprise to generate maps that counter these biases. Bayesian surprise, which has shown promise for modeling human visual attention, weights information with respect to how it updates beliefs over a space of models. We introduce Surprise Maps, a visualization technique that weights event data relative to a set of spatia-temporal models. Unexpected events (those that induce large changes in belief over the model space) are visualized more prominently than those that follow expected patterns. Using both synthetic and real-world datasets, we demonstrate how Surprise Maps overcome some limitations of traditional event maps.
Water Scarcity: Global Challenges for Agriculture

Exponential population growth in a world with uneven freshwater distribution will sharply increase water demands. Rising global temperatures exacerbate violent storms and prolonged drought. Salinization occurs at coastal deltas from rising sea levels and in groundwater from overpumping. The World Bank estimates that 25–30% freshwater is wasted, costing the global economy $14 billion annually. This paper highlights recent technologies developed to augment finite freshwater systems and presents potential remediation to relieve agricultural stress. Improving water management in agriculture rests on implementing sustainable irrigation techniques, developing crop modifications that help tolerate water stress, and promoting cooperation among stakeholders. Innovative techniques permit desalination that is less energy intensive and preserves membranes. Recycling highly purified sewage water is a powerful tool for replenishing groundwater. Although growing crops for biofuels is incompatible with global demands for freshwater and food, recent studies on cellulosic biomass and microalgae cultivation hold promise as economically viable energy sources.
Paraná flood basalt volcanism primarily limited to 1 Myr beginning at 135 Ma: New 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages for rocks from Rio Grande do Sul, and critical evaluation of published radiometric data

Abstract 40 Ar/ 39 Ar step heating analyses were carried out on seven rocks (five basalts, an andesite and a rhyolite) from the southern Parana Province (~ 28°S–30°S); they yield plateau/isochron ages of 135–134 Ma, in good agreement with published step heating data on rocks from the same area. Critical review of laser spot isochron ages for rocks from the Province, ranging from ~ 140 to 130 Ma, are shown to be unreliable estimates of crystallization ages, as the rocks were substantially altered; step heating results on three of these rocks thought to yield good plateau ages, are shown to be incorrect, as a result of a technicality in dating procedures followed. U-Pb ages on zircon and baddeleyite separated from a variety of rock types (~ 30°S–23°S) fall in the range 135 to 134 Ma. All reliable 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and U-Pb ages indicate volcanism was sharply focused, initiated at 135 Ma, and ~ 1 Myr in duration; no variation of age with either latitude or longitude is noted, Scrutiny of published 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages on the Florianopolis dykes shows they cannot be used as reliable crystallization ages. U-Pb work shows that this dyke swarm was formed coevally with the main part of the Parana province. Most of the published 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages on the Ponta Grossa dyke swarm are unreliable; a few ages appear reliable and suggest the magmatic event in this area, may have postdated the main Parana pulse by 1–2 Myr. A single 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age from a high-Nb basalt in the southernmost part (~ 34°S) of the Parana at ~ 135 Ma, highlights the need for further radiometric work on other areas of this flood basalt province. The Parana Province postdates the time of the Jurassic-Cretaceous bound­ary by ~ 10 Myr.
UAV hyperspectral and lidar data and their fusion for arid and semi-arid land vegetation monitoring

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide a new research tool to obtain high spatial and temporal resolution imagery at a reduced cost. Rapid advances in miniature sensor technology are leading to greater potentials for ecological research. We demonstrate one of the first applications of UAV lidar and hyperspectral imagery and a fusion method for individual plant species identification and 3D characterization at submeter scales in south-eastern Arizona, USA. The UAV lidar scanner characterized the individual vegetation canopy structure and bare ground elevation, whereas the hyperspectral sensor provided species-specific spectral signatures for the dominant and target species at our study area in leaf-on condition. We hypothesized that the fusion of the two different data sources would perform better than either data type alone in the arid and semi-arid ecosystems with sparse vegetation. The fusion approach provides 84–89% overall accuracy (kappa values of 0.80–0.86) in target species classification at the canopy scale, leveraging a wide range of target spectral responses in the hyperspectral data and a high point density (50 points/m2) in the lidar data. In comparison, the hyperspectral image classification alone produced 72–76% overall accuracies (kappa values of 0.70 and 0.71). The UAV lidar-derived digital elevation model (DEM) is also strongly correlated with manned airborne lidar-derived DEM (R2 = 0.98 and 0.96), but was obtained at a lower cost. The lidar and hyperspectral data as well as the fusion method demonstrated here can be widely applied across a gradient of vegetation and topography to monitor and detect ecological changes at a local scale.
Removal of Differential Capacitive Interferences in Fast-Scan Cyclic Voltammetry

Due to its high spatiotemporal resolution, fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) at carbon-fiber microelectrodes enables the localized in vivo monitoring of subsecond fluctuations in electroactive neurotransmitter concentrations. In practice, resolution of the analytical signal relies on digital background subtraction for removal of the large current due to charging of the electrical double layer as well as surface faradaic reactions. However, fluctuations in this background current often occur with changes in the electrode state or ionic environment, leading to nonspecific contributions to the FSCV data that confound data analysis. Here, we both explore the origin of such shifts seen with local changes in cations and develop a model to account for their shape. Further, we describe a convolution-based method for removal of the differential capacitive contributions to the FSCV current. The method relies on the use of a small-amplitude pulse made prior to the FSCV sweep that probes the impedance of the system...
“Banditry and Subversion” in a Classroom Game

In the context of a course on Ming working lives, a classroom game requiring no fancy equipment enables students to think through the complex relations of the imperial house and palace eunuchs, commanders and soldiers, bandits and merchants, Mongols and Han folk, as portrayed in David Robinson's work on the capital area and other Ming scholarship.
Ignition Temperatures of Magnesium and Magnesium Alloys

A simple reproducible method was developed for determining the ignition temperatures of magnesium and magnesium alloys and by this method magnesium and over 100 magnesium alloys were measured. The ignition temperature of magnesium was determined in O2-SO2, O2-N2 mixtures and in O2 from 0.166 to 10 atm pressure. The ignition temperature of magnesium is generally lowered by alloying and increased by an increase in oxygen pressure.
Total Hip Arthroplasty Patients With Fixed Spinopelvic Alignment Are at Higher Risk of Hip Dislocation.

Abstract Background Sitting radiographs have been used as a pre-operative tool to plan patient-specific total hip arthroplasty (THA) component position that would improve hip stability. Previous work has demonstrated that spinal mobility may impact functional acetabular position when seated. We sought to determine whether patients who dislocate following THA have different sitting spinopelvic alignment or acetabular component orientation compared to patients who did not dislocate. Methods A consecutive series of 1000 patients underwent post-operative low-dose biplanar spine-to-ankle lateral radiographs in standing and sitting positions 1 year following THA. Twelve patients (1% of all patients) experienced hip dislocation. Patients were categorized as having normal lumbar spines (without radiographic arthrosis) or as having lumbar multi-level degenerative disc disease. Measurements of spinopelvic alignment parameters (including sacral slope, lumbar lordosis, and proximal femur angles) and acetabular component orientation in sitting position (functional inclination and functional anteversion) were performed. Results Patients who dislocated had significantly less spine flexion, less change in pelvic tilt, and more hip flexion from standing to sitting positions compared to patients with normal spines. In sitting position, dislocators had acetabular components with less functional inclination and less functional anteversion. Conclusion This study demonstrates that patients with fixed spinopelvic alignment from standing to sitting position are at higher risk of hip dislocation. Imaging patients from standing to sitting position using this technique can provide valuable information on whether a patient has fixed spinopelvic alignment with postural changes and is therefore at higher risk of dislocation.
Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: An Unusual Etiology of Insidious Behavioral Changes (P6.016)

Objective: To describe a case of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), presenting as insidious behavioral changes and cerebral edema. Background: CVT is a rare etiology of insidious behavioral changes, with atypical symptoms and imaging potentially delaying diagnosis. Methods: Case report. Results: A 52-year-old male with hypertension presented with a four-week history of behavioral changes, characterized by volitional termination of his job, impulsivity, and repetitive phone calls with one-word responses to family. Acute agitation and suicidal ideation prompted hospitalization. Review of systems was negative for new headache or vision changes. Exam revealed disorientation, right/left confusion, paucity of spontaneous speech, and word substitutions. A non-contrast head CT showed left temporal lobe cerebral edema, initially thought to be due to tumor. A follow-up MRI brain showed diffusion restriction of a crescentic area of the subdural space, as well as two hyperintense areas in the subcortical white matter of the left temporal lobe on T2/FLAIR sequences. Hyperintensity on T1 sequences suggested hemorrhagic content along the cortical ribbon of the temporal lobe. Surrounding vasogenic edema caused mass effect on the left lateral ventricle. The differential diagnosis based on imaging included HSV encephalitis, cerebral abscess with septic infarcts, or CVT with secondary hemorrhagic infarcts. CT venogram confirmed opacification of the left jugular bulb, sigmoid sinus, and distal transverse sinus, concerning for acute CVT. The patient was treated with anticoagulation, with improvement of mental status. Workup for predisposing factors revealed left maxillary sinus disease and subsegmental pulmonary embolism suggesting hypercoagulability. Elevated carcinoembryonic antigen suggested underlying malignancy. Conclusions: CVT constitutes only 0.5[percnt] of all strokes. Headache is present in 90[percnt] of cases. This case illustrates that CVT should be considered when evaluating insidious behavioral changes associated with cerebral edema of unclear etiology, even in the absence of acute headache. Early recognition of CVT is essential for instituting prompt therapy. Disclosure: Dr. Kabaria has nothing to disclose.
Contract Interpretation 2.0: Not Winner-Take-All But Best-Tool-For-The-Job

In a centuries-old debate among contracts scholars, one group supports a presumption favoring a text-centered approach to the interpretation of a written agreement — the plain meaning taken from the four corners — while opponents urge a broader understanding of context — what the parties intended and the circumstances of their negotiation. The contending positions have so hardened that, in a jarring juxtaposition this Essay will reveal, recent academic classifications of the same state laws are exactly opposite to each other: contextualists classify certain states as contextualist that textualists say are textualist! Yet despite the persistence of acute polarization, the author also documents — and applauds — promising trends in the literature toward hybridization and compromise, a search for factors to guide the selection of interpretive tools rather than putting some off limits or setting up default rule presumptions. While scholars have thus long obscured a common-sense reality, a new wave of research is making it clearer to all sides that text and context are both useful, depending on the details of different jobs. More modern, advanced, and sensible, this new view of contract interpretation replaces a stubborn “winner-take-all” approach to the debate with a flexible and practical “best-tool-for-the-job” approach. To illuminate its importance and value — call it contract interpretation 2.0 — this Essay turns to Warren Buffett’s contracting philosophy and practices. The famous investor and businessman is also a polyglot teacher, and his approach to contracts, especially acquisition agreements and employment arrangements, illustrates the imperative of using the right tool for the job.
Evaluation and comparison of interpolated gauge rainfall data and gridded rainfall data in Florida, USA

ABSTRACTA variety of spatially continuous rainfall products are available but little evaluation of their accuracy has been published for areas with high spatial variability in rainfall. Five gridded rainfall products (PRISM, RTMA, and the interpolated Florida Automated Weather Network, FAWN, rainfall layers based on three interpolated methods) were assessed for Florida State. Point-to-pixel and pixel-to-pixel comparisons were performed to compare the five products. On average, the PRISM and RTMA products resulted in a better fit with the daily FAWN rainfall datasets, while FAWN-based interpolated products resulted in a better fit with the monthly FAWN rainfall datasets based on point-to-pixel analysis. Inverse distance weighting and ordinary kriging methods performed slightly better than the thin plate spline method in predicting daily rainfall. In general, monthly and seasonal rainfall amounts from PRISM and RTMA products were higher and lower, respectively, than reference rainfall amounts from FAWN gaug...
Competitive reputation manipulation: Women strategically transmit social information about romantic rivals

Abstract Researchers have suggested that women compete with same-sex peers using indirect social tactics. However, the specific predictors and mechanisms of this form of female intrasexual competition are less well understood. We propose that one mechanism by which women harm rivals' social opportunities is through selectively transmitting reputation-relevant social information. Moreover, we contend that this behavior is designed to undermine the romantic and social appeal of same-sex romantic rivals who are perceived to be threatening. Evidence from five studies suggests that women's dissemination of social information is strategic and reliably predicted by various cues of romantic rival threat: attempts at mate poaching (Study 1), physical attractiveness (Studies 2 and 3), and provocative clothing (Studies 4 and 5). Women strategically harmed and failed to enhance the reputations of other women who threatened their romantic prospects directly (by flirting with their romantic partners) and indirectly (by being attractive or provocatively dressed). Women's dispositional levels of competitiveness also predicted their information transmission: highly competitive women (both generally and in romantic domains specifically) disclosed more reputation-damaging information than did less competitive women. Furthermore, women transmitted reputation-harming information about female targets independent of how much they explicitly liked those targets, suggesting a disconnect between women's intentions and their gossip behavior. Irrespective of the gossiper's intentions, pilot data confirmed that social harm is likely to befall the women targeted by the transmission of reputation-damaging social information.
Rank Aggregation for Similar Items.

The problem of combining the ranked preferences of many experts is an old and surprisingly deep problem that has gained renewed importance in many machine learning, data mining, and information retrieval applications. Effective rank aggregation becomes difficult in real-world situations in which the rankings are noisy, incomplete, or even disjoint. We address these difficulties by extending several standard methods of rank aggregation to consider similarity between items in the various ranked lists, in addition to their rankings. The intuition is that similar items should receive similar rankings, given an appropriate measure of similarity for the domain of interest. In this paper, we propose several algorithms for merging ranked lists of items with defined similarity. We establish evaluation criteria for these algorithms by extending previous definitions of distance between ranked lists to include the role of similarity between items. Finally, we test these new methods on both synthetic and real-world data, including data from an application in
A Stochastic Integral Representation for the Bootstrap of the Sample Mean

Assume that F is the distribution function of a symmetric distribution in the domain of attraction of an α-stable distribution. Let X 1, X 2,... be a sequence of independent random variables distributed according to F. As Feller [3] shows, if 0 0 such that n(1 - F(a n y)) → y -α as n → ∞, and for such a n S n = a n -1 (X 1+...+ X n ) converges in distribution to an α-stable random variable. If α = 2, then choose a n such that a n -1 (X 1+...+ X n ) converges in distribution to the standard normal.
Beyond Porosity: 3D Leaf Intercellular Airspace Traits That Impact Mesophyll Conductance.

The leaf intercellular airspace (IAS) is generally considered to have high conductance to CO2 diffusion relative to the liquid phase. While previous studies accounted for leaf-level variation in porosity and mesophyll thickness, they omitted 3D IAS traits that potentially influence IAS conductance (gIAS). Here, we reevaluated the standard equation for gIAS by incorporating tortuosity, lateral path lengthening, and IAS connectivity. We measured and spatially mapped these geometric IAS traits for 19 Bromeliaceae species with Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) or C3 photosynthetic pathways using x-ray microcomputed tomography imaging and a novel computational approach. We found substantial variation in porosity (0.04–0.73 m3 m−3), tortuosity (1.09–3.33 m2 m−2), lateral path lengthening (1.12–3.19 m m−1), and IAS connectivity (0.81–0.97 m2 m−2) across all bromeliad leaves. The revised gIAS model predicted significantly lower gIAS in CAM (0.01–0.19 mol m−2 s−1 bar−1) than in C3 (0.41–2.38 mol m−2 s−1 bar−1) plants due to a coordinated decline in these IAS traits. Our reevaluated equation also generally predicted lower gIAS values than the former one. Moreover, we observed high spatial heterogeneity in these IAS geometric traits throughout the mesophyll, especially within CAM leaves. Our data show that IAS traits that better capture the 3D complexity of leaves strongly influence gIAS and that the impact of the IAS on mesophyll conductance should be carefully considered with respect to leaf anatomy. We provide a simple function to estimate tortuosity and lateral path lengthening in the absence of access to imaging tools such as x-ray microcomputed tomography or other novel 3D image-processing techniques.
Approaches for Evaluating Dynamic Stability in Design

There are many ways of treating dynamic stability. No single approach is always best, but must be defined relative to each design and each yields a fidelity proportionate to resources and technological maturity. During the ship design process choices must be made that balance the approach within a wide trade space encompassing ship design characteristics, operational doctrine, technical risk management, operational safety, cost and schedule. Existing static approaches do not directly account for ship dynamics. There is a clear need to develop a framework for integration of technical approaches into the ship design/acquisition process. The objective of this paper is to define a basis for outlining the range of intact dynamic stability methodologies that can be employed to naval ship design that address dynamic stability in such a way as to minimize technical and safety risks in an economical manner. The paper summarizes ongoing work by the Naval Stability Standards Working Group (NSSWG), and outlines relevant technical approaches suitable for employment on naval ship designs from preliminary/concept design stages through to operator guidance.
Provider opioid prescribing practices and the belief that opioids keep people living with HIV engaged in care: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACTWe describe HIV providers’ opioid prescribing practices and assess whether belief that chronic opioid therapy (COT) keeps people living with HIV (PLWH) engaged in care is associated with di...
Comparison of Routing Algorithms with Static and Dynamic Link Cost in SDN

There are several routing algorithms that can be used in the context of Software Defined Networking (SDN), where a logically centralized controller obtains the global view of the network and network state information, makes the routing decisions, and installs them to the switches in the selected paths. Comparing the performance of the existing routing algorithms under realistic simulation scenarios and understanding the factors that impact their performance are very important for their adaption in practice. Accordingly, we implemented several existing routing algorithms using RYU SDN controller and evaluated their performance on Mininet emulator. We considered three categories of Routing Algorithms with Static Link Cost (RA-SLC), Dynamic Link Cost (RA-DLC), and Dynamic Link cost with Minimum Interference (RA-DLCMI) under both the idealistic case assuming the availability of accurate network state information (NSI) and the practical case where the NSI is collected periodically and has some inaccuracy. Our experimental results showed that both RA-DLC and RA-DLCMI outperformed RA-SLC in terms of throughput and the number of accepted flows while there was no significant difference between RA-DLC and RA-DLCMI. We also observed that periodic collections caused inaccuracies in NSI and negatively affected the performance of all algorithms.
SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY OF PHYSICAL EXAMINATION TESTS FOR SACROILIAC PAIN IN THE ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ATHLETES

BACKGROUND:Low back pain is a common clinical complaint for young athletes. Making the diagnosis of sacroiliac (SI) pain is often challenging, as the clinical diagnosis is challenging with many non...
Cofactor-Mediated Nucleophilic Substitution Catalyzed by a Self-Assembled Holoenzyme Mimic.

A self-assembled Fe4L6 cage is capable of co-encapsulating multiple carboxylic acid containing guests in its cavity, and these acids can act as cofactors for cage-catalyzed nucleophilic substitutio...
Prediction of Higher Heating Value HHV of Date Palm Biomass Fuel using Artificial Intelligence Method

Date palm biomass can be considered as an alternative to conventional energy combined with other renewable energy sources in the oasis. Its energy recovery requires a precise knowledge of its energy rate potential represented by its calorific value. Relationships of ultimate and proximate analysis of date palm biomass with higher heating value (HHV) have been investigated through artificial neural networks (ANNs) methods, especially, Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) model. Seven set of inputs including: (a) proximate analysis i.e. volatile matter (VM), ash (A) and moisture (M) and (b) ultimate analysis i.e carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O) were identified and used for the prediction of (HHV) by ANNs. The adopted model allowed HHV prediction of phoenicicole biomass with a determination coefficient (R2) of up to 84% and a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 2,61. (MLP) gives a good HHV prediction results for date palm biomass by taking into account hybrid variables (proximate and ultimate) especially carbon and oxygen. These input parameters were omnipresent in all the identified combinations and provided the optimum finding rates in association with volatile matter.
Endoscopía luego de cirugía bariátrica: Lo que debe saber el endoscopista

Endoscopy is essential in the assessment and treatment of the bariatric patient, especially in the postoperative state. Since bariatric surgery is increasing exponentially, endoscopists should be familiar with the anatomy and how to manage possible complications. New less invasive therapeutic tools will have a major impact on the prognosis of these patients. Dreaded complications such as leaks, stenosis or weight regain can be successfully assessed and treated by endoscopy. Postoperative evaluation of symptoms requires the precise search of details that can change patient's management.
A Geometric Algorithm for Solving Linear Systems

Based on the geometric {\it Triangle Algorithm} for testing membership of a point in a convex set, we present a novel iterative algorithm for testing the solvability of a real linear system $Ax=b$, where $A$ is an $m \times n$ matrix of arbitrary rank. Let $C_{A,r}$ be the ellipsoid determined as the image of the Euclidean ball of radius $r$ under the linear map $A$. The basic procedure in our algorithm computes a point in $C_{A,r}$ that is either within $\varepsilon$ distance to $b$, or acts as a certificate proving $b \not \in C_{A,r}$. Each iteration takes $O(mn)$ operations and when $b$ is well-situated in $C_{A,r}$, the number of iterations is proportional to $\log{(1/\varepsilon)}$. If $Ax=b$ is solvable the algorithm computes an approximate solution or the minimum-norm solution. Otherwise, it computes a certificate to unsolvability, or the minimum-norm least-squares solution. It is also applicable to complex input. In a computational comparison with the state-of-the-art algorithm BiCGSTAB ({\it Bi-conjugate gradient method stabilized}), the Triangle Algorithm is very competitive. In fact, when the iterates of BiCGSTAB do not converge, our algorithm can verify $Ax=b$ is unsolvable and approximate the minimum-norm least-squares solution. The Triangle Algorithm is robust, simple to implement, and requires no preconditioner, making it attractive to practitioners, as well as researchers and educators.
DeepRacer: Autonomous Racing Platform for Experimentation with Sim2Real Reinforcement Learning

DeepRacer is a platform for end-to-end experimentation with RL and can be used to systematically investigate the key challenges in developing intelligent control systems. Using the platform, we demonstrate how a 1/18th scale car can learn to drive autonomously using RL with a monocular camera. It is trained in simulation with no additional tuning in the physical world and demonstrates: 1) formulation and solution of a robust reinforcement learning algorithm, 2) narrowing the reality gap through joint perception and dynamics, 3) distributed on-demand compute architecture for training optimal policies, and 4) a robust evaluation method to identify when to stop training. It is the first successful large-scale deployment of deep reinforcement learning on a robotic control agent that uses only raw camera images as observations and a model-free learning method to perform robust path planning. We open source our code and video demo on GitHub2.