cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of adrenergic drugs on the lantern of the larval Photuris firefly.

1. A number of adrenergic drugs were tested for their ability to induce luminescence in the extirpated lantern of the firefly larva. The drugs produce sigmoid doseresponse curves characteristic of drug-receptor interactions when drug concentration is plotted against either maximum intensity or maximum rate of intensity rise. 2. Amphetamine and saline of high potassium concentration induce intense luminescence in freshly extirpated lanterns but act only weakly or not at all in lanterns suffering from treatment by reserpine injection 48 hr. previously. 3. No significant difference in response to norepinephrine was observed in lanterns immersed in standard saline, 0.32 M sucrose, 0.16 M choline chloride or 0.16 M-NaCl2 but 0.107 M-CaCl2 considerably slowed the response. 4. Some generalizations concerning structural character and effectiveness in inducing luminescence were made by comparing the drugs tested. It was not possible to describe the mode of action of the drugs. The observation, however, that solutions lacking sodium and potassium did not significantly alter the response was felt to argue against the action of the adrenergic drugs in affecting ion movement across the photocyte membrane.
Dworkin's Perfectionism

In this essay, we shall interpret Dworkin's constitutional theory in light of three varieties of perfectionism: (1) the idea that government should undertake a formative project of inculcating civic virtues and encouraging responsibility in the exercise of rights; (2) the idea that we should interpret the American Constitution so as to make it the best it can be; and (3) the idea that we should defend a Constitution-perfecting theory that would secure not only procedural liberties essential for democratic self-government but also substantive liberties essential for personal self-government. We shall identify three gaps left by Dworkin's work and sketch how we have sought to fill those gaps in the spirit of his work through developing a mild form of constitutional perfectionism.
Cooperative control for multi-target interception with sensing and communication limitations: A game-theoretic approach

In this paper, the problem of multi-vehicle cooperative interception of moving objects with unknown arrival times, trajectories and dynamics is investigated. The vehicles are assumed to have limited sensing and communication ranges. Therefore, centralized approaches are not feasible, specially when there are a large number of vehicles and targets. A game theoretic cooperative receding horizon controller is proposed here to address this problem. The control design is based on the prediction of the future positions of targets with limited information, as well as a reward allocation policy for accomplishing the target interception tasks. To learn the optimal strategy in the resulting potential game, a state-of-the-art method, the generalized regret monitoring, is applied and its effectiveness is demonstrated by simulation.
Regulation of Macromolecular Modulators of Urinary Stone Formation by Reactive Oxygen Species: Transcriptional Study in an Animal Model of Hyperoxaluria

We used an unbiased approach of gene expression profiling to determine differential gene expression of all the macromolecular modulators (MMs) considered to be involved in stone formation, in hyperoxaluric rats, with and without treatment with the NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin. Male rats were fed rat chow or chow supplemented with 5% wt/wt hydroxy-l-proline (HLP) with or without apocynin-supplemented water. After 28 days, rats were euthanized and their kidneys explanted. Total RNA was isolated and microarray analysis was conducted using the Illumina bead array reader. Gene ontology analysis and the pathway analyses of the genes were done using Database for Annotation, Visualization of Integrated Discovery enrichment analysis tool. Quantitative RT-PCR of selected genes was carried out to verify the microarray results. Expression of selected gene products was confirmed using immunohistochemistry. Administration of HLP led to crystal deposition. Genes encoding for fibronectin, CD 44, fetuin B, osteopontin, and matrix-gla protein were upregulated while those encoding for heavy chains of inter-alpha-inhibitor 1, 3, and 4, calgranulin B, prothrombin, and Tamm-Horsfall protein were downregulated. HLP-fed rats receiving apocynin had a significant reversal in gene expression profiles: those that were upregulated came down while those that were downregulated stepped up. Apocynin treatment resulted in near complete absence of crystals. Clearly, there are two types of MMs; one is downregulated while the other is upregulated during hyperoxaluria and crystal deposition. Apparently gene and protein expressions of known macromolecular modulators of CaOx crystallization are likely regulated by ROS produced in part through the activation of NADPH oxidase.
Gravity driven deterministic lateral displacement for particle separation in microfluidic devices.

We investigate the two-dimensional continuous size-based separation of suspended particles in gravity-driven deterministic lateral displacement (g-DLD) devices. The suspended particles are driven through a periodic array of cylindrical obstacles under the action of gravity. We perform experiments covering the entire range of forcing orientations with respect to the array of obstacles and identify specific forcing angles that would lead to vector separation, in which different particles migrate, on an average, in different directions. A simple model, based on the lateral displacement induced on the trajectory of a particle by irreversible particle–obstacle interactions, accurately predicts the dependence of the migration angle on the forcing direction. The results provide design guidance for the development of g-DLD devices. We observe directional locking, which strongly depends on the size of the particle and suggests that relatively small forcing angles are well suited for size-fractionation purposes. We...
Single Wall Carbon Nanotube – LiCoO2 Lithium Ion Batteries

The electrochemical cycling performance of high purity single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) paper electrodes has been measured for a series of electrolyte solvent compositions. The effects of varying the galvanostatic charge rate and cycling temperature on lithium ion capacity have been evaluated between 25 – 100 °C. The measured reversible lithium ion capacities for SWCNT anodes range from 600–1000 mAh/g for a 1M LiPF6 electrolyte, depending on solvent composition and cycling temperature. The solid-electrolyte-interface (SEI) formation and first cycle charge loss are also shown to vary dramatically with carbonate solvent selection and illustrate the importance of solvent alkyl chain length and polarity on SWCNT capacity. SWCNT anodes have also been incorporated into full battery designs using LiCoO2 cathode composites. An electrochemical pre-lithiation sequence, prior to battery assembly, has been developed to mitigate the first cycle charge loss of SWCNT anodes. The pre-lithiated SWCNT anodes show reversible cycling at varying charge rates and depths of discharge with the cathode system. The summary of data shows that the structural integrity of individual SWCNTs is preserved after cycling, and that free-standing SWCNT paper electrodes represent an attractive material for lithium ion batteries.
Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Perioperative Prophylactic Antibiotics for Skull Base Surgeries

BackgroundPerioperative antibiotics are commonly used in endoscopic skull base surgeries as prophylaxis for infectious complications, e.g., meningitis. The role of perioperative prophylactic antibi...
HURRICANE TIDE PREDICTION FOR NEW YORK BAY

This paper is concerned with the solution of the problem of correlating, on a two-dimensional basis, the meteorological parameters of several off-shore storms with the known surge induced by them in New York Bay and with the application of the results to the prediction of likely effects in New York Bay from a design hurricane of given strength traversing a given path at a given speed. A purely theoretical approach would have been beyond practical possibility within the time available for this study; the method adopted therefore is empirical but with some degree of theoretical guidance. A recursion formula is evolved, using the method of finite differences for time increments of 1/3 hour, which relates tide elevation at the bay-mouth with two values of the elevation at 1/3 and 2/3 hour earlier and with values of wind-stress and pressure-gradient driving-force components (directed towards New York Bay from several remote two-dimensionally spaced offshore-stations on the continental shelf) at times earlier by the periods taken for free long gravity waves to travel from the stations to the bay-mouth. The formula includes a comulative forcing function term which allows for the geostrophic influence of the earth's rotation and also for an "edge-wave" effect northward along the eastern seaboard. Moreover it takes into account the observed tendencies of hurricane storm tides in New York Bay to develop resurgences at periods of 7 hours with decay rates of 50% amplitude decrease per cycle. The coefficients of the "forcing functions", determined by correlation, tend to represent the storm size and speed and also the dynamic augmentation of the forced wave. Predicted maximum storm tide heights are in fair agreement with crude empirical estimates based on central pressures within the hurricanes. Predictions, however, provide complete time-sequences of water level for periods up to 24 hours inclusive of the first resurgence after the main surge.
Switching Impulse Characteristics for Air Gap of Valve Hall in ±800 kV Ultra High Voltage DC Transmission System

To guide the design and optimization of valve halls in ultra high voltage DC(UHVDC) transmission system, we studied the discharge characteristics of typical air gap in valve hall through experiments of switching impulse test. Using typical air gaps and the up-and-down method, we obtained the relationship between the gap length d and the voltage of 50% probability breakdown U50, and hence fitted the power exponent function curve of U50 to d so as to analyze the switching-impulse discharge characteristics. By installing an additional simulated wall, we put forward contrast tests to obtain the influence of electrode diameter on the discharge voltage. The results show that, operation impulse voltage increases with the gap length. Enlarging the radius of curvature of the electrode can significantly improve the tolerance capability of switching impulses. The air gaps made of different electrodes have different tolerance capabilities, which are mainly reflected in the different discharge curve slopes. For one type of air gap, its discharge characteristics are also different on different electrodes with positive switching impulses applied. Therefore, in UHVDC projects, increasing the radius of electrodes is an effective way to improve their tolerance of switching impulses.
Discussion on the status and the strategies of domestic snubbing unit

This paper describes the damages of killing well during drilling and work-over, the obvious vantages and market outlook of snubbing service. The basic principle of operation of snubbing unit and its status at home and abroad are also introduced. The insufficiencies of domestic snubbing units and several strategies on developing domestic snubbing unit are emphasized in this paper.
Primary Care Approach to Hearing Loss: The Hidden Disability:

We report the results of a survey designed to investigate audiologic referral patterns of primary care physicians and, more specifically, their referral of patients for hearing aids and cochlear im...
HL-T, a new cell line derived from HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cell cultures expressing terminal transferase and secreting suppressor activity.

A cell line with immature blast cell morphology was isolated from HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cell cultures and designated HL-T. This new cell type is biphenotypic, expressing terminal transferase (TdT) together with myelomonocytoid immunologic features. TdT enzymatic activity, undetectable in HL-60, was determined to be 140 to 180 units/10(8) HL-T cells by the dGTP-assay, approximately 20% of the activity found in lymphoblastoid cell lines. HL-T predominantly synthesize the known 58- kDa TdT-protein plus a minor 54/56-kDa doublet. The 58-kDa steady state form is nonglycosylated and is phosphorylated. Precursor antigens S3.13 and MY-10, absent on HL-60, are expressed by HL-T; however, the cells are negative for HLA-Dr. Southern blot analysis by hybridization with immunoglobulin heavy chain (JH) and T cell-receptor chain gene (T beta) probes shows JH to be in the germ-line configuration in both cell lines and the T beta gene to be in germ-line in HL-60 but to be rearranged in HL-T. Truncation of the gene encoding the granulocyte-macrophage-colony- stimulating factor (GM-CSF), as found in HL-60, is not observed in HL- T. HL-T are resistant to differentiation-induction by retinoic acid and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Cytogenetically HL-T share with HL-60 a deletion of the short arm of chromosome 9 at breakpoint p13, an aberration frequently found in patients with T cell leukemia. In addition, HL-T display t(8;9)(p11;p24) and trisomy 20. Tetraploidy is observed in 80% of HL-T metaphases with aberrations identical to those in the diploid karyotype. Like HL-60, the new line shows some surface- antigenic-T cell characteristics. Despite an antigenic pattern most consistent with that of helper-inducer T cells (T4+, D44+/-, 4B4+, 2H4- , TQ1+/-), HL-T cells and their conditioned culture medium suppress antigen, mitogen, and mixed-leukocyte-culture-mediated lymphocyte proliferation.
Quantitative Investigation of Protein-Nucleic Acid Interactions by Biosensor Surface Plasmon Resonance

Biosensor-surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology has emerged as a powerful label-free approach for the study of nucleic acid interactions in real time. The method provides simultaneous equilibrium and kinetic characterization for biomolecular interactions with low sample requirements and without the need for external probes. A detailed and practical guide for protein-DNA interaction analyses using biosensor-SPR methods is presented. Details of SPR technology and basic fundamentals are described with recommendations on the preparation of the SPR instrument, sensor chips and samples, experimental design, quantitative and qualitative data analyses and presentation. A specific example of the interaction of a transcription factor with DNA is provided with results evaluated by both kinetic and steady-state SPR methods.
A nurse-led clinical pathway reduced hospitalizations in nursing home residents with pneumonia.

Source Citation Loeb M, Carusone SC, Goeree R, et al. Effect of a clinical pathway to reduce hospitalizations in nursing home residents with pneumonia: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2006;295...
The time of planetary memory

The notion of planetary memory, and the more specific stratigraphic proposal of the Anthropocene might seem to offer a break with human history, and certainly with literary histories of the moderni...
Twitter and News Gatekeeping: Interactivity, reciprocity, and promotion in news organizations’ tweets

This study concerns Twitter use by 26 news entities with the largest online audiences in the United States. A quantitative content analysis compared interactive characteristics of posts on news org...
An adaptive least-squares global sensitivity method and application to a plasma-coupled combustion prediction with parametric correlation

Abstract We introduce an efficient non-intrusive surrogate-based methodology for global sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification. Modified covariance-based sensitivity indices (mCov-SI) are defined for outputs that reflect correlated effects. The overall approach is applied to simulations of a complex plasma-coupled combustion system with disparate uncertain parameters in sub-models for chemical kinetics and a laser-induced breakdown ignition seed. The surrogate is based on an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) expansion, such as widely used in statistics, with orthogonal polynomials representing the ANOVA subspaces and a polynomial dimensional decomposition (PDD) representing its multi-dimensional components. The coefficients of the PDD expansion are obtained using a least-squares regression, which both avoids the direct computation of high-dimensional integrals and affords an attractive flexibility in choosing sampling points. This facilitates importance sampling using a Bayesian calibrated posterior distribution, which is fast and thus particularly advantageous in common practical cases, such as our large-scale demonstration, for which the asymptotic convergence properties of polynomial expansions cannot be realized due to computation expense. Effort, instead, is focused on efficient finite-resolution sampling. Standard covariance-based sensitivity indices (Cov-SI) are employed to account for correlation of the uncertain parameters. Magnitude of Cov-SI is unfortunately unbounded, which can produce extremely large indices that limit their utility. Alternatively, mCov-SI are then proposed in order to bound this magnitude ∈ [ 0 , 1 ] . The polynomial expansion is coupled with an adaptive ANOVA strategy to provide an accurate surrogate as the union of several low-dimensional spaces, avoiding the typical computational cost of a high-dimensional expansion. It is also adaptively simplified according to the relative contribution of the different polynomials to the total variance. The approach is demonstrated for a laser-induced turbulent combustion simulation model, which includes parameters with correlated effects.
Europe's Triple Crisis and the Uneven Role of Institutions: the Euro, Refugees and Brexit

Europe is currently embroiled in three ongoing and interacting crises concerning the eurozone, refugees and Brexit. After briefly describing each crisis, I turn to the ways in which they intersect and the role of institutions in solving the crises. There are two central themes in the paper. The first is that the three crises intersect and feed on one another. The second is that, while institutions can often help, they are not panaceas. Existing scholarship on the EU often implies that the EU operates far from its institutional frontier and that substantial improvements in welfare are just around the corner if only we ‘get our institutions right’. But institutional fixes do not exist for all problems. I argue that there is a large space for institutional improvement in the eurozone crisis, less regarding refugees, and still less for Brexit.
Molecular mechanisms of neuronal excitability: possible involvement of CaM kinase II in seizure activity.

An understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie neuronal responsiveness is an important goal of contemporary neuroscience. The specific biochemical events that modulate excitability of neurons and neuronal systems will provide important insights into the complex regulatory mechanisms of the nervous system. In the clinical neurosciences, an understanding of these molecular events may provide significant avenues for the development of treatment protocols for diseases of the nervous system.
Comparison of postoperative chylothorax in infants and children with trisomy 21 and without dysmorphic syndrome: Is there a difference in clinical outcome?

Abstract Introduction Children with trisomy 21 are prone to postoperative chylothorax, caused by malformation of the lymphatic system, after cardiac surgery. The clinical course of patients diagnosed with postoperative chylothorax and trisomy 21 was compared to that of patients without dysmorphic syndromes. Additionally, differences between the groups in composition, amount, and duration of chyle were analyzed to better understand chylothorax in patients with trisomy 21. Materials and methods Retrospective cohort study using inpatient clinical databases during a 10-year period. Results A total of 2255 patients underwent cardiac operations during the period, of whom 160 (7.1%) patients were diagnosed with trisomy 21. Chylothorax developed in 122 children; 89 patients were included in our study. Of 160 trisomy 21 patients, 27 (16.9%) developed postoperative chylothorax compared to 62 (3%) of 2095 patients without dysmorphic syndromes (p = Conclusion Children with trisomy 21 and congenital heart disease are more prone to developing chylothorax after heart surgery than those without dysmorphic syndromes. However if they develop this postoperative complication, mortality, chylous composition, time in ICU, and duration of hospital stay is not different to from that of other infants or children with this complication. This is important information for the medical specialists involved and is helpful in counseling parents of children with trisomy 21 undergoing heart surgery. Level of evidence This is a treatment study evidence level III.
Modified capture–recapture estimates of the number of families with Lynch syndrome in Central Ohio

Past methods for estimating the population frequency of familial cancer syndromes have used cases and controls ignoring the familial nature of genetic disease. In this study we modified the capture–recapture method from ecology to estimate the number of families in central Ohio with Lynch syndrome (LS). We screened 1566 colorectal cancer cases and 545 endometrial cancer cases in central Ohio from 1999 to 2005 and identified 58 with LS. We screened an additional 3346 colorectal and 342 endometrial cancer cases from 2013 to 2016 and identified 149 with LS. We found 12 LS mutations shared between families observed in the first and second studies. We identified three individuals between studies who were closely related and eight who were more distantly related. We used identified family relationships and genetic test results to estimate family size and structure. Applying a modified capture–recapture method we estimate 1693 3-generation families in the area who have 288 unique LS causing mutations. Comprehensive colorectal and endometrial cancer screening will take about 20 years to identify 50% of families with LS. This is the first time that the capture–recapture method has been applied to estimate the burden of families with a specific heritable disease. Family structure reveals the potential extent of prevention and the time necessary to identify a proportion of families with LS.
Gestational age at arrest of development: an alternative approach for assigning time at risk in studies of time-varying exposures and miscarriage.

The time between arrest of pregnancy development and miscarriage represents a window in which the pregnancy is nonviable and not developing. In effect, the pregnancy loss has already occurred, and additional exposure cannot influence its outcome. However, epidemiologic studies of miscarriage traditionally use gestational age at miscarriage (GAM) to assign time in survival analyses, which overestimates duration of exposure and time at risk. In Right From the Start, a pregnancy cohort study (2000-2012), we characterized the gap between estimated gestational age at arrest of development (GAAD) and miscarriage using transvaginal ultrasound in 500 women recruited from 3 states (North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas). We compared effect estimates from models using GAAD with GAM to assign time at risk through a simulation study of several exposure patterns with varying effect sizes. The median gap between GAAD and miscarriage was 23 days (interquartile range, 15-32). Use of GAAD decreased the bias and variance of the estimated association for time-varying exposures, whereas half the time using GAM led to estimates that differed from the true effect by more than 20%. Using GAAD to assign time at risk should result in more accurate and consistent characterization of miscarriage risk associated with time-varying exposures.
Characterization of localized plastic deformation behaviors associated with dynamic strain aging in pipeline steels using digital image correlation

Abstract Localized deformation behavior in X52 and X70 pipeline steels during dynamic strain aging (or DSA, caused by interstitial atom-dislocation interactions during plastic deformation) were systematically assessed using digital image correlation with incremental strain analysis during elevated temperature tensile testing in the range of 25–350 °C. Similar to materials that use substitutional atoms for DSA, deformation band propagation and nucleation behaviors in the steels were directly related to the morphologies of flow curves from the tensile data. Comparisons between the steels and substitutional DSA systems were made. The type of localized deformation behavior was dependent on the temperature and strain rate conditions of the tensile test and the total amount of strain in the sample. Plastic flow was primarily dominated by deformation band propagation and nucleation at relatively low and high temperatures respectively within the DSA regime. It was theorized that the changing serration morphologies and deformation behaviors at different temperature-strain rate conditions were due to relative differences between the mobility of the solute atoms and the velocity of the mobile dislocations throughout the DSA regime. The dislocation density (which increases due to strain hardening during a tensile test) also influenced deformation behavior at relatively low and high strains.
A Low-rank Framework of PMU Data Recovery and Event Identification

The large amounts of synchrophasor data obtained by Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) provide dynamic visibility into power systems. Extracting reliable information from the data can enhance power system situational awareness. The data quality often suffers from data losses, bad data, and cyber data attacks. Data privacy is also an increasing concern. In this paper, we discuss our recently proposed framework of data recovery, error correction, data privacy enhancement, and event identification methods by exploiting the intrinsic low-dimensional structures in the high-dimensional spatial-temporal blocks of PMU data. Our data-driven approaches are computationally efficient with provable analytical guarantees. The data recovery method can recover the ground-truth data even if simultaneous and consecutive data losses and errors happen across all PMU channels for some time. We can identify PMU channels that are under false data injection attacks by locating abnormal dynamics in the data. The data recovery method for the operator can extract the information accurately by collectively processing the privacy-preserving data from many PMUs. A cyber intruder with access to partial measurements cannot recover the data correctly even using the same approach. A real-time event identification method is also proposed, based on the new idea of characterizing an event by the low-dimensional subspace spanned by the dominant singular vectors of the data matrix.
Poster: Hawkeye - Predictive Positioning of a Ceiling-Mounted Mobile AP in mmWave WLANs for Maximizing Line-of-sight

Line-of-sight (LOS) is a critical requirement for mmWave communication. In this work, we make the case for a ceilingmounted mobile (CMM) AP by comparing its performance with other types of AP mobility and single static AP. We then present Hawkeye to solve the optimal location discovery problem for a CMM AP using a machine learning (ML) algorithm. Hawkeye relies purely on the connectivity matrix between STAs and the AP to decide if and where the AP should move to for maximizing LOS connectivity. Using a prototype implementation, we show that the throughput of Hawkeye is 219% and 129% compared with single static AP and other approaches for AP mobility, respectively.
Effect of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction on development of primary graft dysfunction after lung transplant.

Purpose of review Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is one of the most common complications after lung transplant and is associated with significant early and late morbidity and mortality. The cause of primary graft dysfunction is often multifactorial involving patient, donor, and operational factors. Diastolic dysfunction is increasingly recognized as an important risk factor for development of PGD after lung transplant and here we examine recent evidence on the topic. Recent findings Patients with end-stage lung disease are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease including diastolic dysfunction. PGD as result of ischemia-reperfusion injury after lung transplant is exacerbated by increased left atrial pressure and pulmonary venous congestion impacted by diastolic dysfunction. Recent studies on relationship between diastolic dysfunction and PGD after lung transplant show that patients with diastolic dysfunction are more likely to develop PGD with worse survival outcome and complicated hospital course. Summary Patients with diastolic dysfunction is more likely to suffer from PGD after lung transplant. From the lung transplant candidate selection to perioperative and posttransplant care, thorough evaluation and documentation diastolic dysfunction to guide patient care are imperative.
Implementation of a Pediatric Chest Pain Local Consensus Guideline Decreases the Total Tests Performed Without Negatively Affecting the Yield of Abnormal Cardiac Results.

Pediatric chest pain is common and though usually benign often leads to unnecessary diagnostic testing. There is limited evidence as to whether a local consensus guideline can decrease testing frequency without negatively affecting the overall yield. In addition, it is unknown whether the addition of pulmonary function testing to a cardiopulmonary exercise test increases the diagnostic yield in pediatric patients with chest pain. A retrospective chart review was performed on all new pediatric patients who presented with chest pain at our academic center’s pediatric cardiology clinic 18 months before and after the implementation of a standard management guideline. Data from the encounter-associated echocardiogram, cardiopulmonary exercise test, and pulmonary function test, when available, were analyzed. There were no significant differences in patient volume or demographic characteristics in the 18 months before (n = 768) and after (n = 778) guideline implementation. There were significant reductions in the number of ordered echocardiograms (n = 131; 17% vs. n = 75; 9.6%, p < 0.001) and cardiopulmonary exercise tests (n = 46; 6% vs. n = 29; 4%, p = 0.04) with no concerning pathology discovered in either group. Associated pulmonary function testing performed prior to with exercise testing discovered abnormalities in 19% of the total patients tested. The implementation of a local consensus guideline for pediatric chest pain results in fewer unnecessary tests ordered. There was no concerning pathology before or after guideline implementation, therefore conclusions regarding the diagnostic yield of these guidelines are unfeasible. The addition of pulmonary function testing to cardiopulmonary exercise tests increases the potential diagnostic yield in these patients.
Sex differences in cardiovascular actions of the renin–angiotensin system

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a worldwide public health concern despite decades of research and the availability of numerous targeted therapies. While the intrinsic physiological mechanisms regulating cardiovascular function are similar between males and females, marked sex differences have been established in terms of CVD onset, pathophysiology, manifestation, susceptibility, prevalence, treatment responses and outcomes in animal models and clinical populations. Premenopausal females are generally protected from CVD in comparison to men of similar age, with females tending to develop cardiovascular complications later in life following menopause. Emerging evidence suggests this cardioprotection in females is, in part, attributed to sex differences in hormonal regulators, such as the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). To date, research has largely focused on canonical RAS pathways and shown that premenopausal females are protected from cardiovascular derangements produced by activation of angiotensin II pathways. More recently, a vasodilatory arm of the RAS has emerged that is characterized by angiotensin-(1-7) [(Ang-(1-7)], angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and Mas receptors. Emerging studies provide evidence for a shift towards these cardioprotective Ang-(1-7) pathways in females, with effects modulated by interactions with estrogen. Despite well-established sex differences, female comparison studies on cardiovascular outcomes are lacking at both the preclinical and clinical levels. Furthermore, there are no specific guidelines in place for the treatment of cardiovascular disease in men versus women, including therapies targeting the RAS. This review summarizes current knowledge on sex differences in the cardiovascular actions of the RAS, focusing on interactions with gonadal hormones, emerging data for protective Ang-(1-7) pathways and potential clinical implications for established and novel therapies.
Assessing reasons for decreased primary care access for individuals on prescribed opioids: an audit study.

ABSTRACT Many primary care clinics are resistant to accept new patients taking prescription opioids for chronic pain. It is unclear how much of this practice is specific to individuals who may be perceived to have aberrant opioid use. This study sought to determine whether clinics are more or less willing to accept and prescribe opioids to patients depending on whether their history is more or less suggestive of aberrant opioid use by conducting an audit survey of primary care clinics in 9 states from May to July 2019. Simulated patients taking opioids for chronic pain called each clinic twice, giving one of 2 scenarios for needing a new provider: their previous physician had either (1) retired or (2) stopped prescribing opioids for unspecified reasons. Clinic willingness to continue prescribing opioids and accept the patient for general primary care were assessed. Of 452 clinics responding to both scenarios (904 calls), 193 (43%) said their providers would not prescribe opioids in either scenario, 146 (32%) said their providers might prescribe in both, and 113 (25%) responded differently to each scenario. Clinics responding differently had greater odds (odds ratio = 1.83 confidence interval [1.23-2.76]) of willingness to prescribe when the previous doctor retired than when the doctor had stopped prescribing. These findings suggest that primary care access is limited for patients taking opioids for chronic pain, and differentially further reduced for patients whose histories are suggestive of aberrant use. This denial of care could lead to unintended harms such as worsened pain or conversion to illicit substances.
An analysis of VaR-based capital requirements

Abstract We study the behavior of a financial institution subject to capital requirements based on self-reported VaR measures, as in the Basel Committee's Internal Models Approach. We view these capital requirements and the associated backtesting procedure as a mechanism designed to induce financial institutions to reveal the risk of their investments and to support this risk with adequate levels of capital. Accordingly, we consider the simultaneous choice of an optimal dynamic reporting and investment strategy. Overall, we find that VaR-based capital requirements can be very effective not only in curbing portfolio risk but also in inducing revelation of this risk.
Introduction to the Symposium: Fair Housing Past, Present, and Future: Perspectives on Moving Toward Integration

Introduction to the Symposium: Fair Housing Past, Present, and Future: Perspectives on Moving Toward Integration, 2020, Cleveland, OH
Career development of male counseling psychology doctoral students: A qualitative analysis

This study used a consensual qualitative research design to examine the way contextual, cultural, and personal variables influenced the training, career choice, and development of six male counseling psychology doctoral students in the U.S. and three in Turkey. Four domains of influence on the career decision-making process emerged: personal values, prior experience, family obligations, and role models. Experiences in the program were characterized by rejection of gender minority status, intersectionality of several different identities, perceived privilege as a male, meaning of masculinity, and role navigation. Participants also described factors that facilitated their training, such as having faculty who endorsed less traditional gender role beliefs and allies in the program. Cross-cultural differences and similarities between U.S. and Turkish participants were also found. Implications for training program faculty and male counseling psychologists in training are discussed.
Prevalence of Epstein-Barr Viral DNA among children at a single hospital in Suzhou, China.

Abstract Objective This study aimed to describe the prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-DNA among children in Suzhou, and to explore the association between plasma EBV load and disease diagnosis. Methods All children admitted to the Children's Hospital of Soochow University between January 2018 and September 2020 and subjected to the plasma EBV-DNA assay were included. The authors retrospectively collected demographic and discharge diagnostic information of the participants, and ascribed the disease distribution characteristics of children with positive plasma EBV-DNA by age and viral load. Results A total of 38,175 patients underwent plasma EBV-DNA PCR assay, of which 2786 (7.3%) had EBV-DNA in their plasma. Children aged 3–4 years had a high prevalence of EBV infection. Plasma EBV positivity was common with infectious mononucleosis (IM, 40.0%), respiratory infection (20.1%), atypical EBV infection (14.2%), acute leukemia (6.4%), hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH, 4.8%), and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP, 2.9%). With increasing age, plasma EBV positivity was more common in children with IM and atypical EBV infection. However, an inverse correlation was observed in children with respiratory infections and ITP. High levels of EBV loads were more likely to occur in HLH, IM, and atypical EBV infection, especially in HLH. However, lower viral loads were found in respiratory infection and acute leukemia. Conclusions This is a large sample study that revealed the prevalence of plasma EBV-DNA levels in children of various ages and presenting illnesses.
PYInfer: Deep Learning Semantic Type Inference for Python Variables.

Python type inference is challenging in practice. Due to its dynamic properties and extensive dependencies on third-party libraries without type annotations, the performance of traditional static analysis techniques is limited. Although semantics in source code can help manifest intended usage for variables (thus help infer types), they are usually ignored by existing tools. In this paper, we propose PYInfer, an end-to-end learning-based type inference tool that automatically generates type annotations for Python variables. The key insight is that contextual code semantics is critical in inferring the type for a variable. For each use of a variable, we collect a few tokens within its contextual scope, and design a neural network to predict its type. One challenge is that it is difficult to collect a high-quality human-labeled training dataset for this purpose. To address this issue, we apply an existing static analyzer to generate the ground truth for variables in source code. Our main contribution is a novel approach to statically infer variable types effectively and efficiently. Formulating the type inference as a classification problem, we can handle user-defined types and predict type probabilities for each variable. Our model achieves 91.2% accuracy on classifying 11 basic types in Python and 81.2% accuracy on classifying 500 most common types. Our results substantially outperform the state-of-the-art type annotators. Moreover, PYInfer achieves 5.2X more code coverage and is 187X faster than a state-of-the-art learning-based tool. With similar time consumption, our model annotates 5X more variables than a state-of-the-art static analysis tool. Our model also outperforms a learning-based function-level annotator on annotating types for variables and function arguments. All our tools and datasets are publicly available to facilitate future research in this direction.
Studies on Aggregated Multienzyme Systems STIMULATION OF OXYGEN UPTAKE OF FERREDOXIN-NICOTINAMIDE ADENINE DINUCLEOTIDE PHOSPHATE REDUCTASE-FERREDOXIN COMPLEX BY CYTOCHROME c

Abstract The rate of oxygen uptake of spinach ferredoxin-NADP reductase-ferredoxin complex is increased up to 20-fold by the addition of cytochrome c. Initiation of epinephrine and sulfite oxidation indicated an involvement of the superoxide anion radical in the stimulated oxidase reaction. The final product of the reaction was shown to be H2O instead of H2O2, which is the product of the flavoprotein-catalyzed oxidase reaction in the absence of ferredoxin. In the stimulated oxidase reaction, the electron-donating site to molecular oxygen, accordingly the site for the superoxide anion radical generation, has been ascribed to the iron-sulfur moiety of the reductase-ferredoxin complex rather than to the flavoprotein or cytochrome c. Ferredoxin-NADP reductase was found to possess a cytochrome c reductase activity in the absence of ferredoxin, and this activity was increased under anaerobic conditions. Cytochrome c reduction mediated by the superoxide anion radical was negligible both in the absence and presence of ferredoxin. The stimulation was independent of the oxidation-reduction state of cytochrome c, and has been concluded to be a result of an interaction of cytochrome c with the ferredoxin component of the complex with a Michaelis constant of approximately 0.8 µm. These results suggest that the binding of cytochrome c molecule to the reductase-ferredoxin complex dramatically alters its catalytic activity toward molecular oxygen.
Generalized H/sub 2//H/sub infinity / control via convex optimization

The authors consider the problem of finding an internally stabilizing controller that minimizes an upper bound on the system gain (from L/sub 2/ to L/sub infinity /) of a closed loop map, subject to an inequality constraint on the H/sub infinity / norm of some other closed loop map. The main contribution of the present work is to show that global solutions to this class of multiobjective synthesis problems may be found by solving a finite-dimensional convex program. >
Synchronization-Sensitive Frame Estimation: Video Quality Enhancement

Network transmission is liable to errors and data loss. In movie transmission, packets of video frames are subject to loss or even explicit elimination for many reasons including congestion handling and the achievement of higher compression. Not only does the loss of video frames cause significant reduction in video quality, but it could also cause a loss of synchronization between the audio and video streams. If not corrected, this cumulative loss can seriously degrade the motion picture's quality beyond viewers' tolerance. In this paper, we study and classify the effect of audio-video de-synchronization. Afterwards, we develop and examine the performance and appropriateness of the application of many client-based techniques in the estimation of lost frames using the existing received frames, without the need for retransmissions or error control information. The estimated frames are injected at their appropriate locations in the movie stream to restore the loss. The objective is to enhance video quality by finding a very close estimate to the original frames at a suitable computation cost, and to contribute to the restoration of synchronization within the tolerance level of viewers.
Steady state mathematical model for the DC-AC inverters on the Space Shuttle

The author describes the work which has been done on the steady-state mathematical model for the DC-AC inverters for the US Space Shuttle. The mathematical model is based on input/output data which describe the operation of the DC-AC inverters. Two methods of modeling were used, namely, the least-squares method and a method using a set of orthogonal polynomials. The reason for this mathematical model of the DC-AC inverters was to provide a computer program which could be used by the Electrical Power Distribution Lab. at the Johnson Space Center for simulation of steady-state operations. These data were modeled to produce a set of equations which approximate the output conditions and also some of the input conditions. These equations were then incorporated into a computer program written in Pascal. >
Photoluminescence Spectroscopy of CdZnTe/CdTe Single Strained Quantum Wells

We have grown strained Cd 1-x Zn x Te/CdTe single strained quantum wells by molecular beam epitaxy. The Zn concentration was varied from 10 to 60% and the well widths were systematically increased until the critical thickness was exceeded. Low-temperature (liquid helium) photoluminescence spectroscopy was used to characterize the films. The energy of the quantum well luminescence is consistent with a simple square well model when strain is included. The critical layer thickness for the CdTe quantum wells was found to be in agreement with the model of Matthews and Blakeslee
A thermal-capillary mechanism for a growth rate limit in edge-defined film-fed growth of silicon sheets

Capillarity, acting to set the shape of the melt/gas interfaces, and heat transfer can interact to cause limits to steady-state growth of thin silicon sheets by the Edge-Defined Film-Fed Growth (EFG) method. A finite-element/Newton solution method for a two-dimensional thermal-capillary model of EFG is used to show that limiting values of pull rate exist beyond which steady-state growth is impossible. The pull rate limit is also predicted by a one-dimensional heat transfer model valid when the die sides and menisci are almost parallel and when the thermal conductivities of melt, crystal, and die are all equal. Both the one- and two-dimensional heat transfer models show that heat loss from the melt is dominated by conduction into the crystal and slow heat release to the ambient along the length of the ribbon. The limiting pull rate results from the reduced efficiency of conduction through the melt caused by the curvature of the meniscus which increases height of the die top above the level of the melt. Thermal-capillary limits are predicted for both positive and negative pressure differences across the meniscus.
Data management in the ERA of a rapidly changing cryosphere

Understanding the societal and ecological impacts of a rapidly warming Arctic, declining Arctic sea ice and the potentially strong positive climate feedback caused by thawing permafrost are key challenges in cryospheric science. Predicting how a changing climate may be driving these changes and how feedback processes in the cryosphere affect climate requires continuation of long-term satellite observations, intensive field and airborne campaigns, and new ways to analyze observational data and to integrate them with large-scale Earth system models. The National Snow and Ice Data Center, which is a primary archive for snow and ice data in the United States, is focused on making Earth observations more discoverable, accessible and providing new capabilities to visualize and synthesize diverse satellite, airborne and field data in ways that facilitate data use and accelerates scientific discovery.
Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline Through Racial Literacy Development in Teacher Education

Despite decades of educational reform and landmark legislation—from the 1954 Brown v. Board decision outlawing racially segregated schools, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 focusing on improving ra...