cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of isovalent substitution and pressure on the interplane resistivity of single-crystal Ba ( Fe 1 − x Ru x ) 2 As 2

Temperature-dependent interplane resistivity ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{c}(T)$ was measured in an isovalent substituted iron-arsenide compound $\text{Ba}({\mathrm{Fe}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{x}){}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ over a substitution range from parent compound to slightly below optimal doping $x=0.29$. The feature of interest in the ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{c}(T)$, a broad resistivity crossover maximum found in the parent compound at ${T}_{\text{max}}\ensuremath{\approx}200$ K, shifts to higher temperatures with Ru substitution, $\ensuremath{\sim}340$ K for $x=0.161$ and goes out of the 400 K range for $x=0.29$. Nearly $T$-linear dependence of interplane resistivity is found at the highest substitution level $x=0.29$. This temperature-dependent ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{c}$ and its evolution with substitution bear close similarity to another type of isovalent substituted system ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_{2}({\mathrm{As}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{P}}_{x}){}_{2}$. Similarly to the isovalent substitutions, the measurements of interplane resistivity in the parent ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ compound under pressures up to 20 kbar also revealed a rapid rise in ${T}_{\text{max}}$.
Monitoring waste in an intravenous admixture program.

A method for collecting and analyzing data on i.v. admixture waste is described, and examples of the use of these data to reduce waste are presented. In 1984, a pharmacy department serving 580 hospital beds projected annual expense for waste of i.v. products to be nearly $30,000. Five major changes were implemented to reduce waste. Modification of expiration dating policies for cefoxitin and tobramycin substantially reduced waste. After an operating room pharmacy satellite was opened, decreased waste of dobutamine, dopamine, nitroglycerin, and nitroprusside was estimated to save $1000 per year. Changing times of batch processing of i.v. admixtures resulted in cost savings that were not significantly different for three-month periods before and after the change. The method of identifying small-volume injections (SVIs) to be manufactured was improved, and SVIs of expensive drugs were prepared every 12, instead of 24, hours; these changes resulted in reduction of one technician full-time equivalent but little change in the percentage or cost of SVIs wasted. Decentralized pharmacists were asked to order certain items on an as-needed basis; this did not affect costs or waste. From 1984 to 1985, total costs associated with waste decreased an estimated $11,000, or 27.5%. This department's attempt to change i.v. admixture procedures based on timely data has resulted in substantial reductions in the cost of waste.
Environmental health policies in Europe: successes and failures in Switzerland, Germany and Belgium

While European countries insist on the necessity to develop environmental health policies, mainly at the international level, a careful analysis of national policy processes, focused on national environmental health action plans (NEHAPs) and national strategies of sustainable development (NSSDs), tends to show that results obtained are particularly limited. This study investigates the reasons for this surprising 'environmental health paradox'. Data used in this study have been obtained from interviews conducted among experts of the Swiss, German and Belgian environmental health policies and from survey results provided by the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Bonn (WHO/Europe). Findings show that major obstacles to more ambitious environmental health policies arise from their lack of political recognition at the national level, from their confinement to measures of scientific research and from the absence of any substantial system of indicators capable of correctly assessing environmental health issues and policy outcomes.
Veterinary dentistry: its origin and recent history.

La pratique de la medecine dentaire s'est considerablement developpee grâce aux progres technologiques, a l'influence d'autres professions et disciplines et a des techniques innovantes qui ont permis le developpement de l'odontologie veterinaire dont l'A. decrit les origines et son histoire
Vasopressin-independent regulation of collecting duct water permeability.

Studies were conducted in microdissected rat terminal inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) segments to determine whether agents that activate the phosphoinositide signaling pathway regulate osmot...
Transcultural Applications to Lifestyle Medicine

The prevalence of chronic disease is not a generic American health-care problem. Rather, chronic disease expression varies among different cultures outside the USA as well as within the USA among a diverse population of multicultural Americans. Health-care professionals must act without bias in a sensitive and appropriate manner when caring for patients from different cultures. The principles of lifestyle medicine must therefore be adapted to optimize implementation and success. Variables in transcultural adaptation range from biological to environmental factors. These include genetic and epigenetic interactions, nutrition (eating patterns, food policy, food politics, and food sourcing), physical activity, socio-economic, religious and spiritual, and other attitudes and behaviors. There is a great need to incorporate transcultural adaptation to clinical practice, medical education, and scientific research to advance this necessary component of effective lifestyle medicine. Case studies are provided for the Latino and Asian Indian cultures in the USA.
Dynamic Vertical Profiles of Peat Porewater Chemistry in a Northern Peatland

We measured pH, cations, nutrients, and total organic carbon (TOC) over 3 years to examine weekly to monthly variability in porewater chemistry depth profiles (0–3.0 m) in an ombrotrophic bog in Minnesota, USA. We also compared temporal variation at one location to spatial variation in depth profiles at 16 locations across the bog. Most solutes exhibited large gradients with depth. pH increased by two units and calcium concentrations increased over 20 fold with depth, and may reflect peatland development from minerotrophic to ombrotrophic conditions. Ammonium concentrations increased almost 20 fold and TOC concentrations decreased by half with depth, and these patterns likely reflect mineralization of peat or decomposition of TOC. There was also considerable temporal variation in the porewater chemistry depth profiles. Ammonium, soluble reactive phosphorus, and potassium showed greater temporal variation in near-surface porewater, while pH, calcium, and TOC varied more at depth. This variation demonstrates that deep peat porewater chemistry is not static. Lastly, temporal variation in solute chemistry depth profiles was greater than spatial variation in several instances, especially in shallow porewaters. Characterizing both temporal and spatial variability is necessary to ensure representative sampling in peatlands, especially when calculating solute pools and fluxes and parameterizing process-based models.
Estimation of lesion position in computed tomography

In this simulation study, we investigate application of an objective estimation task to evaluate the influence of a varying pitch length in determining the position of a lesion in helical cone-beam computed tomography (HCBCT). Four different objects are scanned in the study, each being a three- dimensional Shepp-Logan head phantom with a lesion at a different position: the first has a spherical lesion on center, the second a spherical lesion off-center, the third an ellipsoidal lesion on center, and the fourth an ellipsoidal lesion off-center. The objects are scanned using 128 views over 2pi radians with a 100times300 pixel (20 cm times 60 cm) detector with source to detector distance of 80 cm and helical radius 50 cm. Two different pitch lengths are used, one of 10 cm and one of 15 cm. A Markov chain Monte Carlo technique is used to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of the position coordinates x, y, and z directly from the sinogram data. Bias and root mean square error in the estimates are determined by comparing the results with the known true positions. We find that while biases are consistently small, the 10 cm pitch length gives smaller root mean square errors for all 24 cases considered (four objects, two pitch lengths, and three parameters for each). This study is the first use of the estimation task formalism in HCBCT, and can be extended to image space and more realistic backgrounds and noise models, as well as additional parameters in future work.
Benzene Degradation by a Variovorax Species within a Coal Tar-Contaminated Groundwater Microbial Community

Investigations of environmental microbial communities are crucial for the discovery of populations capable of degrading hazardous compounds and may lead to improved bioremediation strategies. The goal of this study was to identify microorganisms responsible for aerobic benzene degradation in coal tar-contaminated groundwater. Benzene degradation was monitored in laboratory incubations of well waters using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Stable isotope probing (SIP) experiments using [13C]benzene enabled us to obtain 13C-labled community DNA. From this, 16S rRNA clone libraries identified Gammaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria as the active benzene-metabolizing microbial populations. Subsequent cultivation experiments yielded nine bacterial isolates that grew in the presence of benzene; five were confirmed in laboratory cultures to grow on benzene. The isolated benzene-degrading organisms were genotypically similar (>97% 16S rRNA gene nucleotide identities) to the organisms identified in SIP experiments. One isolate, Variovorax MAK3, was further investigated for the expression of a putative aromatic ring-hydroxylating dioxygenase (RHD) hypothesized to be involved in benzene degradation. Microcosm experiments using Variovorax MAK3 revealed a 10-fold increase in RHD (Vapar_5383) expression, establishing a link between this gene and benzene degradation. Furthermore, the addition of Variovorax MAK3 to microcosms prepared from site waters accelerated community benzene degradation and correspondingly increased RHD gene expression. In microcosms using uninoculated groundwater, quantitative (q)PCR assays (with 16S rRNA and RDH genes) showed that Variovorax was present and responsive to added benzene. These data demonstrate how the convergence of cultivation-dependent and -independent techniques can boost understandings of active populations and functional genes in complex benzene-degrading microbial communities. Importance Benzene is a human carcinogen whose presence in contaminated groundwater drives environmental cleanup efforts. Although the aerobic biodegradation of benzene has long been established, knowledge of the identity of the microorganisms in complex naturally occurring microbial communities responsible for benzene biodegradation has evaded scientific inquiry for many decades. Here, we applied a molecular biology technique known as stable isotope probing (SIP) to the microbial communities residing in contaminated groundwater samples to identify the community members active in benzene biodegradation. We complemented this approach by isolating and growing in the laboratory a bacterium representative of the bacteria found using SIP. Further characterization of the isolated bacterium enabled us to track the expression of a key gene that attacks benzene both in pure cultures of the bacterium and in the naturally occurring groundwater microbial community. This work advances information regarding the documentation of microbial processes, especially the populations and genes that contribute to bioremediation.
Components of Interventions That Improve Transitions to Adult Care for Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes.

Abstract Adolescents with type 1 diabetes struggle with glycemic control with decline further exacerbated by transfer from pediatric to adult care. The purpose of this systematic review/meta-analysis was to examine which components of transition programs are effective in improving outcomes following transfer. We searched six databases for studies that assessed the efficacy of a transition program on diabetes outcomes. Studies reporting hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) or its change for the intervention versus control group pretransition and posttransition were pooled using a random effects meta-analysis model. Of 4,689 studies identified, 18 (1 randomized control trial, 6 quasi-experimental, 1 prospective, and 10 retrospective cohort) met inclusion criteria. Findings represent data from 3,382 youth with type 1 diabetes (52% male, age 16–23 years) undergoing transition. Programs varied and included transition coordinators (n = 7), transition clinics (n = 10), and group education meetings (n = 5). Average age of transfer was 17.7 years. All but one study reported improvement/maintenance of HbA1c posttransition. However, pooling data from four studies with a control group (418 youth), there were no differences in HbA1c at 12 months (−.11 [95% confidence interval: −.31, .08]). Of other outcomes studied (clinic attendance [n = 12], severe hypoglycemia [n = 8], and diabetic ketoacidosis [n = 7]), transition programs showed greatest consistency in reducing diabetic ketoacidosis episodes. Findings suggest that transition interventions may be effective in maintaining glycemic control and reducing diabetic ketoacidosis episodes posttransition. Further research is needed to determine which program types are most effective.
Sorting Out Support for Democracy: A Q‐Method Study

Support for democracy is crucial to democratic stability. Yet the nature and range of democratic belief systems, and whether these belief systems are idiosyncratic to specific individuals and polities or are more general, remain largely unknown. Such unknowns complicate an already daunting measurement task. Extant survey-based measures are fraught with validity problems and say little about the democratic beliefs individuals most strongly hold or reject. To address these problems, this study blends focus groups, interviews, and Q-sort methodology to examine patterns of subjective, behavioral renderings of democratic support profiles. It finds seven shared profiles of beliefs concerning democracy, alternative regimes, and political and civil freedoms across Chile and Argentina. Their resemblance to democratic belief systems found with other methods bolsters their validity and generalizability. The analyses reveal the relative weight of each orientation within each belief profile and their intensity across profiles. In so doing, they identify which items are crucial for within- and across-case comparisons. Altogether, these insights should inform survey-based approaches to detecting and describing the democratic support profiles latent in the polity.
Salt Lake County Third District Adult Felony Drug Court: Screening Procedures, Legislative Funding, and the Advancement of Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Drug courts face obstacles on multiple levels. Three issues facing the Salt Lake County Third District Adult Felony Drug Court are examined: screening procedures, funding needs, and therapeutic jurisprudence. Sources used include a literature review of relevant issues and key informant interviews with selected individuals associated with the adult felony drug court program in the Salt Lake County Third District. Findings indicate that the Salt Lake County Third District Adult Felony Drug Court will likely benefit from 1) a screening emphasis on offenders with high criminogenic risks and high psychosocial needs, 2) continued funding from the State of Utah Legislature, and 3) a societal and institutional paradigm shift away from stigmatization regarding substance abuse and towards therapeutic jurisprudence.
Structural context and variation of ocean plate stratigraphy, Franciscan Complex, California: insight into mélange origins and subduction-accretion processes

The transfer (accretion) of materials from a subducting oceanic plate to a subduction-accretionary complex has produced rock assemblages recording the history of the subducted oceanic plate from formation to arrival at the trench. These rock assemblages, comprising oceanic igneous rocks progressively overlain by pelagic sedimentary rocks (chert and/or limestone) and trench-fill clastic sedimentary rocks (mostly sandstone, shale/mudstone), have been called ocean plate stratigraphy (OPS). During accretion of OPS, megathrust slip is accommodated by imbricate faults and penetrative strain, shortening the unit and leading to tectonic repetition of the OPS sequence, whereas OPS accreted at different times are separated by non-accretionary megathrust horizons. The Franciscan subduction complex of California accreted episodically over a period of over 150 million years and incorporated OPS units with a variety of characteristics separated by non-accretionary megathrust horizons. Most Franciscan OPS comprises MORB (mid-ocean-ridge basalt) progressively overlain by chert and trench-fill clastic sedimentary rocks that are composed of variable proportions of turbidites and siliciclastic and serpentinite-matrix olistostromes (sedimentary melanges). Volumetrically, the trench-fill component predominates in most Franciscan OPS, but some units have a significant component of igneous and pelagic rocks. Ocean island basalt (OIB) overlain by limestone is less common than MORB-chert assemblages, as are abyssal serpentinized peridotite slabs. The earliest accreted OPS comprises metabasite of supra-subduction zone affinity imbricated with smaller amounts of metaultramafic rocks and metachert, but lacking a clastic component. Most deformation of Franciscan OPS is localized along discrete faults rather than being distributed in the form of penetrative strain. This deformation locally results in block-in-matrix tectonic melanges, in contrast to the sedimentary melanges making up part of the clastic OPS component. Such tectonic melanges may include blocks and matrix derived from the olistostromes. Franciscan subduction and OPS accretion initiated in island arc crust at about 165–170 Ma, after which MORB and OIB were subducted and accreted following a long (tens of mega-ampere) gap with little or no accretion. Following subduction initiation, a ridge crest approached the trench but probably went dormant prior to its subduction (120–125 Ma), after which the subducted oceanic crust became progressively older until about 95 Ma. From 95 Ma, the age of subducted oceanic crust decreased progressively until arrival of the Pacific-Farallon spreading center led to termination of subduction and conversion to a transform plate boundary.
Spline monotone approximation with linear differential operators

Let f∈C3[a,b] and L be a linear differential operator such that L(f)≥0. Then there exists a sequence Qn, n≥1, of polynomial splines with equally spaced knots, such that Q(r), approximates f(r), 0≤r≤s, simultaneously in the uniform norm. This approximation is given through inequalities with rates, involving a measure of smoothness to f(s); so that L (Qn)≥0. The encountered cases are the continuous, periodic and discrete.
Culture of somatic cells isolated from frozen-thawed equine semen using fluorescence-assisted cell sorting.

Abstract Nuclear transfer using somatic cells from frozen semen (FzSC) would allow cloning of animals for which no other genetic material is available. Horses are one of the few species for which cloning is commercially feasible; despite this, there is no information available on the culture of equine FzSC. After preliminary trials on equine FzSC, recovered by density-gradient centrifugation, resulted in no growth, we hypothesized that sperm in the culture system negatively affected cell proliferation. Therefore, we evaluated culture of FzSC isolated using fluorescence-assisted cell sorting. In Exp. 1, sperm were labeled using antibodies to a sperm-specific antigen, SP17, and unlabeled cells were collected. This resulted in high sperm contamination. In Exp. 2, FzSC were labeled using an anti-MHC class I antibody. This resulted in an essentially pure population of FzSC, 13–25% of which were nucleated. Culture yielded no proliferation in any of nine replicates. In Exp. 3, 5 × 103 viable fresh, cultured horse fibroblasts were added to the frozen-thawed, washed semen, then this suspension was labeled and sorted as for Exp. 2. The enriched population had a mean of five sperm per recovered somatic cell; culture yielded formation of monolayers. In conclusion, an essentially pure population of equine FzSC could be obtained using sorting for presence of MHC class I antigens. No equine FzSC grew in culture; however, the proliferation of fibroblasts subjected to the same processing demonstrated that the labeling and sorting methods, and the presence of few sperm in culture, were compatible with cell viability.
PP-2, a src-kinase inhibitor, is a potential corrector for F508del-CFTR in cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. The most common mutation in CF, an in-frame deletion of phenylalanine 508, leads to a trafficking defect and endoplasmic reticulum retention of the protein where it becomes targeted for degradation. Successful clinical deployments of ivacaftor and ivacaftor/lumacaftor combination have been an exciting translational development in treating CF. However, their therapeutic effects are variable between subjects and remain insufficient. We used the Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) database as our chemical pool to screen for candidates. For in silico screening, we integrated connectivity mapping and CF systems biology to identify candidate therapeutic compounds for CF. Following in silico screening, we validated our candidate compounds with (i) an enteroid-based compound screening assay using CF (ΔF508/ΔF508-CFTR) patient-derived enteroids, (ii) short-circuit current analysis using polarized CF primary human airway epithelial cells and (iii) Western blots to measure F508-del-CFTR protein maturation. We identified 184 candidate compounds with in silico screening and tested 24 of them with enteroid-based forskolin-induced swelling (FIS) assay. The top hit compound was PP2, a known src-kinase inhibitor that induced swelling in enteroid comparable to known CF corrector (lumacaftor). Further validation with Western blot and short circuit current analysis showed that PP-2 could correct mutant CFTR mis-folding and restore CFTR-mediated transmembrane current. We have identified PP2, a known src-kinase inhibitor, as a novel corrector of ΔF508-CFTR. Based on our studies and previous reports, src kinase inhibition may represent a novel paradigm of multi-action therapeutics - corrector, anti-inflammatory, and anti-infective - in CF.
A unique target representation and voting mechanism for visual tracking

One of the main problems in visual tracking is how to robustly represent the target. In this paper, we propose a simple yet efficient method that provides a unique “target representation” by generating discriminative non-uniform subspaces from the feature space which we refer to as cells. Each cell is attributed with a measure that highlights how likely it describes the target or the background. In addition, we keep a codebook of spatial locations of the features which are mapped to the cell similar to that of the R-Table in generalized Hough transform. Using the uniqueness measure as weight, the target center is estimated by using a modified Hough voting scheme to address non-rigid deformations. In the experiment, we use color as the pixel's descriptor and demonstrate comparable performance on the Online Tracking Benchmark (OTB) dataset respect to the other state-of-the-art.
Cardiac vagal regulation in infancy predicts executive function and social competence in preschool: Indirect effects through language.

Parasympathetic nervous system functioning in infancy may serve a foundational role in the development of cognitive and socioemotional skills (Calkins, 2007). In this study (N = 297), we investigated the potential indirect effects of cardiac vagal regulation in infancy on children's executive functioning and social competence in preschool via expressive and receptive language in toddlerhood. Vagal regulation was assessed at 10 months during two attention conditions (social, nonsocial) via task-related changes in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). A path analysis revealed that decreased RSA from baseline in the nonsocial condition and increased RSA in the social condition were related to larger vocabularies in toddlerhood. Additionally, children's vocabulary sizes were positively related to their executive function and social competence in preschool. Indirect effects from vagal regulation in both contexts to both 4-year outcomes were significant, suggesting that early advances in language may represent a mechanism through which biological functioning in infancy impacts social and cognitive functioning in childhood.
Fracture behavior of hybrid epoxy–silica–rubber nanocomposites

Abstract: It is well known that the fracture toughness of lightly crosslinked epoxy resins can be improved by the addition of rubber particles; however, recent papers have shown that the fracture toughness of rubber-modified epoxies can be further improved by the addition of a few volume percent of nanosilica particles. The micromechanisms responsible for the increases in toughness in several types of toughened epoxies are discussed as well as those found in hybrid epoxy–silica–rubber nanocomposites. Possible future directions in nanosilica hybrid nanocomposites are also discussed.
Relapse and Recurrence of Depression

Most major affective disorders are, from a longitudinal perspective, recurrent conditions. This article reviews the rationale for longer term models of antidepressant treatment, including strategies for the prevention of relapse (defined as an increase of symptoms back to a syndromallevel after an initial treatment response) and recurrence (defined as the onset of a distinctly new episode of affective illness). To prevent relapse, it is recommended that all patients whose symptoms remit during pharmacotherapy receive 4 to 6 months of continuation therapy. Those patients at increased risk for subsequent recurrent depressive episodes should be considered for an extended course of maintenance pharmacotherapy. The efficacy of tricyclic antidepressants, lithium and the selective serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) reuptake inhibitors for the prevention of recurrent depression has been established, with the latter class having a clinical advantage in terms of common adverse effects and safety in overdose. With each new episode of depressive illness, the risk of illness becoming more autonomous, severe and potentially refractory may increase. Thus, prophylactic treatment of patients at risk of recurrent depression remains the best way to optimise their long term outcome.
Functions on a Topological Space

The set C(X) of all continuous, real-valued functions on a topological space X will be provided with an algebraic structure and an order structure.
Complications of Treatment of Proximal Humerus Fractures

Fractures of the proximal humerus are relatively common and account for 4–5 % of injuries to the appendicular skeleton. Most minimally displaced osteoporotic fractures occur among the elderly, but they can present among a wide range of age groups, and can be successfully treated nonoperatively with good results. About a fifth of fractures require surgical intervention, but almost all of these procedures are aimed at improving functional outcome compared to nonoperative care. Outcomes from surgical treatment of proximal humerus fractures are good, with improved function and less pain than if those same fractures had been treated nonoperatively. Many reconstructive options are available, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The surgeon must understand the fracture pattern and the expectations of the individual patient in choosing between conservative care and surgical intervention. We review the treatment complications of nonoperative and operative management of proximal humerus fractures to present the most common complications and provide tips and insights to avoid their occurrence.
Evaluation of safety and efficacy of ipilimumab and nivolumab (ipi+nivo) combination in patients (pts) previously treated with anti-PD-1 antibodies (PD1): A single-center experience.

e14556Background: All clinical trials studying ipi+nivo have involved treatment-naive pts. Knowledge about the safety and efficacy of ipi+nivo is limited for pts previously treated with PD1. Method...
The Role of Adaptive Behavior and Parent Expectations in Predicting Post-School Outcomes for Young Adults with Intellectual Disability

This study examined the role of parent expectations and adaptive behavior in predicting outcomes for youth with intellectual disability. A sample of students with intellectual disability were drawn from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 for inclusion in this study. Four latent variables were created: demographic factors, adaptive behavior, parent expectations, and post-school outcomes. Structural equation modeling was used to test relationships between these constructs. Results indicated that adaptive behavior was more important than parent expectations in predicting post-school outcomes. Results supported the conclusion that adaptive behavior plays a critical role in post-school success for individuals with intellectual disability and that parent expectations alone were insufficient to ensure positive outcomes for youth with poor adaptive skills. Implications are discussed.
A Review on Reliability of Microgrid

Microgrid is considered as the future power systems due to the demand in the power supply and also due to its capability of integrating with the renewable energy sources. Based on the demand and location, the microgrid operates independently in an islanded mode by disconnecting from the power grid. A microgrid improves the efficiency of power consumption, along with the reliability of the power quality and power supply. The reliability of the microgrid is an important aspect to improve for the efficient power quality and availability of the electricity. This paper provides a review on reliability of microgrid considering various techniques and methods. The paper discusses about the background and concept of microgrid, effect of reliability in power systems, different scenarios of reliability in microgrids. Also, the challenges and solutions are elaborated from the implementation of various optimization techniques for the microgrid systems.
Load to Failure and Stiffness of Interference Screw vs Pulvertaft Weave for Distal Fixation in Peroneal Allograft Reconstruction

Background:Allograft reconstruction of the peroneal tendons is an option for treatment of major tears of 1 or both peroneal tendons. No consensus on a superior distal fixation method has been repor...
Is increasing paternal age negatively associated with donor oocyte recipient success? A paired analysis using sibling oocytes.

Objective To determine if increasing paternal age has an adverse effect on pregnancy outcomes in paired donor egg recipients who received oocytes from the same donor in the same stimulation cycle. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Reproductive Medicine Center. Patient(s) The study included 154 recipients who received oocytes from a split donor oocyte cycle and received sperm from men in discrepant age groups (group A: Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Implantation rate, pregnancy loss rate, pregnancy rate, and live birth rate. Result(s) The median paternal age was 41 years old for group A and 48 years old for group B. The pregnancy rate was 81% in group A compared with 69% in group B. The live birth rate was 65% in group A compared with 53% in group B. The rate of pregnancy loss was 19% in group A and 23% in group B. The implantation rate was 69% in group A compared with 66% in group B. The adjusted odds of pregnancy were found to be 65% lower for patients in the older partner age group (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13, 0.95). The adjusted odds of live birth rate (odds ratio [OR], 0.45; 95% CI, 0.20, 1.00), implantation rate (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.43, 1.92), and rate of pregnancy loss (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 0.5, 4.5) favored the younger partner age group; however, these results were not statistically significant. Conclusion(s) In this model that controlled for oocyte quality to the greatest degree possible by using paired recipients from the same donor from the same stimulation cycle, we found that increased paternal age had a negative effect on pregnancy rates.
Cochlear implant electric field estimation using 3D neural networks

Cochlear implants (CIs) use an array of electrodes implanted in the cochlea to directly stimulate the auditory nerve. After surgery, CI recipients undergo many programming sessions with an audiologist who adjusts CI processor settings to improve performance. However, few tools exist to help audiologists know what settings will lead to better performance. In order to provide objective information to the audiologist for programming, our group has developed a system to permit estimating which auditory neural sites are stimulated by which CI electrodes. To do this, we have proposed physics-based models to calculate the electric field in the cochlea generated by electrical stimulation. However, solving these models require days of computation time and substantial computational resources. In this paper, we proposed a deep-learningbased method to estimate the patient-specific electric fields using a U-Net-like architecture with physics-based loss function. Our network is trained with a dataset generated by solving physics-based models and the results show that the proposed method can achieve similar accuracy with traditional method and largely improves the speed of estimating the intra-cochlear electric field.
Declining Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic Reveals U.S. Social Inequities

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to mental health fallout in the US; yet research about mental health and COVID-19 primarily rely on national and group-specific samples. However, betweencity comparisons may provide further insight into how the pandemic is disproportionately affecting atrisk groups. Purpose: This study leverages social media and COVID-19-city infection data to measure the longitudinal (January 22- July 31, 2020) mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in 20 metropolitan areas. Methods: We used longitudinal VADER sentiment analysis of Twitter timelines (January-July 2020) for cohorts in 20 metropolitan areas to examine mood changes over time. We then conducted simple and multivariate Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions to examine the relationship between COVID-19 infection city data, population, population density, and city demographics on sentiment across those 20 cities. Results: Longitudinal sentiment tracking showed declines in subjective well-being over time. The univariate OLS regression highlighted a negative linear relationship between COVID-19 city data and online sentiment (𝛽 = -0.017). Residing in predominantly white cities had a protective effect against COVID-19 driven negative mood (𝛽= .0629, p<.001). Discussion: Our results reveal that metropolitan areas with larger communities of color experienced a greater subjective well-being decline than predominately white cities, which we attribute to clinical and socioeconomic correlates that place communities of color at greater risk of COVID-19. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic is a driver of declining US mood in 20 metropolitan cities. Other factors, including social unrest and local demographics, may compound and exacerbate mental health outlook in racially diverse cities. Funding Statement: This study was not supported by an external grant. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interest.
Bounded Universal Droop Control to Enable the Operation of Power Inverters Under Some Abnormal Conditions and Maintain Voltage and Frequency Within Predetermined Ranges

The universal droop control (UDC) can be applied to power inverters for achieving voltage and frequency regulation, accurate proportional power sharing, without the need of knowing the type or value of the impedance. There is an increasing need for voltage and frequency regulation within predetermined ranges even under abnormal conditions, such as overloading, sensor faults, and large set-point changes, etc. In this paper, a bounded nonlinear dynamics is introduced into the UDC to ensure that the voltage and frequency can always stay within predetermined ranges under normal and abnormal conditions, up to hardware limits when current protection needs to be triggered. As a result, the proposed controller can extend the operational range of power inverters in terms of voltage and frequency regulation to cover different scenarios. More importantly, the ranges for both voltage and frequency can be chosen independently from each other. Since the original structure of the UDC is kept in the proposed controller, the properties of the UDC, such as without the need of knowing the type or value of the impedance, are well maintained. Extensive simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.
Trypanosoma cruzi: Interaction with vertebrate cells in vitro: III. Selection for biological characteristics following intracellular passage

Abstract Two strains of Trypanosoma cruzi, House 510 and Limbo Tree Platform, were studied to determine whether maintenance in vertebrate cell culture would alter their biological characteristics. After having been maintained for several years in alternate mouse-insect passage using NIH general purpose male white mice and Rhodnius prolixus, respectively, the parasites were transferred into primary bovine embryo skeletal muscle cell culture and their intracellular doubling time and generation number quantified. A significant change appeared in the doubling time of each strain. Initially, the doubling times of the House 510 and Limbo Tree Platform strains were not significantly different. They were 8.6 ± 0.8 hr and 7.5 ± 0.5 hr, respectively. After a varying period in cell culture, these values changed to 11.4 ± 1.6 and 11.5 ± 1.3 hr, respectively. Other observations, unrelated to length of time in cell culture, included the appearance of many broad, trypomastigote forms with a decreased ability to reach host cells and a varying generation number ranging from 7 to 9.
Binomial Random Variables

The major theorems of probability theory fall into a natural dichotomy2014;those which are analytic in character and those which are measure-theoretic. In the latter category are zero-one laws, the Borel-Cantelli lemma, strong laws of large numbers, and indeed any result which requires the apparatus of a probability space.
TAUg: runtime global performance data access using MPI

To enable a scalable parallel application to view its global performance state, we designed and developed TAUg, a portable runtime framework layered on the TAU parallel performance system. TAUg leverages the MPI library to communicate between application processes, creating an abstraction of a global performance space from which profile views can be retrieved. We describe the TAUg design and implementation and show its use on two test benchmarks up to 512 processors. Overhead evaluation for the use of TAUg is included in our analysis. Future directions for improvement are discussed.
Thrips feeding and oviposition injuries to economic plants, subsequent damage and host responses to infestation.

Injury to various plant tissues by ovipositing Terebrantian species and feeding injuries by thrips species to pollen, flowers, fruit and leaves are characterized for different economic plants. Both the range of damage to individual economic crops and differences arising through attacks on the same plant at different stages of development are included. The range of species attacking the same plant in different parts of the world and how differences in pest status of individual thrips species on a single crop vary from one geographical area to another are presented.
The Differential Diagnosis of Arthritis in Childhood

The differential diagnosis of arthritis is exhaustive (see table of contents for Chapter 2). The 1973 edition of the Primer on the Rheumatic Diseases,1 prepared by a committee of the American Rheumatism Association (ARA), lists over 100 disorders in which arthritis may be a significant manifestation. A few of these conditions have not yet been reported in children. We have also found it necessary to add to this exhaustive list. Several additional disorders were recently first seen in children in our own clinic, and there continue to be new additions to this list each year.
Using the Amazon Mechanical Turk to Transcribe and Annotate Meeting Speech for Extractive Summarization

Due to its complexity, meeting speech provides a challenge for both transcription and annotation. While Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) has been shown to produce good results for some types of speech, its suitability for transcription and annotation of spontaneous speech has not been established. We find that MTurk can be used to produce high-quality transcription and describe two techniques for doing so (voting and corrective). We also show that using a similar approach, high quality annotations useful for summarization systems can also be produced. In both cases, accuracy is comparable to that obtained using trained personnel.
Impact of pedagogical approaches on cognitive complexity and motivation to learn: Comparing nursing and engineering undergraduate students

Abstract Background The changing higher education landscape is prompting nurses to rethink educational strategies. Looking beyond traditional professional boundaries may be beneficial. We compare nursing to engineering because engineering has similar accreditation outcome goals and different pedagogical approaches. Purpose We compare students' cognitive complexity and motivation to learn to identify opportunities to share pedagogical approaches between nursing and engineering. Method Cross-sectional data were collected from 1,167 freshmen through super senior students. Comparisons were made across years and between majors. Findings Overall nursing and engineering students advance in cognitive complexity while maintaining motivation for learning. Sophomores reported the lowest scores on many dimensions indicating that their experiences need review. The strong influence of the National Council Licensure Examination on nursing students may drive their classroom preferences. Increased intrinsic motivation, coupled with decreased extrinsic motivation, suggests that we are graduating burgeoning life-long learners equipped to maintain currency. Discussion The disciplines' strategies for incorporating real-world learning opportunities differ, yet the students similarly advance in cognitive complexity and maintain motivation to learn. Lessons can be exchanged across professional boundaries.
Flowering as metamorphosis: two sequential signals regulate floral initiation in Lolium temulentum

We investigated floral initiation in the long-day monocot Lolium temulentum, strain Ceres, by culturing apices explanted from photoperiodically induced plants at various times after one inductive long day onto medium with, and without, gibberellin. Apices cultured on the first day after the inductive long day usually required gibberellin in the medium to initiate floral morphogenesis while apices explanted on the second day after induction did not require gibberellin. Apices explanted on the first day after induction onto medium without gibberellin grew vegetatively for many days but a several-day exposure to culture medium with gibberellin at any time caused most apices to initiate floral morphogenesis. The gibberellin synthesis inhibitor, ancymidol, when applied to plants before apex excision and when present in the culture medium reduced floral initiation by more than 50% in the absence of added gibberellin in the medium, but it was ineffective in the presence of gibberellin. These results indicated that floral initiation in photoperiodically induced plants resulted from two signals acting at the apex. The first signal induced the apex into a florally determined state and then the second signal, gibberellin, elicited expression of the florally determined state. Leaf removal and culture of apices from plants previously treated with gibberellin provided evidence that the leaf-applied gibberellin did not itself act on the apex to cause floral determination or initiation. Rather, the exogenous gibberellin appeared to stimulate the production of a signal in the leaves that then led to floral initiation.
Targeting executioner procaspase-3 with the procaspase-activating compound B-PAC-1 induces apoptosis in multiple myeloma cells

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell neoplasm that has a low apoptotic index. We investigated a new class of small molecules that target the terminal apoptosis pathway, called procaspase activating compounds (PACs), in myeloma cells. PAC agents (PAC-1 and B-PAC-1) convert executioner procaspases (procaspase 3, 6, and 7) to active caspases 3, 6, and 7, which cleave target substrates to induce cellular apoptosis cascade. We hypothesized that targeting this terminal step could overcome survival and drug-resistance signals in myeloma cells and induce programmed cell death. Myeloma cells expressed executioner caspases. Additionally, our studies demonstrated that B-PAC-1 is cytotoxic to chemotherapy-resistant or sensitive myeloma cell lines ( n = 7) and primary patient cells ( n = 11). Exogenous zinc abrogated B-PAC-1–induced cell demise. Apoptosis induced by B-PAC-1 treatment was similar in the presence or absence of growth-promoting cytokines such as interleukin 6 and hepatocyte growth factor. Presence or absence of antiapoptotic proteins such as BCL-2, BCL-X L , or MCL-1 did not impact B-PAC-1–mediated programmed cell death. Collectively, our data demonstrate the proapoptotic effect of B-PAC-1 in MM and suggest that activating terminal executioner procaspases 3, 6, and 7 bypasses survival and drug-resistance signals in myeloma cells. This novel strategy has the potential to become an effective antimyeloma therapy.
On the Orderings and Groupings of Conditional Maximizations Within ECM-Type Algorithms

Abstract The ECM and ECME algorithms are generalizations of the EM algorithm in which the maximization (M) step is replaced by several conditional maximization (CM) steps. The order that the CM-steps are performed is trivial to change and generally affects how fast the algorithm converges. Moreover, the same order of CM-steps need not be used at each iteration and in some applications it is feasible to group two or more CM-steps into one larger CM-step. These issues also arise when implementing the Gibbs sampler, and in this article we study them in the context of fitting log-linear and random-effects models with ECM-type algorithms. We find that some standard theoretical measures of the rate of convergence can be of little use in comparing the computational time required, and that common strategies such as using a random ordering may not provide the desired effects. We also develop two algorithms for fitting random-effects models to illustrate that with careful selection of CM-steps, ECM-type algorithms ...
Annotation Technologies: A Software and Research Review.

Abstract This article describes a range of currently available and developing technologies for creating and presenting annotations, glosses, and other comments on digital documents. The potential applications of these tools for providing feedback to student writers, supporting extended group discussions around digital texts, and facilitating research and reading-to-write tasks are discussed. Different software programs are compared and evaluated and composition researchers are urged to engage in research that will influence the design of future annotation technologies.