cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A New Material: a-Si,Ge:H,F in a-Si,Ge:H,F/a-Si:H,F Multilayer Structures

We present a detailed study of the electron transport parallel to the layers in a a-Si,Ge:H,F/a- Si:H,F amorphous semiconductor multilayers. The optical gap of the well layer is shifted from the bulk alloy due to quantum confinement. This shift W can be modeled using a finite barrier height, and electron effective masses for the barrier and for the well. Multilayer-induced changes in σd and its activation energy Ea,d are completely determined by W. The photoconductivity σph, its temperature dependence (Eaph) and its dependence γ on carrier generation rate reflect a stretching of the conduction band tail near the band edge as the quantum shift W increases.
Structure-Performance Correlations in Spray-Processable Green Dioxythiophene-Benzothiadiazole Donor–Acceptor Polymer Electrochromes

The continuing search for relevant structure–property relationships in the area of organic electronics is expected to impact both intrinsic material performance capability and the viability of their implementation in a broad range of device applications. Cathodically coloring π-conjugated polymer electrochromes represent a class of materials potentially attractive for low-cost and nonemissive flexible display devices including e-paper. Nonetheless, both the synthetic access to a full range of visible colors and the ability to produce solution-processable systems that switch rapidly and durably from a colored neutral state to a highly transmissive doped state upon electrochemical oxidation require that material structure–property relationships be carefully examined. In this report, we correlate molecular structure effects, redox properties, and electrochromic performance for a series of rationally designed neutral-state green polymers composed of electron-rich 3,4-dioxythiophene (DOT) units and the electro...
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SUPERSONIC FLOW IN REALISTIC MEMS NOZZLE GEOMETRIES WITH HEAT LOSS

A computational model for the supersonic flow in a converging/diverging MEMS-scale nozzle geometry is reported. Owing to the small length scales considered, viscous effects and external heat loss may significantly reduce thruster efficiency and performance. Continuum flow models with and without heat transfer are used in conjunction with the FLUENT6 CFD software to perform simulations of the flow and performance in a micro-nozzle based upon an existing MEMS thruster prototype developed at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
Cholesterol esters and atherosclerosis–a game of ACAT and mouse

Disruption of the gene encoding the cholesterol modifying enzyme ACAT2 in mice leads to a reduced capacity to absorb cholesterol and resistance to diet-induced hypercholesterolemia. This suggests that ACAT2 may be a good target for prevention of atherosclerosis. ( pages 1341–1347 )
Study on an Ideal Frequency Signal Source Based on Step Response and its Application in Frequency Domain Analysis

To overcome the deficiency of time-domain response analysis,and by analyzing the frequency spectrum characteristics of step signals,it is pointed out that the step signal can be taken as an ideal frequency excitation signal source,and the step response analysis is firstly believed applicable not only in time domain,but also in frequency domain.A single-frequency-pass filter has been developed for step response analysis in frequency domain.Simulation and application results prove the analysis method to be effective and accurate.
Acute Brainstem Symptoms with Chiari Type 1 Malformation

Two children who presented with rapidly worsening neurological symptoms attributable to a previously undiagnosed Chiari malformation Type 1 are reported from Children's Hospital, Birmingham, AL.
Decision Support for Complex Human-Autonomy Teams

Humans are very good at making daily, straight forward decisions; however, due to our propensity to be case based reasoners, errors can be introduced while making complex decisions. Technology becomes more complex daily, and as we move towards autonomous vehicles and future integration of smart robotic technology, it will become more difficult for humans to understand the fundamental functioning of this complex technology and to make accurate and beneficial decisions in very complex situations. Future mission deployments will team human personnel with heterogeneous unmanned systems that will vary not only by type (e.g., ground, aerial and underwater), but also in their intelligence and autonomous capabilities. Artificial Intelligence provides a number of approaches for supporting the human’s decision making process and reducing the potential for error.
Acidification; Membrane Properties; Permeability and Transport

Given the pH optima of the acid hydrolases, one would expect the intralysosomal pH to be well below 6. This expectation was actually “verified in advance,” long before the enzymatic equipment of lysosomes had been analyzed. Metchnikoff pioneered by using litmus to demonstrate an acid pH in phagocytotic digestion vacuoles. From studies with indicator dyes bound to phagocytosable particles such as yeast, later investigators of protozoan and mammalian phagocytes estimated the pHs within the vacuoles at 3–5 (some higher figures were reported and some estimates were as low as 1.5). pH values in this range would sustain near-optimal activities of most lysosomal hydrolases. Acid conditions also could have other important effects, by altering the state of aggregation of lysosomal contents (Section 2.1.4), by helping to kill the prey of protozoa and the microbes taken up by defensive phagocytes, and by promoting denaturation or other conformational changes in macromolecules that might facilitate attack by lysosomal enzymes.
Mary Parker Follett – Creativity and Democracy

The Editorial Board of HSO recently decided to add a new category for annually awarding an outstanding article on theory-informed research to honor Mary Parker Follett. It is timely to reflect on h...
The Anti-Tumor Activity of Silvestrol on the Epstein-Barr Virus

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is one of the most common viruses in humans, infecting more than 90% of people worldwide. While most people infected with EBV gain adaptive immunity, immunocompromised patients exposed to EBV can lead to the development of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Burkitt’s lymphoma, post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV-LPD), and nasopharyngeal and gastric carcinoma. Many vaccines and chemo-immunotherapeutic approaches directed against EBV have been studied and developed in clinical trials, but none have been successful because they most often lead to immune suppression, EBV reactivation, and increased risk of lethal infection. The purpose of this study is to identify a vaccine that can deliver direct anti-tumor activity while preserving host-immune surveillance. Silvestrol, a unique agent that is attributed to the inhibition of translation initiation, was tested to see how it interferes with the normal recruitment of mRNA to the elF4F initiation complex, an important step to the synthesis of pro-survival and pro-growth of proteins. Current progress in the research shows that Silvestrol’s efficacy is dependent on the presence of CD8+ T cells while interferon responsive factors proteins are lost with Silvestrol treatment. Silvestrol’s ability to deplete lymphoblastoid cell lines, possess unique anti-tumor activity, and preserve the host anti-tumor immune function gives it a unique niche in terms of chemotherapeutic medication. This study helps change the future landscape of treatments for patients with EBV-positive malignancies through immune-sparing drugs.
Response Rates on Variable-Interval Schedules: Sequential Interresponse Time Requirements and Reinforcement Rate

Pigeons’ response rates on three different sized variable-interval (VI) schedules were determined with three different interresponse time (IRT) contingencies. When the VI schedule arranged a reinforcement, either a single IRT between 1.0 and 1.5 sec. was required to produce the reinforcer or, in other experimental conditions, two or three such IRTs in succession were required to produce the reinforcer. Under these IRT contingencies, the observed response rates were not related to reinforcement rates (size of the VI) in any obvious orderly way. When only the final IRT concluded by the response immediately preceding each reinforcement was required to be between 1.0 and 1.5 sec. duration, the mean emitted IRT usually was not between 1.0 and 1.5 sec. When the next back IRT also was required to be between 1.0 and 1.5 sec., the mean emitted IRT was very near or between 1.0 and 1.5 sec. Results suggest that a comprehensive account of VI responding which emphasizes IRT reinforcement should consider not only the duration of the IRT immediately preceding each reinforcement but also the IRTs of preceding responses.
Factors associated with participation by African Americans in a study of the genetics of glaucoma.

Objective: African Americans have been historically underrepresented in research studies. Our aim was to evaluate factors influencing enrollment in the Primary Open-Angle African American Glaucoma Genetics (POAAGG) study. Design: Patients approached to enroll in the POAAGG study were asked to complete a 15-item survey addressing demographic characteristics, knowledge of genetics and glaucoma, and opinions on human research. Survey responses were compared between subjects who enrolled (Enrollers) and did not enroll (Decliners) in the POAAGG study. Results: Enrollers (N = 190) were 3.7 years younger (P = 0.007) and had similar gender, education, and income level to Decliners (N = 117). Knowledge about genetics and glaucoma was similar between groups. Enrollers were more comfortable providing DNA for research studies (93.1% vs 54.1%; P < 0.001) and more likely to have participated in prior studies (P = 0.003) and consider participating in future studies (P < 0.001). Among Decliners, lack of time was the primary reason given for not enrolling. Conclusion: To increase participation of African Americans in genetic research studies, efforts should be made to raise comfort with DNA donation.
Amelioration of Head and Neck Radiation-Induced Mucositis and Distant Marrow Suppression in Fanca–/– and Fancg–/– Mice by Intraoral Administration of GS-Nitroxide (JP4-039)

Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck are appearing with increased frequency in both marrow transplanted and non-transplanted Fanconi anemia (FA) patients. FA patients commonly display radiosensitivity of epithelial tissues, complicating effective radiotherapy. Fancd2–/– mice (C57BL/6J and 129/Sv background) demonstrate epithelial tissue sensitivity to single-fraction or fractionated irradiation to the head and neck and distant marrow suppression (abscopal effect), both ameliorated by intraoral administration of the mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant, GS-nitroxide, JP4-039. We now report that mice of two other FA genotypes, Fancg–/– (B6) and the most prevalent human genotype Fanca–/– (129/Sv), also demonstrate: 1. reduced longevity of hematopoiesis in long-term bone marrow cultures; 2. radiosensitivity of bone marrow stromal cell lines; and 3. head and neck radiation-induced severe mucositis and abscopal suppression of distant marrow hematopoiesis. Intraoral administration of JP4-039/F15, but not ...
Performance Optimization Using Multipath Routing in Mobile Ad Hoc and Wireless Sensor Networks

Multipath routing has been a promising technique in MANETs and WSNs. It has been shown through both theoretical analysis and simulation results that multipath routing provides many performance benefits, including improved fault tolerance, security, and reliability, improved routing efficiency and reduced routing overhead, more balanced traffic load and energy consumption, reduced end-to-end latency, and aggregated network bandwidth, etc. Significant research efforts have been made and are continuously being made in developing multipath routing protocols and multipath packet forwarding techniques in order to achieve the above-mentioned performance gains effectively and efficiently. Nevertheless, many issues that are directly related to the application of multipath routing remain untouched, such as the integration of the multipath routing into the current single-path routing paradigm, the synchronization of the packets among the multiple paths, and the interfaces of multipath routing protocols to other layers of protocol in the network protocol stack, etc.
Activation of Nrf2 Is Required for Normal and ChREBPα-Augmented Glucose-Stimulated β-Cell Proliferation

Patients with both major forms of diabetes would benefit from therapies that increase β-cell mass. Glucose, a natural mitogen, drives adaptive expansion of β-cell mass by promoting β-cell proliferation. We previously demonstrated that a carbohydrate response element-binding protein (ChREBPα) is required for glucose-stimulated β-cell proliferation and that overexpression of ChREBPα amplifies the proliferative effect of glucose. Here we found that ChREBPα reprogrammed anabolic metabolism to promote proliferation. ChREBPα increased mitochondrial biogenesis, oxygen consumption rates, and ATP production. Proliferation augmentation by ChREBPα required the presence of ChREBPβ. ChREBPα increased the expression and activity of Nrf2, initiating antioxidant and mitochondrial biogenic programs. The induction of Nrf2 was required for ChREBPα-mediated mitochondrial biogenesis and for glucose-stimulated and ChREBPα-augmented β-cell proliferation. Overexpression of Nrf2 was sufficient to drive human β-cell proliferation in vitro; this confirms the importance of this pathway. Our results reveal a novel pathway necessary for β-cell proliferation that may be exploited for therapeutic β-cell regeneration.
Intrinsic Dynamics of an Endogenous Human Gene Reveal the Basis of Expression Heterogeneity

Transcriptional regulation in metazoans occurs through long range genomic contacts between enhancers and promoters, and most genes are transcribed at irregular intervals in episodic 'bursts' of RNA synthesis. The relationship between these two phenomena and the dynamic regulation of genes in human cells in response to upstream signals is unknown. Here, we describe the use of single-molecule live-cell RNA imaging to dissect the regulation of the estrogen-responsive TFF1 gene under endogenous regulation. We observe short active periods and variable inactive periods ranging from minutes to days. The heterogeneity in inactive times gives rise to the widely-observed 'noise' in human gene expression. Surprisingly, alleles are not independent but rather show correlated dynamics in the same nucleus, leading to a regime of 'coupled intrinsic noise'. We derive a mathematical model of regulation which relates the frequency and stability of gene loops to the ability of a cell to 'sense' changes in estrogen.
The Channel for Gay America? A Cultural Criticism of The Logo Channel’s Commercial Success on American Cable Television

In this study, I argue that Logo does not capitalize on its television presence to participate in LGBT political, economic, and social equality. Despite its significant visibility and messages of “inclusiveness” in American popular culture, Logo contributes to the perpetuation of negative and narrow stereotypes of consumerist gay culture, as it marginalizes ethnic minorities and women, through a variety of conformist, self-serving practices that undermine the libratory opportunity it holds for its LGBT viewers. Logo currently holds a self-described monopoly as the “Gay Channel for America.” Logo stands alone as the single most concentrated national-level vehicle of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) visibility in the post millennial television era. The Logo Channel has reaped financial rewards from its strategy as a business entity, as LGBT American television viewers embraced its presence as a signifier to America that gays and lesbians have finally “made it”. First, any claim to a monopoly deserves critical attention for its place in mainstream television, for its business practices, and for the power it holds in representing and targeting LGBT audiences. Second, Logo ’s construction of its audience is an extremely important window into current perceptions of LGBT identity, history, and progress. Third, Logo’s ability to capitalize on gay and lesbian visibility in American culture and the rhetoric of “inclusiveness” are important historical and cultural moments to explore the political costs and benefits of these strategies — in business practices, programming content, and advertisements.
Parallel Iteration Methods

One of the problems which arise from the increasing use of multiprocessing is the efficient utilization of all the processors. If the solution of a problem requires T units of time when only one processor is used, it is hoped that using k processor will require only T/k units of time. Dorn (1962A) considered the problem of evaluating a polynomial, and showed that for k small compared with the degree n of the polynomial, a modification of Horner’s method requires about n/k additions and n/k multiplications. Munro and Paterson (1971A) proved that for any k and n, a bound on the number of operations required to evaluate an n degree polynomial is about 2n/k + log2k, and showed a method which approaches this bound. Thus, for polynomial evaluation, one can achieve a good utilization of all the processes when their number is much smaller than the degree of the polynomial.
MODELS FOR RECURRENT EVENTS IN RELIABILITY AND SURVIVAL ANALYSIS

Existing models forrecurrent phenomena occurring in public health, biomedicine, reliability, engineering, economics, and sociology are reviewed. A new and general class of models for recurrent events is proposed. This class simultaneously takes into account intervention effects, effects of accumulating event occurrences, and effects of concomitant variables. It subsumes as special cases existing models for recurrent phenomena. The statistical identifiability issue for the proposed class of models is addressed.
Gigantic GIST: A Case of the Largest Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Found to Date.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are uncommon when compared to all gastrointestinal neoplasms but are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. The largest gastrointestinal stromal tumor ever recorded in literature weighed approximately 6.1 kg and measured 39 cm × 27 cm × 14 cm. About two-thirds of GISTs are malignant. The tumor size, mitotic rate, cellularity, and nuclear pleomorphism are the most important parameters when considering prognosis and recurrence. The definitive treatment for these tumors is resection. In the year 2000, the first patient was treated with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib and since then, gastrointestinal stromal tumors with high-risk features have been treated successfully with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We present the largest gastrointestinal stromal tumor recorded in medical literature measuring 42.0 cm × 31.0 cm × 23.0 cm in maximum dimensions and weighing in at approximately 18.5 kg in a 65-year-old African-American male who presented with increased abdominal distention. The mass was successfully excised, and the patient was treated with imatinib without local or distant recurrence 1.5 years postoperatively.
Beyond 90°: the angularities of black/queer/women/lean

This essay argues for detailed attention to the materiality of black queer women’s spatial coordinates, the literal points of contact with the surfaces we traverse, as sites where categories of rac...
Robotic Left Colectomy

In this chapter, we describe our approach to robotic left colectomy with an intracorporeal anastomosis.
Third Ventricular Injection of CCL2 in Rat Embryo Stimulates CCL2/CCR2 Neuroimmune System in Neuroepithelial Radial Glia Progenitor Cells: Relation to Sexually Dimorphic, Stimulatory Effects on Peptide Neurons in Lateral Hypothalamus.

Abstract Clinical and animal studies show maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy causes in offspring persistent alterations in neuroimmune and neurochemical systems known to increase alcohol drinking and related behaviors. Studies in lateral hypothalamus (LH) demonstrate in adolescent offspring that maternal oral administration of ethanol stimulates the neuropeptide, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), together with the inflammatory chemokine C–C motif ligand 2 (CCL2) and its receptor CCR2 which are increased in most MCH neurons. These effects, consistently stronger in females than males, are detected in embryos, not only in LH but hypothalamic neuroepithelium (NEP) along the third ventricle where neurons are born and CCL2 is stimulated within radial glia progenitor cells and their laterally projecting processes that facilitate MCH neuronal migration toward LH. With ethanol’s effects similarly produced by maternal peripheral CCL2 administration and blocked by CCR2 antagonist, we tested here using in utero intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections whether CCL2 acts locally within the embryonic NEP. After ICV injection of CCL2 (0.1 µg/µl) on embryonic day 14 (E14) when neurogenesis peaks, we observed in embryos just before birth (E19) a significant increase in endogenous CCL2 within radial glia cells and their processes in NEP. These auto-regulatory effects, evident only in female embryos, were accompanied by increased density of CCL2 and MCH neurons in LH, more strongly in females than males. These results support involvement of embryonic CCL2/CCR2 neuroimmune system in radial glia progenitor cells in mediating sexually dimorphic effects of maternal challenges such as ethanol on LH MCH neurons that colocalize CCL2 and CCR2.
The impact of geographic scale on identifying different social media behavior extremes in crisis research

Our relationship with technology is constantly evolving, and that relationship is adapting even more quickly when faced with disaster. Understanding how to utilize human interactions with technology and the limitations of those interactions will be a crucial building block to contextualizing crisis data. The impact of scale on behavioral change analyses is an unexplored yet necessary facet of our ability to identify relative severities of crisis situations, magnitudes of localized crises, and total durations of disaster impacts. In order to analyze the impact of increasing scale on the identification of extreme behaviors, we aggregated Twitter data from Houston, Texas circa Hurricane Harvey across a wide range of scales. We found inversely related power law relationships between the identification of sharp Twitter activity bursts and sharp activity drop-offs. The relationships between these variables indicate the direct, definable dependence of social media aggregation analyses on the scale at which they are performed.
DETERMINANTS OF LOCAL CONTENT DEVELOPMENT ON SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION IN KENYA: A CASE OF AFRICA OIL CORP

The need for a structured dialogue on local content in Kenya has been incentivized by the discovery of oil and other commercially viable minerals. The study sought the determinants of local content development on successful implementation of oil and gas exploration and production within Africa Oil Corp. The specific objectives were to establish the required local infrastructure for successful implementation of oil and gas exploration, development and production, to determine the required local capabilities for the successful implementation of oil and gas exploration, development and production and to determine how local environment affects the successful implementation of oil and gas exploration, development and production in Africa Oil Kenya Business Venture. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population included directors of the Africa Oil Corp. Top and Middle management levels, subordinate and selected employees of the company. The study had a total population of 324.The study employed the simple stratified random sampling technique. The sample size of the study consisted of 176 respondents selected from the study population for the quantitative data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze and test the research hypotheses. A linear multivariate regression model was used to measure the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. There was a positive and significant effect of local infrastructure, local capabilities and local capabilities on successful implementation of oil and gas exploration, development and production. The company in partnership with the government should ensure the availability of the required infrastructure to promote the local oil and gas exploration, development and production. The Company should therefore carefully examine what types of careers they offer their workers to facilitate the necessary expertise required in the oil exploration and production. The government should provide conducive environment for the exploration, development and production of local oil and gas exploration. Key Words; Local Infrastructure, Local Capabilities, Local Environment, Successful Implementation of Oil and Gas Exploration, Development and Production CITATION: Morintat, L. G., & Ouma, C. (2020). Determinants of local content development on successful implementation of oil and gas exploration, development and production in Kenya: A Case of Africa Oil Corp. T he Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management , 7(1), 989 – 1001.
Corticosteroid Usage in Giant Cell Arteritis

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a condition that can cause irreversible visual loss if untreated. While corticosteroids remain the mainstay of treatment to prevent visual loss, the type, dose, route, and duration of corticosteroid treatment of GCA remain controversial. Our study surveyed neuro-ophthalmologists to determine commonly prescribed dosages of corticosteroids for the treatment of GCA with or without visual loss. For patients with acute visual loss, 52% would use intravenous (IV), 46% would use IV or oral and 2% would use oral corticosteroids. Seventy-three per cent would use 500 to 1000 mg IV methylprednisolone in this group. For patients with GCA without acute visual loss, 67% would use the oral route, 30% would use IV or oral, and 3% indicated they would use IV route of treatment. Seventy-five per cent would use 1.0 to 1.5 mg/kg oral prednisone in this group. Our results suggest a majority but not a complete consensus for route and dose of corticosteroid treatment in GCA and confirm conventional recommendations for high dose IV corticosteroids for GCA with visual loss and lower dose oral regimens for GCA without visual loss.
The evolving 5G case study in United States unilateral spectrum planning and policy

Abstract This paper tracks increasingly aggressive initiatives by the United States government to reallocate spectrum on an expedited and unilateral basis well before conclusion of inter-governmental coordination. Rather than embrace the customary commitment to achieve consensus on global spectrum allocations at the International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”), the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has auctioned off large blocks of frequencies for the next generation (“5G”) of wireless services. The FCC might have framed its first 5G auction, reassigning Ultra High Frequency (“UHF”) spectrum, as a one-time deviation from compliance with long standing, intergovernmental coordination procedures. These frequencies have ideal signal propagation characteristics and the Commission could use financial incentives—unavailable in most nations—to expedite “repacking” by incumbent broadcasters willing to move, share or abandon spectrum in exchange for ample financial compensation. However, the FCC has continued to auction off 5G spectrum on grounds that it must find ways to abate an acute shortage of wireless bandwidth and doing so will regain or maintain global leadership in wireless technologies. This paper offers a critical rebuke to unilateral spectrum management, because the short-term benefits expected by the U. S. government likely will be offset by countervailing harms to 5G manufacturers, carriers and consumers. The paper tracks fractious preparation for the ITU's 2019 World Radio Conference by the U.S. delegation and the mixed record achieved there. Additionally, the paper explains how injecting trade, industrial policy and national security issues at the ITU can trigger more delays and disputes, including possible retaliation by nations displeased with U.S. efforts to subvert traditional technology optimization goals. A worst case scenario has the ITU deadlocked and unable to reach closure on “mission critical” spectrum planning issues at World Radio Conferences, convened every four years. The paper concludes that costs and likely challenges to the efficacy and legitimacy of the ITU will reduce the benefits accruing from the FCC's unilateral, spectrum planning campaign.
Use of expandable stent retriever for mechanical thrombectomy of the right internal carotid artery terminus occlusion.

Background Tigertriever (Rapid Medical, Sunrise, FL) is an adjustable-diameter stent retriever that is being tested in an investigational device exemption clinical trial, Treatment with Intent to Generate Reperfusion (TIGER). The retriever is available in three lengths with corresponding adjustable diameters; however, a single device cannot be used for multiple thrombectomy attempts. A clicker-based expansion mechanism allows incremental expansion of the retriever and step-wise increase in radial force to the parent vessel diameter. The clicker mechanism is used to expand the stent retriever until it is apposed with the vessel walls. Rest of the procedure is similar to a mechanical thrombectomy performed with a conventional stent retriever and is demonstrated in the video. Case description We present a case of a 59-year-old woman who presented with left-upper extremity weakness, facial droop, and hemineglect. Perfusion imaging demonstrated increased time-to-peak. Angiography showed right internal carotid artery terminus occlusion. The patient underwent successful mechanical thrombectomy (Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction 2b reperfusion) using the Tigertriever and was discharged home without any perioperative complications. Conclusion An adjustable, expandable stent retriever allows operator to size the stent retriever to match the target artery diameter. The expandable design of stent retriever has potential implications for distal vessel occlusion mechanical thrombectomy.
Mergers when Firms Compete by Choosing both Price and Promotion

Enforcement agencies have a relatively good understanding of how to measure the loss of price competition caused by merger. However, when firms compete in multiple dimensions, merger effects are not well understood. In this paper, we study mergers in industries where firms compete by setting both price and promotion, and ask what happens if we mistakenly assume that price is the only dimension of competition. To answer the question, we build a structural model of the super-premium ice cream industry, where a 2003 merger between Haagen-Dazs and Dreyer’s was challenged by the Federal Trade Commission. A structural merger model that ignores promotional competition underpredicts the price effects of a merger in this industry (5% instead of 12%). About three-fourths of the difference can be attributed to estimation bias (estimated demand is too elastic), with the remainder due to extrapolation bias from assuming post-merger promotional activity stays constant (instead it declines
Limited Intradural Anterior Petrosectomy for Upper Basilar Aneurysms: A Technical Note.

Objective The extradural anterior petrosectomy is a widely used skull base approach to the upper petroclival region, basilar trunk, and ventral pons. However, there is significant procedure-related morbidity and a complete petrosectomy is required, as the intradural structures are not in view at the time of drilling. We describe an intradural anterior petrosectomy for aneurysms of the basilar trunk and anterior inferior cerebellar artery with intraoperative photographs and artwork to illustrate the approach. Methods A temporal craniotomy is made at the root of the zygoma and middle fossa floor. After opening dura, the trochlear nerve is identified at the tentorial edge. The tentorium is incised posterior to the trochlear nerve and the incision is carried forward across the cisternal segment of the trigeminal nerve toward V3 and the superior petrosal sinus. The petrous apex is identified and drilled lateral and posterior to V3 with a diamond bur. Intraoperative navigation is useful to confirm its location. Once posterior fossa dura is identified, the superior petrosal sinus may be safely cauterized and divided, connecting the tentorial incision with an incision in the posterior fossa dura, and exposing the upper basilar trunk and its branches. Additional bone is removed only as needed. Results Two patients underwent successful treatment of a basilar trunk perforator and anterior inferior cerebellar artery aneurysm with a subtemporal approach and tailored intradural petrosectomy. Conclusions The intradural anterior petrosectomy allows limited drilling of the petrous apex and provides sufficient exposure of upper basilar artery aneurysms.
Patient Reported Outcomes Measures in Advanced Heart Failure Patients

Purpose Patients are the best source of information about how they feel and how care affects them. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are standardized, validated questionnaires completed by patients to measure their perception of their well-being and health status. Aim: To create a cost-effective, valid, and sensitive PROMs data capture process for patients with Advanced Heart Failure (AHF) to understand to what extent a Heart Transplant (HT) affects their quality of life Methods A prospective data collection model has been designed for AHF patients eligible for HT based on the Outcomes Management and Evaluation (OME) system developed by Cleveland Clinic. Two types of data will be collected: 1) Patient condition-specific PROMs; 2) OME for HT and potential Bridge to Transplant Therapies (BTT). Patient condition-specific PROMs will be measured using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire and social determinants of health (e.g., smoking habits and drug abuse). The OME data for BTT include: A)Pre-BTT details (e.g., UNOS status),B)Post-BTT details (e.g., post-transplant mechanical support). The OME data for HT include:A)Pre-transplant details (e.g., UNOS status),B)Donor characteristics (e.g., ischemic trigger greater than 4 hours),C)Post-transplant details (e.g., post-transplant mechanical support). The process for collecting PROMs is divided into 5 phases (see fig). Results Data will start to be collected approximately in November 2020 until June 2021, aiming to have the first results analyzed by July 2021 Conclusion This is one of the first PROMs processes implemented in an AHF program to the best of our knowledge. Our goal is to imbed PROMs into our workflow and create an umbrella of PROMs across the entire Heart and Vascular Institute to measure the quality of care from our patients’ perspective to improve the clinical decision-making process.
A Gravity Model Analysis of the Impact On U.S.A.’s Involvement in NAFTA

The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the United States’ trade patterns in goods based on the gravity model and evaluate whether trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are in the best interest of the US economy. The Gravity Model, US-Canada empirical trade data, and US-Mexico data supports the theoretical model. While it’s hard to incorporate all the factors into the assumptions in estimating the trade among NAFTA, the econometric model proved that there is some positive impact in terms of increasing the overall goods trading volume as a result of the United States implementing NAFTA in the early 1990s. However, it is hard to evaluate the overall benefits due to the limitations of the model such as small sample sizes and few independent variables. The Ricardian model and the Heckscher-Ohlin model are used to provide theoretical grounds.
NanoSpring: reference-free lossless compression of nanopore sequencing reads using an approximate assembly approach

Abstract Motivation The amount of data produced by genome sequencing experiments has been growing rapidly over the past several years, making compression important for efficient storage, transfer and analysis of the data. In recent years, nanopore sequencing technologies have seen increasing adoption since they are portable, real-time and provide long reads. However, there has been limited progress on compression of nanopore sequencing reads obtained in FASTQ files. Previous work ENANO focuses mostly on quality score compression and does not achieve significant gains for the compression of read sequences over general-purpose compressors. RENANO achieves significantly better compression for read sequences but is limited to aligned data with a reference available. Results We present NanoSpring, a reference-free compressor for nanopore sequencing reads, relying on an approximate assembly approach. We evaluate NanoSpring on a variety of datasets including bacterial, metagenomic, plant, animal, and human whole genome data. For recently basecalled high quality nanopore datasets, NanoSpring achieves close to 3x improvement in compression over state-of-the-art reference-free compressors. The computational requirements of NanoSpring are practical, although it uses more time and memory during compression than previous tools to achieve the compression gains. Availability NanoSpring is available on GitHub at https://github.com/qm2/NanoSpring. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available on BioRxiv.
Investigation of glass-ceramic lithium thiophosphate solid electrolytes using NMR and neutron scattering

Abstract Solid-state Li batteries require solid electrolytes which have high Li+ conductivity and good chemical/mechanical compatibility with Li metal anodes and high energy cathodes. Structure/function correlations which relate local bonding to macroscopic properties are needed to guide development of new solid electrolyte materials. This study combines diffraction measurements with solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (ssNMR) and neutron pair distribution function (nPDF) analysis to probe the short-range vs. long-range structure of glass-ceramic Li3PS4-based solid electrolytes. This work demonstrates how different synthesis conditions (e.g., solvent selection and thermal processing) affect the resulting polyanionic network. More specifically, structures with high P coordination numbers (e.g., PS43− and P2S74−) correlate with higher Li+ mobility compared to other polyanions (e.g., (PS3)nn– chains and P2S64−). Overall, this work demonstrates how ssNMR and nPDF can be used to draw key structure/function correlations for solid-state superionic conductors.
Robust Comment Sections Need Robust Resources

I typically do not read news comments. They can be ugly and misinformed. They can decrease trust in journalists (Searles, Spencer, & Duru, 2020) and polarize reactions to news content (Anderson, Br...
Complement and autoimmunity: new insights into old questions

The innate immune system is now known to play an important role in modification of adaptive immunity. In addition, innate immunity is centrally important to the development of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a widely studied model for the human disease rheumatoid arthritis. Complement is a key component of the innate immune system, and complement activation in inflamed joints has been previously shown to both characterize active disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis as well as to be essential to the development of CIA in mice and other similar animal models. There is little understanding, however, of the specific mechanisms by which complement influences cellular and humoral autoimmunity in CIA, or how complement activation fragments intersect with other innate or adaptive immune mechanisms in the disease process. We have recently found that the alternative complement pathway component factor B is centrally involved in disease pathogenesis in the CIA model. Following transfer of anti-type II collagen monoclonal antibodies into factor B-deficient mice, only modest inflammation results as compared with wild-type mice. In addition, expression of complement receptor 2 (CR2/CD21) and complement receptor 1 (CR1/CD35), molecules that are expressed on B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes as well as follicular dendritic cells and are known links for innate and adaptive immunity, is required to develop CIA. Specifically, elimination of CR2/CR1 expression by gene targeting results in a marked decrease in the generation of arthritis following immunization with type II collagen in DBA1/j mice. Of interest, despite substantial protection from disease in receptor-deficient mice, only modest changes occur in IgG anti-type II collagen antibody subclass and isotype responses. Understanding the mechanisms by which the alternative pathway as well as complement receptors modulate inflammatory arthritis should provide important insights into the relationships between innate and adaptive immunity.
Wherefore Art Thou Romeo : Revitalizing Youngberg 's Protection of Liberty for the Civilly Committed

Thirty years ago, in Youngberg v. Romeo, the Supreme Court recognized that those who are involuntarily committed in a state institution enjoy a constitutionally protected liberty interest, which protects the right to reasonably safe conditions of confinement, freedom from unreasonable restraint, and minimally adequate training sufficient to ensure these liberty interests. In a unanimous decision, the Court held that when government officials make decisions that constitute a substantial departure from professional judgment, causing injury to these liberty interests, the officials violate the substantive due process guarantee of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Despite the Supreme Court’s admonition that those who are civilly committed in state institutions do not lose their core liberty interests and that they enjoy greater protection than convicted criminals, many lower courts have seriously eroded the substantive due process protection recognized in Youngberg. Two Supreme Court decisions, DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services and County of Sacramento v. Lewis, have fueled this erosion. This Article seeks to revitalize Youngberg’s protection of liberty for the civilly committed by explaining why neither DeShaney nor Lewis should be interpreted to limit the fundamental liberty interests recognized in that case.
Document Interrogation: Architecture, Information Extraction, Approximate Answers

We present an architecture for structuring and querying the contents of a set of documents which belong to an organization. The structure is a database which is semi-automatically populated using information extraction techniques. We provide an ontology-based language to interrogate the contents of the documents. The processing of queries in this language can give approximate answers and triggers a mechanism for improving the answers by doing additional information extraction of the textual sources. Individual database items have associated quality metadata which can be used when evaluating the quality of answers. The interaction between information extraction and query processing is a pivotal aspect of this research.
On a series of Furdui and Qin and some related integrals

In this note we present the solution of Problem H-691 (The Fibonacci Quarterly, 50 (1) 2012) with some corrections and more details. The solution involves three nontrivial integrals whose evaluations are given here.
In vitro activities of several diaminomethylpyridopyrimidines against Mycobacterium avium complex.

Three recently synthesized dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitors designated SoRI 8890, 8895, and 8897 were evaluated for their in vitro activities against 25 isolates of Mycobacterium avium complex. The MICs at which 50 and 90% of isolates were inhibited were 1 and 2, 4 and 8, and 4 and 8 μg/ml for SoRI 8890, 8895, and 8897, respectively. Although the addition of dapsone at 0.5 μg/ml did not significantly enhance the in vitro activities of these compounds, their activities alone were comparable to, if not better than, results seen with other DHFR inhibitors, such as pyrimethamine or WR99210.
Characterization of Voltage-activated Currents in Hermissenda Type B-Photoreceptors

Two distinct voltage-dependent K+ currents have been previously identified in the type B-photoreceptors of Hermissenda: an early, rapidly inactivating K+ current (IA), and a late, 4-AP- and TEA- resistant voltage and Ca(2+)-dependent current (IK(Ca)). Using conventional two-electrode voltage-clamp techniques, we have characterized two additional currents, a late voltage-dependent outward K+ current (IK(v)) and a voltage-dependent inward current identified as an inward rectifier (Iir). In addition, we have further studied the activation-inactivation kinetics of IA. In 0-Na+ ASW, Iir activates at a potential of > -50 mV, is steeply voltage-dependent and noninactivating, and reaches steady-state within 800 msec to 3 sec at - 100 mV. In addition to the variability in activation kinetics, there was also considerable variability in Iir magnitude (-5 to -80 nA, at - 100 mV). Iir was blocked by external 4-AP (5 mM), external and internal TEA, internal Cs+, but not external Ba2+. The major component of outward K+ current in type B-photoreceptors is IK(v), the delayed rectifier. IK(v) was isolated after removal of IA and IK(Ca). IK(v) activates at around -25 mV or more positive membrane potentials and its activation and inactivation are strongly voltage dependent. IK(v) inactivation to steady state is reached within 1.5–2.5 sec. The wide range of activation-inactivation rates suggests that there may be kinetic subtypes of IK(v). The proposed “slow” IK(v) peaked in 50–90 msec at +30 mV, and decayed with a single exponential component with an average tau off of 279 msec. Proposed “intermediate” and “fast” IK(v) subtypes peaked within 12–50 msec at +30 mV, and had a decay fitted by two exponentials, with an average tau 1 of 147 msec and tau 2 of 275 msec, respectively. IK(v) exhibited marked twin-pulse inactivation with a recovery time of 30–40 sec, and also exhibited time- and voltage- dependent cumulative inactivation to repeated depolarizing pulses. Both types of inactivation were quickly removed by a prepulse hyperpolarization. 4-AP (5 mM) produced partial to complete block of the inactivating component of IK(v), leaving only a residual sustained component. Complete block of the transient and sustained components of IK(v) was obtained by 100 mM TEA. Reliable voltage separation of IA from IK(v) was achieved by activating IA in the range of -50 to -20 mV, from a Vh of -80 mV. Voltage-dependent steady-state inactivation curves for IA were determined, yielding an average h0.5 value of -56 mV.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Principles and possible system-on-wafer applications of SSI-LEDs

A new type of Si-based LED has been demonstrated. In this paper, the basic device physics and operation principle are reviewed. The emitted light spectrum is similar to that of the sunlight in the visible wavelength range. The author discussed the possibility of preparing a system-on-wafer using this kind of device as the pixel element in the display integrated with the drivers, CPU, memory, etc. made of MOSFETs. Critical issues in realizing the new system are discussed.