cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical graph maps

Abstract Graphs and maps are powerful abstractions. Their combination, Hierarchical Graph Maps, provide effective tools to process a graph that is too large to fit on the screen. They provide hierarchical visual indices (i.e. maps) that guide navigation and visualization. Hierarchical graph maps deal in a unified manner with both the screen and I/O bottlenecks. This line of thinking adheres to the Visual Information Seeking Mantra: Overview first, zoom and filter, then details on demand (Information Visualization: dynamic queries, star field displays and lifelines, in www.cr.umd.edu, 1997). We highlight the main tasks behind the computation of Graph Maps and provide several examples. The techniques have been used experimentally in the navigation of graphs defined on vertex sets ranging from 100 to 250 million vertices.
Bird Communities in Silvicultural Fragments of Holly Springs National Forest, Mississippi

I surveyed bird communities during the 1999 and 2000 breeding seasons in oak-pine sawtimber (ST) stands, pine poletimber (PT) stands, high-density pine seed- ling (SS) stands, and recently clearcut areas throughout Holly Springs National Forest (HSNF), in north-central Mississippi. Species richness was 25% greater in forested stands compared to clearcut areas, yet total bird density was 50% greater in clearcut areas. Bird communities ranged from open-habitat assemblages in clearcut areas to forest-obligate assemblages in ST stands. Little overlap of avian community composi- tion was observed between ST stands and clearcut areas. PT and SS stands supported avian communities where most species were observed at intermediate abundance values compared to ST or clearcut areas. Highly fragmented, closed-canopy stands embedded within the silvicultural landscape of HSNF do not support large populations of species traditionally associated with detrimental edge effects on forest-obligate songbirds. Intensively managed PT and SS stands appear to provide suboptimal habitat for forest and grassland species. Land managers in HSNF could maximize regional avian diversity by maintaining a mosaic of large closed-canopy, oak-pine stands, and fire- maintained open areas embedded among other silvicultural stand types.
Drug Residue Considerations for Anesthetics and Adjunctive Drugs in Food-Producing Animals

This article is a summary of residue concerns for anesthetics and anesthetic adjuncts used in food animals. The risks associated with residues of these drugs in food-producing animals, as well as the veterinarian's responsibility to reduce this risk, are discussed. The potential for residues and suggestions for prevention in each of the major anesthetic drug classes are described. Suggested withdrawal times are proposed for nonapproved drugs used off label. Each class of drug is summarized in the tables.
Surface Chemical Modification and Analysis of Carbon Fibers - The Key to Novel Composites

Carbon fibers are finding increasing application in making various composites with special properties. It is found that such composites have properties that can be markedly effected by the carbon fiber surface. The effects of surface modification by electrochemical and plasma oxidation is discussed and the surface chemical changes described. The interaction of the matrix with the fiber surface is a subtle mixture of physical and chemical effects. The paper discusses work in the author's laboratory using surface studies with core and valence band X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and other techniques.
On the wide spectrum of abnormalities in the coronary arteries of Whipple's disease.

BACKGROUND There is growing interest in the role of microbes in the pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis but most of the evidence has been seroepidemiologic. It would be useful to know more about the cytology and histology of coronary lesions containing clearly depicted microbes. OBJECTIVE To define carefully the assorted abnormalities apparent in the coronary arteries of individuals dying with Whipple's disease. METHODS Myocardial tissue from 12 cases of Whipple's disease was studied by light microscopy. Slides were stained routinely (in sequence) with either the periodic-acid-Schiff (PAS) or Goldner-trichrome method and some with Gomori methenimine silver. Cardiac slides with PAS-positive bacilli were compared to lesions in jejunal lamina propria. RESULTS There were abundant sites of coronary arterial damage associated with presence of Whipple bacilli, more in the tunica media than in intima and adventitia. Bacilli in the arterial lesions were identical to those in lamina propria. Medial lesions were often associated with a fibroproliferative 'atheroma'. Both intracellular and extracellular bacilli were found. Most lesions were devoid of inflammation, but some sites exhibited either florid arteritis or dense scarring. Arteries that were scarred or inflamed exhibited only a few bacilli. There was an apparent affinity of bacilli for the nuclei in medial smooth muscle cells and in nearby ventricular myocytes. Apoptosis (TUNEL-positive) was present in medial smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, and ventricular myocytes. CONCLUSIONS There is a wide spectrum of coronary abnormalities in Whipple's disease. It would be useful to know how often the Whipple bacillus is a part of the total pathogen burden in coronary disease.
Frustration and Self-Ordering of Topological Defects in Ferroelectrics

A first-principles-based effective Hamiltonian technique is used to investigate the interplay between geometrical frustration and the ordering of topological defects in a ferroelectric nanocomposite consisting of a square array of BaTiO_{3} nanowires embedded in a Ba_{0.15}Sr_{0.85}TiO_{3} matrix. Different arrangements of the wires' chiralities geometrically frustrate the matrix, which in response exhibits point topological defects featuring self-assembled ordered structures spatially fluctuating down to the lowest temperatures. These fluctuations thereby endow the system with residual configurational entropy from which many properties characteristic of geometric frustration, such as the ground state degeneracy and the broadness of the dielectric response, are further found to originate.
Two North Carolina Commuting Patterns

TrHIS study examines the commuting patterns of production workers at two industrial establishments in eastern North Carolina. Each of the two plants investigated is situated in the area of Kinston, a city of nearly 30,000 population, and together they account for well over half of the manufacturing employment in the county centered on that city.' One of the establishments, a producer of synthetic fiber,2 employs approximately 2200 persons and is noted for its "aboveaverage" wages; it employs workers who commute from points within a broad area extending out 40 miles and more. The other plant, a shirt factory,8 employs about 900 persons, and is considered "below-average" in its wages; it draws much of its labor from the area in the immediate vicinity of the plant. The two industrial facilities thus provide a broad spectrum of wages and commuting distances and facilitate an examination of wages and other factors as variables affecting the pattern of commuting of industrial workers in
Financial Incentives and Diabetes Disease Control in Employees: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis

Background Many employers offer worksite wellness programs, including financial incentives to achieve goals. Evidence supporting such programs is sparse.
Out-of-Plane Translational PZT Bimorph Actuator with Archimedes’ Spiral Actuating Tethers

The design, finite element analysis (FEA), and experimental characterization of a MEMS out-of-plane (vertical) translational lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) bimorph actuator supported on Archimedes' spiral tethers are presented. Two types of bimorph actuators with different electrode patterns (with spiral tethers half actuated or fully actuated) are designed and fabricated. Both designs are fabricated by commercial processes and are compatible with integration into more complex MEMS systems. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to analyze and predict the displacements of both types of actuators. The deflections of both fully- actuated and half-actuated devices were measured experimentally to validate the design. At an applied voltage of 110V, the out-of-plane deflections of the actuators with half-actuated and fully-actuated tethers were measured at about 17 μm and 29 μm respectively, in good agreement with FEA predictions of 17.1 μm and 25.8 μm. The corresponding blocking forces are predicted as 10 mN and 17 mN by FEA.
Polarity of 11-cis retinal release from cultured retinal pigment epithelium.

PURPOSE. Fetal bovine retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) was grown on porous supports to investigate the polarity of 11-cis retinal (RAL) release from these cells and the influence that the interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) has on this process. METHODS. [ 3 H]all-trans retinol (ROL) was delivered to the basal surface of the cultured RPE by serum retinol-binding protein (RBP). Apo IRBP was added to either the apical or basal medium, or was absent from the incubation entirely. RESULTS. The greatest level of [ 3 H]11-cis RAL was detected in the apical medium but only when apo IRBP was present there. When apo IRBP was present only in the basal medium, or was absent from the incubation entirely, low levels of [ 3 H]11-cis RAL were released apically and basally. CONCLUSIONS. If 11-cis RAL release were constitutive, one would expect to find elevated levels of this retinoid in the apical and basal media in the absence of apo IRBP. Instead, the enhancement of [ 3 H]11-cis RAL release into the apical, but not the basal, medium in the presence of apo IRBP suggests that [ 3 H]11-cis RAL release is polarized and dependent on the presence of apo IRBP. It is postulated, therefore, that a mechanism such as an IRBP membrane receptor in the apical plasma membrane may he responsible for this polarity.
A 94GHz FMCW instrumentation radar

We report on the use of a versatile 94GHz FMCW instrumentation radar to assess optimum hardware configurations for a variety of co-polar and cross-polar target classification studies. Phase noise and sweep linearity are critical parameters in FMCW radars and optimising them is a key objective of any high performance radar system. We have made a systematic comparison of fundamental sources (bias tuned Gunn, varactor tuned Gunn) and multiplied sources (commercial YIG based sweeper, YIG tuned oscillator, permanent magnet YIG tuned oscillator) to ascertain their relative phase noise contributions and FMCW sweep linearities at 94GHz. The radar will also be used to investigate the effect on target return signal coherence as a function of time for different sources. We present details of the calibration against the radar range equation and the effects of variable sweep bandwidth (and hence range resolution). The radar can also be configured for arbitrary polarisation (V, H, +45, -45, RC, LC) and demonstrates high polarisation isolation (33dB) which is required for the accurate assessment of cross-polar radar cross section (RCS), and we will present preliminary results for standard targets and clutter.
Clinicopathological characteristics of subsequent breast cancers in patients with benign breast disease

1061 Background: Benign breast disease (BBD) is a significant risk factor for breast cancer (BC); however little is known about the aggressiveness of the BCs these patients develop. Shared features between select atypias and low-grade DCIS have led some to speculate that a history of BBD portends the development of well-differentiated BCs. Methods: The Mayo BBD cohort includes 9,376 women who had benign breast biopsies from 1967–1991. Data on BC events were obtained from medical records and questionnaires. Tissue from the BCs was reviewed by a single breast pathologist (DWV). Results: Our cohort included 6,244 patients with nonproliferative disease (NP), 2,801 women with proliferative disease without atypia (PDWA), and 331 with atypical hyperplasias (AH). With a median of 18 years of follow-up, 799 patients with BBD have developed breast cancer, 416 initially had NP, 313 had PDWA, and 70 AH. BC tissue was available for 703 of the women. The cancers were invasive ductal in 76.1% (n = 535), invasive lobular...
The Health of Africans: Portuguese, Belgian, Italian, Spanish, and German Rule

This chapter starts with a brief discussion of the demographic impact of the various colonial policies in Africa, which are said to have caused or were associated with the recurrence of famine and hunger and infertility, as well as the resulting depopulation in almost every colony, and the rapid spread of disease. Studies of the colonial period show that concern about higher infertility among colonized Africans was more pronounced among the concessionaire companies’ work areas, particularly in French Equatorial Africa, Chad, Oubangui-Shari (Central African Republic), Congo, and Gabon, and in such East African territories as Uganda (Retel-Laurentin 1974; Romaniuk 1967). The concern for infertility forced the French colonial regime, which suspected that the condition was a result of the ravages of sleeping sickness, to initiate major campaigns against epidemics during the 1920s. In fact, Denis Cordell, writing on infertility in Equatorial Africa, noted that: “At the end of the nineteenth century, Oubangui-Shari was characterized by high and increasing mortality, by what was probably the manifestation of low fertility and some sterility, and by new patterns of more intensified migration. Morbidity and the health environment in general, probably suffered rapid deterioration, particularly with the introduction of new diseases and the epidemic outbreak of old ones. ” All this was certainly exacerbated by new epidemics, slavery, and colonialism, causing the higher devastation during the first 10 years of 1900. Cordell et al. put it in no unclear terms:
Effects of Medicare Coverage of a "Welcome-to-Medicare" Visit on Use of Preventive Services among New Medicare Enrollees.

In January 2005, Medicare began covering a one-time initial preventive physical examination (IPPE), also called a “Welcome-to-Medicare” visit, during a beneficiary’s first 6 months under Part B. This paper examines the effects of offering Medicare IPPE coverage on the use of mammograms, breast self-exams, Pap smears, prostate cancer screenings, cholesterol screenings, and flu vaccines among beneficiaries new to Part B. We adopt a difference-in-difference estimator and estimate a set of multivariate logit models to quantify the effects of introducing Medicare IPPE coverage on the use of preventive services. Models are estimated separately for men and women. Data for the analysis come from the 1996–2008 Health and Retirement Study. Among both men and women, having coverage for a one-time IPPE under Medicare had no effects on the utilization of any of the preventive services listed above. In this study, we find that offering coverage for a one-time IPPE under Medicare was insufficient to spur greater use of preventive services among new Medicare beneficiaries. These findings are important and suggest that policy-makers may need to consider other approaches to increase the use of recommended preventive services.
Beyond Dysplasia Grade: The Role of Biomarkers in Stratifying Risk

Gastroenterology society guidelines recommend endoscopic surveillance as a means to detect early stage cancer in Barrett's esophagus. However, the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma in Western countries continues to increase, suggesting that this strategy may be inadequate. Current surveillance methods rely on the endoscopist's ability to identify suspicious areas of Barrett's esophagus to biopsy, random biopsies, and on the histopathologic diagnosis of dysplasia. This review highlights the challenges of using dysplasia to stratify cancer risk and addresses the development and use of molecular biomarkers and in vivo molecular imaging to detect early neoplasia in Barrett's esophagus.
Reliability of large I/O LGA and FCBGA assemblies under thermal shock/cycles and aging: Comparison of HASL and ENEPIG PCB finish

This paper presents the reliability of a plastic land grid array (LGA) with 1156 pads, 1.0-mm pitch, and the reliability of a flip-chip ball grid array (FCBGA) with 1924 balls, 1-mm pitch, assembled with tin-lead solder onto printed circuit boards (PCBs). Surface finishes for PCBs were electroless nickel electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG) and tin-lead hot air solder level (HASL). The LGA assemblies were first subjected to 200 thermal cycles (−55°C to 125°C) and then to 324 hours of aging at +125°C. The FCBGA assemblies were subjected to 200 thermal shock cycles (TS) in the range of −65°C to +150°C. Test results presented include daisy-chain resistances, SEM/X-section images, and dye and pry destructive failure analyses for HASL and ENEPIG surface finishes.
Über die Aktivierungen durch Spaltprodukte

Der Ausdruck Aktivierung ist fur die Zwecke der unspezifischen Therapie entschieden dem Worte „Reizung“ uberlegen. Durch das Wort „Aktivierung“ kommt kurz und klar zum Ausdruck, worauf es ankommt, auf eine Reaktionsanderung im Sinne der Leistungssteigerung. Diese ist bei Anwendung geeigneter Methoden stets nachzuweisen. Besonders leicht gelingt dieser Nachweis naturlich bei spezifisch sensibilisierten Zellen oder Organen, oder bei solchen, die bereits physiologisch auf eine spezifische Leistung eingestellt sind. Die Reaktionsanderung im Sinne der Leistungssteigerung ist praktisch fur uns die wichtigste und hangt ab: 1. von dem angewandten Mittel 2. von seiner Konzentration am Orte der Wirksamkeit 3. vom Zustande des zu beeinflussenden Organes.
Microbial associates of the southern mole cricket (Scapteriscus borellii) are highly pathogenic

We report the isolation and identification of seven bacterial strains and one fungal strain from dead and diseased Scapteriscus borellii mole crickets collected from a golf course in southern California. Using 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequence analysis we identified the microbes as Serratia marcescens (red), S. marcescens (white), S. marcescens (purple), Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Chryseobacterium sp., Ochrobactrum anthropi, Tsukamurella tryosinosolvens, and Beauveria bassiana. We performed a dose response curve for each of these cricket-associated microbial strains (except T. tryosinosolvens) and two other strains of S. marcescens (DB1140 and ATCC 13880). We found that all of these microbes except O. anthropi were highly pathogenic to D. melanogaster compared to the other strains of S. marcescens. Injecting the mole cricket associated strains of Serratia into flies killed all infected flies in ≤24h. For all other strains, the median time to death of injected flies varied in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo growth assessments of these microbes suggested that the host immune system was quickly overcome. We used disease tolerance curves to better understand the host-microbe interactions. Further studies are necessary to understand in mechanistic detail the virulence mechanisms of these mole cricket associated microbes and how this association may have influenced the evolution of mole cricket immunity.
Trust-Based Multi-stakeholder Decision Making in Water Allocation System

Water allocation domain requires collaboration among stakeholders when making any decision regarding the solution to use to get the maximum benefits with fewer damages. The challenging part of the water allocation system is the interactions among those entities with the existence of conflicts. Therefore, there has to be a decision-making model that takes the stakeholders into account when producing the best outcomes. Due to the involvement of people who make the decision, trust among them comes to the picture. Moreover, every solution is associated with a number of benefits and damages. Trust is used as primary criteria in decision-making model along with the damages and benefits associated with each solution. The main contribution of this paper is to build a multi-stakeholder Decision-Making Model having these characteristics: trust, damages, and benefits as criteria, trust is associated with the involvement of the human. The model is dynamic by adapting to the changes over time. The decision to select is the solution that is fair with almost everyone.
Rapid Thermal Processing to Enhance Steel Toughness

Quenching and Tempering (Q&T) has been utilized for decades to alter steel mechanical properties, particularly strength and toughness. While tempering typically increases toughness, a well-established phenomenon called tempered martensite embrittlement (TME) is known to occur during conventional Q&T. Here we show that short-time, rapid tempering can overcome TME to produce unprecedented property combinations that cannot be attained by conventional Q&T. Toughness is enhanced over 43% at a strength level of 1.7 GPa and strength is improved over 0.5 GPa at an impact toughness of 30 J. We also show that hardness and the tempering parameter (TP), developed by Holloman and Jaffe in 1945 and ubiquitous within the field, is insufficient for characterizing measured strengths, toughnesses, and microstructural conditions after rapid processing. Rapid tempering by energy-saving manufacturing processes like induction heating creates the opportunity for new Q&T steels for energy, defense, and transportation applications.
Inappropriate lubricant use with condoms by homosexual men.

Use of condoms has been advocated as an important method of reducing the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission among high-risk groups such as homosexual and bisexual men, prostitutes, intravenous drug users, adolescents, and hemophiliacs. Despite risk-reduction education campaigns directed to gay men since the early 1980s, evidence shows continued deficits in condom-use skills and knowledge among gay men. Because most failures in the use of condoms are attributed to errors in use, increasing knowledge and skills in condom use is important in preventing HIV infection. Two groups of homosexual and bisexual men were sampled, those entering a risk-reduction education program and participants in a Gay Pride event. They were surveyed on their current sex practices and their efforts to reduce their risk of HIV infection. They were asked about their numbers of sex partners, specific sexual behaviors, use of condoms, types of condoms used, and lubricants used for genital-anal sex. The characteristics of those surveyed were similar to those of respondents in other studies of risk reduction among gay men. The use of an oil-based lubricant with condoms has been shown to weaken latex and to increase the likelihood of condom breakage, which use of water-based lubricants does not. Among respondents who reported having genital-anal sex, 60 percent reported use of an oil-based lubricant with a condom at least once during the year before the survey. Gay men in sexually exclusive relationships engaged in less consistent use of condoms for receptive genital-anal sex than did single gay men. The duration of their relationship with a partner was unrelated to the consistency of risk reducing behaviors practiced by men in sexually exclusive relationships. Gay Pride participants engaged in sexual behavior that was relatively more risky for HIV transmission than did the other group. Gay Pride participants used condoms less consistently for genital-anal sex than did the risk-reduction program entrants.The findings indicate the need for better risk reduction education efforts directed to gay men. Continued improvement in these efforts will require assessing the effectiveness and consistency of risk reduction efforts, determining the potential for gay men to relapse into more risky behavior, and identifying gaps in the knowledge of risk-reduction efforts among gay and bisexual men. Risk reduction programs need to emphasize motivational factors, provide basic information on how one determines the content of lubricants, explain why water-based lubricants only should be used, and teach how to use condoms properly. Active outreach is needed to gay and bisexual men who are unlikely to voluntarily enroll in risk-reduction programs.
Folate-Mediated Targeting of Antisense Oligodeoxynucleotides to Ovarian Cancer Cells

Purpose. Receptors for vitamin folic acid are frequently overexpressed on epithelial cancer cells, especially ovarian cancer cells. In this study, we examined whether this expression might be exploited to specifically deliver antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) to tumor cells.
Technology and the future of work: the impact on labour markets and welfare states

The entanglement of technology and society is not a new phenomenon, but some recent academic literature may indicate otherwise. Ongoing fascination with artificial intelligence developments and the...
Improvers and functional ingredients in whole wheat bread: A review of their effects on dough properties and bread quality

Abstract Background Despite the associated health benefits of whole grains, consumption of whole grain products remains far below recommended levels. Whole wheat bread is often associated with many distinctive attributes such as low loaf volume, firm and gritty texture, dark and rough crust and crumb appearance, bitter flavor, and reduced shelf-life. There is a need to improve its quality and sensory characteristics so as to increase consumer appeal and, ultimately, increase the intake of whole wheat bread. The inclusion of various ingredients improves dough and bread properties. Scope and approach This review examines the effects of enzymes, emulsifiers, hydrocolloids, and oxidants on the properties of whole wheat bread and dough, with particular attention to effects on loaf volume and hardness. Wheat gluten and other plant materials are also discussed. Gaps in the research into whole wheat bread are identified, and future research needs are recommended. Key findings and conclusions Xylanase reduces the water absorption of whole wheat flour and increases loaf volume and crumb softness by hydrolyzing ararbinoxylans. α-amylase can be beneficial under certain conditions. Phytase may activate endogenous α-amylase. G4-amylase is promising but needs validation by further research on its effect on loaf volume, crumb hardness, and staling. Vital wheat gluten overcomes many of the challenges of whole wheat bread production and is found in the majority of commercial whole wheat breads. Emulsifiers DATEM and SSL can improve the volume, texture and staling profile of whole wheat bread. Several types of improvers are generally needed in combination to provide the greatest improvement to whole wheat dough and bread.
Learning vs. Leaking: Indirect Ties to Competitors and Firm Innovation

Are all ties good for innovation? The burgeoning literature on networks and innovation argues that network ties are a source of trust, information sharing, and reciprocal exchange that enable conne...
Blind Obedience: The Structure and Content of Wittgenstein's Later Philosophy

There is considerable debate amongst philosophers as to the basic philosophical problem Wittgenstein is attempting to solve in Philosophical Investigations. In this bold and original work, Meredith Williams argues that it is the problem of "normative similarity". In Blind Obedience Williams demonstrates how Wittgenstein criticizes traditional, representationalist theories of language by employing the ‘master/novice’ distinction of the learner, arguing that this distinction is often overlooked but fundamental to understanding philosophical problems about mind and language. The book not only provides revealing discussions of Wittgenstein’s corpus but also intricate analyses of the work of Brandom, Dummett, Frege, Sellars, Davidson, Cavell and others. These are usefully compared in a bid to better situate Wittgenstein’s non-intellectualist, non-theoretical approach and to highlight is unique features.
Enhanced Stability of Heterostructures Under Pressure

Epitaxial heterostructures configured as single or repeated layers, and, more recently, as islands, have become ubiquitous within semiconductor physics because of the diverse phenomena and applications made possible through their tailored growth.[1] The practical limits of heterostructure tailoring are defined by a variety of instabilities related to bulk, interface, and local bonding properties, and the study of these instabilities offers fundamental insight into the competition between mechanical and chemical forces at each structural level. Despite the importance of such issues, most experimental and theoretical work on heterostructure stability has been limited to external environments compatible with growth, and, hence, has not considered the effects of extreme hydrostatic pressure.[2–4] Although this is understandable in terms of current interest trends, it overlooks the nature of pressure as a thermodynamic parameter capable of shifting heterostructures into regions of phase space which ordinarily are either inaccessible, or only attained in chemically different materials systems.
Kinetic parameters of thiamine degradation in NASA spaceflight foods determined by the endpoints method for long-term storage.

Abstract Retention of labile vitamins such as thiamine (vitamin B1) in NASA spaceflight foods intended for extended-duration missions is critical for the health of the crew. In this study, the degradation kinetics of thiamine in three NASA spaceflight foods (brown rice, split pea soup, BBQ beef brisket) during storage was determined for the first time, using an interactive isothermal model developed by our group. Results showed that brown rice and split pea soup demonstrated resistance to thiamine degradation, while thiamine in beef brisket was less stable. Model-predicted thiamine retention in brown rice stored at 20 °C for 720 days was 55% of the original thiamine content after thermal processing, 42% for split pea soup, and 3% for beef brisket. Water activity, moisture content, and pH differences did not sufficiently explain the variation in the degradation kinetics of thiamine among these foods.
“People care about building the community here”: Enacting community in a women’s recreational soccer group

This qualitative study uses the bona fide group perspective to explore how members of a recreational soccer group communicatively enact their sport community. The group consists of women who meet w...
Asperity failure control of stick-slip along brittle faults

Stick–slips are spontaneous, unstable slip events during which a natural or man-made system transitions from a strong, sticking stage to a weaker, slipping stage. Stick–slips were proposed by Brace and Byerlee (Science 153:990–992, 1966) as the experimental analogue of natural earthquakes. We analyze here the mechanics of stick–slips along brittle faults by conducting laboratory experiments and by modeling the instability mechanics. We performed tens of shear tests along experimental faults made of granite and gabbro that were subjected to normal stresses up to 14.3 MPa and loading velocities of 0.26–617 µm/s. We observed hundreds of spontaneous stick–slips that displayed shear stress drops up to 0.66 MPa and slip-velocities up to 14.1 mm/s. The pre-shear and post-shear fault surface topography were mapped with atomic force microscopy at pixel sizes as low as 0.003 µm2. We attribute the sticking phase to the locking of touching asperities and the slipping phase to the brittle failure of these asperities, and found that the fault asperities are as strong as the inherent strength of the host rock. Based on the experimental observations and analysis, we derived a mechanical model that predicts the relationships between the measured stick–slip properties (stress-drop, duration, and slip-distance) and asperity strength.
Experimental determination of the role of increased surface area in pool boiling from nanostructured surfaces

Abstract The use of nanostructured surfaces to enhance pool boiling heat transfer performance has previously been demonstrated for a variety of outwardly-projecting nanostructures such as nanowires and nanotubes. Such enhancement has been attributed to a variety of factors, including greater surface area, improved wickability, and superior nucleation site density as compared to unmodified surfaces. However, since these three phenomena are inherently interlinked with the presence of the nanostructures, isolating each one for independent study to truly understand its relative importance in enhancing pool boiling heat transfer has remained a challenge. In this work, nanoporous anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) films on metallic aluminum (Al) substrates are used to serve as an inverse representation of an aligned nanowire array with similar increase in surface area but without inter-nanowire/nanotube wicking action or significant change in observed static wetting behavior relative to Al control samples with a solid native oxide film. Further, it is shown via a combination of experiment and analytical modeling that the AAO-covered Al samples studied here do not represent a significant increase in nucleation site density relative to the control samples. In this way, the influence of enhanced surface area of a nanostructured sample on pool boiling performance was isolated and quantitatively determined. Pool boiling performance for Al samples with solid native oxides and AAO films was measured using a custom-built test setup, with the commercial, low surface tension, dielectric coolant Novec™ HFE-7100 as the working fluid. Results were interpreted via a nanopore wetting model along with imaging analysis of bubble size, which collectively point to wickability and nucleation site density playing a greater role than increased surface area in nanostructure-based pool boiling enhancement.
Anti-muslim bias in the Chinese labor market

Abstract Is there a Muslim disadvantage in economic integration to the Chinese economy? Do political mandates from the government help reduce disparities? To answer these questions, we conducted a large-scale audit study and submitted over 4000 resumes of fictitious male candidates to job advertisements for accounting and administrative positions posted by private firms, state-owned firms and foreign firms. We randomized the ethnic identities of job applicants, their academic merit, and requested salaries. Our results show that a Muslim job seeker is more than 50% less likely to receive a callback than a Han job seeker, and higher academic merit does not compensate for this bias. Importantly, we find that state-owned enterprises are equally likely to discriminate against Muslim job seekers, despite their political mandate to increase diversity. Interview evidence suggests that besides productivity concerns and outright hostility towards outgroups, bias is also driven by employer concerns over the operational costs of accommodating a diverse workforce.
Wall Effect Mitigation Techniques for Experiments with Planar Walls

Experiments in porous media suffer from preferential flow along apparatus walls—called the wall effect—which results from higher porosity and therefore higher permeability near the walls. Through a theoretical analysis of porosity in a three-dimensional rectangular apparatus containing spherical beads with hexagonal close packing, this study shows that porosity, and therefore wall effects, exhibits different behavior along each of the orthogonal walls. This study also experimentally evaluates two techniques for mitigating wall effects in experiments of solute transport in porous media using monodisperse, spherical beads in hexagonal close packing as the bulk porous medium. The first mitigation technique adds a sublayer of smaller beads of one third of the diameter of the primary beads between the wall and the bulk media. The second mitigation technique applies a half-bead-diameter-thick layer of silicone to the wall and embeds one layer of beads into the silicone, creating a wall of hemispheres. Both techniques seek to impose more uniform porosity up to the wall. Velocity profiles indicate that both techniques eliminate preferential flow along the wall and therefore are effective at mitigating the wall effect.
Discontinuous wrapping transition of spherical nanoparticles by tensionless lipid membranes

We present a numerical study of the wrapping of spherical nanoparticles by tensionless lipid membranes using molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained implicit solvent model. We found that the degree of wrapping of small nanoparticles increases continuously with the adhesion strength for nanoparticles with diameter less than or about 15 nm. In contrast, the increase in the degree of wrapping becomes discontinuous for larger nanoparticles and exhibits a clear hysteresis when upward and downward annealing scans with respect to adhesion strength are performed. The gap in the degree of wrapping increases with the increase in the diameter of nanoparticles. These results are in qualitative agreement with the mean field prediction that large nanoparticles are either unbound or completely wrapped by tensionless lipid membranes.
Shared Decision-Making Applied to Knee Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials.

OBJECTIVE Shared decision-making (SDM) is a strongly endorsed approach by which patients and clinicians work together to formulate a sensible care plan. The present study was undertaken to conduct a systematic review of SDM trials in patients considering knee arthroplasty (KA) to characterize how SDM was supported and the impact on care received. METHODS We searched multiple bibliographic databases from inception to December 31, 2019. A pair of reviewers working independently selected studies for inclusion, extracted data, and evaluated each trial's risk of bias. RESULTS We found 6 eligible randomized trials (4 included KA and hip arthroplasty), all of which tested the same proprietary decision aid (DA) (Treatment Choices for Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis), with some adding other materials to support SDM. These trials, all of which had moderate-to-high risk of bias, focused on assessing the effect of the DA on patient knowledge about the options while not explicitly supporting other aspects of SDM, such as choice awareness, deliberation, or decision-making. One trial found an increase in the number of African American patients undergoing KA in the 12 months following the intervention. No other trials found that SDM impacts clinical outcomes. CONCLUSION Evidence for SDM in patients considering KA is mostly limited to a single DA. While use of this DA improves patient knowledge about their treatment options, this tool has not been shown to promote SDM, impact treatment decisions, or satisfaction with care. Future work should seek to support SDM directly and assess effects on treatment decisions, functional outcomes, and satisfaction.
The Incommensurable and the Visible: Gaetano Chiurazzi’s Ontology of Incommensurability and Merleau-Ponty’s Theory of Perception

In Dynamis. Ontologia dell’incommensurabile, Gaetano Chiurazzi offers an account of the philosophical sense and implications of the discovery of incommensurable magnitudes in ancient thought. In his study, Chiurazzi presents the scope of the idea of incommensurability in contrast to those theories that have interpreted perception as the primary access to reality. Chiurazzi claims that the discovery of incommensurable relations, such as that of “1/square root of 2,” which expresses the relation between the side and the diagonal of a square, introduces the conception of asymmetrical relations into Western epistemology and ontology. This conception finds in the modern idea of transcendental philosophy its mature formulation. In this paper, I draw on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s proposal of a phenomenology of perception in order to critically evaluate the working assumption in Chiurazzi’s account that perception is the faculty of intuition that seizes upon the individual and therefore as “atomic” in nature.
Screening for and Personalizing Prevention of Adolescent Depression.

Depression is a prevalent, distressing, and often recurrent disorder. Adolescence represents a vulnerable developmental period when rates of depression surge and many people experience their first ...
Preoperative Stress Test and Postoperative MI in Patients Requiring Lower Extremity Bypass for Critical Limb Ischemia.

Background Patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) often require lower extremity bypass surgery for limb salvage. A myocardial infarction (MI) is a major postoperative risk. Our objective is to assess the utility of preoperative stress test in determining patient outcomes. Methods This is a retrospective study utilizing the national Vascular Quality Initiative database. We collected data from 2013–2018 on all patients undergoing lower extremity bypass for CLI and assessed whether or not they had a preoperative stress test. Rates of an MI were then compared between groups of patients who either did not receive a stress test, had a normal stress test or a positive stress test. An MI was distinguished as troponin only and electrocardiogram (EKG)/clinical. Our secondary end point was in-hospital mortality. Univariate and multivariate analysis with the stress test as a covariate was used to determine significance. Results During this time period, 29,937 bypasses were performed on 27,219 patients. The average age was 67.5 years (±11.09), 66.3% were men, and 17.3% were African American. Risk factors included hypertension (89.5%), diabetes (55.9%), congestive heart failure (20%), coronary artery disease (32.5%), coronary artery bypass graft (22.2%), and percutaneous coronary intervention (21%). 19,108 patients (64.1%) did not undergo the stress test before bypass, 6,830 (22.9%) had a normal stress test, and 2,898 (9.7%) had a positive stress test. Overall rate of an MI was 4%, with 2% being troponin only and 2% EKG/clinical. The positive stress test had a higher rate of troponin only (2.85%) as well as EKG/clinical (3.37%) MI. For every 10 year increase in age, the odds of having a postoperative MI increased by 27% (P Conclusions A positive stress test before lower extremity bypass is a significant predictor of a postoperative MI. However, mortality increase was minimal in patients with a positive stress test. Therefore, the stress test result should not delay care for patients needing urgent revascularization.
"Oh, I don't even know how to say this in Spanish": The Linguistic Representation of Latinxs in Jane the Virgin

Abstract In the absence of complex and diverse Latinx characters in entertainment media, film and television representations of Latinxs’ culture and language typically embody limiting and harmful stereotypes. However, the highly praised U.S.-based romantic comedy-drama “Jane the Virgin” offers a very different representation. With believable characters and complex linguistic dynamics, the show provides a positive and relatively realistic representation both of Latinxs across generations and of their linguistic repertoires as documented in community studies of Latinx language. Through an analysis of the linguistic practices of Latinx characters in “Jane the Virgin,” including patterns of intergenerational language shift, linguistic accommodation, and codeswitching, it is argued that the show acknowledges and treats as unmarked the linguistic complexity of Latinx families and communities. At the same time, the show oversimplifies this complexity in some ways, creating a representation that may be perceived as authentic despite its divergence from real-world Latinx language use.
Ultrasound computer tomography based tissue engineered blood vessel growth monitoring: a feasibility study

The advancement in bio-engineering technology has enabled tissues to be artificially cultivated from human cells, providing the opportunity to model disease and discover potential treatments 1 . Blood vessel is an important category of human tissues that can be artificially engineered to facilitate the development of treatment plans for vascular diseases. The growth of tissue engineered blood vessels (TEBVs) is a costly procedure, and effective quality control during the growing process could help reduce waste and optimize the cultivation process. Imaging technologies, such as optical coherence tomography5,6 (OCT), have been applied to obtain cross-sectional images of TEBVs, which could be used as a nondestructive method to assess blood vessel during cultivation. Ultrasound (US) imaging has been widely accepted in clinical practice due to its real-time imaging capacity and zero radiation emission; and compared to optics-based imaging modality it is more accessible financially. We implemented an US computer tomography (USCT) based monitoring system on assisting quality control in TEBV growth. In this prototype, a single element transducer is placed in a circular stand that rotates around the TEBV bioreactor to collect A-lines from different angles. Mechatronics systems are used to actuate the transducer for circular motion. A circular back-projection method is used in image reconstruction. Experiments were carried out with point phantom and the bioreactor to validate the imaging functionality of the prototype. Reconstructed images provide validation to the feasibility of using USCT to monitor the growth of TEBV growth.
Performance Decay of Molecular Assays Near the Limit of Detection: Probabilistic Modeling using Real-World COVID-19 Data

The gold standard for diagnosis of COVID-19 is detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by RT-PCR. However, the effect of systematic changes in specimen viral burden on the overall assay performance is not quantitatively described. We observed decreased viral burdens in our testing population as the pandemic progressed, with median sample Ct values increasing from 22.7 to 32.8 from weeks 14 and 20, respectively. We developed a method using computer simulations to quantify the implications of variable SARS-CoV-2 viral burden on observed assay performance. We found that overall decreasing viral burden can have profound effects on assay detection rates. When real-world Ct values were used as source data in a bootstrap resampling simulation, the sensitivity of the same hypothetical assay decreased from 97.59 (95% CI 97.3-97.9) in week 12, to 74.42 (95% CI 73.9-75) in week 20. Furthermore, simulated assays with a 3-fold or 10-fold reduced sensitivity would both appear to be >95% sensitive early in the pandemic, but sensitivity would fall to 85.55 (95% CI 84.9-86.2) and 74.38 (95% CI 73.6-75.1) later in the pandemic, respectively. Our modeling approach can be used to better quantitate the impact that specimen viral burden may have on the clinical application of tests and specimens.
In Vivo Estimation of Ketogenesis Using Metabolic Flux Analysis—Technical Aspects and Model Interpretation

Ketogenesis occurs in liver mitochondria where acetyl-CoA molecules, derived from lipid oxidation, are condensed into acetoacetate (AcAc) and reduced to β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). During carbohydrate scarcity, these two ketones are released into circulation at high rates and used as oxidative fuels in peripheral tissues. Despite their physiological relevance and emerging roles in a variety of diseases, endogenous ketone production is rarely measured in vivo using tracer approaches. Accurate determination of this flux requires a two-pool model, simultaneous BHB and AcAc tracers, and special consideration for the stability of the AcAc tracer and analyte. We describe the implementation of a two-pool model using a metabolic flux analysis (MFA) approach that simultaneously regresses liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) ketone isotopologues and tracer infusion rates. Additionally, 1H NMR real-time reaction monitoring was used to evaluate AcAc tracer and analyte stability during infusion and sample analysis, which were critical for accurate flux calculations. The approach quantifies AcAc and BHB pool sizes and their rates of appearance, disposal, and exchange. Regression analysis provides confidence intervals and detects potential errors in experimental data. Complications for the physiological interpretation of individual ketone fluxes are discussed.