cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of extinction/reignition events in turbulent premixed counterflow flames using strain-rate analysis

Abstract We investigate extinction/reignition events in two contrasting turbulent premixed flames of the Yale turbulent counterflow flame (TCF) burner, that are both qualitatively and quantitatively different. One of the two chosen flames is a high-burning (HB) flame with a low probability of local extinction while the other flame is a low-burning (LB) flame with a high probability of local extinction. In recent work, we successfully studied the turbulent premixed flames of the Yale TCF burner using the large-eddy simulation/probability density function (LES/PDF) methods. In this present study, the main motivation is to investigate how the compositional structure of the two turbulent flames are related to that of laminar flames. To this end, steady, one-dimensional, strained, opposed-jet laminar flame calculations are performed to investigate the effect of strain rates K on the laminar counterparts of HB and LB, and to evaluate the extinction strain rates Sext for the two flames. Subsequently, a normalized distance Z is defined in terms of the mixture fraction ξ, which is calculated based on the mass fraction of N2. The scatter plots from the particle data of (a) CH2O mass fraction Y CH 2 O * vs. progress variable p* and (b) temperature T* vs. the normalized distance Z* are quite different for the two flames with more samples close to the extinguished laminar profile for the LB flame than for the HB flame. The cell-mean profiles of T vs. Z resemble the laminar profiles at different strain rates even though the LES/PDF are non-trivially 3D and unsteady. These cell-mean profiles are used to evaluate the instantaneous equivalent steady strain rate (ESSR) S for the two flames. The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of S, conditional on S Sext. The scatter plots of the ESSR S vs. the fresh product layer thickness Δf quantify the thinning of the product layer as the strain rate S increases. The scatter for the HB flame follow the corresponding laminar profile quite closely, whereas, the thicknesses observed for the LB flame are higher compared to its laminar prediction.
IOLE in the United States: The Relationship Between a Country’s Legal System and Its Legal Education

Legal education in the US, and its internationalisation, is largely affected and shaped by the larger legal system within which is exists. The US is a federal jurisdiction which has an unusually large amount of separate sovereign state jurisdictions within it, which are large and very diverse. Further, the American legal profession is radically unified (in that there is little separation between the various tracks of the profession) but at the same time, all branches of the profession are deeply enmeshed in partisan politics. These factors, as well as the size and diversity of American legal education means that the extent to which there is, and will be, IOLE in the US varies greatly across states, law schools, and students. The most prominent issues in current legal education debates pertain to the cost and the degree to which the typical law school prepares its students to practice more or less immediately after graduation. Neither of these issues will encourage further internationalisation, but the high degree of internationalisation of American society means that the ability to be a global lawyer, with sensitivity to the possibility of trans-border issues, would enhance most lawyers’ practice.
Conclusion: Intermetaethics—Toward a Plausible Ethical Solution

The author coins the term “intermetaethics” and proposes it as a solution to the ethical debates regarding sex in Spain and in Spanish cinema. Sanchez-Conejero defines intermetaethics as a self-reflective and interdisciplinary morality, one that questions the values and consequences of its ethical theories in the light of other disciplines and fields, especially sexual psychology, human rights, and justice. She explains how in addition to participating in this intermetaethical reflection on human rights and justice, there are things we can do to help the cause of human rights within the realm of sexuality, listing centers, and organizations in Spain committed to human rights that one can volunteer at or donate funds to and counseling centers for victims of sexual crimes one can volunteer at.
Collisionless Reconnection and Electron Demagnetization

Observable, dimensionless properties of the electron diffusion region of collisionless magnetic reconnection are motivated and benchmarked in two and three dimensional Particle In Cell (PIC) simulations as appropriate for measurements with present state of the art spacecraft. The dimensionless quantities of this paper invariably trace their origin to breaking the magnetization of the thermal electrons. Several observable proxies are also motivated for the rate of frozen flux violation and a parameter \(\varLambda _{\varPhi }\) that when greater than unity is associated with close proximity to the analogue of the saddle point region of 2D reconnection usually called the electron diffusion region. Analogous regions to the electron diffusion region of 2D reconnection with \(\varLambda _{\varPhi } > 1\) have been identified in 3D simulations. 10–20 disjoint diffusion regions are identified and the geometrical patterns of their locations illustrated. First examples of associations between local observables based on electron demagnetization and global diagnostics (like squashing) are also presented. A by product of these studies is the development of a single spacecraft determinations of gradient scales in the plasma.
On Perron’s Unit Root Tests in the Presence of an Innovation Variance Break

The unit root tests of Perron (1989, Econometrica) were designed to have power against the stationary alternative characterized by a break in the trend function. We show that all versions of Perron’s (1989) tests can be over-sized when there is a break in the innovation variance. We propose modified Perron statistics based on the GLS transformation proposed by Kim, Leybourne, and Newbold (2002, Journal of Econometrics) that maintain size and have power against the trend-break stationary alternative. The modified Perron statistics weakens evidence against the unit root null for the Nelson-Plosser macroeconomic series. Mathematics Subject Classification: 62F03, 62M10, 62P20, 91B84
The Crystal Structures of the Aluminum-Silicate Feldspars

The vast array of crystal structure refinements, lattice parameter measurements, optical and spectroscopic data, and electron microscopic observations accumulated on feldspar since W. H. Taylor unravelled the sanidine structure in 1933 has led to detailed understanding of many but by no means all of the diffusive and displacive transformations occurring in both natural and synthetic systems as functions of pressure, temperature, and composition (P,T,X). This paper reviews the basic structural variants of feldspars and summarizes the dominant structurally related observations, particularly for the compositions (Na,K)x(Ca,Ba)1-xAl2-xSi2+xO8. The immediate effects of heating (thermal expansion) and the longer-term effects of annealing (Al,Si order-disorder) may produce first- or secondorder phase transitions; these are considered together with structural changes that occur under compression and with compositional variation (by adding Rb, Li, Ag, H, Sr, Pb, Eu to the mix). Structural variables are examined as functions of the unit cell volume (or V/2 in the case of alkaline-earth feldspars with doubled c-axes), permitting trends in cell parameters, M-O distances, and T-O-T intertetrahedral angles to be compared among suites of feldspars with ranges of P, T, and X. An attempt to model the details of the crystal structure of low albite at 5.0 GPa, using only its lattice parameters and the principle that P, T, and X are structurally analogous variables, illustrates both the utility and the limitations of that principle.
Examining the Light and Dark of an Online Young Adult Cancer Support Community

The young adult (YA) cancer community represents an understudied population in interpersonal and health communication scholarship. Through qualitative analysis, this study sought to advance a dark side perspective by exploring the content of messages shared in an online support forum for YAs with cancer. Our findings highlight a variety of complexities YAs face in an online cancer support community, including the light and dark of soliciting support, disclosing to a community, advocacy online, negative sentiment evaluating health care services, and asynchronous communication. Understanding the light and dark nuances involved with participating in an online YA support forum advances a dark side perspective on the scholarly research in health communication that can ultimately help care providers recommend resources and coach YAs to optimally and effectively use and navigate online support groups.
Chibby1 knockdown promotes mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition-like changes.

Chibby1 (Cby1) was originally isolated as a binding partner for β-catenin, a dual function protein in cell-cell adhesion and in canonical Wnt signaling. The canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway is dysre...
Hand Image Segmentation

It has been discussed in Chap. 3 that a number of upcoming as well as existing applications are based on hand gesture recognition (HGR) techniques involving a bare hand. Such techniques allow a natural communication with machines. HGR-based systems face many problems in skin segmentation due to luminance and intensity in images which is a major cause of noise in the preprocessed results. The HGR-based systems mostly make assumptions about the hand direction. This causes restrictions in the natural expression of humans. Many systems are based on the assumption that the users have to show the hand in straight position, with the fingers pointing upward. Processing time is another key factor that needs to be considered when designing image-based processing algorithms.
Thermal rectification via asymmetric structural defects in graphene

Abstract Thermal rectification in defect-engineered graphene with asymmetric hole arrangements is assessed via molecular dynamics simulations. Asymmetry in two different configurations (triangular and rectangular hole arrangements) is controlled by manipulating geometrical parameters, such as hole size; effects of geometry on the resultant rectification are investigated. Filtering of phonon propagation directions by geometrical confinement, and asymmetric relaxation distance induce a difference in heat transfer depending on transport direction, or thermal rectification. Increase in porosity, which results in additional confinement and larger difference in relaxation, produces more significant thermal rectification. While a rectangular arrangement of holes results in 70% of the maximum thermal rectification, up to 78% of rectification was achieved using a triangular arrangement within 47.5 nm of graphene, which can be attributed to more effective phonon-hole boundary scattering with a triangular arrangement. This study suggests a feasible approach to create thermal rectification and enables its fine control, contributing to the development of phononic devices and enhancement of thermal system design for electronics.
The Chemical Composition of Subducting Sediments

More than a decade since the estimation of global subducting sediment (GLOSS), an expanding inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry dataset for trace elements motivates a new assessment of the bulk sediment flux into deep-sea trenches and an update, GLOSS-II. The specific focus here is on key elements in solid earth recycling that are now better constrained by new data: Li, Be, B, Nb, Ta, Pb, Th, and U. The abundances of these elements reflect, to first order, dilution of continental detritus by biogenic opal and carbonate and, second, various continental and marine processes, such as the extent of continental weathering (Li/K 2 O), hydrogenous versus hydrothermal oxides (Pb/Fe), biophosphate accumulation and exposure age on the seafloor (Th and U), and organic carbon burial (U). The Be/K 2 O ratio (0.86 ± 0.04) and Nb/Ta ratio (14 ± 1) of terrigenous marine sediments reflect average upper continental crust and indeed refine those estimates. Given these new systematics, along with newly published data, revised bulk sediment compositions are calculated for 16 of the 25 trenches included in GLOSS. Two major additional margins are newly assessed (New Zealand-Hikurangi and Chile). Many element budgets are substantially revised for individual trenches, particularly Rb, Cs, Nb, and Pb. A new global weighted average, GLOSS-II, is similar to GLOSS (within 10% relative abundance) for many elements, with more significant changes (up to 50%) in Rb, Cs, Rb/Sr, Nd/Hf, and U/Th. The updated trench estimates provide new insights into sediment recycling at subduction zones, particularly for Li, Be, and Nb. The mass flux of Li subducted into different trenches correlates strongly with the Li/Y ratio in adjacent volcanic arcs, pointing to a direct control on Li enrichment in arcs by subducted sediment. Such a control may be consistent with Li-isotope variations in some arcs, with little fractionation required in the slab or mantle. On the other hand, arcs do not reflect the common Be/K 2 O ratio of most sediments and show fractionation to higher and lower ratios. These fractionations may relate to the different thermal structure of different slabs and/or subducted sediment versus basalt contributions. Sediments vary significantly in their Nb anomaly (i.e., Nb depletion with respect to La and Th), and some arcs inherit the sedimentary Nb anomaly (e.g., South Sandwich) with no new fractionation in the subduction zone, while others (e.g., Marianas and Aleutians) likely require residual rutile in the slab. The Nb anomaly is thus a nearly ubiquitous feature in arcs that has a complex origin, dependent on at least three variables: the sedimentary Nb anomaly, the presence of rutile in the slab (likely driven by Fe 2 + , Fe 3 + , and/or Ti abundances in the sediments), and Nb/La variation in the mantle. Trench sediments and GLOSS-II should thus continue to be useful in elucidating processes occurring in subduction zones, the continents, and the mantle.
The Effect of Egalitarian and Complementarian Gender Role Attitudes on Career Aspirations in Evangelical Female Undergraduate College Students

This research investigated the effect of two opposite religious gender role attitudes (Complementarianism and Egalitarianism) on the career aspirations of female college students at an Evangelical ...
Maximizing sensitivity of the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) to sleep loss.

STUDY OBJECTIVES The psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) is among the most widely used measures of behavioral alertness, but there is large variation among published studies in PVT performance outcomes and test durations. To promote standardization of the PVT and increase its sensitivity and specificity to sleep loss, we determined PVT metrics and task durations that optimally discriminated sleep deprived subjects from alert subjects. DESIGN Repeated-measures experiments involving 10-min PVT assessments every 2 h across both acute total sleep deprivation (TSD) and 5 days of chronic partial sleep deprivation (PSD). SETTING Controlled laboratory environment. PARTICIPANTS 74 healthy subjects (34 female), aged 22-45 years. INTERVENTIONS TSD experiment involving 33 h awake (N = 31 subjects) and a PSD experiment involving 5 nights of 4 h time in bed (N = 43 subjects). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS In a paired t-test paradigm and for both TSD and PSD, effect sizes of 10 different PVT performance outcomes were calculated. Effect sizes were high for both TSD (1.59-1.94) and PSD (0.88-1.21) for PVT metrics related to lapses and to measures of psychomotor speed, i.e., mean 1/RT (response time) and mean slowest 10% 1/RT. In contrast, PVT mean and median RT outcomes scored low to moderate effect sizes influenced by extreme values. Analyses facilitating only portions of the full 10-min PVT indicated that for some outcomes, high effect sizes could be achieved with PVT durations considerably shorter than 10 min, although metrics involving lapses seemed to profit from longer test durations in TSD. CONCLUSIONS Due to their superior conceptual and statistical properties and high sensitivity to sleep deprivation, metrics involving response speed and lapses should be considered primary outcomes for the 10-min PVT. In contrast, PVT mean and median metrics, which are among the most widely used outcomes, should be avoided as primary measures of alertness. Our analyses also suggest that some shorter-duration PVT versions may be sensitive to sleep loss, depending on the outcome variable selected, although this will need to be confirmed in comparative analyses of separate duration versions of the PVT. Using both sensitive PVT metrics and optimal test durations maximizes the sensitivity of the PVT to sleep loss and therefore potentially decreases the sample size needed to detect the same neurobehavioral deficit. We propose criteria to better standardize the 10-min PVT and facilitate between-study comparisons and meta-analyses.
The Ontological Entailments of Averroes’ Understanding of Perception

Averroes (1126–1198) is the foremost medieval commentator on Aristotle. As such, his thoughts on perception are found in a number of his writings, particularly in his commentaries on the Parva naturalia1 and the De anima. Helmut Gatje, Harry Wolfson and others have studied Averroes’ views on this subject,2 and they have located him within the Islamic philosophical tradition of his predecessors. As these studies have shown, “perception” is a term that bridges three activities of the soul: the sensation that the senses experience, and the imaginative and intellectual apprehensions subsequent to that sensation. Perception thus involves various faculties of the soul as then conceived: the sense organs, the common sense, the imaginative faculty, the cogitative faculty,3 memory, and the rational faculty. The path that leads from sensation to cognition has a guiding hand, an external agency that Averroes understood as part of the Peripatetic tradition, though its origins lay with Alexander of Aphrodisias. It was he who elevated Aristotle’s immanent active principle of intellection to a transcendent sphere, equivalent to that of other
Industrial concentration and scaling

Since the theme of concentration is mentioned in the title of this book, and this book boasts several alternative entrances, it is appropriate that yet another introductory chapter, even a very brief one, should take up the phenomenon of industrial concentration, and the meaning — or absence of meaning — of the notion of average firm size in an industry.
Narcissism and Memory

Grandiose narcissism (characterized by an inflated sense of self) uniquely influences the encoding and retrieval of information important to one’s identity including evaluative feedback, self-related traits, and life events. Depending on both the valence (positive or negative) and the agency (self- vs. other-focused) of the information or events, narcissists’ memories may be more vivid, suppressed, or distorted. This chapter summarizes prior research on narcissism and memory as well as more recent studies focusing on the role of attention biases in the encoding of self-related traits and memories. Overall, studies support the agency model of narcissism’s prediction of attention biases and memorial enhancement for positive-agentic (e.g., clever, talented) rather than positive-communal (e.g., cooperative, sympathetic) events or information. However, results are mixed for the attention to and encoding of negative-agentic traits/events (e.g., shameful, stupid) and may depend on the extent to which the information is ego-threatening as well as the subtype of narcissism (vulnerable or grandiose).
Automatic Synthesis Techniques for Approximate Circuits

Approximate circuits are the basic hardware building blocks of approximate computing platforms. Manual approximate designs of simple arithmetic circuits (adders and multipliers) have demonstrated the potential for efficiency improvements using approximate circuits. However, their broader adoption requires systematic methodologies that can create approximate implementations for any arbitrary circuit. An approximate circuit can be viewed as realizing a logic function that slightly deviates from the original specification, while falling within a specified quality constraint. A design automation methodology should therefore enable the generation of “correct-by-construction” approximate circuits that are guaranteed to satisfy designer-specified quality constraints.
Central Wrist Denervation

The anatomy of the innervation of the central wrist joints is described, and related, primarily to arthritic and post-traumatic wrist pain. Nerve blocks of the appropriate nerves are described. The technical approaches to partial and total denervation of the central wrist joints are described and illustrated. The results of central wrist denervation are presented.
Evaluation and prediction of maize response to early-season injury from stalk borer

16 INTRODUCTION 17 MATERIALS AND METHODS 18 Experimental Design 18 Data Analysis 19 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 20 Tunnel Distribution 20 Length of Tunnels 22 Internode Elongation 23 Grain Yield 26
Separability of infant-directed from adult-directed speech is affected by number of channels in cochlear-implant simulated speech

Many studies have demonstrated benefits of infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS) for language development. For deaf children who use cochlear implants (CIs), a variety of factors might reduce the advantage of IDS in language development. We hypothesized that spectral degradation due to the number of channels in CI processing negatively affects acoustic separability of IDS and ADS, potentially reducing benefits for language development of IDS in early childhood. 493 sentences spoken in two speaking styles (IDS and ADS) were processed using 4, 8, 12, 16, 22, and 32 channels noise-vocoders to simulate the spectral degradation caused by CIs. The sentences were partitioned into frames of 30 ms and represented by Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients. The Mahalanobis distance was used to calculate the acoustic distance across speaking styles (ID versus AD) and processing condition (4, 8, 12, 16, 22, and 32 channels). The results show that spectral degradation imposed by CI processing has significant negative effects on separation of IDS from ADS. These findings suggest that the spectral information in speech received by infants with CIs is substantially degraded, which can weaken the facilitative link between IDS and language development in this at-risk population. [Work supported by NIH grant R01DC008581.]Many studies have demonstrated benefits of infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS) for language development. For deaf children who use cochlear implants (CIs), a variety of factors might reduce the advantage of IDS in language development. We hypothesized that spectral degradation due to the number of channels in CI processing negatively affects acoustic separability of IDS and ADS, potentially reducing benefits for language development of IDS in early childhood. 493 sentences spoken in two speaking styles (IDS and ADS) were processed using 4, 8, 12, 16, 22, and 32 channels noise-vocoders to simulate the spectral degradation caused by CIs. The sentences were partitioned into frames of 30 ms and represented by Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients. The Mahalanobis distance was used to calculate the acoustic distance across speaking styles (ID versus AD) and processing condition (4, 8, 12, 16, 22, and 32 channels). The results show that spectral degradation imposed by CI processing has s...
Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome

Opsoclonus–Myoclonus Syndrome (OMS) is a rare disorder characterized by involuntary saccadic eye movements, myoclonus, behavioral abnormalities, or ataxia. The cause may be idiopathic or related to a large number of underlying disorders, most sharing an immune mechanism. Therapy includes identifying and treating underlying causes and immunosuppressive therapy. Outcomes are variable.
Bond strength prediction of FRP-bar reinforced concrete: a multi-gene genetic programming approach

This paper presents a new multi-gene genetic programming (MGGP) approach for prediction of bond strength of Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) bars to concrete. The MGGP technique models the bond behavior of FRP bars by integrating the capabilities of standard genetic programming and classical regression. The factors that affect the bond strength of FRP bars were identified from the test data of 223 beam-test specimens in the literature and fed into the GP system to produce a model. Our study concludes that the proposed MGGP model predicts bond strength of FRP bars in concrete quite accurately. Indeed, the proposed MGGP model equation has better performance than the code equation currently used by the American Concrete Institute (ACI).
Cyber-Physical System Security: Position Spoofing in a Class Project on Autonomous Vehicles

We present an experiment to gauge student awareness of security threats to cyber-physical systems. Students in a third-year engineering course were tasked with designing, building, and testing small, robotic vehicles that could perform basic goal seeking. Unbeknownst to the students, the indoor positioning system for the project was deliberately configured to report incorrect positional information, similar to the effect of GPS spoofing. When asked to conjecture reasons for the spurious behaviour of their robots, none of the students considered the possibility that the feedback system was sending spoofed data, despite being given case studies in cyber-physical system security earlier in the term. The results suggest that students need more direct education in threats and design considerations for security of cyber-physical systems.
Qualitative Inquiry in the Making: A Minor Pedagogy:

This article builds on Mazzei’s concept of minor inquiry to advance the concept of a minor pedagogy. We do so by folding poststructural theory into the evidence of experience, spotlighting a collec...
Timing of Induction Treatment for Reactivation of Cytomegalovirus Impacts Overall Survival in Pediatric Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant

Background Despite significant advances in viral detection and treatment, reactivation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) remains a major complication following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT). Methods to decrease the risk of CMV reactivation and long-term sequelae of CMV disease include controlling for known risk factors and administering appropriate antiviral treatments. Although they are shown to be effective, these treatments carry considerable adverse effects that may limit their use. The optimal timing to initiate induction treatment remains unclear, especially in the pediatric population. Design We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who received initial conventional or ex-vivo T-cell depleted (TCD) allo-HCT on the pediatric service from January 2010 – June 2018 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. CMV reactivation was defined as ≥ 1 CMV PCR >500 in whole blood or >137 in plasma within 180 days post-transplant. Induction treatment was typically initiated for CMV PCR ≥ 1000 in whole blood, ≥ 300 in plasma, or rising viremia from baseline. Hospital databases and medical records were utilized to identify patients and collect clinical data. Time-dependent Cox models and multi-state models to account for competing risks were used. This study was approved by Institutional Review Board. Results Our study consisted of 227 patients (54 days - 27 years old) who underwent allo-HCT for malignant (N=143) and non-malignant (N=84) diseases. TCD represented 76% of all allografts. CMV donor (D) and recipient (R) serostatus were: D+/R+ N=90, D+/R- N=29, D-/R+ N=38, D-/R- N=70. Cumulative incidence of CMV reactivation was 24.8% and 15 patients (27%) developed CMV disease. Median time to CMV reactivation was 24 days (IQR 14-33). Of the 56 patients who reactivated, 41 (73%) patients received induction treatment. The median time from CMV reactivation to induction treatment was 6 days (IQR 1-15). D+/R+ serostatus was a predictor for CMV reactivation when compared to D-/R+ (HR=2.1, [95% CI 1.1 - 4, P Conclusions A short interval between CMV reactivation and initiation of induction treatment was significantly associated with improved OS in TCD HCT. Earlier treatment did not translate into improved outcomes, which may be confounded by high-risk patients receiving induction therapies earlier. Further evaluation into CMV prophylaxis and prompt initiation of induction treatment on additional CMV outcomes will help optimize treatment options and improve clinical outcomes.
EARLY CATHETER-BASED STENT INTERVENTIONS DO NOT IMPROVE PULMONARY ARTERY GROWTH OR CARDIAC FUNCTION COMPARED TO DELAYED INTERVENTIONS IN A SWINE PULMONARY ARTERY STENOSIS MODEL

Pulmonary artery stenosis (PAS) is a common complication of heart surgery in infancy. PA stenting provides PAS relief in older patients but occurs after PA multiplication has stopped. With new technology PA stenting now occurs in infants still undergoing PA multiplication and growth. The impact of
Comprehensive Testing Highlights Racial, Ethnic, and Age Disparities in the COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract The United States (US), which is currently the epicenter for the COVID-19 pandemic, is a country whose demographic composition differs from that of other highly-impacted countries. US-based descriptions of SARS-CoV-2 infections have, for the most part, focused on patient populations with severe disease, captured in areas with limited testing capacity. The objective of this study is to compare characteristics of positive and negative SARS-CoV-2 patients, in a population primarily comprised of mild and moderate infections, identified from comprehensive population-level testing. Here, we extracted demographics, comorbidities, and vital signs from 20,088 patients who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 at University of Utah Health clinics, in Salt Lake County, Utah; and for a subset of tested patients, we performed manual chart review to examine symptoms and exposure risks. To determine risk factors for testing positive, we used logistic regression to calculate the odds of testing positive, adjusting for symptoms and prior exposure. Of the 20,088 individuals, 1,229 (6.1%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. We found that Non-White persons were more likely to test positive compared to non-Hispanic Whites (adjOR=1.1, 95% CI: 0.8, 1.6), and that this increased risk is more pronounced among Hispanic or Latino persons (adjOR=2.0, 95%CI: 1.3, 3.1). However, we did not find differences in the duration of symptoms nor type of symptom presentation between non-Hispanic White and non-White individuals. We found that risk of hospitalization increases with age (adjOR=6.9 95% CI: 2.1, 22.5 for age 60+ compared to 0-19), and additionally show that younger individuals (aged 019), were underrepresented both in overall rates of testing as well as rates of testing positive. We did not find major race/ethnic differences in hospitalization rates. In this analysis of predominantly non-hospitalized individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2, enabled by expansive testing capacity, we found disparities in both testing and SARS-CoV-2 infection status by race/ethnicity and by age. Further work on addressing racial and ethnic disparities, particularly among Hispanic/Latino communities (where SARS-CoV-2 may be spreading more rapidly due to increased exposure and comparatively reduced testing), will be needed to effectively combat COVID-19 in the US.
Race Does Not Affect Survival in Patients With Prostate Cancer Treated With Radiation Therapy.

Background/aim Recent evidence has shown that African American men with prostate cancer may have more radiosensitive disease with greater overall survival (OS) with radiotherapy compared to Caucasian men. We compared OS in African American and Caucasian men receiving radiotherapy utilizing the National Cancer Database. Patients and methods African American or Caucasian men with N0M0 prostate adenocarcinoma diagnosed between 2004 and 2013 were selected and grouped into favorable and unfavorable risk based on clinical T-stage, clinical Gleason score, and prostate-specific antigen. Patients with favorable risk received brachytherapy or dose-escalated external beam radiation (EBRT); those with unfavorable risk received EBRT plus anti-androgen therapy with/without brachytherapy. African American and Caucasian men in each subgroup were propensity score-matched and analyzed for survival. Sensitivity analysis used treatment-race and age-race interaction terms. Results 27,150 patients met the inclusion criteria, with a median age of 68 (range=38-90) years and median follow-up of 59.93 (range=48-142.62) months. OS was equivalent between African American and Caucasian race in favorable risk [log-rank p=0.82; hazard ratio (HR)=0.928; 95% confidence intervaI (CI)=0.583-1.477, p=0.753] and unfavorable-risk subgroups (log-rank p=0.87, HR=1.078, 95% CI=0.843-1.379, p=0.550). No significant interaction existed between treatment and race for either cohort but there was a significant interaction between race and age in those with unfavorable risk (HR=1.046, 95% CI=1.009-1.084, p=0.015), with greater OS in those of Caucasian race ≤60 years (HR=0.320, 95% CI=0.137-0.752, p=0.009). Conclusion African American and Caucasian men have similar survival when treated with risk-appropriate definitive radiotherapy. However, younger (age ≤60 years) African American men with unfavorable risk have poorer survival than their Caucasian counterparts and may harbor a significantly different biology of disease.
Dexmedetomidine as an Opioid-Sparing Agent in Pediatric Craniofacial Surgery

Pediatric craniofacial reconstruction surgery is associated with significant perioperative analgesic requirements. As dexmedetomidine mediates central nervous system sympathetic activity and pain modulation, its intraoperative use could be beneficial in craniofacial surgery. We hypothesized that intraoperative administration of dexmedetomidine in children undergoing craniofacial reconstructive surgery would result in reduced opioid requirements, pain, sedation scores, and opioid-induced side effects compared to patients who did not receive dexmedetomidine. All patients who underwent craniofacial reconstructive surgery at our institution from July 2013 to June 2017 were retrospectively evaluated. The primary outcome measure was mean postoperative morphine equivalent requirements. Secondary outcome measures included incidence of opioid-related side effects, pain scores, and hospital length of stay. Thirty-nine patients received dexmedetomidine intraoperatively while 41 patients did not. There was no difference in postoperative opioid requirements or pain scores between the two cohorts. However, patients who received higher doses of dexmedetomidine (4.7 mcg/kg) intraoperatively exhibited significantly lower rescue medication requirements for nausea and vomiting postoperatively. Contrary to the hypothesis, dexmedetomidine was not associated with reduced postoperative opioid requirements or pain scores in children undergoing craniofacial reconstructive surgery. However, our findings do suggest that dexmedetomidine may be beneficial in reducing side effects such as postoperative nausea and vomiting. A randomized controlled trial would be necessary to verify these findings.
A theoretical treatment of the design and optimization of adsorption heat pumps

Abstract The thermal conductance of sorption bed heat exchangers in adsorption heat pumps should be large to maximize the change in equilibrium uptake and refrigerant throughput. However, the use of extended surfaces to increase the heat transfer area affect the coefficient of performance detrimentally as energy stored in the inert heat exchanger during desorption is discarded during the subsequent pre-cooling and adsorption stages. The effects of fin and tube geometry on conductance and coefficient of performance are investigated for the silica gel-water and activated carbon fiber (ACF)-ethanol working pairs. A systematic procedure to achieve a balance between thermal conductance and COP is presented. A dynamic heat pump model is developed using two methods – lumped parameter and distributed parameter approach. For the specified operating conditions and geometry, the two models agree within 1.5%, which suggests the suitability of the lumped-parameter approach for system modeling.
Emerging Places of Repair: A Sustainable Urbanism Approach to Living in and with Cities—Inspired by Vine Deloria, Jr.’s Agent Ontology of Place

This chapter proposes the concept of places of repair as a contribution to contemporary, sustainable urbanism in North America, starting with the everyday urban environment around us. The chapter is inspired by and builds on the work of Native American scholar and activist, Vine Deloria, Jr. by suggesting that Deloria’s work can inform how the everyday built environment is created, experienced, and cared for. I draw from Deloria’s explanation of sacred places by proposing that the agential capacity of places allows for the emergence of new sorts of sacred places, places of repair. This concept is presented through analysis of Deloria’s texts and discussion of two contemporary projects in the built environment of the North American Pacific Northwest.
Classification of 12-Lead Electrocardiograms Using Residual Neural Networks and Transfer Learning

This article concerns the PhysioNet/Computing in Cardiology Challenge 2020 which focused on building computational methods to identify cardiac abnormalities from 12-lead ECGs. Our team, MCIRCC, utilized a large secondary dataset of 12-lead ECGs obtained from the Section of Electrophysiology at the University of Michigan, called the MUSE dataset, to pre-train multiple residual neural networks that were later re-trained on the challenge dataset. To do so, the diagnosis statements that existed in our dataset were utilized to assign the same labels to our ECGs as the challenge data. After parameter optimization, we selected a subset of top performing models and created an ensemble model that achieved a challenge validation score of 0.616, and full test score of 0.141, placing us 27th out of 41 teams in the official ranking.
Characteristics of Hispanics Referred to Coordinated Specialty Care for First-Episode Psychosis and Factors Associated With Enrollment.

Objective: The primary objectives of this study were to examine referral sources and demographic, clinical, and socioenvironmental characteristics of Hispanics referred to and enrolled in a program...
Designing Low-Thrust Transfers to High-Inclination Science Orbits via Hybrid Optimization

Placing a small satellite into a high-inclination orbit with respect to the ecliptic plane may offer a low-cost option for opportunistic and targeted observations of the polar regions of the Sun or...
Supporting Community Safety through University-Community Partnerships: Exploring Models of Engagement

This paper explores various models of university-community engagement to support youth violence prevention and community safety. A series of case examples from the Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro are highlighted. The case examples-four projects spanning a six-year time period-are the springboard for exploring issues of funding, community collaboration, sustainability, leadership, evaluation, and communication.
Transient Association of Ku with Nuclear Substrates Characterized Using Fluorescence Photobleaching

The autoantigen Ku, composed of subunits Ku70 and Ku86, is necessary for repair of DNA double-strand breaks by nonhomologous end joining. Similarly, Ku participates in repair of DNA double-strand breaks that occur during V(D)J recombination, and it is therefore required for the development of B and T lymphocytes. Although previous studies have identified the DNA-binding activities of Ku, little is known concerning its dynamics, such as the mobility of Ku in the nucleus and its rate of association with substrates. To address this question, fluorescence photobleaching experiments were performed using HeLa cells and B cells expressing a green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion construct of either Ku70 or Ku86. The results show that Ku moves rapidly throughout the nucleus even following irradiation of the cells. However, the rate of diffusion of Ku was approximately 100-fold slower than that predicted from its size. Association of Ku-GFP with a filamentous nuclear structure was also evident, and nuclear extraction experiments suggest that this represents nuclear matrix. A central domain of Ku70 containing its DNA-binding and heterodimerization regions and its nuclear localization signal shows that this alone is sufficient for the observed mobility of Ku70-GFP and its association with nuclear matrix. These data suggest the mobility of Ku is characterized by a transient, high flux association with nuclear substrates that includes both DNA and the nuclear matrix and may represent a mechanism for repair of double-strand breaks using the nuclear matrix as a scaffold.
Gender Differences in the Role of Stress and Emotion in Cardiovascular Function and Disease

Publisher Summary This chapter is presented in four sections. The first section describes implications for the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disorders derived from laboratory studies of gender differences in cardiovascular reactivity to challenging tasks. The second section summarizes the current state of knowledge concerning the role of emotional states in the development and treatment of cardiovascular disorders, including the emerging literature on the role of positive emotions in the prevention of these disorders. The third section reviews gender differences in the role of social class, employment, job strain, and social support in cardiovascular disease pathogenesis and progression. Finally, recent large-scale studies of psychosocial interventions in cardiovascular disease are reviewed, concluding with implications for the future of this field. Studies with humans have confirmed findings in laboratory animals, identified risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and investigated the effects of behavioral and psychological interventions in cardiovascular disease. Studies focusing on antecedents of atherosclerosis have tended to focus on sympathetic nervous system activation and supportive endocrine response. In addition to this pathway, however, a smaller but growing literature has linked inhibitory stresses that elicit vigilant attention to the environment in the absence of sympathetic arousal with the development of hypertension.
Thermothrix thiopara: Growth and Metabolism of a Newly Isolated Thermophile Capable of Oxidizing Sulfur and Sulfur Compounds.

Thermothrix thiopara is isolated from hot sulfur springs. It occurs in situ at a temperature of 72°C, a pH of 7.0, and an HS- concentration of 17.4 μmol/liter (0.8 ppm). The organism was capable of autotrophic growth. Sulfite, sulfur, and polythionates were formed and subsequently degraded to sulfate during growth with thiosulfate as the sole energy source. Thiosulfate was oxidized by the polythionate pathway, and the stoichiometry of growth on thiosulfate was determined. The organism was also capable of heterotrophic growth in amino acids and simple sugars. A source of reduced sulfur (methionine, glutathione) was required for heterotrophic growth. Growth occurred aerobically or anaerobically with nitrate as a terminal oxidant. Both nitrous oxide and dinitrogen were produced. At 73°C the maximum autotrophic growth rate in batch culture using thiosulfate was 0.56 generation per h. Under the same conditions in continuous culture, washout occurred at a dilution rate of 0.3 to 0.4 per h, corresponding to a cellular growth rate of 0.43 to 0.58 generation per h. This was nearly three times the growth rate for Thiobacillus denitrificans. T. thiopara is gram negative. It was also found to be both lysozyme and penicillin susceptible. As a result, this organism cannot be considered an archaebacterium.
Heat stress does not augment ventilatory responses to presyncopal limited lower body negative pressure

Simulated haemorrhage, e.g. lower body negative pressure (LBNP), reduces central blood volume and mean arterial pressure, while ventilation increases. Passive whole-body heat stress likewise increases ventilation. The objective of this project was to test the hypothesis that ventilatory responses to reductions in central blood volume and arterial pressure during simulated haemorrhage are enhanced when individuals are heat stressed rather than normothermic. Eight healthy men (34 ± 9 years old, 176 ± 6 cm tall and 80.2 ± 4.2 kg body weight) underwent a simulated haemorrhagic challenge via LBNP until presyncope on two separate occasions, namely normothermic control and whole-body heat-stress trials. Baseline ventilation and core and mean skin temperatures were not different between trials (all P > 0.05). Prior to LBNP, heat stress increased core (from 36.8 ± 0.2 to 38.2 ± 0.2°C, P 0.05). These data suggest that the increase in ventilation during simulated haemorrhage induced via LBNP is not altered in heat-stressed humans.
Chip-level thermal simulator to predict VLSI chip temperature

In this paper, a new thermal simulator is developed to predict the steady-state and transient temperatures inside a VLSI chip subjected to heating by single or multiple heat sources. It uses a mixed 3D finite-difference and 1D analogous thermal circuit method, taking into account any combination of boundary conditions, shape of heat sources, and packaging. An analytical method is also presented and compared to the numerical method. With this tool, the chip temperature can be predicted accurately to provide design guidelines for VLSI module placement and chip packaging.
Interfacial debonding and fiber pull-out stresses of fiber-reinforced composites: VIII: The energy-based debonding criterion

Abstract The applied stress required to initiate interfacial debonding ( i.e. the initial debond stress) during fiber pull-out was analyzed using an energy-based debonding criterion. It was shown in part VII that the initial debond stress derived from the strength-based debonding criterion is sensitive to the accuracy of modeling. However, the present study shows that the initial debond stress derived from the energy-based debonding criterion is insensitive to the accuracy of modeling. The dependences of the initial debond stress on the material properties ( i.e. the embedded fiber length, elastic constants and radial dimensions of the fiber and the matrix, and the interfacial properties) are also compared for these two debonding criteria.
Brains as naturally emerging turing machines

It has been shown that a Developmental Network (DN) can learn any Finite Automaton (FA) [29] but FA is not a general purpose automaton by itself. This theoretical paper presents that the controller of any Turing Machine (TM) is equivalent to an FA. It further models a motivation-free brain — excluding motivation e.g., emotions — as a TM inside a grounded DN — DN with the real world. Unlike a traditional TM, the TM-in-DN uses natural encoding of input and output and uses emergent internal representations. In Artificial Intelligence (AI) there are two major schools, symbolism and connectionism. The theoretical result here implies that the connectionist school is at least as powerful as the symbolic school also in terms of the general-purpose nature of TM. Furthermore, any TM simulated by the DN is grounded and uses natural encoding so that the DN autonomously learns any TM directly from natural world without a need for a human to encode its input and output. This opens the door for the DN to fully autonomously learn any TM, from a human teacher, reading a book, or real world events. The motivated version of DN [31] further enables a DN to go beyond action-supervised learning — so as to learn based on pain-avoidance, pleasure seeking, and novelty seeking [31].