cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Technology acceptance model for safety critical autonomous transportation systems

It is becoming increasingly clear that a paradigm shift in the way people travel will be seen in the near future. This is due to the ever increasing scope of technology in our lives and a built up public demand for safer, faster, and more efficient transportation options. It is also becoming clear that greater levels of autonomy will enable this paradigm shift to a large degree. However, due to the fact that this will require control over personal safety to be entrusted to the autonomous system, many physiological factors will play an important role in their acceptance. Unfortunately, available technology acceptance models do not include considerations for safety critical systems such as these. This paper proposes a new model which incorporates these considerations focusing on the psychology of control, acceptance, and trust and the factors that influence use of a safety critical technology. This model has been built using data from a series of surveys, simulations, reliability data, and previous technology acceptance models and has been validated using previous research into the usability of autonomous vehicles. The full model and considerations for the improvement of the model as well as further validation techniques is provided. The work in the University of Tulsa Vehicle Autonomy and Intelligence Lab (VAIL) has begun development and verification of the Safety-Critical Technology Acceptance Model and is progressing with the development of the Electronic Car Learning and Intelligence Program Simulator (ECLIPS). Through the investigation of these issues using ECLIPS and user feedback, VAIL is on track to model the acceptance and develop guidelines for the development and implementation of autonomous systems. VAIL is working to research these questions at a fundamental level and describe the topics in a way that can make sure these technologies are in line with the progression of technology and the future of human involvement with these systems.
Reclaiming Romani-ness

Drawing on theories of identity postulated by cultural theorists, scholars of gender identity, and critical race theorists, I explore issues of identity politics and “Otherness” as they pertain to Romani identity, history and activism. By critiquing the latent bifurcation of identity and subjectivity in Judith Butler’s theory of performativity as well as her explicit adherence to universalism, I begin to outline a (post-Hegelian) hermeneutic in which narratives of self enable political processes of self-determination against symbolic and epistemic systems of racialization and minoritization.[1] Roma identity both serves as an oppressive social category while at the same time empowering people for whom a shared ethnic group provides a sense of solidarity and community. In re-conceptualizing, reimagining and re-claiming Romani-ness, we can make movements towards outlining a new Romani subjectivity – a subjectivity that is firmly rooted in counterhistories of Roma, with porous boundaries that both celebrate our diversity and foster solidarity. I come to the subject of Romani identity from an understanding that our racialized and gendered identities are both performed and embodied – forming part of the horizon from which we make meaning of the world. I wish to recast the discourse surrounding Romani identity as hybridized and multicultural, as well as, following Glissant, embedded into a pluritopic notion of history.
Women Politicians, Institutions, and Perceptions of Corruption:

Why do people assume female politicians are less likely than men to engage in the illegal use of public positions for private gain? We argue that voters may perceive women as marginalized within po...
ENERGY TRANSITION IN THE UNITED STATES

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to review the past history of energy production and consumption in the United States in such a way that insights can be derived that are useful for energy policy and planning. Energy is necessary for industrial purposes, for transportation, and in residential and commercial buildings. Possibilities exist for energy conservation in each area, and the potential savings are described in the paper. The U.S. is currently relying on coal, oil, natural gas, hydro, and nuclear as primary sources of energy. It will be difficult to maintain the present domestic production levels of oil and natural gas. Hydro power cannot be appreciably expanded, and new orders for nuclear plants have not been placed since 1977. Consequently, greater reliance must be placed on the extensive reserves of coal. Alternate sources of energy include solar, geothermal, shale, nuclear breeder, and fusion. In the paper each is discussed and recommended for further development, and in some cases for early application. However, none can be expected to become an immediate major resource. The short- and long-term relationships between growth and energy consumption are presented. Although sudden energy shortages will immediately and adversely affect the economy, the gross national product can increase in the long term even with zero energy growth, provided investments in energy savings are made not only by the users but in energy conversion as well. Possible approaches are discussed in the paper.
The impact of cannabis access laws on opioid prescribing

While recent research has shown that cannabis access laws can reduce the use of prescription opioids, the effect of these laws on opioid use is not well understood for all dimensions of use and for the general United States population. Analyzing a dataset of over 1.5 billion individual opioid prescriptions between 2011 and 2018, which were aggregated to the individual provider-year level, we find that recreational and medical cannabis access laws reduce the number of morphine milligram equivalents prescribed each year by 11.8 and 4.2 percent, respectively. These laws also reduce the total days' supply of opioids prescribed, the total number of patients receiving opioids, and the probability a provider prescribes any opioids net of any offsetting effects. Additionally, we find consistent evidence that cannabis access laws have different effects across types of providers, physician specialties, and payers.
Assessment of Switching Frequency Effect on a Compact Three-Phase GaN-Based Inverter Design

As wide-bandgap devices enable the high switching frequency, their potential is explored in the high-efficiency and high-power-density converter design. This paper first presents a compact 650V/60A gallium-nitride (GaN) half bridge module with ultra-low power loop inductance and standard double-side thermal solution. A high-power-density three-phase 1 kW 400 Vdc inverter is built and tested at 500 kHz switching frequency. With the design approach, the switching frequency effects on the two-level three-phase inverter performance are assessed, including losses, efficiency, heat sink volume, common mode (CM) and differential mode (DM) conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI). The CM and DM EMI filters under different switching frequency are designed based on the unterminated EMI behavioral mode with optimization, based on which the effect from the switching frequency on EMI filter volume is evaluated.
Capacity Market Model Considering Flexible Resource Requirements

With increasing installations of renewable generation, such as wind and solar, electric power systems need significant amounts of flexible resources to provide fast responses to mitigate the additional variability and uncertainty in generation. Current market designs have been shown to be insufficient in their mechanisms to compensate flexible resources for their services. Ancillary service markets can cover some of these costs, but they are likely not enough to attract additional flexible resources into the system. Although some independent system operators have started to design markets for flexible resources, their focus is on the short-term operating time horizon. This time horizon has significant real-time price uncertainties for flexible resources and might provide insufficient motivation for them to participate in the market. The capacity market has traditionally been the incentive to invest in new generation resources. Therefore, if a system needs new flexible resources, it is necessary to introduce flexible resource requirements into the capacity market to directly attract more flexible resource investment. This paper proposes a simplified capacity market model including flexible resource requirements. Case studies are examined to validate the proposed method.
Insidious Harm of Medication Diluents as a Contributor to Cumulative Volume and Hyperchloremia: A Prospective, Open-Label, Sequential Period Pilot Study.

Objectives Although the potential dangers of hyperchloremia from resuscitation fluids continue to emerge, no study to date has considered the contribution of medication diluents to cumulative volume and hyperchloremia. This study compares saline versus dextrose 5% in water as the primary medication diluent and the occurrence of hyperchloremia in critically ill patients. Design Prospective, open-label, sequential period pilot study. Setting Medical ICU of a large academic medical center. Patients Adult patients admitted to the medical ICU were eligible for inclusion. Patients who were admitted for less than 48 hours, less than 18 years old, pregnant, incarcerated, or who had brain injury were excluded. Interventions Saline as the primary medication diluent for 2 months followed by dextrose 5% in water as the primary medication diluent for 2 months. Measurements and main results A total of 426 patients were included, 216 in the saline group and 210 in the dextrose 5% in water group. Medication diluents accounted for 63% of the total IV volume over the observation period. In the saline group, 17.9% developed hyperchloremia compared with 10.5% in the dextrose 5% in water group (p = 0.037), which was statistically significant in multivariable analysis (odds ratio, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.26-0.94; p = 0.031). In the saline group, 34.2% developed acute kidney injury versus 24.5% in the dextrose 5% in water group (p = 0.035); however, this was not statistically significant when adjusting for baseline covariates. No other significant differences in dysnatremias, insulin requirements, glucose control, ICU length of stay, or ICU mortality were observed. Conclusions This study identified that medication diluents contribute substantially to the total IV volume received by critically ill patients. Saline as the primary medication diluent compared with dextrose 5% in water is associated with hyperchloremia, a possible risk factor for acute kidney injury.
MDCT Imaging of Acute Bladder Pathology

In this review, we will discuss and illustrate the pathophysiology, presentation, and multidetector computed tomography findings associated with emergent bladder conditions, limiting our discussion to traumatic, infectious, and obstructive etiologies. After reviewing computed tomography cystographic technique, the commonly utilized classification systems for bladder trauma will be presented with illustrative examples of associated typical and more infrequent secondary injuries and complications. Next, the pathogenesis and imaging appearance of both mechanical and neurogenic acute urinary retention will be addressed, including less common though potentially pathognomonic obstructive etiologies including urethral calculi and ectopic ureteroceles. Finally, we will review and illustrate the imaging features of both inflammatory and infectious cystitis, including hemorrhagic and emphysematous variants, as well as the potentially encountered secondary complications.
Prioritizing chemicals of ecological concern in Great Lakes tributaries using high-throughput screening data and adverse outcome pathways

Chemical monitoring data were collected in surface waters from 57 Great Lakes tributaries from 2010 to 13 to identify chemicals of potential biological relevance and sites at which these chemicals occur. Traditional water-quality benchmarks for aquatic life based on in vivo toxicity data were available for 34 of 67 evaluated chemicals. To expand evaluation of potential biological effects, measured chemical concentrations were compared to chemical-specific biological activities determined in high-throughput (ToxCast) in vitro assays. Resulting exposure-activity ratios (EARs) were used to prioritize the chemicals of greatest potential concern: 4‑nonylphenol, bisphenol A, metolachlor, atrazine, DEET, caffeine, tris(2‑butoxyethyl) phosphate, tributyl phosphate, triphenyl phosphate, benzo(a)pyrene, fluoranthene, and benzophenone. Water-quality benchmarks were unavailable for five of these chemicals, but for the remaining seven, EAR-based prioritization was consistent with that based on toxicity quotients calculated from benchmarks. Water-quality benchmarks identified three additional PAHs (anthracene, phenanthrene, and pyrene) not prioritized using EARs. Through this analysis, an EAR of 10-3 was identified as a reasonable threshold above which a chemical might be of potential concern. To better understand apical hazards potentially associated with biological activities captured in ToxCast assays, in vitro bioactivity data were matched with available adverse outcome pathway (AOP) information. The 49 ToxCast assays prioritized via EAR analysis aligned with 23 potentially-relevant AOPs present in the AOP-Wiki. Mixture effects at monitored sites were estimated by summation of EAR values for multiple chemicals by individual assay or individual AOP. Commonly predicted adverse outcomes included impacts on reproduction and mitochondrial function. The EAR approach provided a screening-level assessment for evidence-based prioritization of chemicals and sites with potential for adverse biological effects. The approach aids prioritization of future monitoring activities and provides testable hypotheses to help focus those efforts. This also expands the fraction of detected chemicals for which biologically-based benchmark concentrations are available to help contextualize chemical monitoring results.
Infectious DNA clone technology and inoculation strategy for Rose Rosette Virus that includes all seven segments of the negative-strand RNA genome

Abstract The ability to mutate the genomic nucleic acid of viruses is the most straight-forward approach to understanding virus genetics. Reverse genetics of RNA viruses involves the introduction of mutations at the cDNA level, and then introducing cDNAs into cells to produce infectious progeny virus. Reverse genetic tools are used to investigate the products of viral genes, virus-host interactions relating to pathogenicity and immunity, and requirements for vector transmission. The technology has been slow to develop for viruses with negative strand RNA genomes and has been especially difficult for plant viruses with multicomponent negative strand RNA genomes, many of which require an insect vector for transmission to be successful. Rose rosette virus (RRV; Emaravirus) is a negative-sense RNA virus with a 7-segmented genome that is enclosed by a double membrane (1–4). We devised a technology for delivery of plant sap inoculum which can also deliver agrobacterium containing infectious clones to rose plants. We report the first reverse genetic system for a member of the Emaravirus genus, Rose rosette virus (RRV). We introduced fluorescent proteins at three locations in the seven segmented genome and learned that such reporters can be stably maintained during systemic infection. This study demonstrates that RRV can infect Arabidopsis causing significant growth alterations of the plant, while causing mild to more serious disease symptoms in Nicotiana benthamiana and two varieties of roses. This reverse genetic system creates new opportunities for studying negative strand RNA viruses infecting plants. Significant Statement Since an infectious clone for influenza virus was developed in 1998, little progress has been made in infectious clone technology for viruses with negative strand genomes. We constructed an infectious clone of the seven-segmented RRV genome that is contained in a binary vector and delivered by Agrobacterium. RRV has emerged as a serious threat to cultivated roses, causing millions of dollars in losses to commercial producers. This technology is a game changer for investigations into Emaravirus genetics, studies of molecular virus-host interactions, as well as for rose breeders who can use the infectious clone for rapid germplasm screening to identify useful resistance for breeding programs.
Standardized Ventriculostomy Protocol without an Occlusive Dressing: Results of an Observational Study in Patients with Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Background Catheter-related infections are a potentially life-threatening complication of having an external ventricular drain (EVD). Patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) are at increased risk of infection associated with prolonged ventricular drainage, with a reported mean infection rate of 6%. We report the EVD-associated infection rate among patients with aSAH managed with a unique standardized treatment protocol without an occlusive EVD dressing. Methods Patients with aSAH admitted from August 2015 through August 2017 were retrospectively analyzed for EVD placement. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were obtained twice weekly for culture and routine studies. EVD-associated infection was defined as growth of CSF cultures. Results During the 2-year study period, 122 patients presented with an aSAH, with 91 (74.6%) having EVD placement. In patients with EVDs, the mean age was 57.9 years (68% women); 88% of aSAHs were Fisher grade III or IV. Mean duration of EVD was 14 days, and 13% of patients required EVD replacement. Endovascular coiling and surgical clipping were performed in 34 (37%) and 53 (58%) patients with EVD, respectively. A total of 347 CSF studies were performed with no EVD-associated infections. There were 3 CSF samples with false-positive Gram stain results but no growth on concurrent or multiple repeat cultures. Conclusions Using a standardized protocol for placement and management of EVDs in patients with aSAH is associated with low risk of CSF infection. Our study demonstrates that occlusive EVD dressings are not necessary and that routine CSF sampling in patients with EVD may lead to false-positive findings and unnecessary antibiotic administration.
Renal Artery Stenosis Alters Gene Expression in Swine Scattered Tubular-Like Cells

Background: Scattered tubular-like cells (STCs) proliferate and differentiate to support neighboring injured renal tubular cells during recovery from insults. Renal artery stenosis (RAS) induces renal ischemia and hypertension and leads to loss of kidney function, but whether RAS alters renal endogenous repair mechanisms, such as STCs, remains unknown. We hypothesize that RAS in swine modifies the messenger RNA (mRNA) profile of STCs, blunting their in vitro reparative capacity. Methods: CD24+/CD133+ STCs were isolated from pig kidneys after 10-weeks of RAS or sham (n = 3 each) and their gene cargo analyzed using high-throughput mRNAseq. Expression profiles for upregulated and downregulated mRNAs in RAS-STCs were functionally interpreted by gene ontology analysis. STC activation was assessed by counting the total number of STCs in pig kidney sections using flow cytometry, whereas cell proliferation was assessed in vitro. Results: Of all expressed genes, 1430 genes were upregulated and 315 downregulated in RAS- versus Normal-STCs. Expression of selected candidate genes followed the same fold change directions as the mRNAseq findings. Genes upregulated in RAS-STCs were involved in cell adhesion, extracellular matrix remodeling, and kidney development, whereas those downregulated in RAS-STCs are related to cell cycle and cytoskeleton. The percentage of STCs from dissociated kidney cells was higher in RAS versus Normal pigs, but their proliferation rate was blunted. Conclusions: Renal ischemia and hypertension in swine induce changes in the mRNA profile of STCs, associated with increased STC activation and impaired proliferation. These observations suggest that RAS may alter the reparative capacity of STCs.
3D printing of very soft elastomer and sacrificial carbohydrate glass/elastomer structures for robotic applications

Abstract Recently, soft materials such as silicone elastomers are widely used in soft robotics due to their high flexibility and safe physical interaction with humans. Focusing on three aspects—highly elastic materials, sacrificial materials, and actuation units, we aim to develop an additive manufacturing strategy that allows the fabrication of highly elastic soft structures more efficiently. First, silicone thinner is used to tailor the mechanical properties of the soft silicone elastomer. We found out that adding 20% volume thinner to the silicone improved the ultimate tensile elongation of 3D printed silicone samples upto 1260%, which is the highest among all the 3D printed soft materials previously reported. However, in a cyclic tensile test, this strain is not achieved; instead, the maximum strain was 600%. Second, carbohydrate glasses are introduced as sacrificial materials for 3D printing silicone with hollow channels. Few configurations of pneumatic and hydraulic actuators are developed by forming channels in the silicone elastomer via 3D printed sacrificial carbohydrate structures and subsequently dissolving. The 3D printed structures actuated successfully to get morphed shapes, which showed that our method is effective for manufacturing of functional soft robotic structures.
Novel ovarian cancer maintenance therapy targeted at mortalin and mutant p53.

Current ovarian cancer maintenance therapy is limited by toxicity and no proven impact on overall survival. To study a maintenance strategy targeted at missense mutant p53, we hypothesized that the release of mutant p53 from mortalin inhibition by the SHetA2 drug combined with reactivation of mutant p53 with the PRIMA-1MET drug inhibits growth and tumor establishment synergistically in a mutant-p53 dependent manner. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data and serous ovarian tumors were evaluated for TP53 and HSPA9/mortalin status. SHetA2 and PRIMA-1MET were tested in ovarian cancer cell lines and fallopian tube secretory epithelial cells using isobolograms, fluorescent cytometry, Western blots and ELISAs. Drugs were administered to mice after peritoneal injection of MESOV mutant p53 ovarian cancer cells and prior to tumor establishment, which was evaluated by logistic regression. Fifty-eight percent of TP53 mutations were missense and there were no mortalin mutations in TCGA high-grade serous ovarian cancers. Mortalin levels were sequentially increased in serous benign, borderline and carcinoma tumors. SHetA2 caused p53 nuclear and mitochondrial accumulation in cancer, but not in healthy, cells. Endogenous or exogenous mutant p53 increased SHetA2 resistance. PRIMA-1MET decreased this resistance and interacted synergistically with SHetA2 in mutant and wild type p53-expressing cell lines in association with elevated reactive oxygen species/ATP ratios. Tumor-free rates in animals were 0% (controls), 25% (PRIMA1MET ), 42% (SHetA2) and 67% (combination). SHetA2 (p = 0.004) and PRIMA1MET (p = 0.048) functioned additively in preventing tumor development with no observed toxicity. These results justify the development of SHetA2 and PRIMA-1MET alone and in combination for ovarian cancer maintenance therapy.
The Trauma-Informed Examination

The gynecological examination can be stressful or triggering for a patient who has experienced sexual trauma. Clinicians can make accommodations for patients with sexual trauma at all stages of the appointment, including during registration, history-taking, conducting the examination, and follow-up communication. Drawing upon the work of the EMPOWER Clinic for Survivors of Sex Trafficking and Sexual Violence, this chapter provides suggestions for better supporting patients with sexual trauma during a gynecological visit, from the scheduling of an appointment through the physical examination itself. These best practices demonstrate the basics of trauma-informed care, which can be incorporated into a variety of clinical settings.
Defining levels of dengue virus serotype-specific neutralizing antibodies induced by a live attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine (TAK-003)

Abstract The four dengue virus serotypes (DENV1-4) infect several hundred million people each year living in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Clinical development of DENV vaccines is difficult because immunity to a single serotype increases risk of severe disease during a second infection with a new serotype. Leading vaccines are based on tetravalent formulations to induce simultaneous and balanced protective immunity to all 4 serotypes. TAK-003 is a tetravalent live attenuated dengue vaccine candidate developed by Takeda Vaccines Inc, which is currently being evaluated in phase 3 efficacy trials. Here, we use antibody depletion methods and chimeric, epitope transplant DENVs to characterize the specificity of neutralizing antibodies in dengue-naive adults and non-human primates immunized with TAK-003. Our results demonstrate that TAK-003 induced high levels of DENV2 neutralizing antibodies that recognized unique (type-specific) epitopes on DENV2. In contrast, most vaccinated subjects developed lower levels of DENV1, DENV3 and DENV4 neutralizing antibodies that mainly targeted epitopes that were conserved (cross-reactive) between serotypes. We conclude that the DENV2 component in the vaccine is immunodominant because of the high levels of serum neutralizing antibodies targeting type-specific epitopes. We also conclude that DENV1, 3 and 4 vaccine components are less immunogenic because most study subjects did not develop type-specific serum neutralizing antibodies to these serotypes. While DENV vaccine development has been guided by the presence of neutralizing antibodies to each serotype as a benchmark, our results indicate that the presence of neutralizing antibodies alone are not a reliable indicator of the immunogenicity of each vaccine component. Author summary The development of tetravalent dengue vaccines has been guided by neutralizing antibodies to each serotype as a correlate of safe and effective vaccine induced immunity. However, the absolute levels of neutralizing antibodies to each serotype has proven to be an unreliable correlate of protection. Levels of antibodies to epitopes that are unique to each serotype, which are measures of immunity independently stimulated by each vaccine component, rather than total quantity of neutralizing antibodies, are likely to be better correlates of protection. Here, we mapped the specificity of antibodies induced by the Takeda tetravalent dengue vaccine TAK-003 in monkeys and humans with no prior immunity to dengue. The TAK-003 vaccine induces high levels of serotype 2 specific neutralizing antibodies that map to known protective epitopes. In contrast, the serotype 1, 3 and 4 neutralizing antibody responses are lower and mainly consist of cross-reactive antibodies binding to epitopes conserved between serotypes. These heterotypic antibodies, which are most likely derived from the serotype 2 component, may not provide long term protection in vivo.
Machine learning can reliably identify patients at risk of overnight hospital admission following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Overnight admission following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction has implications on clinical outcomes as well as cost benefit, yet there are few validated risk calculators for reliable identification of appropriate candidates. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a machine learning algorithm that can effectively identify patients requiring admission following elective anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. A retrospective review of a national surgical outcomes database was performed to identify patients who underwent elective ACL reconstruction from 2006 to 2018. Patients admitted overnight postoperatively were identified as those with length of stay of 1 or more days. Models were generated using random forest (RF), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), linear discriminant classifier (LDA), and adaptive boosting algorithms (AdaBoost), and an additional model was produced as a weighted ensemble of the four final algorithms. Overall, of the 4,709 patients included, 531 patients (11.3%) required at least one overnight stay following ACL reconstruction. The factors determined most important for identification of candidates for inpatient admission were operative time, anesthesia type, age, gender, and BMI. Smoking history, history of COPD, and history of coagulopathy were identified as less important variables. The following factors supported overnight admission: operative time > 200 min, age 53.5 years, male gender, BMI 31.2 kg/m2, positive smoking history, history of COPD and the presence of preoperative coagulopathy. The ensemble model achieved the best performance based on discrimination assessed via internal validation (AUC = 0.76), calibration, and decision curve analysis. The model was integrated into a web-based open-access application able to provide both predictions and explanations. Modifiable risk factors identified by the model such as increased BMI, operative time, anesthesia type, and comorbidities can help clinicians optimize preoperative status to prevent costs associated with unnecessary admissions. If externally validated in independent populations, this algorithm could use these inputs to guide preoperative screening and risk stratification to identify patients requiring overnight admission for observation following ACL reconstruction. IV.
Climate bones of contention: How climate variability influences territorial, maritime, and river interstate conflicts:

Many scholars examine the relationship between climate variability and intrastate conflict onset. While empirical findings in this literature are mixed, we know less about how climate changes incre...
Improved Coal Feeding Control System of Thermal Power Plant Based on PLC

Based on PLC, the improved coal feeding system of thermal power plant is developed, which solves the problems of poor timeliness and inaccurate quantity of coal feeder. In the process of belt transportation, a dynamic coal feeding rate is established. By controlling the coal feeding rate and then controlling the running speed of the belt, a certain amount of coal is supplied to the thermal power plant, so as to provide more accurate coal, improve the corresponding timeliness, and have better economic benefits.
Assessment of Publication Bias

Ideally, all methodologically sound clinical studies should be published and be included in a systematic review if they adequately address the question at hand. In reality, only a proportion of all initiated studies are completed, and only a proportion of these are published within a reasonable time. Some of the completed studies are never published, and their results tend to systematically differ from those that are published. The reporting bias arising from this phenomenon is termed publication bias. Systematic reviewers predominantly rely on data from published studies. Meta-epidemiological studies have shown publication bias as a significant issue in meta-analyses of clinical trials. Publication bias may lead to an over- or under-estimation of the effects of intervention because completed, but unpublished studies are not included in the analysis. This chapter covers the reasons for publication bias and its influence on effect estimates, and the methods (e.g. funnel plot, statistical tests) for assessing and handling this risk.
Multi-Scale 2D Temporal Adjacency Networks for Moment Localization with Natural Language

We address the problem of retrieving a specific moment from an untrimmed video by natural language. It is a challenging problem because a target moment may take place in the context of other temporal moments in the untrimmed video. Existing methods cannot tackle this challenge well since they do not fully consider the temporal contexts between temporal moments. In this paper, we model the temporal context between video moments by a set of predefined two-dimensional maps under different temporal scales. For each map, one dimension indicates the starting time of a moment and the other indicates the duration. These 2D temporal maps can cover diverse video moments with different lengths, while representing their adjacent contexts at different temporal scales. Based on the 2D temporal maps, we propose a Multi-Scale Temporal Adjacency Network (MS-2D-TAN), a single-shot framework for moment localization. It is capable of encoding the adjacent temporal contexts at each scale, while learning discriminative features for matching video moments with referring expressions. We evaluate the proposed MS-2D-TAN on three challenging benchmarks, i.e., Charades-STA, ActivityNet Captions, and TACoS, where our MS-2D-TAN outperforms the state of the art.
Teaching Tomorrow's Citizens: The Law's Role in Educational Disproportionality

A Huffington Post reporter wanted to discuss the extent to which conservatives are “coopting” the language of historically liberal civil rights advocates, especially in light of Shelby County v. Holder. Several responses immediately came to mind; however, the one response which often led my thoughts on this topic, even before I entered academia, was to question why progressives (or liberals, depending on your age, preference, and political slant) are regularly depicted as reacting to that which conservatives proffer. The intent of this article, therefore, is to engage in what is typically identified as a progressive issue through what is typically identified as a conservative framework, perhaps coopting a perspective. As the reporter argued, conservatives are increasingly coopting the language of progressives; further, many of the historic liberals being coopted were members of the mid-20th Century civil rights movement. The tone of the reporter’s questions seemed to suggest that she felt conservatives were “stealing” ideas. While some consider coopting to be, merely, a form of propagandizing, it is equally arguable that any propaganda is a strategic coopting of words or ideas. As such, this article looks at a historically progressive issue, the distribution of equal and equitable educational resources, through a historically conservative lens—the original construction and intent of one of the nation's Founding Fathers.
Teachers’ Views of Computers as Catalysts for Changes in Their Teaching Practice

AbstractIn this study, we examined the use of computers by teachers and their perception of the impact of computers on their classroom practice. These data draw from 47 teachers from 20 K–12 schools across three states who each completed a questionnaire, participated in three semistructured interviews, and allowed three observations of their classroom. The teachers who had adopted more progressive teaching practices over time felt that computers helped them change, but they did not acknowledge computers as the catalyst for change; instead they cited reflection upon experience, classes taken, and the context or culture of the school. We conclude that for teachers to implement the use of educational technology in a constructivist manner, they must have opportunities to construct pedagogical knowledge in a supportive climate.
Computer Ethics: Cases Concerning Privacy

In this chapter a number of cases will be presented that involve violations of privacy. Fingering Case © 2007 by John Halleck, used with permission) The case concerns a student who used a computer to monitor his ex-girlfriend by checking how often she logged on, from what terminal she logged on, and with whom she communicated. First, here is a bit of background on this case. Most computer systems have a “finger” command of some sort. This command tells if a given user is on the system or not, information about when that person was last on, and, often, information as to the location where the person logged in. The finger command on a system at a fictitious university that will be known as Desert State University also says whether the person has new mail (and when it was last read). Some finger commands even tell from whom the person last received mail. This “feature” would no doubt have been disabled on machines at the University in the years after this case was originally written. Most people at the University would agree that this information is more or less “public.” Here is the substance of the case. Administrators discovered that one of their student machines was severely bogged down in a manner that made it painful for the average student to use. It was discovered that a particular student's script was eating up all the available resources of the machine. Contrary to stated policy, it was a background script that continued running twenty-four hours a day, whether or not the student who had written the script was logged on.
Tragedy or Triumph in Post-Katrina New Orleans? Reflections on Possession, Dispossession, Demographic Change and Affordable Housing

This article responds to several legal scholars' critiques of eminent domain and affordable housing policy in the context of post-Katrina redevelopment in New Orleans. First, it addresses Carol Necole Brown and Serena M. Williams call for the deployment of "smart" eminent domain to site and devote Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) financed mixed income development projects in the greater metropolitan region of New Orleans. The article explains how eminent domain turned out to be a less useful redevelopment tool than Brown and Williams predicted. Next, the article responds to Stacy Seicshnaydre's indictment of the resistance by suburban politicians to a regional approach to affordable housing development in the New Orleans area and of the tendency to locate new tax-credit financing projects in poorer and minority dominated areas of the region. Although the article agrees with much of Seicshnaydre's critique, it points out that post-Katrina demographic change has led to increasing diversity in many suburban areas of New Orleans in spite of suburban political resistance to dispersal of affordable housing development. Finally, the article addresses Robert Ellickson's call for housing authorities and federal officials to rely more on portable housing vouchers rather than project based aid focused on mixed-income developments by examining the effect of the dramatic increase in post-Katrina voucher use in various areas of New Orleans and the actual effect of tax-credit financed mixed income developments that did take place after Katrina. The article concludes by calling for more extensive interdisciplinary examination of the effects of demographic change and housing policy in the New Orleans metro area.
The JavaTime approach to mixed hardware-software system design

We describe an approach for using Java as a basis for a design and specification language for embedded systems and use our JavaTime system to illustrate many aspects of the approach. Java is a pragmatic choice for several reasons. Since it is a member of the C “family” of languages, it is familiar to designers. Unlike C and C++, it has standard support for concurrency. Its treatment of arrays permits better static and dynamic error checking than is conveniently feasible in C and C++. Finally, while Java’s expressive power is comparable to C++, it is a much simpler language, that greatly eases the task of introducing additional analysis into compilers.
Leopards Sometimes Change Their Spots: How Firms Manage a Shift between Strategic Archetypes

This article describes a comparative field study of Taiwan’s PC industry. Tracing the strategic evolution of six leading firms, I found their transformations followed different paths because of the different mechanisms upon which top management relied at different times. I compare the efficacy of three disparate mechanisms. One lesser-known process, termed “deep dive,” is shown to allow top management to induce changes in the informal organization ahead of changes in formal structures, and thereby ensuring undistorted experimentation with a new strategy before making irrevocable choices. This reverses the sequence of change often posited in the organizational design literature.
Fuzzy modeling by induction and pruning of decision trees

Presents a Fuzzy ID3 algorithm that generates a fuzzy rule base from a set of input-output data. The rules are induced by the ID3 algorithm of Quinlan (1986). Pruning conditions are presented that assist in the elimination of irrelevant attributes and simplification of the rule base. The algorithm is applied to the modeling of an ARMA process with both known and unknown model order. >
Fabrication of boric acid glass for luminescence studies.

An extrusion process is described, permitting the fabrication of boric acid glass into strips having dimensions on the order of 10 cm×1 cm×0.3 mm. The applications of such material in optical studies of complex organic molecules are outlined.
Cell-substrate interaction with cell-membrane-stress dependent adhesion

Abstract Cell–substrate interaction is examined in a two-dimensional mechanics model. The cell and substrate are treated as a shell and an elastic solid, respectively. Their interaction through adhesion is treated using nonlinear springs. Compared to previous cell mechanics models, the present model introduces a cohesive force law that is dependent not only on cell–substrate distance but also on internal cell-membrane stress. It is postulated that a living cell would establish focal adhesion sites with density dependent on the cell-membrane stress. The formulated mechanics problem is numerically solved using coupled finite elements and boundary elements for the cell and the substrate, respectively. The nodes in the adhesion zone from either side are linked by the cohesive springs. The specific cases of a cell adhering to a homogeneous substrate and a heterogeneous bimaterial substrate are examined. The analyses show that the substrate stiffness affects the adhesion behavior significantly and regulates the direction of cell adhesion, in good agreement with the experimental results in the literature. By introducing a reactive parameter (i.e., cell-membrane stress) linking biological responses of a living cell to a mechanical environment, the present model offers a unified mechanistic vehicle for characterization and prediction of living cell responses to various kinds of mechanical stimuli including local extracellular matrix and neighboring cells.
Mediators' Facilitative Versus Controlling Argument Strategies and Tactics: A Qualitative Analysis Using the Conversational Argument Coding System

This study examined how utilization of the Conversational Argument Coding Scheme (CACS) demonstrates mediators' use of argument behavior to facilitate or control the manner in which mediation parties argued their positions. Data were collected from a community mediation program located in the southwestern United States. Forty mediation sessions, each having a single mediator, were videotaped and transcribed. Results revealed eight mediator argument tactics that reflect a facilitative strategy and three argument tactics that represent a controlling strategy. Discussion focuses on how the CACS can demonstrate ways in which mediators promote disputants' idea development or, in some cases, impede participants' use of argument to make known their ideas.
Attenuation of inositol trisphosphate generation and cytosolic Ca2+ elevation in dispersed rat parotid acini stimulated simultaneously at muscarinic and α1-adrenergic receptors

Abstract We have examined intracellular signalling events, peak cytosolic [Ca 2+ ] and inositol trisphosphate levels, in rat parotid acini simultaneously stimulated with two Ca 2+ mobilizing agonists, carbachol (muscarinic-cholinergic) and epinephrine (α 1 -adrenergic). When the agonists were added together, either at sub-maximal (200nM each, i.e. 400nM total agonist concentration) or maximal (10uM each, i.e. 20uM total) stimulatory concentrations, the resulting elevations in both cytosolic [Ca 2+ ] and inositol trisphosphate levels were not greater than those achieved when each agonist was added individually. However, with 400nM carbachol these responses were significantly greater than those seen with either 200nM carbachol or 200nM carbachol + 200nM epinephrine. The data indicate that when muscarinic and α 1 -adrenergic receptors of rat parotid acini are simultaneously stimulated a novel regulatory mechanism is induced, which attenuates inositol trisphosphate generation and, consequently, intracellular Ca 2+ release.
Distance-weighted discrimination

Distance-weighted discrimination is a classification discrimination method. Like the popular support vector machine, it is rooted in optimization; however, the underlying optimization problem is modified to give better generalizability, particularly in high dimensions. The two key ideas are that distance-weighted discrimination directly targets the data piling problem and also correctly handles unknown, unbalanced subclasses in the data. A useful property of distance-weighted discrimination, beyond just good classification performance, is that it provides a direction vector in high-dimensional data space with several purposes, including indication of driving phenomena behind class differences, data visualization, and batch adjustment tasks. WIREs Comput Stat 2015, 7:109-114. doi: 10.1002/wics.1345
Testing low-risk patients for suspected pulmonary embolism: a decision analysis.

Study objective The Pulmonary Embolism Rule-out Criteria (PERC) identifies low-risk patients who are treated in the emergency department for suspected pulmonary embolism and for whom testing may be deferred. The purpose of this study is to develop a decision model to determine whether certain elements not included in the PERC methodology could better estimate the testing threshold for pulmonary embolism (ie, the pretest probability below which a patient should not be tested for pulmonary embolism). In addition, we determine which risks and benefits of pulmonary embolism evaluation and treatment have the greatest effect on the testing threshold. Methods We built decision models of low-risk patients with suspected pulmonary embolism, as determined by the PERC. We obtained model inputs from the literature or by using clinical judgment when data were unavailable. One-way sensitivity analysis derived the testing threshold, and 2-way sensitivity analysis was used to determine the main drivers of the testing threshold. Results We found an average testing threshold of 1.4% across all age and sex cohorts. Two-way sensitivity analysis demonstrated that risk of major bleeding from anticoagulation, mortality from contrast-induced renal failure, risk of cancer from computed tomography scan, and mortality from both treated and untreated pulmonary embolism had the greatest effects on the testing threshold. Conclusion We found a testing threshold for the PERC similar to that calculated by the Pauker and Kassirer method, using somewhat different assumptions. The 5 major drivers for the testing threshold are variables for which there is a paucity of literature to assess accurately for low-risk patients.