cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chronic kidney disease, creatinine and cognitive functioning

Background. Non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD) is related to cognitive impairment. Previous studies have not explored the extent of impairment across multiple cognitive domains. We examined the range of specific cognitive abilities affected by CKD and whether the associations of CKD with cognition were eliminated by statistical control for cardiovascular disease correlates of CKD. Methods. We performed a community-based crosssectional study with 923 individuals free from dementia andend-stagerenaldisease.Twogroupsweredefinedbased on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR): eGFR<60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 versus eGFR ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 .O utcome measures were scores from multiple clinical tests of specific cognitive abilities. The GFR classifications and serum creatinine levels were related to measures of cognitive performance using logistic and linear regression analyses with three sets of covariates: (1) basic (age, education, gender and race); (2) basic+risk factors for cardiovascular disease(CVD)and(3)basic+riskfactorsforCVD+stroke. Results.AneGFR <60mL/min/1.73m 2 waspresentin142 (15.4%) individuals; the mean (SD) eGFR in this subgroup was49.7(10.7).CKDwasrelatedtolowercognitive performance despite adjustment for CVD risk factors (CVD-RF). Adjusting for CVD-RF and stroke, odds ratios and 95% confidenceintervalsassociatedwithperforminginthelowest quartile of the distribution of the Global, Visual–Spatial Organization/Memory and Scanning and Tracking scores for the eGFR < 60 group were 1.97 (1.25, 3.10); 1.88 (1.21, 2.93) and 1.83 (1.56, 2.87), P < 0.01 with eGFR ≥ 60 group as the reference group. Conclusions. Global performance and specific cognitive functions are negatively affected early in CKD. Targeted screening for cognitive deficits in kidney disease patients early in their disease course may be warranted.
Rapid methods to detect organic mercury and total selenium in biological samples

Organic mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant of concern and selenium is believed to afford protection against mercury risk though few approaches exist to rapidly assess both chemicals in biological samples. Here, micro-scale and rapid methods to detect organic mercury (< 1.5 ml total sample volume, < 1.5 hour) and total selenium (Se; < 3.0 ml total volume, < 3 hour) from a range of biological samples (10-50 mg) are described. For organic Hg, samples are digested using Tris-HCl buffer (with sequential additions of protease, NaOH, cysteine, CuSO4, acidic NaBr) followed by extraction with toluene and Na2S2O3. The final product is analyzed via commercially available direct/total mercury analyzers. For Se, a fluorometric assay has been developed for microplate readers that involves digestion (HNO3-HClO4 and HCl), conjugation (2,3-diaminonaphthalene), and cyclohexane extraction. Recovery of organic Hg (86-107%) and Se (85-121%) were determined through use of Standard Reference Materials and lemon shark kidney tissues. The approaches outlined provide an easy, rapid, reproducible, and cost-effective platform for monitoring organic Hg and total Se in biological samples. Owing to the importance of organic Hg and Se in the pathophysiology of Hg, integration of such methods into established research monitoring efforts (that largely focus on screening total Hg only) will help increase understanding of Hg's true risks.
A low phase noise, wideband and compact CMOS PLL for use in a heterodyne 802.15.3c TRX

A low phase noise, wideband, mm-wave, integer-N PLL that is capable of supporting a 802.15.3c heterodyne TRX is reported. The PLL can generate 6 equally spaced tones from 43.2GHz to 51.84GHz, which is suitable for a heterodyne architecture with LO=(4/5)RF. Phase noise is measured directly at the LO frequency and is better than −97.5dBc/Hz@1MHz across the entire band. The total power consumption is 72mW from a 1V supply. The reported frequency synthesizer is smaller, exhibits less phase noise, and consumes less power than prior art. In addition, the LO tone corresponds to the fundamental of the VCO as opposed to a higher harmonic. Central to the PLL performance is the design of a low-noise, mm-wave VCO with a 22.9% tuning range. It is noted that resonator nonlinearities may result in significant up-conversion of flicker noise in wideband, mm-wave VCOs. To overcome this, Digitally-Controlled-Artificial-Dielectric (DiCAD) is used to linearize the resonator.
Bucket Elimination: a Unifying Framework for ProcessingHard and Soft Constraints

This position paper argues that extending the CSP model to a richer set of tasks such as, constraint optimization, probabilistic inference and decision theoretic tasks can be done within a unifying framework called ’’bucket elimination‘‘. The framework allows uniform hybrids for combining elimination and conditioning guided by the problem‘s structure and for explicating the tradeoffs between space and time and between time and accuracy.
The control of root, vegetative shoot and flower morphogenesis in tobacco thin cell-layer explants (TCLs)

Thin cell-layer explants (TCLs) have been proposed as favorable tissues for the study of root, vegetative shoot and flower formation. We tested the effects of pH, light quality, light quantity, and IBA and kinetin concentrations on the morphogenesis of TCLs cultured individually on a liquid medium. Alterations of the amounts of exogenously supplied IBA and kinetin were sufficient to induce the formation of roots, vegetative shoots and flowers on TCLs cultured on otherwise identical media. The type and number of organs formed were sensitive to the intensity of light (55, 75, 100 and 120 muEinsteins m-2 sec-1) under which TCLs were grown. Evidence was obtained that the effects of light on TCL morphogenesis were associated with photochemical degradation of IBA in the medium. Evaluation of the organogenesis that occurred in TCLs cultured on a medium containing a range of IBA and kinetin concentrations showed that the number and type of organs formed, and overall growth, were dependent upon the initial concentrations of auxin and cytokinin. We have developed the TCL culture system into a sensitive and reproducible bioassay for the study of morphogenesis. The advantages of using the TCL morphogenesis bioassay for the identification and study of molecules (e.g. cell wall oligosaccharides) that may regulate morphogenesis are discussed.
The Moral Issue in Collective Behavior and Collective Action

Emergent norm theory is clarified and expanded through analysis of the processes and circumstances by which the normative element emerges and persists in general and in collective behavior and collective action. An interdependency in risk principle is suggested, coupled with triggering conditions to evoke a specifically moral sense. The paper concludes with brief discussions of the sources of normative content and social structural conditions that are conducive to normative emergence.
Protein turnover in 3T3 cells transformed with the oncogene c-H-ras1

We have examined protein turnover, growth, DNA synthesis and proliferation in three independent clones of 3T3-NR6 cells transformed with the oncogene c-H-ras1. We find that, firstly, the half-maximum concentration of serum and insulin regulating protein turnover in ras-transformed cells is significantly reduced from 0.5 to 0.3% for serum and from 4 nM to 0.5 nM for insulin, and, secondly, ras-transformed cells consistently have lower rates of protein degradation. The catabolic effect of conditioned medium or serum withdrawal is attenuated in transformed lines by maintaining lower basal rates of protein breakdown and higher basal rates of DNA and protein synthesis. Serum stimulation of growth in transformed cells is achieved in the short term by lower rates of protein breakdown rather than higher rates of protein synthesis: rates of protein synthesis become significantly higher 24 h after serum stimulation. Therefore transformed cells have higher rates of proliferation and grow to higher densities, but display characteristics common to normal cells because rates of protein synthesis decrease and protein degradation increase as a function of cell density. We conclude that higher basal rates of protein synthesis and growth with retention of the normal proliferative response to serum result from the pleiotropic nature of ras transformation, whereas lower rates of protein degradation and increased sensitivity to serum and insulin imply a direct regulatory role for ras.
Control of epidemics on graphs

The control of complex dynamic networks has many applications ranging from the management of electric power grids to the regulation of biological cellular networks. Prior work has focused on understanding the relationship between cascading behavior and network structure, the role of critical nodes, and conditions necessary for sustained cascade propagation. Recent work has begun to examine general approaches for dynamically influencing processes to guide the network or a targeted subnetwork towards a desired state. This paper models the control of an epidemic as a Markov Decision Process and applies a variety of different state-of-the-art planning algorithms to arrive at targeted control strategies. The results reveal the conditions under which certain approaches succeed and fail.
Influence of Diffusivity and Sorption on Helium and Hydrogen Separations in Hydrocarbon, Silicon, and Fluorocarbon-Based Polymers

The permeability–selectivity upper bounds show that perfluoropolymers have uniquely different separation characteristics than hydrocarbon-based polymers. For separating helium from hydrogen, these differences are particularly dramatic. At a given helium permeability, the upper bound defined by perfluoropolymers has helium/hydrogen selectivities that are 2.5 times higher than that of the upper bound defined by hydrocarbon-based polymers. Robeson hypothesized that these differences in transport properties resulted from the unusual sorption relationships of gases in perfluoropolymers compared to hydrocarbon-based polymers, and this paper seeks to test this hypothesis experimentally. To do so, the gas permeability, sorption, and diffusion coefficients were determined at 35 °C for hydrogen and helium in a series of hydrocarbon-, silicon-, and fluorocarbon-based polymers. Highly or completely fluorinated polymers have separation characteristics above the upper-bound for helium/hydrogen separation because they m...
Rapid optical methods for enantiomeric excess analysis: From enantioselective indicator displacement assays to exciton-coupled circular dichroism

ConspectusThe advent of high-throughput screening (HTS) for chiral catalysts has encouraged the development of fast methods for determining enantiomeric excess (ee). Traditionally, chromatographic methods such as chiral HPLC have been used for ee determination in HTS. These methods, however, are not optimal because of high duty cycle. Their long analysis time results in a bottleneck in the HTS process. A more ideal method for HTS that requires less analysis time such as chiroptical methods are thus of interest.In this Account, we summarize our efforts to develop host–guest systems for ee determination. The first part includes our enantioselective indicator displacement assays (eIDAs), and the second part focuses on our circular dichroism based host–guest systems. Our first eIDA utilizes chiral boronic acid receptors, along with prescreened indicators, to determine ee for chiral α-hydroxyacids and vicinal diols with ±7% average error (AE). To further the practicality for this system, a HTS protocol was dev...
Quitline Tobacco Interventions in Hospitalized Patients: A Randomized Trial

Introduction Hospitalization provides an opportunity for smokers to quit, but tobacco interventions can require specialized services that are not available to many hospitals. This study tests the hypothesis that a brief intervention to facilitate the use of telephone quitline services for both initial and follow-up counseling is effective in helping patients achieve sustained abstinence. Design This was a population-based RCT. Setting Participants were Olmsted County, MN residents who reported current smoking and were admitted to Mayo Clinic hospitals in Rochester, MN between May 2012 and August 2014. Intervention A control group received brief (~5-minute) cessation advice; an intervention group received a brief (~5-minute) quitline facilitation intervention, with either warm handoff or faxed referral to a national quitline provider. All were offered a 2-week supply of nicotine patches at discharge. Main outcome measures Outcomes included self-reported 7-day point prevalence abstinence at 6 months after hospitalization and quitline utilization. Data analysis was performed from September 2014 to March 2015. Results Of the 1,409 eligible patients who were approached, 600 (47%) were randomized. The quitline intake call was completed by 195 subjects (65% of the intervention group). Of these, 128 (66%) completed the first coaching call. Self-reported abstinence rates at 6 months after discharge were identical in both groups (24%). Conclusions The quitline facilitation intervention did not improve self-reported abstinence rates compared with a standard brief stop-smoking intervention. These results do not support the effectiveness of quitlines in providing tobacco use interventions to a general population of hospitalized smokers.
Employing Synergetic Effect of Doping and Thin Film Coating to Boost the Performance of Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode Particles

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has evolved as an important technique to coat conformal protective thin films on cathode and anode particles of lithium ion batteries to enhance their electrochemical performance. Coating a conformal, conductive and optimal ultrathin film on cathode particles has significantly increased the capacity retention and cycle life as demonstrated in our previous work. In this work, we have unearthed the synergetic effect of electrochemically active iron oxide films coating and partial doping of iron on LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 (LMNO) particles. The ionic Fe penetrates into the lattice structure of LMNO during the ALD process. After the structural defects were saturated, the iron started participating in formation of ultrathin oxide films on LMNO particle surface. Owing to the conductive nature of iron oxide films, with an optimal film thickness of ~0.6 nm, the initial capacity improved by ~25% at room temperature and by ~26% at an elevated temperature of 55 °C at a 1C cycling rate. The synergy of doping of LMNO with iron combined with the conductive and protective nature of the optimal iron oxide film led to a high capacity retention (~93% at room temperature and ~91% at 55 °C) even after 1,000 cycles at a 1C cycling rate.
De-anonymizable Location Cloaking for Privacy-Controlled Mobile Systems

The rapid technology upgrades of mobile devices and the popularity of wireless networks significantly drive the emergence and development of Location-based Services (LBSs), thus greatly expanding the business of online services and enriching the user experience. However, the personal location data shared with the service providers also leave hidden risks on location privacy. Location anonymization techniques transform the exact location of a user into a cloaking area by including the locations of multiple users in the exposed area such that the exposed location is indistinguishable from that of the other users. However in such schemes, location information once perturbed cannot be recovered from the cloaking region and as a result, users of the location cannot obtain fine granular information even when they have access to it. In this paper, we propose Dynamic Reversible Cloaking (DRC) a new de-anonymziable location cloaking mechanism that allows to restore the actual location from the perturbed information through the use of an anonymization key. Extensive experiments using realistic road network traces show that the proposed scheme is efficient, effective and scalable.
Range-based geolocation in fading environments

We consider source geolocation based on range estimates from sensors with known coordinates. In a fading propagation environment, where a line-of-sight (LOS) path may be weak or essentially nonexistent, range estimates may have positive biases. We study this problem by considering a weighted least squares (WLS) location estimator, based on noisy range estimates, each of which is contaminated by additive Gaussian noise and possibly a positive bias. We derive the mean and mean-square error (MSE) of the WLS estimator, showing that in general the estimator produces biased estimates. The error expressions are developed via first-order perturbation analysis. They provide a means to study achievable localization performance, as a function of the measurement bias and variance, as well as the sensor network geometry.
Perchlorate Analysis with the AS16 Separation Column

Perchlorate is a powerful oxidant used in solid-rocket propellant mixtures, fireworks, and munitions. The presence of trace level perchlorate in drinking water poses a potential health risk, resulting from perchlorate’s ability to interfere with the thyroid gland’s uptake of iodide to produce thyroid hormones. The current EPA’s recommended acceptable level for perchlorate in drinking water is 18 parts per billion (ppb). Since perchlorate is better known for it’s commercial and industrial applications, past occurrence studies have focused on water wells near regions where munitions, aerospace components, and fireworks were manufactured, developed and tested. Perchlorate has been reported in drinking water sources in the states of California, Utah, Nevada, West Virginia, and Texas.1–6 However, recent reports have suggested that naturally occurring perchlorate is also present in fertilizers, nitrate deposits from northern Chile, and minerals from arid environments. These new findings have sparked intense efforts in the study of natural perchlorate occurrence in non-aqueous matrices, and in the development of new methodologies to support these studies.
Cell Lines and “Knock-in” Mice Bearing FLT3/ITD Mutations Exhibit Elevated Repair Errors Generated through Alternative DNA Double Strand Break Repair Pathways: Implications for Genomic Instability.

Abstract 3237 Poster Board III-174 Activating mutations of the FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 (FLT3) receptor occur in approximately 30% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and, at least for internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations, are associated with poor prognosis. We previously reported that FLT3/ITD mutations are associated with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production which leads to increased DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) and decreased repair fidelity, that may in part explain aggressive AML in FLT3/ITD patients. While the DNA-PK and Ku-dependent non homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway is one of the main routes for repairing DSBs in normal mammalian cells, recent reports have suggested that an alternative and less well defined NHEJ pathway (Alt NHEJ) involving DNA ligase IIIαa and PARP1, characterized by DNA sequence microhomology at the repair junctions, may play a role in the generation of deletions and translocations that can lead to cancer progression. Here, we report that in hematopoetic progenitor cells expressing FLT3/ITD (Ba/F3/ITD), the frequency of errors and the size of deletions during DSB repair is increased compared with the Ba/F3 control cells. Moreover, these data are confirmed in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM MNCs) from FLT3/ITD “knock-in” mice, compared with WT control cells. Strikingly, we show that Ku proteins (Ku70 and Ku86), key components of the main NHEJ pathway, are down-regulated in FLT3/ITD-positive cell line and primary mouse BM MNCs. Concomitantly, DNA ligase IIIαa, a component of Alt NHEJ pathway is up-regulated in FLT3/ITD-expressing cells and plays a role in abnormal DSB repair. Importantly, after treatment with a FLT3 inhibitor, AML (MOLM-14, MV4-11) cells containing FLT3/ITD mutations demonstrate a reduction of misrepair and deletion size, and down-regulation of DNA ligase IIIαa, suggesting that FLT3 signaling regulates the pathways by which DSBs are repaired. Thus, therapy to inhibit FLT3/ITD may lead to repair that reduces repair errors and genomic instability. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
An anatomic risk model to screen post endovascular aneurysm repair patients for aneurysm sac enlargement.

Abstract Background Follow-up computed tomography angiography (CTA) scans add considerable postimplantation costs to endovascular aneurysm repairs (EVARs) of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). By building a risk model, we hope to identify patients at low risk for aneurysm sac enlargement to minimize unnecessary CTAs. Methods 895 consecutive patients who underwent EVAR for AAA were reviewed, of which 556 met inclusion criteria. A Probit model was created for aneurysm sac enlargement, with preoperative aneurysm morphology, patient demographics, and operative details as variables. Results Our final model included 287 patients and had a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 68.9%, and an accuracy of 70.4%. Ninety-nine (35%) of patients were assigned to the high-risk group, whereas 188 (65%) of patients were assigned to the low-risk group. Notably, regarding anatomic variables, our model reported that age, pulmonary comorbidities, aortic neck diameter, iliac artery length, and aneurysms were independent predictors of post-EVAR sac enlargement. With the exception of age, all statistically significant variables were qualitatively supported by prior literature. With regards to secondary outcomes, the high-risk group had significantly higher proportions of AAA-related deaths (5.1% versus 1.1%, P = 0.037) and Type 1 endoleaks (9.1% versus 3.2%, P = 0.033). Conclusions Our model is a decent predictor of patients at low risk for post AAA EVAR aneurysm sac enlargement and associated complications. With additional validation and refinement, it could be applied to practices to cut down on the overall need for postimplantation CTA.
Linear and unconditionally energy stable schemes for the binary fluid–surfactant phase field model

Abstract In this paper, we consider the numerical solution of a binary fluid–surfactant phase field model, in which the free energy contains a nonlinear coupling entropy, a Ginzburg–Landau double well potential, and a logarithmic Flory–Huggins potential. The resulting system consists of two nonlinearly coupled Cahn–Hilliard type equations. We develop a first and a second order time stepping schemes for this system using the “Invariant Energy Quadratization” approach; in particular, the system is transformed into an equivalent one by introducing appropriate auxiliary variables and all nonlinear terms are then treated semi-explicitly. Both schemes are linear and lead to symmetric positive definite systems in space at each time step, thus they can be efficiently solved. We further prove that these schemes are unconditionally energy stable in the discrete sense. Various 2D and 3D numerical experiments are performed to validate the accuracy and energy stability of the proposed schemes.
Peer effects in early schooling: Evidence from Brazilian primary schools

Abstract Empirical investigations of peer effects on student achievement are often challenged by methodological problems related to the simultaneous influence of peer interactions and selection bias. To minimize these problems, I estimate peer effects controlling for school fixed effects and using educational data at school entry, when students’ baseline performance has not been influenced by their peers and ability grouping is less common because schools have unclear information about the ability level of incoming students. Using longitudinal data from Brazil, I compare students at the beginning and at the end of first grade to see whether classroom composition with respect to peers’ academic performance impacts students’ achievement gains in their first year in school. Consistently with previous literature, results suggest that students learn more when they attend classrooms with higher achieving peers. Whereas classroom heterogeneity in terms of peers’ ability tend to have a negative but small effect on achievement gains in first grade. Empirical investigations of peer effects on student achievement are often challenged by methodological problems related to the simultaneous influence of peer interactions and selection bias. To minimize these problems, I estimate peer effects controlling for school fixed effects and using educational data at school entry, when students’ baseline performance has not been influenced by their peers and ability grouping is less common because schools have unclear information about the ability level of incoming students. Using longitudinal data from Brazil, I compare students at the beginning and at the end of first grade to see whether classroom composition with respect to peers’ academic performance impacts students’ achievement gains in their first year in school. Consistently with previous literature, results suggest that students learn more when they attend classrooms with higher achieving peers. Whereas classroom heterogeneity in terms of peers’ ability tend to have a negative but small effect on achievement gains in first grade.
16.2 A 9GS/s 1GHz-BW oversampled continuous-time pipeline ADC achieving −161dBFS/Hz NSD

In traditional ADCs the input signal is sampled at the front-end by a switched-capacitor circuit and all internal signals are processed in discrete-time (DT) even though the front-end sampler introduces artifacts such as aliasing, noise folding, and high-peak ADC driving current to charge the input sampling capacitor. In ΔΣ ADCs, those issues are resolved by replacing the DT loop filter with a continuous-time (CT) implementation which relaxes the pre-filter and driver requirements in the signal chain thus reducing the overall signal chain power consumption. CTΔΣs also introduce additional benefits such as 2–3× higher clocking capability in the same process node and low-power internal opamps due to relaxed noise, loading, and gain bandwidth requirements. Since these CT benefits are not exclusive to the ΔΣ architecture, other ADC architectures could similarly benefit by replacing DT blocks with CT ones. This paper presents a CT pipeline ADC, which processes the input and residue signals with CT circuitry throughout all the pipeline stages. The combination of CT signal processing with the pipeline architecture realizes an ADC system inheriting the CT benefits while achieving a digitization bandwidth (BW) more than 2× greater than that of CT ΔΣ ADCs, which is comparable to DT pipeline ADCs in the same process node.
What A Great "IDEA": Interagency collaboration for successful parent involvement of migrant families

This article studies and proposes culturally responsive interagency collaboration for parent involvement of families from migrant background. The author begins with a discussion of parent involvement literature. After it, there is a discussion of laws influencing migrant education and litigation. Finally, recommendations are offered for engaging parents of migrant backgrounds using a collaborative partnership between federal programs.
N-alkylation of 2-pyridone derivatives via palladium(II)-catalyzed directed alkene hydroamination

Abstract A selective N-alkylation reaction of 2-pyridones and related heterocycles via intermolecular alkene hydroamination is reported. The reaction utilizes palladium(II) acetate as a catalyst and employs a bidentate directing group to dictate the regioselectivity for both unactivated terminal and internal alkenes. High functional group tolerance is observed across a widerange of electronically diverse 2-pyridones and other aza-heterocycles, including 1-hydroxyisoquinoline, 2-hydroxyquinoline, pyridazinone, pyrimidinone, and pyrazinone.
Book Review of New Materialism: Interviews & Cartographies // Reseña de New Materialism: Interviews & Cartographies

Book Review of New Materialism: Interviews & Cartographies. Resumen Resena de New Materialism: Interviews & Cartographies.
Transnational Migration, Global Links, and Social Inequality: Human Trafficking and North Korean Women in China

Through examining the reasons for transnational migration and the political standpoints toward such transnational migration at global and transnational links, this paper argues that the issue of human trafficking of North Korean women in China stems from global geopolitical inequalities, state dominations, gender hierarchy, and border control. This paper demonstrates that the political, economic, and social inequality implicit in national and global nexus impacts North Korean women in detrimental ways that subject them to exploitations, oppression, and social injustice.
"Data-Based Ethical Decision Making, Lateral Relations, and Organizational Commitment"

Focusing on ethical issues when making organizational decisions should encourage a variety of positive outcomes for companies and their employees. The purpose of this study was to determine the deg...
Riding out DOMsday: Towards Detecting and Preventing DOM Cross-Site Scripting

Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities are the most frequently reported web application vulnerability. As com- plex JavaScript applications become more widespread, DOM (Document Object Model) XSS vulnerabilities—a type of XSS vulnerability where the vulnerability is located in client-side JavaScript, rather than server-side code—are becoming more common. As the first contribution of this work, we empirically assess the impact of DOM XSS on the web using a browser with taint tracking embedded in the JavaScript engine. Building on the methodology used in a previous study that crawled popular websites, we collect a current dataset of potential DOM XSS vulnerabilities. We improve on the methodology for confirming XSS vulnerabilities, and using this improved methodology, we find 83% more vulnerabilities than previous methodology applied to the same dataset. As a second contribution, we identify the causes of and discuss how to prevent DOM XSS vulnerabilities. One example of our findings is that custom HTML templating designs—a design pattern that could prevent DOM XSS vulnerabilities analogous to parameterized SQL—can be buggy in practice, allowing DOM XSS attacks. As our third contribution, we evaluate the error rates of three static-analysis tools to detect DOM XSS vulnerabilities found with dynamic analysis techniques using in-the-wild examples. We find static-analysis tools to miss 90% of bugs found by our dynamic analysis, though some tools can have very few false positives and at the same time find vulnerabilities not found using the dynamic analysis.
Understanding the Asian American Vote in the 2016 Election

As the number of Asian American voters has increased with each election, more research is needed to understand the participation and voting patterns of this diverse electorate. This paper offers an analysis of Asian American political participation and vote choice preferences during the 2016 presidential election. The paper begins by addressing the concerns related to Asian American political incorporation. We disaggregate Asian Americans into three voting types—voters, those who are eligible to vote but are not registered, and those who are ineligible to vote—and compare the demographic differences found across these three groups. The second half of the paper turns to Asian American candidate preferences in the 2016 election. We find that voters who report high levels of media consumption and those with a strong sense of political efficacy were more likely to support Clinton. Our analysis of non-voters suggests that the potential incorporation of these Asian Americans would result in a continued base of support for the Democratic party.
Examining Elementary School Students' Transfer of Learning through Engineering Design Using Think-Aloud Protocol Analysis.

The introduction of engineering practices within the Next Generation Science Standards provides technology educators with opportunities to help STEM educators infuse engineering design within a core curriculum. The introduction of teaching engineering design in early elementary grades also provides opportunities to conduct research investigating how young students use engineering design as a way to solve problems. There is a need for research to assess how students experience engineering design as a pedagogical approach to learning science. This article will feature research on elementary students’ cognitive strategies used during engineering-design science activities. We adopted the concurrent think-aloud (CTA) protocol analysis method to capture how students conceptualize design and enhance science learning. During the 2012–2013 school year, we video recorded 66 CTA sessions, and this study examines six of those sessions. NVivo (Version 10) was used to code each video using common cognitive strategies categorized by Halfin (1973). Research findings indicate that participants increased the amount of time spent on mathematical thinking by 34% when given a math-specific design task. Pre- and post-tests showed that participants gained significant science content knowledge. However, we also confirmed that participants struggled with applying accurate mathematical and scientific knowledge to solving the given design problem.
A 5.8GHz power-harvesting 116μmx116μm “dielet” near-field radio with on-chip coil antenna

The proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) and low-power sensors would benefit greatly from batteryless compact radios that require no external components. Such a radio could be used for future RFID, wearable/implantable devices, and counter-counterfeit electronics. Previous demonstrations have focused primarily on miniaturizing the radio size [1,2], but relying on off-chip antennas. Two challenges must be overcome to enable sufficiently small radios with on-chip antennas [3]: 1) In most state-of-the-art radios [3-6], the device antenna is connected to both the downlink signal path and the power management unit. Relying on separate signal and power paths incurs an area penalty and degrades antenna matching. In addition, it would be difficult to get a high downlink data-rate since the weak power transfer cannot be disturbed by communication data with a high-index modulation. 2) The ultra-small die area precludes the use of any on-chip energy storage (such as large capacitors or inductors) or a large antenna, so sufficient power must be supplied wirelessly. The wireless power tone acts as a large blocker for the uplink communication signal, resulting in a poor uplink signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal-to-blocker ratio (SBR). In [4], the radio dimension was reduced to 500μm×250μm, but the achieved uplink SNR was only 10dB. To circumvent the blocker issue in the uplink, dual antennas were adopted in [5] and [6] to split the wireless powering tone and uplink tone into two frequencies, resulting in a die area larger than 4.4mm2.
Detection of Intracardiac Echogenic Events During Total Knee Arthroplasties

Embolic events during total knee arthroplasties are thought to occur when the tourniquet is released, occasionally resulting in cardiac arrest. This retrospective study, involving 12 patients who h...
Pacific Rim and exoskeletons

The giant robots in the Pacific Rim movies could take lessons from advances in legged robots and from real-world exoskeletons being designed to prevent worker injuries, accelerate physical therapy, and help paralyzed children walk.
summary of status and plans for the GHOST Balloon Project

Over 200 flights have been made in the Southern Hemisphere with superpressure balloons. These GHOST balloons have performed well in the stratosphere with flight durations from three to fifteen months. At altitudes below 300-mb balloon life has not been satisfactory for an economic operational system. A technique now under development is described which will overcome the problem of balloon icing in clouds; this technique will utilize vertical soundings made from a mother balloon.
Clinical characterization of children with resistant airflow obstruction, a multicenter study.

ABSTRACTObjective: To characterize a cohort of children with airflow limitation resistant to bronchodilator (BD) therapy. Methods: Pulmonary function tests performed in children 6–17 years of age at 15 centers in a clinical research consortium were screened for resistant airflow limitation, defined as a post-BD FEV1 and/or an FEV1/FVC less than the lower limits of normal. Demographic and clinical data were analyzed for associations with pulmonary function. Results: 582 children were identified. Median age was 13 years (IQR: 11, 16), 60% were males; 62% were Caucasian, 28% were African-American; 19% were obese; 32% were born prematurely and 21% exposed to second hand smoke. Pulmonary diagnoses included asthma (93%), prior significant pneumonia (28%), and bronchiectasis (5%). 65% reported allergic rhinitis, and 11% chronic sinusitis. Subjects without a history of asthma had significantly lower post-BD FEV1% predicted (p = 0.008). Subjects without allergic rhinitis had lower post-BD FEV1% predicted (p = 0.00...
Epigenetic Mechanisms Dictating Eradication of Cancer by Natural Killer Cells

Natural killer (NK) cells of the innate immune system are the first line of defense against infectious agents and cancer cells. However, only a few mechanisms that regulate eradication of tumors by NK cells have been identified. In this review, we present an account of epigenetic mechanisms that modulate the ability of NK cells to eradicate cancer cells. To date, several drugs that target epigenetic modifiers have shown clinical efficacy in cancer. Therefore, once a given epigenetic modifier is validated as a regulator of NK cell function, it can be targeted for NK cell-based cancer immunotherapies.
Linearity Measurements of Intrinsically Switchable BST FBAR Filters

The linearity of intrinsically switchable thin film bulk acoustic wave resonator (FBAR) filters based on ferroelectric barium strontium titanate (BST) is investigated. A 2.5 stage ladder type BST FBAR filter is designed and fabricated with an insertion loss of 4.3 dB and a fractional bandwidth of 2.5% at the center frequency of 2.2 GHz. Third-order intercept point $(\mathbf{IP}_{\mathbf{3}})$ measurements are conducted to characterize the linearity of the filter. The measured $\mathbf{IIP}_{3}$ value for the filter is 47 dBm.
Breaking Down Health Care Insurance from HMO to PPO and Beyond

During the early twentieth century, a range of demographic, scientific, and economic advances combined to make medical care more expensive and set the stage for the development of early forms of commercial health insurance. The managed care concept began to develop as early as 1929 with Blue Cross and several years later with the Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Group Health Association (GHA). While managed care continued to evolve and expand in the 1960s and 1970s, health-care costs continued to rise and the federal government initiated plans to curtail health-care spending. More importantly, an economic recession during the early 1980s reinforced the need to control the costs and expenditures. As a result, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and other forms of prepaid health care were widely adopted with the aim of reducing health-care costs. The evolution, restructuring, and influence of managed care organizations in the delivery of health care peaked in the 1980s and 1990s. But by the late 1990s, the HMO influence on health policy began to decline due to their failure to restrain growing health-care costs and a poor public image.
Generating functions for power moments of elliptic curves over Fp

Abstract Seminal works by Birch and Ihara gave formulas for the mth power moments of the traces of Frobenius endomorphisms of elliptic curves over F p for primes p ≥ 5 . Recent works by Kaplan and Petrow generalized these results to the setting of elliptic curves that contain a subgroup isomorphic to a finite abelian group A. We revisit these formulas and determine a simple expression for the zeta function Z p ( A ; t ) , the generating function for these mth power moments. In particular, we find that Z p ( A ; t ) = Z ˆ p ( A ; t ) ∏ a ∈ Frob p ( A ) ( 1 − a t ) , where Frob p ( A ) : = { a : − 2 p ≤ a ≤ 2 p and a ≡ p + 1 ( mod | A | ) } , and Z ˆ p ( A ; t ) is an easily computed polynomial that is determined by the first ⌈ 2 ⌊ 2 p ⌋ | A | ⌉ power moments. These rational zeta functions have two natural applications. We find rational generating functions in weight aspect for traces of Hecke operators on S k ( Γ ) for various congruence subgroups Γ. We also prove congruence relations for power moments by making use of known congruences for traces of Hecke operators.
Effective algebraicity

Results of R. Miller in 2009 proved several theorems about algebraic fields and computable categoricity. Also in 2009, A. Frolov, I. Kalimullin, and R. Miller proved some results about the degree spectrum of an algebraic field when viewed as a subfield of its algebraic closure. Here, we show that the same computable categoricity results also hold for finite-branching trees under the predecessor function and for connected, finite-valence, pointed graphs, and we show that the degree spectrum results do not hold for these trees and graphs. We also offer an explanation for why the degree spectrum results distinguish these classes of structures: although all three structures are algebraic structures, the fields are what we call effectively algebraic.
Inactivated influenza vaccine and spontaneous abortion in the Vaccine Safety Datalink in 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2014-15.

Abstract Introduction A recent study reported an association between inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) and spontaneous abortion (SAB), but only among women who had also been vaccinated in the previous influenza season. We sought to estimate the association between IIV administered in three recent influenza seasons and SAB among women who were and were not vaccinated in the previous influenza season. Methods We conducted a case-control study over three influenza seasons (2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15) in the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). Cases (women with SAB) and controls (women with live births) were matched on VSD site, date of last menstrual period, age group, and influenza vaccination status in the previous influenza season. Of 1908 presumptive cases identified from the electronic record, 1236 were included in the main analysis. Administration of IIV was documented in several risk windows, including 1–28, 29–56, and >56 days before the SAB date. Results Among 627 matched pairs vaccinated in the previous season, no association was found between vaccination in the 1–28 day risk window and SAB (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.9; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.6–1.5). The season-specific aOR ranged from 0.5 to 1.7 with all CIs including the null value of 1.0. Similarly, no association was found among women who were not vaccinated in the previous season; the season-specific aOR in the 1–28 day risk window ranged from 0.6 to 0.7 and the 95% CI included 1.0 in each season. There was no association found between SAB and influenza vaccination in the other risk windows, or when vaccine receipt was analyzed relative to date of conception. Conclusion During these seasons we found no association between IIV and SAB, including among women vaccinated in the previous season. These findings lend support to current recommendations for influenza vaccination at any time during pregnancy, including the first trimester.
A resident-led initiative to improve patient safety event reporting in an internal medicine residency program.

Despite the Clinical Learning Environment Review’s recommendations of their use, patient safety event reporting systems are underutilized by residents. We aimed to identify perceived barriers to ev...
Nanoscale Lubrication and Friction Control

Knowledge pertaining to the molecular-scale origins of structure, dynamics, response characteristics and rheology of highly confined liquids, and of their dependencies on molecular size, shape and complexity, is of importance for the molecular design of lubricants in nanoscale junctions. In this article we review recent progress toward understanding the nature of such systems, obtained through comparative grand-canonical molecular dynamics simulations for confined liquids made of molecules of different shapes (globular versus alkane chains), sizes (short versus longer chains, i.e., hexadecane and tetracosane) and complexity (straight alkanes and a branched one, squalane). Energetic and entropic contributions to the solvation forces for these systems are discussed. Subsequently, we describe a novel method for controlling friction through small-amplitude (∼1A) oscillations of the confining boundaries in the direction perpendicular to the shear plane. The results of the simulations are analyzed via a generalized rate-and-state model.
The concept of spin ice graphs and a field theory for their charges

Originally detected in rare earth pyrochlores, spin ice physics is now being artificially extended to a variety of geometries that control collective behavior and exotic properties, making graph theory their proper framework. We relate spin ice notions, such as ice rule, ice manifold, Coulomb phases, charges, and monopoles, to graph-theoretical notions, such as balance, in/out-degrees, and Euler paths. We then propose a field-theoretical treatment in which topological charges and monopoles are the degrees of freedom, while the binary spins are subsumed in an entropic interaction among charges. We show that for a spin ice on a graph in a Gaussian approximation, the kernel of the entropic interaction is the inverse of the graph Laplacian, and we compute screening functions from the graph spectra as Green operators for the screened Poisson problem on a graph. We then apply the treatment to star graphs, tournaments, cycles, and regular spin ice in different dimensions. Our aim is twofold: to set spin ice physics in a proper graph setting, where only topological rather than geometrical notions hold, and to invite graph theorists to contribute their powerful tools to the field of spin ice.
Application of Sensors and Machine Learning in the Evaluation of Hyperactivity in Children

Background: Although hyperactivity is a core symptom of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), there are no objective measures that are widely used in clinical settings. The current standard measurement for hyperactivity consists of parent and teacher questionnaires. This subjectivity leads to both over- and under diagnosis. Purpose/Objective: We developed LemurDx, a wearable smartwatch application that uses state-of-the-art sensor technology to measure hyperactivity. Our objective was to test the prototype for variability in motion between children who have a diagnosis …
Patient advocacy group collaboration in genetic research and the scope of joint inventorship under US patent law

Patent systems have traditionally operated to reward scientific innovation and discovery rather than the level and type of contribution of raw materials and other support. In recently naming a non-scientist patent advocate as a co-inventor on a patent claiming method for diagnosing a disease-causing genetic mutation, the USPTO has recently determined that collaboration with researchers in providing banked genetic samples and participating in the laboratory rises to the level of inventorship. This article examines broad questions of ownership in genetic material, patient advocacy efforts in collaborative research and the traditional distinction in the patent realm between ownership and inventorship.