cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Further erosion of our moral compass: failure to expand Medicaid to low-income people in all states.

Expanding Medicaid eligibility to all of the 13 million U.S. citizens who do not have medical insurance and earn up to 138% of poverty is projected to reduce their annual death rate 30% and prevent 44,789 premature deaths a year. However 21 states representing 6.3 million newly eligible people have confirmed that they will NOT expand Medicaid eligibility and 5 more, representing 1.8 million more, have not yet made a decision, despite the fact that the federal government will pay 100% of the cost the first 3 years, and 90% on an ongoing basis. Is the failure to expand because of party politics? Is it sound economic analysis? Is it beliefs about the role of government? The answers are, of course, maybe not, and probably…but it is not as simple as I first thought.
Robust, reduced-order, nonstrictly proper state estimation via the optimal projection equations with guaranteed cost bounds

A state estimation design problem involving parametric plant uncertainties is considered. An estimation error bound suggested by multiplicative white-noise modeling is utilized for guaranteeing robust estimation over a specified range of parameter uncertainties. Necessary conditions that generalize the optimal projection equations for reduced-order state estimation are used to characterize the estimator that minimizes the error bound. The design equations thus effectively serve as sufficient conditions for synthesizing robust estimators. Additional features include the presence of a static estimation gain in conjunction with the dynamic (Kalman) estimator to obtain a nonstrictly proper estimator. >
Surgical management of the base of tongue

Lesions of the base of tongue (BOT) present a considerable challenge to the head and neck surgeon. This area represents a 3-dimensional anatomic region that is integral to both speech and swallow functions in addition to forming an important part of the upper respiratory tract. Surgical access to this region is difficult, and is primarily dictated by the size and type of lesion involving the BOT. The head and neck surgeon must be adept in the full spectrum of surgical techniques available to access the BOT, while keeping in mind the associated impact of each procedure on both form and function. Such techniques include transoral procedures, suprahyoid pharyngotomy, lip-split mandibulotomy or mandibular swing, and pull-through procedures. This article describes these techniques and considers the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Random Matrix Approach: Toward Probabilistic Formulation of the Manipulator Jacobian

In this paper, we formulate the manipulator Jacobian matrix in a probabilistic framework based on the random matrix theory (RMT). Due to the limited available information on the system fluctuations, the parametric approaches often prove to be inadequate to appropriately characterize the uncertainty. To overcome this difficulty, we develop two RMTbased probabilistic models for the Jacobian matrix to provide systematic frameworks that facilitate the uncertainty quantification in a variety of complex robotic systems. One of the models is built upon direct implementation of the maximum entropy principle that results in a Wishart random perturbation matrix. In the other probabilistic model, the Jacobian matrix is assumed to have a matrix-variate Gaussian distribution with known mean. The covariance matrix of the Gaussian distribution is obtained at every time point by maximizing a Shannon entropy measure (subject to Jacobian norm and covariance positive semidefiniteness constraints). In contrast to random variable/vector based schemes, the benefits of the proposed approach now include: (i) incorporating the kinematic configuration and complexity in the probabilistic formulation; (ii) achieving the uncertainty model using limited available information; (iii) taking into account the working configuration of the robotic systems in characterization of the uncertainty; and (iv) realizing a faster simulation process. A case study of a 2R serial manipulator is presented to highlight the critical aspects of the process. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4027871]
Sparse stochastic inference for latent Dirichlet allocation

We present a hybrid algorithm for Bayesian topic models that combines the efficiency of sparse Gibbs sampling with the scalability of online stochastic inference. We used our algorithm to analyze a corpus of 1.2 million books (33 billion words) with thousands of topics. Our approach reduces the bias of variational inference and generalizes to many Bayesian hidden-variable models.
Cardiovascular fitness program: Factors associated with participation and adherence

Despite the proliferation in the last 10 to 15 years of cardiovascular fitness programs, little is known about who uses them. Who joins such a program and who adheres after enrollment were examined in this study. The first issue was addressed by comparing clients who came to the Coronary Detection and Intervention Center of the 92nd Street YM-YWHA in New York City to obtain a CHD risk assessment with those who, after being evaluated for coronary heart disease, enrolled in the center's fitness program. Joiners were found to be in poorer physical condition than nonjoiners. In addition, they were more concerned about their health and more likely to see improved health as being beneficial to other areas of their lives. The issue of adherence was investigated by comparing the joiners who attended less than 50 percent of the exercise sessions with those who attended 50 percent or more of the sessions. Those who adhered to the program were found to be more fit than those who did not adhere. These results, in conjunction with those of other researchers, have several useful implications for the administration of cardiovascular fitness programs.
Vertical Integration, Regional Concentration, and Availability in Cable Programming Networks

Using a 2009 cross-sectional database of digital cable systems in the United States, this study examines the combined effects of vertical integration and regional concentration (cable TV clusters) on the carriage and tier positioning of cable networks. Focusing on four basic cable network segments—the outdoor, cartoon, movie, and Comcast affiliated networks—this study finds that vertical integration has reduced program availability for cable subscribers by increasing their access to integrated networks and by limiting their access to unaffiliated networks. It also finds that an increase in the regional concentration of cable systems positively affects the availability of overall basic cable networks, regardless of vertical ownership. An increase in regional concentration is also associated with a decrease in the effects of vertical integration, suggesting that system efficiency through regional concentration may mitigate the vertical integration effect.
Help-Seeking Behaviors of Abused Women in an Abortion Clinic Population

Women who seek induced abortion procedures experience high rates of intimate partner violence, yet little is known about their help-seeking behaviors. Using data collected from patients attending a large Midwestern clinic who screened positive for intimate partner violence, we analyzed how help-seeking women differed from women not seeking help and those not disclosing their help-seeking behavior. We measured current and planned resource use and evaluated self-perceived helpfulness of resources. Severe battering, physical and/or sexual abuse, frequent sexual abuse, increased relationship length, and employment were positively associated with help-seeking. Nearly half of women who screened positive for abuse in the past year had already sought or planned to seek help, indicating this population is receptive to intervention.
Stanford v. Roche, the CREATE Act and the AIA: The Challenges of Universities Claiming Patent Rights

This chapter discusses the patentability implications generally of collaborative university-industry research and the attendant sharing and disclosure of secret prior art amongst the collaborators. It reviews, in detail, the benefits and requirements of the federal CREATE Act.
Generalized Prime Implicants

A method for exploring globally the solution space of optimal two-level encodings was proposed by S. Devadas and R. Newton in [61]. Their key contribution was an operational definition of Generalized Prime Implicante (GPIs), as a counterpart of prime implicants in two-level minimization. In this chapter we present an in-depth treatment of the notion of GPI and elucidate carefully the underlying mathematics. In particular we present an intrinsic definition of GPI and show that it is equivalent to the original operational definition given in [61].
Stabilization kinetics of gel spun polyacrylonitrile/lignin blend fiber

Abstract Composite fibers from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and softwood lignin (SWL) were successfully fabricated to investigate the effects of lignin on fiber properties and thermal stabilization reaction kinetics. PAN/SWL composite precursor fiber exhibits comparable tensile properties to PAN fiber. This is attributed to the antiplasticization effect of lignin on PAN. Thermal stabilization reactions (e.g. oxidation, cyclization, and crosslinking) for both PAN and PAN/SWL fibers were individually studied by different scanning calorimetry. The addition of SWL was shown to reduce the activation energies and increase reaction rates of cyclization, oxidation and crosslinking. Thermo-mechanical analysis (TMA) was employed to monitor the effect of applied tensions on PAN cyclization kinetics under non-isothermal heating process. Cyclization activation energies of PAN/SWL fiber are shown to be consistently lower than those of PAN fiber under all applied tensions. Calculations of cyclization reaction kinetics constants from TMA indicate that SWL can promote PAN cyclization and crosslinking.
Transverse combining of four beams in MBE-4

Transverse beam combining is a cost-saving option employed in many designs for induction linac heavy ion fusion drivers. But resultant transverse emittance increase, due predominantly to anharmonic space charge forces, must be kept minimal so as not to sacrifice focusability at the target. A prototype combining experiment has been built, using the MBE-4 experiment. Four sources produce four 4 mA Cs/sup +/ beams at 200 keV. The ion sources are angled toward each other, so that the beams converge. Focusing upstream of the merge consists of 4 quadrupoles and a final combined-function element (quadrupole and dipole). All lattice elements are electrostatic. Due to the small distance between beams at the last element (/spl sim/2 mm), the electrodes here are a cage of small wires, each at different voltage. The beams emerge into the 30 period transport lattice of MBE-4 where emittance growth due to merging, as well as the subsequent evolution of the distribution function, can be diagnosed. The combiner design, simulation predictions, and preliminary results from the experiment are presented.
Site-Directed Mutagenesis to Improve Sensitivity of a Synthetic Two-Component Signaling System

Two-component signaling (2CS) systems enable bacterial cells to respond to changes in their local environment, often using a membrane-bound sensor protein and a cytoplasmic responder protein to regulate gene expression. Previous work has shown that Escherichia coli’s natural EnvZ/OmpR 2CS could be modified to construct a light-sensing bacterial photography system. The resulting bacterial photographs, or “coliroids,” rely on a phosphotransfer reaction between Cph8, a synthetic version of EnvZ that senses red light, and OmpR. Gene expression changes can be visualized through upregulation of a LacZ reporter gene by phosphorylated OmpR. Unfortunately, basal LacZ expression leads to a detectable reporter signal even when cells are grown in the light, diminishing the contrast of the coliroids. We performed site-directed mutagenesis near the phosphotransfer site of Cph8 to isolate mutants with potentially improved image contrast. Five mutants were examined, but only one of the mutants, T541S, increased the ratio of dark/light gene expression, as measured by β-galactosidase activity. The ratio changed from 2.57 fold in the starting strain to 5.59 in the T541S mutant. The ratio decreased in the four other mutant strains we examined. The phenotype observed in the T541S mutant strain may arise because the serine sidechain is chemically similar but physically smaller than the threonine sidechain. This may minimally change the protein’s local structure, but may be less sterically constrained when compared to threonine, resulting in a higher probability of a phosphotransfer event. Our initial success pairing synthetic biology and site-directed mutagenesis to optimize the bacterial photography system’s performance encourages us to imagine further improvements to the performance of this and other synthetic systems, especially those based on 2CS signaling.
Interpreting Sacred Ground: The Rhetoric of National Civil War Parks and Battlefields

Scholarship on public memory is now its own interdisciplinary field, yet book-length treatments of the subject from within rhetorical studies remain few and far between. Sustained rhetorical analys...
Microcomputer-assisted monitoring of medication-dispensing errors

A microcomputer-based program for collecting and monitoring data on medication-dispensing errors made by pharmacy personnel is described, along with the policies and procedures for dealing with the responsible employees. The program was implemented at a 964-bed teaching hospital. When a medication-dispensing error is suspected, the director of pharmacy initiates a medication discrepancy follow-up report form. The appropriate supervisor fully investigates the incident, completes the form, and returns it to the director, who assigns a point value to the error on the basis of whether it injured or had the potential to injure the patient. Information from the report is then entered into an automated file. Data are sorted by the computer, allowing the performances of pharmacy personnel to be monitored. Progressive educational or disciplinary actions are taken depending on the number of points accumulated annually. Responsibility for an error is not assigned unless there is absolutely no question as to its origin, and dispensing-error points are not carried over from year to year. Since the program was implemented more than three years ago, the average number of reported medication-dispensing errors has decreased from 20 to 6 per month. Departmental procedures for monitoring and analyzing dispensing errors and for initiating disciplinary actions against personnel who commit many dispensing errors have been successful in creating greater awareness of the need to prevent such errors and in reducing their number.
The Research and Design on the Scene of Substation Intelligent Inspection Based on VR

The research and design on the scene of substation intelligent inspection based on VR is conduct on refined three-dimensional model, which apply virtual reality technology to achieve virtual-actual and human-computer interaction substation intelligent inspection. Through the deep research on health indicators of the substation equipment, combined with the information fusion technology, the design provides a more advanced, more intuitive and more user-friendly way to display all the information on the visualization equipment. It helps monitor and assess the condition of equipment and pave the way to realize substation intelligent inspection.
Effect of colchicine and hydrocortisone on invertase activity in the duodenum of the chick embryo.

Invertase activity in the developing chick embryo duodenum was studied in vitro and in vivo in order to clarify the relationship between division and differentiation in this tissue. Duodenal fragments from 16-and 19-day chick embryos were cultured for 2 and 3 days in chemically defined medium without and with hydrocortisone, colchicine, or hydrocortisone and colchicine. For the in vivo experiments, the yolk sacs of 15-day embryos were injected with saline or the above agents. Although hydrocortisone induced invertase activity in the 16-day duodenum in vitro, it caused a decrease in the mitotic count (number of mitoses per 100 villi). Colchicine showed the expected mitotic arrest in cultured tissues but the effect on invertase specific activity was variable. The induction of enzyme activity by hydrocrotisone was increased by colchicine despite the presence of mitotic arrest. These results indicate a direct effect of hydrocortisone in inducing invertase activity within the epithelial cells without the necessity for a divisional event or for alterations in precursor cells. Although experiments in the intact chick embryo were limited by the marked toxicity of colchicine, the effects of hydrocortisone and the combination of hydrocortisone and colchicine in enzyme activity in vivo were similar to those seen in vitro. Additionally, enzyme development in the embryo was found to be exquisitely sensitive to alterations in the environment which may not affect gross or microscopic anatomical structures.
Apparent non-involvement of transfer RNA nucleotidyltransferase in the biosynthesis of Escherichia coli suppressor transfer RNAs

Abstract Transfer RNA nucleotidyltransferase has previously been shown to be required for the normal growth of Escherichia coli and for the biosynthesis of some bacteriophage T4 tRNAs. In order to obtain information about the involvement of this enzyme in E. coli tRNA biosynthesis we have measured the level of activity of suppressors 1 to 6 in strains carrying either a cca + or cca allele. We found that cca strains, deficient in tRNA nucleotidyltransferase, contained the same amount of suppressor activities as the wild-type cca + strains as determined by suppression of nonsense mutations in both E. coli alkaline phosphatase and in genes of bacteriophage T4. The results suggest that tRNA nucleotidyltransferase is not required for the biosynthesis of tRNAs specified by suppressors 1 to 6.
A scientific note on Nosema bombi infection intensity among different castes within a Bombus auricomus nest

Bumble bees (Bombus) provide vital services to agricultural and natural plant systems (Kremen et al. 2002; Fontaine et al. 2006). A survey across diverse North American Bombus species detected higher prevalence of infection by the microsporidian parasite Nosema bombi in declining relative to non-declining species, indicating a correlation between Nosema and Bombus population declines (Cameron et al. 2011). Although it has been shown in the laboratory that N. bombi infection is detrimental to the fitness of Bombus terrestris and Bombus lucorum (Otti and Schmid-Hempel 2007; Rutrecht and Brown 2009), much remains unclear regarding N. bombi’s ecology and how it interacts with Bombus in the field.
“Gentle Skimmer”: Reader Entrapment in Swift, Fielding, Sterne, and Beckett

No writer growing up in Europe in the era of Picasso, Stravinsky, Joyce, and Gertrude Stein could not be aware of the uncertainties inherent in modern reconsiderations of the nature of the work of art. From his first writings onward, Beckett seems to have been attempting to define the status of his text, his “voice” as expressed in that text, and, in large measure, the role of his reader. But tutored not so much by the present as the past, Beckett learned from his eighteenth-century forebears the power inherent in an author’s deliberate destabilizing of his text and — especially — his relationship with his lector. “No symbols where none intended,” reads the final addendum to Watt.2 But were any intended? And if so, how do we know which ones? Beckett has placed us on uneven ground.
Private Visions: Thomas Bernhard and Botho Strauss

I had a friend I used to drink a glass of wine with, a thoroughly petty bourgeois type, who wrote darling little poems and wretched prose and was stupid, the way petty bourgeois types are, and he had had three wives and with each one, two children, and he felt right pleased with himself there with his pot belly and shopkeeper’s smock, and he went home one day and dressed up in his wife’s Dirndl and padded his breasts and hanged himself in the doorframe in this outfit, a man about forty five years old who gave no hint that he was fed up with his life.1
Impact of diabetes mellitus on risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: Evidence on health outcomes and antidiabetic treatment in United States adults

Impact of diabetes mellitus on risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: Evidence on health outcomes and antidiabetic treatment in United States adults
Robot-assisted extravesical vesicovaginal fistula repair utilizing laparoscopically mobilized omental flap interposition.

Introduction and hypothesis High vesicovaginal fistulas (VVF) in the setting of good apical support are best repaired via a transabdominal approach. Laparoscopic VVF repair was first reported in 1998. Several series of robot-assisted VVF repairs have since been published. The robot-assisted approach allows repair of high apical vaginal fistulas while avoiding the morbidity of laparotomy, shortening convalescence, and facilitating the use of omental interposition flaps. This video presents the technique for robot-assisted extravesical VVF repair utilizing a laparoscopically mobilized omental flap.
On improving performance of sparse matrix-matrix multiplication on GPUs

Sparse matrix-matrix multiplication (SpGEMM) is an important primitive for many data analytics algorithms, such as Markov clustering. Unlike the dense case, where performance of matrix-matrix multiplication is considerably higher than matrix-vector multiplication, the opposite is true for the sparse case on GPUs. A significant challenge is that the sparsity structure of the output sparse matrix is not known a priori, and many additive contributions must be combined to generate its non-zero elements. We use synthetic matrices to characterize the effectiveness of alternate approaches and devise a hybrid approach that is demonstrated to be consistently superior to other available GPU SpGEMM implementations.
Complete step section microscopic study of a Swan-Ganz catheter-related pulmonary artery rupture: a frequently lethal complication that to our knowledge has not had a comprehensive microscopic examination: case report and literature review.

Abstract Background Introduced in 1970, the Swan–Ganz catheter (SGC) soon became widely used because of its unique usefulness in managing intensive care patients. Unfortunately, SGC usage was complicated by pulmonary artery rupture (PAR) with a 50% mortality rate that led to a near banning of the SCG in the late 1980s. Increasing knowledge and decreasing incidence of SGC-related PARs (SGPARs) led to the current feeling that the present SGPAR incidence is now low enough to tolerate given the lives saved by SGC usage. However, an important unknown is that, to our knowledge, pathologists have never published a comprehensive microscopic description of a SGPAR. Case report A 73-year-old woman with moderate pulmonary hypertension died from a SGPAR soon after single SGC measurements of right ventricular and pulmonary capillary wedge pressures. By using what we thought to be an appropriate method of dissection, we did a complete microscopic step section study of the 1.6 cm SGPAR revealing 12 relatively uniform longitudinal tears (one perforating) consistent with an overinflated SGC balloon or a weakened arterial wall. Literature review A MEDLINE search of 38 consecutive SGPARs from 2014 to 1980 found 52 cases in 38 papers. Analysis revealed that all 46 SGPARs suitable for study came from large institutions, and confirmed that elderly women were more likely to have SGPARs than elderly men. Conclusions More and better data are needed before fully informed decisions can be made regarding future SGC usage.
Cancer immunotherapy with recombinant poliovirus induces IFN-dominant activation of dendritic cells and tumor antigen–specific CTLs

Tumors thrive in an immunosuppressive microenvironment that impedes antitumor innate and adaptive immune responses. Thus, approaches that can overcome immunosuppression and engage antitumor immunity are needed. This study defines the adjuvant and cancer immunotherapy potential of the recombinant poliovirus/rhinovirus chimera PVSRIPO. PVSRIPO is currently in clinical trials against recurrent World Health Organization grade IV malignant glioma, a notoriously treatment-refractory cancer. Cytopathogenic infection of neoplastic cells releases the proteome and exposes pathogen- and damage-associated molecular patterns. At the same time, sublethal infection of antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages, yields potent, sustained type I interferon-dominant activation in an immunosuppressed microenvironment and promotes the development of tumor antigen-specific T cell responses in vitro and antitumor immunity in vivo. PVSRIPO's immune adjuvancy stimulates canonical innate anti-pathogen inflammatory responses within the tumor microenvironment that culminate in dendritic cell and T cell infiltration. Our findings provide mechanistic evidence that PVSRIPO functions as a potent intratumor immune adjuvant that generates tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses.
Consumer health information for pet owners.

Objective: The author studied health information available for veterinary consumers both in print and online. Methods: WorldCat was searched using a list of fifty-three Library of Congress subject headings relevant to veterinary consumer health to identify print resources for review. Identified items were then collected and assessed for authority, comprehensiveness of coverage, validity, and other criteria outlined by Rees. An in-depth assessment of the information available for feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) and canine congestive heart failure (CHF) was then conducted to examine the availability and quality of information available for specific diseases and disorders. A reading grade level was assigned for each passage using the Flesch-Kincaid formula in the Readability Statistics feature in Microsoft Word. Results/Discussion: A total of 187 books and 7 Websites were identified and evaluated. More than half of the passages relating to FLUTD and CHF were written above an 11th-grade reading level. A limited quantity of quality, in-depth resources that address specific diseases and disorders and are written at an appropriate reading level for consumers is available. Conclusion: The library's role is to facilitate access to the limited number of quality consumer health resources that are available to veterinary consumers.
Physical Defects and School Progress

(1909). Physical Defects and School Progress. American Physical Education Review: Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 197-206.
Intent-Based Detection and Characterization of Aircraft Maneuvers in En Route Airspace

To improve the safety and efficiency of air traffic control, it is important to detect any deviations (or maneuvers) of an aircraft from its planned route. In addition to the detection of maneuvers...
Simulating Heat and Mass Transfer with Limited Amount of Sensor Data

We consider the problem of dynamically modeling the distribution of temperature and concentration of water vapor inside a building. It is assumed that the building is equipped with a network of sparsely located sensors and a data management system recording measurements of temperature, relative humidity, and air flow. The measurements serve as input data for a time-dependent boundary value problem proposed to simulate heat and mass transfer inside a building.
Secure Device Bootstrapping Without Secrets Resistant to Signal Manipulation Attacks

In this paper, we address the fundamental problem of securely bootstrapping a group of wireless devices to a hub, when none of the devices share prior associations (secrets) with the hub or between them. This scenario aligns with the secure deployment of body area networks, IoT, medical devices, industrial automation sensors, autonomous vehicles, and others. We develop VERSE, a physical-layer group message integrity verification primitive that effectively detects advanced wireless signal manipulations that can be used to launch man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks over wireless. Without using shared secrets to establish authenticated channels, such attacks are notoriously difficult to thwart and can undermine the authentication and key establishment processes. VERSE exploits the existence of multiple devices to verify the integrity of the messages exchanged within the group. We then use VERSE to build a bootstrapping protocol, which securely introduces new devices to the network. Compared to the state-of-the-art, VERSE achieves in-band message integrity verification during secure pairing using only the RF modality without relying on out-of-band channels or extensive human involvement. It guarantees security even when the adversary is capable of fully controlling the wireless channel by annihilating and injecting wireless signals. We study the limits of such advanced wireless attacks and prove that the introduction of multiple legitimate devices can be leveraged to increase the security of the pairing process. We validate our claims via theoretical analysis and extensive experimentations on the USRP platform. We further discuss various implementation aspects such as the effect of time synchronization between devices and the effects of multipath and interference. Note that the elimination of shared secrets, default passwords, and public key infrastructures effectively addresses the related key management challenges when these are considered at scale.
Hemadsorption and virulence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a prokaryotic respiratory tract pathogen of man which causes cold agglutinin-associated primary atypical pneumonia. Although relatively little is known about the properties of this organism that endow it with pathogenicity for man, the use of a hamster model system established that the ability of M. pneumoniae to adhere to respiratory tract epithelium is a critical virulence determinant for this pathogen (1,2). Virulent strains of M. pneumoniae, in addition to being capable of adhering to respiratory epithelium, also form colonies on solidified growth medium that readily adsorb erythrocytes of many different species, in a process called hemadsorption (3). It has been established that trypsin treatment of virulent M. pneumoniae colonies eliminated the hemadsorption ability of these colonies (4). Previous studies from our own laboratory have established that trypsin-sensitive proteinaceous structures on the external membrane surface of virulent strain cells of M. pneumoniae are involved in the attachment of this parasite to host respiratory epithelium (5). It has been shown further that a homologous avirulent strain of M. pneumoniae that does not attach to respiratory epithelium in vitro also forms hemadsorption-negative colonies (6). All of these data taken together suggested that M. pneumoniae might utilize the same mechanism(s) for both hemadsorption and attachment to respiratory epithelium. In order to evaluate the relationship of the hemadsorption process to both respiratory epithelium attachment capability and virulence of M. pneumoniae, we employed a mutant analysis approach in conjunction with a hamster model system.
Standing On Darwin’s Shoulders: The Nature of Selection Hypotheses

“Standing on Darwin’s Shoulders” is about the information we need to reject or confirm selection hypotheses. Sexual selection remains important, and contrary to very old and recent claims that Darwin’s ideas cannot explain the origins of fancy traits, Darwin was not wrong, even if other hypotheses might also explain fancy traits. The problem seems to be that many readers seem to lack appreciation for the power of a good, that is, a well-constructed, testable hypothesis. To be a good hypothesis does not mean that it needs to be the truth, but only testable (or potentially testable). My main point is that what’s needed to resolve the recent state of conflict over selection of whatever name is to say as precisely as possible the details of the requisite assumptions so we can get on with testing the fundamentals of how selection works. The fundamentals of selection hypotheses are assumptions about (1) heritable variation among the units of selection, (2) the environmental and/or social circumstances that (3) affect differential probabilities of survival and reproductive success of the units of selection. Selection is simple. For example, if traits of individuals are variable, if traits are heritable, if environments (abiotic, biotic, social, etc.) vary so that some individuals have a higher probability of survival or reproduction in the environment they experience because of their trait variation, natural selection has occurred. Likewise, if individuals within a sex in the same species vary, if traits are heritable, if social environments vary so some individuals have more or better mates than others and thus greater probabilities of reproductive success, sexual selection has occurred. Thus, sexual selection hypotheses are not “systems of belief” or an associated chain of cascading ideas as Roughgarden recently claimed, but rather deductive hypotheses, admirably vulnerable to empirical tests of within sex differential fitness associated with “reproductive competition”—a hypothesis against which we can test nature. If we see more or more clearly than Darwin, it is because we stand on his broad and high shoulders!
ADDITIONAL BASIC TECHNIQUES AND MANIPULATIONS

This chapter discusses the elementary techniques of combinatorial computing such as sieving processes, sorting techniques, procedures concerned with connectedness, finite set covering, transformations, and isomorph rejection. A process in which several objects are eliminated in each of a series of well-defined steps is called a sieving process or a sieve. The chapter also discusses general-purpose computer implementation of special classes of sieves. Sorting and combinatorial computing have a trinal affinity: (1) sorting is used as a tool in many combinatorial algorithms; (2) many interesting theoretical problems of a combinatorial nature arise in connection with sorting processes; and (3) the programming of sorting procedures indeed typifies combinatorial programming.
What’s in a Name? The demography of product names and firm product innovation in the ODD industry

Firms undertake product innovation to achieve a competitive advantage over rivals. I integrate the literature on the social construction of markets and research on organizational and brand names to...
Thermodynamic versus Dynamic Controls on Extreme Precipitation in a Warming Climate from the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble

AbstractThe moisture budget is evaluated as a function of the probability distribution of precipitation for the end of the twentieth century and projected end of the twenty-first century in the Com...
Treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer: innovations in surgical techniques

Liver metastases and peritoneal carcinomatosis are a particular focus of surgeons in improving survival in stage IV colorectal cancer patients, with laparotomy long being the means to undertake these operations. The Louisville statement published in 2008 was the first international consensus on indications for minimally invasive liver resection. Herein we review the progress in innovative surgical techniques, including minimally invasive liver resection, robot-assisted hepatectomy, and we also describe initial reports in pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy.
Role of rest and ambulation in liver disease; management of acute infectious hepatitis.

The current use of bed rest in the treatment of diseases of the liver is admittedly empiric. All observers have agreed that bed rest during the acute stage of hepatitis generally improves the immediate symptoms. Hepatic tenderness is less under conditions of rest, while increase in size and tenderness of the liver frequently occurs with ambulation. Laboratory evidence of worsening hepatic function often parallels the change in liver size and tenderness. When the resistance of the host is high, and possibly when the virus is of a low degree of virulence, no permanent deleterious effects result from relapses due to early ambulation. Recovery progresses satisfactorily despite lack of rest. However, these clinical and laboratory signs of relapse may be the first indications of a more serious progressive hepatitis. The role of bed rest has not been tested by controlled observations under such circumstances. Until studies of this nature have been made, the judicious use of bed rest in the treatment of the acute stages of hepatic disease is recommended.
Church Attendance as a Predictor of Number of Sexual Health Topics Discussed Among High-Risk HIV-Negative Black Women

Research suggests that sexual health communication is associated with safer sex practices. In this study, we examined the relationship between church attendance and sexual health topics discussed with both friends and sexual partners among a sample of urban Black women. Participants were 434 HIV-negative Black women who were at high risk for contracting HIV through heterosexual sex. They were recruited from Baltimore, Maryland using a network-based sampling approach. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and Audio-Computer-Assisted Self-Interviews. Fifty-four percent of the participants attended church once a month or more (regular attendees). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that regular church attendance among high-risk HIV-negative Black women was a significant predictor of the number of sexual health topics discussed with both friends (AOR = 1.85, p = .003) and sexual partners (AOR = 1.68, p = .014). Future efforts to reduce HIV incidence among high-risk Black women may benefit from partnerships with churches that equip faith leaders and congregants with the tools to discuss sexual health topics with both their sexual partners and friends.
The MARS High-Level DSP Synthesis System

This paper addresses high-level synthesis methodologies for dedicated digital signal processing (DSP) architectures used in the Minnesota ARchitecture Synthesis (MARS) design system. We present new concurrent scheduling and resource allocation algorithms which exploit inter-iteration and intra-iteration precedence constraints. These novel algorithms implicitly perform algorithmic transformations such as pipelining and retiming, and produce solutions which are as good as or better than those previously published. Previous synthesis systems have focused on DSP algorithms which have single or lumped delays in the recursive loops. In contrast, MARS is capable of generating valid architectures for algorithms which have randomly distributed delays. MARS exploits these delays to produce more efficient architectures and allows our system to be more general. We are able to synthesize architectures which meet the iteration bound of any algorithm by unfolding the original data flow graph.
Role of adjuvant chemotherapy in small (≤5 mm) node-negative and hormone receptor-negative breast cancer.

e12021Background: There is currently lack of adequate data to support for or against the role of adjuvant chemotherapy for small( < = 5mm) hormone negative and node negative breast cancer. We did a...
Association between objective sleep duration and bone mineral density in older postmenopausal women from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF)

Methodological limitations preclude determination of the association between sleep duration and bone mineral density (BMD) from existing literature. This was the first study to use objective sleep duration to determine its association with BMD. Nocturnal sleep duration, assessed objectively (actigraphy) or subjectively (questionnaire), was not independently associated with BMD in postmenopausal women. Both long and short self-reported sleep durations are associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) in men and women. The association between sleep duration measured by actigraphy and BMD in postmenopausal women is unknown. The Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) ancillary sleep study was used to determine the association between sleep duration and BMD at the total hip and femoral neck in postmenopausal women ≥ 75 years old. Sleep duration was assessed by wrist actigraphy (average 4 nights) and questionnaire. BMD was compared between postmenopausal women with short (< 6 h/night) vs. NIH-recommended (7–8 h/night) sleep durations. Data were analyzed using a 2-sample t test (unadjusted) and multivariate regression model (adjusted). Simple linear regression was used to estimate the difference in BMD per additional hour of sleep when sleep duration was considered as a continuous, rather than dichotomized, variable. Total hip BMD was higher in women with actigraphically assessed shorter sleep duration in unadjusted models only. No clinically or statistically significant differences in total hip or femoral neck BMD were observed according to nocturnal sleep duration after adjusting for body mass index (BMI) in dichotomized (N = 874) or continuous (N = 1624) sleep duration models or when subjective sleep duration was used. When sleep duration included daytime naps, longer sleep duration was associated with lower total hip BMD (β = − 0.005, p = 0.04). Nocturnal sleep duration, whether assessed objectively (actigraphy) or subjectively (questionnaire), was not independently associated with BMD in older postmenopausal women.
An Adaptive Memory Management Strategy Towards Energy Efficient Machine Inference in Event-Driven Neuromorphic Accelerators

Spiking neural networks are viable alternatives to classical neural networks for edge processing in low-power embedded and IoT devices. To reap their benefits, neuromorphic network accelerators that tend to support deep networks still have to expend great effort in fetching synaptic states from a large remote memory. Since local computation in these networks is event-driven, memory becomes the major part of the system's energy consumption. In this paper, we explore various opportunities of data reuse that can help mitigate the redundant traffic for retrieval of neuron meta-data and post-synaptic weights. We describe CyNAPSE, a baseline neural processing unit and its accompanying software simulation as a general template for exploration on various levels. We then investigate the memory access patterns of three spiking neural network benchmarks that have significantly different topology and activity. With a detailed study of locality in memory traffic, we establish the factors that hinder conventional cache management philosophies from working efficiently for these applications. To that end, we propose and evaluate a domain-specific management policy that takes advantage of the forward visibility of events in a queue-based event-driven simulation framework. Subsequently, we propose network-adaptive enhancements to make it robust to network variations. As a result, we achieve 13-44% reduction in system power consumption and 8-23% improvement over conventional replacement policies.
Exploring the Study Abroad Journey: Chinese and Indian Students in U.S. Higher Education

Chinese and Indian students represent over half of all international students in the United States. This study explores the study abroad journey of Chinese and Indian international students by conn...
An Effective Model for Human Cognitive Performance within a Human-Robot Collaboration Framework

With advances in technologies, robots can be employed in collaboration with human for completing the shared objective(s). This paper proposes a novel time-variant human cognitive performance modeling approach for human-robot collaborative actions. The proposed model considers human cognitive performance as a function of human cognitive workload, robot performance, and human physical performance. Novel about the proposed model is its ability to relate human cognitive workload and the task complexity to a utilization factor which is functionally correlated with the robot’s mistake probability. The developed model is validated via a simulation environment and confirms that if the task complexity or the robot’s mistake probability increases, human cognitive performance reduces over time.
A two-parameter multifrequency GPS signal simulator for strong equatorial ionospheric scintillation: modeling and parameter characterization

This paper presents a physics-based, multifrequency, strong scintillation simulator that requires only two input parameters: the S4 index and decorrelation time t0. This simulator is developed based on the two-component power-law phase screen model, which is specified by five parameters and suitable for representation of strong equatorial scintillation. By setting three of the model parameters to representative values, numerical mappings from the user input parameter set (S4 and t0) to the remaining model parameter subset of two parameters can be established through numerical evaluation. The numerical mappings are then used to drive the scintillation model to generate time series of scintillation amplitude and phase. A large group of strong scintillation data (with S4 > 0.6) from two equatorial sites are processed to obtain the representative values of the three model default parameters and to validate the numerical parameter mappings. A MATLAB implementation of the scintillation simulator has been made available.
Chapter 23 – Young Drivers

Publisher Summary Traffic crashes are the leading cause of injury among teenagers. The causative agents of this crisis are multifold, as research clearly suggests that teenagers represent a unique population of drivers who are influenced by a myriad of physical, social, developmental, behavioral, and environmental factors. One of the key challenges in ensuring road traffic safety among the young, from infancy to young adulthood, is that one must anticipate and design according to the range of safety behaviors, which for children rapidly evolve according to physical, social, emotional, and cognitive developmental stages. The substantial increase in motor vehicle crash injury risk emerges as teens begin to drive and take rides with peers. In adolescence, teen drivers start as learners who are highly dependent on adult supervisors who teach, serve as role models, help to manage the behavior of any passengers within the car, and provide a second “set of eyes” looking for hazards on the road. Within just a year of their first driving experience, most teens are licensed as independent drivers with the primary responsibility for the driving task as well as managing passenger behavior and interacting with other road users. Successful development of driving skills, expertise, and competencies, including psychomotor, cognitive, and perceptual proficiencies, requires a balance between safety limits and the freedom to explore and test the teen's ability. Although novice teen drivers can acquire basic operational driving skills, a watershed of new research reveals that biological and cognitive factors inherent to the adolescent developmental period may affect the capacity of young persons to perform safe-driving behaviors effectively.
Successful Resection Of A Retrohepatic Inferior Vena Cava Primary Leiomyosarcoma With Atrial Thrombus Extension In A 30-Week Pregnant Woman

Leiomyosarcomas are an uncommon malignant subset of tumors accounting for approximately 20% of soft tissue sarcomas. Primary vascular leiomyosarcomas (PVLs) are a rare subset of leiomyosarcomas that may originate in the arterial or venous circulation but most commonly affect the inferior vena cava (IVC). PVLs more commonly affect women to men in a 2:1 ratio and most frequently occur in the fourth to sixth decades of life. Few reports have described this infrequent pathologic state in the setting of advanced pregnancy. Presented is a case of a 44-year-old 30-week pregnant woman who presented with a PVL of the retrohepatic IVC, which was complicated by occlusion of the IVC and tumor thrombus extension into the hepatic veins and right atrium. Herein, we describe our multidisciplinary management of this rare problem with successful surgical resection of her tumor and IVC reconstruction.