cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Off-line tracking of series parameters in distribution systems using AMI data

Abstract In the past, electric distribution systems have lacked measurement points, and equipment is often operated to its failure point, resulting in customer outages. The widespread deployment of sensors improves distribution level observability. This paper presents an off-line parameter tracking procedure that leverages the increased deployment of distribution level measurement devices to estimate changes in impedance parameters over time. Parameter tracking enables the discovery of non-diurnal and non-seasonal changes, which can be flagged for investigation. The presented method uses an unbalanced distribution-system state-estimator and a measurement-residual based parameter-estimation procedure. Measurement residuals from multiple measurement snapshots are combined to increase effective local redundancy and improve robustness to measurement noise. The input data used in the experiments consists of data from devices on the primary distribution system and from customer meters, via an AMI system. Results of simulations on the IEEE 13-Node Test Feeder with 307 measurements and 246 parameters are presented to illustrate the proposed approach applied to changes in series impedance parameters. The proposed approach can detect a 5% change in series resistance elements with 2% measurement error using less than 1 day of measurement snapshots for a single estimate.
The Influence of Family Characteristics on Problem Behaviors in a Sample of High-Risk Caribbean Adolescents

Drawing on the social development model, the authors examine family risk and protective factors thought to influence problem behaviors among adolescents. They estimate the impact of family risk and protective factors on a variety of antisocial and health risk behaviors. Data are drawn from a sample of nearly 2,500 adolescents attending high-risk schools in Trinidad and Tobago, a developing nation in the eastern Caribbean. The findings show that certain family risk factors play a more consistent role in shaping adolescent problem behaviors than others. In particular, adult history of antisocial behavior and parental attitudes favorable toward antisocial behavior and substance use emerge as the most robust risk factors. In accordance with previous research, family protective factors exerted only a minimal influence on behavioral outcomes. This finding confirms the need for additional theory and research on the protective factors that help reduce problem behavior among adolescents, particularly in developing nations.
Dissociative Photodetachment Dynamics of S2O2

Photoelectron-photofragment coincidence spectroscopy is employed to study the dissociative photodetachment (DPD) dynamics of S 2 O 2 - at 258 nm. Experimental data and theoretical calculations show evidence for photodetachment from a trigonal form of S 2 O 2 -. The vertical detachment energy of this isomer was determined to be 3.73 ′ 0.02 eV. An upper bound of 2.41 ′ 0.14 eV is determined for the enthalpy of the reaction S 2 O 2 - (r) S + SO 2 + e - at 0 K. The observed dynamics are interpreted in terms of dissociative photodetachment of S 2 O 2 - to S( 3 P) + SO 2 ( 1 A l ) + e - , S( 1 D) + SO 2 ( 1 A 1 ) + e - , and S 2 ( 3 ( g -) + O 2 ( 3 ( g -) + e - product channels. The S-atom channels are characterized by a large photofragment kinetic energy release and an anisotropic photofragment angular distribution peaked along the electric vector of the laser. The S 2 channel has a low kinetic energy release consistent with elimination of highly vibrationally excited O 2 from a strained form of the trigonal isomer.
The College Foreign Language Requirement: An Action Plan for Alternatives

Foreign language requirements for college admission and/or graduation often pose problem for students with learning disabilities. This paper describes an action plan for the implementation of foreign language waiverlsubstitution policies and procedures to assist students and university staff in resolving the dilemmas that a foreign language requirement may pose.
Effects of ultrahigh vacuum on the response characteristics of strain gages: This paper reports on research demonstrating that ultrahigh-vacuum environments can affect the response characteristics of strain gages. Changes in a number of strain-gage-performance characteristics were observed

Strain gages are extensively used in spacesimulation research; yet, little if any information has been reported about the environmental effects on the gage installations themselves. Since ultrahigh vacuum affects the physical and chemical properties of materials, one may expect that the response characteristics of strain-gage installations will also be affected. A study was initiated to determine the behavior of a number of strain-gage installations subjected to ultrahigh-vacuum environments.
Life Tables of the Range Caterpillar, Hemileuca oliviae (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)

Field data for life tables of the range caterpillar, Hemileuca oliviae Cockerell, were collected weekly from two sites in Union County, N.M. The wandering-quarter method, a plotless technique, was used to estimate densities of the gregarious early instars. Densities of older life stages were estimated by counting all individuals within randomly established quadrats. Development from egg eclosion (middle of May) to adult took 130 to 160 days. Original populations were reduced at least by 60% by instar IV. Principle factors contributing to mortality included heavy rainfall, poor nutritional quality of grass due to drought, predation, and parasitism by the tachinid Exorista mella (Walker).
Logistic analysis on multiple metabolic disorders in impaired fasting glucose and type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

Aim:To study the relationship between multiple metabolic disorders and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods:A total of 978 participants aged over 18 years old were selected randomly by cluster sampling technique from two rural communities in Henan. A case-control study was conducted including 175 cases of IFG,111 cases of T2DM,and 692 individuals with normal fasting glucose.Results:Overall obesity was associated with IFG,the odds ratio adjusted (aOR) for gender,age,education level,marital status and average monthly individual income level was 1.68 (95% CI was 1.02~2.75). However,central obesity was associated with T2DM,the aOR was 2.58 (95% CI was 1.63~4.09).There was no significant difference among different groups for the proportion of hypertension (P0.05).Total cholesterol and triglycerides levels were positively related with the development of IFG and T2DM,the aOR and 95% CI was 1.73(1.19~2.52),1.52(1.04~2.22),and 1.74(1.13~2.70),1.90(1.22~2.95). 86.86% of IFG individuals and 89.19% of T2DM cases had at least one metabolic disorder component compared to 70.81% in controls(P0.05). The aOR of IFG participants who had three metabolic disorder components was 2.30 (95% CI was 1.13~4.69),and the aOR of T2DM cases was 2.81 (95% CI was 1.18~6.69).Conclusion:Obesity and dyslipidemia are associated with IFG and T2DM. There is cluster of metabolic disorder components in IFG and T2DM participants. The intervention measures are urgently needed in the rural communities for preventing multiple metabolic disorders and T2DM.
Significance of simultaneous detection of serum immunoglobin M and C-reactive protein in the early diagnosis of neonatal bacterial infection

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of simultaneous detection of serum immunoglobin M (IgM) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the diagnosis of neonatal bacterial infection during the early stage. Methods Nephelometry was used to detect the levels of serum IgM and CRP in 50 neonates with bacterial infection (infection group), 25 normal full term neonates (control group) and 36 neonates with non-infective diseases (non-infection group). Results The serum level of IgM and CRP in infection group was 0.44 ± 0.21 g/L and 45.19 ± 25.79 mg/L , respectively, which were much higher than those in control group ( 0.21 ± 0.07 g/L and 1.00 ± 0.30 mg/L , respectively). The serum IgM value in non-infection group was 0.19 ± 0.02 g/L , no significant difference was found between control and non-infection group (P 0.05 ), there was significant difference between non-infection and infection group (P 0.005 ). The serum level of CRP in non-infection group was 39.09 ± 18.37 mg/L , significant difference was found between control and non-infection group (P 0.005 ), no significant difference was found between infection and non-infection group (P 0.05 ). Conclusion The combined assay of serum IgM and CRP is valuable for the early diagnosis of bacterial infection in newborns.
Survey on infectious status of school children for soil transmitted nematodes in Dazhu County

Objective To understand and master the current status and epidemiological characteristics of soil-born nematode among3-14 years old children in school in Dazhu County, and provide scientific basis for the prevention and control. Methods Used modified Kato Katz method, cellophane tape method, iodine direct smear method routine stool examination. Results A total of 1 559 people were detected, 203 cases showed positive, the infection rate was 13.02%, including ascaris infection rate was 10.33%. The infection rate in bamboo town was below the piedmont, which in piedmont was below on the hill, there was a significant difference between the infection rates(P0.025). Conclusion It should strengthen the knowledge of health promotion, improve the prevention awareness, strengthen the fecal harmless treatment to reduce transmission of parasitic diseases.
Correlating secondary metabolite production with genetic changes using differential analysis of 2D NMR spectra.

For many fungi the number of known secondary metabolites is surprisingly small compared to the astonishingly large number of terpene cyclase, polyketide synthase (PKS), and non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) secondary metabolite gene clusters found in their genomes. Correspondingly, the majority of fungal secondary metabolite genes have not yet been associated with the biosynthesis of any known small molecules, and it seems likely that for many more PKS and NRPS known small molecule products represent but a fraction of the entire spectrum of metabolites produced by the associated pathways. Comparative metabolomics based on differential analysis by 2D NMR spectroscopy (DANS) in conjunction with LC–MS analyses is emerging as a highly effective tool for pursuing small molecule structures and biosynthetic pathways associated with orphan PKS and NRPS gene clusters. Here we describe the use of DANS paired with LC–MS analyses for the comparison of the metabolomes of various fungal strains including wild-type (WT), PKS/NRPS overexpressing, and/or corresponding PKS/NRPS knock-out (KO) strains.
Darwin’s Finches, the Galapagos, and Natural Laboratories of Evolution

Darwin’s Finches, also known as the Galapagos finches, achieved iconic status as exemplars of evolution. Darwin famously misidentified several of the finches he collected in the Galapagos, but he eventually recognized their potential significance to the study of evolution. Many naturalists followed Darwin to the Galapagos and collected numerous finches along with the fauna of the Galapagos. Darwin’s finches emerged as an icon of evolution when David Lack published his study of the finches in 1947. Peter and Rosemary Grant’s long-term study extended to many aspects of the biology of the ecology and evolution of the finches.
Popper’s Canon, Kuhn’s Paradigm and Economics

Chapter 2 described the character of positivist thought and its culmination in the canon. What has been the relationship of economics to positivist thought and the canon?
Entity Association Using Context for Wide Area Motion Imagery Target Tracking

Entity estimation includes tracking the numbers and types of targets in a scene and is challenging in large area surveillance due to high target density, severe similar target ambiguity, and a low sensor frame rate. Moving vehicle detection from wide area aerial surveillance can be aided by context information. In this paper, we utilize the maximum consistency context (MCC) as spatiotemporal information to estimate multiple targets, and temporal context (TC) to capture the road information. For a candidate association, the MCC is defined as the most consistent association in its neighborhood. Such a maximum selection chooses the reliable neighborhood context information while filtering out noisy and distracting data. In contrast with previous methods to exploit road information, TC does not need to get the location of the road first or use the geographical information systems’ (GIS) information. We first use background subtraction to generate the candidates and then build MCC/TC based on the candidates that have been classified as positive by histograms of oriented gradient (HOG) with multiple kernel learning (MKL). For each positive candidate, a region around the candidate is divided into several subregions based on the direction of the candidate, then each subregion is divided into 12 bins with a fixed length; and finally the TC, a histogram, is built according to the positions of the positive candidates in eight consecutive frames. In order to benefit from both the appearance and context information, we use MKL to combine MCC/TC and HOG. We demonstrate the usefulness of context modeling on multi-target tracking using three challenging wide area motion imagery (WAMI) sequences using the publicly available Columbus Large Image Format (CLIF) 2006 dataset. Both quantitative and qualitative results show clearly the effectiveness of using MCC and TC information, in comparison with algorithms that use no context information. Likewise, the experiments demonstrate that the proposed MCC/TC are useful to remove the false positives that are away from the road and the combination of TC and HOG with MKL outperforms the use of TC or HOG only.
Scattering-free plasmonic optics with anisotropic metamaterials

We consider the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons in anisotropic metamaterial systems. It is shown that material anisotropy can be used as an efficient tool to independently control effective modal index and spatial profile of the surface mode. In particular, it is possible to utilize anisotropic media to completely eliminate the out-of-plane scattering of surface plasmons, realizing the paradigm of truly two-dimensional optics where surface modes are completely uncoupled from their volume counterparts. The developed formalism yields a mapping between the familiar laws of 3D optics and the behavior of two-dimensional surface optics. The mapping is illustrated on examples of plasmonic refractor and plasmonic Bragg reflector. The tolerance of the surface optics paradigm with respect to material imperfections is assessed with perturbation theory and with numerical solutions of Maxwell's equations. Practical realizations of dynamical plasmonic circuits and extensions of the developed framework to volume-guiding structures are discussed.
Short Communication: HIV Controller T Cells Effectively Inhibit Viral Replication in Alveolar Macrophages.

Abstract Macrophages are targets of HIV-1 infection, and control of viral replication within these cells may be an important component of a T-cell-based vaccine. Although several studies have analyzed the ability of CD8+ T cells to inhibit viral replication in monocyte-derived macrophages, the effect of T cells on HIV-1-infected tissue macrophages is less clear. We demonstrate here that both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell effectors from HIV controllers are capable of suppressing viral replication in bronchoalveolar lavage-derived alveolar macrophages. These findings have implications for HIV-1 vaccine and eradication strategies.
Characterizing Patients with Very-Low-Level HIV Viremia: A Community-Based Study.

Objective:Very-low-level viremia (VLLV) is a relatively new concept in the realm of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care. Newer generation assays are now able to detect plasma HIV RNA Viral Load...
Orthographic facilitation of first graders’ vocabulary learning: does directing attention to print enhance the effect?

Orthographic facilitation refers to the boost in vocabulary learning that is provided when spellings are shown during study periods, but not during testing. The current study examined orthographic facilitation in beginning readers and whether directing their attention to print enhances the effect. In an experiment, first graders (N = 45) were randomly assigned to either an attention or no attention condition. They studied two sets of novel spoken words paired with pictures and spoken definitions, one set displaying spellings of the words beneath pictures, and one set with no spellings. Tests with no spellings present revealed that children learned pronunciations of words significantly better when spellings had been seen than not seen, and the benefit was still evident 2 weeks after training ended. Superior ability to spell the words by children who saw them showed that spellings were retained in memory to support learning. More advanced readers gained more benefit from spellings over no spellings in learning the words. However, drawing children’s attention to print did not boost memory for the words, suggesting that simple exposure was sufficient to activate grapheme-phoneme connections automatically and bond spellings to pronunciations of words in memory, even in beginning readers. Memory for the meanings of words was not improved by spelling exposure, possibly because children possessed no grapho-semantic mapping system comparable to the grapho-phonemic system to enhance the formation of connections between spellings and meanings in memory.
Physiological Impact of Platelet Apheresis in Pigs: Oxygen Metabolism and Coagulation.

AbstractIntroduction: Platelet apheresis is a routine clinical practice, but the physiological impact on the donors has been incompletely characterized. This study measured the effects of platelet apheresis on hemodynamics, oxygen metabolism, and coagulation in pigs to assess its impact before employing the animals in experimental studies. Methods: Forty pigs (39.8 ± 0.6 kg) were anesthetized and catheterized with an apheresis catheter in the femoral vein. During the platelet apheresis process, blood was withdrawn from the pig to separate platelets, and the remaining red blood cells and plasma returned back to the pigs, using the Haemonetics MCS+9000 system. A total of 12 cycles of blood withdrawn and return were performed during the entire apheresis procedure to reduce platelet counts to a target of 50% of baseline. During the process, hemodynamics was recorded in each cycle. Blood samples were collected before and after apheresis to assess changes in oxygen metabolism and coagulation by prothrombin time...
Mechanisms of the Frank-Starling Phenomena Studied in Intact Hearts

The impact of ventricular volume on the relationship between intracellular calcium and ventricular pressure under steady-state conditions was determined in intact ferret hearts. The results reveal major quantitative differences and minor qualitative differences between these relations and those previously measured in isolated intact and skinned cardiac muscle. The importance of these differences is discussed within the context of developing a comprehensive mechanistic theory to describe load-dependence of the intact ventricle.
Keynote speech: Connecting the dots. Navigating an interconnected world through IoT and Big Data

Through the deployment of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the associated explosive evolution of connectivity, issues surrounding reliability, security, privacy and safety have become sources of ever increasing concern. Furthermore, as Big Data is becoming the fabric and currency that bonds the IoT, we have seen an increased demand for advanced data mining and analytics tools over the last decade. In this presentation we review some historical trends and challenges related to this evolution of networking and connectivity and discuss areas of most likely focus over the next decade. In particular, ongoing efforts and future directions for research led by IEEE and the IEEE Reliability Society will be discussed.
Collabot: Personalized Group Chat Summarization

In recent years, enterprise group chat collaboration tools, such as Slack, IBM»s Watson Workspace and Microsoft Teams, have presented unprecedented growth. With all the potential benefits of these tools - productivity increase and improved group communication - come significant challenges. Specifically, the 'always on' feature that makes it hard for users to cope with the load of conversational content and get up to speed after logging off for a while. In this demo, we present Collabot - a chat assistant service that implicitly learns users interests and social ties within a chat group and provides a personalized digest of missed content. Collabot assists users in coping with chat information overload by helping them understand the main topics discussed, collaborators, links and resources. This demo has two main contributions. First, we present a novel personalized group chat summarization algorithm; second the demonstration depicts a working implementation applied on different chat groups from different domains within IBM. A video, describing the demo can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cVsstiJ9vk.
N values estimation based on photon flux simulation with Geant4 toolkit.

Abstract N values are routinely introduced in photon activation analysis (PAA) as the ratio of special activities of product nuclides to compare the relative intensities of different reaction channels. They determine the individual activities of each radioisotope and the total activity of the sample, which are the primary concerns of radiation safety. Traditionally, N values are calculated from the gamma spectroscopy in real measurements by normalizing the activities of individual nuclides to the reference reaction [58Ni(γ, n)57Ni] of the nickel monitor simultaneously irradiated in photon activation. Is it possible to use photon flux simulated by Monte Carlo software to calculate N values even before the actual irradiation starts? This study has applied Geant4 toolkit, a popular platform of simulating the passage of particles through matter, to generate photon flux in the samples. Assisted with photonuclear cross section from IAEA database, it is feasible to predict N values in different experimental setups for simulated target material. We have validated of this method and its consistency with Geant4. Results also show that N values are highly correlated with the beam parameters of incoming electrons and the setup of the electron-photon converter.
South by Southwest 2018: Reflections for e-Learn Magazine

This multimedia article offers some reflections on the South by Southwest 2018 conference for e-Learn Magazine readers/watchers. The South by Southwest conference is held in Austin each spring, and represents the best of the arts and technology melding with high profile speakers such as Bernie Sanders, Melinda Gates, and Bill Hader. This article reviews several days of experiences at SXSW EDU and SXSW including interviews, information from the EDU Playground, and SXSW exposition show floor.
Dioxygen activation routes in Mars-van Krevelen redox cycles catalyzed by metal oxides

Abstract Catalytic redox cycles involve dioxygen activation via peroxo (OO∗) or H2O2 species, denoted as inner-sphere and outer-sphere routes respectively, for metal-oxo catalysts solvated by liquids. On solid oxides, O2 activation is typically more facile than the reduction part of redox cycles, making kinetic inquiries difficult at steady-state. These steps are examined here for oxidative alkanol dehydrogenation (ODH) by scavenging OO∗ species with C3H6 to form epoxides and by energies and barriers from density functional theory. Alkanols react with O-atoms (O∗) in oxides to form vicinal OH pairs that eliminate H2O to form OO∗ at O-vacancies formed or react with O2 to give H2O2. OO∗ reacts with alkanols to re-form O∗ via steps favored over OO∗ migrations, otherwise required to oxidize non-vicinal vacancies. C3H6 epoxidizes by reaction with OO∗ with rates that increase with C3H6 pressure, but reach constant values as all OO∗ species react with C3H6 at high C3H6/alkanol ratios. Asymptotic epoxidation/ODH rate ratios are smaller than unity, because outer-sphere routes that shuttle O-atoms via H2O2(g) are favored over endoergic vacancy formation required for inner-sphere routes. The relative contributions of these two routes are influenced by H2O, because vacancies, required to form OO∗, react with H2O to form OH pairs and H2O2. OO∗-mediated routes and epoxidation become favored at low coverages of reduced centers, prevalent for less reactive alkanols and lower alkanol/O2 ratios, because H2O2 then reacts preferentially with O∗ (forming OO∗), instead of vacancies (forming O∗/H2O). Such kinetic shunts between two routes compensate for lower barriers required to form H2O2 than OO∗. These re-oxidation routes prefer molecular donor (H2O2) or acceptor (alkanol) to perform stepwise two-electron oxidations by dioxygen, instead of kinetically demanding O-atom migrations. The quantitative descriptions, derived from theory and experiment on Mo-based polyoxometalate clusters with known structures, bring together the dioxygen chemistry in liquid-phase oxidations, including electro-catalysis and monooxygenase enzymes, and oxide surfaces into a common framework, while suggesting a practical process for epoxidation by kinetically coupling with ODH reaction.
The vBow: A Haptic Musical Controller Human-Computer Interface.

The vBow senses the violinist's bow stroke through the encoder of a servo driven by a cable, which is wrapped around a capstan attached to the shaft of the motor, and secured to either end of the virtual bow. The servo engages the bow, simulating friction and vibration of the string on the bow, according to the velocity of the performer's stroke. The result is a musical controller capable of simulating the complex interaction between a violinist's bow stroke, an acoustic violin's physical response, and the violinist's reaction to the force-feedback of the acoustical system.
Rice Responses and Tolerance to Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) Radiation: Plant Growth Regulators Provide a Management Option

Abstract The impact of climatic change on crop production is a major concern currently. One of the climatic factors, ultraviolet-B (UV-B; 280–320 nm) radiation, is increasing as a result of the depletion of the global stratospheric ozone layer, which alters crop productivity. Elevated UV-B radiation shows negative relationships with rice (Oryza sativa L.) physiology, grain yield, and biomass production. Several studies have reported that tolerance to elevated UV-B exists among diverse rice varieties. A crop management approach includes the use of specific plant growth regulators (PGRs) for the prevention and/or amelioration of various environmental stresses, including UV-B stress. This chapter focuses on the effects of elevated UV-B radiation on rice production and the beneficial effects of PGR (glycine betaine and salicylic acid) application against elevated UV-B on rice (O. sativa L.) production. In addition, it also provides information about UV-B tolerance among the southern US rice cultivars.
Identification of CD37, cystatin A, and IL-23A gene expression in association with brain metastasis: analysis of a prospective trial.

Purpose/Objectives:We aimed to assess the predictive value of a lung cancer gene panel for the development of brain metastases.Materials/Methods:Between 2011 and 2015, 102 patients with lung cancer...
Unconventional Solar Energy: Singlet Fission

Described simply, singlet fission is a process in which a singlet excited molecule transfers about half of its excitation energy to a neighbor molecule, both end up in their triplet state, and the ...
Performance improvement of proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells by introducing in-plane transport enhancement layers

Abstract Thin/tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers (TT-LGDLs) or porous transport layers (TT-PTLs), have exhibited superior multifunctional performance in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs), which can be attributed to their unique structures, such as planar surface, straight-through pores, thin thickness, etc. For achieving better PEMEC performance, TT-LGDLs with smaller pore size are desired. However, in this case, mass diffusion issues are brought in when some of the pores are covered by the flow field lands or shoulders. The coverage of the pores can lead to very high transport resistance, which may reduce the number of active oxygen evolution reaction sites, and therefore lower down the PEMEC performance. The in-plane transport enhancement layer for TT-LGDLs/PTLs are proposed to develop a dual-layer LGDL/PTL structure for improving the mass diffusion and the PEMEC performance. The results of this research reveal that the dual-layer LGDL/PTL structure exhibits smaller ohmic resistance and mass transport resistance, and therefore improve the PEMEC performance, without obvious changes in kinetic losses. The total ohmic resistance and mass transport resistance can be reduced by about 23% and 41%, respectively, with an ∼830 μm pore TT-LGDL/PTL stacking on a ∼100 μm pore TT-LGDL/PTL. The results indicate the feasibility of stacking the in-plane transport enhancement layer with large pore sizes onto a small pore TT-LGDLs/PTLs for high efficiency and low cost PEMEC practical applications.
Ambulatory cardiac bio-signals: From mirage to clinical reality through a decade of progress.

Abstract Background Health monitoring is shifting towards continuous, ambulatory and clinically comparable wearable devices. Telemedicine and remote diagnosis could harness the capability of mobile cardiac health information, as the technology on bio-physical signal monitoring has improved significantly. Objectives The purpose of this review article is (1) to systematically assess the viability of ambulatory electrocardiography (ECG), (2) to provide a systems level understanding of a broad spectrum of wearable heart signal monitoring approaches and (3) to identify areas of improvement in the existing technology needed to attain clinical grade diagnosis. Results Based on the included literature, we have identified (1) that the developments in ECG monitoring through wearable devices are reaching feasibility, and are capable of delivering diagnostic and prognostic information, (2) that reliable sensing is the major bottleneck in the entire process of ambulatory monitoring, (3) that there is a strong need for artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to parse and infer the biosignals and (4) that aspects of wearer comfort has largely been ignored in the prevailing developments, which can become a key factor for consumer acceptance. Conclusions Cardiac health information is crucial for diagnosis and prevention of several disease onsets. Mobile and continuous monitoring can aid avoiding risks involved with acute symptoms. The health information obtained through continuous monitoring can serve as the BigData of heart signals, and can facilitate new treatment methods and devise effective health policies.
Peripheral Artery Disease: An Overview

Lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) now affects approximately 200 million men and women worldwide and 8 million people in the United States. The prevalence of PAD increases with older age. PAD will be increasingly common as the population lives longer with chronic disease. Although the most classic symptom of PAD is intermittent claudication, most people with PAD do not have classic intermittent claudication, and many people with PAD report no exertional leg symptoms, in part because people with PAD have restricted their activity to avoid leg symptoms. For these reasons, PAD is frequently underdiagnosed. The therapeutic approach to PAD consists of medical therapies to prevent cardiovascular events and exercise interventions to improve walking ability and prevent mobility loss.
Predictors of Mortality in HPV-Associated Oropharynx Carcinoma Treated With Surgery Alone

Objective Survival outcomes for human papillomavirus-associated oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma (HPV + OPSCC) treated with surgery alone are unclear. To increase understanding, we assessed overall survival (OS) outcomes using the national cancer database (NCDB). Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of OS of 736 NCDB HPV + OPSCC patients who underwent surgery alone from 2010 to 2014 using univariate and multivariate analyses and the Kaplan-Meir method. Results Multivariable analysis found the following independent risk factors for death: American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition pathologic stage(p)N2 versus pN0 disease (hazard ratio [HR], 5.5; P = 0.000006), macroscopic extranodal extension (ENE) versus non-ENE (HR, 4.9; P 20 LNs removed during neck dissection, the 3-year OS rates were 93% and 95%, respectively, and the 5-year OS rates were 91% and 95%, respectively. Conclusion In the context of the lack of detail and possible inaccuracies found in the NCDB, surgery alone for AJCC 8th edition stage I HPV + OPSCC, particularly pT1-T2, pN0-N1 with ≤4 pathologic LNs, without ENE, and with negative surgical margins has a high OS. Level of evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 130:E423-E435, 2020.
Elevated Expression of a Functional Suf Pathway in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) Enhances Recombinant Production of an Iron-Sulfur Cluster-Containing Protein

Structural and spectroscopic analysis of iron-sulfur [Fe-S] cluster-containing proteins is often limited by the occupancy and yield of recombinantly produced proteins. Here we report that Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), a strain routinely used to overproduce [Fe-S] cluster-containing proteins, has a nonfunctional Suf pathway, one of two E. coli [Fe-S] cluster biogenesis pathways. We confirmed that BL21(DE3) and commercially available derivatives carry a deletion that results in an in-frame fusion of sufA and sufB genes within the sufABCDSE operon. We show that this fusion protein accumulates in cells but is inactive in [Fe-S] cluster biogenesis. Restoration of an intact Suf pathway combined with enhanced suf operon expression led to a remarkable (∼3-fold) increase in the production of the [4Fe-4S] cluster-containing BchL protein, a key component of the dark-operative protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase complex. These results show that this engineered "SufFeScient" derivative of BL21(DE3) is suitable for enhanced large-scale synthesis of an [Fe-S] cluster-containing protein.IMPORTANCE Large quantities of recombinantly overproduced [Fe-S] cluster-containing proteins are necessary for their in-depth biochemical characterization. Commercially available E. coli strain BL21(DE3) and its derivatives have a mutation that inactivates the function of one of the two native pathways (Suf pathway) responsible for cluster biogenesis. Correction of the mutation, combined with sequence changes that elevate Suf protein levels, can increase yield and cluster occupancy of [Fe-S] cluster-containing enzymes, facilitating the biochemical analysis of this fascinating group of proteins.
Real and fake data in Shanghai’s informal rental housing market: Groundtruthing data scraped from the internet:

China’s planned mega-cities contain hidden, informal housing markets. We analyse Shanghai’s ‘group rental’ market in which formal commercial and residential units have been illegally converted into...
Reply to Zietsch and Sidari: Male sexual arousal patterns (and sexual orientation) are partly unidimensional.

We are grateful to Zietsch and Sidari (1) for their Letter, which has encouraged us to conduct analyses that address the important issue they raise. Zietsch and Sidari use our data (2) to argue that the Kinsey scale does not measure a unidimensional trait. Lower Kinsey scores represent greater attraction to women, and higher Kinsey scores represent greater attraction to men, implying a negative correlation between attraction to men and attraction to women. Because of the close conceptual link between sexual attraction and arousal, an analogous negative correlation is expected for sexual arousal. But Zietsch and Sidari show that, after statistically adjusting for genital … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: jm-bailey{at}northwestern.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Evidence for avolition in bipolar disorder? A 30-day ecological momentary assessment comparison of daily activities in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Abstract Objectives Disability is common in bipolar disorder (BD) and predicted by persistent sadness. We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine daily activities in people with BD and schizophrenia. We classified activities as productive, unproductive, or passive recreation, relating them to momentary sadness, location, and social context. Methods 71 people with BD and 102 people with schizophrenia were sampled 3 times/day for 30 days with an EMA survey. Each survey asked where they were, with whom, what they were doing, and if they were sad. Results People with BD were home more than 50% of the time. There were no differences in prevalence of activity types across diagnoses. People with BD were less likely to report only one activity since the prior survey, but the most surveys still reported only one. For both groups, sadness and being home and alone since the last survey was associated with less productive activity and more passive recreation. Conclusions Participants with BD and schizophrenia manifested high levels of unproductive and passive activities, predicted by momentary sadness. These activity patterns are consistent with descriptions of avolition and they minimally differentiated people with BD and schizophrenia. Previous reports of negative symptoms in BD may have been identifying these behaviors.
A deep learning system for automated, multi-modality 2D segmentation of vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs.

Abstract Purpose Fractures in vertebral bodies are among the most common complications of osteoporosis and other bone diseases. However, studies that aim to predict future fractures and assess general spine health must manually delineate vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs in imaging studies for further radiomic analysis. This study aims to develop a deep learning system that can automatically and rapidly segment (delineate) vertebrae and discs in MR, CT, and X-ray imaging studies. Results We constructed a neural network to output 2D segmentations for MR, CT, and X-ray imaging studies. We trained the network on 4490 MR, 550 CT, and 1935 X-ray imaging studies (post-data augmentation) spanning a wide variety of patient populations, bone disease statuses, and ages from 2005 to 2020. Evaluated using 5-fold cross validation, the network was able to produce median Dice scores > 0.95 across all modalities for vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs (on the most central slice for MR/CT and on image for X-ray). Furthermore, radiomic features (skewness, kurtosis, mean of positive value pixels, and entropy) calculated from predicted segmentation masks were highly accurate (r ≥ 0.96 across all radiomic features when compared to ground truth). Mean time to produce outputs was Conclusions Our network was able to rapidly produce segmentations for vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs for MR, CT, and X-ray imaging studies. Furthermore, radiomic quantities derived from these segmentations were highly accurate. Since this network produced outputs rapidly for these modalities which are commonly used, it can be put to immediate use for radiomic and clinical imaging studies assessing spine health.
Behavioral Expectation Formation and the Knife-Edge: Another Look at Harrod

One of the many interesting controversies in economics concerns Harrod’s “knife-edge” or Harrod’s “razor’s edge”. In 1939, Sir Roy Harrod published a paper in which he presented a dynamic macroeconomic model that appeared to have an unstable golden age growth path. If an external shock knocks Harrod’s model economy off this path it never returns, hence the term knife-edge. Although Harrod acknowledged that the golden age path is unstable, he objected to the concept of the knife-edge. He argued instead that the system’s inherent instability leads to the trade cycle, which is an oscillation around the golden age path. In his subsequent writings, Harrod emphasized the importance of managerial expectations as an underlying cause of the trade cycle. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the implications of adding an empirically grounded, mathematically and psychologically sound, expectations structure to Harrod’s original model in a manner consistent with Harrod’s writings. The chapter’s conclusion is that Harrod’s intuition was correct and that the concept of the knife-edge is questionable.
Characterization of carrier transport using a bifacial structure for rational design of p-n junction PbS solar cells

Abstract In this study, a difference in the mobility of holes and electrons as a minority carrier has been systematically characterized in PbS quantum dot (QD) solar cells. While the mobility of electrons and holes is important in designing the p-n junction solar cells, it is still challenging to measure them during the normal operation of QD solar cells. When the solar includes only one transparent contact, it is difficult to separate the transport of electrons from that of holes during the normal operation of the device. We fabricated the bifacial solar cells and characterized the carrier transport by measuring the decay of photocurrent under pulsed illumination. The electron and hole mobility of p-type, n-type, and p-n junction type PbS QD film was examined and its connection to the performance of the solar cells was studied. In n-type PbS layer, the diffusion length of both electron and hole is ∼300 nm. In contrast, the diffusion length of hole and electron of p-type PbS layer is 250 nm and 175 nm. The asymmetric charge kinetics between holes and electrons in p-type PbS is systematically discussed. This result offers a rationale design rule of p-n junction type QD solar cells.
Information literacy: Developing partnerships across library types

Abstract This article describes a grant-funded project with the final goal of creating information literacy collaborative partnerships among academic, school, and public libraries. The objectives of the grant as well as an overall description of the project are stated. The emphasis of the article is on the process followed to create the collaborative partnerships and the partnerships created as a result of the grant.
Politics and Infrastructure Investment

What is the impact of political "interference" on a nation's level of infrastructure investment? Existing research on both private and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) appears to offer somewhat contradictory insights on this point. In some cases, additional constraints that limit the ability of political actors to "interfere" are hypothesized to increase investment levels, while in others the effect is hypothesized to be negative. We argue that these seemingly contradictory conclusions are in fact special cases of a more general phenomenon whereby the constraints that political institutions impose on political actors interact with political actors' electoral objectives, which are in turn determined by the political strength of the investing entity's "interest group competitors." Thus, the probability of change in the policy regime interacts with the expected direction of a policy shift to determine the investment level. Our econometric analysis, which uses a panel data set covering the electric utilities of 78 countries during the period 1970 ? 1994, is consistent with these hypotheses and consequently points to the potential for a more general theory regarding the impact of political institutions on investment in the private and public sectors.
Tool Support for Experience-Based Methodologies

Experience-based approaches to software development promise to capture critical knowledge from software projects that can be used as a basis for continuous improvement of software development practices. Putting these ideas into practice in the quickly evolving discipline of software engineering has proven elusive. Techniques and tools are needed that help software practitioners apply past knowledge to current projects while engaging in knowledge creation processes. This paper outlines the experience factory and organizational learning approaches, both of which explore how experience-based approaches to software development can be used to improve software development practices. A software tool is used to investigate how these two approaches can be integrated to create an approach that addresses many issues of knowledge management in the software engineering field.
Technology Readiness through Collaborative Reflection: A Qualitative Case Study of an Under-resourced Nurse-Managed Clinic

This paper reports how a nurse-managed primary care clinic (NMPCC) prepared for the implementation of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system with limited resources. EHR adoption is a complex task that requires not only implementing a system but also an integration of the system into the existing sociotechnical environments. In this study, we identified three stages of the process improvement meetings conducted at the clinic: (1) understanding routines, roles, and practices, (2) identifying problems and deficiencies, and (3) iterating interventions by optimizing resources through reconfiguring artifacts and work practices. Importantly, we found the staff jointly reflecting on one another's experiences and practices by making sense of the collaborative work. We regarded this sense-making process as collaborative reflection, and argued that it enhanced technology readiness of the NMPCC through creating a more technology-compatible and collaborative sociotechnical environment for the impending EHR implementation.
The Qweak tracking system

The Q weak P experiment will measure the parity-violating elastic e-p scattering asymmetry to extract the weak charge of the proton. The experiment employs a toroidal magnet to focus electrons scattered at 8° ± 2°, corresponding to Q2 ∼ 0.03 (GeV/c)2, on eight Cerenkov detectors located in the focal plane of the spectrometer. Since the asymmetry is proportional to Q2, it is crucial to obtain an accurate measure of the acceptance-averaged value of Q2. A tracking system will be used in a low-rate counting mode, allowing individual events to be observed. This will enable a determination of the average Q2 by measuring the scattering angle and interaction vertex, for mapping the response across the surface of the Cerenkov detectors, and for the dilution of the Cerenkov detector signal by background.
A Geographical Data Base

Landsat images provide a great amount of valuable information that, when complemented with information from other sources, can be organized in a way that it is useful for decision making in agricultural planning. This organization is formalized by means of a geographical data hase whose components are described in this paper. They include acquisition of information and its insertion into the data base, the storage requirements, the logical structure which is basically relational, geoprocessing and applications. Answers to queries can be graphics displayed through the Ramtek system using two T.V. terminals or printed on an APL terminal or a fast printer. This data base is currently being used in several projects carried jointly with government institutions.