cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Bacterial Vaginosis and Other Genital Infections on the Natural History of Human Papillomavirus Infection in HIV-1–Infected and High-Risk HIV-1–Uninfected Women

Background. Whether the natural history of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is affected by bacterial vaginosis (BV) or Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) infection has not been adequately investigated in prospective studies. Methods. Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1)-infected (n = 1763) and high-risk HIV-1-uninfected (n = 493) women were assessed semiannually for BV (by Nugent's criteria), TV infection (by wet mount), type-specific HPV (by polymerase chain reaction with MY09/MY11/HMB01 HPV primers), and squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) (by cytological examination). Sexual history was obtained from patient report at each visit. Risk factors for prevalent and incident HPV infection and SIL were evaluated by use of multivariate models. Results. BV was associated with both prevalent and incident HPV infection but not with duration of HPV infection or incidence of SIL. TV infection was associated with incident HPV infection and with decreased duration and lower prevalence of HPV infection. TV infection had no association with development of SIL. Effects of BV and TV infection were similar in HIV-1-infected and high-risk HIV-1-uninfected women. HIV-1 infection and low CD4 + lymphocyte count were strongly associated with HPV infection and development of SIL. Conclusions. BV and TV infection may increase the risk of acquisition (or reactivation) of HPV infection, as is consistent with hypotheses that the local cervicovaginal milieu plays a role in susceptibility to HPV infection. The finding that BV did not affect persistence of HPV infection and that TV infection may shorten the duration of HPV infection helps explain the lack of effect that BV and TV infection have on development of SIL.
Quality improvement and practice-based research in neurology using the electronic medical record

We describe quality improvement and practice-based research using the electronic medical record (EMR) in a community health system-based department of neurology. Our care transformation initiative targets 10 neurologic disorders (brain tumors, epilepsy, migraine, memory disorders, mild traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, Parkinson disease, restless legs syndrome, and stroke) and brain health (risk assessments and interventions to prevent Alzheimer disease and related disorders in targeted populations). Our informatics methods include building and implementing structured clinical documentation support tools in the EMR; electronic data capture; enrollment, data quality, and descriptive reports; quality improvement projects; clinical decision support tools; subgroup-based adaptive assignments and pragmatic trials; and DNA biobanking. We are sharing EMR tools and deidentified data with other departments toward the creation of a Neurology Practice-Based Research Network. We discuss practical points to assist other clinical practices to make quality improvements and practice-based research in neurology using the EMR a reality.
Numerical Finite and Boundary Element Methods

Analytical solutions to elasticity problems are normally accomplished for regions and loadings with relatively simple geometry. However, most real-world problems involve structures with complicated shape and loading. This has led to the development of many numerical solution methods for elastic stress analysis. Over the past several decades, two methods have emerged that provide necessary accuracy, general applicability, and ease of use, and this has led to their wide acceptance by the stress analysis community. The first of these techniques is known as the finite element method (FEM) and involves dividing the body under study into a number of pieces or subdomains called elements . Because element size, shape, and approximating scheme can be varied to suit the problem, the method can accurately simulate solutions to problems of complex geometry and loading, and thus it has become a primary tool for practical stress analysis. The second numerical scheme, called the boundary element method (BEM), is based on an integral statement of elasticity. This statement may be cast into a form with unknowns only over the boundary of the domain under study. The boundary integral equation can then be solved using finite element concepts, and thus the method can accurately solve a large variety of problems. This chapter provides an overview of each method, focusing on narrow applications for two-dimensional elasticity problems. The primary goal is to establish a basic level of understanding that will allow a quick look at applications and enable connections to be made between numerical solutions (simulations) and those developed analytically in the previous chapters.
Relativistic Lighthouses: The Role of the Binary Pulsar in proving the existence of Gravitational Waves

The success of the LIGO collaboration in detecting gravitational waves passing by the Earth adds to the significance of the first observational evidence that gravitational waves existed which was made possible over 40 years ago by the discovery of the first binary pulsar by Joe Taylor and Russell Hulse. This paper examines the theoretical controversies over how best to interpret measurements of the orbital decay of this remarkable system. Ultimately the conclusion that the decay was entirely due to the system’s emission of gravitational radiation paved the way for LIGO, as well as for a Nobel Prize for Taylor and Hulse.
Bankruptcy in the Core and Periphery of Financial Groups: The Case of the Property-Casualty Insurance Industry

This paper studies the survival outcomes experienced over a 14-year period by a comprehensive sample of group-affiliated U.S. property-casualty insurance companies from 1994. While it is generally assumed that affiliate support enhances the financial strength of a subsidiary within a group, this paper finds that claimants on non-core affiliates (i.e., those with less reinsurance support from and with looser ties to the flagship company) fared better, on average, than claimants on core and flagship subsidiaries.
Blade Contour Deformation and Helicopter Performance

The United States Army helicopter fleet is experiencing deformation of rotor blade contours from sand erosion and the implementation of technologies to reduce it. An investigation was performed to determine the effect of these types of degradations on the tail rotor performance of Apache attack helicopters. Computational fluid dynamics was used to calculate aerodynamic coefficients for representative deformed airfoil sections. A hover analysis code was used to evaluate the impact of the damaged airfoils on the tail rotor performance. The results show that airfoil erosion can lead to a significant reduction in the maximum thrust available from worn tail rotors.
Complex zeros of scattering amplitudes and polarization data at high energies

The connection between polarization and the complex zeros of elastic-scattering amplitudes is examined in an attempt to test the recent prediction that, in analogy to the situation in π-p scattering, minima will occur in the p-p angular distribution at high energies. This prediction is a consequence of a parametrization based on multiple diffraction scattering. A comparison with the existing polarization data shows that the π-p data are consistent with this parametrization whereas no definite conclusion can be drawn for the p-p case.
Outcome of renal transplantation after urinary diversion and enterocystoplasty: a retrospective, controlled study.

AbstractA total of 17 patients with intestinal urinary diversion or enterocystoplasty underwent renal transplantation between 1970 and 1988. Patient age ranged from 4 to 35 years (mean age 20 years). The patients were divided into 2 groups. In group 1 (10 patients, 2 of whom required retransplantation) the ureter of the transplanted kidney was implanted into an ileal (7) or colonic (1) conduit or enterocystoplasty (2). In group 2 (7 patients, 1 of whom required a second transplant) the diversion was taken down and the transplanted ureter was implanted into the defunctionalized bladder. There were 14 living related and 6 cadaveric kidneys transplanted.Graft survival rates were 58 and 87% in groups 1 and 2, respectively, with an over-all rate of 70% (14 of 20 kidneys). There was no statistical difference in the graft survival rate between the 2 groups. The complications in group 1 included ureteroileal anastomotic leak (3 patients), ureteroileal stenosis (1), calculus formation (1), urosepsis (1), hyperchlo...
Identity through Literature of Gay Chicanos

"Identity through Literature of the Gay Chicano" deals with aspects of homosexuality as manifested in Chicano literature and as displayed in several cross-cultural issues in Mexico and the United States. This study employs the theory of semiotics to explore how the gay Chicano writer applies linguistic signs to develop a literary identity in an artistic opus. This creation of a literary identity is based on what it means to be homosexual in both Mexican and U.S. cultures. This theoretical application contains five points that attempt to explain the characteristics of a gay Chicano literary work and compares them to the Gay Chicano experience, which draws on encounters from both sides of the border. This five-part theory is applied to the poetry and narrative of two gay Chicano writers, Francisco Alarcon and Arturo Islas.
Abstract 3653: Mutational analysis of PARK2, a regulator of cyclin D1 stability, in sporadic parathyroid adenoma

Proceedings: AACR 107th Annual Meeting 2016; April 16-20, 2016; New Orleans, LA The molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of sporadic parathyroid adenomas are incompletely understood. The oncoprotein cyclin D1 is overexpressed in 20-40% of sporadic parathyroid adenomas; however, known aberrations in the gene that encodes cyclin D1, CCND1, account for less than half of these cases. Genetic alterations of PARK2, which encodes the E3 ubiquitin ligase responsible for targeting cyclin D1 for degradation, have been identified as a frequent finding in a variety of human tumors. Interestingly, genetic abnormalities of PARK2 were mutually exclusive of cyclin D1 gene alterations, suggesting a common pathway in tumorigenesis. We postulate that inactivating mutations in PARK2 lead to increased stability of cyclin D1 and thereby may contribute to the development of sporadic parathyroid adenoma. We therefore sought to identify PARK2 coding region mutations in a series of sporadic parathyroid adenomas by direct DNA sequencing. The entire coding region and intron-exon boundaries of PARK2 were examined in a cohort of eighty typically presenting, sporadic parathyroid adenomas. Six known polymorphisms were identified in several of the adenomas in this series; however, none of the polymorphisms are associated with cancer, and no other cancer-associated mutations were found. The absence of intragenic mutations in PARK2 suggests that such mutations do not commonly contribute to the development of sporadic parathyroid adenoma. However, because such intragenic mutations could be rare and limited to only those samples in which overexpression of cyclin D1 cannot be explained by genetic abnormalities in the CCND1 gene, a significant role for cyclin D1 accumulation in parathyroid tumor formation due intragenic inactivating mutations of PARK2 cannot be ruled out. Further research must be conducted in order to elucidate the mechanism(s) of cyclin D1 accumulation in parathyroid adenomas in which CCND1 aberrations are not present. . Citation Format: Kelly Brewer, Jessica Costa-Guda, Andrew Arnold. Mutational analysis of PARK2, a regulator of cyclin D1 stability, in sporadic parathyroid adenoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3653.
Interference-aware D2D mode selection in hybrid MIMO cellular networks

This paper considers a hybrid cochannel MIMO cellular network with both cellular and device-to-device (D2D) users, and studies, from a new perspective, mode selection (cellular or D2D mode) for the potential D2D users joining the network. We propose a new mode selection scheme that takes into account not only the interference caused to the potential D2D users, but also the interference caused by the potential D2D users to the network. We adopt the interference alignment technique for interference management in the network. We theoretically show the conditions under which the potential D2D users will select the cellular or D2D mode for a greater number of guaranteed interference-free transmissions. Simulation illustrates the theoretical insights and shows the advantages of the proposed interference-aware mode selection scheme over conventional mode selection schemes.
Paper Thermoelectrics: Merging Nanotechnology with Naturally Abundant Fibrous Material.

The development of paper-based sensors, antennas, and energy-harvesting devices can transform the way electronic devices are manufactured and used. Herein we describe an approach to fabricate paper thermoelectric generators for the first time by directly impregnating naturally abundant cellulose materials with p- or n-type colloidal semiconductor quantum dots. We investigate Seebeck coefficients and electrical conductivities as a function of temperature between 300 and 400 K as well as in-plane thermal conductivities using Angstrom’s method. We further demonstrate equipment-free fabrication of flexible thermoelectric modules using p- and n-type paper strips. Leveraged by paper’s inherently low thermal conductivity and high flexibility, these paper modules have the potential to efficiently utilize heat available in natural and man-made environments by maximizing the thermal contact to heat sources of arbitrary geometry.
On Reliability Management of Energy-Aware Real-Time Systems Through Task Replication

On emerging multicore systems, task replication is a powerful way to achieve high reliability targets. In this paper, we consider the problem of achieving a given reliability target for a set of periodic real-time tasks running on a multicore system with minimum energy consumption. Our framework explicitly takes into account the coverage factor of the fault detection techniques and the negative impact of Dynamic Voltage Scaling (DVS) on the rate of transient faults leading to soft errors. We characterize the subtle interplay between the processing frequency, replication level, reliability, fault coverage, and energy consumption on DVS-enabled multicore systems. We first develop static solutions and then propose dynamic adaptation schemes in order to reduce the concurrent execution of the replicas of a given task and to take advantage of early completions. Our simulation results indicate that through our algorithms, a very broad spectrum of reliability targets can be achieved with minimum energy consumption thanks to the judicious task replication and frequency assignment.
Safety and Efficacy of Tritanium Cup in Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty

Introduction The goal of revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) for acetabular defects is to achieve the best stability and fixation with available host bone. Tritanium is a highly porous metal construct with a titanium matrix coating. We are reporting our experience of utilizing this material in patients with major acetabular defects. Methods Between February 2007 and August 2010, 24 consecutive hips (23 patients) underwent acetabular reconstruction using the Tritanium cups. The acetabular defects were assessed using the Paprosky classification. Anteroposterior and lateral radiographs were analyzed at follow-up based for the presence of radiolucent lines more than 2 mm in any of the 3 zones. Results Mean follow-up was 3.6 ± 1.1 years (range 1.5–5 years). There were 12 males and 11 females. The acetabular defects were type 2a (2 hips), 2b (3 hips), 2c (5 hips), 3a (8 hips), and 3b (6 hips). Two patients had pelvic dissociation. Mean anteversion and abduction angles were 43 ± 4.6 and 19.5 ± 4.4 degrees respectively. All hips had radiographic evidence of osteointegration. Four hips had small demarcation at zones 1 and 3 ( Discussion and Conclusion The short-term results of titanium cups in major acetabular defects are encouraging. Our results demonstrate excellent safety and efficacy of this material in revision THA.
Differential Maintenance of Concurrent Operants with Conditioned Reinforcement in a Free Feeding Situation

Free grain was intermittently delivered to pigeons. Concurrently, (a) pecking either of 2 available keys temporarily postponed any programmed free grain delivery, but (b) pecking one or both of the keys intermittently produced brief exteroceptive stimulus changes which preceded the grain deliveries. In Experiment I, conditioned reinforcement (presentation of the grain-associated stimuli) sustained pecking at moderate rates, while pecking was markedly weakened when the conditioned reinforcers were removed or replaced with novel stimuli. Experiment II demonstrated the effectiveness of the 2-key concurrent schedule technique for assessing the relative conditioned reinforcing strength of elements in the set of stimuli associated with primary reinforcement.
Imaging the Gravid Female

Pregnant patients often present to the clinician with nonspecific acute abdominal complaints. Anatomical and physiological changes in pregnancy create unique challenges in the differential diagnosis and workup in these situations. Therefore, imaging becomes an integral step in the rapid and accurate diagnosis or exclusion of potentially life-threatening causes of acute abdominal pain in pregnancy. Clinicians and radiologists must work in concert to weigh the benefits of the various imaging modalities available in the radiological arsenal, with the potential risks of these tools (i.e., ionizing radiation) to the developing fetus and expectant mother. Condition-specific imaging algorithms can be developed by individual healthcare institutions as part of collaboration between clinicians and radiologists to help guide appropriate use of imaging.
Applying Fuzzy Clustering for a Better Representation of the Total Scenario Space

In scenario analysis we are looking for some consistent, but quite different pictures of the future concerning a given problem. Not just the pictures themselves but also the way from today to a forward-looking situation shall be explained. Agglomerative methods in classification are already used to find the right number of final scenarios and to determine the final scenarios themselves. Here we examine, whether these questions can better be answered with the help of fuzzy-c-means cluster algorithm or whether fuzzy classification results can support interpretation and decision making in that context. Two different approaches will be presented.
Keeping athletes on the field: preventing primary and secondary ACL injuries

I aimed to (1) examine the changes in biomechanics and injury incidence with utilisation of the 11+ prevention programme over two soccer seasons in collegiate women, (2) establish the incidence of lower extremity injuries and career duration after ACL reconstruction (ACLR) and return Major League Soccer (MLS) and (3) quantify the effects of a secondary injury prevention programme on function, return to sport, and second ACL injury incidence in athletes after ACLR. Due to the high incidence of ACL injuries in cutting, pivoting and jumping sports, it would change athletes’ lives if it were possible to prevent a first or a second ACL injury.1 Primary and secondary ACL injury prevention programmes have been developed but require outcomes testing to determine their efficacy and further improve their impact. ### Aim 1 Two collegiate women’s soccer teams performed the 11+ prevention programme2 for two seasons, while a control team performed their normal …
Aiding the search: Examining individual differences in multiply-constrained problem solving

Abstract Understanding and resolving complex problems is of vital importance in daily life. Problems can be defined by the limitations they place on the problem solver. Multiply-constrained problems are traditionally examined with the compound remote associates task (CRAT). Performance on the CRAT is partially dependent on an individual’s working memory capacity (WMC). These findings suggest that executive processes are critical for problem solving and that there are reliable individual differences in multiply-constrained problem solving abilities. The goals of the current study are to replicate and further elucidate the relation between WMC and CRAT performance. To achieve these goals, we manipulated preexposure to CRAT solutions and measured WMC with complex-span tasks. In Experiment 1, we report evidence that preexposure to CRAT solutions improved problem solving accuracy, WMC was correlated with problem solving accuracy, and that WMC did not moderate the effect of preexposure on problem solving accuracy. In Experiment 2, we preexposed participants to correct and incorrect solutions. We replicated Experiment 1 and found that WMC moderates the effect of exposure to CRAT solutions such that high WMC participants benefit more from preexposure to correct solutions than low WMC (although low WMC participants have preexposure benefits as well). Broadly, these results are consistent with theories of working memory and problem solving that suggest a mediating role of attention control processes.
Concordance between the estimates of wasting measured by weight-for-height and by mid-upper arm circumference for classification of severity of nutrition crisis: analysis of population-representative surveys from humanitarian settings.

Despite frequent use of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) to assess populations at risk of nutrition emergencies, as well as evidence that measurement of children based on MUAC identifies different children than weight-for-height (WHZ) as wasted, no crisis classification thresholds based on prevalence of wasting by MUAC currently exist. We analyzed 733 population-representative anthropometric surveys from 41 countries conducted by Action Contre la Faim (ACF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) between 2001 and 2016. Children aged 6–59 months were classified as wasted if they had a WHZ < − 2 and/or a MUAC < 125 mm. Prevalence of wasting as assessed by WHZ and by MUAC were compared using correlations and linear regression models adjusting for stunting prevalence, sex and age distribution of the sample. Median prevalence of wasting by MUAC corresponding to each of the WHZ-based crisis thresholds was examined. Median prevalence of wasting by WHZ was 10.47% (IQR: 6.34–17.55%) and by MUAC was 6.66% (IQR:4.12–10.88%). Prevalence of wasting by WHZ exceeded prevalence by MUAC in 543 (74.1%) surveys and median prevalence by WHZ was greater in 30 (73.17%) countries. Prevalence of wasting by WHZ is poorly correlated with prevalence of wasting by MUAC (ρ = 0.55). R2 was 0.36 for unadjusted and 0.45 for adjusted linear regression model. The difference between the prevalence by WHZ and by MUAC increased as the overall prevalence by WHZ increased (ρ = 0.69). Surveys with prevalence of wasting by WHZ approximately equal to thresholds for “poor” (5% ± 2.5%), “serious” (10% ± 2.5%), “emergency” (15% ± 2.5%), and “famine” (30% ± 2.5%) were observed to have median prevalence of wasting by MUAC of 4.51% (IQR: 2.73–6.81%), 6.67% (IQR: 4.27–10.03%), 8.15% (IQR: 5.11–11.86%), and 15.71% (IQR: 10.28–17.50%), respectively. There was a very substantial overlap of MUAC values across the threshold categories. Given a poor correlation between population prevalence of wasting by WHZ and by MUAC, classification of surveys based on prevalence of wasting by MUAC will result in poor concordance with current WHZ-based crisis thresholds, even if regional differences are considered, regardless of the cutoffs used.
Cognitive Development: Child Education

This article provides an overview of the influences of psychological models of cognition (behaviorist, structuralist, constructivist, information-processing, cognitive science) on education by describing who is learning (processor/constructor/novice–expert); what is being learned (facts, skills, strategies, metacognition, conceptual structure); and how learning proceeds (individual to contextual dimension). This is followed by brief discussion of four issues arising from advances in cognitive developmental research: (a) the expert–novice shift, (b) the role and importance of naive theories (and ‘misconceptions’) in formal education, (c) individual differences in cognitive development, and (d) cognitive development in context.
Photochemical action spectra, not absorption spectra, allow identification of the oxygen sensor in the carotid body.

Carbon monoxide competitively inhibits reactions of many heme proteins with oxygen, including mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase, by forming a heme CO complex which can be dissociated with light. This results in an inhibition of O2 consumption in the dark which is reversed by light. This light-induced reversal of respiratory inhibition is dependent on the wavelength of irradiating light because the amount of light absorbed by the CO complex depends on the absorption coefficient of the complex at each wavelength (photochemical action spectrum). This property was originally used to identify the mitochondrial oxidase (Kubowitz & Haas, 1932; Melnick, 1942; Warburg & Negelein, 1928; Warburg, 1949). In measurements of the oxygen sensory activity of the isolated, perfused-superfused carotid body, CO was observed to be competitive with respect to oxygen, an effect reversed by light. The dependence of the photo-reversal of the CO effect on the wavelength of light has been measured and shown to be characteristic of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (Wilson et al, 1994). Since the carotid body chemoreceptors show O2-CO2 interaction in which the hypoxic response is enhanced by CO2, it is reasonable to expect that CO sensitivity would also show a similar interaction with CO2. These characteristics of the cat carotid chemosensory fibers were examined and are presented in this paper.
The Enduring Power of SF, Speculative and Dystopian Fiction

This volume is part of a series about challenging authors, genre, text, reading, and medium. In its essence, this series intends to raise the critical context of what we examine, how we examine, and why we examine a wide range of authors, genres, media, and texts in formal and informal learning and teaching environments.
Diffuse Waves for Materials NDE

Diffuse Field Analysis (DFA) applies the concepts of statistical room acoustics to the study of diffuse, short wavelength, reverberant ultrasound in solids. Multiply reflected and/or scattered ultrasound has lost all phase information (the coherent part can be said to have fully attenuated) but retains some information in its spectral energy density. DFA studies this spectral energy as it evolves in time and space and deduces information on the source which emitted the ultrasound and on the medium in which it reverberates. There are three major applications which have so far shown promise. These are acoustic emission source characterization, material characterization by internal friction, and microstructure characterization by incoherent transport.
Tax Evasion in Islam

Scholars have not written too much about the ethics of tax evasion specifically,1 although a few scholars have mentioned it in a book about something else, like business ethics. According to Islam, Muslims have a moral obligation to pay zakat for the support of the poor and for the legitimate functions of government. Thus, evading one’s duty to pay zakat is classified as an immoral act. The Islamic system of taxation is a voluntary one, at least partially, although Islamic literature makes it clear that a government is justified in forcing people to pay taxes if the amount raised by zakat is insufficient to cover all the legitimate costs of government. However, “This right of interference with the individual’s personal property will be limited to the extent required by the general welfare of the society …”2
RAINFLOW AND ORDERED OVERALL RANGE CYCLE COUNTING

A cycle counting method for selecting the most damaging “overall ranges”in a loading history is described. The method condenses histories by screening out smaller ranges that interrupt the overall ranges, while preserving the sequence of the loading, so that fatigue tests can be accelerated or load data storage and processing requirements reduced. The similarity of the method to rainflow counting is shown. Predictions of crack initiation and propagation lives for several irregular loadings condensed by the method are compared with test results. Guidelines for condensing random stress histories are suggested.
Clinical Pharmacogenetics for Precision Medicine: Successes and Setbacks.

Background: Pharmacogenetics is a key component in the delivery of therapeutics to maximize pharmacologic efficacy and minimize toxicity. There are numerous identified gene–drug pairs that demonstrate the utility of pharmacogenetics testing for drug or dose selection. Although some of these pairs have translated into clinical use, pharmacogenetic testing has not yet made its way into routine clinical practice at many institutions. Content: This review provides an overview of clinically actionable pharmacogenetics in precision medicine. Examples of successfully implemented gene–drug pairs, along with common testing methodologies and guidelines for application, are discussed. Remaining barriers to widespread clinical implementation are also examined. Summary: There is a recognized role for genotyping in the guidance of therapeutic drug regimens and the prevention of adverse drug reactions. Evidence-based guidelines are available to aid in the selection of treatment upon pharmacogenetics testing for established gene–drug pairs. Multidisciplinary clinical collaboration and clinical decision support tools will be critical for widespread adoption, and financial reimbursement barriers remain.
Chemical and physical variables in polymer-induced flocculation

The flocculation of fine-particle suspensions by polymers is a nonequilibrium process whose performance is strongly influenced by physical as well as chemical variables. A standardized test procedure has been developed that provides quantitatively reproducible measurements of process performance in terms of the floc settling rate supernatant turbidity and sediment compressibility. The procedure provides information on the development of flocs in response to polymer addition and on their degradation behavior during subsequent handling. Extensive experimental observations using a variety of solids and flocculant types have been used to develop criteria for reagent selection and process design. It is shown that the appropriate choice of reagent(s) is determined primarily by chemical factors (solid type, solution chemistry, etc.). However, actual performance depends more on physical variables such as agitation intensity and the rate of flocculant addition. Some general guidelines for flocculant selection and process design in industrial applications are suggested.
Reworking Bandung internationalism: decolonization and postcolonial futurism in Burma/Myanmar

This commentary examines how futurity has been imagined across politics and political economy in Burma/Myanmar. Three areas are discussed: the revolutionary horizons of anti-colonialists, who combi...
Online Reasoning for Ontology-Based Error Detection in Text

Detecting error in text is a difficult task. Current methods use a domain ontology to identify elements in the text that contradicts domain knowledge. Yet, these methods require manually defining the type of errors that are expected to be found in the text before applying them. In this paper we propose a new approach that uses logic reasoning to detect errors in a statement from text online. Such approach applies Information Extraction to transform text into a set of logic clauses. The logic clauses are incorporated into the domain ontology to determine if it contradicts the ontology or not. If the statement contradicts the domain ontology, then the statement is incorrect with respect to the domain knowledge. We have evaluated our proposed method by applying it to a set of written summaries from the domain of Ecosystems. We have found that this approach, although depending on the quality of the Information Extraction output, can identify a significant amount of errors. We have also found that modeling elements of the ontology (i.e., property domain and range) likewise affect the capability of detecting errors.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Response to Anticoagulation: A Review of the Literature:

Introduction:Anticoagulants are among the most frequently prescribed medications in the United States. Racial and ethnic disparities in incidence and outcomes of thrombotic disorders are well-docum...
Snorkeling Induced Pulmonary Edema: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Swimming-induced pulmonary edema (SIPE), also called immersion pulmonary edema (IPE), is a medical condition seen in various water-based activities such as scuba diving, swimming, aqua jogging, triathlete competition and snorkeling. It occurs when transcapillary filtration of low protein fluid collects in the lungs, in the absence of water aspiration during an aquatic activity, causing acute dyspnea, cough and/or hemoptysis. The hallmark of this entity is the complete resolution of symptoms within 48 hours. SIPE in snorkeling is an under-reported and understudied subject. The true prevalence of SIPE is unknown with an estimated range from 1.8-60% among combat swimmers trainee and 1.4% in triathletes. Recent developments have been done in elucidating the pathophysiology of SIPE with regards to pulmonary capillary pressure so that the predisposing factors and potential causes can be targeted. SIPE can be a potentially life-threatening condition, which needs to be recognized by the swimmers, divers, supervising physicians in order to diagnose and manage it promptly. We report a rare case of SIPE in snorkeling which presented with acute respiratory symptoms and managed with supportive measures in the hospital.
Positive Balance at the Emotional Level: Hedonic Well-Being

In this chapter I discuss the concept of positive balance at an emotional level. I define positive mental health as follows: Individuals with high levels of well-being experience a preponderance of positive emotions (happiness, joy, elation, contentment, serenity, etc.) relative to negative emotions (anger, hate, disgust, fear, jealousy, envy, etc.). This definition of positive mental health at the emotional level is based on much of the research related to three programs of research in well-being, namely the measurement of positive and negative affect, the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, and flow theory. Furthermore, well-being at the physiological level (neurochemicals associated with the reward system and stress) is said to influence the formation of well-being at the emotional level (hedonic well-being). Positive neurochemicals (dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin) at the physiological level mediated by a process of cognitive appraisal (positive frame) result into positive affect (happiness, joy, contentment, etc.) at the emotional level; and conversely, negative neurochemicals (cortisol) mediated by a process of cognitive appraisal (negative frame) result into negative affect (anger, sadness, jealousy, envy, depression, etc.
Fates of Romes

Kyle Harper's book The Fate of Rome marks the thunderous entry of Nature into the world of ancient history of the twenty-first century. This is not the first book devoted to questions of climate and diseases in the ancient world, but its publication nonetheless represents a turning point. From now on, whether they work on political, social, economic, or even religious history, ancient historians will no longer be able to ignore these factors in their own writings. That is not to say that all the theses of the book, especially its natural determinism, should be accepted uncritically.
Shyness and susceptibility to social influence: Stronger concordance between norms and drinking among shy individuals.

Abstract Despite a large body of work exploring associations between perceived norms and drinking and norms-based interventions for drinking, less work has examined moderators of associations between norms and drinking outcomes to determine potential sub-groups that might benefit most from brief norms-based interventions. The present study investigates shyness as a moderator of associations between drinking norms and alcohol use. We hypothesized that shyness would moderate associations between drinking norms and alcohol use such that individuals who are higher in shyness might be more sensitive to social influence and thus show stronger associations between drinking norms and alcohol use. Participants included 250 college students (70% female; 44.5% White/Caucasian) aged 18–26 (M = 21.02, SD = 2.16) who met heavy drinking criteria (4/5 drinks on one or more occasions in the past month for women/men). Participants completed measures of demographics, shyness, alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and drinking norms remotely at baseline and one-month follow-up (N = 169). Drinking norms were negatively associated with shyness and positively associated with baseline and follow-up drinking. Shyness was negatively associated with baseline drinking but not associated with follow-up drinking. Interaction models tested longitudinal associations between shyness, descriptive drinking norms, and follow-up drinking, controlling for baseline drinking and gender. Results showed that associations between drinking norms and drinks per week were strongest among people who were higher in shyness. Individuals who are shy may be more susceptible to social influence and thus may benefit more from a norms-based drinking intervention. Future work may explore shyness as a moderator of norms-based intervention efficacy.
Analog Layout Placement for FinFET Technology Using Reinforcement Learning

Despite all efforts being made to ease analog layout generation, the designers' expertise is still highly demanded in the process of analog IC physical design. Recently, some endeavors started to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle the complexity of analog layout optimization and alleviate the high demand for the designers' experience in the design process. However, these methods, which mainly rely on using the previous designs, are not effective to the unseen data (or scenarios) that were not included in the AI training. In this paper, we have proposed a reinforcement-learning-based method that can fully automate analog layout placement optimization. It is not only applicable to any unseen analog placement scenarios, but also can meet the requirements of analog layout placement designs in the advanced FinFET technology. Our experimental results show that the proposed method can place analog modules subject to the defined objectives 77x faster than the conventional analytical methods (e.g., conjugate gradient) without compromising the optimization accuracy.
In Situ Cancer Vaccination and Immunovirotherapy Using Oncolytic HSV

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can be genetically altered to acquire oncolytic properties so that oncolytic HSV (oHSV) preferentially replicates in and kills cancer cells, while sparing normal cells, and inducing anti-tumor immune responses. Over the last three decades, a better understanding of HSV genes and functions, and improved genetic-engineering techniques led to the development of oHSV as a novel immunovirotherapy. The concept of in situ cancer vaccination (ISCV) was first introduced when oHSV was found to induce a specific systemic anti-tumor immune response with an abscopal effect on non-injected tumors, in the process of directly killing tumor cells. Thus, the use of oHSV for tumor vaccination in situ is antigen-agnostic. The research and development of oHSVs have moved rapidly, with the field of oncolytic viruses invigorated by the FDA/EMA approval of oHSV talimogene laherparepvec in 2015 for the treatment of advanced melanoma. Immunovirotherapy can be enhanced by arming oHSV with immunomodulatory transgenes and/or using them in combination with other chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic agents. This review offers an overview of the development of oHSV as an agent for ISCV against solid tumors, describing the multitude of different oHSVs and their efficacy in immunocompetent mouse models and in clinical trials.
Workable Antitrust Policy

One of the schools of thought in the economics of antitrust was called "workable competition." The adherents to this school believed that markets were prone to cartelization and that concentration was death on competition, but that occasionally competition might prove "workable." These scholars were suspicious of almost every industrial practice they saw. One of the manifestations of their work came to be known as the "structure-conduct-performance paradigm." The thesis was that you could tell whether competition was feasible from the structure of the market. If the top four firms had fifty percent or so of the sales, we should abandon hope of competition unless, perhaps, the government should be able to break up the largest firms and restore workable competition. The vision was supported by data showing that the most concentrated industries were also the most profitable -and monopoly profit seemed the only source of the higher returns. This vision of markets fell under attack by other scholars who were skeptical about the interpretation of the data. Concentration was a fact, and no one doubted that concentrated markets were easier to cartelize (or to organize informally) than atomistic markets. Indeed some of those most skeptical about the implications of concentration also worked out the models showing how concentration could duplicate the effects of collusion even without agreement.1 But the skeptics doubted the model of competition on which the structure-conduct-performance paradigm rested. It is a model of "perfect competition" taken from classical economics, a model in which everyone is perfectly informed and makes hyper-rational decisions on a moment's notice, a model in which everyone is minuscule compared to the market and so cannot affect anyone else's acts or the price, a model in which these
Increased synthesis of aortic collagen and elastin in experimental atherosclerosis: Inhibition by contraceptive steroids☆

Abstract Rabbits were fed an atherogenic or normal control diet for 3 months; half of each group were treated with mestranol—norethynodrel (M-N) and half with cottonseed oil vehicle. At the end of the 3-month period rabbits were killed and aortic collagen and elastin synthesis determined. Collagen and elastin synthesis was increased in aortas of rabbits on an atherogenic diet, but those treated with M-N had a lower rate of collagen synthesis and less deposition of cholesterol in the aorta than those administered cottonseed oil. It is suggested that long-term administration of the contraceptive steroid combination may retard the progression of atherosclerosis through the hormone's effect on vascular connective tissue.
Integrating simulation into a surgical residency program

Objective Surgical training programs nationwide are struggling with the integration of simulation training into their curriculum given the constraints of the 80-h work week. We examine the effectiveness of voluntary training in a simulation lab as part of the surgical curriculum.
Testing shelled corn for aflatoxin, part I: estimation of variance components.

The variability associated with testing lots of shelled corn for aflatoxin was investigated. Eighteen lots of shelled corn were tested for aflatoxin contamination. The total variance associated with testing shelled corn was estimated and partitioned into sampling, sample preparation, and analytical variances. All variances increased as aflatoxin concentration increased. With the use of regression analysis, mathematical expressions were developed to model the relationship between aflatoxin concentration and the total, sampling, sample preparation, and analytical variances. The expressions for these relationships were used to estimate the variance for any sample size, subsample size, and number of analyses for a specific aflatoxin concentration. Test results on a lot with 20 parts per billion aflatoxin using a 1.13 kg sample, a Romer mill, 50 g subsamples, and liquid chromatographic analysis showed that the total, sampling, sample preparation, and analytical variances were 274.9 (CV = 82.9%), 214.0 (CV = 73.1 %), 56.3 (CV = 37.5%), and 4.6 (CV = 10.7%), respectively. The percentage of the total variance for sampling, sample preparation, and analytical was 77.8, 20.5, and 1.7, respectively.
Shoreline Erosional‐Depositional Processes Associated with Tidal Inlets

Tidal inlets strongly influence the overall dynamics of barrier island shorelines. The average barrier length along a coast is controlled by the size and number of tidal inlets, which in turn, are primarily a function of a region’s tidal range and bay area. The greatest magnitude erosional-depositional changes along a barrier chain occur next to tidal inlets, and these losses and gains of sand are a direct consequence of tidal inlet processes. During a transgression, as at present, ephemeral, migrating and stable inlets provide a means for transferring a large proportion of the coastal sand reserves landward past the eroding shoreline. This is accomplished through the transport of sand to flood-tidal deltas, tidal creeks and the marsh surface, and through the building of recurved spits.
Earth, Air, Water and Fire: The Classical Elements Confront Land and Energy

For thousands of years, the classical theory, which was considered the best science of the time and was observed my most cultures and religions of the world, held that there were four basic elements from which everything in life was constructed: Earth, Water, Air and Fire. This classical theory anchored Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese and Japanese religions, as well as Greek philosophy. From these classical elements, all matter was derived. From the time of Aristotle to relatively recent times, this theory persisted. These classical elements were thought to be at the core of alchemy in Medieval times.This article transposes this alchemy to present iteration, examining the legal interrelationship of Earth, Water, Air and Fire. Historically, there was always physical and legal linkage between land and energy. This article examines the legal fabric, as to which are the dependent and independent variables in complex “chicken and egg” relationships: Earth and Water: With fresh water supply becoming scarcer and less than 1% of all the Earth’s water being fresh water and more than half of that fresh 1% located within just six of the world’s 200 nations, excluding the US; Earth and Air: Traditionally, society derived energy from the Earth; however with recent regulatory and technological changes, energy is now derived kinetically from the air; Earth and Fire: Energy use, power, automobiles, sprawled suburban land-use patterns. This article examines legal issues of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, NEPA, and land-use regulation.
Primary sarcoma of the heart

Abstract This case of primary sarcoma of the heart brings to seventy-six the total number of cases of this disease now on record. This includes two cases in which the tumor was regarded as an angioreticuloendothelioma. Various signs and symptoms led to a correct clinical diagnosis of cardiac neoplasm.
Threats of Weak, Fragile, Failing States and Mitigation Strategies

What sort of obstacles do weak, fragile, or failing states pose to democratic governance and to international security? How should external actors deal with these weak states? We examine a number of empirical examples and propose the short-term and the long-term mitigation startegies.