cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Finding failures by cluster analysis of execution profiles

We experimentally evaluate the effectiveness of using cluster analysis of execution profiles to find failures among the executions induced by a set of potential test cases. We compare several filtering procedures for selecting executions to evaluate for conformance to requirements. Each filtering procedure involves a choice of a sampling strategy and a clustering metric. The results suggest that filtering procedures based on clustering are more effective than simple random sampling for identifying failures in populations of operational executions, with adaptive sampling from clusters being the most effective sampling strategy. The results also suggest that clustering metrics that give extra weight to industrial profile features are most effective. Scatter plots of execution populations, produced by multidimensional scaling, are used to provide intuition for these results.
Blueprint: Robust Prevention of Cross-site Scripting Attacks for Existing Browsers

As social networking sites proliferate across the World Wide Web, complex user-created HTML content is rapidly becoming the norm rather than the exception. User-created web content is a notorious vector for cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks that target websites and confidential user data. In this threat climate, mechanisms that render web applications immune to XSS attacks have been of recent research interest.A challenge for these security mechanisms is enabling web applications to accept complex HTML input from users, while disallowing malicious script content. This challenge is made difficult by anomalous web browser behaviors, which are often used as vectors for successful XSS attacks.Motivated by this problem, we present a new XSS defense strategy designed to be effective in widely deployed existing web browsers, despite anomalous browser behavior. Our approach seeks to minimize trust placed on browsers for interpreting untrusted content. We implemented this approach in a tool called Blueprint that was integrated with several popular web applications. We evaluated Blueprint against a barrage of stress tests that demonstrate strong resistance to attacks, excellent compatibility with web browsers and reasonable performance overheads.
Sleep and Quality of Life in Schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia have severe and persistent sleep disturbance. Multiple mechanisms contribute to poor sleep in patients with schizophrenia, including high brain dopamine levels, high anxiety, and medication side effects. Persons with psychoses generally rate their QOL worse than both the general population and physically ill patients. Although patients with schizophrenia can self-rate their QOL, the most complete picture of QOL includes assessment by family members and professionals. Negative symptoms, depressed mood, anxiety, medication side effects, and stigma correlate with low QOL in patients with schizophrenia. Positive mood, high self esteem, good social support, a sense of personal control and empowerment, and an extroverted, agreeable personality promote QOL. Sleep deprivation may foster poor functioning and high levels of thought disorder, hostility, and excitement. Improving sleep in patients with schizophrenia is likely to improve their psychiatric symptoms.
TRIPS Non-Discrimination Principle: Are Alice and Bilski Really the End of NPEs?

The Supreme Court’s decisions in Bilski as well as in Alice have significantly reduced the level of patent protection provided to software and business methods in the U.S. Nevertheless, Article 27(1) TRIPS establishes that WTO countries must offer protection to any invention, whether product or process, without discrimination based on the field of technology. Is the U.S. currently in violation of its TRIPS obligations? Although there is no clear understanding among WTO countries regarding whether Article 27(1) TRIPS covers software and business methods, the U.S. has consistently interpreted this provision as requiring these subject matters to be protected. This interpretation is found specifically in the context of the review of other countries’ IP laws when they became WTO members. Thus, it appears unlikely that the U.S. will be able to argue otherwise in future international negotiations or in the case of a possible WTO challenge to §101 of the U.S. patent code - as interpreted by the Alice and Bilski decisions. More importantly, this result exposes the U.S. to opposing strategies by other WTO countries that diminish its ability to promote TRIPS compliance in any significant way. The relevance of the conformity of the Alice and Bilski decisions to Article 27(1) TRIPS goes beyond the appropriate level of protection that must be provided to software and business methods to avoid a violation of international obligations on patentable subject matter. Much more is at stake. Indeed, NPE activity in the U.S. is highly dependent on the availability of enforceable software and business methods patents. The issuance of the decisions in Alice and Bilski appears to have seriously harmed the operation of these companies. However, the international perspective offered in this article raises the question of whether these two decisions indeed represent the last word on the eligibility of processes to receive patent protection, or whether there will be additional Supreme Court interventions to restore protection on software and business methods to a more intermediate level. Finally, in recent years, there has been substantial discussion on patent reform to curtail NPE activity. However, the aftermath of the Alice and Bilski decisions seems to have reduced the urgency for legislative intervention in this area. This article highlights the fact that such a conclusion might be premature and that if it is, indeed, established that the operation of NPEs impedes innovation, patent reform might still be necessary to effectively limit the activity of these companies.
Waves in shallow water, with emphasis on the tsunami of 2004

This conference was organized in response to the 2004 tsunami, which killed nearly 300,000 people in coastal communities around the Indian Ocean. We can expect more tsunamis in the future, so now is a good time to think carefully about how to prepare for the next tsunami. With that objective, this paper addresses three broad questions about tsunamis.
Randomized controlled trials for everything

The field of neurointerventional surgery (NIS) has undergone a truly remarkable maturation over the past decade. This maturation is largely based upon two fundamental, but sometimes seemingly diametrically opposed, factors. First, industry-driven research and development provides us with new devices at an accelerating pace. Some are truly novel (eg, flow diverters) and allow the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases which were previously untreatable or poorly managed. Others represent iterative improvements of existing techniques and technologies, which make our procedures safer, faster, easier, and ultimately, more effective (eg, stent-retrievers and aspiration catheters). Second, a dramatic transition has occurred from a practice based almost entirely on personal case experience and single-center, retrospective series, to an evidence-based practice, supported by data derived from one or more randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In diseases where no endovascular device or technique has been shown to be effective, RCTs are required, when feasible, to establish efficacy over standard management—typically either medical management or conventional open surgical treatment. These RCTs, from the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT) and Barrow Ruptured Aneurysm Trial (BRAT) for ruptured aneurysms to the recent series of thrombectomy trials for emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO), have fundamentally advanced medicine and established endovascular therapies as the new standards of care for certain cerebrovascular diseases.1–7 Similarly, trials such as Stenting And Aggressive Medical Management for Preventing Recurrent Stroke in Intracranial Stenosis (SAMMPRIS), have led to the re-evaluation of endovascular treatment while advancing the status of aggressive medical management, again resulting in the development of a new standard of care.8 Despite the unambiguous merits of RCTs, there are many situations in NIS where they may not be feasible. These include: 1. At the introduction of a new device. In the field of NIS, regulatory clearance, whether it be by premarket approval (PMA) (eg, the Pipeline embolization …
Misuse and modification of nei's genetic distance

The use and misuse of various measures of genetic "distance" in electrophoretic studies of systematics have recently been the subject of considerable attention (Mickevich and Johnson, 1976; Throckmorton, 1978; Baverstock et al., 1979; Avise et al., 1980; Farris, 1981; Mickevich and Mitter, 1981; Patton et al., 1981; Sites et al., 1981; Thorpe, 1982). Despite the problems associated with the use of genetic distances in the construction of phylogenetic trees, the convenience and general utility of such measures have resulted in their continued and widespread application. The most commonly-used such distance is Nei's D (Hedrick, 1983). This measure purportedly assesses the "accumulated number of gene substitutions per locus" if "the rate of gene substitution per locus is the same for all loci" (Nei, 1972:283). However, the assumption of equal rates of gene substitution at all loci is rarely, if ever, considered by investigators before employing Nei's D. Because this assumption is probably never met in an interspecific electrophoretic survey that involves more than one locus (Sarich, 1977; Thorpe, 1982), it is important to examine the effects of not meeting this assumption. Nei (1972) defined the normalized identity between two randomly mating diploid populations as
Librarians Abroad: Adventures in Overseas Buying Trips

If my first buying trip as a South Asian Studies Librarian was memorable for a dog bite incident in Kolkata, India,11 FAQ's: (1) I was bitten, unprovoked, in the thigh by a street dog outside of th...
Thyroglossal Duct Cysts: A Consideration in Adults:

Thyroglossal duct cysts (TDC) are one of the most common pediatric midline neck lesions. Although they are present from birth, they usually become symptomatic in early childhood as a mass or draining sinus. Infection and abscess formation are frequent complications due to a communication between the cyst and the mouth with subsequent contamination by oral flora. We present a case of a 37-year-old male who presented with a newly symptomatic thyroglossal duct cyst. The patient presented to the infirmary with pain in the anterior neck particularly with swallowing. A midline mass was visible and palpable on examination. Subsequent neck exploration revealed a thyroglossal duct cyst filled with purulent material. Although uncommon in adults, thyroglossal duct cysts should be a part of the surgeon's differential diagnosis when presented with a neck mass. One should remember that an infected neck mass is the common presentation of thyroglossal duct cysts in adults, and the appropriate diagnostic studies need to be performed in order to best determine the diagnosis. Once diagnosed, the TDC is best treated using the Sistrunk procedure to limit recurrence.
Compositional Interaction of Sub-Event Aspectual Markers, -in- and Reduplication, in Tagalog

0. Introduction Aspectual information is often analyzed in terms of morphology that contributes aspectual operators to the final logical form of a verb, such as IMPERF( ) and PERF( ). Analyses of this type are well-suited for languages that show a clean correspondence between the morphology and the semantic information they contribute, including cases like Slavic and Romance languages. These operators, however, can be decomposed into time interval/event-oriented semantics representations. Languages of the Philippines, Tagalog in particular, provide morphological evidence that supports decomposing the aspectual properties of events into sub-event intervals. Furthermore, previous analyses give insight that a proper treatment of Tagalog aspect requires a more fine-grained analysis than traditional labels such as imperfective, perfective, and so on. The primary goal of this discussion is to provide a compositional account of aspect marking in Tagalog verbs because a compositional analysis of Tagalog aspect has yet to appear in the literature. In particular, aspect marking will be shown to be compositional at a level below the event. This discussion will provide an initial discussion of how the aspectual morphology in Tagalog interacts to produce the final interpretations received. Another important goal of this analysis involves giving some much overdue attention to a family of languages whose tense and aspect systems have not been well-explored. Dahl asserted that more work was merited for Austronesian languages in his 1985 survey of tense-aspect-modality systems of world languages (160-162).
Externalism and Twin Earth

The dialectical situation, for my purposes, begins with externalist arguments, mainly by Tyler Burge, that purport to show that internalism is untenable. The arguments of central concern are those that begin with Twin-Earth-style thought experiments.1 Anyone reading this has probably already heard of the Twin Earth thought experiments, and probably knows something about the arguments that the thought experiments have inspired. I will not try to produce here a comprehensive presentation and analysis of the literature that has grownup around the thought experiments. I will, however, say enough to make apparent the style of argument the thought experiments have inspired, and to convey the force of those arguments. Though I intend for this book to be approachable by those not already familiar with the literature, minimal familiarity with that literature is probably a prerequisite even for being interested in what I will have to say. At any rate, such familiarity will not hurt, and certainly is recommended, as the papers by Putnam and Burge on which the literature is founded are among the best examples of contemporary analytic philosophy.
On the maneuvers operational response for NASA's soil moisture active-passive (SMAP) mission

The Soil-Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) spacecraft requires various kinds of in-orbit maneuvers over the course of its three-year mission. The types of maneuvers include preplanned commissioning maneuvers to reach its science orbit, regularly executed orbit maintenance maneuvers to overcome drag and other nominally occurring phenomena, as well as (the possibility of) collision avoidance maneuvers. The architecture of the spacecraft — in terms of availability of commanding via ground assets, the inherited avionics' ability to sequence and execute commands, and the capability of available subsystems able to carry out maneuvers — was well defined early in the development of the spacecraft and mission, well before the operational plan for responding to maneuver requests was cemented. [2] The systems engineering challenge became: how to accommodate all three types of maneuvers in the confines of this well-defined architecture. This paper will describe how the operations team on SMAP successfully met this challenge. Specifically, it will dive into the three pronged approach that SMAP developed to handle each type of maneuver described above — to meet the timeliness requirements leveraged on the operations team to execute said maneuvers, while continuing to fit within the allotted staffing profile during nominal operations. Defining this paradigm to fit the mission's architecture meant re-defining the original paradigm, (planned maneuvers being thought of separately than collision avoidance maneuvers), and re-classifying all responses to maneuver requests as variations and permutations of a singular operational response to a maneuver request. This paper will also describe the tools that were created to simplify the human interface and automate as much of the response as was possible. Finally, this paper will describe, at a very high level, some of the problems encountered and lessons learned by the operations team when this process was executed the first four times during the first ninety days of operations. Though the architecture of the operations team's response to maneuver requests will never be repeated exactly, the flexibility that was inserted via redefining the scope of the problem and by redefining the human interfaces should influence future projects' architectures earlier in their development — in the hopes that said influence will save time and money in the future.
Currency Invoicing and Trade

For many developing and emerging economies, annual inflows and outflows of trade can surpass the countries total GDP. Most of these flows are tied to contractual agreements denominated in a foreign currency. Aggregate risk from exchange rate fluctuations through this trade channel alone should be significant, especially when coupled with long delays in payments for international shipments. Papers in the literature of New Open Economy Macroeconomics approach this problem by assuming that traded goods are priced exclusively in either the destination markets prices (Local Currency Pricing or LCP) or in the producers markets (Producer Currency Pricing or PCP). This convention is helpful for modeling firm behavior, but at the country level, importers and exporters tend to choose different pricing schemes. e.g. firms in the U.S. that trade abroad tend to price all of their transactions in dollars, so that importers use LCP, and exporters use PCP. This paper accommodates the mixed-pricing that we see in the data, along with a well-documented delay in shipments between intermediate firms. These are incorporated into a standard two-country framework with incomplete markets and trade in bonds, and solved globally. We find that when all trade is denominated in one currency, (1) monetary shocks abroad are muted and (2) consumers will lend in the currency that denominates their trade, and will borrow in the one that does not. The preliminary findings are consistent with the data.
Interprofessional clinical informatics education and practice: Essentials for learning healthcare systems worldwide.

Ensuring health for all is a challenge worldwide, encompassing such issues as access, chronic care, infectious diseases, affordability, and/or social determinants. The learning health system (LHS) ...
The Controversy Over Routine Neonatal Circumcision

Circumcision is undoubtedly the most frequently performed operation on males in the United States today. Between 69% and 97% of American males and one-seventh of the world's males are circumcised, with a frequency of 70% in Australia, 48% in Canada, and 24% in the United Kingdom. Yet this procedure is distinctly uncommon in Northern Europe, Central and South America,and Asia (Kaplan, 1977; Speert, 1953). Within the last few decades the logic of routine neonatal circumcision has been challenged. The Committee on Fetus and Newborn of the American Academy of Pediatrics stated in 1971 that there are no valid medical indications for circumcision in the neonatal period. In 1975 the Committee reviewed the data and found no basis for changing this statement. Traditional, cultural, and religious factors all should play a part in the decision to circumcise, and the final decision of the parents should be one of informed consent (Committee, 1975). Nevertheless, the Committee did elaborate on their statement at a later date, stating that they did not advocate the abandonment of circumcision, but could define no "absolute medical indication for routine circumcision of the newborn" (Committee, 1977). Other medical authorities have continued to advocate routine neonatal circumcision and the literature on both sides of the argument continues to increase. This paper shall investigate the indications for, benefits from, and complications of circumcision, in order that accurate informed consent may be given.
Cognitive Screening: Using the Clock-Drawing Test to Assess for Preexisting Deficits in Older Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

Background Older women diagnosed with breast cancer may also have preexisting cognitive deficits. . Objectives The aim of the current study is to describe errors on the clock-drawing test (CDT), which is used to screen for preexisting cognitive deficits in older women diagnosed with breast cancer. . Methods This descriptive study included a convenience sample of women aged 69 years or older with a diagnosis of breast cancer. The CDT was used to screen for cognitive deficits, such as size of the clock, graphic difficulties, stimulus-bound response, conceptual deficit, spatial and/or planning deficit, and perseveration. Data were analyzed by the Rouleau qualitative error analysis. . Findings Many older adult patients exhibit some abnormality on the CDT. Most abnormalities were spatial/planning difficulties. Cognitive screening should be included in the comprehensive assessment of older adults diagnosed with breast cancer to screen for preexisting cognitive limitations.
New Treatment Option for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Two Long-Acting Bronchodilators in a Single Metered-Dose Inhaler

Combination long-acting inhaled bronchodilators are central to the management of patients with moderate to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Glycopyrrolate is a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), and formoterol fumarate is a long-acting beta2 agonist (LABA). In randomized controlled trials, this LAMA/LABA combination in a metered-dose inhaler was shown to be effective in improving pulmonary function and quality of life. Clinicians now have the availability of 3 delivery systems for LAMA/LABA therapy, including metered-dose inhaler, dry-powder inhaler, and Soft Mist inhaler. On the basis of numerous patient factors, such as cognitive ability, manual strength/dexterity, and peak inspiratory flow, clinicians may select the most appropriate inhalation device. For each inhalation device, persistent patient education is absolutely essential, including observation of patient use. International evidence-based guidelines stress the critical importance of ensuring correct use of inhalation devices.
Response by Merkler et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Safety Outcomes After Percutaneous Transcatheter Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale".

We thank Drs Omer Zaman, Patel, and Mojadidi for their interest in our study. We evaluated the rate of serious adverse outcomes after patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure for secondary stroke prevention in a large, heterogeneous cohort of patients from California, New York, and Florida between 2005 to 2013. We identified 1887 patients who underwent PFO closure for secondary stroke prevention. The rate of any adverse outcome occurring during the index …
Communication and the Grandparent–Grandchild Relationship

The grandparent–grandchild (GP–GC) relationship is instrumental for grandchildren as it is central to perceptions of family connectedness, socialization of values and identity, and general well-being. In fact, this relationship is often characterized as second only to parents in terms of importance and influence in the lives of grandchildren. Likewise, the role of grandparent is often a fulfilling role for older adults with clear connections to self-concept and generativity. Despite being an important relationship for both younger and older family members, the GP–GC relationship has been vastly understudied compared to many other family relationships. Research on communication in GP–GC relationships has accelerated since the 1990s, along with the corpus of grandparent–grandchild research and can be synthesized into four general research trajectories. Keywords: family communication; grandparent–grandchild; intergroup communication; interpersonal communication; relational communication
Retroviruses and wild mice: an historical and personal perspective.

Publisher Summary The chapter presents a description of retroviruses and wild mice. Then, it discusses about the trapping of wild mice and establishment of aging populations in the laboratory. The chapter also discusses about spontaneous cancer, lymphoma, motor neuron disease, and Type C retrovirus (Mu LV) infection in aging wild mice, first in case of cancer-resistant low Mu LV populations and then in case of lymphoma-paralysis prone high Mu LV populations. Pathogenesis of lymphomas and pathogenesis of Mu LV neurologic disease are discussed in the chapter. The chapter has also described nongenetic control of Type C virus and associated diseases in wild mice. Genetic control of Type C virus in wild mice by introduction of the Fv-lb Mu LV -resistance allele from inbred mice and genetic control of Type C virus in wild mice by natural segregation of the Fv-4 ecotropic Mu LV-resistance allele is described in the chapter. The chapter has also focussed on Type B mammary tumor viruses in wild mice. Finally, the chapter closes with the lessons learnt by the author and his personal perspective on the whole research.
Phytoremediation Towards the Future: Focus on Bioavailable Contaminants

The hypothesis that one of the possible future trends of phytoextraction should be the removal of the bioavailable contaminants has recently received renewed and increasing interest. This fraction is the most hazardous to the environment and human health. The evaluation of contaminant bioavailability is essential for the appropriate application of the technology. Before selecting a phytoextraction process, it is necessary to consider the specific characteristics of the soil at the contaminated site in order to evaluate how the soil properties will influence the final result of remediation in the field. With this approach based on the concept of bioavailable contaminant stripping (BCS), an evaluation of the hazards of the residual fraction not removed by plants is left to a risk assessment procedure. This approach can be safely applied, if the soil ability to replenish the bioavailable pools in the long term is considered. This problem can be overcome by enhanced bioavailable contaminant stripping (EBCS) which evaluates this amount through the combined use of chemical extraction with a mobilizing agent, specific for each metal, and pot experiments in which successive growing cycles must confirm the absence of the bioavailable fractions. Phytoextraction can be selected as “green remediation” to minimize the mobile and bioavailable fractions of contaminants, while improving soil quality.
Alcohol and Marijuana use in Undergraduate Males: Between- and Within-Person Associations with Interpersonal Conflict.

Background Among college students, interpersonal conflict with others is a common, yet stressful negative interpersonal experience. Research suggests that drinking episodes may contribute to the occurrence of conflict. Marijuana use, independently or in conjunction with alcohol, may also influence the likelihood of subsequent conflict. Objectives We considered the temporal effects of independent and simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use episodes on the occurrence of interpersonal conflict. Use of multilevel modeling allowed us to distinguish the within-person effects of substance use from between-person differences in frequency of use. Methods Within a sample of 427 college freshman males over 56 days of daily reports, we examined the independent and interactive effects of episodes of alcohol and marijuana on the odds of conflict within the next 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4 hours. Results Multilevel modeling analyses showed that drinking episodes increased the likelihood of conflict occurring within the next 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours. Marijuana had weaker positive effects, significant only within the 2 hour window. There were no alcohol by marijuana interaction effects in any analysis. Conclusions/Importance Both marijuana and alcohol independently increased the likelihood of interpersonal conflict; however, the marijuana effect appeared less robust. As marijuana use becomes more normative and accessible for college students, it is important to understand the extent to which marijuana use results in negative consequences and the contexts under which these effects unfold.
Millimeter-wave Array Antennas Based on Liquid Crystal Polymer

Liquid crystal polymer (LCP) is one of low dielectric and low loss tangent materials that are widely used for millimeter-wave devices and 5G in recent times. Many devices such as transmission line and antenna are designed based on LCP and results are demonstrated here. The transmission loss increases as the substrate thickness or loss tangent increases. 5G antenna at 28 GHz shows 2 dBi gain drop as loss tangent increased by 4 times. A comb-line antenna gives impedance bandwidth of 3.2 GHz and a peak gain of 13 dBi, a high-gain wide-bandwidth antenna gives 24-26 dBi in simulation and 22-26 dBi inmeasurement for V-band operation. Multi-layered LCP antenna shows $\pm 45^{\mathrm{o}}$ beamforming at a loss of 3 dBi from peak for V-band frequencies.
A note on the least prime that splits completely in a nonabelian Galois number field

We prove a nontrivial estimate for the size of the least rational prime that splits completely in the ring of integers of certain families of nonabelian Galois number fields. Our result complements results of Linnik and Vinogradov and of Pollack who studied this problem in the quadratic and abelian number field settings, respectively.
Using Deep Learning to Generate Relational HoneyData

Although there has been a plethora of work in generating deceptive applications, generating deceptive data that can easily fool attackers received very little attention. In this book chapter, we discuss our secure deceptive data generation framework that makes it hard for an attacker to distinguish between the real versus deceptive data. Especially, we discuss how to generate such deceptive data using deep learning and differential privacy techniques. In addition, we discuss our formal evaluation framework.
COMMON PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS IN WOMEN WITH ISCHEMIA AND NO OBSTRUCTIVE CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE AND HEART FAILURE WITH PRESERVED EJECTION FRACTION: A REPORT FROM THE WOMEN'S ISCHEMIA SYNDROME EVALUATION-CORONARY VASCULAR DYSFUNCTION CONTINUATION STUDY

Women with ischemia and no obstructive coronary artery disease (INOCA) have increased risk of major adverse cardiac events, including heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). To investigate how INOCA may progress to HFpEF we examined pathophysiological findings present in both INOCA
Deep vision shield: assessing the use of HMD and wearable sensors in a smart safety device

Miniaturized and wearable technologies have the potential to augment human senses and capabilities when embedded into everyday objects. We investigate how such technologies can impact workers' health and safety in the energy industry through the design, prototyping and evaluation of a smart safety device. Deep Vision Shield is a protective helmet that embeds gas and noise sensors, head-mounted display and communication systems. The prototype has been evaluated through a user study involving 13 workers in the energy industry. We collected feedback about improved functionalities, user experience, and ergonomics of the proposed system, as well as the risks connected to the use of such technologies in the field of health and safety, such as overconfidence, loss of human skills, and distraction. Overall, the device was assessed very positively, although the need to balance advantages and potential risks stemming from the adoption of new technologies emerged as an essential element to consider while developing similar solutions.
Animal products: livestock farming and ecological citizenship in French political documentary

In the past 15 years, French cinema has seen a significant uptick in documentary films devoted to the issue of industrialized agriculture. These films join a large international corpus of documenta...
The Transition from Standing to Walking Is Affected in People with Parkinson's Disease and Freezing of Gait.

BACKGROUND It has been hypothesized that freezing of gait (FOG) in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) is due to abnormal coupling between posture and gait. OBJECTIVE In this study, we examined the relationship between anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) preceding gait initiation and the kinematics of the first two steps between people with FOG and without FOG. METHODS The kinetics and kinematics of self-initiated gait were recorded in 25 people with PD (11 with FOG, 14 without FOG). Outcome variables included the amplitude and timing of the ground reaction forces (GRFs), center of pressure (CoP) shifts and the spatial and temporal characteristics of the first and second steps. RESULTS The magnitude and timing of the APA phase of gait initiation were not significantly different between participants with and without FOG, yet the first step in the FOG group was distinguished by a significantly wider and less variable first step width, followed by a subsequent wider and shortened second step with reduced toe clearance. Multiple linear regression showed that the relationship between the initial conditions (stance width), APAs (posterior shift of the CoP) and the kinematics of the first step were different between groups with a significantly increased slope in the FOG group. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrate that the transition from standing to walking is different between those with and without FOG and that alterations in the initial conditions or APAs are more likely to impact the execution of the two steps in people with FOG.
Urology in Undergraduate Medical Education

Urology is an essential topic in undergraduate medical education (UME). The objective of this article is to review the current state of exposure to urology in medical school, to discuss why it is critical to maintain a urology curriculum, and to review methods in establishing an effective curriculum for all students with limited resources. UME curriculum in urology should be geared toward the widest group of students, namely those entering primary care or internal medicine, where patients with urologic complaints are most likely to first present. Hands-on teaching should focus on skills such as the genitourinary exam and Foley catheter placement, while ancillary modules should be utilized for complex concepts. Medical schools do not sufficiently incorporate didactics in urology as part of their core curriculum. As such, educators in urology must develop curricula that provide fundamental knowledge to all students, especially those pursuing non-urologic specialties who will undoubtedly treat patients with urologic complaints.
Rate of Initial Hearing Loss During Early Observation Predicts Time to Non-Serviceable Hearing in Patients With Conservatively Managed Sporadic Vestibular Schwannoma.

OBJECTIVE To date, prediction models for estimating risk of acquiring non-serviceable hearing in subjects with observed vestibular schwannoma (VS) have evaluated outcomes primarily based on features at initial diagnosis. Herein, we evaluate the association of rate of hearing decline during the initial period of observation with time to non-serviceable hearing. If significant, rate of hearing decline may inform decision making after an introductory period of observation. SETTING Two tertiary care centers. PATIENTS VS patients with serviceable hearing who underwent at least three audiograms and two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies before intervention or being lost to follow-up. The rate of change in pure-tone average (PTA) and word recognition score (WRS) was calculated as the score from the second audiogram minus the score from the first audiogram, divided by the duration in months between the two. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Serviceable hearing, defined as PTA ≤50 dB HL and WRS ≥50%. RESULTS Among 266 patients meeting inclusion criteria, 52 developed non-serviceable hearing at last follow-up. Kaplan-Meier estimated rates of maintaining serviceable hearing (95% CI; number still at risk) at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 years were 97% (95-100; 206), 78% (72-85; 98), 68% (60-77; 39), 60% (50-73; 17), and 44% (29-67; 2), respectively. In a univariable setting, each 1 dB increase per month in the rate of initial PTA change was associated with a 96% increased likelihood of acquiring non-serviceable hearing (hazard ratio [HR] 1.96; 95% CI 1.44-2.68; p < 0.001). Each 1% increase per month in the rate of initial WRS change was associated with a decreased likelihood of acquiring non-serviceable hearing (hazard ratio [HR] 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66-0.94; p = 0.009). After multivariable adjustment, both rate of PTA change (HR 2.42; 95% CI 1.72-3.41; p < 0.001) and rate of WRS change (HR 0.81; 95% CI 0.67-0.99; p = 0.043) remained statistically significantly associated with time to non-serviceable hearing. CONCLUSION Rate of early PTA and WRS decline during the initial period of observation are significantly associated with time to development of non-serviceable hearing. This information may facilitate accurate patient counseling and inform decision-making regarding prospective disease management.
Tissue metabolic profiling shows that saccharopine accumulates during renal ischemic-reperfusion injury, while kynurenine and itaconate accumulate in renal allograft rejection

To examine metabolic differences between renal allograft acute cellular rejection (ACR) and ischemic-reperfusion injury (IRI), we transplanted MHC-mismatched kidneys and induced 28 min warm-IRI, and collected the ACR and IRI kidneys as well as their respective native and collateral control kidneys. We extracted metabolites from the kidney tissues and found the lysine catabolite saccharopine 12.5-fold enriched in IRI kidneys, as well as the immunometabolites itaconate and kynurenine in ACR kidneys. Saccharopine accumulation is known to be toxic to mitochondria and may contribute to IRI pathophysiology, while itaconate and kynurenine may be reflective of counterregulatory responses to immune activation in ACR.
Morpho- and Chemo-Fossil Evidence of Early Life

This chapter summarizes what is known about the timing of the emergence of life on Earth from the morpho- and chemo-fossil (chemical and isotopic signals remaining from the decomposition of living organisms) records. The geologic record back to ca. 3.5 billion years includes low grade sedimentary rocks in which organic residues of microbiota present during deposition have remained substantially intact. As different metabolic mechanisms variably fractionate carbon isotopes toward isotopically light values, a longstanding strategy has been to measure δ13C in these organic residues, or kerogens, for biologic signatures. When compared to carbon isotopes in inorganic carbonate rocks, a consistent offset is seen throughout the past 3.5 billion years with inorganic carbon averaging δ13C close to 0‰ and kerogens yielding δ13C of approximately −25‰. As the latter value is broadly characteristic of oxygenating photosynthesis, this relationship has been seen as evidence of past biologic activity. However, as metamorphic grade increases, kerogens are reacted to simpler hydrocarbons, ultimately yielding graphitic residues. The discovery of isotopically light carbon isotopes in microscopic graphite inclusions in rocks as old as ca. 3.83 billion years and in a 4.1 Ga zircon extends the possible emergence of life on this planet back into the Hadean eon. Although inorganic mechanisms exist that could potentially produce light δ13C signatures, these isotopic data are consistent with molecular clock calibrations of genomic mutations which suggest a lower bound for the time of life’s origin between 4.1 and 4.4 billion years.
Dynamic Topological Data Analysis for Functional Brain Signals

We propose a novel dynamic topological data analysis (TDA) framework that builds persistent homology over a time series of 3D functional brain images. The proposed method encodes the time series as a time-ordered sequence of Vietoris-Rips complexes and their corresponding barcodes in studying dynamically changing topological patterns. The method is applied to the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the human brain. We demonstrate that the dynamic-TDA can capture the topological patterns that are consistently observed across different time points in the resting-state fMRI.
The Effectiveness of Interventions Intended to Improve Employment Outcomes for Persons with Substance Use Disorder: An Updated Systematic Review.

Employment is one of the strongest predictors of positive outcomes for persons with substance use disorder. Purpose: To conduct a systematic review of interventions intended to improve employment o...
Resiliency influences postoperative outcomes following rotator cuff repair.

Background The purpose of this retrospective review was to assess the effects of resiliency on postoperative outcome scores and complications following rotator cuff repair (RCR). Methods In 2014, 49 consecutive patients underwent arthroscopic RCR for either a partial- or full-thickness tear performed by a single surgeon at a multi-location, single center. In these patients, the following scores were monitored: American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), Simple Shoulder Test (SST), and Life Orientation Test–Revised (LOT-R). Data collected at 4 years postoperatively were statistically analyzed by 1-way analysis of variance tests, Pearson correlations, and multivariate tests of between-subjects effects (multivariate analysis of covariance). Results There was a statistically significant difference between cohorts and their scores of resiliency and optimism measured by the LOT-R (function portion of ASES score [ASESf], P = .048; pain portion of ASES score [ASESp], P = .003; and SST score, P = .009) as illustrated by a 1-way analysis of variance. A multivariate analysis of covariance found that LOT-R scores exhibited a significant impact on outcome scores (ASESf score, P = .043; ASESp score, P = .002; and SST score, P = .007). Correlational analysis indicated that LOT-R scores directly correlated with higher ASESp (P = .003), ASESf (P = .029), and SST (P = .018) scores. Regression line analysis provided a positive coefficient of determination value for all outcome scores. Conclusion The premise of this study was to look at mental resilience as a potential indicator of long-term outcome scores following RCR. The results of statistical analysis indicated that outcome scores are significantly different based on the degree of optimism; high levels of optimism impact and correlate to higher outcome scores. This study provides a basis for future studies of psychological resilience in the field of orthopedic surgery.
Chunk List: Concurrent Data Structures.

Chunking data is obviously no new concept; however, I had never found any data structures that used chunking as the basis of their implementation. I figured that by using chunking alongside concurrency, I could create an extremely fast run-time in regards to particular methods as searching and/or sorting. By using chunking and concurrency to my advantage, I came up with the chunk list - a dynamic list-based data structure that would separate large amounts of data into specifically sized chunks, each of which should be able to be searched at the exact same time by searching each chunk on a separate thread. As a result of implementing this concept into its own class, I was able to create something that almost consistently gives around 20x-300x faster results than a regular ArrayList. However, should speed be a particular issue even after implementation, users can modify the size of the chunks and benchmark the speed of using smaller or larger chunks, depending on the amount of data being stored.
A novel catalytic heme cofactor in SfmD with a single thioether bond and a bis-His ligand set revealed by a de novo crystal structural and spectroscopic study

SfmD is a heme-dependent enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of saframycin A. Here, we present a 1.78 A resolution de novo crystal structure of SfmD, which unveils a novel heme cofactor attached to the protein with an unusual HxnHxxxC motif (n ∼ 38). This heme cofactor is unique in two respects. It contains a single thioether bond in a cysteine–vinyl link with Cys317, and the ferric heme has two axial protein ligands, i.e., His274 and His313. We demonstrated that SfmD heme is catalytically active and can utilize dioxygen and ascorbate for a single-oxygen insertion into 3-methyl-L-tyrosine. Catalytic assays using ascorbate derivatives revealed the functional groups of ascorbate essential to its function as a cosubstrate. Abolishing the thioether linkage through mutation of Cys317 resulted in catalytically inactive SfmD variants. EPR and optical data revealed that the heme center undergoes a substantial conformational change with one axial histidine ligand dissociating from the iron ion in response to substrate 3-methyl-L-tyrosine binding or chemical reduction by a reducing agent, such as the cosubstrate ascorbate. The labile axial ligand was identified as His274 through redox-linked structural determinations. Together, identifying an unusual heme cofactor with a previously unknown heme-binding motif for a monooxygenase activity and the structural similarity of SfmD to the members of the heme-based tryptophan dioxygenase superfamily will broaden understanding of heme chemistry.
The origins of off-centre massive black holes in dwarf galaxies

Massive black holes often exist within dwarf galaxies, and both simulations and observations have shown that a substantial fraction of these may be off-center with respect to their hosts. We trace the evolution of off-center massive black holes (MBHs) in dwarf galaxies using cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, and show that the reason for off-center locations is mainly due to galaxy-galaxy mergers. We calculate dynamical timescales and show that off-center MBHs are unlikely to sink to their galaxys' centers within a Hubble time, due to the shape of the hosts' potential wells and low stellar densities. These wandering MBHs are unlikely to be detected electromagnetically, nor is there a measurable dynamical effect on the galaxy's stellar population. We conclude that off-center MBHs may be common in dwarfs, especially if the mass of the MBH is small or the stellar mass of the host galaxy is large. However detecting them is extremely challenging, because their accretion luminosities are very low and they do not measurably alter the dynamics of their host galaxies.
Perspectives on the current state of pre-clerkship clinical reasoning instruction in United States medical schools: a survey of clinical skills course directors.

Objectives Clinical reasoning skills are essential for sound medical decision-making. Though many have suggested that clinical reasoning instruction should begin in pre-clerkship curricula, neither pre-clerkship clinical skills director perspectives nor extent of instruction is known. This survey study serves as part of a needs assessment for United States medical school pre-clerkship clinical reasoning curricula. Methods United States medical school pre-clerkship clinical skills course directors were surveyed about perceived importance of formal instruction on clinical reasoning concepts, inclusion of these concepts in the curricula, barriers to instruction, and familiarity with clerkship curricula. Results were analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistics. Narrative comments were analyzed qualitatively for themes. Results Of 148 directors surveyed, 102 (69%) participated and 89 (60%) completed all closed-ended items. Each clinical reasoning concept was identified as somewhat to extremely important to include in pre-clerkship curricula by 90-99% of respondents. Pre-clerkship curricula included variable degrees of formal instruction for concepts, though most respondents rated their inclusion as moderate or extensive. Perceived importance of teaching most concepts moderately correlated with the degree of inclusion in the curriculum (Spearman's rho 0.39-0.44). Curricular time constraints and lack of faculty with skills to teach these concepts were the most frequently cited barriers to instruction. Respondents indicated being somewhat 57% (n=54) to extremely 29% (n=27) familiar with clerkship curricula at their institutions. Conclusions This study is the first to examine pre-clerkship clinical skills course director perspectives about clinical reasoning instruction and extent of its inclusion in their curricula.