cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Geospatial identification of optimal straw-to-energy conversion sites in the Pacific Northwest

Previous attempts to develop straw-based bioenergy systems have stumbled at costs of transporting this low-density resource to large-scale, centralized facilities. Success in developing small-scale, distributed technologies (e.g. syngas or pyrolysis bio-oil) that reduce these costs will depend on closely matching system requirements to spatial distribution of available straw. We analyzed straw distribution in the Pacific Northwest to identify optimal sites for facilities ranging from a pilot plant currently under development to larger ones of previous studies. Sites for plants with capacities of 1, 10, or 100 million kg straw y-1 were identified using a ‘lowest-hanging-fruit’ iterative siting process in which the location of maximum density of straw over an appropriately sized neighborhood was identified, distance from that point necessary to include desired quantity of straw measured, straw assigned to that plant removed from the raster, and the process repeated until all available straw had been assigned. Compared to K-means, our new method sited the first 44% of plants at superior locations in terms of local straw density (i.e. lower transportation costs) and the next 39% at equivalent locations. K-means produced better locations for the final 17% of plants along with superior average results. For the smallest facilities at locations defined by 3-year average available straw density, 1.2 km buffers were adequate to provide straw for the first 10% of plants, with twice that distance sufficient for the first 70%. For the largest plants, 12 km buffers satisfied the first 10% of plants, with 24 km buffers satisfying the first 60%. Buffer distances exceeded 68 km for the final 20% of the largest plants. Siting patterns for the smallest plants were more evenly distributed than larger ones, suggesting that farm-scale technology may be more politically appealing. Smaller plants, however, suffered from higher year-to-year variability in straw supply within pre-defined distances. Published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Transition From Atrioventricular Node Reentry Tachycardia to Atrial Fibrillation Begins in the Pulmonary Veins

A37-year-old man with frequent episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation refractory to antiarrhythmic therapy (and no other documented arrhythmias on multiple Holter examinations) underwent an attempt at radiofrequency ablation of the atrial fibrillation. Catheter positions are shown in the left anterior oblique view in Figure 1⇓ and include 2 catheters in the left and right upper pulmonary veins. During mapping, the patient developed atrioventricular node reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) both spontaneously and with atrial extrastimuli; this AVNRT was later ablated. Before ablation, the patient’s rhythm spontaneously …
A Comparative Study of the NAS MG Benchmark across Parallel Languages and Architectures

Hierarchical algorithms such as multigrid applications form an important cornerstone for scientific computing. In this study, we take a first step toward evaluating parallel language support for hierarchical applications by comparing implementations of the NAS MG benchmark in several parallel programming languages: Co-Array Fortran, High Performance Fortran, Single Assignment C, and ZPL. We evaluate each language in terms of its portability, its performance, and its ability to express the algorithm clearly and concisely. Experimental platforms include the Cray T3E, IBM SP, SGI Origin, Sun Enterprise 5500 and a high-performance Linux cluster. Our findings indicate that while it is possible to achieve good portability, performance, and expressiveness, most languages currently fall short in at least one of these areas. We find a strong correlation between expressiveness and a language's support for a global view of computation, and we identify key factors for achieving portable performance in multigrid applications.
Exercise Boundary Violations in American-Style Options: The Rule, Not the Exception

An exercise boundary violation (EBV) occurs when the current bid price for an American option in the market is below intrinsic value. A seller at this price leaves money on the table and the buyer receives an arbitrage profit. In a liquid market, competition among dealers should drive up the bid prices and eliminate the arbitrage. An analysis of intraday data shows that EBVs are the norm, not the exception, with near-term in-the-money equity calls and puts the most affected. In March 2010 48.6% of all in-the-money call options had EBV bid quotes and 11.5% of trading volume in those options occurred below the intrinsic value, costing the sellers an estimated $39 million. EBVs are highly persistent throughout the day, making it rational to liquidate an option by exercise rather than selling it in the market, in sharp contrast to textbook theory. Our empirical results show early exercise is strongly related to an option's EBV. In addition to altering optimal exercise strategy and the value of the early exercise premium, the possibility of early exercise to avoid an EBV makes intrinsic value the effective bid price. This narrows the spread and raises its midpoint, which affects customary measures of market liquidity, the option's market price, and its implied volatility.
Los Contemporáneos hoy: reescrituras de Jorge Cuesta y Xavier Villaurrutia en la novela mexicana de finales del siglo XX.

Resumen: Durante los anos veinte y treinta el grupo Contemporaneos aporto una vision plural y cosmopolita a la cultura mexicana, a contracorriente con los dogmas nacionalistas que habian contagiado los sectores sociales, culturales y politicos de su pais despues de la Revolucion. A partir del concepto de la tradicion de la ruptura de Octavio Paz, este ensayo pretende analizar comparativamente como dos novelas de finales de siglo, A pesar del oscuro silencio (1992) de Jorge Volpi, y En la alcoba de un mundo (1992) de Pedro Angel Palou, dialogan intertextualmente, entre la ficcion, la biografia y el ensayo, con dos obras de autores de Contemporaneos: el poema metafisico “Canto a un dios mineral”, de Jorge Cuesta, y el poemario Nostalgia de la muerte , de Xavier Vilaurrutia. Abstract The Contemporaneos group played a key role in post-revolutionary Mexico. They offered a cosmopolitan and international perspective on culture and literature in spite of the nationalistic tone that permeated all levels of Mexican life during the twenties and the thirties. Seven decades later, in 1992, Jorge Volpi and Pedro Angel Palou wrote two novels that played tribute to poets in Contemporaneos: Volpi´s In Spite of the Dark Silence , a tribute to Jorge Cuesta, and Palou´s In the Bedroom of the World , that paid homage to Xavier Villaurrutia. Departing from Octavio Paz´s concept tradition of rupture , this essay aims to study the inter-textual relationships between In Spite of the Dark Silence and Cuesta´s poem “Song to a Mineral God” on the one hand, and, on the other, the links between In the Bedroom of the World and Xavier Villaurrutia´s Nostalgia of the Dead .
A Method for Retrieval of Adverse Event Terms in Clinical Trial Databases Using Standardised MedDRA Queries

Standardized MedDRA Queries (SMQs) are sets of terms determined by experts that are used to identify adverse events (AEs) related to different disease processes. Their use can be challenging because most SMQs have 50 to 100 preferred terms and AE databases can have many thousands of events. The aim of this study is to develop a technique where AEs corresponding to preferred terms in SMQs may be easily detected. The method I developed uses the Table Join function of the JMP ® software program to quickly and easily probe clinical trial AE databases. The SMQ Severe cutaneous adverse reactions was used as a probe in a mock AE dataset. Potentially confounding demographic or study-specific factors were evaluated by combining these datasets with the dataset containing the AEs identified with the SMQs. AEs were successfully detected in an AE database using the method described. Cases with potential confounding factors, such as concomitant medications, were identified. The method developed allows for AEs to be found in clinical trial databases and evaluated using software programs that are readily available to clinical researchers.
Relationships among corporate governance mechanisms: evidence based on executive compensation clawback provisions

This study examines the relationships between executive compensation clawback provisions and other major corporate governance mechanisms, including both internal corporate governance and external corporate governance, and whether clawback provisions enhance a firm's financial performance. Using a sample of S&P 1500 firms over the period of 2005 through 2009, our results show that clawback provisions are complements to firms' existing internal governance measures and are substitutes to external corporate governance measures. We also employ the propensity-score matching technique and the difference-in-differences research design, and find that clawback firms have higher ROE and ROA. Our evidence is consistent with agency theory, but inconsistent with stewardship theory. We conclude that corporate governance mechanisms are interrelated in significant and meaningful ways, and that ignoring the interactions among different governance mechanisms likely leads to misleading results. We argue that our empirical evidence should be taken into consideration for policy-making and for future corporate governance studies.
Frameless Stereotactic Radiosurgery, a Feasible Alternative to the Frame-Based Technique for the Treatment of Refractory Trigeminal Neuralgia

Classic trigeminal neuralgia (TN) causes severe facial pain. Several treatment options exist for classic TN refractory to medical therapy, including stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Most studies in the medical literature used a frame-based SRS technique. Improvements in linear accelerator-based treatment systems and image guidance have led to the use of frameless SRS as a safe and feasible alternative to the frame-based technique for the treatment of refractory TN. We present a case of refractory TN successfully treated with frameless SRS.
Stresses and Deformations in Pile-Anchor Support System of Deep Foundation Pit in Sandy Layers

Based on the long-term monitoring data of the foundation pit of Golden City Square project in Shenyang,the horizontal displacements and deformations on the pile top and in the pile body,as well as the prestress in the anchors were analyzed in order to understand the mechanical characteristics and deformation laws in the pile-anchor support system. Results showed that time effect of deformation in the support system of the foundation pit is not significant in sandy layer.However the spatial effect of the horizontal displacements on the pile top is significant. The horizontal displacements of the pile body take on a fish belly shape with small values at the two ends and large values in the middle. Due to the effect of the prestress in the anchor,the deformation curve of the pile body is similar to that of a simply supported beam. Anchors are significantly affected by seasonal frost heavy,whose influence is gradually reduced from top to bottom. The 600 mm diameter supporting piles in the pile-anchor support system are capable of controlling the deformation,thus being feasible in this project and having a broad application prospect.
Magnetic resonance angiography had high specificity but moderate sensitivity for detecting pulmonary emboli.

Source Citation Oudkerk M, van Beek EJ, Wielopolski P, et al. Comparison of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography and conventional pulmonary angiography for the diagnosis of pulmonary em...
The pathologist's perspective of genetic disease. Malformations and dysmorphology.

The pathologist plays an important role in the study and understanding of the pathogenetic analysis of congenital abnormalities. This article addresses the pathologist s approach to malformations, dysmorphology, fetal hydrops, short-cord syndrome, and chromosome defects.
Long-Lived Hole Spin/Valley Polarization Probed by Kerr Rotation in Monolayer WSe2

Time-resolved Kerr rotation and photoluminescence measurements are performed on MOCVD-grown monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe2). We observe a surprisingly long-lived Kerr rotation signal (∼80 ns) at 10 K, which is attributed to spin/valley polarization of the resident holes. This polarization is robust to transverse magnetic field (up to 0.3 T). Wavelength-dependent measurements reveal that only excitation near the free exciton energy generates this long-lived spin/valley polarization.
Lucretius' Materialist Poetics: Epicurus and the ‘Flawed’ Consolatio of Book 3

Book 3 of De Rerum Natura ends with a series of dramatic voices unparallelled anywhere in Lucretius (lines 894-1094). Mourners, the elderly, Nature and Memmius raise their voices to debate the issue of mortality. From Epicurean tenets Lucretius dramatises and creates images for the follies of superstitious fears, passions, ambitions, attachment to nature, guilty fears of retribution for sins, and the blinding desire to live. But this section has been seen to have failed both as effective persuasion of Epicurean ideals and as an artistically polished conclusion to the book. The tone, the arrangement and the ideas of the drama's conclusion have been criticised by commentators from Hadzsits (1935) to Kenney (1971); the most comprehensive and often-cited commentator, Bailey (1947), calls the section a ‘culminating triumph-song over the mortality of the soul’ but finds Lucretius’ response to the mourners ‘not altogether satisfactory’, his ‘consolation…inadequate’, and flatly judges the last eighteen lines ‘unsatisfactory as a conclusion’. Bailey, as well as the others, has stressed the departure from Epicurean doctrine in both tone and imagery.
Need for Family Therapy Services for Middle-Class Families in India

This qualitative study explored the needs of Indian middle-class families for family therapy services. Four focus group interviews were conducted with middle-class parents in Madras, India. Participants were introduced to the concept and practice of family therapy and were encouraged to take a more active role in supporting the services they suggested. Participants identified problems faced by Madras middle class families and five different types of services that they were aware of. Three categories of need for family therapy were identified from the narratives of the participants. Several themes fit in each of the three categories. Implications for clinical application are discussed.
Constitutional Symptoms Trigger Diagnostic Testing Before Antibiotic Prescribing in High-Risk Nursing Home Residents.

Objectives To evaluate the use of diagnostic testing before treating an infection in nursing home (NH) residents suspected of having a urinary tract infection (UTI) or pneumonia. Design Prospective longitudinal study nested within a randomized trial, using data from control sites. Setting Six NHs in southeast Michigan. Participants NH residents with an indwelling urinary catheter, enteral feeding tube, or both (N = 162) with 695 follow-up visits (189 (28%) visits with an infection). Measurements Clinical and demographic data—including information on incident infections, antibiotic use, and results of diagnostic tests—were obtained at study enrollment, after 14 days, and monthly thereafter for up to 1 year. Results One hundred (62%) NH residents had an incident infection requiring antibiotics, with substantial variations between NHs. In addition to presence of infection-specific symptoms, change in function was a significant predictor of ordering a chest X-ray to detect pneumonia (odds ratio (OR) = 1.7, P = .01). Similarly, change in mentation was a significant predictor of ordering a urinalysis (OR = 1.9, P = .02), chest X-ray (OR = 3.3, P < .001), and blood culture (OR = 2.3, P = .02). Antibiotics were used empirically, before laboratory results were available, in 50 of 233 suspected cases of UTI (21.5%) and 16 of 53 (30.2%) suspected cases of pneumonia. Antibiotics were used in 17% of visits without documented clinical or laboratory evidence of infection. Conclusion Constitutional symptoms such as change in function and mentation commonly lead to diagnostic testing and subsequent antibiotic prescribing. Antibiotic use often continues despite negative test results and should be a target for future interventions.
Design Tradeoffs for Frequency Hopped VHF Net Radios

Army Combat Net Radio (CNR) poses a unique set of operational and equipment requirements when compared to those of non-military users. A new generation of radios presently in development must provide all the capabilities of the current radios plus several new ones, notably an active ECCM capability. This paper illustrates how the ECCM design is driven by the electronic warfare threat and by the deployment peculiar to CNR. Considerations in selection of frequency hopping as the ECCM technique are discussed, as well as the design trade-offs necessary to achieve a balance between the conflicting requirements of performance against the threat, self-interference and interference to non-hoppers, and user-transparent synchronization.
Reconstructing ancestral gene orders with duplications guided by synteny level genome reconstruction.

Reconstructing ancestral gene orders in the presence of duplications is important for a better understanding of genome evolution. Current methods for ancestral reconstruction are limited by either computational constraints or the availability of reliable gene trees, and often ignore duplications altogether. Recently, methods that consider duplications in ancestral reconstructions have been developed, but the quality of reconstruction, counted as the number of contiguous ancestral regions found, decreases rapidly with the number of duplicated genes, complicating the application of such approaches to mammalian genomes. However, such high fragmentation is not encountered when reconstructing mammalian genomes at the synteny-block level, although the relative positions of genes in such reconstruction cannot be recovered. We propose a new heuristic method, MultiRes, to reconstruct ancestral gene orders with duplications guided by homologous synteny blocks for a set of related descendant genomes. The method uses a synteny-level reconstruction to break the gene-order problem into several subproblems, which are then combined in order to disambiguate duplicated genes. We applied this method to both simulated and real data. Our results showed that MultiRes outperforms other methods in terms of gene content, gene adjacency, and common interval recovery. This work demonstrates that the inclusion of synteny-level information can help us obtain better gene-level reconstructions. Our algorithm provides a basic toolbox for reconstructing ancestral gene orders with duplications. The source code of MultiRes is available on https://github.com/ma-compbio/MultiRes .
Privacy Aware Learning

We study statistical risk minimization problems under a version of privacy in which the data is kept confidential even from the learner. In this local privacy framework, we establish sharp upper and lower bounds on the convergence rates of statistical estimation procedures. As a consequence, we exhibit a precise tradeoff between the amount of privacy the data preserves and the utility, measured by convergence rate, of any statistical estimator.
How Has Legal Recreational Cannabis Affected Adolescents in Your State? A Window of Opportunity

The authors reflect on the impact that the legalization of the use of recreational cannabis in several American states is having on adolescents as of 2017, and it mentions cannabis dispensaries and advertising in relation to a potential increase in cannabis use by young people in the U.S. Vaping and edible cannabis products are examined, along with risk behaviors and public health concerns in America. Substance use disorder treatments and cannabis-related automobile accidents are assessed.
Metformin Safety Warnings and Diabetes Drug Prescribing Patterns for Older Nursing Home Residents.

Abstract Objective Diabetes mellitus is common in US nursing homes (NHs), and the mainstay treatment, metformin, has US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) boxed warnings indicating safety concerns in those with advanced age, heart failure, or renal disease. Little is known about treatment selection in this setting, especially for metformin. We quantified the determinants of initiating sulfonylureas over metformin with the aim of understanding the impact of FDA-labeled boxed warnings in older NH residents. Design and setting National retrospective cohort in US NHs. Participants Long-stay NH residents age ≥65 years who initiated metformin or sulfonylurea monotherapy following a period of ≥6 months with no glucose-lowering treatment use between 2008 and 2010 (n = 7295). Measurements Measures of patient characteristics were obtained from linked national Minimum Data Set assessments; Online Survey, Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) records; and Medicare claims. Odds ratios (ORs) comparing patient characteristics and treatment initiation were estimated using univariable and multivariable multilevel logistic regression models with NH random intercepts. Results Of the 7295 residents in the study population, 3066 (42%) initiated metformin and 4229 (58%) initiated a sulfonylurea. In multivariable analysis, several factors were associated with sulfonylurea initiation over metformin initiation, including heart failure (odds ratio [OR] 1.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–1.4) and renal disease (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.7–2.5). Compared with those aged 65 to Conclusions In response to FDA warnings, providers initiated NH residents on a drug class with a known, common adverse event (hypoglycemia with sulfonylureas) over one with tenuous evidence of a rare adverse event (lactic acidosis with metformin).
Blueprint of the Auditory Interactions in Automated Vehicles: Report on the Workshop and Tutorial

Vehicle automation is becoming more widespread. As automation increases, new opportunities and challenges have emerged. Given that vision is heavily taxed in driving, much research has been conducted on an auditory channel. To identify new design spaces and solutions, we have organized successive workshops and tutorial at International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD) and AutoUI Conference for several years. In this report, we address novel opportunities and directions of auditory interactions in automated vehicles that we have discussed in the workshop and tutorial to design better driver user experience and secure road safety.
Introduction: Need for Interval and Fuzzy Techniques in Math and Science Education

Education is difficult. Most teachers and instructors would agree that while teaching is a very rewarding activity, it is also a very difficult one.It is difficult because teaching is largely an art. There is a lot of advice on teaching, but this advice is usually informal and thus, not easy to follow. Students are different. Whatever worked for one group of students may not work for another group. Students have different preparation level, different motivations, different skills, different attitudes, different relations to other students in the class.
Economic dispatch with heavy loading and maximum loading identification using convex relaxation of AC OPF

The objective of this paper is to explore two engineering applications of convex relaxation of AC OPF: (i) to conduct economic dispatch at heavy loading conditions; and (ii) to identify the system's loading limit. The conventional AC OPF formulation solved by interior point method has difficulty to converge when the system is reaching its loading limit due to the singularity of the Jacobian matrix. Existing methods to identify loading limits include continuous power flow (CPF) method. For CPF, the direction of power transfer has to be identified first. Then, a PV nose is obtained and the maximum loading level is at the nose point. Using convex relaxation of alternating current optimal power flow (AC OPF), we will not encounter singularity issues. In this paper, we will formulate a semi-definite programming (SDP) relaxation of AC OPF-based optimization problems to conduct economic dispatch and loading limit identification. Advantages of SDP OPF over MATPOWER are demonstrated. Further, loading limits identified by SDP OPF are compared with those found using the CPF method of MATPOWER. Our research indicates that two methods will lead to the same solutions for the tested systems.
A test of the predator satiation hypothesis, acorn predator size, and acorn preference

Mast seeding is hypothesized to satiate seed predators with heavy production and reduce populations with crop failure, thereby increasing seed survival. Preference for red or white oak acorns could...
An Active Microwave Limb Sounder for Profiling Water Vapor, Ozone, Temperature, Geopotential, Clouds, Isotopes and Stratospheric Winds

We summarize our findings on the performance of a radio occultation system operating at cm and mm wavelengths selected to profile atmospheric water, ozone and other constituents such as water isotopes as well as temperature, the geopotential of atmospheric pressure surfaces and clouds. Furthermore winds in the upper stratosphere can be determined from the Doppler shift of the line center. Our analysis indicates that such a system will yield dramatically higher vertical resolution, precision and accuracy than present and planned passive radiometric systems.
Causation, Statistics, and the Law

More and more, judges and juries are being asked to handle torts and other cases in which establishing liability involves understanding large bodies of complex scientific evidence. When establishing causation is involved, the evidence can be diverse, can involve complicated statistical models, and can seem impenetrable to non-experts. Since the decision in Daubert v. Merril Dow Pharms., Inc. in 1993, judges cannot simply admit expert testimony and other technical evidence and let jurors decide the verdict. Judges now must rule on which experts are admissible and which are inadmissible, and they must base their ruling at least partly on the status of the scientific evidence about which the expert will testify. 2 This article is intended to provide judges with an accessible methodological overview of causal science. Part I of this article will explain the nature of causal claims in the realm of judicial evidence. Part II will address why these claims are difficult to prove scientifically and identify the different kinds of evidence typically used to prove causal claims. Part III will explain how the discipline of statistics fits into the science of establishing causal claims. Finally, part IV will
Gene Regulation: Single-Molecule Chemical Physics in a Natural Context

Single-molecule studies provide us with greater insights into the mechanistic details of chemical processes, but in natural biological systems, the deterministic formalism of ensemble kinetics has been considered to provide a sufficient phenomenology. The most striking exception to this view of the basis of systems biology is gene regulation. Most cells possess only one or two copies of any given gene. The proteins regulating these genes are also present in small numbers. Temporal averaging over DNA-protein binding events would return the problems of gene regulation to one of macroscopic kinetics, but this temporal averaging is not always adequate. The stability of genetic switches depends on the dynamics of individual gene binding events. A non-adiabatic formalism is required. In some models of gene switches, even more dramatically stochastic attractors apparently exist that have no deterministic counterparts. These attractors arise directly from the single-molecule nature of the gene and are analogous to extinction events in population biology.
Toward a Technology of Teacher Observation in Special Education Personnel Preparation

Observational systems can yield important information on a student teacher's performance. However, many observational systems may not be based upon reliable observation and recording procedures. Th...
Cushing Syndrome Due to Ectopic Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Secretion by a Pulmonary Carcinoid Tumor in a Patient with Pneumoconiosis

ABSTRACT Objective: Sites with a high prevalence of pneumoconiosis are especially challenging to physicians. The presence of pneumoconiotic nodules on chest computed tomography (CT) scans makes it ...
Nasal branch of the anterior ethmoid artery: a consistent landmark for a midline approach to the frontal sinus.

Background Frontal sinusotomy can be challenging when significant scarring or distorted anatomy is present. Identifying a reliable anatomic structure, when traditional landmarks or navigation are absent, may assist the surgeon in revision and complicated frontal sinusotomies via a midline approach. We aimed to characterize the anatomic relationship of the nasal branch of the anterior ethmoid artery (NBAEA) to the frontal infundibulum, specifically the first olfactory fili, posterior frontal infundibulum, and anterior cribriform plate. Methods Dissection of the NBAEA was carried out in 11 cadaveric heads, resulting in a total of 21 dissections (1 aplastic frontal). Mean with standard deviation and a range were established for 7 relative measurements. Results The total length of NBAEA cleft when present (mean 2.43 mm), the anterior edge of NBAEA cleft to anterior infundibulum coronal plane (mean 1.71 mm), the posterior edge of NBAEA cleft to posterior infundibulum coronal plane (mean 3.33 mm), the posterior edge of NBAEA cleft to 1st olfactory fili (mean 2.86 mm), and the first olfactory fili to posterior infundibulum coronal plane (mean 0.48 mm) were consistent measurements supporting the use of the NBAEA as a consistent anatomical landmark for the correct surgical coronal trajectory into the midline frontal sinus. Conclusion The NBAEA is a consistent anatomic landmark with minimal intercadaveric and intracadaveric variation. It can be used reliably as a "sentinel artery" notifying the surgeon when one is approaching the first olfactory fili, to determine the correct trajectory into the midline frontal sinus.
Digital Fabrication of Soft Actuated Objects by Machine Knitting

With recent interest in shape-changing interfaces, material-driven design, wearable technologies, and soft robotics, digital fabrication of soft actuatable material is increasingly in demand. Much of this research focuses on elastomers or non-stretchy air bladders. Computationally-controlled machine knitting offers an alternative fabrication technology which can rapidly produce soft textile objects that have a very different character: breathable, lightweight, and pleasant to the touch. These machines are well established and optimized for the mass production of garments, but compared to other digital fabrication techniques such as CNC machining or 3D printing, they have received much less attention as general purpose fabrication devices. In this work, we explore new ways to employ machine knitting for the creation of actuated soft objects. We describe the basic operation of this type of machine, then show new techniques for knitting tendon-based actuation into objects. We explore a series of design strategies for integrating tendons with shaping and anisotropic texture design. Finally, we investigate different knit material properties, including considerations for motor control and sensing.
Pricing and Customer Returns Policies with Loss Averse Customers

Customer returns policies are common after sale services offered by a retailer in order to boost sales, improve customer satisfaction and diminish customer fit uncertainty. With such a service, the retailer accepts the return of a product after the sale has occurred, if it does not satisfy the customer’s expectations. This paper studies a retailer’s return policy problem when the market consists of loss-averse customers who are more sensitive to losses than gains. We examine the situation in which a seller makes price and quantity decisions and also designs an appropriate returns policy in order to maximize his profit. The seller may offer either a full-refund or a partial-refund policy if he decides to accept returns or chooses not to accept any returns. With the full-refund policy, the seller reimburses the consumer the full price of the product if it does not fit the customer’s preferences. With a partial-refund policy, the seller offers a refund which is strictly less than the purchase price. We assume that customers are strategic customers aiming to maximize her utility of the product. Under this setting, this study analyzes the impact of loss aversion on the seller’s price and order quantity decisions.
People's thresholds of decision-making against a tornado threat using dynamic probabilistic hazard information

Abstract With pervasive use of smartphones for acquiring weather information and efforts of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in developing a tool under the banner of the Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats (FACETs) to disseminate probabilistic information about a tornado event, it is important to investigate people's probabilistic thresholds for taking protective action when presented with dynamic visual information about a tornado threat on a smartphone. We presented dynamic displays of probabilistic information of five hypothetical tornado scenarios to 109 college students on their smartphones and asked them to report at what moment they would take protective action (if any). After conducting Cox proportional hazard regression and Poisson regression, we found that proximity to the tornado, likelihood of the threat occurrence, and being inside vs. outside of the risk area played a significant role in people's decision-making. This study illustrated that regardless of tornado trajectory, as a moving probabilistic swath showing probabilistic forecast of the tornado becomes closer to the information recipients, around 12% of the participants would take protective action prior to being impacted by the probabilistic zone with more than 0% chance of the tornado occurrence. Almost half of them would take protective action before being impacted by the probabilistic zone with more than 20% chance, and around 88% of the participants would take protective action before being impacted by the probabilistic zone with more than 40% chance of the tornado occurrence. Our study corroborates previous relevant research that providing probabilistic hazard information to the public could enhance the warnings' effectiveness.
Associations of Prenatal Dietary Inflammatory Potential with Childhood Respiratory Outcomes in Project Viva.

Background Inflammation during pregnancy may be a factor in the developmental programming of asthma and wheeze in childhood. Objective To examine associations of inflammatory potential of prenatal diet with respiratory outcomes in early childhood and midchildhood. Methods Among 1424 mother-child pairs in Project Viva, a prebirth cohort, we examined associations of Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®) (first trimester, second trimester, and average of first and second trimesters) scores in relation to ever asthma and wheezing in the past year (early childhood and midchildhood); current asthma and lung function (midchildhood), and wheeze trajectory during 1 to 9 years. We used multivariable linear and logistic regression modeling, adjusting for relevant confounders. Results In a fully adjusted analysis, a more proinflammatory diet was associated with an early versus never wheeze trajectory (first- and second-trimester average fourth vs first quartile: odds ratio, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.14-3.13). A more proinflammatory diet during pregnancy also was associated with lower forced expiratory flow (forced expiratory flow at 25%-75%) in midchildhood (first- and second-trimester average fourth vs first quartile: β, −132 mL; 95% CI, −249 to −14). Results were evident for first-, but not second-, trimester DII and wheeze trajectory and midchildhood forced expiratory flow at 25% to 75%. Other child respiratory outcomes, including ever asthma, were not related to any DII measure during pregnancy. Conclusions Proinflammatory diet during pregnancy is associated with wheeze trajectory during early childhood and decrements in small airways caliber in midchildhood, but not other respiratory outcomes in the offspring.
Early Weight Loss and Treatment Response: Data From a Lifestyle Change Program in Clinical Practice.

Introduction The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a predictive model for the early identification of nonresponders to a 12-month lifestyle change program in clinical practice. Methods Investigators identified lifestyle change program participants in the electronic health records of a large healthcare delivery system between 2010 and 2017. Nonresponse was defined as weight gain or no weight loss at 12 months from the program initiation (baseline). Logistic regression with percentage weight change at 2–12 weeks from baseline was used as an independent predictor of nonresponse. Baseline demographics and clinical characteristics were also tested as potential predictors. The authors performed ten-fold cross-validation for model assessment and examined model performance with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. The analyses were conducted in 2019. Results Among 947 program participants, 30% were classified as nonresponders at 12 months. The model with the best discrimination of responders from nonresponders included weight change at 12 weeks from baseline as the sole predictor (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.789). Sensitivity and positive predictive value were maximized at 0.56 (specificity and negative predictive value, 0.81 each). Conclusions In a cohort of lifestyle change program participants from clinical practice, percentage weight change at 12 weeks from baseline can serve as a single indicator of nonresponse at the completion of the 12-month program. Clinicians can easily apply this algorithm to identify and assess participants in potential need of adjunctive or alternative therapy to maximize treatment outcomes.
Sexual Dimorphism and Size-Related Changes in Body Shape in Tule Perch (Family: Embiotocidae), a Native California Live-Bearing Fish

The Tule Perch, Hysterocarpus traskii, is a viviparous and externally monomorphic, internally fertilizing fish. Despite appearing monomorphic, males and females are expected to differ in body shape because the different reproductive roles occupied by the sexes should influence patterns of selection and, ultimately, lead to differences in morphology. The objectives of this study were to determine if the Sacramento–San Joaquin subspecies of Tule Perch (H. t. traskii) exhibit (1) sexual dimorphism in body shape, (2) size-related changes in body shape, and (3) sexual size dimorphism. Geometric morphometric analyses indicated that H. t. traskii exhibited significant sexual dimorphism of body shape and identified the mid-body and caudal peduncle regions as the most effective discriminators between the sexes. Females were narrower through the caudal peduncle and mid-body and had anal-fin origins that were more posteriorly located than males. Additionally, H. t. traskii exhibited significant size-related changes in body shape. Larger fish were deeper bodied with blunter snouts and wider caudal peduncles. The eyes of larger fish were relatively smaller and located higher on the body than those of smaller fish. Hysterocarpus t. traskii did not exhibit differences between the sexes in standard length, but males were significantly heavier than females.
Resisting the abolition myth: Journalistic turning points in the Dutch memory of slavery:

The date 1 July 2013 marked the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the Netherlands, and though the Dutch memory of slavery had previously been largely silenced, the interests of the A...
Portable Ultrasound Device Usage and Learning Outcomes Among Internal Medicine Trainees: A Parallel-Group Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND Little is known about how to effectively train residents with point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) despite increasing usage. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess whether handheld ultrasound devices (HUDs), alongside a year-long lecture series, improved trainee image interpretation skills with POCUS. METHODS Internal medicine intern physicians (N = 149) at a single academic institution from 2016 to 2018 participated in the study. The 2017 interns (n = 47) were randomized 1:1 to receive personal HUDs (n = 24) for patient care vs no-HUDs (n = 23). All 2017 interns received a repeated lecture series regarding cardiac, thoracic, and abdominal POCUS. Interns were assessed on their ability to interpret POCUS images of normal/abnormal findings. The primary outcome was the difference in end-of-the-year assessment scores between interns randomized to receive HUDs vs not. Secondary outcomes included trainee scores after repeating lectures and confidence with POCUS. Intern scores were also compared with historical (2016, N = 50) and contemporaneous (2018, N = 52) controls who received no lectures. RESULTS Interns randomized to HUDs did not have significantly higher image interpretation scores (median HUD score: 0.84 vs no-HUD score: 0.84; P = .86). However, HUD interns felt more confident in their abilities. The 2017 cohort had higher scores (median 0.84), compared with the 2016 historical control (median 0.71; P = .001) and 2018 contemporaneous control (median 0.48; P < .001). Assessment scores improved after first-time exposure to the lecture series, while repeated lectures did not improve scores. CONCLUSIONS Despite feeling more confident, personalized HUDs did not improve interns' POCUS-related knowledge or interpretive ability. Repeated lecture exposure without further opportunities for deliberate practice may not be beneficial for mastering POCUS.
Whatever happened to disintermediation

Two key questions were discussed in the evolution of electronic markets over the years. How will future traffic on the World Wide Web and Internet affect each segment of an industry value chain? Will electronic markets provide new and innovative areas of opportunity for retailers, producers, and consumers as well? Electronic markets are unique virtual organizational forms and evolve through the automated mediation of market transactions. Consequently, we observe that traditional industry chains potentially lose their relative importance since business can be carried out faster and often with more and new opportunities. The developments have shown that consumers profit from an increased access to a vast selection of goods, which in turn will cause a restructuring and redistribution of profits among the stakeholders along the virtual value chain. There will also be an evolution from single-source sales channels to electronic markets. In particular, electronic markets may lower coordination costs for producers and retailers, lower transaction and distribution costs, or eliminate retailers and wholesalers entirely, as consumers directly access manufacturers. In the same way as electronic markets make disintermediation possible, disintermediation may suggest the deployment of electronic markets as they function as a form of eventual reintermediation in this context. Consumers’ full access to the market will absorb an issue that policymakers need to explore.
Finding an Envelope is an Optimization Problem

The standard approach to finding the envelope of a family of curves or a family of surfaces is shown to be a parameter optimization problem. This statement is first verified by discussing the envelope of a one-parameter family of plane curves. The standard approach is given, and the corresponding optimization problem is established. Extensions of the envelope problem to multiple parameters and families of surfaces are considered, as well as envelope problems that cannot be solved by the standard approach, for example, problems involving multiple parameters subject to constraints on the parameters.
Test Information Function (TIF)

A technique that can be used in a Rasch analysis to evaluate how a test is functioning is use of the Test Information Function (TIF). In this chapter, we discuss how to read and interpret the TIF of a test. Specific attention is paid to where, and in which scenario, the peak of a TIF should be located on a TIF plot and the meaning of the width of the TIF. For example, what should the TIF look like for a test that will be used to determine a pass/fail? How should the plot look for tests that simply hope to differentiate respondents who might range from low to high performers? Links are made to chapters of Rasch Analysis in the Human Sciences, such as Chapter 15 Setting Pass–Fail Points and Competency Levels, Chapter 6 Wright Maps: First Steps and Chapter 7 Wright Maps: Second Steps.
Prediction of melt pool temperature in directed energy deposition using machine learning

Abstract Predicting the melt pool temperature distribution and history in direct energy deposition (DED) is crucial for estimating the microstructure, porosity, and mechanical properties of DED-fabricated metal parts. While analytical and numerical modeling methods have been introduced to predict the melt pool temperature, the prediction accuracy of these methods is relatively low because the real-time melt pool temperature distribution is not considered. To address this issue, we developed a data-driven predictive model using machine learning to estimate the melt pool temperature during DED with high accuracy. Two machine learning algorithms, including extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) and long short-term memory (LSTM), were used to build the predictive models. Experimental results have shown that both XGBoost and LSTM can predict the melt pool temperature with high accuracy. While XGBoost is more computationally efficient than LSTM, LSTM achieves higher prediction accuracy and better robustness.
Sympathetic nervous system dominance during stress recovery mediates associations between stress sensitivity and social anxiety symptoms in female adolescents

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is commonly diagnosed during adolescence and is associated with psychological stress reactivity and heightened physiological arousal. No study, however, has systematically examined which aspects of autonomic nervous system function mediate likely links between stress sensitivity and social anxiety symptoms in adolescents. Here, we assessed 163 adolescents (90 females; 12.29 ± 1.39 years) with respect to life stress and social anxiety symptoms, and measured respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance levels (SCL) during a psychosocial stress paradigm. We operationalized stress sensitivity as the residual variance in subjective stress severity after accounting for objective severity and changes in autonomic regulation using standardized change scores in RSA and SCL. In females only, stress sensitivity and social anxiety symptoms were significantly correlated with each other (p 0.1). We interpret these results in the context of psychobiological models of SAD and discuss implications for interventions targeting autonomic processes.