cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lactose Variability of Escherichia coli in Thermally Stressed Reactor Effluent Waters

Abstract Lactose-utilizing and nalidixic acid-resistant populations of Escherichia coli, having an optimum growth temperature of 37°C, were placed in modified diffusion chambers. The chambers were submerged in the epilimnion and hypolimnion of a 1,100-hectare lake (Par Pond) which receives cooling water from a nuclear production reactor. Control chambers were placed in a deep-water reservoir and a Flowing-Streams Laboratory, both of which had comparable temperatures to Par Pond. The populations of E. coli were sampled regularly for up to 3 weeks. Viability of the bacteria was determined by dilution plating to nutrient agar followed by replicate plating onto selective medium to determine lactose utilization and nalidixic acid sensitivity. Initial populations of E. coli were lactose positive but changed to lactose negative in Par Pond when the reactor was operating (i.e., cooling water from the heat exchangers was being discharged to the lake). This alteration occurred most rapidly in the chambers closest to the cooling-water discharge point. Such changes did not occur in a deep-water reservoir, in Par Pond when the reactor was not operating, or in the Flowing-Streams Laboratory. The nalidixic acid-resistant characteristic remained stable regardless of the chambers' placement or reactor operations. Although the reasons for such alterations are unclear, it appears that lactose-negative populations of E. coli are selected for in these reactor effluent waters. The loss of the lactose characteristic prevents the recognition and identification of E. coli in this cooling lake (when the reactor is operating) and may prevent the assessment of water quality based on coliform recognition.
CODE CLONES IN RHINO: A CASE STUDY

Programmers frequently create duplicate pieces of code in software projects by copying and pasting, either literally or logically. Such duplication may appear worthwhile, as it allows code to be reused; however, these copied code fragments, generally referred to as clones, can cause severe problems for software maintainers. When code must be changed, the existence of clones may result in an instance of a clone being properly fixed, while another instance remains faulty. In this study, we examine several versions of Rhino, an open source implementation of JavaScript written in Java, and determine that the cloning phenomenon is present within this software. We consider clone evolution – the changes observed in clones between each version of a software system. In addition, we consider the relevancy of certain common software metrics, such as the Chidamber & Kemerer suite, in predicting the existence of clones within software. We demonstrate that a correlation exists between certain metrics through the use of multiple linear regression.
Overcoming dephasing noise with robust optimal control

We address the experimentally relevant problem of robust mitigation of dephasing noise acting on a qubit. We first present an extension of the method of Kuopanportti et al. [Phys. Rev. A 77, 032334 (2008)] for representing $1/{\ensuremath{\omega}}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ noise to the efficient representation of arbitrary Markovian noise. We then add qubit control pulses to enable the design of numerically optimized, two-dimensional, bounded amplitude control functions capable of decoupling the qubit from the dephasing effects of a broad variety of Markovian noise spectral densities during one- and two-qubit quantum operations. We illustrate the method with development of numerically optimized control pulse sequences that minimize decoherence due to a combination of $1/\ensuremath{\omega}$ and constant-offset noise sources. Comparison with the performance of standard dynamical decoupling protocols shows that the numerically optimized pulse sequences are considerably more robust with respect to zero-frequency noise. Application to the mitigation of dephasing noise on spin qubits in silicon indicates that high-fidelity quantum gates may, in principle, be implemented for such qubits with the assistance of current pulse-generation technology.
The International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in the Context of International Migration Policies: An Analysis of Ten Years of Negotiation:

This article is an effort, by one of the drafters, to analyze the factors affecting the creation of a new international instrument, like the UN Convention on Migrant Workers. The analysis may be ch...
Deep wound infections in simultaneous pancreas—kidney transplant recipients on peritoneal dialysis

Peripancreatic abscess formation remains an important cause of surgical morbidity following simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplants. The purpose of this study is to define the association, if any, between the pretransplant method of dialysis and the incidence of peripancreatic abscess formation. We reviewed 57 bladder-drained SPK transplants. Of these, 42 were on haemodialysis (HD) and 15 on peritoneal dialysis (PD) prior to transplantation. Two grafts were lost and three patients died as a result of peripancreatic infections for a total graft loss of 8.8%. The incidence of this complication was higher (P = 0.036 Pearson chi square) in patients on PD (40%) prior to transplant when compared to patients on HD (14%). The most common organism cultured from the abscesses was Staphylococcus epidermidis in both groups. Impairment of peritoneal macrophage function and accumulation of peritoneal effluent as a result of altered peritoneal membrane function are some of the changes that occur following chronic peritoneal dialysis and could explain our findings.
Training Mode Reform of Students Majored in Software Engineering in Application-oriented Colleges and Universities

Students majored in software engineering have poor practical ability and professional quality.By integrating computer science and Aptech curriculum,Chongqing University of Sciences and Arts reformed its students training mode,which effectively enhanced students professional quality and technical skills,making them competent.
Ubiquitination of RORγt at Lysine 446 Limits Th17 Differentiation by Controlling Coactivator Recruitment

The transcription factor retinoid acid–related orphan receptor γ t (RORγt) directs the differentiation of Th17 cells. Th17 cells mediate pathological immune responses responsible for autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. Previous studies focused on RORγt target genes and their function in Th17 differentiation. In this study, we assessed posttranscriptional regulation of RORγt and identified a functional ubiquitination site, K446. Mutation of K446 to arginine to prevent ubiquitination greatly enhanced recruitment of steroid receptor coactivator 1 (SRC1), a coactivator critical for RORγt activity. Correspondingly, the K446 to arginine mutation potentiated Th17 differentiation. We also showed that ubiquitin-specific protease (USP)15 interacted with RORγt, removed ubiquitin from K446, and stimulated RORγt activity by enhancing coactivator SRC1 recruitment. Knockdown of USP15 or expression of inactive USP15 impaired Th17 differentiation, suggesting a positive role for USP15-mediated deubiquitination of RORγt in Th17 differentiation. Therefore, ubiquitination of K446 limits RORγt-mediated Th17 differentiation by inhibiting the recruitment of coactivator SRC1. Our study will inform the development of treatments that target RORγt ubiquitination pathways to limit Th17-mediated autoimmunity.
Cortoic acids: explorations at the frontier of corticosteroid metabolism.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the course of corticosteroid metabolism. The metabolism of the corticosteroids in man to inactive end products is generally oriented toward the formation of water-soluble substances that are easily excreted in the urine. This is accomplished by a sequence of reductive steps. In this way the extant relatively nonpolar carbonyl groups are converted to the more water-soluble hydroxyl groups. Additional hydroxyl groups introduced in the ring further increase the hydrophilicity. These reactions take place in largest measure in the liver, although metabolic transformations occur, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in other body tissues. Patients with breast cancer and prostate cancer can also show acid excretion levels that are higher than normal. Among the acid steroid metabolites—other than the cortoic acids that can contribute to the catabolite pool—are the etienic acids and the keto acids. The etienic acids are insignificant products of cortisol metabolism, but may be important end products of the metabolism of other steroids, and the keto acids remain an unknown quantity. The chapter highlights the biosynthesis of cortoic acids and hexahydrometabolites from cortisol and cortisone and illustrates the role of isosteroids and pyridine nucleotides in determining the proportions of neutral and acidic metabolites that are made and excreted.
Phasic inhibition as a mechanism for generation of rapid respiratory rhythms.

Central neural networks operate continuously throughout life to control respiration, yet mechanisms regulating ventilatory frequency are poorly understood. Inspiration is generated by the pre-Botzinger complex of the ventrolateral medulla, where it is thought that excitation increases inspiratory frequency and inhibition causes apnea. To test this model, we used an in vitro optogenetic approach to stimulate select populations of hindbrain neurons and characterize how they modulate frequency. Unexpectedly, we found that inhibition was required for increases in frequency caused by stimulation of Phox2b-lineage, putative CO2-chemosensitive neurons. As a mechanistic explanation for inhibition-dependent increases in frequency, we found that phasic stimulation of inhibitory neurons can increase inspiratory frequency via postinhibitory rebound. We present evidence that Phox2b-mediated increases in frequency are caused by rebound excitation following an inhibitory synaptic volley relayed by expiration. Thus, although it is widely thought that inhibition between inspiration and expiration simply prevents activity in the antagonistic phase, we instead propose a model whereby inhibitory coupling via postinhibitory rebound excitation actually generates fast modes of inspiration.
PACAP/Receptor System in Urinary Bladder Dysfunction and Pelvic Pain Following Urinary Bladder Inflammation or Stress

Complex organization of CNS and PNS pathways is necessary for the coordinated and reciprocal functions of the urinary bladder, urethra and urethral sphincters. Injury, inflammation, psychogenic stress or diseases that affect these nerve pathways and target organs can produce lower urinary tract (LUT) dysfunction. Numerous neuropeptide/receptor systems are expressed in the neural pathways of the LUT and non-neural components of the LUT (e.g., urothelium) also express peptides. One such neuropeptide receptor system, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP; Adcyap1) and its cognate receptor, PAC1 (Adcyap1r1), have tissue-specific distributions in the LUT. Mice with a genetic deletion of PACAP exhibit bladder dysfunction and altered somatic sensation. PACAP and associated receptors are expressed in the LUT and exhibit neuroplastic changes with neural injury, inflammation, and diseases of the LUT as well as psychogenic stress. Blockade of the PACAP/PAC1 receptor system reduces voiding frequency in preclinical animal models and transgenic mouse models that mirror some clinical symptoms of bladder dysfunction. A change in the balance of the expression and resulting function of the PACAP/receptor system in CNS and PNS bladder reflex pathways may underlie LUT dysfunction including symptoms of urinary urgency, increased voiding frequency, and visceral pain. The PACAP/receptor system in micturition pathways may represent a potential target for therapeutic intervention to reduce LUT dysfunction.
Coordinating Meaning: Common Knowledge and Coordination in Speaker Meaning

When is an indirect report of what a speaker meant correct? The question arises in the law. The Contract Law case of Spaulding v. Morse is a good example. Following their 1932 divorce, George Morse and Ruth Morse entered into a trust agreement in 1937 for the support of their minor son Richard. In that agreement, George promised to “pay to [Spaulding as] trustee in trust for his said minor son Richard the sum of twelve hundred dollars ($1,200) per year, payable in equal monthly installments on the first day of each month until the entrance of Richard D. Morse into some college, university or higher institution of learning beyond the completion of the high school grades, and thereupon, instead of said payments, amounting to twelve hundred dollars ($ 1,200) yearly, he shall and will then pay to the trustee payments in the sum of twenty-two hundred dollars ($ 2,200) per year for a period of said higher education but not more than four years.” Richard graduated from high school on February 5, 1946 and, in the post-WWII continuation of the draft, was inducted into the army the following day. The question in the case is whether George, by the words of the trust agreement, meant that he would pay $1,200 per year for Richard’s support while he was in the army. Is that a correct indirect report of what George meant?
Small Bowel and Mesentery

Benign and malignant tumors of the jejunoileum are rare (Turner and Bass). Despite its length and large absorptive mucosal stroma (more than 90% of the mucosal surface area of the gastrointestinal tract), only 5% of all gastrointestinal neoplasms (Evers) and 1–2% of all gastrointestinal malignancies develop in the small bowel and mesentery (Whang et al.). However, approximately two-third of these neoplasms are malignant (Rustgi). An annual estimate of 5,100 cases of small intestine cancer, with 1,340 deaths, was issued for the United States in 2006 by the American Cancer Society (Gore et al.).
1-O-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine: a novel source of arachidonic acid in neutrophils stimulated by the calcium ionophore A23187.

Rabbit peritoneal neutrophils incorporated [14C]arachidonic acid into seven molecular species of choline-containing phosphoglycerides. These 2-[14C]arachidonoyl species differed with respect to the alkyl ether or acyl residue bound at the sn-1 position; four of the seven were ether-linked. Stimulation with calcium ionophore A23187 induced a proportionate release of arachidonate from all seven molecular species: 40% of the released arachidonate came from alkyl ether species. Thus, 1-O-alkyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (GPC) is a significant source of metabolizable arachidonic acid. Since 1-O-alkyl-2-lyso-GPC is the metabolic precussor of platelet activating factor, these results further interrelate pathways forming arachidonate metabolites and platelet activating factor; they also supply a rationale for the observation that both classes of stimuli form concomitantly during cell activation.
The influence of cutaneous tissue afferents on masticatory pain-pressure thresholds.

Pain-pressure thresholds are routinely used in orofacial pain research to record tenderness in masticatory muscles. This method is employed to stimulate deep tissue afferents, which are thought to be at least partially responsible for pain in temporomandibular disorders. Like other psychophysical measurements, however, this technique must stimulate cutaneous tissues before stimulating deeper tissues. This study examined 39 asymptomatic volunteers to quantify the effect of cutaneous sensory afferents on pain-pressure thresholds. In a randomized, double-blind fashion, pain-pressure thresholds were recorded at four facial sites before and after subjects received intradermal local anesthetic or a dry needle stick. Pain-pressure thresholds were significantly elevated after local anesthetic (P < .0001), suggesting that cutaneous tissues contribute significantly to the pain-pressure threshold. The authors discuss potentially important roles of cutaneous tissues in the assessment of deeper tissues and offer two theories of how the skin may be an important link in the assessment of temporomandibular disorders.
LAND USE, POLITICAL COMPLEXITY, AND URBANISM IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA

Debates about the development of political complexity and cities are typically focused on material cultural correlates and situated within the wider context of the emergence of states. Conventionally, state emergence is linked to agricultural surpluses and a new phase of agricultural intensification. However, this approach remains fundamentally reliant on the preservation of an appropriate and diverse suite of material cultural correlates. For mainland Southeast Asia, archaeological correlates of early political complexity are comparatively impoverished and are dominated by evidence from disparate burial contexts and architecture. In this paper, we employ an alternative approach based on a case study from north central Thailand that uses paleoenvironmental evidence of land use. These data are then related to historical urban development in the region. We suggest that large-scale patterns of agricultural expansion relate directly to increases in political complexity. Our results demonstrate that the long-term development of large-scale agricultural landscapes in this region predates the earliest evidence of monumental cities in central Thailand. We conclude that significant progress in better understanding the emergence of complex societies, both in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, is unlikely to be possible without more systematic integration of archaeological and paleoenvironmental approaches.
Reconstitution of Membrane Transport Functions

At the very outset of this survey of membrane transport reconstitution, it is fitting to remind the reader that reconstitution is not a technique, nor is it new. Rather it is a basic approach to biological science, and it has been used from the very beginnings of biochemistry. Its prime assumption is that the whole of a system is, if not the sum, the well-constructed integral of its parts. This approach has led to the reconstruction of many integrated systems from their individual parts: of glycolysis and many pathways catalyzed by soluble multienzyme systems, of gene transcription and protein synthesis, and of the mechanisms controlling muscle contraction, to mention a few.
Parameter Estimation in Differential Equations: Model Identification

Here is a problem that is fairly typical of those studied in the early weeks of an elementary differential equations course: Groundwater, containing pollutants in a concentration of 5%, seeps at a rate of 2 gallons per hour into a 1,000 gallon cistern and the wellmixed water is drawn off at the same rate. If the initial concentration of pollutants in the cistern is 1%, what is the concentration of pollutants after five days?
Sickle Cell Nephropathy in the Pediatric Population

Background Compared to the past, patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) currently live longer due to improvements in diagnosis and comprehensive care. Due to these advances, long-term chronic complications pose a greater challenge in the management of patients with SCD. In particular, sickle cell nephropathy (SCN) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality across all age groups. Furthermore, SCN is an understudied condition with relatively few symptoms and therefore requires close surveillance. In this review, we sought to explore the epidemiology, natural history, and treatment options for SCN with an emphasis on the pediatric population. Summary SCN invariably begins in childhood with evidence of structural changes detected as early as infancy. These indolent changes can progress undetected to advanced chronic kidney disease by late adolescence or early adulthood. The risk factors for progression are not well defined, but significant albuminuria (which is also the most common presentation in childhood) is a key factor in progression. One of the main challenges in understanding SCN in children is the poor correlation between estimated and measured glomerular filtration rates. Another challenge is the lack of large-scale longitudinal studies that track the clinical outcomes of pediatric patients over time. Several studies aim to identify early biomarkers of SCN in children, as albuminuria presents only following significant chronic damage. The utility of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and hydroxyurea in treating albuminuria is addressed here as well as novel treatments that may be of benefit.
Post-identification Feedback to Eyewitnesses: Implications for System Variable Reform

Eyewitness memory can be distorted by simple comments received after an identification decision is made. When these comments suggest that the identification decision was correct, they inflate witnesses’ recollections of how confident they were, how good their view was, and other testimony-relevant judgments. This post-identification feedback effect is a robust phenomenon with significant implications for judging the reliability of eyewitness evidence. For example, research showing particularly powerful effects of feedback on witnesses who have made mistaken decisions presents a significant risk to wrongly identified people. In the current chapter, we begin with an overview of 20 years of research on the feedback effect. Next, we analyze how feedback research has factored into two recent state supreme court decisions and a U.S. Supreme Court decision. After reviewing the court decisions, we discuss the potential for feedback research to both strengthen and refine system variable reforms as outlined in the 2017 Department of Justice memorandum on eyewitness identification procedures. Finally, we present future research suggestions including the imperative to study how feedback might emerge in new ways (e.g., through witnesses’ own “investigations” using social media).
Genetic manipulation of sex ratio in mammals: the Reaper comes for Mickey.

In most animals, sexual reproduction results in a 1:1 ratio of females to males. For several sectors of agriculture, for example, milk or egg production, only a single sex is needed. Biasing the sex ratio so that only offspring of the desired sex are produced has the potential to increase breeding efficiency. In this issue of EMBO Reports, Yosef et al [1] demonstrate a genetic approach to bias the sex ratio in mice by specifically disrupting essential genes in male embryos. Their approach is an important first step toward generating sex-ratio biasing applications for agriculture.
Measures and Rewiring

Examining the effectiveness of control in networked systems is a thriving research area. If the semi-autonomous agents’ interaction dynamics are consensus-based, we dub this subclass as semi-autonomous consensus, which is the focus of the chapter. Within such a subclass, we consider the dynamics of networked agents in the context of performance (friendly influence) and security (unfriendly influence). Our approach to appraise a semi-autonomous consensus network is to expose the network to fundamental test signals, namely white noise and an impulse, and use the resultant system response to quantify network performance and security. Traditionally, input–output properties are varied by altering the dynamics of the network agents. We instead adopt topological methods for this task, designing five protocols for tree graphs that rewire the network topology, leaving the network agents’ dynamics untouched. In pursuit of this objective, four adaptive protocols are introduced to either increase or decrease the mean tracking and variance damping measures, respectively. Finally, a proposed fifth hybrid protocol is shown to have a guaranteed performance for both measures using a game-theoretic formalism.
Is a Spectrum the Best Metaphor for Leading Advance Care Planning Discussions

Being able to elicit the fundamental values, hopes, and care preferences that drive clinical decision-making for patients with a life-limiting illness is considered a core clinical skill for many s...
Multimodular Analysis of Angiogenic Biomarkers in the Primary Treatment of Multiple Myeloma: Correlative Studies of the BiRD Trial.

Biomarkers that predict the angiogenic propensity of multiple myeloma and the impact of therapy on angiogenesis remain unknown. Nevertheless, many putative anti-angiogenic agents are currently being evaluated in clinical trials. We describe the results of a multimodular analysis of angiogenic biomarkers including a novel in vitro functional assay, the human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC)-based angiogenic scale (HBAS), to assess the overall angiogenic activity in the plasma of patients with multiple myeloma. Plasma fractionated from the peripheral blood of myeloma patients was added to primary HUVEC and cultured under serum-free conditions for 24 hours. Angiogenic morphology was then examined and scored using a six-point angiogenic scale. Analysis of a cohort of ten consecutive patients with multiple myeloma undergoing the BiRD protocol (Biaxin, Revlimid and dexamethasone) showed that the majority had higher HBAS scores at baseline than age-matched normal subjects. Plasma samples from stage IIIA disease consistently scored higher than those from stage II disease on the functional angiogenic scale (mean score of 2.8 versus 1.0, p + VEGFR2 + endothelial progenitor cells in patients with active disease as compared to normal subjects (2.2-fold increase; p
(Under)Enforcement of Poor Tenants' Rights

Millions of tenants in the United States reside in substandard housing conditions ranging from toxic mold to the absence of heat, running water, or electricity. These conditions constitute blatant violations of law. The failure to maintain housing in habitable condition can violate the warranty of habitability, common law torts, and, in some cases, consumer protection and anti-discrimination statutes. Well-settled doctrine allows for tenants’ private rights of action and government enforcement. Yet the laws remain under-enforced. This Article demonstrates that the reason for the under-enforcement is that the tenants are poor. While the right to safe housing extends to all tenants, poor people are the most likely to get stuck in substandard conditions, and the enforcement of their rights is undermined precisely because of their social position. The Article reveals significant limitations in current approaches to the enforcement of poor people’s rights. The private legal market devalues poor tenants’ cases due to class, race, and gender biases in the governing doctrine. Public actors also fall short: they dis-invest in the agencies charged with enforcing housing standards, and, when agency lawyers do initiate enforcement, tenants do not control the litigation. The Article envisions a new approach to enforcement of housing standards. It identifies specific ways to expand enforcement by market actors, government agencies, and non-profits. Given the relative strengths of the public and private sectors, a combination of the following approaches is likely to be most effective: (1) strengthening support for private enforcement through legislative reform that enhances fee-shifting and aggregation of claims; (2) increasing agency funds and shifting agency culture to promote zealous government enforcement; and (3) appointing counsel for tenants who wish to bring cases or intervene in suits brought by government actors.
Techno-economic analysis of a hydraulic transmission for floating offshore wind turbines

Abstract Mechanical gearboxes have one of the highest failure rates of wind turbine components while being one of the most expensive parts to replace or service. They are easily fatigued and have a low power rating relative to their size and mass. In this article, hydraulic transmissions are proposed as an alternative to mechanical drive trains and their feasibility has been established, particularly for offshore wind turbine applications. Here, we provide an in-depth analysis regarding the techno-economic benefits of replacing the mechanical gearbox with a hydraulic transmission in an offshore system. Our analysis shows that hydraulic transmissions are particularly beneficial for offshore applications: (i) relocating 35.3% of the nacelle mass to the base, thus moving the center of gravity toward the ground level, (ii) diminishing operation and maintenance costs, and (iii) replacing now-redundant power electronics. These three benefits contribute to saving between 3.92 and 18.8% on the Levelized Cost of Electricity for average cost offshore wind turbines.
Assessing heterogeneity and power in replications of psychological experiments

In this study, we reanalyze recent empirical research on replication from a meta-analytic perspective. We argue that there are different ways to define "replication failure," and that analyses can focus on exploring variation among replication studies or assess whether their results contradict the findings of the original study. We apply this framework to a set of psychological findings that have been replicated and assess the sensitivity of these analyses. We find that tests for replication that involve only a single replication study are almost always severely underpowered. Among the 40 findings for which ensembles of multisite direct replications were conducted, we find that between 11 and 17 (28% to 43%) ensembles produced heterogeneous effects, depending on how replication is defined. This heterogeneity could not be completely explained by moderators documented by replication research programs. We also find that these ensembles were not always well-powered to detect potentially meaningful values of heterogeneity. Finally, we identify several discrepancies between the results of original studies and the distribution of effects found by multisite replications but note that these analyses also have low power. We conclude by arguing that efforts to assess replication would benefit from further methodological work on designing replication studies to ensure analyses are sufficiently sensitive. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Advances in X-Ray Spectroscopy of Laser Plasmas

Recent advances in X-ray spectroscopy of laser plasmas are presented in this book to significantly expand the scope of the practical applications, allowing study of the development of Langmuir waves, ion acoustic waves, transverse electromagnetic waves, parametric decay instabilities, as well as assisting in obtaining information on the rates of charge exchange between multicharged ions.
Do Upper Limb Loss and Prosthesis Use Affect Lower Limb Gait Dynamics

Introduction Intentional interruption of upper and lower limb coordination of able-bodied subjects alters their gait biomechanics. However, the effect of upper-limb loss (ULL) on lower-limb gait biomechanics is not fully understood. The aim of this secondary study was to perform a follow-up analysis of a previous dataset to characterize the spatiotemporal parameters and lower-limb kinematics and kinetics of gait for persons with ULL when wearing and not wearing an upper limb prosthesis (ULP). We were particularly interested in quantifying the effects of matching the mass and inertia of the prosthetic limb to the sound limb. Materials and Methods Ten persons with unilateral ULL walked at a self-selected speed under three randomly presented conditions: 1) not wearing a prosthesis, 2) wearing their customary prosthesis, and 3) wearing a mock prosthesis that can be adjusted to match the length, mass, and inertial properties of each subject's sound limb. Walkway-embedded force plates and a 12-camera digital motion capture system recorded ground reaction forces (GRFs) and retroreflective marker position data, respectively. Average spatiotemporal (walking speed, cadence, stance time, swing time, step length, double support time), lower-limb kinematic (joint angles), and lower-limb kinetic (ground forces, joint moments and powers) data were processed and their statistical significance were analyzed. Result Walking speed for each condition was nearly equivalent (1.20±0.01 m/s) and differences between condition were non-significant (p=0.769). The interaction effect (side× prosthesis) was significant for peak hip extension (p=0.01) and second peak (propulsive) vertical GRF (p=0.028), but separate follow-up analyses of both main effects were not significant (p≥0.099). All other main effect comparisons were not significant (p≥0.102). Conclusions Although the sample cohort was small and heterogeneous, the results of this study suggest that persons with unilateral ULL did not display significant limb side asymmetry in lower-limb gait spatiotemporal, kinetic, and kinematic parameters, regardless of ULP use.
Porous Ladder Polymer Networks

Summary Porous ladder polymer networks (ladder PPNs) represent an emerging class of porous organic materials constituted by crosslinked, fully fused ladder-type backbones. Their unique structural characteristic allows for the integration of the properties of porous organic polymers and ladder polymers in a synergistic manner, affording materials featuring high porosity, structural diversity, backbone rigidity, extended π-conjugation, extraordinary stability, etc. These materials with various topologies can be bottom-up synthesized by either direct ring-fusing crosslinking or stepwise crosslinking followed by ladderization. These ladder PPNs exhibit the anticipated ultrahigh stability, electrical conductivity, functional rigid pores, or entropically favorable gas adsorption. The synergistic combination of these functions promises the great potential of ladder PPNs in a wide range of future applications, including energy storage, catalysis, and sensing. To achieve these goals, it is critical to address the fundamental and practical challenges associated with the narrow scope of topologies, structural defects, synthetic scalability, and processability of ladder PPNs.
Representing string computations as graphs for classifying malware

Android applications rely heavily on strings for sensitive operations like reflection, access to system resources, URL connections, database access, among others. Thus, insight into application behavior can be gained through not only an analysis of what strings an application creates but also the structure of the computation used to create theses strings, and in what manner are these strings used. In this paper we introduce a static analysis of Android applications to discover strings, how they are created, and their usage. The output of our static analysis contains all of this information in the form of a graph which we call a string computation. We leverage the results to classify individual application behavior with respect to malicious or benign intent. Unlike previous work that has focused only on extraction of string values, our approach leverages the structure of the computation used to generate string values as features to perform classification of Android applications. That is, we use none of the static analysis computed string values, rather using only the graph structures of created strings to do classification of an arbitrary Android application as malware or benign. Our results show that leveraging string computation structures as features can yield precision and recall rates as high as 97% on modern malware. We also provide baseline results against other malware detection tools and techniques to classify the same corpus of applications.
High-Capacity Li+ Storage through Multielectron Redox in the Fast-Charging Wadsley–Roth Phase (W0.2V0.8)3O7

The Wadsley–Roth phase (W0.2V0.8)3O7, crystallizing in a structure obtained through crystallographic shear of 3 × 3 × ∞ ReO3 blocks, is a somewhat rare exemplar for this class of compounds in that ...
Factors Associated With Parental Participation in Family-Centered Rounds

OBJECTIVES: Although families positively perceive family-centered rounds (FCR), factors associated with engagement have been examined in few studies. Our objective for this study was to test the hypothesis that inviting the parent to speak and nurse presence are associated with parent engagement during FCR. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study with English-speaking parents (N = 199) of inpatients on the pediatric hospital medicine service at an academic medical center. We used a standardized checklist to record outcomes of engagement (number of questions asked and participation occurrences), predictor variables (team invited parent to speak, nurse presence), and other encounter-related variables. Parents were surveyed to assess parent and child characteristics and experiences during FCR. We examined parent, child, and encounter characteristic associations with the above outcomes using bivariate analyses and (for those associated in bivariate analyses) Poisson regressions. RESULTS: Inviting the parent to speak was independently associated with the number of questions asked (incident rate ratio [IRR] 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–1.7). Trusting the medical team was inversely associated with questions asked (IRR 0.8; 95% CI 0.6–0.97). Factors associated with total participation included invitation for the parent to speak (IRR 1.5; 95% CI 1.3–1.6), nurse presence (IRR 1.3; 95% CI 1.1–1.5), white race (IRR 1.2; 95% CI 1.1–1.4), clerkship student presentation (IRR 1.2; 95% CI 1.03–1.3), and parent inclusion in rounding arrangement (IRR 1.5; 95% CI 1.05–2). CONCLUSIONS: Parents present during FCR are more engaged when invited to speak. Nurse presence was associated with total parent participation. Future studies to inform interventions to optimize engagement are warranted.
Assessing School-Based Oral Health Interprofessionalism through Public School Nurse Perceptions

INTRODUCTION The need for oral health resources in the school setting is an integral part of the overall health of students. Studies have shown that not only do school nurses encounter dental emergencies in students, but they encounter children in pain more frequently than not due to oral cavity issues. Therefore, this study sought to examine the current knowledge and accessibility of oral health resources for nurses serving school-aged children. METHODS Guided by an ecological framework, this study surveyed South Carolina school nurses (n= 42) about their access to oral health resources, knowledge of their students’ dental health status and unmet needs, and challenges associated with receiving dental care. RESULTS Two-thirds of school nurses saw urgent dental cases at least once a semester. Three quarters of the school nurses made referrals to a dentist at least once a semester. Half of the school nurses offered an annual dental screening. As a part of continuing dental care, referral completion for school-aged children was a challenge due to social determinants. DISCUSSION This study directly aligns with the forthcoming 2020 Surgeon General Report on Oral Health, which includes a section on ‘Oral Health Integration, Workforce and Practice’. This study reveals how school nurses are on the forefront of addressing children’s health needs and their ability to contribute to the integrated oral healthcare workforce. CONCLUSION Overall, a need exists to continue to elevate school nurses as interprofessional oral health practice champions to improve the oral health of children in South Carolina public schools.
A FULLY AUTOMATED AND FAST APPROACH FOR CANOPY COVER ESTIMATION USING SUPER HIGH-RESOLUTION REMOTE SENSING IMAGERY

Abstract. Canopy cover is a key agronomic variable for understanding plant growth and crop development status. Estimation of canopy cover rapidly and accurately through a fully automated manner is significant with respect to high throughput plant phenotyping. In this work, we propose a simple, robust and fully automated approach, namely a rule-based method, that leverages the unique spectral pattern of green vegetation at visible (VIS) and near-infrared red (NIR) spectra regions to distinguish the green vegetation from background (i.e., soil, plant residue, non-photosynthetic vegetation leaves etc.), and then derive canopy cover. The proposed method was applied to high-resolution hyperspectral and multispectral imagery collected from gantry-based scanner and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms to estimate canopy cover. Additionally, machine learning methods, i.e., Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) were also employed as bench mark methods. The results show that: the rule-based method demonstrated promising classification accuracies that are comparable to SVM and RF for both hyperspectral and multispectral datasets. Although the rule-based method is more sensitive to mixed pixels and shaded canopy region, which potentially resulted in classification errors and underestimation of canopy cover in some cases; it showed better performance to detect smaller leaves than SVM and RF. Most importantly, the rule-based method substantially outperformed machine learning methods with respect to processing speed, indicating its greater potential for high-throughput plant phenotyping applications.
Giving a Seminar: Suggestions for Graduate Students

Expert public speakers may not be able to tell a person why they succeed, and eager advisers may not know what they’re talking about (a caveat to the readers of this essay). What follows is one person’s opinion, not the final answer. It’s a collection of ideas to consider while developing a style of one's own. The opinions presented are strongly held but change regularly. This is intended for graduate students, but all are welcome. Giving a seminar (like writing and teaching) is a peripheral area of the scientific endeavor that requires work and dedication. People tend to remember the main impact of whatever happens at a seminar. This makes public speaking a potentially dangerous way to communicate. The suggestions for seminar presentation are based on some philosophical considerations. These principles may be helpful even if one disregard the rest of the advice (to follow) and implement them in the own way. The magnitude of the pain inflicted by an incompetent seminar-giver can be estimated by considering the product of the time spent (usually an hour) times the size of the audience. The most entertaining part of attending a seminar is having a chance to think about something new—to try out the own brain on an unfamiliar puzzle or set of questions. The philosophy section of the chapter describes the audience as a bunch of apprehensive travelers who took on the risk of a journey.
Evaluation of biomedical informatics innovations and their impact on public health.

This issue of Methods of Information in Medicine contains four feature articles that are focused on the theme of evaluation. Evaluation approaches are increasingly essential in the assessment of determining the potential impact of contemporary informatics innovations. The featured articles offer practical perspectives to determining the impact of advancements. Internationally, there are significant advances being made across biomedical informatics and its related sub-disciplines. As with any scientific discipline, it is important for practitioners to be able to relate the potential importance of findings. To this end, it is especially important for biomedical informaticians to convey, in a quantifiable and comparable form, the significance of the informatics findings –not only to peers but also to those across the biomedical research spectrum. As such, the feature articles in this issue describe the evaluation of core infrastructure and fundamental informatics innovations as well as evaluation of informatics-based resources that are a core aspect of public health initiatives.
Tidally driven groundwater flow and solute exchange in a marsh: Numerical simulations

[1] Tidal fluctuations drive groundwater flow in salt marsh sediments. This flow could cause significant chemical exchange across the sediment-water interface and could affect marsh ecology. Numerical models of a generalized tidal creek and marsh were constructed to calculate flow patterns and solute exchange between the marsh and creek. The governing equation for saturated/unsaturated flow was modified to account for tide-related changes in total stress. Groundwater flow occurred primarily in the creek bank, even when the marsh platform was inundated at high tide. For marsh sediments with a hydraulic conductivity of 10−4 m s−1, groundwater ages in simulations lasting 60 days were on the order of days near the creek bank and increased to 50–60 days with distance into the marsh. The volume of water that discharged between high and low tide was 0.22–0.31 m3 per meter length of channel, which, for a creek drainage density of 0.012 m−1, corresponds to 10–14 L m−2 d−1. Sediment permeability and capillarity were important controls on flow and groundwater age in the marsh. Sediment compressibility affected groundwater age for compressible sediments representative of mud but not for sediments with lower compressibilities representative of sand. Simulations were relatively insensitive to dispersivity. A comparison of simulation results with other estimates of groundwater exchange from the North Inlet, South Carolina, suggest that tides could drive observed exchange there only if the Pleistocene sands underlying muddy marsh sediments outcrop within the tidal range.
On the Impacts of Economic Freedom on International Trade Flows: Asymmetries and Freedom Components

This paper employs a gravity equation to estimate the effects of economic freedom on U.S. consumer exports and imports for 131 countries over the years 2000 - 2005. Using the newly updated Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World Index, we find that increased economic freedom in the rest of the world would increase the United States' overall trade volume. We also consider whether imports and exports are affected asymmetrically with respect to income, transaction costs, and economic freedom. We find considerable differences in how these variables affect imports and exports of consumer goods. Our results also give some insight into how economic freedom might affect the U.S. trade position.
Purification and properties of pancreatic juice cholesterol esterase.

Rat pancreatic juice cholesterol ester hydrolase (EC 3.1.1.13) has been purified 600-fold by sequential precipitation with 35% acetone, diethylaminoethyl cellulose chromatography, and hydroxylapatite chromatography. The purified enzyme gives a single band on polyacrylamide disc electrophoresis and will not hydrolyze methyl butyrate, triolein, or secondary alcohol esters. Data are presented that strongly suggest that the cholesterol ester-synthesizing and -hydrolyzing activities in pancreatic juice are a function of the same enzyme. The pH optima are 6.2 for synthesis and pH 6.6 for hydrolysis of cholesterol esters. Using an equimolar mixture of fatty acids, the relative rates of cholesterol ester formation were oleate, 100; linoleate, 71; palmitate, 56; stearate, 43; and laurate, 11. For cholesterol ester hydrolysis, with a micellar substrate system, the rates were oleate, 100; palmitate, 107; stearate, 104; and linoleate, 55. Data are also presented on the effects of ions and inhibitors, and on the cofactor function of bile salts in the enzymatic reaction.
Regulatory compliant oblivious RAM

We introduce WORM-ORAM, a first mechanism that combines Oblivious RAM (ORAM) access privacy and data confidentiality with Write Once Read Many (WORM) regulatory data retention guarantees. Clients can outsource their database to a server with full confidentiality and data access privacy, and, for data retention, the server ensures client access WORM semantics. In general simple confidentiality and WORM assurances are easily achievable e.g., via an encrypted outsourced data repository with server-enforced read-only access to existing records (albeit encrypted). However, this becomes hard when also access privacy is to be ensured - when client access patterns are necessarily hidden and the server cannot enforce access control directly.WORM-ORAM overcomes this by deploying a set of zero-knowledge proofs to convince the server that all stages of the protocol are WORM-compliant.