cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Critical Zone Research and Observatories: Current Status and Future Perspectives

The Critical Zone (CZ) is the thin layer of the Earth’s terrestrial surface and near-surface environment that ranges from the top of the vegetation canopy to the bottom of the weathering zone and plays fundamental roles in sustaining life and humanity. The past few years have seen a number of Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs) being developed following the first CZOs established in the United States in 2007. This update summarizes major research findings in CZ science achieved in the past 5 yr or so (2011–2016), especially those obtained from recognized CZOs. A conceptual framework of “deep” science—deep time, deep depth, and deep coupling—is used to synthesize recent CZ studies across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. This “deep” science concept emphasizes the integration of Earth surface processes that underlies the contributions of CZ science to terrestrial environmental research. We identify some main knowledge gaps and major opportunities to advance the frontiers of CZ science. We advocate that the CZ scientific community work toward a global network of CZOs to link sites, people, ideas, data, models, and tools. We hope that this update can stimulate continuous scientific advancement and practical applications of CZ science worldwide.
Standards and Guidelines for the Interpretation and Reporting of Sequence Variants in Cancer: A Joint Consensus Recommendation of the Association for Molecular Pathology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and College of American Pathologists

Widespread clinical laboratory implementation of next-generation sequencing–based cancer testing has highlighted the importance and potential benefits of standardizing the interpretation and reporting of molecular results among laboratories. A multidisciplinary working group tasked to assess the current status of next-generation sequencing–based cancer testing and establish standardized consensus classification, annotation, interpretation, and reporting conventions for somatic sequence variants was convened by the Association for Molecular Pathology with liaison representation from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and College of American Pathologists. On the basis of the results of professional surveys, literature review, and the Working Group's subject matter expert consensus, a four-tiered system to categorize somatic sequence variations based on their clinical significances is proposed: tier I, variants with strong clinical significance; tier II, variants with potential clinical significance; tier III, variants of unknown clinical significance; and tier IV, variants deemed benign or likely benign. Cancer genomics is a rapidly evolving field; therefore, the clinical significance of any variant in therapy, diagnosis, or prognosis should be reevaluated on an ongoing basis. Reporting of genomic variants should follow standard nomenclature, with testing method and limitations clearly described. Clinical recommendations should be concise and correlate with histological and clinical findings.
Sphingolipids and Lipoproteins in Health and Metabolic Disorders

Sphingolipids are structurally and functionally diverse molecules with significant physiologic functions and are found associated with cellular membranes and plasma lipoproteins. The cellular and plasma concentrations of sphingolipids are altered in several metabolic disorders and may serve as prognostic and diagnostic markers. Here we discuss various sphingolipid transport mechanisms and highlight how changes in cellular and plasma sphingolipid levels contribute to cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Understanding of the mechanisms involved in intracellular transport, secretion, and extracellular transport may provide novel information that might be amenable to therapeutic targeting for the treatment of various metabolic disorders.
Congenital cytomegalovirus infection: epidemiology and treatment.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital virus infection worldwide, occurring in approximately 1% of all live borns with a prevalence ranging from 0.2% to 2.2% (Stagno et al., 1983). Congenital infection is the consequence of transplacental transfer of virus from mother to fetus. Maternal infection can either be primary or recurrent. Maternal primary infection usually results from contact with a young child in the day care environment (Demmler, 1994). Women working at day care centers, nursery schools, or preschools have an increased risk for acquisition of CMV, if seronegative (Adler, 1989). In such circumstances, the rate of acquisition can be 8%–20% as compared to 3%–5% for the general population (Pass et al., 1986, 1990; Adler, 1989; Murph et al., 1991; Alder et al., 1996). In adolescents and young adults, persistent excretion of CMV in saliva, cervical secretions, and semen incriminates sexual transmission as a mode of infection. Demographic factors, including urban residence, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, influence the rate of acquisition of CMV. For middle and upper socioeconomic individuals, adults have seropositivity rate of 40%–60% as compared to those of lower socioeconomic status where seropositivity varies between 80%–100%. Similarly, higher rates of CMV seropositivity exist in developing countries (Griffiths and Baboonian, 1984; Ashraf et al., 1985; Wang and Evans, 1986; Yow et al., 1988; Demmler, 1994; Troendle-Atkins et al., 1994).
Network Mendelian Randomization Study Design to Assess Factors Mediating the Causal Link Between Telomere Length and Heart Disease.

Mendelian randomization study designs represent new powerful tools available to researchers that enable causal inferences to be made about the effects of risk factors in health and disease outcomes in the context of a prospective observational study.1–4 These study designs involve estimating the association between a genetically modifiable risk factor and health and disease outcomes.1,2 If individuals with genetically lower or higher levels of a risk factor of interest are at greater or lesser risk of an outcome, then it can be inferred that the risk factor has a causal relationship to that outcome.2–4 Provided that a chosen genetic variant is strongly associated with the risk factor of interest, is not associated with other factors that might affect the risk factor, and imparts its influence on a given outcome exclusively through its link to the risk factor, these causal inferences are considered to be robust.2,3 Mendelian randomization study designs have become increasingly popular among epidemiologists in recent years as recently completed genome-wide association and genome sequencing studies have substantially increased our knowledge of the genetic factors associated with health and disease.1 Using Mendelian randomization techniques allows researchers to conduct studies that can make the kind of causal inferences that are typically only attainable from randomized controlled trials, thus avoiding much of expense, difficulty, and ethical issues that often arise with such trials.1,2,4 Furthermore, as demonstrated in an exciting recent publication in Circulation Research , titled Exploring the Causal Pathway from Telomere Length to Coronary Heart Disease: A Network Mendelian Randomization Study by Zhan et al,5 these study designs allow assessment of the influence of risk factors that are impossible to manipulate in humans, like telomere length, on disease outcomes and the …
Evaluation of Simulated Ventilation Techniques With the Upright and Conventional Self-Inflating Neonatal Resuscitators.

BACKGROUND: The study assessed the impact of simulated ventilation techniques using upright and conventional self-inflating neonatal resuscitators on delivered tidal volume (VT) and pressure. METHODS: We analyzed videos of participants ventilating a manikin using an upright (upright, n = 33) and a conventional resuscitator (conventional, n = 32) under normal and low lung compliance. Mask hold, number of fingers squeezing the bag, and degree of bag squeeze were compared with VT and peak inspiratory pressure (PIP). RESULTS: VT and PIP values were higher when using the upright resuscitator than when using the conventional resuscitator. With low compliance, differences in VT were insignificant except with the use of the OK/C hold, (upright, 29.6 ± 4.0 mL, vs conventional, 24.8 ± 6.0 mL, P = .02). PIP was significantly higher when using the upright resuscitator with the OK hold (upright, 36.3 ± 4.4 mL, vs conventional, 30.3 ± 6.6 mL, P = .009) and when the bag was squeezed by more than half (upright, 33.8 ± 16.3 mL, vs conventional, 29.3 ± 9.5 mL, P = .046). With normal compliance, VT was high with both resuscitators, being significantly higher when using the upright resuscitator with the OK hold (upright, 64.3 ± 9.5 mL, vs conventional, 45.8 ± 9.4 mL; P CONCLUSIONS: Improved mask design, larger bag volume, and upright orientation of the upright resuscitator likely contributed to higher VT and PIP. However, high VT was observed with both resuscitators, possibly due to excessive squeezing of the bag, especially during low compliance. Thus, the design of the resuscitator and manner in which the device is utilized can both significantly influence the VT and PIP attained.
Chemoenzymatic synthesis of Neu5Ac9NAc-containing α2-3- and α2-6-linked sialosides and their use for sialidase substrate specificity studies.

O-Acetylation of sialic acid (Sia) modulates its recognition by sialic acid-binding proteins and plays an important role in biological and pathological processes. 9-O-Acetylation is the most common modification of sialic acid in human. However, study of O-acetylated sialoglycans is hampered due to the instability of O-acetyl group towards pH changes and sensitivity to esterases. Our previous studies demonstrated a chemical biology method to this problem by replacing the oxygen atom in the C9 ester group of sialic acid by a nitrogen to form an amide. Here, we synthesized a library of sixteen new 9-acetamido-9-deoxy-N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac9NAc)-containing α2-3- and α2-6-linked sialosides with various underlying glycans using efficient one-pot three-enzyme (OP3E) sialylation systems. Neu5Ac9NAc-containing compounds with a para-nitrophenol aglycon have been used together with their 9-O-acetyl analogs in microtiter plate-based high-throughput substrate specificity studies of nine different sialidases including those from humans and bacteria. In general, similar to 9-O-acetylation, 9-N-acetyl modification of sialic acid in the substrates lowers sialic acid-cleavage activity of most sialidases. In most cases, Neu5Ac9NAc is a good analog of 9-O-acetyl sialic acid. However, exceptions do exist. For example, 9-N- and 9-O-acetyl modifications have different effects on the sialosides cleave efficiencies of a commercially available C. perfringens sialidase as well as recombinant Streptococcus pneumoniae sialidase SpNanC and Bifidobacterium infantis sialidase BiNanH2. The mechanism for the difference awaits further investigation.
Impaired contextual fear-conditioning in MAM rodent model of schizophrenia

The methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) rodent neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia exhibits aberrant dopamine system activation attributed to hippocampal dysfunction. Context discrimination is a component of numerous behavioral and cognitive functions and relies on intact hippocampal processing. The present study explored context processing behaviors, along with dopamine system activation, during fear learning in the MAM model. Male offspring of dams treated with MAM (20mg/kg, i.p.) or saline on gestational day 17 were used for electrophysiological and behavioral experiments. Animals were tested on the immediate shock fear conditioning paradigm, with either different pre-conditioning contexts or varying amounts of context pre-exposure (0-10 sessions). Amphetamine-induced locomotor activity and dopamine neural activity was measured 1-week after fear conditioning. Saline, but not MAM animals, demonstrated enhanced fear responses following a single context pre-exposure in the conditioning context. One week following fear learning, saline rats with 2 or 7min of context pre-exposure prior to fear conditioning also demonstrated enhanced amphetamine-induced locomotor response relative to MAM animals. Dopamine neuron recordings showed fear learning-induced reductions in spontaneous dopamine neural activity in MAM rats that was further reduced by amphetamine. Apomorphine administration confirmed that reductions in dopamine neuron activity in MAM animals resulted from over excitation, or depolarization block. These data show a behavioral insensitivity to contextual stimuli in MAM rats that coincide with a less dynamic dopamine response after fear learning.
Predicting electricity consumption for commercial and residential buildings using deep recurrent neural networks

Abstract This paper presents a recurrent neural network model to make medium-to-long term predictions, i.e. time horizon of ⩾ 1 week, of electricity consumption profiles in commercial and residential buildings at one-hour resolution. Residential and commercial buildings are responsible for a significant fraction of the overall energy consumption in the U.S. With advances in sensors and smart technologies, there is a need for medium to long-term prediction of electricity consumption in residential and commercial buildings at hourly intervals to support decision making pertaining to operations, demand response strategies, and installation of distributed generation systems. The modeler may have limited access to information about building’s schedules and equipment, making data-driven machine learning models attractive. The energy consumption data that is available may also contain blocks of missing data, making time-series predictions difficult. Thus, the main objectives of this paper are: (a) Develop and optimize novel deep recurrent neural network (RNN) models aimed at medium to long term electric load prediction at one-hour resolution; (b) Analyze the relative performance of the model for different types of electricity consumption patterns; and (c) Use the deep NN to perform imputation on an electricity consumption dataset containing segments of missing values. The proposed models were used to predict hourly electricity consumption for the Public Safety Building in Salt Lake City, Utah, and for aggregated hourly electricity consumption in residential buildings in Austin, Texas. For predicting the commercial building’s load profiles, the proposed RNN sequence-to-sequence models generally correspond to lower relative error when compared with the conventional multi-layered perceptron neural network. For predicting aggregate electricity consumption in residential buildings, the proposed model generally does not provide gains in accuracy compared to the multi-layered perceptron model.
An Expatriate’s First 100 Days: What Went Wrong?:

Instructors teaching undergraduate survey courses in management are faced with a dilemma: How to balance the wide scope of such a course with the desire to cover each topic in sufficient depth to m...
Investigating the Offending Histories of Undocumented Immigrants

This study investigates the association between undocumented immigration and crime among youthful offenders. Using official record and self-reported offending measures collected across seven-waves of data from the longitudinal Crossroads Study, the prevalence and variety of offending are compared for undocumented immigrant, documented immigrant, and US-born groups during the transition into young adulthood. Results suggest that, as compared to documented immigrants and US-born peers, undocumented immigrants report engaging in less crime prior to and following their first arrest. Conversely, official records reflect a marginally higher level of re-arrest among undocumented immigrants, particularly in the months immediately following the first arrest. This divergence in findings warrants focused consideration to disentangle whether the difference is due to differential involvement in crime, differential treatment in the justice system, or a combination of factors. Additional research is needed to test whether the results found in this study generalize to other immigrant groups and contexts.
Total retinal detachments due to retinoblastoma: Outcomes following intra-arterial chemotherapy/ophthalmic artery chemosurgery.

PURPOSE To report on the rate and timing of retinal reattachment and outcomes for retinoblastoma children who have total retinal detachments at presentation to our center and were treated with intra-arterial chemotherapy (ophthalmic artery chemosurgery, OAC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Single-center retrospective review of retinoblastoma patients who presented with total retinal detachments and were subsequently treated with OAC at MSKCC between May 2006 and July 2016. Endpoints were retinal detachment resolution, visual function, ERG amplitude, ocular survival, and patient survival from metastases. RESULTS 87 eyes of 84 retinoblastoma patients were included. Using a survival multistate model, by 36 months of follow-up, there was a 54% cumulative probability of complete retinal reattachment and a 76% probability of partial reattachment. 24% of eyes that completely reattached received only OAC without any prior or adjuvant treatments. Eyes that completely reattached were significantly more likely to have been diagnosed at a younger age (p<0.0001) and to have greater initial ERG values (p = 0.006). At final follow-up, 14% of eyes had gained at least 25 μV of ERG activity, and 8.0% had achieved hand motion vision or better, including one to 20/60. 13% of eyes were enucleated. No patient died from metastatic disease, and only one developed metastases. CONCLUSION OAC can successfully treat previously considered "non-salvageable" retinoblastoma eyes with total retinal detachments, promote retinal reattachment in the majority of eyes, and preserve ocular and patient survival.
SOME PHASE-SEPARATION PHENOMENA IN ISO-DENSITY, TWO-PHASE FLOWS

The understanding and control of phase separation phenomena in two-phase flows can have considerable technological significance. Phenomena observed in a series of experimental studies of two-phase laminar flows of neutrally buoyant rigid particles, and of almost neutrally buoyant deformable biological particles, are presented. The phenomena include the formation of a peripheral particle-free layer in the flow of deformable particles, the formation of a similar layer in the Hele-Shaw flow of rigid particles, the concentration redistribution of flow bifurcation, and, again in a Hele-Shaw flow, the grouping of particles in clusters.
A Simulation Approach to Process Modeling in Information Systems Analysis and Design

Typical modeling techniques for information system analysis and design treat key system requirement parameters as static. In addition, system dynamics reflected in time-path behavior, such as queues and bottlenecks, are not captured in traditional information system process models. A more realistic approach to information system analysis and design, which would allow decision makers to make more informed choices on information system design alternatives, might be to include the dynamic aspects of a system and to model those components for which uncertainty exists in a probabilistic fashion. In this paper we propose a paradigm for integrating conventional process modeling in systems analysis and design with simulation modeling and analysis techniques. Simulation analysis enhances the modeling process by allowing systems analysts to experiment with and analyze alternative system designs. In addition, by including the distributional characteristics and, thus, the variability of key system parameters in the model, sensitivity analysis may be performed and the robustness of alternative system designs can be explored. Our proposed methodology for information system analysis and design is illustrated with an example of an order entry information system.
Sundial: harmonizing concurrency control and caching in a distributed OLTP database management system

Distributed transactions suffer from poor performance due to two major limiting factors. First, distributed transactions suffer from high latency because each of their accesses to remote data incurs a long network delay. Second, this high latency increases the likelihood of contention among distributed transactions, leading to high abort rates and low performance.We present Sundial, an in-memory distributed optimistic concurrency control protocol that addresses these two limitations. First, to reduce the transaction abort rate, Sundial dynamically determines the logical order among transactions at runtime, based on their data access patterns. Sundial achieves this by applying logical leases to each data element, which allows the database to dynamically calculate a transaction's logical commit timestamp. Second, to reduce the overhead of remote data accesses, Sundial allows the database to cache remote data in a server's local main memory and maintains cache coherence. With logical leases, Sundial integrates concurrency control and cache coherence into a simple unified protocol. We evaluate Sundial against state-of-the-art distributed concurrency control protocols. Sundial outperforms the next-best protocol by up to 57% under high contention. Sundial's caching scheme improves performance by up to 4.6× in workloads with high access skew.
Citoyennes sous Tutelle: Le Mouvement féministe “Radical” dans l’Allemagne Wilhelmienne. (Collection ‘Convergences’)

This is the first full-length study of Germany's radical feminists to be published in French. These women—Anite Augspurg, Lida Gustava Heymann, and Minna Cauer, plus Marie Stritt, Lily Braun (for a...
3D Parallel Coordinates for Multidimensional Data Cube Exploration

Visual analytics becomes an important approach for discovering patterns in big data. As visualization struggles from high dimensionality of data, issues like concept hierarchy on each dimension add more difficulty and make visualization a prohibitive task. Data cube offers multi-perspective aggregated views of large data sets and has important applications in business and many other areas. It has high dimensionality, concept hierarchy, vast number of cells, and comes with special exploration operations such as roll-up, drill-down, slicing and dicing. All these issues make data cubes very difficult to visually explore. Most existing approaches visualize a data cube in 2D space and require preprocessing steps. In this paper, we propose a visualization technique for visual analytics of data cubes using parallel coordinates. The proposed technique extends parallel coordinates to a 3D space to reflect concept hierarchy, display cube cells intuitively, and support data cube operations visually and interactively.
Cannabis Prevalence and National Drug Policy in 27 Countries: An Analysis of Adolescent Substance Use

Prior research that assesses the relationship between cannabis policy and prevalence rates has yielded mixed results, perhaps due to the varying rigor of these investigations. Addressing some of these issues in rigor and informed by a rational choice theory (RCT), we hypothesize that those policies on the more punitive end of McDonald and colleagues' classification will be most effective. Examining legislation in 27 countries utilizing the Second International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-2) through hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) models with both individual- and country-level controls, we find little support for these hypotheses. Instead, results from our analysis largely indicate that the variation in country prevalence rates from 2005 to 2007 was not significantly related to cannabis control policy. We comment on possible policy implications for these preliminary results.
Vehicle Restraint Considerations for Commercial Spaceflight

Abstract There are currently no direct regulations and few guidelines regarding restraint design for commercial spaceflight vehicles. Operators designing vehicles intended solely for private commer...
Ependymoma in the Children

Ependymomas are rare tumors of neuroectodermal origin. Pediatric ependymomas, the focus of this chapter, are found primarily intracranially. Two-thirds of these are found infratentorially. Surgical resection remains the foundation of therapy for these tumors, and surgeons have to balance the goals of complete resection with minimizing postoperative neurological deficit given adherence to vital neurologic structures. Radiation is a commonly employed adjuvant therapy and is the standard of care for posterior fossa ependymomas in children. Chemotherapy continues to show little benefit for this disease. A new molecular classification has been recently validated and holds great promise for the accurate diagnosis and management of pediatric ependymoma, with potential for novel therapeutic targets that may improve prognosis in an otherwise difficult to manage tumor.
Why Do CEOs Hold So Much Equity

US CEOs hold a large amount of equity that is not explicitly constrained by ownership guidelines or vesting requirements. Although the average CEO receives a risk premium in his annual pay for holding unconstrained equity, most CEOs hold more equity than is compensated by the risk premium in their pay. We explore reasons for these seemingly voluntary equity holdings. CEOs hold more equity when they are more risk-tolerant, when their equity portfolio has a greater tax burden, and in some cases, when they exhibit greater overconfidence. Excess equity holdings are positively correlated across executives within a firm, potentially indicating the presence of firm-specific monitoring needs. We find no evidence that informed trading explains equity holdings.
Influence of lung injury on early postoperative survival after lung transplantation.

OBJECTIVES To identify the various risk factors for early (90 day) mortality after lung transplantation and to evaluate the relationship between lung injury and postoperative survival. METHODS 152 recipients of single (100) or bilateral (52) lung allografts were evaluated for the presence of postoperative lung injury assessed by a composite four-component lung injury score. Preoperative variables, postoperative course, and mortality were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS There was a high risk of death during the first 90 d after transplantation, followed by a decline in risk during the remainder of the first postoperative year. By univariate analysis, lung injury score (p = 0.0001), chest radiograph score (p = 0.0001), and hypoxemia (PaO2/FIO2) ratio (p = 0.0002) were the most statistically significant risk factors for 90-day mortality. Other parameters such as length of intensive care stay (p = 0.0175), length of intubation (p = 0.0212), and preoperative diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis (p = 0.0123) were also significant risk factors for 90-day mortality. By multivariable analysis, only lung injury score (p = 0.0001) was a statistically significant risk factor for 90-day mortality. The risk of 90-day mortality increased by a factor of 4.4 for each 1 point increment in lung injury score. However, none of the analyzed preoperative or postoperative variables were able to statistically predict lung injury score. CONCLUSIONS Postoperative lung injury is the most important risk factor for early postoperative mortality after lung transplantation.
Prevalence and Characteristics of Shellfish Allergy in the Pediatric Population of the United States.

Background Shellfish allergy (SA) is one of the most common food allergies causing anaphylaxis in adults and children. There are limited data showing the prevalence of SA in US children. Objective To determine the prevalence and reaction characteristics of SA in the US pediatric population. Methods A cross-sectional food allergy prevalence survey was administered via phone and the Web by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago from 2015 to 2016. Point prevalence SA estimates, complex survey weighted proportions, and 95% CIs were determined. Relative proportions of demographic characteristics were compared using weighted Pearson χ2 statistics. Results The prevalence of SA was 1.3% (95% CI, 1.1-1.5), with more children allergic to crustaceans (1.2%; 95% CI, 1.0-1.3) than to mollusks (0.5%; 95% CI, 0.4-0.6). Mean ages of shellfish, crustacean, and mollusk allergy diagnoses were 5.0 (95% CI, 4.4-5.6), 5.1 (95% CI, 4.6-5.6), and 7.7 (95% CI, 5.7-9.7) years, respectively. More than half (54.9%; 95% CI, 48.1-61.4) of pediatric patients with SA had more than 1 lifetime food allergy–related emergency room visit, but only 45.7% (95% CI, 39.2-52.4) carried an epinephrine autoinjector. Children with SA were more likely to be black/Hispanic/Latino and have comorbid asthma, allergic rhinitis, or a parental history of asthma, environmental, or other food allergies (P Conclusions The epidemiology of SA in the US pediatric population shows that crustacean allergy is more common than mollusk allergy. A disparity in SA children and epinephrine autoinjector carriage exists. Results from this study will lead to increased awareness of the need for detailed histories, specific diagnostic tests, and rescue epinephrine for anaphylaxis in US children with SA.
NanoSIMS isotopic investigation of xenolithic carbonaceous clasts from the kapoeta howardite

Abstract We report on the investigation of presolar grains and organic matter (OM) in 14 xenolithic carbonaceous clasts (C-clasts) identified in the Kapoeta howardite based on high-resolution NanoSIMS hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopic imaging data. The 14 C-clasts are ∼50–200 μm in size and consist of one CM-like and 13 CI-like clasts, which are classified based on their mineralogies. The clasts from this study are likely sourced from an ice-bearing parent body, either an icy asteroid or a comet, originating from the outer solar system according to the following mineralogical observations: (1) in two CI-like clasts, embayments of magnetite grains between the C-clast and the host howardite point to aqueous alteration occurring on Vesta as a result of melting the ice embedded in the C-clasts; (2) all of the C-clasts, especially the 13 CI-like clasts, likely originated from the same parent body, because (i) the 14 C-clasts are clustered in the thin section, and (ii) the clasts show a much higher ratio of CI-like to CM-like clasts with respect to those reported in the literature. Four presolar silicon carbide (SiC) and two presolar silicate grains were identified in the C-clasts. In addition, all the C-clasts contain moderate bulk D- and 15N-enrichments with the presence of sub-micron to micron-sized D and 15N hotspots, indicating the presence of primitive organic material. Comparison of the abundances and isotopic compositions of presolar grains and OM in these C-clasts with literature data for different samples of primitive extraterrestrial material provides support for (1) the genetic linkage of xenolithic C-clasts to highly aqueously altered but minimally heated carbonaceous chondritic materials and (2) a homogeneous distribution of circumstellar and interstellar materials in the protoplanetary disk. The low amounts of heat experienced by the C-clasts suggest that they arrived at Vesta and/or Vestoids at low speeds after the late heavy bombardment in the inner solar system ∼3.5–4.0 Gyr ago.
Impact of Emergency Department Crowding on Delays in Acute Stroke Care.

Introduction Delays in identification and treatment of acute stroke contribute to significant morbidity and mortality. Multiple clinical factors have been associated with delays in acute stroke care. We aimed to determine the relationship between emergency department (ED) crowding and the delivery of timely emergency stroke care. Methods We used prospectively collected data from our institutional Get with the Guidelines-Stroke registry to identify consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients presenting to our urban academic ED from July 2016-August 2018. We used capacity logs to determine the degree of ED crowding at the time of patients' presentation and classified them as ordinal variables (normal, high, and severe capacity constraints). Outcomes of interest were door-to-imaging time (DIT) among patients potentially eligible for alteplase or endovascular therapy on presentation, door-to-needle time (DTN) for alteplase delivery, and door-to-groin puncture (DTP) times for endovascular therapy. Bivariate comparisons were made using t-tests, chi-square, and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests as appropriate. We used regression models to examine the relationship after accounting for patient demographics, transfer status, arrival mode, and initial stroke severity by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Results Of the 1379 patients with ischemic stroke presenting during the study period, 1081 (78%) presented at times of normal capacity, 203 (15%) during high ED crowding, and 94 (7%) during severe crowding. Median DIT was 26 minutes (interquartile range [IQR] 17-52); DTN time was 43 minutes (IQR 31-59); and median DTP was 58.5 minutes (IQR 56.5-100). Treatment times were not significantly different during periods of higher ED utilization in bivariate or in multivariable testing. Conclusion In our single institution analysis, we found no significant delays in stroke care delivery associated with increased ED crowding. This finding suggests that robust processes of care may enable continued high-quality acute care delivery, even during times with an increased capacity burden.
Synthesis of α-Ketoglutaramic acid.

Abstract α-Ketoglutaramic acid (KGM, α-ketoglutaramate), also known as 2-oxoglutaramic acid (OGM, 2-oxoglutaramate), is a substrate of ω-amidase, also known as Nitrilase 2 (NIT2), and is essential for studying the canonical role of ω-amidase, as well as its role in multiple diseases. Until now, KGM used for biological studies has been prepared most often by the enzymatic oxidation of l -glutamine using snake venom l -amino acid oxidase, which provides KGM as an aqueous solution, containing by-products including 5-oxoproline and α-ketoglutarate. The enzymatic method for KGM preparation, therefore, cannot provide pure product or an accurate percent yield evaluation. Here, we report a synthetic method for the preparation of this important substrate, KGM, in 3 steps, from l -2-hydroxyglutaramic acid, in pure form, in 53% overall yield.
Failure and Value Creation: A Discriminant Analysis Applied to Moroccan Industrial Companies Listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange

This article purposes to assess the contribution of shareholder value creation as an explanatory variable for the failure of Moroccan industrial companies listed on the Casablanca stock exchange. It also offers a scoring that reflects the probabilities of the financial difficulties to occur. There were used data for 30 Moroccan industrial companies listed on the Casablanca stock exchange during the period of study from 2010 to 2018. Methodologically, a linear discriminant analysis was employed. The empirical results of the discriminant analysis applied during the period of 2010-2018 show that value creation, liquidity and the size of the company are the most determining variables in classifying companies according to the degree of financial difficulties. Thus, the results received make it possible to create a relationship among recurrent scientific knowledge about forecasting the companies’ failure and empirical findings in the context of Moroccan industrial companies listed on the Casablanca stock exchange.
Does Somatic Mosaicism Account for Some Sporadic ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by degeneration of motor neurons in the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord, resulting in muscle atrophy and weakness. Progression of the disease eventually leads to respiratory failure and death, usually within 3–5 years of symptom onset. Most ALS cases are sporadic, with approximately 5%–10% being familial.1 To date, mutations in more than 120 genes have been shown to cause or increase the risk of ALS ([alsod.ac.uk][1]), with mutations in about 20 genes being linked to monogenic forms of ALS. It is estimated that 40%–60% of individuals with familial ALS have an identified genetic mutation, depending on the population studied. The causes of the other familial ALS and more than 90% of sporadic ALS cases remain unknown.2 [1]: https://alsod.ac.uk/
Evaluation and genome-wide association study of resistance to bacterial blight race 18 in U.S. Upland cotton germplasm

Bacterial blight (BB), caused by Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum (Xcm), is a destructive disease to cotton production in many countries. In the U.S., Xcm race 18 is the most virulent and widespread race and can cause serious yield losses. Planting BB-resistant cotton cultivars is the most effective method of controlling this disease. In this study, 335 U.S. Upland cotton accessions were evaluated for resistance to race 18 using artificial inoculations by scratching cotyledons on an individual plant basis in a greenhouse. The analysis of variance detected significant genotypic variation in disease incidence, and 50 accessions were resistant including 38 lines with no symptoms on either cotyledons or true leaves. Many of the resistant lines were developed in the MAR (multi-adversity resistance) breeding program at Texas A&M University, whereas others were developed before race 18 was first reported in the U.S. in 1973, suggesting a broad base of resistance to race 18. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) based on 26,301 single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers detected 11 quantitative trait loci (QTL) anchored by 79 SNPs, including three QTL on each of the three chromosomes A01, A05 and D02, and one QTL on each of D08 and D10. This study has identified a set of obsolete Upland germplasm with resistance to race 18 and specific chromosomal regions delineated by SNPs for resistance. The results will assist in breeding cotton for BB resistance and facilitate further genomic studies in fine mapping resistance genes to enhance the understanding of the genetic basis of BB resistance in cotton.
COVID-19 Prevalence and Mortality Rates in Association with Black Race and Segregation in the United States April 1 to April 15, 2020

Background: COVID-19 may be experienced disproportionately among racial minorities but evidence is limited. The study objective was to determine whether COVID-19 prevalence and mortality rates were higher in the US population in association with race/ethnicity, racial segregation, and other population characteristics. Methods: The study used a repeated measures county-level ecological design including all US counties. Exposures included population characteristics including percent Black race, racial segregation, household income and income inequality, age, education, health insurance rates, primary care physician supply, and percent rural population. Outcomes were COVID-19 prevalence per 100,000 population, and death rates from COVID-19 per 100,000 between April 1 and April 15, 2020. Findings: Higher disease prevalence and death rates were found in association with higher racial segregation, higher percent Black population, income and income inequality, and lower percent rural population. The disparity among populations characterized by combined higher percent Black population and higher segregation significantly worsened between April 1 and April 15, 2020. Interpretation: Populations with a combination of higher percent of Black populations and greater racial segregation experienced higher COVID-19 prevalence and mortality, and this disparity increased significantly as the disease outbreak in the US worsened in the first half of April 2020. Current and future efforts to fight COVID-19 should address disproportionate risks in these communities. Funding Statement: The study received no funding from any public or private source. Declaration of Interests: None.
Hypnotic predictors of agency: Responsiveness to specific suggestions in hypnosis is associated with involuntariness in fibromyalgia

Hypnosis is associated with alterations in the sense of agency which can play a role in its utilization as a nonpharmacological option for pain management. The goal of the current study was to examine the relationships between responsiveness to suggestions in hypnosis and alterations of the sense of agency among patients with fibromyalgia. Ninety-eight participants with fibromyalgia underwent two hypnotizability assessments followed by the Sense of Agency Rating Scale. Clinical pain measures were also collected. Involuntariness was predicted by responsiveness to control, ideomotor, and dissociation suggestions. Effortlessness was predicted by responsiveness to control and ideomotor suggestions, and age. Hypnotizability was associated with main clinical pain outcomes, but agency alterations were not. Results suggest a shared mechanism between responsiveness to specific suggestions and the sense of agency in hypnosis. We discuss theoretical and clinical implications for pain management and the need for further research.
SOMETHING ROTS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND IT’S THE SEARCH WARRANT: THE BREONNA TAYLOR CASE

When police rammed the door of Breonna Taylor’s home and shot her six times in a hail of thirty-two bullets, they lacked legal justification for being there. The affidavit supporting the warrant was perjurious, stale, vague, and lacking in particularity. The killing of Breonna Taylor, however, is not just a story about the illegality of the warrant, it is also about the legality of the circumstances that facilitated her killing. Police officers lying to obtain warrants and magistrates rubber stamping facially defective warrants are the stories of individual failings. This article examines a weightier structural issue: how the Supreme Court fashioned legal doctrine that created the conditions that led to Breonna Taylor’s death. This article transcends the narrative of bad-apple cops. It is the first to present a structural framework for analyzing how Court rulings about the acquisition and execution of search warrants inequitably distribute premature death in marginalized communities. When the Court refused to apply the exclusionary rule to evidence obtained in violation of the knock-and-announce requirement, it incentivized police to ignore the rule. The result has been callousness in the execution of warrants and carelessness in their acquisition. When the Court gave police immunity for violating the rule, it sealed Breonna Taylor’s fate. Police refusal to knock and announce and to engage in a substantial waiting period before ramming the door is untenable in an age of increased Stand Your Ground Laws and unbridled gun ownership. The proper protocols for police home invasion demand SCOTUS review. The spectacle of Taylor’s killing, along with so many others, inflicted a cultural trauma on the public, particularly marginalized communities. The illegal warrant that set Taylor’s death in motion, therefore, demands a public vetting, preferably in an adversarial setting where one party does not monopolize both the facts and the narratives surrounding those facts. The repeated failure to hold police accountable for their killings will destroy the criminal justice system as we know it. The next Breonna Taylor is both foreseeable and preventable if that is what we elect to do.
Insert Data into Oracle Database with Visual Basic.NET

This chapter focuses on inserting data into the DataSet and the database. Insert data into the DataSet or exactly insert data into the data tables in the DataSet is totally different with inserting data into the database or inserting data into the data tables in the database. The chapter discusses inserting data into the database using the Visual Studio.NET design tools and wizards. It also discusses inserting data into the Faculty table in the Oracle database. The chapter describes how to insert data into the database using the stored procedures with run‐time object method. It provides a very detailed introduction about the Oracle packages and the Oracle stored procedures and illustrated how to use these methods to perform the data query for the Student Form and STUDENT table in sample database. Language‐Integrated Query can be considered as a pattern or model that is supported by a collection of so‐called Standard Query Operator methods.
Effects of heat treatment and reinforcement size

The effects of heat-treatment, matrix microstructure, and reinforcement size on the evolution of damage, in the form of SiCp cracking, during uniaxial tension testing of an aluminum-alloy based composite have been determined. A powder metallurgy Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy reinforced with 15 vol pct of either 5 or 13 μm average size SiCp was heat treated to solution annealed (SA), underaged (UA), and overaged (OA) conditions. The SA treatment exhibited lower yield strength and higher ductility for both particulate sizes compared to the UA and OA conditions. The evolution of damage, in the form of SiCp fracture, was monitored quantitatively using metallography and changes in modulus on sequentially strained specimens. It is shown that the evolution of SiCp fracture is very dependent on particulate size, matrix aging condition, and the details of the matrix-reinforcement interfacial regions. SiCp fracture was exhibited by the UA and OA treatment over a range of strains, while a preference for failure near the SiCp/matrix interfaces and in the matrix was exhibited in the OA material. While thepercentage of cracked SiCp at each global strain typically was equal or somewhat lower in the material reinforced with 5 μm average size SiCp, theabsolute number of cracked SiCp was always higher at each global stress and strain in the material containing 5 μm average size SiCp, for each heat treatment. Damage(e.g., voids) in the matrix and near the SiCp/matrix interfaces was additionally observed, although its extent was highly matrix and particle-size dependent. It was always observed that increases in stress (and strain) produced a larger amount of fractured SiCp. However, neither a global stress-based nor a global strain-based model was sufficient in converging the amount of SiCp fractured for all heat treatments and particle sizes tested.
Chapter II Application of Quantum Mechanics to Liquid Helium

Publisher Summary The aim of this chapter is to describe the physical ideas that have been suggested to explain the behavior of helium, which can most easily be related to the properties of the Schriidinger equation. Since the discovery of liquid helium, considerable progress has been made in understanding its behavior from first principles. Some of the properties are more easily understood than others. The most difficult of these concern the resistance to flow above critical velocity. Liquid helium exhibits quantum mechanical properties on a large scale in a manner somewhat differently than do other substances. No other substance remains liquid to a temperature low enough to exhibit the effects. Classically at absolute zero all motion stops, but quantum mechanically this is not so. In fact the most mobile substance known is one at absolute zero, where on the older concepts one should expect hard crystals. Helium stays liquid, as London has shown, because the inter-atomic forces are very weak and the quantum zero point motion is large enough, since the atomic mass is small, to keep it fluid even at absolute zero.
A Review of “FREE FOOD FOR ALL: FIXING SCHOOL FOOD IN AMERICA”

In her latest book, Free Food for All: Fixing School Food in America, Janet Poppendieck has done something unique and refreshing for an academic; she has written an accessible book for scholars and...
Place-Based Learning and Mobile Technology

When delivered on a mobile device, interpretive tours of a locale afford powerful learning experiences. As mobile devices become more powerful, content for these devices that is individualized and location-specific has become more common. In light of this trend, Oregon State University Extension developed a GPS-enabled iPhone tree tour application. This article discusses lessons learned during the design, development, and evaluation of the application and suggests locale-specific instructional content delivered on a mobile device can be an effective instructional approach for Extension educators.