cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Are two document clusters better than one? The Cluster Performance Question for information retrieval: Brief Communication

When do information retrieval systems using two document clusters provide better retrieval performance than systems using no clustering? We answer this question for one set of assumptions and suggest how this may be studied with other assumptions. The “Cluster Hypothesis” asks an empirical question about the relationships between documents and user-supplied relevance judgments, while the “Cluster Performance Question” proposed here focuses on the when and why of information retrieval or digital library performance for clustered and unclustered text databases. This may be generalized to study the relative performance of m versus n clusters. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Overview of Fosinopril

Fosinopril is a prodrug of the active diacid compound, fosinoprilat. Fosinopril is the first of a new chemical class of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, the phosphinic acids, and is indicated for the once-daily treatment of mild-to-moderate essential hypertension.
Le nouveau paysage de la logistique en Amérique Latine : vue d’ensemble de la situation actuelle et des opportunités

L’environnement economique latino-americain connait actuellement des transformations majeures. D’une maniere generale, le commerce a ete liberalise, l’inflation a ete en bonne partie maitrisee, et les entreprises sont libres d’importer des technologies. Par consequent, la concurrence s’est intensifiee entre les entreprises dans la plupart des secteurs d’activite. Ce document examine, en premier lieu, l’incidence notable de ces mutations de l’environnement sur la fonction logistique des entreprises en Amerique latine. Il en deduit, en deuxieme lieu, sept regles destinees a aider les entreprises a prendre des decisions d’ordre logistique dans l’environnement actuel de l’Amerique latine. Enfin, il presente cinq strategies logistiques a meme de renforcer la competitivite des entreprises dans un proche avenir. Ces strategies ont ete retenues parce que les bases economiques et technologiques necessaires a leur mise en oeuvre existent deja
The Cluster Variation Method: A Primer for Neuroscientists

Effective Brain–Computer Interfaces (BCIs) require that the time-varying activation patterns of 2-D neural ensembles be modelled. The cluster variation method (CVM) offers a means for the characterization of 2-D local pattern distributions. This paper provides neuroscientists and BCI researchers with a CVM tutorial that will help them to understand how the CVM statistical thermodynamics formulation can model 2-D pattern distributions expressing structural and functional dynamics in the brain. The premise is that local-in-time free energy minimization works alongside neural connectivity adaptation, supporting the development and stabilization of consistent stimulus-specific responsive activation patterns. The equilibrium distribution of local patterns, or configuration variables, is defined in terms of a single interaction enthalpy parameter (h) for the case of an equiprobable distribution of bistate (neural/neural ensemble) units. Thus, either one enthalpy parameter (or two, for the case of non-equiprobable distribution) yields equilibrium configuration variable values. Modeling 2-D neural activation distribution patterns with the representational layer of a computational engine, we can thus correlate variational free energy minimization with specific configuration variable distributions. The CVM triplet configuration variables also map well to the notion of a M = 3 functional motif. This paper addresses the special case of an equiprobable unit distribution, for which an analytic solution can be found.
A numerical study of shock waves generated through laser ablation of explosives

Shock waves resulting from irradiation of energetic materials with a pulsed ultraviolet laser source have been shown to be an effective indicator for explosives detection. Here, the features of shock wave propagation are explored theoretically. The initial stage of the shock motion is simulated as a one-dimensional process. As the nonlinear wave expands to form a blast wave, a system of conservation equations, simplified to the Euler equations, is employed to model wave propagation. The Euler equations are solved numerically by the 5th order weighted essentially non-oscillatory finite difference scheme with the time integration carried out using the 3rd order total variation diminishing Runge Kutta method. The numerical results for the shock wave evolution are compared with those obtained from experiments with a meltcast 2,6-dinitrotoluene sample. The calculations lay a theoretical foundation for a recently investigated technique for photoacoustically sensing explosives using a vibrometer.
Trisomy 8 Is Associated with Increased DNA Double Strand Breaks in Primary Myeloblasts

Abstract 3492 We hypothesize that the frequent chromosomal aberrations found in treatment-related acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome (t-AML/t-MDS) reflect dysregulation of DNA double strand break (DSB) repair. We performed functional studies of DSB repair using primary bone marrow cells from 15 t-AML/t-MDS patients and CD34+ cells from 5 normal donors. We evaluated DSB by measuring phosphorylated histone H2AX (pH2AX), a well-established marker for DSB, in myeloblasts (CD45 dim, low side scatter) and lymphocytes (a surrogate for normal cells). Baseline measurements of primary cells, coupled with a time course to measure pH2AX induction and decay after 2 Gy of irradiation (IR) were used to assess the basal DSB burden and response to acute damage, respectively. We found that 4 of 15 t-AML/t-MDS patients had myeloblasts that displayed baseline and post-damage pH2AX levels similar to normal CD34+ controls, while 11/15 patients had abnormal pH2AX levels which fell into one of three major patterns. 1) The first subset of patients had impaired pH2AX induction compared to normal donor CD34+ cells (1.44 vs 2.97 fold increase in pH2AX over baseline, respectively, p Of note, MYC is located on chromosome 8 and has been shown to induce DNA damage. Gene expression analysis showed that MYC is significantly overexpressed in samples with trisomy 8 as compared to CD34+ controls (p=0.01). To test whether overexpression of MYC in primary hematopoietic progenitor cells induces DSBs, we transduced mouse ckit+ cells with MSCV- MYC -ires-GFP or MSCV-ires-GFP retrovirus. MYC- overexpressing cells had elevated DSBs compared to control GFP+ cells (p MYC overexpression contributes to the spontaneous and/or persistent DNA damage in myeloblasts harboring trisomy 8. The ability of these cells to persist in the setting of elevated DSB may provide a mechanism for chemoresistance. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Dialogue on Miranda: Is Miranda a Real-World Failure? A Plea for More (and Better) Empirical Evidence

The opinions in Miranda v. Arizona made assumptions, implicitly or explicitly, about the effect of its warnings-and-waiver regime on the rate at which suspects answer police questions. In the first decade following Miranda, several studies sought to measure its empirical effect. But by the mid-1970s, the issue of Miranda’s real-world effect faded into the background. One purpose of this essay is to revive that issue. While the empirical effect might no longer be important in the debate about Miranda, it would shed light on how suspects and the police perceive the pressures of interrogation. A second purpose of the essay is to examine the flaws of the original studies with an eye toward an improved second generation. The essay concludes that the available evidence does not demonstrate an empirical effect large enough to measure. It also offers conjectures about why Miranda might lack a measurable effect.
Modelling Impact Loading of Reinforced Concrete Structures

Impact loading involving collision between an external body and a concrete structure is an extreme loading condition that has to be considered in some situations. Typical cases include vehicle impact against bridge and other structures, iceberg impact against offshore structures, and impact of projectiles as a result of explosions or falling objects, to name a few. Analytical modelling of impact phenomena presents a significant challenge. In addition to treating the contact conditions between two impacting objects it is necessary to include highly nonlinear material modelling because of the severity of the loading that often occurs. Because of the short duration of the load, strain rate dependence of the response should also be considered.
Spacecraft power distribution unit test system re-use: Advantages, pitfalls and challenges

The Solar Probe Plus (SPP) mission, part of NASA's Living With a Star program, is set to launch in July of 2018 on a trip to travel through the Sun's corona. The first component that will be integrated to the spacecraft is the Power Distribution Unit (PDU). The SPP PDU was based on the PDU design utilized for the Van Allen Probes (formerly Radiation Belt Storm Probes) mission, but with some very significant differences. Due to the fact that the SPP spacecraft is a much more complex vehicle, it requires nearly twice as many power services as the Van Allen mission which resulted in a PDU twice the size. Also, the Van Allen PDU utilized a single non-redundant Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus and command/telemetry interface (since the PDU redundancy was considered to be built into the dual spacecraft design) and the SPP PDU utilizes a dual redundant E2C bus along with 2 separate command and telemetry interfaces. Additionally, the command and telemetry Interface (I/F) paradigm between the PDU and the spacecraft was significantly modified. Although the Van Allen mission ultimately used L3 Telemetry West's In Control as their operational Telemetry and Command (T&C) Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) system, it was not ready for use during the original PDU development effort, so a legacy COTS system (EPOCH 2000) was utilized for Van Allen PDU testing. This required the conversion of the entire set of test scripts (tens of 1000's of lines) from one scripting language to another. These PDU design changes and test system changes presented a challenge to the test team since they were required to re-use the original Van Allen test systems as a cost savings measure. This paper will discuss the advantages of the re-use of the PDU test systems and how the test team overcame the various roadblocks, problems, and challenges that the team encountered in order to deliver the test sets along with the fully qualified PDU in a timely manner. The SPP PDU was successfully integrated to the spacecraft in August of 2016. It continues to operate as designed, providing power services for each and every component that has and will be added. The Integration and Test phase is set to be completed in the spring of 2017 after which the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft will be then readied for launch in July of 2018 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Two Photon Absorption Study of Low-Bandgap, Fully Conjugated Perylene Diimide-Thienoacene-Perylene Diimide Ladder-Type Molecules

A new series of donor–acceptor ladder-type molecules were synthesized via Scholl reaction. These molecules contain up to 25-fused rings but still show good air stability and good solubility. The ring-fusing reaction is found to be sensitive to the nature of the side-chain in donor units. The molecular conformations were investigated by 2D NMR and DFT calculations. The photophysical properties were investigated and an intense intramolecular charge-transfer was observed. All of the molecules exhibit two-photon absorption (TPA) activity, and their TPA cross-section shows a linear relationship with increasing conjugation length of the thienoacene-PDI derivatives.
Fifteen years of adrenalectomies: impact of specialty training and operative volume.

Background Previous associations between surgeon volume with adrenalectomy outcomes examined only a sample of procedures. We performed an analysis of all adrenalectomies performed in New York state to assess the effect of surgeon volume and specialty on clinical outcomes. Methods Adrenalectomies performed in adults were identified from the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System from 2000–2014. Surgeon specialty, volume, and patient demographics were assessed. High volume was defined using a significance threshold at ≥4 adrenalectomies per year. Outcome variables included in-hospital mortality, duration of stay, and in-hospital complications. Results A total of 6,054 adrenalectomies were included. Median patient age was 56 years; 41.9% were men and 68.3% were white. Urologists (n = 462) performed 46.8% of adrenalectomies, general surgeons (n = 599) performed 35.0%, and endocrine surgeons (n = 23) performed 18.1%. Significantly more endocrine surgeons were high-volume compared with urologists and general surgeons (65.2% vs 10.2% and 6.7%, respectively, P Conclusion Patients with adrenal disease should be referred to surgeons based on adrenalectomy volume regardless of specialty, but most endocrine surgeons that perform adrenalectomy are high-volume for the procedure.
Tactile Vision Substitution: Some Instrumentation and Perceptual Considerations

The development of various sensory substitution devices and aids for the blind has been based on the notion that the human perceptual systems are remarkably flexible in their functional capacities and that such devices, to be practically useful, need make use of the functional similarities of other perceptual systems to provide the effective information. Since their inception, optical-to-tactile conversion systems have capitalized on the qualitatively similar functional characteristics of the skin and the retina. The Optacon (Telesensory Systems, Inc.), a device which permits the blind to read printed material, is an example of a system which can be thought of as allowing a dynamic form of ‘tactile vision’ for two-dimensional displays (lines of print). The Tactile Vision Substitution System (TVSS) is an even more appealing example since it was designed to transduce more complex optical images into tactile stimulation and to be capable of providing a far greater variety of environmental information.
General Perspectives on Abdominal Injury

Diagnosis and admission data for patients entering any civilian hospital will depend on the community served by the institution and its geographic location. Allen and Curry, reporting from the Hurley Hospital in Michigan in 1956, stated that patients with abdominal trauma of all types represented 0.2% of all patients hospitalized and 2.2% of all patients entering the hospital with injury [1]. In 1973, 19.8% of patients admitted for injuries at the Morrisania Hospital in New York City suffered from abdominal trauma as the primary diagnosis (see Table 1.1).
Imprisonment and the Right to Freedom of Movement

This chapter argues that government's use of imprisonment raises distinctive moral issues. The loss of freedom of movement involved in imprisonment interferes with the exercise of agency in a distinctive way. The loss of freedom of movement makes entire categories of human activity unavailable in a way that a financial penalty, even a large one, does not. Thus, imprisonment requires special justification, over and above the justification of punishment. The chapter examines the extent to which any of three most influential justifications of punishment—retribution, moral education, and deterrence—can overcome the moral presumption against involuntary confinement. The rational and moral duty to preserve one's all-purpose means explains the wrongness of most instances of kidnapping. Thus, on the Kantian view of morality, kidnapping others to advance one's interests is wrong. There are morally salient differences between kidnapping by private citizens and the imprisonment of accused and convicted criminals by the state.
A Behavioral Economic Approach to Green Consumerism: Demand for Reusable Shopping Bags

The success of behavioral economics is underscored by its emerging role in informing public policy. While applied behavioral economics has almost exclusively investigated pharmacological issues or the reinforcing efficacy of stimuli used in educational and clinical settings, we propose that this technology can be applied to the understanding and promotion of sustainable purchases in the American marketplace. Many communities have begun to adopt measures promoting such sustainable purchasing, but a conceptual understanding of proper pricing for these “green” products is lacking. An empirical foundation upon which to model prices can aid in generating revenue for distributors while simultaneously nudging sustainable decision-making on the part of the consumer. This report describes a study that successfully translates behavioral economic concepts to demand for sustainable products. A secondary contribution is the demonstration of relations between behavioral economic demand indices and scores on the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (i.e., construct validity), a renowned scale used by environmental psychologists and ecological economists.
Food insecurity and healthcare decision making among mobile food pantry clients in Tampa Bay

This article examines the relationship between food insecurity and health-care decision-making among mobile food pantry clients in Tampa Bay, Florida. Results show a high rate of food insecurity, high stress levels, and chronic health conditions among mobile pantry clients, many of whom are long-term users of food pantry services. The fruits and vegetables supplied by the pantry allow clients to manage chronic health conditions and mitigate some of the financial burden of health-care costs. Research was conducted in cooperation with the Anthropology Department at the University of South Florida, Feeding Tampa Bay, and WellCare .
Toward an understanding of supersonic modes in boundary-layer transition for hypersonic flow over blunt cones

Realistic flight vehicles for reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere are commonly similar to blunted cones. The main reason for blunting a cone is to mitigate high heat loads at the nose. Another reason for blunting the cone is to delay boundary-layer transition. It is commonly understood that the second mode is damped in flow over a cone as the nose radius is increased. This is thought to lead to the delay in transition. Here, a blunted cone at a realistic reentry trajectory point with significant real-gas effects is studied. It is shown, using linear stability theory and direct numerical simulation, that there exist multiple unstable modal instabilities in the boundary layer. One of these modal instabilities is called the supersonic mode, as its phase velocity is supersonic relative to the flow velocity at the edge of the boundary layer. Its growth rate is found to increase with increasing nose radius until a certain nose radius is reached. After this radius, any further increase in nose radius decreases its growth rate. There is adequate agreement between theory and direct numerical simulation for the growth rate, phase velocity and eigenfunction of the supersonic mode. At the reentry conditions tested, the supersonic mode is more likely the cause of boundary-layer transition than the second mode for blunted cones with a small wall-temperature ratio. Initial parametric studies confirm that a decrease in wall temperature amplifies the supersonic mode. Also, the supersonic mode’s growth rate is shown to be a maximum when its phase velocity is aligned with the flow velocity.
A Broadly Tunable cw Femtosecond Source for Ultrafast Spectroscopy

Preliminary measurements of hot carrier relaxation at energies near the L valley minimum in InGaAs are reported using a broadly tunable cw femtosecond optical parametric oscillator.
Viral Virulence and Stress

Many viruses cause cellular stress at the level of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and elicit the unfolded protein response (UPR), caused by the accumulation of unfolded and/or misfolded proteins inside the ER. This article describes the molecular events (e.g., signaling cascades) characteristic of ER stress and the UPR, including events leading to apoptosis.
Evaluation of Neonates With Suspected Congenital Heart Disease: A New Cost-Effective Algorithm:

We assessed the value of existing guidelines for the evaluation of suspected congenital heart disease (CHD) in term neonates and propose a revised algorithm. Retrospective chart review of newborns referred for cardiac evaluation at a tertiary care center was performed. A total of 777 newborns qualified for the study. Among these, 3 critical and 8 major CHD were identified. The sensitivity of the combination of abnormal physical examination and pulse oximetry screening for major and critical CHD was 100%. The cost to detect a case of critical CHD, based on echocardiograms done for all abnormal electrocardiograms, was 3.4 times more than that incurred for performing this test on the basis of abnormal pulse oximetry and physical examination. Adding electrocardiogram to CHD screening increases cost without adding diagnostic yield. Based on our findings, we propose a revised algorithm for a systematic cost-effective approach to cardiac evaluation of term newborns with suspected CHD.
A 2.5 kHz Linewidth Widely Tunable Laser with Booster SOA Integrated on Silicon

We present a semiconductor laser on the heterogeneous silicon integrated platform with 40 nm tuning range across the C+L band and a record-low 2.5 kHz Lorentzian linewidth. An SOA integrated on the same chip boosts the output power from the laser by ∼10 dB.
Ecohydrologic feedbacks controlling sizes of cypress wetlands in a patterned karst landscape

Author(s): Dong, X; Murray, AB; Heffernan, JB | Abstract: Many landforms on Earth are profoundly influenced by biota. In particular, biota play a significant role in creating karst biogeomorphology, through biogenic CO 2 accelerating calcite weathering. In this study, we explore the ecohydrologic feedback mechanisms that have created isolated depressional wetlands on exposed limestone bedrock in South Florida – Big Cypress National Preserve –as a case study for karst biogeomorphic processes giving rise to regularly patterned landscapes. Specifically, we are interested in: (1) whether cypress depressions on the landscape have reached (or will reach) equilibrium size; (2) if so, what feedback mechanisms stabilize the size of depressions; and (3) what distal interactions among depressions give rise to the even distribution of depressions in the landscape. We hypothesize three feedback mechanisms controlling the evolution of depressions and build a numerical model to evaluate the relative importance of each mechanism. We show that a soil cover feedback (i.e. a smaller fraction of CO 2 reaches the bedrock surface for weathering as soil cover thickens) is the major feedback stabilizing depressions, followed by a biomass feedback (i.e. inhibited biomass growth with deepening standing water and extended inundation period as depressions expand in volume). Strong local positive feedback between the volume of depressions and rate of volume expansion and distal negative feedback between depressions competing for water likely lead to the regular patterning at the landscape scale. The individual depressions, however, are not yet in steady state but would be in ~0.2–0.4 million years. This represents the first study to demonstrate the decoupling of landscape-scale self-organization and the self-organization of its constituent agents. © 2018 John Wiley a Sons, Ltd.
Toward a more comprehensive theory of self-sacrificial violence

We argue that limiting the theory of extreme self-sacrifice to two determinants, namely, identity fusion and group threats, results in logical and conceptual difficulties. To strengthen Whitehouse's theory, we encourage a more holistic approach. In particular, we suggest that the theory include exogenous sociopolitical factors and constituents of the religious system as additional predictors of extreme self-sacrifice.
Studies of laryngotracheitis virus in avian tissue cultures. I. Plaque assay in chicken embryo kidney tissue cultures.

Laryngotracheitis virus (LTV), an avian herpesvirus, was adsorbed to chicken kidney cells at 5° C to synchronize penetration. At this temperature virions which adsorbed to cells were sensitive to antibody, and readily eluted in growth medium. Shifting cultures to 37° C caused adsorbed virions to penetrate within a few minutes. Addition of diethylaminoethyl-dextran (DEAE-D) to the inoculum prevented elution at 5° C although adsorbed virions were still susceptible to antibody. The enhanced infectivity produced by DEAE-D in the inoculum was attributed to increased adsorption of virions to cells. When LTV was adsorbed to cells at 5°C and the cells subsequently treated with DEAE-D, an average enhancement of 2.4-fold resulted. This was considerably less enhancement than that produced when DEAE-D is incorporated in the inoculum.
Characteristics of State and Federal Malpractice Litigation of Medical Liability Claims for Keratinocyte Carcinoma, 1968 to 2018.

Importance The prevalence of keratinocyte carcinoma (KC) exceeds that of all other malignant neoplasms combined. Despite the steady rise of payments for medical malpractice liability claims over time, data regarding the characteristics of malpractice litigation for KC are scarce. Objective To identify state and federal appellate medical malpractice liability cases for KC and determine the factors associated with the verdicts. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective review of KC-related malpractice litigation under state or federal jurisdiction reviewed the LexisNexis Academic database of state and federal cases, legal reviews, and case law. All appellate medical malpractice cases at the state and federal levels involving basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) from January 1, 1968, through December 31, 2018, were identified. Main Outcomes and Measures Demographic characteristics of the cases and plaintiffs, verdict, health care specialty of the defendant, setting of the litigation, rationale for the lawsuit and verdict, factors associated with the case outcome, and monetary payout in cases won by the plaintiff. Results In total, 83 cases were included in our analysis (34 BCC cases and 49 SCC cases; 47 [57%] male plaintiffs). Sixty-two cases (75%) were decided in favor of the defendant. More KC-related malpractice cases were won by defendants in more recent years than were won by plaintiffs (mean year, 2004 [SD, 11 years] vs 1998 [SD, 14 years];P = .03). Twenty-five cases (30%) each occurred in the Northeast and the South, and 45 (54%) involved private practices. Most cases involved KCs occurring on the face, head, and/or neck (39 [47%]), the genitalia (22 [27%]), or the extremities (15 [18%]). More than half of defendants were dermatologists (19 [23%]), family medicine physicians (15 [18%]), or oncologists (8 [10%]). Jurisprudence for KC-related malpractice cases most often occurred at the state level (49 [59%]). The most common causes of litigation were failure to diagnose (18 [22%]), misdiagnosis (18 [22%]), and delay in treatment (11 [13%]). More female than male plaintiffs won their malpractice cases (11 of 35 [31%] vs 5 of 43 [12%];P = .03). More cases involving SCC than BCC led to a decision favoring the plaintiff (13 of 47 [28%] vs 3 of 31 [10%];P = .05). In cases won by the plaintiff, the median monetary payout was $179 654 and the mean payout was $909 801 (range, $11 537-$5 320 161). Conclusions and Relevance This study sheds light on the characteristics and settings of KC malpractice litigation claims, which is vital information for discovering potential areas of quality improvement, patient safety initiatives, and education for patients and health care professionals.
Brazilian but Jewish: Religious Conversion and Mismatched Identities

Throughout Brazil, a growing number of former Christians have been turning to Judaism in recent years. As many are not accepted as Jewish by Jewish institutions in the country, they have begun to form communities of their own in various urban centers. This paper explores the socio-religious identification practices of one such emergent community, located in Brasilia, the nation’s capital. It argues that in the Brazilian context, an understanding of religious identification requires a consideration of nationalist ideologies. It takes up Robbins’s (2004) theoretical account of conversion as a syncretic process to propose that members of the community in Brasilia continually reconcile their Jewishness with their Brazilianness. For Brazilian hopeful converts to Judaism, Jewishness and Brazilianness often are perceived to be mutually incompatible; claiming both at the same time is ideologically problematic. To manage this sense of dissonance, Brazilians who wish to become Jewish engage in a continuous semiotic negotiation between the two forms of identification.
Markov chain random fields in the perspective of spatial Bayesian networks and optimal neighborhoods for simulation of categorical fields

The Markov chain random field (MCRF) model/theory provides a non-linear spatial Bayesian updating solution at the neighborhood nearest data level for simulating categorical spatial variables. In the MCRF solution, the spatial dependencies among nearest data and the central random variable can be described by a probabilistic directed acyclic graph that conforms to a neighborhood-based Bayesian network on spatial data. By selecting different neighborhood sizes and structures, applying the spatial conditional independence assumption to nearest neighbors, or incorporating ancillary information, one may construct specific MCRF models based on the MCRF general solution for various application purposes. Simplified MCRF models based on assuming the spatial conditional independence of nearest data involve only spatial transition probabilities, and one can implement them easily in sequential simulations. In this article, we prove the spatial Bayesian network characteristic of MCRFs, and test the optimal neighborhoods under the spatial conditional independence assumption. The testing results indicate that the quadrantal (i.e., one nearest datum per quadrant) neighborhood is generally the best choice for the simplified MCRF solution, performing better than other sectored neighborhoods and non-sectored neighborhoods with regard to simulation accuracy and pattern rationality.
Therapeutic inhibition of mTORC2 rescues the behavioral and neurophysiological abnormalities associated with Pten -deficiency

Dysregulation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling, which is mediated by two structurally and functionally distinct complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, has been implicated in several neurological disorders1-3. Individuals carrying loss-of-function mutations in the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) gene, a negative regulator of mTOR signaling, are prone to developing macrocephaly, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), seizures and intellectual disability2,4,5. It is generally believed that the neurological symptoms associated with loss of PTEN and other mTORopathies (for example, mutations in the tuberous sclerosis genes TSC1 or TSC2) are due to hyperactivation of mTORC1-mediated protein synthesis1,2,4,6,7. Using molecular genetics, we unexpectedly found that genetic deletion of mTORC2 (but not mTORC1) activity prolonged lifespan, suppressed seizures, rescued ASD-like behaviors and long-term memory, and normalized metabolic changes in the brain of mice lacking Pten. In a more therapeutically oriented approach, we found that administration of an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) targeting mTORC2's defining component Rictor specifically inhibits mTORC2 activity and reverses the behavioral and neurophysiological abnormalities in adolescent Pten-deficient mice. Collectively, our findings indicate that mTORC2 is the major driver underlying the neuropathophysiology associated with Pten-deficiency, and its therapeutic reduction could represent a promising and broadly effective translational therapy for neurological disorders where mTOR signaling is dysregulated.
Factory-made or farm fresh? Measuring U.S. support for aquaculture as a food technology

Abstract More than 50% of seafood produced globally for human consumption comes from aquaculture, and this percentage is rising. Aquaculture supporters point to many potential benefits of this production technology, including reducing pressure on wild fisheries, enabling more efficient production, and creating jobs. Yet, in recent years, aquaculture has lacked widespread support, and even generated amplified risk perceptions in some U.S. communities. In this study, we explore the factors leading individuals to view aquaculture as “factory-made” or “farm fresh” – that is, what predicts acceptance of aquaculture, and how might these variables differ from those previously shown to influence acceptance of other “novel” food technologies, such as GM food? We report on the results of an online survey (N = 800) and offer evidence that support for aquaculture is associated with, among other variables, its perceived benefits outweighing its perceived risks, perceived controllability over one's exposure to its products, trust in scientists and the process of science, and perceived credibility of the sources providing public audiences with information. Implications for policy, such as how to shape strategic messaging about aquaculture given low-information publics, are presented.
IoT Environmental Analyzer using Sensors and Machine Learning for Migraine Occurrence Prevention

Everyday migraines are affecting more than one billion people worldwide. This headache disorder is classified as the sixth most disabling disease in the world. Migraines are just one chronic illness affected by environmental triggers due to changes that occur inside the home. Migraines share this characteristic with sinus headaches and thus are often misdiagnosed. In this research work, an iOS-based environmental analyzer was designed, implemented and evaluated for migraine sufferers with the use of sensors. After the data collection and cleaning, five machine learning model were used to estimate prediction accuracy of migraines in terms of the environment. The data was evaluated against the models using K-Fold cross validation. The algorithm accuracy comparison showed that Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) produced highest accuracy for the testing data at a mean of 0.938. Preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of using machine learning algorithms to perform the automated recognition of migraine trigger areas in the environment.
Do Nonprofit and For-Profit Social Enterprises Differ in Financing?

This study is an empirical investigation of the survey data from 109 social enterprises, nonprofit and for-profit, in Illinois, the USA. We compare sources of startup funding and revenues of social enterprises by the organizational form. Findings reveal that nonprofit social enterprises do not significantly differ from their for-profit counterparts in sources of startup funding. But the types of revenues differ by the organizational form of social enterprises. Nonprofit social enterprises are more likely to rely on foundation grants and government grants as their primary sources of revenue, while for-profit social enterprises are more likely to rely on revenues through sales.
Smoking-associated interstitial lung disease: update and review

Introduction: Smoking-associated interstitial lung disease manifests as several heterogeneous disorders involving the airways, pleura, and lung parenchyma with various radiological patterns. The cl...
Effect of surgical versus medical therapy on estimated cardiovascular event risk among adolescents with type 2 diabetes and severe obesity

Abstract Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of mortality in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Better interventions are needed to mitigate the high lifetime risk for CVD in youth T2D. Objective To compare 30-year risk for CVD events in 2 cohorts of adolescents with T2D and severe obesity undergoing medical or surgical treatment of T2D. Setting Longitudinal multicenter studies at University hospitals. Methods A secondary analysis of data collected from the participants with T2D enrolled in the Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS, n = 30) and participants of similar age and racial distribution from the Treatment Options of Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY, n = 63) studies was performed. Teen-LABS participants underwent metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS). TODAY participants were randomized to metformin alone or in combination with rosiglitazone or intensive lifestyle intervention, with insulin therapy given for glycemic progression. A 30-year CVD event score developed by the Framingham Heart Study was the primary outcome, assessed at baseline (preoperatively for Teen-LABS), 1 year, and 5 years of follow-up. Results Participants with T2D from Teen-LABS (n = 30; mean ± SD age = 16.9 ± 1.3 yr; 70% female; 60% white; body mass index (BMI) = 54.4 ± 9.5 kg/m2) and TODAY (n = 63; 15.3 ± 1.3 yr; 56% female; 71% white; BMI 40.5 ± 4.9 kg/m2) were compared. The likelihood of CVD events was higher in Teen-LABS versus TODAY at baseline (17.66 [1.59] versus 12.11 [.79]%, adjusted P = .002). One year after MBS, event risk was significantly lower in Teen-LABS versus TODAY (6.79 [1.33] versus 13.64 [0.96]%, adjusted P Conclusion Despite higher pretreatment risk for CVD events, treatment with MBS resulted in a reduction in estimated CVD event risks, whereas medical therapy associated with an increase in risk among adolescents with T2D and severe obesity.
Eye movement performance and clinical outcomes among female athletes post-concussion.

Most post-concussion eye movement (EM) research involves predominantly male samples. We evaluated pro- (PRO; reflexive shift of visual attention to target) and anti- (ANTI; executive control of vis...
Caring for women with substance use disorders through pregnancy and postpartum during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned from psychology trainees in an integrated OBGYN/substance use disorder outpatient treatment program.

Abstract Objective This article presents a brief overview of the challenges and facilitators to the provision of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment for pregnant and parenting women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we highlight the deployment of telepsychology services during the pandemic by an integrated, trainee-based women & addictions program that provides care via a multidisciplinary team, including an obstetrician, addiction medicine fellow, nurse, behavioral health trainees, violence prevention advocates, and pediatric provider. Methods We outline unique adaptations that the program made to shift from in-person psychology trainee services to telepsychology. Additionally, we describe supporting factors and barriers to success for continued treatment planning, service provision, and educational training. Results The program identified and addressed numerous opportunities for improvement to implement and continue telepsychology within an integrated women & addictions program during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program maintained the unique components of care integration with the proliferation of digital resources for patients and providers, as well as the flexibility of attending physicians and supervising psychologists. Conclusions Provision of telepsychology services within an integrated women & addictions program employing trainees is crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program addressed barriers to care in creative ways, through the use of various technologies, to meet patients where they are. Continuing to have this option available requires adaptation to the maturing needs of the clinic.
Incorporating Domain Knowledge Into Language Models by Using Graph Convolutional Networks for Assessing Semantic Textual Similarity: Model Development and Performance Comparison

Background: Although electronic health record systems have facilitated clinical documentation in health care, they have also introduced new challenges, such as the proliferation of redundant information through the use of copy and paste commands or templates. One approach to trimming down bloated clinical documentation and improving clinical summarization is to identify highly similar text snippets with the goal of removing such text. Objective: We developed a natural language processing system for the task of assessing clinical semantic textual similarity. The system assigns scores to pairs of clinical text snippets based on their clinical semantic similarity. Methods: We leveraged recent advances in natural language processing and graph representation learning to create a model that combines linguistic and domain knowledge information from the MedSTS data set to assess clinical semantic textual similarity. We used bidirectional encoder representation from transformers (BERT)–based models as text encoders for the sentence pairs in the data set and graph convolutional networks (GCNs) as graph encoders for corresponding concept graphs that were constructed based on the sentences. We also explored techniques, including data augmentation, ensembling, and knowledge distillation, to improve the model’s performance, as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient (r). Results: Fine-tuning the BERT_base and ClinicalBERT models on the MedSTS data set provided a strong baseline (Pearson correlation coefficients: 0.842 and 0.848, respectively) compared to those of the previous year’s submissions. Our data augmentation techniques yielded moderate gains in performance, and adding a GCN-based graph encoder to incorporate the concept graphs also boosted performance, especially when the node features were initialized with pretrained knowledge graph embeddings of the concepts (r=0.868). As expected, ensembling improved performance, and performing multisource ensembling by using different language model variants, conducting knowledge distillation with the multisource ensemble model, and taking a final ensemble of the distilled models further improved the system’s performance (Pearson correlation coefficients: 0.875, 0.878, and 0.882, respectively). Conclusions: This study presents a system for the MedSTS clinical semantic textual similarity benchmark task, which was created by combining BERT-based text encoders and GCN-based graph encoders in order to incorporate domain knowledge into the natural language processing pipeline. We also experimented with other techniques involving data augmentation, pretrained concept embeddings, ensembling, and knowledge distillation to further increase our system’s performance. Although the task and its benchmark data set are in the early stages of development, this study, as well as the results of the competition, demonstrates the potential of modern language model–based systems to detect redundant information in clinical notes.
Is the local fulfilling its promise as the agent and site of global climate change governance? The status of local climate mitigation in the United States

Abstract There has been an ongoing local scaling of climate change action, both discursively and materially. This is in part due to the lack of leadership at the federal level, at least in the case of the United States. Although the memberships to international and national trans-municipal networks for climate action are on the rise, the actual status of local Climate Action Plans (CAPs) in the United States (the extent to which local climate initiatives have moved beyond symbolic agreements to actual action), however, is still unclear. This chapter focuses on local governments’ CAPs to evaluate the extent to which localities are engaging in greenhouse gas mitigation activities in the United States. To do this, the chapter uses descriptive statistics derived from a content analysis of cities’ CAPs, along with interviews with local climate managers.
Dobutamine stress echocardiography in low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis with concomitant severe functional mitral regurgitation: a case report.

Background Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) in classical low-flow, low-gradient (LFLG) aortic stenosis (AS) is recommended in recent guidelines to differentiate true-severe AS from pseudo-severe AS. However, DSE for patients with concomitant significant mitral regurgitation (MR) is often inaccurate or inconclusive. Case summary A 73-year-old man with a history of coronary artery bypass grafting was referred to our institution with congestive heart failure. Transthoracic echocardiogram showed severe functional MR and LFLG AS. The results of DSE to determine the severity of AS were inconclusive owing to the absence of flow reserve, usually defined as stroke volume increase of ≥20%. In addition, calcium score by computed tomography scan was also inconclusive. Our heart team decided to reassess the severity of AS after percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (PMVR), considering the patient's high surgical risk. Percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve repair was uneventful, resulting in marked reduction of MR from severe to trivial. Dobutamine stress echocardiography after PMVR revealed true-severe AS with the presence of flow reserve. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) was performed, and the patient ambulatorily discharged. Discussion The coexistence of significant AS may lead to overestimation of the severity of MR, and reportedly, concomitant MR improves in the majority of patients after TAVI, especially MR of functional aetiology. However, the coexistence of significant MR often leads to inconclusive DSE results because dobutamine stress may worsen MR and fail to increase the stroke volume. In our case, DSE after PMVR was useful to diagnose the true-severe AS for the patient with LFLG AS and severe functional MR.
Market Failures in Distributing Value in Global Supply Chains: Interdependence Relationships and the Creation of Markets for Social Justice

Global supply chains are prone to market failures more than any other mode of organizing value-creation activities. Their characteristics challenge traditional means for correcting for market failures. Focusing on the failure of markets to distribute value among participants in labor-intensive global supply chains, I develop theoretical rationale for a new approach to address this failure. Building on interdependence theory, I suggest that inherent interdependencies among participants give them the power to change incentives and create markets for social justice. I identify the cultural, institutional, and political conditions that determine the effectiveness of the interdependence logic as a force for change. The theory extends the range of agents of change beyond those possessing direct regulatory power to include multiple governments, international organizations, NGOs, and firms. It broadens the mechanisms to address market failures and incorporates ‘private regulation’, legitimation processes and soft law as means for directing outcomes towards socially-desired value distribution.