cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tying product reuse into tying arrangements to achieve competitive advantage and environmental improvement

Abstract Established understandings of ecological systems highlight patterns of simplified material composition and production systems matched to efficiently cycle natural materials. Applied to industrial systems, significant opportunity is revealed to emulate this ecological perspective in pursuit of greater industrial efficiency. By capturing and preserving the value of embodied energy and operational function in today’s complex products through forms of product reuse, firms can leverage these insights to create efficient business models and operational systems that support a more circular industrial economy. In this article, we introduce a systems perspective approach that combines economic and environmental assessment methods to explore how firms can gain competitive advantage by implementing circular product reuse, leveraging business strategy and Circular Economy policy laws. Using the consumer printing sector as a case study, we explore this possibility in the specific context of the structure-conduct-performance approach for tied markets (SCP-TM), demonstrating how by remanufacturing their own products, the original manufacturer (OM) may leverage extended producer responsibility (EPR) durable product take-back legislation (individual producer scheme) to maintain profitability, while providing environmental improvement in both printer and cartridge markets. We also illustrate how a durable product take-back requirement implemented as a collective scheme in the printer market, may result in decreased economic welfare in the tied inkjet cartridge market; a result of which policy makers may not be aware without considering the SCP-TM approach.
75 Association of complete street policies at the us state and county level with pedestrian fatalities, 1999–2015

Statement of purpose Complete Street policies have the potential to promote active transportation and reduce road injuries. This study examined the association between US county and state Complete Street policies and pedestrian fatalities. Methods Complete Street policies were collated from Smart Growth America and geocoded to states (including Washington, DC) and counties. Pedestrian fatalities were obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System for 1999–2014 and aggregated counts were calculated for each county by year. A difference-in-differences approach evaluated the association between polices and pedestrian fatalities. Generalised linear mixed models with Poisson distribution estimated incident rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) with year-county-population as offset. A random effect for policy was included at both state and county levels. Results There were 71 694 pedestrian fatalities 1999–2000. Counties with a state policy only had a lower rate of pedestrian fatalities than counties in states without any policies (IRR 0.88, 95% CI 0.78, 0.98). The pedestrian fatality rate decreased annually in counties with no state or county policies by 1.5% (95% CI 0.9% to 2.0%). In counties in states with polices, but without county policies, the pedestrian fatality rate increased 1.2% annually on average (95% CI 0.1%, 2.3%). Other policy combinations were not statistically significant. Conclusion The increase in pedestrian fatalities in counties with state Complete Street policies may be due to an increase in walking, a trend that has been observed in specific cities, though a similar significant trend was not observed in locations with county or county and state policies. Significance to Injury and Violence Prevention Science Complete Street policies may be associated with an increase in pedestrian fatalities, though this may be due to an increase in walking in these counties and an overall decrease in non-policy counties.
Structural anomalies of the peripheral olfactory system in psychosis high-risk subjects

Abstract Background Olfactory impairments are prominent in both schizophrenia and the preceding at-risk state. Their presence prior to illness predicts poor functional outcome. In schizophrenia, these impairments reflect peripheral olfactory structural abnormalities, which are hypothesized to arise during early embryonic development. If this is correct, then similar structural anomalies should be apparent among clinical high-risk subjects. Methods Thirty-nine clinical high-risk (CR) subjects (24 M/15F) were compared to 36 low-risk (LR) subjects (19 M/17F). Olfactory measures derived from 3 T MRI scans included olfactory bulb volume, primary olfactory cortical gray matter volume, and the depth of the olfactory sulcus overlying the bulb. Additionally, nasal cavity volumes were assessed with acoustic rhinometry. Results Male CR subjects exhibited bilateral reductions in olfactory bulb volume and abnormal asymmetries of the posterior nasal cavities and olfactory sulci (left reduced relative to right). Post-hoc contrasts also indicated reduced left, but not right, olfactory cortical gray matter volume. Female CRs had no significant abnormalities, although they exhibited similar trend effects. Left olfactory bulb volume correlated, across all CR subjects, with negative, but not positive, symptoms. In a classification analysis, with 80% target specificity, olfactory measurements distinguished male CR from male LR subjects with 93% sensitivity. Among females, the comparable sensitivity was 69%. Conclusion Psychosis-risk youths exhibit an array of sexually dimorphic and laterally asymmetric anomalies of the peripheral olfactory system. These are consistent with a developmental disruption primarily affecting male fetuses. These structural biomarkers may enhance the identification of at-risk subjects with poor prognosis, before their clinical trajectory is apparent.
Cell Network-Based Formulas for Fast Determination of Flexural Stiffness Reduction of U-Shaped Core Shear Walls

Reinforced concrete (RC) core shear wall is one of the most widely used earthquake-resisting systems. Degradation of a core wall's flexural stiffness is vital for understanding the natural frequenc...
Coarse-graining as a downward causation mechanism.

Downward causation is the controversial idea that ‘higher’ levels of organization can causally influence behaviour at ‘lower’ levels of organization. Here I propose that we can gain traction on downward causation by being operational and examining how adaptive systems identify regularities in evolutionary or learning time and use these regularities to guide behaviour. I suggest that in many adaptive systems components collectively compute their macroscopic worlds through coarse-graining. I further suggest we move from simple feedback to downward causation when components tune behaviour in response to estimates of collectively computed macroscopic properties. I introduce a weak and strong notion of downward causation and discuss the role the strong form plays in the origins of new organizational levels. I illustrate these points with examples from the study of biological and social systems and deep neural networks. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Reconceptualizing the origins of life’.
Transonic combustion: Steady and unsteady potential models

Theoretical studies of combustion have mostly focused on low speed deflagrations as well as pure supersonic detonations; however, transonic conditions, have not been as widely studied. Transonic flow conditions naturally occur in a variety of applications such as: turbine engines, power generation systems, missiles, turbo-machinery, industrial reactors and many more. Transonic flows are particularly sensitive to changes in geometry and other conditions of the flow, and understanding these effects can be important for avoiding large performance degradation for flows at off design conditions. A small disturbance and irrotational model is proposed in [8]. The current work investigates relaxing the small disturbance assumption. In addition, the common practice is to treat the pressure equation as elliptic (pressure correction methods, pressure projection methods,...). Instead, a hyperbolic equation for the pressure is used in this study for unsteady problems. The current work investigates integration of the hyperbolic pressure equation as part of a reactive full potential flow model.
MTBF Confidence Bounds Based on MIL-STD-781C Fixed-Length Test Results

Exact confidence bounds are available for the parameter θ of an exponential distribution in the case of Type II (failure) censored samples, but not in the case of Type I (time) censored samples. In...
Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart disease (CHD) represents a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by cardiovascular anomalies that are present from birth. These abnormalities vary from simple isolated lesions such as an isolated bicuspid aortic valve to complex syndromes characterized by multiple cardiovascular abnormalities, such as Noonan’s syndrome. The clinician treating patients with CHD takes on a daunting task because they must fully understand not only the anatomy and hemodynamics of the “normal” cardiovascular system but also the perturbations present in patients with a wide mix of unoperated and post-operative congenital cardiovascular defects. Added is the burden of calculating the effects of acquired diseases that develop in a growing, aging CHD population.
Fiber optic sensors for subsea structural health monitoring

Abstract: Subsea structures operate in very harsh conditions and their operation and lifetime may be compromised by natural or manmade hazards and accelerated aging processes. Access to these structures for maintenance or repair purposes is difficult, expensive and requires trained personnel and sophisticated equipment. Structural Health Monitoring is a process that can provide important information about structural conditions and help increase safety and optimize maintenance and repair activities. Fiber optic technology has enabled reliable, stable, and robust sensors that can operate in subsea environment in long terms. This chapter presents the main fiber optic sensors (FOS) principles, the methods of their implementation, and their potential in subsea applications.
Mathematical Structural Realism

Unrestricted or global scientific realism is the view that we should take seriously the whole content of empirically successful scientific theories. This attitude requires us to believe that the theoretical claims of the theory are true, or approximately true, and that scientific progress consists in increasing the scope and accuracy of these theories. A series of devastating objections to this position has been developed based on an examination of both the history and practice of science. On the history side, it is arguable that a majority of empirically successful scientific theories are not anywhere near approximately true as we now have evidence that the entities they posited do not exist. The practice of contemporary science raises different and more subtle concerns. Here we find scientists engaging in a wide array of seemingly ad hoc techniques of idealization and approximation. This suggests that we cannot explain the success of our theories by appeal to their truth as the assumptions deployed in the application of these theories have little bearing on the truth of the theoretical claims made by the theory.
High-protein diets in trained individuals.

The United States (US) recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram body weight per day (g/kg/d). The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) recently recommended an intake of 1.4-2.0 g/kg/d whereas the United States and Canadian Dietetic Association typically recommend a lower range of 1.2 to 1.7 g/kg/d. It is clear that the US RDA for protein is grossly inadequate for exercising individuals; thus, athletes are typically advised to consume twice the RDA. This falls within the range commonly recommended by academic societies. The effect of protein consumption that exceeds these aforementioned guidelines is not entirely known. This review examines the current literature as it pertains to the influence of very high protein intakes in trained individuals (i.e., humans). It is the scientific opinion of the author that athletes should consume at least 2.2 g/kg/d of protein.
Trends in passenger exposure to carbon monoxide inside a vehicle on an arterial highway of the San Francisco Peninsula over 30 years: A longitudinal study.

This paper describes a long-term trend study of passenger exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) inside a vehicle traveling on an arterial highway in northern California. CO exposure was measured during ...
Perinatal exposure to the SSRI paroxetine alters the methylome landscape of the developing dentate gyrus

Evidence in humans and rodents suggests that perinatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants can have serious long-term consequences in offspring exposed in utero or infancy via breast milk. In spite of this, there is limited knowledge of how perinatal SSRI exposure impacts brain development and adult behaviour. Children exposed to SSRIs in utero exhibit increased internalizing behaviour and abnormal social behaviour between the ages of 3 and 6, and increased risk of depression in adolescence; however, the neurobiological changes underlying this behaviour are poorly understood. In rodents, perinatal SSRI exposure perturbs hippocampal gene expression and alters adult emotional behaviour (including increased depression-like behaviour). The present study demonstrates that perinatal exposure to the SSRI paroxetine leads to DNA hypomethylation and reduces DNA methyltransferase 3a (Dnmt3a) mRNA expression in the hippocampus during the second and third weeks of life. Next-generation sequencing identified numerous differentially methylated genomic regions, including altered methylation and transcription of several dendritogenesis-related genes. We then tested the hypothesis that transiently decreasing Dnmt3a expression in the early postnatal hippocampus would mimic the behavioural effects of perinatal SSRI exposure. We found that siRNA-mediated knockdown of Dnmt3a in the dentate gyrus during the second to third week of life produced greater depression-like behaviour in adult female (but not male) offspring, akin to the behavioural consequences of perinatal SSRI exposure. Overall, these data suggest that perinatal SSRI exposure may increase depression-like behaviours, at least in part, through reduced Dnmt3a expression in the developing hippocampus.
The integration of natural capital into development policies

In response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, there has been a rising awareness of the need to address simultaneously the preservation of natural capital stocks and poverty alleviation at multiple scales. Focusing on tropical forest-rich developing countries, the article overviews the extent to which natural capital considerations are integrated into existing development policies and interventions. The review finds that the explicit consideration of natural resources is left out of many commonly applied development interventions, leading to suboptimal and unsustainable outcomes. The interventions that do tackle both development and conservation goals are often not coordinated and are implemented at a site-by-site basis, without providing the socially efficient levels of natural capital stocks or ensuring the long-term sustainability of the development and conservation impacts. Bringing in perspectives from development economics, environmental economics, and applied conservation, this article makes the case for a better integration of development and conservation goals in interventions in developing countries and outlines the emerging frontiers for research and policy.
Fourier-filtering based size-encoded images for label-free tracking of sub-cellular organelles in neurons

Mitochondrial dynamics such as fission, fusion and movement can reveal the physiological status of neurons and, most importantly, serve as diagnostic measures for several neurodegenerative diseases. Traditionally fluorescent probes have been used to track mitochondrial dynamics in neurons. However, neurons show low transfection efficiency, presenting challenges for the use of genetically-encoded fluorescent markers. Alternatively, synthetic fluorescent dyes are shown to hinder mitochondrial motility. In addition, all types of fluorescent probes are subject to photo-bleaching which precludes imaging for longer periods of time. To circumvent these issues, we propose a light-scattering based label-free technique called Optical Scatter Imaging (OSI) that is sensitive to changes in morphology. In this work, we employ a previously reported label-free parameter to probe the change in the size of organelles such as mitochondria as they undergo fusion or fission in neurons. In addition, we present a technique to track organelle motion using kymographs obtained from the label-free images and compare them with those obtained from fluorescent images. We demonstrate that the label-free kymograph can track organelles such as mitochondria even after the sample is photo-bleached.
Epidemiology of Chronic HCV

The global prevalence of chronic hepatitis C is estimated to be more than 170 million and there are currently 3–4 million cases in the United States. Although the peak incidence of infection occurred between 1970 and 1990, the high rate of chronicity explains the persistently large pool of individuals with chronic infection. The most common risk factor is intravenous drug use, though transfusion was a common cause before the identification of the causative agent and introduction of donor testing in 1990. As the pool of persons with chronic hepatitis C ages, the prevalence will decline as this individuals age and die of natural causes Please check whether it should be “the prevalence will decline as these individuals age and die of natural causes” instead of “the prevalence will decline as this individuals age and die of natural causes”. However, concurrent with this aging and the ever increasing duration of their infection, they are at increased risk of developing advanced fibrosis, hepatic decompensation, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Indeed, the proportion of chronically infected persons with cirrhosis has been estimated to reach 45% in 2030 and complications such as hepatic decompensation and liver cancer will continue to increase for another 10–13 years. Current treatment patterns will have little effect on these complications, but better identification of infected persons, wider application of antiviral treatment, and better responses with new agents could significantly reduce the impact of this disease in coming years.
HeNet: A Deep Learning Approach on Intel® Processor Trace for Effective Exploit Detection

This paper presents HeNet, a hierarchical ensemble neural network, applied to classify hardware-generated control flow traces for malware detection. Deep learning-based malware detection has so far focused on analyzing executable files and runtime API calls. Static code analysis approaches face challenges due to obfuscated code and adversarial perturbations. Behavioral data collected during execution is more difficult to obfuscate but recent research has shown successful attacks against API call based malware classifiers. We investigate control flow based characterization of a program execution to build robust deep learning malware classifiers. HeNet consists of a low-level behavior model and a top-level ensemble model. The low-level model is a per-application behavior model, trained via transfer learning on a time-series of images generated from control flow trace of an execution. We use Intel® Processor Trace enabled processor for low overhead execution tracing and design a lightweight image conversion and segmentation of the control flow trace. The top-level ensemble model aggregates the behavior classification of all the trace segments and detects an attack. The use of hardware trace adds portability to our system and the use of deep learning eliminates the manual effort of feature engineering. We evaluate HeNet against real-world exploitations of PDF readers. HeNet achieves 100% accuracy and 0% false positive on test set, and higher classification accuracy compared to classical machine learning algorithms.
Preventing iatrogenic gelatin anaphylaxis

Abstract Objective To assess the iatrogenic risks of gelatin allergy and identify resources for patient management. Data Sources A literature review was performed using PubMed and public databases provided by the National Library of Medicine. Study Selections Reports of iatrogenic gelatin allergy associated with vaccines, hemostatic agents, intravenous colloids, medicinal capsules, and intraoperative surgical supplies. Results Gelatin ingredients may not be identified by electronic medical record safeguards, and an exhaustive listing of potential iatrogenic exposures is elusive. The National Library of Medicine AccessGUDID ( https://accessgudid.nlm.nih.gov/ ) can be a useful resource in evaluating medical devices for gelatin content. Unexpected sources of iatrogenic gelatin exposure include hemostatic agents, vascular grafts, intravascular cannulas, bone replacement implants, and emergency resuscitation fluids. Conclusion Vigilance is important within medical systems to avoid inadvertent gelatin exposure when caring for patients with gelatin allergy. Additional safeguards are needed to remove latent health care system errors that fail to prevent gelatin administration in this at-risk population.
Is Climate Change a Crisis – And Who Says So? An Analysis of Climate Characterization in Major U.S. News Media

This study measures characterizations of global climate change as an actual or impending “crisis” in major U.S. news media over several years to assess levels of alarm over climate change and relat...
A Feasibility Study to Develop and Test a Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management Mobile Health Application for HIV-Related Fatigue.

Abstract Context Exacerbated by life stressors, fatigue is the most common symptom for people living with HIV. Objective To adapt, develop, and assess the feasibility of a Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management Mobile Health (CBSM mHealth) application (app) for HIV-related fatigue. Methods This study had two phases: app development with key informants (N = 5) and a randomized controlled trial (N = 30). Patients randomized to the intervention group completed 10 weekly CBSM modules; those in the control group received a generic healthy lifestyle app. Measures included HIV-related fatigue, depression, anxiety, stressful life events, CD4 count, HIV viral load, credibility and acceptability of the intervention, and barriers to treatment participation. Results We were able to recruit participants for this study, and they were able to complete the required measures. They found the intervention to be credible and acceptable and reported few barriers to treatment participation. The direction of change in the primary outcome, a decrease in fatigue, is in the expected direction and provides evidence of the promise of the intervention, which still needs to be tested in an adequately powered trial. For completers (randomized to the intervention group and completed at least 80% of the modules), there were significant changes (95% CI; lower scores indicate improvement) in fatigue intensity (from 64.2 to 59.7) and overall fatigue-related functioning (from 6.6 to 4.2). Conclusion We have proof of concept as to the feasibility, acceptability, and initial signals of efficacy for an mHealth intervention to help people with HIV-related fatigue better cope with stress and reduce their fatigue.
Data-Driven Kinetic Cyber-Attack Detection

In this chapter, we will present a data-driven defense mechanism in cyber-physical systems against kinetic cyber-attacks. Kinetic cyber-attacks cause physical damage to the system from the cyber-domain. In cyber-physical manufacturing, kinetic cyber-attacks are realized by introducing flaws in the design of the 3D objects. These flaws may eventually compromise the structural integrity of the printed objects. In CPS, researchers have designed various attack detection method to detect the attacks on the integrity of the system. However, in cyber-physical additive manufacturing, attack detection method is still in its infancy. Moreover, analog emissions (such as acoustics, electromagnetic emissions, etc.) from the side-channels have not been fully considered as a parameter for attack detection. This chapter presents a novel attack detection method that is able to detect zero-day kinetic cyber-attacks by identifying anomalous analog emissions which arise as an outcome of the attack. This is achieved by statistically estimating functions that map the relation between the analog emissions and the corresponding cyber-domain data (such as G-code) to model the behavior of the system. We will then present the analysis of the proposed method to detect potential zero-day kinetic cyber-attacks in fused deposition modeling based cyber-physical additive manufacturing systems.
Crescendo: Engaging Students to Self-Paced Programming Practices

This paper introduces Crescendo, a self-paced programming practice environment that combines the block-based and visual, interactive programming of Snap!, with the structured practices commonly found in Drill-and-Practice Environments. Crescendo supports students with Parsons problems to reduce problem complexity, Use-Modify-Create task progressions to gradually introduce new programming concepts, and automated feedback and assessment to support learning. In this work, we report on our experience deploying Crescendo in a programming camp for middle school students, as well as in an introductory university course for non-majors. Our initial results from field observations and log data suggest that the support features in Crescendo kept students engaged and allowed them to progress through programming concepts quickly. However, some students still struggled even with these highly-structured problems, requiring additional assistance, suggesting that even strong scaffolding may be insufficient to allow students to progress independently through the tasks.
ERAS in Spine Surgery

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs afford the opportunity to remedy several challenges within spine surgery. Increasing surgical demand, rising costs, and variability in outcomes favor the need for development of ERAS recommendations in spine surgery. Therefore, official guideline recommendations will likely be published in the coming year. These guidelines were completed following a comprehensive literature search for each of 16 enhanced recovery topics. The majority of interventions remain similar to ERAS recommendations in other subspecialties, consisting primarily of preoperative education and health optimization strategies, multimodal medication protocols during the intraoperative and postoperative periods, and early mobilization with rehabilitation following surgery. Prior to the advent of published ERAS recommendations in spine surgery, several programs have already successfully implemented elements of enhanced recovery for a variety of spine procedures. The success of these programs provides stronger evidence for the utility of ERAS within spine surgery and demonstrates that full implementation of an ERAS program will likely improve recovery for these patients. International and multidisciplinary collaboration will serve to guide ERAS implementation into the future of spine surgery.
A Complex Convolution Kernel-Based Optical Displacement Sensor

During the last decade, a variety of optical displacement measurement techniques have been developed, commercialized and widely used. This paper presents a new type of optical displacement sensor that improves on the prior art with higher sub-pixel resolution, better accuracy, and better computation efficiency. The Complex Convolution Kernel-Based Optical Sensor (KBOS) developed in this paper leverages the phase-magnitude representation of a complex valued kernel function to achieve a superior optical displacement sensor for 2D motion measurements. The sensor’s performance and properties are quantified in terms of its ability to compute the marker motions. Evaluation of this metric will explain how the sensor is able to achieve superior performance over the state of the art. The design is then validated with a set of experiments over a range of operating conditions to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach over other existing displacement measurement techniques. Finally, the sensor’s capability is compared qualitatively against other state of the art optical displacement sensors found in the literature. The sensor is shown to possess a subpixel resolution of between 1/100 and 1/2500 of a pixel depending upon spatial sampling density. The sensors dynamic range was investigated and shown to be only limited by the camera sampling speeds.
Patients' reasons for missing scheduled clinic appointments and their solutions at a major urban-based academic medical center.

Patients that do not show up for scheduled clinic appointments affect the quality of healthcare provided. This study aimed to recognize the reasons behind missing scheduled appointments and underst...
The quest to develop an effective therapy for neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a common solid extracranial tumor developing in pediatric populations. NB can spontaneously regress or grow and metastasize displaying resistance to therapy. This tumor is derived from primitive cells, mainly those of the neural crest, in the sympathetic nervous system and usually develops in the adrenal medulla and paraspinal ganglia. Our understanding of the molecular characteristics of human NBs continues to advance documenting abnormalities at the genome, epigenome, and transcriptome levels. The high-risk tumors have MYCN oncogene amplification, and the MYCN transcriptional regulator encoded by the MYCN oncogene is highly expressed in the neural crest. Studies on the biology of NB has enabled a more precise risk stratification strategy and a concomitant reduction in the required treatment in an expanding number of cases worldwide. However, newer treatment strategies are mandated to improve outcomes in pediatric patients who are at high-risk and display relapse. To improve outcomes and survival rates in such high-risk patients, it is necessary to use a multicomponent therapeutic approach. Accuracy in clinical staging of the disease and assessment of the associated risks based on biological, clinical, surgical, and pathological criteria are of paramount importance for prognosis and to effectively plan therapeutic approaches. This review discusses the staging of NB and the biological and genetic features of the disease and several current therapies including targeted delivery of chemotherapy, novel radiation therapy, and immunotherapy for NB.
Asperity contact under creep conditions

Abstract For most metal forming processes, friction is generated at contacting asperities and usually attributed to adhesion for the common case of smooth tooling. In certain superplastic forming operations, creep is a major deformation mechanism, and realistic simulations require surface contact models that incorporate creep. In the present work, a single asperity/rigid tool contact under a constant pressure was modeled using an elastic-creep constitutive model. Finite element modeling with a design of experiments methodology was used to characterize the main parameters that affect asperity contact, and through the incorporation of a physics-based model, were used to derive a new contact area expression based on a characteristic time of the asperity deformation.
Optimal energy storage portfolio for high and ultrahigh carbon-free and renewable power systems

Achieving 100% carbon-free or renewable power systems can be facilitated by the deployment of energy storage technologies at all timescales, including short-duration, long-duration, and seasonal scales; however, most current literature focuses on cost assessments of energy storage for a given timescale or type of technology. Here, we use an optimization framework with high spatial and temporal resolution to simultaneously assess the variable renewable power deployment and the optimal storage portfolio for seven independent system operators in the United States. Results indicate that achieving high (75–90%) and ultrahigh (>90%) energy mixes requires combining several flexibility options, including renewable curtailment, short-duration, long-duration, and seasonal storage. For instance, carbon-free and renewable energy mix targets of up to 80% are achieved with economic curtailment and a combination of short- and long-duration energy storage for the performance and cost assumptions used. After that, there is a point between 80% and 95% where seasonal storage becomes cost-competitive, depending on the specific power system. Moreover, our results indicate that storage-to-storage operation—one storage device used to charge another storage device—and the decoupling of charging and discharging storage power capacity are cost-effective options for the integration of high and ultrahigh shares of carbon-free or renewable power sources. Additionally, the results from this study show that an 85% carbon-free or renewable energy mix can be achieved at a cost of avoided CO2 emissions of US$66.0 per tonne or less, regardless of the power system.
Sharing Research Opportunities on Personal Social Media Accounts and Fair Subject Selection

Given that many clinical research studies struggle to meet their recruitment goals (Desai 2020), researchers are eager to identify and employ strategies that will maximize reach to eligible and int...
Computation-efficient and compact FPGA design for a real-time wearable arrhythmia-detector

Abstract The epidemic of diabetes, obesity and unhealthy lifestyles have highly contributed to increasing number of patients with heart problems. Wearable fitness trackers are not accurate enough in heart problem detection and the current software-based algorithms, when implemented in devices like smartwatches are not efficient in terms of hardware resource utilization and computational speed. To address these limitations, this paper proposes an automated heartbeat classifying hardware chip-design which can be placed in any kind of wearable device for real-time cardiac monitoring that would help to ensure early diagnosis of any kind of cardiac abnormality. The algorithm burnt on the hardware is a modification of the Pan-Tompkins beat-detection algorithm to which a novel classifier algorithm is added. It exhibits high computational speed with an accuracy of 99.65% in extremely noisy situations, when applied on the MIT/BIH arrhythmia database. The hardware utilization on the SPARTAN-6 FPGA for the presented design is just 32% allowing space for much more multi-tasking and upgrading to be done when implemented on a wearable device as an ASIC.
Treatment of Radiation-Induced Meningiomas With Non-Invasive Stereotactic Radiosurgery.

Purpose/objective(s) Radiation-Induced Meningiomas (RIMs) are one of the most common secondary malignancies from prior brain irradiation and are known to be recurrent. While Gamma Knife (GK) radiosurgery is routinely employed for the treatment of sporadic meningiomas, data on its use for RIMs are limited. Here, we assessed whether the use of GK radiosurgery for RIMs can achieve > 80% local control at 1 year. Materials/methods We retrospectively reviewed our institution's GK database from 08/31/99 - 10/08/20. Meningiomas were considered radiation-induced if they met Cahan's criteria: (1) occurred after brain radiation for a previous neoplasm, (2) were within the previous radiation field, and (3) had a distinct histology or radiographic appearance from previously treated neoplasm. Patients with a genetic predisposition for tumor formation were excluded. Endpoints included overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), local failure (within 2cm of GK field), and distant failure. Toxicity was assessed using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0. Results A total of 29 patients with 86 RIM lesions were identified from 1999 to 2020 and followed for a median of 59 months. Of these patients, 20 had WHO grade I (n = 4) or presumed grade I (n = 20) RIMs and 5 had WHO grade II RIMs. The median latency time from previous brain irradiation to initial SRS was 26 years. The median dose prescribed to the 50% isodose line was 14 Gy (range 12-20 Gy) with a median lesion volume of 2 cm3. The actuarial 5-yr OS and 5-yr PFS were 95% and 70%, respectively. Patients who were treated for recurrent RIMs after previous surgery had a significantly lower 5-yr OS (88% vs 100%; log-rank, P Conclusion This is the largest series of RIM lesions treated with GK radiosurgery. RIMs are associated with a high OS and GK radiosurgery provides satisfactory PFS and local control. Recurrent and WHO grade II lesions are associated with lower PFS and local control after radiosurgery than upfront and WHO grade I lesions. The majority of failures after GK are distant. Treatment using GK radiosurgery has minimal morbidity. It should be considered for patients or tumors that are not candidates for surgical resection. Author disclosure N.Razavian: None. C.A.Helis: None. A.Laxton: None. S.B. Tatter: None. J.Bourland: None. R.T. Mott: None. G.J. Lesser: None. R.Strowd: None. M.D. Chan: None. C.K. Cramer: None.
AI-assisted Cell-Level Fault Detection and Localization in Solar PV Electroluminescence Images

With the increasing adaption of solar energy worldwide, there is a huge interest to develop systems that help drive efficiency during manufacturing and ongoing operations. Due to various real-world conditions and processes, solar panels develop faults during their manufacturing and operations. The objective of this work is to build an End-to-End Fault Detection system to detect and localize faults in solar panels based on their Electroluminescence (EL) Imaging. Today, the majority of fault detection happens through manual inspection of EL images. To this end, we propose the design and implementation of an end-to-end system that firstly divides the solar panel into individual solar cells and then passes these cell images through a classification + detection pipeline for identifying the fault type and localizing the faults inside a cell. We propose a hybrid architecture that contains an ensemble of multiple CNN model architectures for classification and detection. The ensemble is capable of serving both - monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels. The proposed system significantly helps in increasing the efficiency of solar panels and reducing warranty and repair costs. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed system using an open EL image dataset with 95% of cell-level fault prediction accuracy and high recall. The proposed algorithms are applicable and can be extended for other solar applications that use RGB, EL, or thermal imaging techniques.
Middle-income countries - development challenges and growing global role

There has been much debate recently about the role of international development institutions, such as the World Bank in middle-income countries. Some observers have suggested that middle-income countries have reached a stage in their economic development that calls into question the rationale for development institutions' continued engagement in these countries. But the authors find that middle-income countries continue to face significant development challenges. The nature of these challenges varies substantially, but all of these countries face an agenda calling for continued partnership with the international development community. Middle-income countries still have high levels of poverty. They are home to more than three-quarters of the world's poor (those living on less than U$S 2 a day). Poverty is pervasive in some middle-income countries, while in others the problem is one of major concentrations of poverty in backward areas. And recent crises have revealed the fragility of some of the gains against poverty in these countries. On the policy front, some countries have made great strides in reform, but many lag considerable behind, and even among the advanced reformers, the unfinished policy agenda is substantial. The countries' institutional capacity to manage reform varies greatly. So does their integration with the global economy. Many middle-income countries still have little access to international capital markets, and even those with better access, must contend with volatility in private capital flows. Beyond the need to assist middle-income countries in addressing these challenges, the case for continued engagement by international development institutions, derives from the increasing importance of these countries for a range of global public goods. With their growing role, and integration in the global economy, partnership with middle-income countries is a key element of global collective action, in such areas as reducing global poverty, maintaining international financial stability, improving global economic governance, protecting the global environmental commons, and fighting systemic health threats.
Comparison of Hup Trait and Intrinsic Antibiotic Resistance for Assessing Rhizobial Competitiveness Axenically and in Soil

The competitiveness of dual-strain inocula of cowpea rhizobia for nodulation of Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. was studied axenically between one slow-growing strain (P132, HP147, 401, or 22A1) and one fast-growing strain (176A26 or 176A28) at logarithmic inoculum ratios ranging from 103 to 10−3. Nodule infectivity was determined by multiple intrinsic antibiotic resistance, since both fast-growing strains were sensitive. Different hydrogen uptake (Hup) efficiencies of dual-strain inocula allowed for the comparison of an indirect rapid method. Infectivity data based on antibiotic resistance and Hup efficiency were fit to linearized fractile plots of log-normal distributions to determine CAB (percent infectivity at a 1:1 inoculum density) or I50 (inoculum ratio at 50% infectivity). The slow growers were always better competitors and had I50 values which ranged from 7 to 160,000 and CAB values which ranged from 62 to 97%. P132 was the best competitor of all those tested. Antibiotic resistance and Hup efficiency methods were in agreement with 401 (Hup−) and 176A26 (Hup+), but the Hup efficiency method overestimated the I50 index with 22A1 (Hup−) and 176A28 (Hup+). The competition of each of the four slow-growing strains with indigenous rhizobia was examined in Cajanus cajan from three tropical soils. Nodule infectivity for all strains ranged from 42 to 96%, and P132 was the best competitor in all the soils. Hup efficiency overestimated infectivity by about 2-fold when Hup+ inocula (P132 and HP147) were used but underestimated infectivity by more than 100-fold when Hup− inocula (401 and 22A1) were used. Although the Hup trait has limited quantitative usage axenically, it is only qualitative in soil competition studies and can only be used with Hup+ inocula.
A neighborhood dependent nonlinear technique for color image enhancement

An image enhancement algorithm based on a neighborhood dependent nonlinear model is presented to improve visual quality of digital images captured under extremely non-uniform lighting conditions. The paper presents techniques for adaptive and simultaneous intensity enhancement of extremely dark and bright images, contrast enhancement, and color restoration. The core idea of the algorithm is a nonlinear sine transfer function with an image dependent parameter. Adaptive computation of the control parameter increases flexibility in enhancing the dark regions and compressing overexposed regions in an image. A neighborhood dependent approach is employed for contrast enhancement. A linear color restoration process is used to obtain color image from the enhanced intensity image by utilizing the chromatic information of the original image. It is observed that the proposed algorithm yields visually optimal results on images captured under extreme lighting conditions, and also on images with bright and dark regions.
Amiodarone-Induced Thyrotoxicosis in a Patient With Post-Ablative Hypothyroidism Controlled for 50 Years Presenting as Psychosis

Thyroid gland abnormalities and atrial fibrillation are common medical conditions that occur in the geriatric patient. We present a case of an 85-year-old female with a remote history of radioiodine ablation of the thyroid, on levothyroxine therapy who developed amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis. Patient was initiated on amiodarone for history of chronic atrial fibrillation 5 months prior to admission. She presented with acute psychosis in the form of visual hallucinations due to thyrotoxicity. The goal of this article is to review the effects of amiodarone on the thyroid gland and emphasize presentation of hyperthyroidism in an elderly patient. J Med Cases. 2015;6(11):488-490 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jmc2317w
Role of Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis in Replication of Deoxyribonucleic Acid

An experiment previously interpreted to show a ribonucleic acid requirement for propagation of deoxyribonucleic replication is reexamined and the earlier interpretation is shown to be incorrect.
Frequency of post-traumatic osteoarthritis in dogs after repair of a humeral condylar fracture

The frequency of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTO) in the dog after repair of a humeral condylar fracture (HCF) and the relationship of fracture reduction to outcome is unknown. The objectives of this study were to determine the frequency of PTO in dogs after HCF repair and to determine the relationship between fracture reduction, limb function and follow-up osteo-arthrosis (OA) score. All dogs were evaluated by physical and radiographic examinations and dogs with unilateral fracture repair were also examined by force platform gait analysis. Initial and follow-up radio-graphs were scored for reduction and evidence of osteoarthrosis using previously published grading scales. This study evaluated 15 fractures in 13 dogs with a mean follow-up time of 43 months. Osteo-arthrosis developed or progressed radiographically in all elbows. Peak vertical force (PVF) was significantly reduced (p
To Identify Associations with Rare Variants, Just WHaIT: Weighted Haplotype and Imputation-Based Tests

Empirical evidences suggest that both common and rare variants contribute to complex disease etiology. Although the effects of common variants have been thoroughly assessed in recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS), our knowledge of the impact of rare variants on complex diseases remains limited. A number of methods have been proposed to test for rare variant association in sequencing-based studies, a study design that is becoming popular but is still not economically feasible. On the contrary, few (if any) methods exist to detect rare variants in GWAS data, the data we have collected on thousands of individuals. Here we propose two methods, a weighted haplotype-based approach and an imputation-based approach, to test for the effect of rare variants with GWAS data. Both methods can incorporate external sequencing data when available. We evaluated our methods and compared them with methods proposed in the sequencing setting through extensive simulations. Our methods clearly show enhanced statistical power over existing methods for a wide range of population-attributable risk, percentage of disease-contributing rare variants, and proportion of rare alleles working in different directions. We also applied our methods to the IFIH1 region for the type 1 diabetes GWAS data collected by the Wellcome Trust Case-Control Consortium. Our methods yield p values in the order of 10−3, whereas the most significant p value from the existing methods is greater than 0.17. We thus demonstrate that the evaluation of rare variants with GWAS data is possible, particularly when public sequencing data are incorporated.