cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Functions with a Proper Local Maximum in Each Interval

Let f: R -+ R be a real function. We say that f has a proper local maximum at x e R provided there exists an open neighborhood V of x such that f(y) < f(x) for all y E V (x}. In 1900 A. Schoenflies [3, p. 158] noted that for any functionf, the set of points at whichf has a proper local maximum is at most countable. (This is easy to see: Let B denote the set of all open intervals in R with rational end points; so B is a countable base for the usual topology on R. For each proper local maximum x of f, pick Vx e B such that f(y) < f(x) for all y E Vx (x). The correspondence x -f Vx is one-to-one.) It is trivial to sketch the graph of a continuous function f: R -R which has a proper local maximum at infinitely many points in [0, 1], say at each point in the set (1 /n: n = 1, 2, * } U (0}. This brings up the question: Does there exist a continuous functionf: R -3 R which has a proper local maximum at each point of a countable dense set? It is not easy to visualize the graph of such a continuous function, but the answer to the question is known to be "yes." In [1, p. 63, Thm. 3] it was proved that each parameter function of a completely wild arc in R3 will be a continuous function having a proper local maximum at each point of a countable dense set. This result provides an "existence theorem" for such functions, but the concept of such arcs is not very intuitive. The purpose of this note is to construct, in a straightforward way, a simple example of a continuous function f: R -R which has a proper local maximum at each rational point. This function will be the uniform limit of functions which are easy to visualize. In this sense the construction is analogous to several well-known constructions of continuous nowhere differentiable functions (e.g. [2, p. 141, Thm. 7.18]), and provides a reasonable exercise for a real analysis course.
The “Up” corpus: A corpus of speech samples across adulthood

Author(s): Gahl, S; Cibelli, E; Hall, K; Sprouse, R | Abstract: We describe a speech corpus based on the "Up" series of documentary films by director Michael Apted, showing a set of individuals at seven year intervals over a period of 42 years. The corpus is meant to facilitate phonetic, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic research on age-related change in speech during young and middle-age adulthood. The corpus contains audio files, transcripts time-aligned at the level of utterance, word, and segment, F0 and vowel formant measurements of portions of the films, featuring eleven participants at ages 21 through 49. The corpus is freely available to researchers upon request.
Retinal input induces three firing patterns in neurons of the superficial superior colliculus of neonatal rats.

Retinal input induces three firing patterns in neurons of the superficial superior colliculus of neonatal rats. By using an in vitro isolated brain stem preparation, we recorded extracellular respo...
The Fractional Laplacian

The fractional Laplacian in one dimension Random walkers with constant steps Ordinary diffusion Random jumpers Central limit theorem and stable distributions Power-law probability jump lengths A principal-value integral Wires and springs The fractional Laplacian Fourier transform Effect of fractional order Numerical computation of the fractional Laplacian Green's function of the fractional Laplace equation Fractional Poisson equation in a restricted domain Green's function of unsteady fractional diffusion Numerical discretization in one dimension Computation of a principal-value integral Fractional Laplacian differentiation matrix Fractional Poisson equation Evolution under fractional diffusion Differentiation by spectral expansion Further concepts in one dimension Fractional first derivative Properties of the fractional first derivative Laplacian potential Fractional derivatives from finite-difference stencils Fractional third derivative Fractional fourth derivative Periodic functions Sine, cosines, and the complete Fourier series Cosine Fourier series Sine Fourier series Green's functions Integral representation of the periodic Laplacian Numerical discretization Periodic differentiation matrix Differentiation by spectral expansion Embedding of the fractional Poisson equation The fractional Laplacian in three dimensions Stipulation on the Fourier transform Integral representation Fractional gradient Laplacian potential Green's function of the fractional Laplace equation The Riesz potential Triply periodic Green's function Fractional Poisson equation Evolution under fractional diffusion Periodic functions and arbitrary domains Fractional Stokes flow The fractional Laplacian in two dimensions Stipulation on the Fourier transform Integral representation Fractional gradient Laplacian potential Green's function of the fractional Laplace equation The Riesz potential Doubly periodic Green's function Fractional Poisson equation Evolution due to fractional diffusion Periodic functions and arbitrary domains Appendix A: Selected definite integrals Appendix B: The Gamma function Appendix C: The Gaussian distribution Appendix D: The fractional Laplacian in arbitrary dimensions Appendix E: Fractional derivatives Appendix F: Aitken extrapolation of an infinite sum References Index
Effect of MgO content in sinter on the softening–melting behavior of mixed burden made from chromium-bearing vanadium–titanium magnetite

The effect of sinter with different MgO contents on the softening–melting behavior of mixed burden made from chromium- bearing vanadium–titanium magnetite was investigated. The results show that with increasing MgO content in the sinter, the softening interval and melting interval increased and the location of the cohesive zone shifted downward slightly and became moderately thicker. The softening–melting characteristic value was less pronounced when the MgO content in the sinter was 2.98wt%–3.40wt%. Increasing MgO content in the sinter reduced the content and recovery of V and Cr in the dripped iron. In addition, greater MgO contents in the sinter resulted in the generation of greater amounts of high-melting-point components, which adversely affected the permeability of the mixed burden. When the softening–melting behavior of the mixed burden and the recovery of valuable elements were taken into account, proper MgO contents in the sinter and slag ranged from 2.98wt% to 3.40wt% and from 11.46wt% to 12.72wt%, respectively, for the smelting of burden made from chromium-bearing vanadium–titanium magnetite in a blast furnace.
Varicella-Zoster Virus Downregulates Programmed Death Ligand 1 and Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I in Human Brain Vascular Adventitial Fibroblasts, Perineurial Cells, and Lung Fibroblasts

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vasculopathy produces stroke, giant cell arteritis, and granulomatous aortitis, and it develops after virus reactivates from ganglia and spreads transaxonally to arterial adventitia, resulting in persistent inflammation and pathological vascular remodeling. The mechanism(s) by which inflammatory cells persist in VZV-infected arteries is unknown; however, virus-induced dysregulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) may play a role. Specifically, PD-L1 can be expressed on virtually all nucleated cells and suppresses the immune system by interacting with the programmed cell death protein receptor 1, found exclusively on immune cells; thus, downregulation of PD-L1 may promote inflammation, as seen in some autoimmune diseases. Both flow cytometry and immunofluorescence analyses to test whether VZV infection of adventitial cells downregulates PD-L1 showed decreased PD-L1 expression in VZV-infected compared to mock-infected human brain vascular adventitial fibroblasts (HBVAFs), perineural cells (HPNCs), and fetal lung fibroblasts (HFLs) at 72 h postinfection. Quantitative RT-PCR analyses showed no change in PD-L1 transcript levels between mock- and VZV-infected cells, indicating a posttranscriptional mechanism for VZV-mediated downregulation of PD-L1. Flow cytometry analyses showed decreased major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) expression in VZV-infected cells and adjacent uninfected cells compared to mock-infected cells. These data suggest that reduced PD-L1 expression in VZV-infected adventitial cells contribute to persistent vascular inflammation observed in virus-infected arteries from patients with VZV vasculopathy, while downregulation of MHC-I prevents viral clearance. Importance Here, we provide the first demonstration that VZV downregulates PD-L1 expression in infected HBVAFs, HPNCs, and HFLs, which, together with the noted VZV-mediated downregulation of MHC-I, might foster persistent inflammation in vessels, leading to pathological vascular remodeling during VZV vasculopathy and persistent inflammation in infected lungs to promote subsequent infection of T cells and hematogenous virus spread. Identification of a potential mechanism by which persistent inflammation in the absence of effective viral clearance occurs in VZV vasculopathy and VZV infection of the lung is a step toward targeted therapy of VZV-induced disease.
Current controversies in brain death determination

Although the concept of brain death is accepted by the majority of physicians, lawyers, ethicists and society at large, controversies about determination of death by neurological criteria persist, and often reach the public eye. In this article, we examine four prominent controversial brain death cases from 2013-2016. We review current controversies, including protocol variability, recognition of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) criteria for brain death as an accepted medical standard, and management of objections to discontinuation of organ support after determination of brain death. Brain death remains conceptually and legally valid, and it is vital that these issues are solved. We argue that medical societies and governmental regulatory bodies must support the AAN criteria in order to decrease protocol variability, and must fully endorse the validity of these criteria as accepted medical standards.
Turbulence intensity effects on heat transfer and fluid-flow for a circular cylinder in crossflow

Abstract The intrinsically unsteady heat transfer on the surface of a cylinder in crossflow has been investigated in detail by numerical simulation as a function of the freestream turbulence intensity and the Reynolds number. After a brief startup transient, a periodic steady state is established at all circumferential locations. The resulting timewise fluctuations were seen to be of different phase depending on where on the circumference they occur. On one side of the cylinder, maxima occurred at the same moment in time as minima occurred on the other side. This finding and comparisons of the magnitudes of the local heat transfer coefficients showed that side-to-side symmetry does not prevail in the presence of the unsteadiness. The fluctuation frequencies were found to be virtually uniform over the entire circumference of the cylinder and varied only slightly with the Reynolds number and the turbulence intensity. The full slate of results included: (a) timewise and circumferential variations of the local heat transfer coefficient, (b) timewise variations of the all-angle spatial-averaged heat transfer coefficient, (c) spatial variations of the timewise-averaged heat transfer coefficient, (d) spatial- and timewise-averaged heat transfer coefficients as a function of turbulence intensity and Reynolds number, (e) timewise fluctuation frequencies, (f) comparisons with the experimental literature, and (g) effect of the selected turbulence model. As expected, the magnitude of the heat transfer coefficient increases as the turbulence intensity increases.
Influencing Others Without Formal Authority

This technical note provides suggestions for influencing others when the person doing the influencing does not have formal power or authority. Excerpt uvA-OB-1058 Sept. 23, 2014 Influencing Others Without Formal Authority This note provides suggestions for influencing others when the person doing the influencing does not have formal power or authority. People elected to leadership roles in clubs and similar organizations are said to have “legislative” rather than “executive authority.” Executive power is based on position and title and that the person involved has the competence, capability, resources, and authority to make unilateral decisions. The old cliche “my way or the highway” can be said to apply. People who occupy C-suite positions, such as CEOs, COOs, CIOs, and CFOs, hold executive power and authority and can use it directly at their discretion. People who are elected to leadership positions, such as club presidents, vice presidents, and leaders of social organizations are said to have legislative power, which implies they must lead by example and by convincing, persuading, and encouraging others to follow their lead. This is an ongoing process requiring a great deal of time, energy, and the ability to interact with others. Executive leaders are granted their power for the time they are in office. Legislative leaders have to earn and re-earn their power and influence every day. . . .
Similarities in Zooplankton Abundances and Productivities

The seasonal patterns in abundance and productivity of individual species are too complex to permit much generalization concerning the differences and similarities between species. A more rigorous approach is possible using correlation matrices derived from the variation in population properties with time. Four different comparisons are possible with the population statistics that have been developed up to this point.
African-American Participation in Local Land Use Decisions in the Post-Urban Renewal Era, 1970-2010

It has been well documented that major economic development initiatives in the city of Atlanta are planned by and advance the interests of particular members of the community (Hunter 1953; Stone 1989). However, widespread discontent with the vestiges of urban renewal in the city and a rise in the power of Black elected officials at the local and state level, helped set the political opportunity for an institutionalized mechanism for wider citizen participation in Atlanta’s land use decisions. In 1974, the neighborhood planning unit system was established within the city’s new charter. This new system was designed to give community groups and residents a voice in land use decisions that affected their neighborhoods. The effectiveness of this system over time, especially for Black residents, has not been addressed in previous research. In this paper, I seek to examine how the NPU system affects African- American residents’ ability to advance their land use interests in Atlanta, particularly in the city’s most economically disadvantaged communities. The two main research questions of this paper are: 1. How have the neighborhood planning units provided Black residents with an opportunity to influence land use decisions in their inner-city neighborhoods? 2. Has the NPU system allowed for more democracy in local land-use planning or has it reinforced Atlanta’s tradition of elite-centered governance? I use archival research and interview data to answer these questions.
Changes in mothers' intended duration of breastfeeding from the prenatal to neonatal periods.

BACKGROUND Although previous studies suggest that the intentions of mothers to breastfeed during pregnancy strongly predict actual breastfeeding practice, no studies have examined the changes in the intentions of mothers to breastfeed from the prenatal to neonatal periods. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in intended breastfeeding duration from the prenatal to neonatal periods, their association with actual duration, and predictors for shortened duration. METHODS The Infant Feeding Practices Study II was a longitudinal study of mothers in the United States. Changes to intended breastfeeding duration were calculated as the difference from prenatal to neonatal reports (months); we compared this change to actual breastfeeding duration. By using multivariable logistic regression, we identified maternal characteristics associated with a shortened breastfeeding intention. RESULTS Of 1780 women, 43.7% had no change to intended breastfeeding duration, 35.0% had a shorter intended duration, and 21.3% had a longer intended duration. Mothers with shortened intended duration also had shorter actual duration (P < .001). Women of Hispanic ethnicity, with a prepregnancy body mass index of ≥30 kg/m2 , who were primiparous and who smoked prenatally had increased odds of shortening their breastfeeding intention from prenatal to neonatal reports. A maternal age of ≥35 years was associated with decreased odds of shortened breastfeeding intention. CONCLUSION Approximately one in three women shorten their intended breastfeeding duration during the early postpartum period, which negatively affects the actual duration of their breastfeeding. Women may need additional support during the early postpartum period to meet their prenatal breastfeeding intentions.
Implementing Usability Testing in Introductory Technical Communication Service Courses: Results and Lessons From a Local Study

Introduction: This case study examines students’ and instructors’ experiences with usability testing in technical communication service courses. Research questions: 1. What prior experience do students and instructors have with usability testing? 2. What are their challenges with implementing usability testing in technical communication courses? 3. What are their recommendations for improving their efforts? About the case: This study was conducted in 2012 at a small Midwestern university where students and instructors in four sections of technical communication service courses participated in the study. Situating the case: Most technical communication scholarship focuses on usability practices, methods, or tools, and rarely explicitly addresses its pedagogy, especially the practical challenges faced by our students and instructors . Methods/approach: Data were gathered through preliminary and post-project student surveys and instructor interviews. Thematic coding was used to analyze the data . Results/discussion: Students faced the usual practical challenges such as time and resource constraints and collaboration with users. They found strategies such as using in-class activities, readings, and examples, and working directly with users to be helpful in their usability efforts. Instructors expressed the need for better preparation. Conclusions: Instructors should not only be required to take a usability course that will prepare them to be more effective usability instructors, but they should also incorporate readings and examples that will help students collaborate effectively with users and clients. The study is limited to research participants at one institution. Future research should involve larger, ethnographic studies of diverse students and instructors to address more aspects of usability pedagogy.
Gender and Byline Placement of Co-first Authors in Clinical and Basic Science Journals With High Impact Factors.

This study describes the byline order of gender-discordant co-first authors in 10 clinical and basic science journals with high impact factors.
Vaccinating with Stem Cells to Stop Cancer

In a recent study, Kooreman and colleagues identify a set of genes expressed in both induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and cancer cells. Vaccination of mice with iPSCs induces prophylactic and therapeutic anticancer immunity to shared antigens, opening a possible avenue towards rapid generation of iPSC-based, personalized cancer vaccines.
Vocabularies of vulnerability

Give me your fingers.Under this hair shirt steams the vocabularyof flesh, crosshatched into meaning.– Vievee Francis, Horse in the DarkThis exercise in vocabularies of vulnerability seeks to think ...
Pesticide residue analysis by oxygen flask combustion

Schoniger (1955, 1956) burned organic compounds in an oxygen-filled Erlenmeyer flask prior to analysis of sulfur and halogens. Combustion gases were absorbed by shaking an alkaline solution contained in the flask and analysis of the resulting solution followed. This procedure has been modified by Lisk (1960) and St. John and Lisk (1961) for direct combustion of evaporated crop extracts containing chlorinated pesticides.
The Corrosion Protection of Metals by Conductive Polymers. II. Pitting Corrosion

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the corrosion protection of metals by conductive polymers. The corrosion protection of carbon steel by conductive polymers in an acidic environment proves to be efficient but cannot reduce much of the pitting trend. In the experiment described in the chapter, the Americhem formulated polyaniline (ACl) demonstrated very strong anticorrosion properties in both general corrosion and local corrosion in 3.5% NaCl. On the contrary, most of the commercially available materials lack protection efficiency under the same experimental condition. Considerable pitting current in a drilled hole can be reduced by the application of AC1, and it is technologically important because the easy processing and coating procedures lead to satisfactory mechanical strength. However, the reformulation of polyaniline (PANI) mixed with binder shows that the pitting behaviors of ferrous and nonferrous alloys influenced by intrinsically conductive polymers can be studied by the electrochemical noise (ECN), cathodic protection (CP), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques, which provide a better understanding of the corrosion and pitting mechanisms. Preliminary inert-gas-aeration results indicate that oxygen is not a factor in the early immersion period but becomes important when the protection mode moves to anodic protection.
Three Things to Be Against ('Settlement' Not Included) - A Response to Owen Fiss

Owen Fiss's Against Settlement deserves robust praise and gratitude from those who care about settlement and about litigation. The article helpfully suggested at least three perspectives from which to examine each of those processes. It focused attention on power imbalances and their potentially destructive effects. It raised questions about the pitfalls of agency dynamics, particularly in cases involving significant numbers of disputants. It demanded that we wrestle with what it means for people to have access to the court system and to the justice it promises. All three of these perspectives remain at least as vital today as they were in 1984. Against Settlement deserves robust opposition to the extent it suggests a binary choice between settlement and litigation. If Fiss urges such a choice, the question he poses is not merely a 'Which of your children do you love most?' kind of question. Instead, it is one for which neither answer could possibly be adequate: 'Which is better, food or water?'. Perhaps it is a mis-reading of Fiss to think that he demands a binary choice. But the title Fiss chose and the language he uses in his article make more nuanced readings like these difficult. If Against Settlement means what its language implies - that one could do away with settlement, retain litigation, and be better off for the change - then the article's thesis is flawed both as a theoretical and as a practical matter. We should celebrate the beauty in each process's internal narrative of justice, of truth, of efficiency, of predictability, and even of morality. Proponents of settlement believe not merely in settlement's efficiency, but also in its ability to bring justice, to discover truth(s), and to provide stability. Proponents of litigation embrace the same values. We might usefully engage the empirical question of whether one process or the other does a better job of promoting each of these values. Both settlement and litigation fail on each of these measures with some reliability, and both processes continue to undergo reforms aimed at improving their performances as measured by these values. But to characterize either as unconcerned with any one of these values is simply false. If we set out to compare settlement with litigation, we should do so responsibly. We should compare the idealized vision of settlement with the idealized vision of litigation. Or we should compare the sloppy reality of settlement in practice with the sloppy reality of litigation in practice. But more than anything, we should recognize that settlement and litigation are no longer separate - in practice or in theory. Because settlement and litigation are co-evolved symbiotic processes, to stand against one is to stand against the other. I choose, instead, to be for litigation and for settlement.
Point Estimates, Confidence Intervals, and Tests of Hypotheses

In this chapter, we do two things: (i) explore the relationship of tests of hypotheses to confidence intervals, and (ii) provide a summary of the role of elementary estimates in the deter-mination of point estimates, confidence intervals and test statistics.
Pushing the limit of earthquake detection with distributed acoustic sensing and template matching: a case study at the Brady geothermal field

Template matching has been widely applied in the detection of earthquakes and other seismic events due to its power in detecting weak signals. Recent studies using synthetics have shown that application of template matching to large-N arrays can potentially detect earthquakes substantially below the noise level. Here we apply template matching to the distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) data recorded in the Brady Hot Springs geothermal field, Nevada. Using 5 catalogued events, we detect 116 events and find 68 of them well below the noise level. We confirm 112 events are true earthquakes by examining the patterns of their sensor-to-sensor cross-correlation sections. This demonstrates that the combination of DAS and template matching has capability to detect microseismicity below the noise level, which is unusual for conventional seismic arrays and methods. With the updated catalogue, we observe a surge of earthquakes during the shutdown of a geothermal power plant nearby. In addition, the rapid increases in the downhole pressure record coincide with intense swarms of earthquakes. These observations show a strong correlation between the seismicity frequencies and the downhole pressure changes. Finally, we investigate several factors that may affect the detection performance and compare different strategies for spatial down-sampling, in order to provide helpful insights for future large-N design and data processing.
Mirrors of Bonding in Metal Halide Perovskites

We explore the chemical bonding and band gap in the metal halide perovskites ABX3 (where A is a cation, B a metal dication, and X a halide) through detailed calculations and a qualitative, symmetry-based bonding analysis that moves between chemical and physical viewpoints, covering every aspect of bonding over a range of 15 eV around the band gap. We show how the gap is controlled by metal–halide orbital interactions that give rise to a characteristic mirror of bands, a bonding signpost which first shows up in turning on and off the scalar relativistic effects in computation of the band structure of CsPbBr3. The mirror is made up by a Pb 6s and Br 4p combination that moves in an understandable way through the Brillouin zone, setting the valence band maximum. The mirror is also there when the A cation is changed to an organocation and is robust enough to persist through moderate distortions of the lattice. The analysis predicts how a modification of Pb2+ to Sn2+ and Ge2+ and a variation of the halide X inf...
Fundamentals Of Electronic Resources Management

Written by Alana Verminski and Kelly Marie Blanchat, this book is part of the ALA Fundamentals Series. Verminski is a collection development librarian at the Bailey/Howe Library at the University o...
Handbook of Nanophysics : Principles and Methods

Covering the key theories, tools, and techniques of this dynamic field, Handbook of Nanophysics: Principles and Methods elucidates the general theoretical principles and measurements of nanoscale systems. Each peer-reviewed chapter contains a broad-based introduction and enhances understanding of the state-of-the-art scientific content through fund
Marketing Notes and Communications: Broadening the Concept of Marketing—Too Far

This is a rejoinder to “Broadening the Marketing Concept” which appeared in the January 1969 issue of the JOURNAL OF MARKETING. Exception is taken to the broad concept of marketing advanced in that...
Abstract # 3136 Diurnal variation in immune markers among caregivers of children newly diagnosed with cancer

Many human PNI studies examine associations between psychosocial factors and immune markers assessed at a single time point, without consideration of time of day (TOD). However, immune parameters show circadian variation, and stress exposure may affect these biological rhythms. We examined diurnal variation in immune markers among 120 mothers sampled at 1,6, and 12 months following their child’s cancer diagnosis. Using linear mixed models, we assessed the impact of time of blood draw on monocyte and white blood cell(WBC) concentration, peripheral levels of interleukin(IL)-6, LPS-stimulated levels of IL-6 (whole blood), and glucocorticoid receptor(GR) sensitivity (LPS, hydrocortisone suppression). Controlling for age, education, race, BMI, child’s cancer treatment intensity, and repeated measures, we found significant increases in WBC concentration (B = 1669.3cells/mL/h, p = .003), and LPS-stimulated levels of IL-6 (B = 1074.0 pg/mL/h, p = .018) over the course of the day. These findings replicate prior work showing inverse associations between daily cortisol levels and immune parameters. In contrast, we found no association between TOD and monocyte concentration, peripheral levels of IL-6, or GR sensitivity (p’s > .05). These latter results conflict with findings in healthy individuals, suggesting that in the context of stress, some immune parameters may show disruption in circadian rhythm. Possible mechanisms include disruption of environmental cues that entrain circadian rhythms, such as sleep or eating patterns. Future studies should consider the impact of TOD on blood sampling, particularly for individuals under high stress conditions.
Mapping critical hubs of receptive and expressive language using MEG: A comparison against fMRI.

Abstract The complexity of the widespread language network makes it challenging for accurate localization and lateralization. Using large-scale connectivity and graph-theoretical analyses of task-based magnetoencephalography (MEG), we aimed to provide robust representations of receptive and expressive language processes, comparable with spatial profiles of corresponding functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We examined MEG and fMRI data from 12 healthy young adults (age 20–37 years) completing covert auditory word-recognition task (WRT) and covert auditory verb-generation task (VGT). For MEG language mapping, broadband (3–30 Hz) beamformer sources were estimated, voxel-level connectivity was quantified using phase locking value, and highly connected hubs were characterized using eigenvector centrality graph measure. fMRI data were analyzed using a classic general linear model approach. A laterality index (LI) was computed for 20 language-specific frontotemporal regions for both MEG and fMRI. MEG network analysis showed bilateral and symmetrically distributed hubs within the left and right superior temporal gyrus (STG) during WRT and predominant hubs in left inferior prefrontal gyrus (IFG) during VGT. MEG and fMRI localization maps showed high correlation values within frontotemporal regions during WRT and VGT (r = 0.63, 0.74, q
André Delbecq: Searcher for complementarities and the good

I appreciate this opportunity to convey reflections on my more than four decades of personal and professional interactions with Andre. Andre was exceptional in many ways, some of them perhaps not o...
Strategies for longitudinal recruitment and retention with parents and preschoolers exposed to significant adversity: The PAIR project as an example of methods, obstacles, and recommendations

Abstract Longitudinal research with adversity-exposed parents and children can present numerous challenges for researchers. Recruitment and retention of participants in longitudinal research is crucial to understanding complex relations between risk and resilience, as well as developing prevention and intervention programs. To assist the field, this article provides a thorough description of the Preschoolers’ Adjustment and Intergenerational Risk (PAIR) project, a study aimed at understanding adversity and resilience in parent-preschooler dyads. The authors describe strategies used to bring community participants into the project, including being present after school at Head Start programs and at community events, word of mouth, social media, and flyering, as well as the success rates of various methods. The authors also discuss working with the state’s social service agency to identify participants who have received family preservation services, and the success rates of enrolling these families in the project. Additional strategies are introduced, such as forming a community advisory board. Multiple factors associated with attrition prevention are explored, including data collection procedures for reducing participant burden, and ways the project kept in touch with families to retain them across multiple timepoints. The numerous strategies used by the PAIR project, as well as obstacles encountered, provide a roadmap for future researchers conducting longitudinal work with families at high-risk for adversity exposure.
Association Between Financial Incentives in Medicare's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and Hospital Readmission Performance.

Importance The strongest evidence for the effectiveness of Medicare's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) involves greater reductions in readmissions for hospitals receiving penalties compared with those not receiving penalties. However, the HRRP penalty is an imperfect measure of hospitals' marginal incentive to avoid a readmission for HRRP-targeted diagnoses. Objectives To assess the association between hospitals’ condition-specific incentives and readmission performance and to examine the responsiveness of hospitals to condition-specific incentives compared with aggregate penalty amounts. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort analysis used Medicare readmissions data from 2823 US short-term acute care hospitals participating in HRRP to compare 3-year (fiscal years 2016-2019) follow-up readmission performance according to tertiles of hospitals' baseline (2016) marginal incentives for each of 5 HRRP-targeted conditions (acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, and hip and/or knee surgery). Main Outcomes and Measures Linear regression models were used to estimate mean change in follow-up readmission performance, measured using the excess readmissions ratio, with baseline condition-specific incentives and aggregate penalty amounts. Results Of 2823 hospitals that participated in the HRRP from baseline to follow-up, 2280 (81%) had more than 1 excess readmission for 1 or more applicable condition and 543 (19%) did not have any excess readmissions. The mean (SD) financial incentive to reduce readmissions for incentivized hospitals ranged from $8762 ($3699) to $58 158 ($26 198) per 1 avoided readmission. Hospitals with greater incentives for readmission avoidance had greater decreases in readmissions compared with hospitals with smaller incentives (45% greater for pneumonia, 172% greater for acute myocardial infarction, 40% greater for hip and/or knee surgery, 32% greater for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 13% greater for heart failure), whereas hospitals with no incentives had increases in excess readmissions of 4% to 7% (median, 4% [percentage change for nonincentivized hospitals was 3.7% for pneumonia, 4.2% for acute myocardial infarction, 7.1% for hip and/or knee surgery, 3.7% for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 3.7% for heart failure];P Conclusions and Relevance The findings suggest that improvements in readmission avoidance are more strongly associated with incentives from the HRRP than with aggregate penalty amounts, suggesting that the program has elicited sizeable changes. Worsened performance among hospitals with small or no incentives may indicate the need for reconsideration of the program's lack of financial rewards for high-performing hospitals.
Germline mutagenesis of Nasonia vitripennis through ovarian delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein

Abstract CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing is a powerful technology to study the genetics of rising model organisms, such as the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis. However, current methods involving embryonic microinjection of CRISPR reagents are challenging. Delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoprotein into female ovaries is an alternative that has only been explored in a small handful of insects, such as mosquitoes and whiteflies. Here, we developed a simple protocol for germline gene editing by injecting Cas9 ribonucleoprotein in adult N. vitripennis females using either ReMOT control (Receptor-Mediated Ovary Transduction of Cargo) or BAPC (Branched Amphiphilic Peptide Capsules) as ovary delivery methods. We demonstrate efficient delivery of protein cargo such as EGFP and Cas9 into developing oocytes via P2C peptide and BAPC. Additionally, somatic and germline gene editing have been demonstrated. This approach will greatly facilitate CRISPR-applied genetic manipulation in this and other rising model organisms.
Developing an Improved Statistical Approach for Survival Estimation in Bone Metastases Management: The Bone Metastases Ensemble Trees for Survival (BMETS) Model.

Purpose To determine whether a machine learning approach optimizes survival estimation for patients with symptomatic bone metastases (SBM), we developed the Bone Metastases Ensemble Trees for Survival (BMETS) to predict survival using 27 prognostic covariates. To establish its relative clinical utility, we compared BMETS with 2 simpler Cox regression models used in this setting. Methods and Materials For 492 bone sites in 397 patients evaluated for palliative radiation therapy (RT) for SBM from January 2007 to January 2013, data for 27 clinical variables were collected. These covariates and the primary outcome of time from consultation to death were used to build BMETS using random survival forests. We then performed Cox regressions as per 2 validated models: Chow’s 3-item (C-3) and Westhoff’s 2-item (W-2) tools. Model performance was assessed using cross-validation procedures and measured by time-dependent area under the curve (tAUC) for all 3 models. For temporal validation, a separate data set comprised of 104 bone sites treated in 85 patients in 2018 was used to estimate tAUC from BMETS. Results Median survival was 6.4 months. Variable importance was greatest for performance status, blood cell counts, recent systemic therapy type, and receipt of concurrent nonbone palliative RT. tAUC at 3, 6, and 12 months was 0.83, 0.81, and 0.81, respectively, suggesting excellent discrimination of BMETS across postconsultation time points. BMETS outperformed simpler models at each time, with respective tAUC at each time of 0.78, 0.76, and 0.74 for the C-3 model and 0.80, 0.78, and 0.77 for the W-2 model. For the temporal validation set, respective tAUC was similarly high at 0.86, 0.82, and 0.78. Conclusions For patients with SBM, BMETS improved survival predictions versus simpler traditional models. Model performance was maintained when applied to a temporal validation set. To facilitate clinical use, we developed a web platform for data entry and display of BMETS-predicted survival probabilities.
Reproductive technologies in cattle

Abstract In this chapter, a particular focus of attention has been given to the use of reproductive technologies for the manipulation of ovarian function and physiology. The implementation of fertility programs based on Ovsynch have been shown to be instrumental for enhancing reproductive performance and controlling calving interval. The adoption of such newly developed reproductive technologies has undoubtedly given proof to be valuable tools for increasing productivity in dairy cattle. In the second part of this chapter, more complex technologies such as cloning through somatic cell nuclear transfer will be discussed. They give the possibility to replicate the genome of highly valuable animals of superior genetics while underlining the limits, costs, and hurdles to be found in the various steps of the entire process. Finally, a vision will be given to the reader on the need to obtain more information on cellular reprogramming and cell plasticity, and on the new technical challenge regarding emerging assisted reproductive techniques, from the study and development of DNA markers for shortening generation interval and selection to the production of functional gametes from embryonic and primordial germ cells into sperm and eggs.
Livestock manure and antibiotics alter extracellular enzyme activity

Abstract Soil enzyme activities are commonly used for inferring microbial processes and nutrient limitations. In agroecosystems these enzymes can also be used to determine management effects on soil quality. Here we report the effect of dairy manure inputs and veterinary antibiotics (cephapirin and pirlimycin) on soil enzyme activities, using both a nationwide survey and a controlled field experiment. We found that manure from dairy cows increased ɑ-glucosidase (67.5%), β- d -cellubiosidase (51.4%), β-xylosidase (48.5%), and total measured enzyme activity (34.0%). Manure reduced mass-specific enzyme activity of 5 of the 6 measured enzymes and relieved microbial phosphorus limitation, as β-glucosidase:acid phosphatase activity was 34% higher in the manure treatment. Veterinary antibiotics administered to livestock decreased the activity of individual soil enzymes, yet only pirlimycin elicited a significant decrease in activity for β-D-cellubiosidase (48.1%), leucine aminopeptidase (24.1%), β-xylosidase (41.9%), and total measured enzyme activity (18.6%). We found that microbial resource allocation was largely unchanged by antibiotic treatment; however, mass-specific leucine aminopeptidase was marginally higher (21.4%) in the control treatment than in the cephapirin treatment, potentially linking antibiotics to microbial resource allocation strategies. Our results suggest that administering antibiotics to livestock affects gross ecosystem processes - i.e. decomposition rate – through effects on microbial biomass. Furthermore, manure directly impacts microbial resource allocation while antibiotics administered to livestock appears to have a less pronounced impact on microbial resource allocation. Taken together, administration of antibiotics to livestock can affect overall ecosystem process rates but is unlikely to affect microbial resource allocation.
Texture and nanostructural engineering of conjugated conducting and semiconducting polymers

Abstract Conducting polymers have attracted tremendous attention because of their unique characteristics, such as metal-like conductivity, ionic conductivity, optical transparency, and mechanical flexibility. Texture and nanostructural engineering of conjugated conducting polymers provide an outstanding pathway to facilitate their adoption in a variety of technological applications, including energy storage and harvesting devices, flexible optoelectronic devices, and wearable electronic devices. Generally, obtaining high carrier mobility in the presence of high carrier density is challenging and requires precise control of the texture and nanostructure of conducting polymers to avoid the charge localization. Preferential semicrystalline orientation, π–π stacking distances, crystallite size, intra- and interchain couplings, intra- and intercrystallite connections, and grain boundaries are the key parameters that influence the charge carrier mobility and needs to be controlled by the synthesis parameters. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the recent texture and nanostructural engineering development of conducting polymers. In addition, this work describes the fundamental of charge carrier transport mechanisms in conducting polymers; and the latest progress on the optoelectronic characteristics of flexible transparent conductive electrodes based on conducting polymers is reported.
Persistently positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV2) nasopharyngeal PCR in a kidney transplant recipient.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV2 ) infection is usually diagnosed by a positive PCR test in respiratory samples. While the respiratory PCR may remain positive for 2-3 weeks in the general population there have been occasional reports of persistent and recurrent positive SARS-COV2 PCR beyond 4 weeks despite clinical resolution 1-6 .
Dynamic Relational Inference in Multi-Agent Trajectories

Unsupervised learning of interactions from multi-agent trajectories has broad applications in physics, vision, and robotics. However, existing neural relational inference works are limited to static relations. We consider a more general setting of dynamic relational inference where interactions change over time. We propose DYnamic multi-Agent Relational Inference (DYARI) model, a deep generative model that can reason about dynamic relations. Using a simulated physics system, we study various dynamic relation scenarios, including periodic and additive dynamics. We perform a comprehensive study on the trade-off between dynamic and inference period, the impact of the training scheme, and model architecture on dynamic relational inference accuracy. We also showcase an application of our model to infer coordination and competition patterns from real-world multi-agent basketball trajectories.
Decoupling entrainment from consistency using deep neural networks.

Human interlocutors tend to engage in adaptive behavior known as entrainment to become more similar to each other. Isolating the effect of consistency, i.e., speakers adhering to their individual styles, is a critical part of the analysis of entrainment. We propose to treat speakers' initial vocal features as confounds for the prediction of subsequent outputs. Using two existing neural approaches to deconfounding, we define new measures of entrainment that control for consistency. These successfully discriminate real interactions from fake ones. Interestingly, our stricter methods correlate with social variables in opposite direction from previous measures that do not account for consistency. These results demonstrate the advantages of using neural networks to model entrainment, and raise questions regarding how to interpret prior associations of conversation quality with entrainment measures that do not account for consistency.