cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: Do we have a duty to die by a certain age?

The search for longevity, if not for immortality itself, has been as old as recorded history. The great strides made in the standard of living and the advances in scientific medicine, have resulted in unprecedented increases in longevity, concomitant with improved quality of life. Thanks to medical progress senior citizens, particularly octogenarians, have become the fastest growing segment of the population and the number of centenarians is increasing, even though in the last two decades, spurred by the bioethics movement, the priority assigned to the prolongation of lifespan has taken a back seat to the containment of health care costs. This article describes what individuals can do to lead healthy lifestyles and increase longevity, concomitant with preservation of quality of life until the very end of life—as postulated by Dr. James F. Fries’ hypothesis of the compression of morbidity. This review article investigates the contention of bioethicist Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel that Fries’ theory is a “fantasy” and not a realistic possibility. In this context recent advances in neurobiology, epigenetics, and aging are described, and the hypothesis of the compression of morbidity re-examined. We find that people are not only living longer but are remaining healthier. Recent studies suggest that brain plasticity develops and potential neurogenesis occurs in those individuals who continue to be mentally and physically active allowing them to thrive well into old age. Controlled studies as well as Medicare spending data strongly corroborate Fries’ predictions and support my conclusion that compression of morbidity should be upgraded from a hypothesis to a theory. Lastly, leisure in association with or without retirement is discussed and suggestions are made as to how to use this time to remain intellectually sharp and physically vigorous until the very end of life.
Semantics column

I am pleased to introduce Jane Hillston as this quarter's SIGLOG Semantics columnist. Jane's research focuses on performance modeling of computer and communications systems using Markovian stochastic process algebra. This area combines the computational approach of process calculi with stochastic methods from probability in the form of Markov processes. Jane began exploring this area in her PhD thesis, when she introduced the stochastic process algebra PEPA. Since then, Jane has been a leader in applying stochastic process algebra to performance modeling. She has devised adaptions of PEPA to address specific applications, such as mobile computation (PEPA nets), systems biology (Bio-PEPA), and hybrid systems (HYPE). She has applied these tools to analyze the collective dynamics of discrete systems, to model biochemical signaling pathways, to model temporal aspects of biological phenomena more generally, to assess the quality of services offered in large distributed systems, to evaluate protocols for mobility and quality of service in a wireless setting, and to help develop formal methods for use in a broad study of collective adaptive systems. Jane's column describes the history and development of various approaches to stochastic process algebras, and highlights some of the contributions of performance analysis to our understanding of these various complex systems.
Influence of Voltage Types and Polarity on Contamination of Insulators

In order to study the effect of electric field on the contamination of insulators,a small dust chamber is developed for performing contamination tests of insulator under DC and AC voltages.Conclusions are drawn from the test results:the contamination of insulators is greatly influenced by electric field,and the insulator contamination is more serious under DC voltage than under AC voltage;the maximal ratio of contamination under DC to that under AC is respectively 1.19and 1.66under 10kV and 15kV voltages;compared with negative DC voltage,positive DC voltage induces more severely a contamination;within the voltage range of 0~15kV,the maximal contamination ratio(positive to negative DC)of insulator is 1.10;the distribution of the contamination on the insulator surface appears to be a"U-shape",which matches the potential distribution along insulator strings.
Increased central blood volume: a possible pathophysiological factor in mild low-renin essential hypertension

Summary sodium, inability of the kidney to excrete sodium, 1. Patients with mild low-renin hypertension characteristically have increased central blood volume. The total blood volume is normal; the larger central blood volume reflects a shift of the blood from peripheral to central (cardiopulmonary) segments of the capacity system. 2. A relationship between central blood volume and plasma renin activity is demonstrable during tilting in normal and hypertensive subjects. In thirteen individuals there was a strong correlation between the decrease of the central blood volume and the increase in plasma renin activity in response to 12 min of 35" head-up tilt. 3. We propose that the elevated central blood volume causes greater stretch of cardiopulmonary mechanoreceptors and this in turn depresses renin release in mild low-renin hypertension.
Roles of ErbB-3 and ErbB-4 in the physiology and pathology of the mammary gland

ErbB-3 and ErbB-4 are the most recently discovered and least characterized of the class I tyrosine kinase receptors. ErbB-3 is noteworthy for its low tyrosine kinase activity, suggesting that it may function more as an adaptor in signaling than as a kinase. Heregulin serves as a ligand for both receptors. A primary mechanism of heregulin action involves heterodimerization of its targeted receptors with other members of the class I family to promote cross-phosphorylation and cellular responses. Betacellulin also acts as a ligand for ErbB-4 to stimulate its kinase activity in both homo- and hetero-dimers. A new ligand (ASGP-2) for ErbB-2 has been discovered which operates by an intramembrane mechanism and may be able to modulate external ligand-dependent ErbB-3 or ErbB-4 heterodimeric interactions with ErbB-2. Heterodimerization stimulated by the ligands is a key feature of mitogenic signaling in mammary epithelial cells and tumors. Characterization of the signaling pathways for these receptors is still incomplete, but phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and SHC have been implicated. Heregulin synthesized by the mesenchyme has been implicated in mammary development, modulated by systemic hormones. Observations on cultured mammary cells and mammary tumors have suggested linkages of ErbB-3 and ErbB-4 to proliferation and differentiation, respectively, but further work is needed to establish their definitive roles.
Sympathovagal balance of the heart in subjects with spinal cord injury.

This study investigated the effect of abnormal autonomic cardiovascular function on heart rate variability (HRV) in individuals classified into four groups: complete quadriplegia, incomplete quadri...
Relationship between continuity of care and adverse outcomes varies by number of chronic conditions among older adults with diabetes

Background: Continuity of care is a basic tenant of primary care practice. However, the evidence on the importance of continuity of care for older adults with complex conditions is mixed. Objective: To assess the relationship between measurement of continuity of care, number of chronic conditions, and health outcomes. Design: We analyzed data from a cohort of 1,600 US older adults with diabetes and ≥1 other chronic condition in a private Medicare health plan from July 2010 to December 2011. Multivariate regression models were used to examine the association of baseline continuity (the first 6 months) and the composite outcome of any emergency room use or inpatient hospitalization occurring in the following 12-month period. Results: After adjusting for baseline covariates, high known provider continuity (KPC) was associated with an 84% (adjusted odds ratio 0.16; 95% confidence interval 0.09–0.26) reduction in the risk of the composite outcome. High KPC was significantly associated with a lower risk of the composite outcome among individuals with ≥6 conditions. However, the usual provider of care and continuity of care indices were not significantly related with the composite outcome in the overall sample or in those with ≥6 conditions. Conclusion: The relationship between continuity of care and adverse outcomes depends on the measure of continuity of care employed. High morbidity patients are more likely to benefit from continuity of care interventions as measured by the KPC, which measures the proportion of a patient’s visits that are with the same providers over time. Journal of Comorbidity 2016;6(2):65–72
Stress and Illness

This article discusses the mind–body link. The mind and the body interact to influence how we relate to others and our environment.
Inter-channel modulation power penalty for a silicon photonics transmitter

Two channels of a ring modulator transceiver device are concurrently modulated and characterized for optical crosstalk by monitoring link bit error ratio. Power penalty of 1–3dB at +50GHz channel spacing is observed for 10Gb/s data rate.
Opportunities for Research on Cancer Epidemiology in Latin America

ABSTRACT Cancer epidemiology studies in Latin America are put in perspective by analyzing the health and demographic conditions. Examples of opportunities for epidemiologic studies are given. The main obstacles to research are pointed out and several approaches to epidemiologic studies discussed.
Problematizing as a scientific endeavor

Problematizing is an important aspect of scientific inquiry that is mostly missing from curricula and standards that depict science as beginning with questions.
Historical Perspective on the Current Renaissance for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Gene Therapy

Gene therapy using hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) has developed over the past 3 decades, with progressive improvements in the efficacy and safety. Autologous transplantation of HSC modified with murine gammaretroviral vectors first showed clinical benefits for patients with several primary immune deficiencies, but some of these patients suffered complications from vector-related genotoxicity. Lentiviral vectors have been used recently for gene addition to HSC and have yielded clinical benefits for primary immune deficiencies, metabolic diseases, and hemoglobinopathies, without vector-related complications. Gene editing using site-specific endonucleases is emerging as a promising technology for gene therapy and is moving into clinical trials.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Associated Cognitive Dysfunction in Pediatric Epilepsy

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neuropsychiatric comorbidity associated with childhood epilepsy, affecting about a third of children with epilepsy. In contrast, ADHD in the general population occurs in 4%-12% of school-aged children. The cause of this association remains unclear. It is likely that common mechanisms underlie the vulnerability for both executive deficits and epileptogenesis. There are characteristics unique to children with ADHD and epilepsy. The inattentive type of ADHD is more prevalent than the combined presentation in children with epilepsy, while the combined type is more common in the general population. Interestingly, there is an equal sex distribution of ADHD in patients with epilepsy, while in the general population, ADHD is 3-7 times more prevalent in boys. Specific features of ADHD seen in different epilepsy syndromes are frequently associated with executive deficits. Early screening of ADHD symptoms in children with epilepsy is essential, as timely interventions can improve academic and social function and outcomes. The mainstays of therapy include behavioral interventions and pharmacotherapy, with evidence demonstrating that stimulants are both safe and effective in children with ADHD and epilepsy.
Public Attitudes Toward Healthcare Fraud: Reasons to Commit Fraud and Common Schemes

Cases of health care fraud have been on the rise in recent years and are believed to continue to increase over time. Every year a significant amount of the federal healthcare budget is lost to fraudulent claims by providers and/or to government agencies involved with the enforcement of the healthcare laws and prosecution of offenders. This study investigates the reasons for committing fraud and finds that the primary contributing factors are the explosion in the size of health care spending and the ever expanding network of providers and subscribers of health care services causing wide access to the system. While fraud is committed against both public and private health care agencies, the primary emphasis for prevention and reporting of fraud is on the public side (Rosenbaum et. al., 2009). The research investigates whether there are any differences in public attitudes towards fraud committed against the public agencies versus the private insurance companies. The study selects two equal samples and mails to each group a survey that includes similar questions pertaining to either Medicare/Medicaid or private insurance companies. The results show that both groups of participants view the fee-for-service payment system where doctors and other providers are tempted to perform or bill for unnecessary services as the most important reason for fraud. In addition, both groups rated double billing and incorrect reporting of diagnosis or procedures as the top two schemes committed against health care agencies.
Choice-of-Entity Decisions Under the New Tax Act

This short article illustrates how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act taxes $500,000 of ordinary income depending upon whether it is earned by a corporation, a passthrough as qualified business income (QBI), or a passthrough as income from a specified service trade or business (SSTB). The article shows that the effective tax rate on QBI, which qualifies for the 20% QBI deduction, will rival the effective tax rate on income earned and distributed by a corporation. Tax on income from an SSBT will be higher than the same income from a QBI, but, if the owner of the SSBT plans to withdraw most of the earnings from the SSTB, a passthrough entity will often provide a lower effective tax rate than a corporation. The choice between passthrough entity and corporation will be affected by the amount of income that the owner withdraws from the business and the amount of income the business generates. Lower-income SSTBs may qualify for the QBI deduction, reducing the effective tax rate on passthrough income, and enhancing the attractiveness of the passthrough entity. Conversely, the effective tax rate on passthrough income increases as business income moves into the millions of dollars, triggering the application of the highest marginal rates. The choice-of-entity preference for businesses with that level of income may move toward corporations, especially if the owners do not withdraw all of the business’s income.
Food choices and distress in reservation-based American Indians and Alaska Natives with type 2 diabetes.

Author(s): Teufel-Shone, Nicolette I; Jiang, Luohua; Rockell, Jennifer; Chang, Jennifer; Beals, Janette; Bullock, Ann; Manson, Spero M | Abstract: ObjectiveTo examine the association between food choice and distress in a large national sample of American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) with type 2 diabetes.DesignParticipants completed a sociodemographic survey, an FFQ and the Kessler-6 Distress Scale. Foods were identified as 'healthy' or 'unhealthy' using a classification grounded in the health education provided by the programme case managers; healthy and unhealthy food scores were calculated using reported intake frequencies. Pearson's correlation coefficients for distress and food scores were calculated for all participants and by gender. Multiple linear regression models stratified by gender assessed the association between distress and food scores, controlling for sociodemographics and duration of type 2 diabetes.SettingRural AI reservations and AN villages.SubjectsAI/AN (n 2484) with type 2 diabetes.ResultsBoth males (34·9 %) and females (65·1 %) had higher healthy food scores than unhealthy scores. In bivariate analysis, distress level had a significant negative correlation with healthy food scores among female participants, but the association was not significant among males. Significant positive correlations between distress and unhealthy food scores were found in both genders. In the final multivariate models, healthy food scores were not significantly related to distress; however, unhealthy food scores showed significant positive relationships with distress for both genders (females: β=0·078, P=0·0007; males: β=0·139, Pl0·0001).ConclusionsHealth professionals working with AI/AN diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should offer food choice strategies during difficult times and recognize that males may be more likely than females to select unhealthy foods when distressed.
Reducing Risk Behavior with Family-Centered Prevention During the Young Adult Years

Family-centered prevention is effective at reducing risk behavior throughout the life span and promoting healthy development. Despite research that suggests parents continue to play a significant role in the lives of their children during emerging adulthood, very few studies have examined effective family-centered strategies for preventing risk behavior in young adults. Typical prevention efforts for this age group have focused on college students and substance use prevention, with no integration of families or systems of support that may sustain the effects of the intervention. In this study, we evaluated a version of the Family Check-Up (FCU) that was adapted for young adults and their families, the Young Adult Family Check-Up (YA-FCU). Families were randomly assigned to receive the FCU or school as usual during the middle school years. Ten years later, they were offered the YA-FCU, which was adapted for families of emerging adult children. Intent-to-treat and complier average causal effect analyses were used to examine change in young adult risk behavior approximately 1 year after receiving the YA-FCU. Analyses indicated that random assignment alone or simple engagement was not associated with reductions in young adult risk behavior. However, dose-response analyses indicated that the more hours that youth and families were engaged in the YA-FCU, the greater the reductions in young adult risk behavior relative to those who did not engage or engaged very little in the intervention, resulting in a medium effect size of the YA-FCU on risk behavior.
Maturation, Adaptation, and Tolerance

The physiology of the newborn mammal is much more complex than the physiology of mature animals. By definition, physiology is the knowledge of functions and vital processes of the organism, its parts, and its organs. Neonatal physiology deals with a growing organism that has just suffered from a stressful parturition and is engaged in adjusting its vital functions to extrauterine life. The somatic and functional changes that predominate in this period of life are greater than those at any other time; therefore, neonatal physiology aims to establish a knowledge of the driving forces underlying these functional changes rather than to provide descriptions of functional levels or capacities.
Global transcriptional differences in myokine and inflammatory genes in muscle of mature steer progeny are related to maternal lactation diet and muscle composition

Steer progeny suckled by cows fed a dried distillers grains and solubles (DDGS) diet the first 3 mo of lactation were heavier during feedlot finishing and had significantly lower marbling and large...
Electricity theft among residential consumers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad

Abstract Pakistan faces the perennial issue of electricity theft. The issue deteriorates the financial outlook of utilities and is detrimental to investment in capacity improvement of electricity grid. The solution is generally sought through fiscal injection in capacity enhancement, demand-side management and rationing of electricity. This study investigates the key factors that contributes in electricity theft through structured questionnaires from residential electricity consumers of IESCO in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A sample size comprise of both rural and urban respondents. The demographic profile and descriptive statistics are discussed. Most of the respondents agree that electricity price hike is the main contributor in rising theft. The crime is taking place with the connivance of bribe accepting utility employees. The correlation analysis is carried out and the data is further used for the empirical estimation of the model. The regression analysis employed key variables such as the conduct of utility employee, consumers’ satisfaction with the service, monitoring, overall consumer perception and the monthly expenses on electricity consumption. The results suggest that monitoring, conduct and monthly expenses variables are significant in explaining electricity theft. These finding suggest an increase in transparency and accountability and a decrease in tariffs to reduce pilferage.
Extract from Clinical Evidence: Diarrhoea

Interventions Trade off between benefits and harms Empirical antibiotic treatment in travellers' diarrhoea Empirical antibiotic treatment in community acquired diarrhoea Summary points RCTs have found that empirically treating travellers' diarrhoea with antibiotics reduces the length of illness by one to two days. In community acquired diarrhoea, RCTs have found that ciprofloxacin reduces the duration of diarrhoea by one to two days. Trials of other antibiotics have found no evidence of benefit or have not reported on time to cure. Some RCTs found that treatment prolonged excretion of organisms and was associated with the development of resistant organisms. ### Definition Diarrhoea is defined as watery or liquid stools, usually with an increase in stool weight above 200 g per day and an increase in daily stool frequency. Incidence/prevalence An estimated 4000 million cases of diarrhoea occurred worldwide in 1996, resulting in 2.5 million deaths.1 In developing countries, diarrhoea is reported to cause more deaths in children aged under five years than any other condition.1 In the United States, which has a low incidence, the estimated incidence for infectious intestinal disease is 0.44 episodes per person per year, or one episode per person every 2.3 years, resulting in about one consultation with a doctor per person every 28 years.2 The epidemiology of travellers' diarrhoea (people who have crossed a national boundary) is not well known. Incidence is higher in travellers going to developing countries but varies widely by location and season of travel. 3 ### Aetiology The cause depends on geographic location, standards of food hygiene, sanitation, water supply, and …
C1q/TNF-related protein 2 (CTRP2) deletion promotes adipose tissue lipolysis and hepatic triglyceride secretion

The highly conserved C1q/TNF-related protein (CTRP) family of secreted hormones has emerged as important regulators of insulin action and of sugar and fat metabolisms. Among these, the specific biological function of CTRP2 remains elusive. Here, we show that the expression of human CTRP2 is positively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and is up-regulated in obesity. We used a knockout (KO) mouse model to determine CTRP2 function and found that Ctrp2-KO mice have significantly elevated metabolic rates and energy expenditure leading to lower body weights and lower adiposity. CTRP2 deficiency up-regulated the expression of lipolytic enzymes and protein kinase A signaling, resulting in enhanced adipose tissue lipolysis. In cultured adipocytes, CTRP2 treatment suppressed triglyceride (TG) hydrolysis, and its deficiency enhanced agonist-induced lipolysis in vivo. CTRP2-deficient mice also had altered hepatic and plasma lipid profiles. Liver size and hepatic TG content were significantly reduced, but plasma TG was elevated in KO mice. Both plasma and hepatic cholesterol levels, however, were reduced in KO mice. Loss of CTRP2 also enhanced hepatic TG secretion and contributed to impaired plasma lipid clearance following an oral lipid gavage. Liver metabolomic analysis revealed significant changes in diacylglycerols and phospholipids, suggesting that increased membrane remodeling may underlie the altered hepatic TG secretion we observed. Our results provide the first in vivo evidence that CTRP2 regulates lipid metabolism in adipose tissue and liver.
Eukaryotic plankton community stability across reef environments in Bocas del Toro Archipelago (Panamá)

Variation in light and temperature can influence the genetic diversity and structure of marine plankton communities. While open ocean plankton communities receive much scientific attention, little is known about how environmental variation affects tropical coral reef plankton communities. Here, we characterize eukaryotic plankton communities on coral reefs across the Bocas del Toro Archipelago in Panama. Temperature loggers were deployed for one year and mid-day light levels were measured to quantify environmental differences across reef zones at four inner and four outer reef sites: Inner: Punta Donato, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) Point, Cristobal, Punta Laurel and Outer: Drago Mar, Bastimentos North, Bastimentos South, and Popa Island. Triplicate vertical plankton tows were collected mid-day and high-throughput 18S ribosomal DNA metabarcoding was leveraged to investigate the relationship between eukaryotic plankton community structure and reef zones. Plankton communities from STRI Point were additionally characterized in the morning (~08:00), mid-day (~12:00), and evening (~16:00) to quantify diel variation within a single site. We found that inshore reefs experienced higher average seawater temperatures, while offshore sites offered higher light levels, presumably associated with reduced water turbidity on reefs further from shore. However, these significant reef zone-specific environmental differences did not correlate with overall plankton community differences or changes in plankton genetic diversity. Instead, we found that time of day within a site and diel vertical migration played structuring roles within these plankton communities, and therefore conclude that the time of community sampling is an important consideration for future studies. Overall, plankton communities in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago appear relatively well mixed across space; however, follow-up studies focusing on more intensive sampling efforts across space and time coupled with techniques that can detect more subtle genetic differences between and within communities will more fully capture plankton dynamics in this region.
Sweatshops, Harm, and Interference: A Contractualist Approach

Activists and progressive governments sometimes interfere in the working conditions of sweatshops. Their methods may include boycotts of the products produced in these facilities, bans on the import of these products or tariffs imposed by the home country, and enforcing the host country’s laws that aim at regulating sweatshops. Some argue that such interference in sweatshop conditions is morally wrong since it may actually harm workers. The reason is that the enterprise that runs the sweatshop may choose to lay off some workers as the result of effective interference in order to maintain their profit at the desired level. If successful, this argument would prohibit any interference in sweatshop conditions on moral grounds. In this article, I argue in dissent and build a contractualist argument in favor of the moral permissibility of interference in sweatshops. I base my argument on an ex ante interpretation of T.M. Scanlon’s contractualism.
Designing high-performance colour cosmetics through optimization of powder flow characteristics.

Objective Explore the impact of powder flow properties such as flow energy and compressibility on the performance characteristics of foundation powders such as cake strength and pay-off. Methods FT4 Powder Rheometer from Freeman Technology was utilized to explore various powder compositions. The three major tests performed were flowability test, compressibility test and shear cell test. Results The results highlight that the sample which has higher compressibility has the better cake strength, and the sample which requires lower total energy has better pay-off. Particles or samples with lower total flow energy, should have easier flow, therefore, should have better pay-off. Samples and components with higher compressibility, should hold the structure better, therefore, should have better cake strength. Talc has the highest compressibility and lowest flow energy. Foundation sample 5 has the highest concentration of talc and also has the best performance. Conclusion The lower the total flow energy, the easier it is for the powder to flow, and have better pay-off. Powder compressibility correlates with cake strength which means that a sample with better compressibility consequently has the better cake strength. Samples 5 and 10 require less total flow energy, have lower shear stress, and higher compressibility, therefore, have better final performance. Both samples 5 and 10 have higher talc concentrations compared to other formulations.
Flavor Characterization of Grass- and Grain-Fed Australian Beef Longissimus Thoracis Aged 35 to 65 Days Postmortem

Our objective was to investigate the effects of extended aging on the flavor characteristics of Australian grass- and grain-fed beef longissimus thoracis. Ribeye rolls from Australian grass- and grain-fed beef carcasses were collected, randomly assigned to one of 4 postmortem aging days (35, 45, 55, and 65), vacuum packaged, and shipped under refrigeration (0°C–2°C) to Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX). Aged longissimus thoracis were fabricated on their respective aging day into 2.54-cm steaks, vacuum packaged individually, and frozen (−24°C) until further analyses. According to trained flavor panelists, beef flavor identity, fat-like, metallic, umami, bitter, and sweet flavors were not influenced by diet or postmortem aging (P > 0.05). Diet influenced (P 0.05). Aging also influenced content of acetic acid and ethanol (P ≤ 0.04), which increased with aging duration. For 1-octen-3-ol, grain-fed samples aged 65 d had the greatest (P < 0.05) content compared with all other diet and aging combinations. Results indicate that aging up to 65 d had no impact on beef flavor identity and umami, but it led to stronger generation of certain off-flavors such as rancid, grassy, and liver-like.
Divergence in the epidemiological estimates of traumatic brain injury in the United States: comparison of two national databases

OBJECTIVE Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the US, but the true incidence of TBI is unknown. METHODS The National Trauma Data Bank National Sample Program (NTDB NSP) was queried for 2007 and 2013, and population-based weighted estimates of TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths were calculated. These data were compared to the 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report on TBI, which used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's National ("Nationwide" before 2012) Inpatient Sample and National Emergency Department Sample. RESULTS In the NTDB NSP the incidence of TBI-related ED visits was 59/100,000 in 2007 and 62/100,000 in 2013. However, in the CDC report there were 534/100,000 in 2007 and 787/100,000 in 2013. The CDC estimate for ED visits was 805% higher in 2007 and 1169% higher in 2013. In the NTDB NSP, the incidence of TBI-related deaths was 5/100,000 in 2007 and 4/100,000 in 2013. In the CDC report, the incidence was 18/100,000 in both years. The CDC estimate for deaths was 260% higher in 2007 and 325% higher in 2013. CONCLUSIONS The databases disagreed widely in their weighted estimates of TBI incidence: CDC estimates were consistently higher than NTDB NSP estimates, by an average of 448%. Although such a discrepancy may be intuitive, this is the first study to quantify the magnitude of disagreement between these databases. Given that research, funding, and policy decisions are made based on these estimates, there is a need for a more accurate estimate of the true national incidence of TBI.
Hypertension, Preeclampsia, and Eclampsia

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are responsible for a large burden of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality worldwide. The wide-ranging manifestations of these diseases include several phenomena that can quickly become an emergency. The most significant of these disorders, preeclampsia with severe features, can adversely impact every organ in the body; even when these diseases present with subtle findings, there is potential for significant and long-lasting impact on the health of the mother and baby. This chapter will summarize the risks, clinical features, diagnosis, and management of this significant family of obstetric conditions.
Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) Study of Core Loss Energy Shift for IC Failure Analysis

In this paper we demonstrate the analytical method using electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) in defect analysis for semiconductor devices. We discuss the limitation of X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) for the semiconductor material characterization and show how EELS can be a good complement to EDS. We discuss two case studies utilizing EELS spectrum for the defect characterization. In both case studies, EELS oxygen K-edge chemical shift is used to differentiate the oxidized metallic layer and the bulky Si oxide to give more accurate analysis of the defective layers for the root-cause understanding.
The Roman exoplanet imaging data challenge: a major community engagement effort

Organized by the Turnbull Science Investigation Team (SIT), the 2019-2020 Roman Exoplanet Imaging Data Challenge (EIDC) launched in mid October 2019 and ran for eight months. This data challenge was a unique opportunity for exoplanet scientists of all backgrounds and experience levels to get acquainted with realistic Roman CGI (coronagraphic) simulated data with a new contrast regimes at 10-8 to 10-9 enabling to unveil planets down to the Neptune-mass in reflected light. Participating teams had to recover the astrometry of an exoplanetary system combining precursor radial velocity data (also simulated across 15 years) with two to six coronagraphic imaging epochs (HLC and Star Shade). They had to perform accurate orbital fitting and determine the mass of any planet hidden in the data. It involved PSF subtraction techniques, post-processing and other astrophysics hurdles to overcome such as contamination sources (stellar, extragalactic and exozodiacal light). We organized four tutorial "hack-a-thon" events to get as many people on-board. The EIDC proved to be an excellent way to engage with the intricacies of the first mission to perform wavefront control in space, as a pathfinder to future flagship missions. It also generated a lot of positive interactions between open source package owners and a whole new set of young exoplanet scientists running them. As a community we are a few steps closer to being ready to analyze real CGI data!
Emergence of 4-D System Fundamental Diagram in Urban Air Mobility Traffic Flow:

Urban air mobility (UAM) is an emerging mode that promises to provide relief to congested urban streets. UAM relies on airspace, however, which is an exhaustible resource considering minimum aircra...
Attribution of Responsibility for Pick Up Artist Issues in China: The Impacts of Journalist Gender, Geographical Location, and Publication Range:

Pick-up artists (PUAs) apply strategies from evolutionary psychology to exploit women emotionally, sexually, and financially. In China, PUA issues have been garnering attention from journalists and...
Community-led disaster resilience in Nauiyu Aboriginal community

There is a need for emergency management systems in Australia to shift to a more collaborative model that involves working with communities rather than simply delivering to communities. This research paper argues that in order to address this, emergency services organisations in Australia need to continue to shift from a service delivery approach to a more localised, participatory and consultative model that acknowledges and harnesses local leadership, knowledge, skills and experience creating opportunities for community driven and fit-for-purpose emergency management. The paper makes the case for why localised approaches are important in places with diverse populations such as the Northern Territory (NT). The NT Aboriginal community of Nauiyu’s experience of evacuations due to flooding in 2015 and 2018 will be used as a case study to offer an example of locally led approaches to disaster resilience.
Managing Diversity in the European Union: Inclusive European Citizenship and Third- Country Nationals

European citizenship establishes a precedent whereby the exercise and protection of rights—the practice of citizenship—is no longer contingent on residency within the jurisdiction of national citizenship. Free movement rights have allowed European citizens to cross borders and participate more nearly as political and legal equals within the host society. At the same time, however, European citizenship has largely failed to account for the past or future migration of third-country nationals (TCNs)—those who are not citizens of any Member State—into or within the European Union. As a result, the creation of European citizenship has arguably had the unfortunate side effect of further distinguishing and excluding TCNs from the emerging European society. This Note argues that the current legal status of TCNs hinders successful diversity management by individual Member States, undermines European integration, and deprives TCNs of fundamental rights. The Note proposes that European citizenship should be expanded to allow TCNs to acquire European citizenship without the simultaneous
Kato's Square Roots of Accretive Operators and Cauchy Kernels on Lipschitz Curves are the Same

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses Kato's square roots of accretive operators and Cauchy kernels on Lipschitz curves. The chapter considers general remarks on square roots of unbounded operators. It presents the computation of the resolvent in the abstract situation.
Physical and Mechanical Properties of Microwave Sintered Nano–Crystalline Hydroxyapatite

Nanocrystalline HA powder produced via a chemical precipitation technique was sintered in a microwave furnace at various temperatures (1000-1300°C). The phase content and microstructure of the samples were examined using a Scanning Electron Microscope and via X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Hardness and fracture toughness were measured by Vickers indentation technique. The results showed that microwave sintering of nHA can produce high densities while maintaining nanocrystalline grain sizes. Grain size values as low as 280 nm were obtained in samples sintered at 1000°C for 20 minutes. Fracture toughness values were found to decrease and hardness values to increase respectively, with an increase in grain size. An optimum combination of hardness and toughness we obtained in samples sintered at 1050 °C with a density of more that 95%, hardness of 5.96 GPa and fracture toughness of 1.72 MPa√m.
Trajectory optimization of robotic suturing

This paper presents progress towards autonomous knot-tying in Robotic Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery. While successful demonstrations of robotic knot-tying have been achieved, objective comparisons of competing approaches have been lacking. In this presentation we describe how to score a proposed procedure in terms of speed and volume. Applying the scoring metric has motivated an improved procedure for knot-tying, as well as a pathway to automated discovery for trajectory optimizations.
Apoptosis in chronic myelogenous leukemia: studies of stage-specific differences

In this study we compared rates of apoptosis, survival and metabolic activity from CML peripheral blood neutrophils with peripheral blood and bone marrow neutrophils from healthy volunteer donors and studied the influence of the disease stage and of cytokines including G-CSF, GM-CSF and IL-1beta on these parameters. Quantification of apoptosis by morphology, diphenylamine DNA fragmentation assay and by gel electrophoresis showed similar rates of apoptosis in chronic phase CML and normal peripheral blood neutrophils when the cells were incubated in RPMI + FCS or in serum-free medium. However, there were lower rates of apoptosis in accelerated and blast phase CML neutrophils (p < .001) and in normal bone marrow neutrophils (p < .001) compared to normal peripheral blood neutrophils (incubated in RPMI + FCS). Survival among neutrophils from chronic phase or accelerated/blast phase CML patients was significantly longer (p < 0.002 and p < 0.001, respectively) than among normal peripheral blood neutrophils but neutrophils purified from normal bone marrow had a survival rate which fell between that of normal peripheral blood and chronic phase CML patients. When the cells were incubated in RPMI + autologous sera, neutrophils from chronic phase CML patients showed markedly lower rates of apoptosis (p < 0.001) and maintained higher metabolic activities (p < 0.002) compared to normal neutrophils. G-CSF and GM-CSF were found to considerably decrease the rate of apoptosis in chronic phase CML neutrophils (p < 0.001 and p = 0.008 respectively) while IL-1beta did not show any antiapoptotic effect. It is suggested that the endogenous production of growth factors may therefore participate in delaying apoptotic cell death, during the progression of CML.
Nesting Habitat Characteristics of Bank Swallows and Belted Kingfishers on the Connecticut River

Abstract Ceryle alcyon (Belted Kingfisher) and Riparia riparia (Bank Swallow) rely on vertical eroded banks for nesting. We inventoried Belted Kingfisher and Bank Swallow nesting banks along a 91.6-km section of the Connecticut River in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, including stretches where bank stabilization projects are completed, under construction, or planned. In the case of Bank Swallows, we also assessed the availability of potential nesting habitat in the study area. Forty-four Belted Kingfisher nesting sites and 12 Bank Swallow colonies were detected in the study area. Both species used banks with a low percentage of vegetative cover and a steep slope. Belted Kingfishers used high narrow banks. Bank Swallows used wide banks composed of well-drained, fine sandy loam soils. Potential Bank Swallow nesting sites were limited and in comparison to the sites actually used by Bank Swallows, they were narrower, more vegetated, and composed of more coarse soils. The impact of bank stabilizatio...
Optical pump-and-probe test system for thermal characterization of thin metal and phase-change films

A single-shot optical pump-and-probe test system is reported. The system is designed for thermal characterization of thin-film samples that can change their phase state under the influence of a short and intense laser pulse on a subnanosecond time scale. In combination with numerical analysis, the system can be used to estimate thermal constants of thin films, such as specific heat and thermal conductivity. In-plane and out-of plane thermal conductivity can be estimated independently. The system is intended for use in research on optical data storage and material processing with pulsed laser light. The system design issues are discussed. As application examples, we report on using the system to study thermal dynamics in two different thin-film samples: a gold film on a glass substrate (a single-phase system) and the quadrilayer phase-change stack typical in optical data-storage applications.
Hydrophobic interaction chromatography coupled with dynamic surface tension detection for the determination of surface active species in protein formulations

Abstract The measurement and analysis of surface active species (surfactants) in protein formulations by hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) coupled with gradient elution and dynamic surface tension detection (DSTD) is presented. The DSTD is based upon the measurement of the pressure inside a repeating drop formed when the eluate of a liquid chromatographic separation flows through the end of a pointed stainless steel capillary tube. The DSTD provides a measure of the dynamic surface tension at the air–liquid interface, and in some applications, information on adhesive interactions at the solid–liquid interface. A method for extraction of the desired surface tension signal from the raw pressure data is reported. High-salt gradient HIC separations are demonstrated and shown to be compatible with DSTD. With the gradient pumping system, optimum signal sensitivity and stability (low noise) were achieved when the pressure measurement is taken when the drop size is a minimum. Implementation of HIC–DSTD with salt gradient elution revealed that the noise of DSTD was slightly higher in the gradient mode, due to higher flow-rate imprecision with a dual pump system, as compared to employing isocratic elution. The combination of HIC with DSTD provides a selective methodology for the analysis of surface active species in commercially available protein formulations. Calibration of the HIC–DSTD instrument was achieved using surface active and/or surface tension lowering standards (2-propanol, 1-hexanesulfonic acid, and N-decyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propane-sulfonate), that were separated by gradient HIC with sequential ultraviolet (UV) absorbance detection (at 250 nm) and DSTD. The standards were detected only by DSTD. A commercial ribonuclease A formulation was analyzed. The data revealed one primary peak by UV absorbance detection, while two significant peaks with retention times earlier than the primary UV absorbance peak were observed with the DSTD. The identity of the primary UV absorbing peak was confirmed as ribonuclease A by enzyme assay. The first two surface active species observed with the DSTD show no enzyme activity. The utility of the DSTD coupled with HIC separations is demonstrated, opening several new avenues of investigation for the researcher interested in gaining a new perspective on the surface active species in complex biological samples.
Collective and chaotic motion in self-bound many-body systems

We investigate the interplay of collective and chaotic motion in a classical self-bound N-body system with two-body interactions. This system displays a hierarchy of three well-separated time scales that govern the onset of chaos, damping of collective motion and equilibration. Comparison with a mean-field problem shows that damping is mainly due to dephasing. The Lyapunov exponent, damping, and equilibration rates depend mildly on the system size N. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society.
Calibration comparison for the Landsat 4 and 5 multispectral scanners and thematic mappers

On 15 Mar. 1984, during the initial orbital corrections of Landsat 5, data were acquired virtually simultaneously by multispectral scanners (MSSs) and thematic mappers (TMs) on Landsats 4 and 5. A formulation is developed for comparing the calibration of matched instruments (MSS4, MSS5 and TM4, TM5), and spectral interpolation is used to compare the calibration of the nearly equivalent shortwave channels of all four instruments. The MSS instruments are more closely matched in gain with a difference of 6–10% vs −2–14% for the TMs, while radiance comparisons show that the MSSs and TM4 agree reasonably well for a dark surface (water), while TM5 indicates generally lower radiance values in the shortwave channels.