cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bupropion SR enhances weight loss: a 48-week double-blind, placebo- controlled trial.

AbstractANDERSON, JAMES W., FRANK L. GREENWAY, KENFUJIOKA, KISHORE M. GADDE, JAMES MCKENNEY,AND PATRICK M. O’NEIL. Bupropion SR enhancesweight loss: a 48-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.Obes Res. 2002;10:633–641.Objective: To critically examine the efficacy of bupropionSR for weight loss.Research Methods and Procedures: This 24-week multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled study randomizedobese adults to placebo, bupropion SR 300, or 400 mg/d.Subjects were counseled on energy-restricted diets, mealreplacements, and exercise. During a 24-week extension,placebo subjects were randomized to bupropion SR 300 or400 mg/d in a double-blinded manner.Results: Of 327 subjects enrolled, 227 completed 24 weeks;192 completed 48 weeks. Percentage losses of initial bodyweight for subjects completing 24 weeks were 5.0%, 7.2%,and 10.1% for placebo, bupropion SR 300, and 400 mg/d,respectively. Compared with placebo, net weight losseswere 2.2% (p 0.0468) and 5.1% (p 0.0001) for bupro-pion SR 300 and 400 mg/d, respectively. The percentages ofsubjects who lost 5% of initial body weight were 46%,59%, and 83% (p vs. placebo 0.0001) for placebo, bu-propion SR 300, and 400 mg/d, respectively; weight lossesof 10% were 20%, 33%, and 46% (p vs. placebo 0.0008) for placebo, bupropion SR 300, and 400 mg/d,respectively. Withdrawals, changes in pulse and blood pres-sure did not differ significantly from placebo at 24 weeks.Subjects who completed 48 weeks maintained mean lossesof initial body weight of 7.5% and 8.6% for bupropion SR300 and 400 mg/d, respectively.Discussion: Bupropion SR 300 and 400 mg/d were well-tolerated by obese adults and were associated with a 24-week weight loss of 7.2% and 10.1% and sustained weightlosses at 48 weeks.Key words: weight loss, pharmacotherapy, bupropionSR, lifestyle, pedometer, meal replacements
Mathematical and Numerical Aspects of a Phase-field Approach to Critical Nuclei Morphology in Solids

We investigate a phase-field model for homogeneous nucleation and critical nucleus morphology in solids. We analyze the mathematical properties of a free energy functional that includes the long-range, anisotropic elastic interactions. We describe the numerical algorithms used to search for the saddle points of such a free energy functional based on a minimax technique and the Fourier spectral implementation. It is demonstrated that the phase-field model is mathematically well defined and is able to efficiently predict the critical nucleus morphology in elastically anisotropic solids without making a priori assumptions.
Self-healing design in deep scaled CMOS technologies

Deep scaled CMOS technologies are losing their glamour because of their sensitivity to process, supply voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations. Largely because of the marginality issue, analog and mixed-signal circuits have failed to effectively exploit the high-speed and low-noise properties that deep scaled CMOS technologies provide. Large variations in leakage current and threshold voltage also make highly integrated digital designs challenging. Consequently, there is an increasing need for a new design technique that can provide high yield and reliability under large PVT variations. Among several post-silicon calibration and repair strategies proposed to address the PVT variation issues, self-healing technique based on real-time sensing and built-in feedback has received great attention because of its inherent advantage of dynamic adaptation to temporal parameter variations. This paper discusses how self-healing techniques can be used for increasing marginalities in deep scaled CMOS technologies, and also examines the remaining issues and challenges.
An Experimental Study of Persuasive Social Communication

Political discussion is often seen as a potential shortcut to enlightened voting. If uninformed individuals receive useful information from their discussion partners, then they can make quality decisions at the ballot box without incurring the costs of becoming informed. Discussion partners, however, have biases and these biases are reflected in what they say about candidates. If individuals accept messages from sources with different preferences, they could end up supporting candidates who benefit their discussion partners instead of themselves. This article argues that egos will often accept messages from individuals with an incentive to mislead. Instead of evaluating the messenger, individuals evaluate the messages. When the messages are all in accord, individuals support the candidate suggested by the messages even if the messengers are all biased. This article presents the results of a group-based experiment in which ego networks were exogenously determined by the researcher. In the experiment, egos ...
Living Arrangements, Social Integration, and Loneliness in Later Life: The Case of Physical Disability∗

Despite the theoretical linkages between household composition and social integration, relatively limited research has considered how living arrangements affect risk for loneliness in later life. Prior work has also failed to consider whether physical disability moderates this potentially important relationship. Using data from a sample of older adults with and without a physical disability (N = 868), this study aims to (1) document variations in loneliness across living arrangements, (2) assess whether any observed association varies by physical disability status, and (3) evaluate the mediating role of social integration and social support. Results reveal that those living alone or with people other than a spouse (children, extended family members) report greater loneliness than those living with a spouse. However, the magnitude of these differences is greater for older adults with a physical disability. Measures of social integration and social support attenuated, but did not fully explain, inter-household variations in loneliness. These findings point to the independent significance of living arrangements for experiences of loneliness in later life among both disabled and nondisabled adults.
Effects of News Media Messages About Mass Shootings on Attitudes Toward Persons With Serious Mental Illness and Public Support for Gun Control Policies

The torrent of news stories following mass shootings raise public support for gun control policies but also contribute to negative attitudes toward those with serious mental illness.
A Pilot Study to Document the Return on Investment for Implementing an Ambulatory Electronic Health Record at an Academic Medical Center

BACKGROUND: Adoption rates for electronic health records (EHRs) have been slow, despite growing enthusiasm. Cost is a frequently cited obstacle to implementing an EHR.The body of literature citing apositivereturnoninvestmentislargelyanecdotalandinfrequentlypublishedinpeer-reviewed journals. STUDY DESIGN: Fiveambulatoryoffices,withatotalof28providers,withintheUniversityofRochesterMedical Center, participated in a pilot project using an EHR to document the return on investment. A staged implementation of the Touchworks EHR (Allscripts) was undertaken from November 2003toMarch2004.Measurementsofkeyfinancialindicatorsweremadeinthethirdcalendar quarters of 2003 and 2005. These indicators included chart pulls, new chart creation, filing time,supportstaffsalary,andtranscriptioncosts.Inaddition,patientcycletime,evaluationand management codes billed, and days in accounts receivable were evaluated to assess impact on officeefficiencyandbilling.Thesavingsrealizedwerecomparedwiththecostsofthefirst2years of EHR use to determine return on investment. RESULTS: Total annual savings were $393,662 ($14,055 per provider). Total capital cost was $484,577. First-year operating expenses were $24,539. Total expenses for the first year were $509,539 ($18,182 per provider). Ongoing annual cost for subsequent years is $114,016 ($4,072 per provider). So, initial costs were recaptured within 16 months, with ongoing annual savings of $9,983 per provider. CONCLUSIONS: An EHR can rapidly demonstrate a positive return on investment when implemented in ambulatory offices associated with a university medical center, with a neutral impact on efficiency and billing. (J Am Coll Surg 2007;205:89–96. © 2007 by the American College of Surgeons)
Specific Gravity, Carcass Fat, Abdominal Fat, and Yield Data in Broiler Chickens

Abstract Specific gravity of the eviscerated broiler carcasses of 100 males and 100 females (59 days old) in one experiment and 50 males and 50 females (55 day s old) in a second experiment was determined. Carcass fat was measured as ether extractable solids of the ground carcass. Yield data on starvation loss, percentage of blood and feathers, viscera, intestines, percentage carcass moisture and abdominal fat, and percentage protein and ash in the carcass were provided in both experiments. The correlation coefficients between specific gravity and percentage carcass fat were higher for females (Experiment 1, −.69, Experiment 2, −.58) than for males (Experiment 1, −.36, Experiment 2, −.31). The correlation coefficients between percentage abdominal fat and percentage carcass fat (Experiment 1, .76 males, .74 females; Experiment 2, .51 males, .71 females) were greater than the coefficients between specific gravity and percentage carcass fat. Percentage abdominal fat was a better estimator of percentage carcass fat than specific gravity which required more labor than obtaining percentage abdominal fat. Unless abdominal fat measurements are not available, specific gravity is not recommended as a means to estimate carcass fat in broiler chickens.
Digital model for transient studies of a three-phase five-legged transformer

A flux linkage model for a three-phase five-legged transformer is derived for the first time. The effects of mutual and leakage inductances, saturation, eddy current loss, hysteresis and residual fluxes of the nonlinear iron core are included. A straightforward and novel method for determining both the apparent and incremental inductance matrices for a loaded two-winding five-legged transformer is derived. Simulations presented in this study are based on apparent inductance (λ/i) rather than incremental inductance (dλ/di) because this approach was found to be preferable for predicting the behaviour of the laboratory transformer used. Eddy current and hysteresis losses are combined into one core loss term which is accounted for by a voltage-dependent resistance load on the secondary. The flux in each segment of the iron core and in the air gaps and tank are computed at each step. The model thus yields a completely detailed description of the transformer's behaviour. A predictor-corrector algorithm written in FORTRAN is used to solve the set of nonlinear differential equations that describe the transformer. A 386-based computer has been used to generate voltage and current waveforms faithful to laboratory data. Transformer inrush current and ferroresonance are selected as test cases because of the extreme computational demands that these transients place on the computer model. The model can be implemented using only nameplate and conventional test data along with the B-H curve of the core material. The method is thus well suited to the practical needs of engineers in industry.
ADP Stimulates Human Endothelial Cell Migration via P2Y1 Nucleotide Receptor–Mediated Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathways

Extensive research on the role of ADP in platelet activation led to the design of new anti-thrombotic drugs, such as clopidogrel (Plavix; sanofi-aventis); however, very little is known about the ADP-preferring nucleotide receptors (P2Y1, P2Y12, and P2Y13) in endothelium. Here, we show that ADP stimulates migration of cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in both Boyden chamber and in vitro wound repair assays. This promigratory effect was mimicked by 2-MeSADP, but not by AMP, and was inhibited by MRS2179 (P2Y1 receptor antagonist) but not by AR-C69931MX (P2Y12/13 receptor antagonist). RT-PCR revealed abundant P2Y1, barely detectable P2Y12, and absent P2Y13 receptor message in these cells. In addition, both ADP and 2-MeSADP, but not AMP, activated the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways as evidenced by increased phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38 kinase. ADP also stimulated phosphorylation of p90RSK, a downstream substrate of phosphorylated ERK1/2, and induced phosphorylation of such transcription factors downstream of the JNK and p38 pathways as c-Jun and activating transcription factor-2. These signaling events were inhibited by MRS2179 but not by AR-C69931MX. Furthermore, blockade of the ERK or JNK pathways by U0126 and SP600125, respectively, abolished ADP- and 2-MeSADP-stimulated HUVEC migration. However, inhibition of the p38 pathway by SB203580 partially suppressed ADP- and 2-MeSADP-induced HUVEC migration. We conclude that ADP promotes human endothelial cell migration by activating P2Y1 receptor-mediated MAPK pathways, possibly contributing to reendothelialization and angiogenesis after vascular injury.
Case Reports: Publication Standards in Forensic Psychiatry

Psychiatrists who publish case reports are required to seek informed consent from their subjects on the basis of the ethics-related obligation to maintain patient confidentiality. Academic journals have developed editorial standards to fulfill this obligation. Forensic evaluations do not create a doctor-patient relationship in the traditional sense, and information obtained through a forensic evaluation may also be found in the public domain. This public exposure is particularly likely, given the development of open access publishing standards, online journals, and increasing professional involvement in social media. This article outlines the ethics of informed consent in published case reports for general and forensic psychiatry and offers recommendations for forensic case study publishing. The authors suggest changes in the current requirements stated in The Journal for publication of case reports.
Targeting aberrant PI3K pathway signaling with XL147, a potent, selective and orally bioavailable PI3K inhibitor

C205 Activation of the phosphotidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) pathway is a common occurrence in many human tumors. In particular, amplifications or activating mutations in the PIK3CA gene (which encodes the catalytic p110α subunit of PI3K), or loss of function/deletion mutations in the gene encoding its antagonist PTEN, have been found with high frequency in a wide range of tumor types. Moreover, dysregulated PI3K pathway signaling is thought to contribute to resistance to a variety of anti-cancer therapies, including genotoxic agents and receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors. XL147 is a potent, orally bioavailable inhibitor of the Class I PI3K family of lipid kinases with IC50 values in the nanomolar range in PI3K biochemical assays. XL147 binds in an ATP-competitive and reversible manner, yet is highly selective against a panel of >130 human protein kinases. In cellular assays, XL147 antagonizes the production of the second messenger phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3) resulting in inhibition of phosphorylation of several downstream effectors of PI3K including AKT, ribosomal S6 kinase, and ribosomal S6 protein. Oral administration of XL147 to mice bearing xenografts of MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cells (expressing mutationally activated PI3K) or A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells (expressing activated K-Ras and deficient in LKB-1, a tumor suppressor protein negatively regulating the PI3K pathway) results in significant inhibition of tumor PI3K pathway signaling. Treatment with XL147 leads to significant tumor growth inhibition or tumor shrinkage in multiple preclinical cancer models including breast, lung, ovarian and prostate cancers, and gliomas. These effects correlate with inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, inhibition of tumor angiogenesis, and induction of tumor cell apoptosis. Based on these data, XL147 has potential utility as a single agent in tumors where the PI3K pathway is dysregulated. A Phase I dose-escalation study of the safety and pharmacokinetics of XL147 has been initiated in patients with solid tumors. The primary objectives of this study are to evaluate the safety and tolerability of daily oral administration of XL147 and to determine the maximum tolerated dose of XL147 when administered for 21 days followed by 7 days without dosing. Other objectives include evaluation of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effects of XL147. Preliminary results from this study will be presented, including available pharmacokinetic and safety data as well as pharmacodynamic analyses of peripheral blood cells and other tissues.
The routine use of prosthetic mesh in austere environments: dogma vs data

Abstract Background Mesh repair has become the standard in adult hernia repairs. Mesh infection is an uncommon but potentially devastating complication. Currently, there is widespread dogma against the use of prosthetic mesh (PM) in deployed or austere environments but little available data to support or refute this bias. Methods Retrospective review of all hernia repairs over 1 year in a forward deployed surgical unit in Afghanistan. Demographics, hernia type, repair performed, and mesh type were evaluated. Follow-up was completed up to 6 weeks and then as needed for up to a year, and complications to include infection were recorded. Results Sixty-six patients were identified, mean age was 38 (range 3 to 80) and 98% were male. Single-dose perioperative antibiotics and standard sterile technique were used in all cases. The majority (70%) had PM placed. The mean operative time was 54 min, and mean estimated blood loss was less than 25 cm 3 . The vast majority of our hernias were inguinal (95%) with 1 ventral and 2 umbilical hernias. In the PM group, there were no surgical site infections, no mesh infections, and no mesh explantation or reoperation. There were no recurrences in either group identified at up to 1-year postoperation. There was no statistically significant difference in any outcome measure between the PM and no-PM groups. Conclusions The use of PM for hernia repairs in the austere or forward environment appears safe and did not increase the risk of wound infection, mesh infections, or recurrence.
Creating friction: infrastructuring civic engagement in everyday life

This paper introduces the theoretical lens of the everyday to intersect and extend the emerging bodies of research on contestational design and infrastructures of civic engagement. Our analysis of social theories of everyday life suggests a design space that distinguishes 'privileged moments' of civic engagement from a more holistic understanding of the everyday as 'product-residue.' We analyze various efforts that researchers have undertaken to design infrastructures of civic engagement along two axes: the everyday-ness of the engagement fostered (from 'privileged moments' to 'product-residue') and the underlying paradigm of political participation (from consensus to contestation). Our analysis reveals the dearth and promise of infrastructures that create friction---provoking contestation through use that is embedded in the everyday life of citizens. Ultimately, this paper is a call to action for designers to create friction.
Transition from Thermodynamic to Kinetic-Limited Excitonic Energy Migration in Colloidal Quantum Dot Solids

We investigate the temperature dependence of excitonic energy migration in CdSe/ZnCdS core/shell colloidal quantum dot (QD) solids using spectrally resolved transient photoluminescence spectroscopy. In line with previous studies, we observe that as excitons hop among different energy sites within the inhomogeneously broadened QD ensemble, the photoluminescence spectrum transiently shifts toward the red. Using shape-engineered nanocrystals having a temperature-independent radiative lifetime, the magnitude of this transient red-shift is found to vary nonmonotonically with temperature. Near room temperature, the magnitude of this transient red-shift is determined by thermal equilibrium within the site energy distribution. As the sample temperature is reduced, the site-to-site hopping rate slows down and excitons become kinetically trapped at local minima in the global energy landscape. For a more homogeneous QD ensemble, reduction in site energy disorder causes the transition from thermodynamic to kinetic-li...
Development under Two Systems: Comparative Productivity Growth since 1950

A Familiar and yet notable feature of socialism is the nature of the countries where that form of social organization prevails. With few exceptions, all are economically among the less advanced countries of the world. At least, they were so at the time socialism emerged in them. In those countries, then, socialism rather than its great rival, capitalism, has been the instrument for further economic development. How have they fared in consequence ? What in particular of the claim often made by proponents that socialism is a superior system for such development?
In Situ Quantitative Plasmon Spectroscopic Determination and Imaging of Multiple SolidState Properties at the Nanoscale: a New Capability for Material Research

Measuring material properties is critical to understanding the behavior of contemporary nanostructured materials. In this paper, we show that as a consequence of the universal binding energy relation (UBER), universal features and strong scaling correlations exist between the volume plasmon energy and cohesive energy, valence electron density, elastic constants and hardness of various materials with metallic and covalent bonding. Based on these relations, we propose novel techniques that allow direct measurement and imaging of material properties in situ using valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy combined with energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy. This is illustrated by evaluation of elastic and cohesive properties of individual metastable nanoprecipitates in structural alloys and hardness of diesel-engine soot particles. The results demonstrate that new plasmon spectro-microscopic techniques have the potential to determine quantitatively and image multiple solid-state properties at the nanoscale, establishing a new capability for material research.
Thermal electric ice-core drills: history and new design options for intermediate-depth drilling

Ice coring of temperate and polythermal glaciers demonstrates some limitations of most electromechanical (EM) and thermal electric (TE) drills. Most TE drills are heavy, require a heavy power system, work slowly and cannot operate in boreholes going through the cold–temperate ice transition. Antifreeze thermal electric drills (ATED) are capable of operating in polar ice caps, polythermal and temperate glaciers, in boreholes filled with water and/or hydrophilic fluids. Performance of the ATED drill can be improved by using an open-top core barrel and low-power and narrow-kerf coring head. ATED-type drills can be modified for an open-top core barrel equipped with low-power coring head and include a new scheme for drilling-fluid circulation using two pumps. A small metering pump releases pure ethanol above the top of the drill, and a second pump enables circulation of the borehole fluid, an ethanol–water solution (EWS), above the kerf. Use of a narrow-kerf coring head reduces power requirements and makes it possible to design a lightweight drilling system that includes the EM and TE drills for shallow and intermediate-depth drilling.
Selective hydrolysis of plasmalogen phospholipids by Ca2+-independent PLA2 in hypoxic ventricular myocytes.

Accelerated phospholipid catabolism occurs early after the onset of myocardial ischemia and is likely to be mediated by the activation of one or more phospholipases in ischemic tissue. We hypothesi...
Relevance of Biochemical Tumor Markers and Lymphadenectomy in Management of Non-Seminomatous Testis Tumors: Current Perspective

AbstractRadioimmunoassay determinations of the biochemical tumor markers, alpha-fetoprotein or human chorionic gonadotropin, revealed elevated serum levels in 94 per cent of the patients with advanced disease. No falsely positive values have been observed. The markers are useful in monitoring the response to therapy and, when persistently elevated after therapy, indicate the presence of residual malignant tumor, usually embryonal carcinoma. However, they have a more limited role in the management and followup of the great majority of new patients with non-seminomatous germ cell tumors of the testis (stages A and B) owing to a falsely negative incidence of 38 per cent in patients found to have retroperitoneal metastases at lymphadenectomy. Furthermore, marker levels obtained during chemotherapy, even in the presence of residual tumor, frequently are normal. Thus, they have a limited role in the early detection of residual disease in patients treated systematically with prophylactic chemotherapy.A meticulou...
On steroid nucleotides: II. Synthesis of Δ5-3β-hydroxy-steroid nucleotides

Abstract 5-androsten-3β-ol-17-one-ADP, 5-pregnen-3β-ol-20-one-ADP, and 5-pregnene-3β, 17α-diol-20-one-ADP have been prepared from Δ5-3β-hydroxy-steroid-phosphoric acid and the dicyclohexylguanidinium salt of AMP-phosphoramidate. The synthesis of 5-androsten-3β-ol-17-one-ATP was achieved by condensation of 5-androsten-3β-ol-17-one-phosphoric acid and ADP, using dicyclohexylcarbodiimide as condensing agent. After purification by column chromatography, paper chromatography in two solvent systems and paper electrophoresis, the Δ5-3β-hydroxy-steroid nucleotides were found to be relatively unstable.
Houphouism: Building a Coalition among Opposition Parties in Côte d’Ivoire

Accord de Pretoria signen avril 2005 et les ements antieurs ont dontrque la rivalitentre les diffents partis politiques de lopposition ait nociable. Depuis le dut des activit multipartistes et avant le d du Prident Fix Houphou Boigny en 1993, les partis se sont multipli, dassant parfois la vingtaine. Mais le coup dat de 1999 qui a lorigine de la prente crise fut plein de lens. Les divisions ethniques et rionales que le Prident Houphou savait bien supprimer sous le contre de son parti unique, le PDCI, se sont rs intacts et me prudiciables lunitnationale. Suite lattentat du 19 septembre 2002, dont le rultat fut loccupation du pays par la France et les forces internationales des Nations Unies dune zone de darcation, le pays fut coupdest en ouest. Dans lincapacitde la communautinternationale de roudre le conflit, certains partis de lopposition se sont mis daccord pour crr un rassemblement de solidaritcontre le rime de Laurent Gbagbo. Quatre partis parmi lopposition ont cr le Rassemblement des Houphouistes pour la docratie et la paix (RHDP) qui a pour philosophie lidlogie politique du fondateur de la nation. Un autre groupement, le Groupe des Sept, fut dcr lors de lAccord de Marcoussis et rnissait aussi les trois groupes rebelles du nord. Ce papier examine laccord crnt le RHDP et analyse certains aspects du consensus des partis de lopposition. Laccord de Ouagadougou, signen Mars 2007 entre Gbagbo et Guillaume Soro qui devient premier ministre, pose de nouveaux dis aux opposants.
Classification-based quantitative analysis of stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) data

A novel PSO classification-based approach to dealing with SILAC data is introduced.It depends mainly on the protein ratio summary not restricted only to the proteins with two or more peptide hits.No addition correction for multiple comparisons is necessary.The developed methods are implemented in the R package cSILAC. Background and objectiveStable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) is a practical and powerful approach for quantitative proteomic analysis. A key advantage of SILAC is the ability to simultaneously detect the isotopically labeled peptides in a single instrument run and so guarantee relative quantitation for a large number of peptides without introducing any variation caused by separate experiment. However, there are a few approaches available to assessing protein ratios and none of the existing algorithms pays considerable attention to the proteins having only one peptide hit. MethodsWe introduce new quantitative approaches to dealing with SILAC protein-level summary using classification-based methodologies, such as Gaussian mixture models with EM algorithms and its Bayesian approach as well as K-means clustering. In addition, a new approach is developed using Gaussian mixture model and a stochastic, metaheuristic global optimization algorithm, particle swarm optimization (PSO), to avoid either a premature convergence or being stuck in a local optimum. ResultsOur simulation studies show that the newly developed PSO-based method performs the best among others in terms of F1 score and the proposed methods further demonstrate the ability of detecting potential markers through real SILAC experimental data. ConclusionsNo matter how many peptide hits the protein has, the developed approach can be applicable, rescuing many proteins doomed to removal. Furthermore, no additional correction for multiple comparisons is necessary for the developed methods, enabling direct interpretation of the analysis outcomes.
Case Study 23. Is Humanity Sustainable? Tracking the Source of our Ecological Uniqueness

Behind all of our attempts to understand human evolution is our curiosity about ourselves. “Human nature,” the innate drives and desires that define us as a species, has always been constructed according to our own prejudices and aspirations, but it is rarely possible to investigate such models through science. A common approach has been to compare ourselves to other animal species for clues of what lies beneath our cultural veneer. Choosing the appropriate animal model is not less subjective. In this study, humans are compared to other mammals seeking ecological similarities and differences to clarify which might be appropriate models for us as we ask the question, “When did humans become unique?”
Person-Centered Fall Risk Awareness Perspectives: Clinical Correlates and Fall Risk

OBJECTIVES: To identify clinical correlates of person-centered fall risk awareness and their validity for predicting falls. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: Ambulatory community-dwelling older adults without dementia (N = 316; mean age 78, 55% female). MEASUREMENTS: Fall risk awareness was assessed using a two-item questionnaire that asked participants about overall likelihood of someone in their age group having a fall and their own personal risk of falling over the next 12 months. Incident falls were recorded over study follow-up. RESULTS: Fifty-three participants (16.8%) responded positively to the first fall risk awareness question about being likely to have a fall in the next 12 months, and 100 (31.6%) reported being at personal risk of falling over the next 12 months. There was only fair correlation (κ = 0.370) between responses on the two questions. Prior falls and depressive symptoms were associated with positive responses on both fall risk awareness questions. Age and other established fall risk factors were not associated with responses on either fall risk awareness question. The fall risk awareness questionnaire did not predict incident falls or injurious falls. CONCLUSION: Fall risk awareness is low in older adults. Although person-centered fall risk awareness is not predictive of falls, subjective risk perceptions should be considered when designing fall preventive strategies because they may influence participation and behaviors.© 2016, Copyright the Author Journal compilation © 2016, The American Geriatrics Society. Language: en
Neuron Excitability and Learning

Understanding the biological fingerprint of memory is both a fascinating topic and essential to combat the learning and memory impairments associated with developmental disorders, normal aging, and cognitive disorders. Most attention has been devoted to alterations in synaptic connections. However, this article focuses on the changes in neuronal excitability that also occur with learning, particularly in the postburst afterhyperpolarization (AHP) and the calcium-dependent potassium currents that mediate it. Success in learning a task is correlated with alteration in the postburst AHP. This led us to the current hypothesis that proper modulation of the AHP is essential for learning.
Thinking Through Hall and Ames: On the Art of Comparative Philosophy

With the publication of their first collaborative book Thinking Through Confucius, David Hall and Roger Ames launched a comparative philosophical project juxtaposing American pragmatism and Chinese Confucianism (Hall and Ames 1987). This essay focuses on the role pragmatic assumptions play in Hall’s and Ames’s announced goal of opening a “new route” into Chinese intellectual history. Hall and Ames aim to teach scholars whose scholarly sensibilities have been formed in the West what they must acknowledge about their own traditions before they can engage Chinese thinkers constructively. After happily acknowledging my own debt to Hall and Ames and defending as hugely helpful the broad arc of their work, this essay raises questions about the way they deploy pragmatic assumptions as tools for “removing the useless lumber” that they claim “block” Western thinkers’ access to Chinese intellectual history. Specifically it argues that the “useless lumber” metaphor is misplaced.
Housing conditions and birth outcomes: The National Child Development Study

Abstract Background Despite their importance to respiratory and other health outcomes, housing conditions have been little-studied with respect to perinatal outcomes. Methods 1927 participants in the British National Child Development Study reported on housing conditions and pregnancy outcomes, including presence/severity of mold/dampness; type of heating; and whether remodeling of various sorts had been conducted. Crowding, based on the number of people in the residence and the number of rooms, was also considered. Outcomes assessed were low birthweight ( Results Women who reported serious problems with mold were more likely to give birth to a low birthweight (adjusted OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.13–3.47) or small-for-gestational-age (2.06, 1.25–3.38) baby; no consistent associations were seen with preterm birth. Crowding was associated only with small-for-gestational-age (1.73, 1.11–2.76). Conclusions Exposure to mold or dampness, and housing conditions generally, is a potentially important but under-investigated aspect of women's lives during pregnancy. Future studies should more thoroughly investigate housing characteristics and their relationship with birth outcomes.
Round and Round We Go! The Performative Nature of the Roundabout:

The American roundabout is dominated by pragmatic engineering-based literature that emphasizes safety, geometry, cost, energy use, aesthetics, and the mediation of congestion. We, however, propose ...
CANDID Specification of Commercial and Financial Contracts: A Formal Semantics Approach to Knowledge Representation, Part II: Formal Description of Economics Actors and Objects

The formal language CANDID is presented as a knowledge representation formalism for artificially intelligent decision support systems. The language is specifically oriented to representation of concepts in finance, commerce and administration. Later parts of the paper demonstrate the application of CANDID to explication of corporate entities and contractual objects, as well as to various concepts in elementary finance.
An Old Card Trick Revisited.

ERIC, one of my seventh-grade students, came to me one day with a card trick his father had shown him. The trick was in no way a trick, but rather a mathematically solved puzzle. Let me explain how the puzzle works. In a deck of regular playing cards there are four suits of thirteen cards. For this puzzle each card has a value. The aces count one, kings count thirteen, queens count twelve, jacks eleven, ten's ten, and so on down to the aces. With the deck shuffled and facing up ward, a card is laid down with its face up. Its value is noted in the performer's mind. This first card is the starter card for a pile. The pile will consist of a collection of cards such that the sum of the value of the starter
Conversion, Layering, and Human Rights Prosecutions in Northern Ireland

This chapter demonstrates how aspects of the design and implementation of emergency laws in Northern Ireland produced constraints on the ability for investigations to move forward in state violence cases and for the courts to issue fair judgments. Controls on the inquest process originally placed within emergency provisions were shielded from oversight and judicial scrutiny after they were folded into ordinary criminal law. Additionally, state violence cases were determined by a largely biased community of judges in juryless courts, a feature of emergency laws created at the start of the conflict. Patterns of human rights prosecutions reflect these conditions as well as amendments made to emergency laws, brought about through independent oversight of executive emergency powers and rulings by a regional human rights court.
Drop-Activation: Implicit Parameter Reduction and Harmonic Regularization.

Overfitting frequently occurs in deep learning. In this paper, we propose a novel regularization method called Drop-Activation to reduce overfitting and improve generalization. The key idea is to drop nonlinear activation functions by setting them to be identity functions randomly during training time. During testing, we use a deterministic network with a new activation function to encode the average effect of dropping activations randomly. Our theoretical analyses support the regularization effect of Drop-Activation as implicit parameter reduction and verify its capability to be used together with Batch Normalization (Ioffe and Szegedy 2015). The experimental results on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, SVHN, EMNIST, and ImageNet show that Drop-Activation generally improves the performance of popular neural network architectures for the image classification task. Furthermore, as a regularizer Drop-Activation can be used in harmony with standard training and regularization techniques such as Batch Normalization and Auto Augment (Cubuk et al. 2019). The code is available at \url{this https URL}.
Road Curb Detection and Localization With Monocular Forward-View Vehicle Camera

We propose a robust method for estimating road curb 3-D parameters (size, location, and orientation) using a calibrated monocular camera equipped with a fisheye lens. Automatic curb detection and localization is particularly important in the context of an advanced driver assistance system, i.e., to prevent possible collision and damage to the vehicle’s bumper during perpendicular and diagonal parking maneuvers. Combining 3-D geometric reasoning with advanced vision-based detection methods, our approach is able to estimate the vehicle to curb distance in real time with a mean accuracy of more than 90%, as well as its orientation, height, and depth. Our approach consists of two distinct components—curb detection in each individual video frame and temporal analysis. The first part is comprised of sophisticated curb edges extraction and parameterized 3-D curb template fitting. Using a few assumptions regarding the real-world geometry, we can thus retrieve the curb’s height and its relative position with respect to the moving vehicle on which the camera is mounted. Support vector machine classifier fed with histograms of oriented gradients is used for appearance-based filtering out outliers. In the second part, the detected curb regions are tracked in the temporal domain, so as to perform a second pass of false positives rejection. We have validated our approach on a newly collected database of 11 videos under different conditions. We have used point-wise LIDAR measurements and manual exhaustive labels as a ground truth.
iGroup Learning and iDetect for Dynamic Anomaly Detection with Applications in Maritime Threat Detection

The maritime transportation system is critical to the US and world economy. This paper reports on two novel statistical tools, iGroup learning for individualized grouping and baseline distribution formation, and iDetect for subsequent individualized detection of anomalous deviations from the baseline distribution. These statistical methods are being developed, tested, and implemented in the context of maritime threat detection, but can be easily applied in other areas. In the maritime domain, the tools aim to provide early warnings of anomalies and assessments of resulting risk for vessels being monitored. The paper presents some preliminary results about these tools and specifically reports on a case study aimed at finding anomalous behavior for vessels approaching a port.
Abstract 731: Biophysical Properties of Nanofibrillar Scaffolds Modulate Endothelial Cell Survival in the Ischemic Hind Limb

Research Background and Objectives: Endothelial cells (ECs) are a promising cell type for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). We previously showed that anisotropic nanofibrillar sca...
Gangrene of the finger following digital nerve block

A DIGITAL nerve bIock with a IocaI anesthetic soIution is frequentIy used for the performance of minor surgica1 operations upon the fingers. The most popuIar anesthetic soIution is I or 2 per cent procaine, with or without epinephrine. A skin whea1 is raised on the dorsum of the base of the finger by injecting several drops of the anesthetic soIution into the skin with a smaI1 caIibre hypodermic needIe. Through this whea1, the needIe is inserted aIong the side of the phalanx and severa cc. of the anesthetic soIution are injected as the needIe advances. The needIe is withdrawn, and using the same skin whea1 or a new one, the other side of the phaIanx is injected. A tourniquet is often placed around the base of the finger in order to obtain a more rapid anesthesia. This technic is demonstrated in Figure I. DigitaI gangrene foIIowing the above type of nerve bIock has been reported very infrequentIy in the EngIish Iiterature. GarIockl first caIIed attention to this compIication in 1931 in a series of four cases. Kaufman,2 in 1941, reported another case and reviewed the literature very compIeteIy. He caIIed attention to the fact that this type of gangrene was frequently reported in the German and French Iiterature. Since this time, two more cases have been reported by McLaughIin3 and PeIner.4 AItogether, thirty-two cases have been cited in the combined EngIish and foreign Iiterature. This wouId Iead one to the concIusion that such gangrene is a very infrequent compIication of digita nerve bIock. To prove that such is not the case, the foIIowing series of eight cases is reported 80 and discussed. Table I presents a summary of these cases.
Toward Mapping the Paths to AGI

There is substantial interest in the research community for a map of the paths to artificial general intelligence (AGI), however, no effort toward these ends has been entirely successful. This paper identifies an alternative technique called scenario network mapping that is well suited for the difficulties posed in mapping the paths to AGI. The method is discussed, and a modified version of scenario network mapping is proposed which is intended specifically for the purpose of mapping the paths to AGI. Finally, a scenario network mapping workshopping process is proposed to utilize this method and develop a map of the paths to AGI. This will hopefully lead to discussion and action in the research community for using it in a new effort to map the paths to AGI.
Women writers and the fictionalisation of the classics

Translation studies scholars have traditionally studied texts that are called translations in the receiving cultures. But in the age of mass media, blogs, online journals, reader reviews, and fan f...
Telling My Story Through Visual Images Guided by Arnheim’s Visual Thinking

Visual images can be instrumental to communicate what an individual wants to express that words cannot. Guided by Arnheim's (1969, 1974) visual thinking, the design project was created to communicate experiences that individuals struggled to articulate. This design process leads to a new awareness of how visual images can speak and help individuals to communicate without a language.
Synaptamide activates the adhesion GPCR GPR110 (ADGRF1) through GAIN domain binding

Adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (aGPCR) are characterized by a large extracellular region containing a conserved GPCR-autoproteolysis-inducing (GAIN) domain. Despite their relevance to several disease conditions, we do not understand the molecular mechanism by which aGPCRs are physiologically activated. GPR110 (ADGRF1) was recently deorphanized as the functional receptor of N-docosahexaenoylethanolamine (synaptamide), a potent synaptogenic metabolite of docosahexaenoic acid. Thus far, synaptamide is the first and only small-molecule endogenous ligand of an aGPCR. Here, we demonstrate the molecular basis of synaptamide-induced activation of GPR110 in living cells. Using in-cell chemical cross-linking/mass spectrometry, computational modeling and mutagenesis-assisted functional assays, we discover that synaptamide specifically binds to the interface of GPR110 GAIN subdomains through interactions with residues Q511, N512 and Y513, causing an intracellular conformational change near TM6 that triggers downstream signaling. This ligand-induced GAIN-targeted activation mechanism provides a framework for understanding the physiological function of aGPCRs and therapeutic targeting in the GAIN domain.