cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the Relationships Among Facility Location, Transportation Mode Selection and Material Flow Costs in Global Supply Chains

This chapter, which explores the interplay between three significant factors in global supply chains, holds two research objectives. The first is a model to maximize after tax profit by prescribing facility locations, transportation modes, and material flows in a global supply chain. The second is to demonstrate relationships among these three components through a case study.
Novel baseline predictors of adverse events during oral immunotherapy in children with peanut allergy

Background Though peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a promising investigational therapy, its potential is limited by substantial adverse events (AEs), which are relatively understudied. Objective A retrospective analysis was conducted, pooling data from 3 pediatric peanut OIT trials, comprising the largest analysis of peanut OIT safety to date. Methods We pooled data from 104 children with peanut allergy from 3 peanut OIT studies. We catalogued AEs from parental reports, daily symptom diaries, and dose escalations. We included events that were considered likely related to OIT and identified potential baseline predictors of higher AE rates using generalized linear regression models. Results Eighty percent of subjects experienced likely related AEs during OIT (72% during buildup and 47% during maintenance). Of these AEs, over 90% occurred while at home. Approximately 42% of subjects experienced systemic reactions, and 49% experienced gastrointestinal symptoms. Twenty percent of subjects dropped out, with half (10% of the overall group) due to persistent gastrointestinal symptoms. Baseline allergic rhinitis (AR) and peanut SPT wheal size were significant predictors of higher overall AE rates. SPT wheal size predicted increased gastrointestinal AEs, and AR predicted increased systemic reactions. Over the course of OIT, 61% of subjects received treatment for likely related AEs, 59% with antihistamines and 12% with epinephrine. Conclusions Peanut OIT is associated with frequent AEs, with rates declining over time, and most graded mild. However, systemic reactions and intolerable gastrointestinal AEs do occur and are significantly associated with AR and peanut SPT wheal size, respectively. Further study is needed of predictive biomarkers and the overall risks and benefits of OIT.
Congruence across Sexual Orientation Dimensions and Risk for Unintended Pregnancy among Adult U.S. Women

Abstract Objectives To date, no studies have investigated whether sexual minority women (SMW) are more likely to experience unintended pregnancies compared with their heterosexual peers. The aim of this study was to explore whether adult SMW were more likely to have unintended pregnancies compared with heterosexual women, to examine the role of identity–attraction congruence in unintended pregnancy risk, and to evaluate possible mediators. Methods Data on pregnancies to women ages 18 to 44 were drawn from the 2006 through 2013 National Survey of Family Growth ( n = 25,403). Weighted logistic regression models estimated the likelihood of reporting an unintended (rather than intended) pregnancy by identity–attraction congruence and the extent to which this association was mediated by sexual experiences with men, including age at first sex and number of sexual partners. Supplementary analyses addressed the issue of abortion underreporting. Results Pregnancies to SMW were more likely to be unintended compared with pregnancies to heterosexual women (adjusted odds ratio, 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.08–1.46). This was driven by the elevated risk experienced by heterosexual-identified women with same-sex attractions, specifically (adjusted odds ratio, 1.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.08–1.51). Greater unintended pregnancy risk among these women was mediated by a greater number of male sex partners compared with heterosexual women. Conclusions Unintended pregnancy risk among SMW has historically received little attention from scholars and clinicians. Future research should explore the specific conditions that put heterosexual-identified women with same sex attractions at increased risk for unintended pregnancy. Clinicians should consider these dynamics when screening patients for contraceptive counseling.
Exploiting accelerated aging effect for on-line configurability and hardware tracking

Conventional CMOS technology lacks an efficient way of realizing reconfigurability, which is a highly desired feature for applications such as hardware tracking for security. On the other hand, the traditional “undesirable” aging effect has presented a non-volatile “memory” to the CMOS chip. This paper exploits the aging effects in standard CMOS to enable non-volatile configurability to the chip for application of hardware tracking. A novel accelerated aging circuit is developed to shorten the required stress time to a few seconds of operation. Due to the significant challenges posed by process variation in advanced CMOS technology, a novel stochastic processing methodology is proposed to significantly reduce the failure rate of the tracking and detection. Combining both circuits and system level acceleration, the work of chip usage tracking can be realized within seconds of usage in contrast with days of operation from previously reported aging monitor. The design was implemented and simulated in 45nm CMOS technology with less than 25μW power consumption and compact sizes for easy insertion as a silicon IP using only core transistors. The robustness of the proposed stochastic processing technique has been verified using transistor level Monte-Carlo simulation. Compared with existing aging monitors, the proposed techniques accelerate the process by thousands of times enabling the desired online configurability.
Static detection of deadlocks in polynomial time

Parallel and distributed programming languages often include explicit synchronization primitives, such as rendezvous and semaphores. Such programs are subject to synchronization anomalies; the program behaves incorrectly because it has a faulty synchronization structure. A deadlock is an anomaly in which some subset of the active tasks of the program mutually wait on each other to advance; thus, the program cannot complete execution. In static anomaly detection, the source code of a program is automatically analyzed to determine if the program can ever exhibit a specific anomaly. Static anomaly detection has the unique advantage that it can certify programs to be free of the tested anomaly; dynamic testing cannot generally do this. Though exact static detection of deadlocks is NP-hard (Tay83a), many researchers have tried to detect deadlock by exhaustive enumeration of synchronization states, using Petri nets or other program representations. In practice, programs often have large enough state spaces to render this approach impractical. Our approach, rather, is to make an approximate analysis of the program in time polynomial in the size of the source code. Our approximation is safe: if we certify a program free of deadlock, it will never deadlock. We do this using iterative flow analysis techniques to detect (but not enumerate) "deadlock cycles" in the program's control and synchronization structure. We identify four constraints on deadlock cycles which we use to prune invalid cycles, thus avoiding false alarms. One pruning method uses a "can't happen together" relation between statements; we show how such information can be found, and how it may be of value in other analyses. We have implemented our analysis for the rendezvous synchronization of the Ada language, and have tested it on over 100 programs obtained from government and industrial sources. We demonstrate that our technique is quite accurate compared to exhaustive state generation; few false alarms are seen in practice. Our technique is also well behaved in execution time, running faster than the exhaustive technique for all programs except those with the simplest state spaces. To demonstrate the generality of our methods, we show preliminary algorithms for detecting deadlock in two very different synchronization paradigms: binary semaphores, and the dynamic, pointer-based process control of Concurrent C.
Attitudes and cultural self-efficacy levels of nurses caring for patients in army hospitals.

Abstract This descriptive, cross-sectional study was a convenience sample of 104 registered nurses (N = 104) from three Army hospitals who participated anonymously in this study. Participating in the study were 62 (n = 62) active-duty Army nurses and 41 civilian nurses (n = 41), and one nurse that did not specify status (n = 1). The purpose of the study was to investigate attitudes and cultural self-efficacy levels in caring for ethnically diverse patients. Three research questions were generated that included: (1) What are the attitudes and cultural self-efficacy levels of nurses caring for patients in Army hospitals? (2) Are there differences in attitudes and cultural self-efficacy levels based on the nurses' age, ethnic/racial group, sex, employment status, education, military experience, and nursing experience? And, (3) What relationship exists between nurses' attitudes and their cultural self-efficacy levels? The research instrument was an aggregated instrument consisting of three different instruments including: (1) the Updated Joseph Ethnic Attitude Assessment Survey (EAAS) based on Rooda's Cultural Fitness Survey; (2) a Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) (Bernal & Froman, 1986; 1992), and (3) a Demographic Questionnaire. Analysis of the data suggested that there were significant differences among the nurses that were based on sex, ethnicity, and military status. For the attitudes section of the EAAS questionnaire, nurses were more positive toward patients of similar ethnic backgrounds Female nurses were more positive than male nurses, and civilian nurses were more positive than their military counterparts. For the Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES), nurses expressed a fairly high degree of confidence in their knowledge of cultural concepts They also expressed high confidence in their transcultural skills for African-Americans and Latino Americans and low confidence for Asian Americans Male nurses expressed higher confidence levels than female nurses, and military nurses expressed higher confidence levels than civilian nurses.
Optimal control for pointwise asymptotic stability in a hybrid control system

Abstract Pointwise asymptotic stability, or semistability, is a property of the set of equilibria of a dynamical system, where every equilibrium is Lyapunov stable and every solution is convergent to some equilibrium. Under an appropriate version of asymptotic controllability assumption, it is shown that the property can be achieved in a hybrid control system by open-loop optimal solutions of an infinite-horizon optimal control problem. For discrete-time systems, the optimal solutions can be generated by feedback. Regularity of the optimal value function and the existence of hybrid optimal controls are also studied.
miR-375 Regulates Invasion-Related Proteins Vimentin and L-Plastin

Invasion is a hallmark of advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We previously determined that low relative miR-375 expression was associated with poor patient prognosis. HNSCC cells with increased miR-375 expression have lower invasive properties and impaired invadopodium activity. Using stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture and reverse-phase liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, we assessed the impact of miR-375 expression on protein levels in UM-SCC-1 cells. Increased miR-375 expression was associated with down-regulation of proteins involved in cellular assembly and organization, death and survival, and movement. Two invasion-associated proteins, vimentin and L-plastin, were strongly down-regulated by miR-375. Luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that high miR-375 expression reduced vimentin promoter activity, suggesting that vimentin is an indirect target of miR-375. Runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1) is a potential miR-375 direct target, and its knockdown reduced vimentin and L-plastin expression. Data in The Cancer Genome Atlas HNSCC database showed a significant inverse correlation between miR-375 expression and RUNX1, vimentin, and L-plastin RNA expression. These clinical correlations validate our in vitro model findings and support a mechanism in which miR-375 suppresses RUNX1 levels, resulting in reduced vimentin and L-plastin expression. Furthermore, knockdown of RUNX1, L-plastin, and vimentin resulted in significant reductions in cell invasion in vitro , indicating the functional significance of miR-375 regulation of specific proteins involved in HNSCC invasion.
C-PLAD-SM: Extending Component Requirements with Use Cases and State Machines

Classic approaches to component specification derived from component requirements emphasize identifying external interfaces and behaviors. The C-PLAD requirements model provided a unifying framework for combining domain requirements and application requirements through an iterative refinement process. C-PLAD repackaged UML features and Unified Process techniques into an iterative process. In our continuing work, we found another layer was required—the inclusion of state machines to drive the architectural specifications beyond component interfaces and into component states in order to provide guarantees in our domains of interest, namely safety-critical applications. In this paper we describe an extension to the C-PLAD approach, dubbed C-PLAD-SM, which addresses the gaps in our earlier work.
Differences in responses to accounting-based and market-based benchmarks – Evidence from Nasdaq

Abstract We study how managers of Nasdaq-listed firms respond to the threat of delisting due to quantitative listing deficiencies. We find that managers' responses vary by deficiency type, specifically, whether the deficiency is accounting-based (related to shareholders' equity) or market-based (related to market value or bid price). Firms with accounting-based deficiencies exhibit income-increasing discretionary accruals. In contrast, firms with market-based deficiencies do not. We also find that shareholders' equity-deficient firms respond with equity issuances and bid price-deficient firms initiate reverse stock splits. These findings suggest that firms trade off among methods to meet benchmarks based on costs and constraints. In additional analyses, we find some evidence that firms' delisting avoidance strategies succeed in delaying or avoiding regulatory delistings.
Hierarchical heterogeneity and an elastic microstructure observed in a metallic glass alloy

Abstract Heterogeneities in a Zr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) were investigated using dynamic modulus mapping on a nanoindentation platform, revealing a complex elastic microstructure consisting of interpenetrating locally stiff and compliant regions with characteristic feature lengths on the order of 100 nm. The unique microstructures were observed in as-cast, annealed and laser-processed materials. Surprisingly, at various mapping locations across the cast sample cross sections, the elastic microstructures displayed directional alignment of the features with the mold surface. The results introduce an unprecedented spatial regime of elastic variations in monolithic BMGs that may contribute towards a more complete understanding of structure-property relationships in these materials, especially with regards to global deformation behavior.
Evol = f(Evol)

DESPITE THE claims of Dawkins, evolution is far more complex than the “survival of the stable”. In order for any evolutionary change to occur at all, in order for life to explore the vast landscape of possible forms, variation is essential. Perhaps we are lucky this is so, since in our imperfect world mistakes are inevitable, however accurate a proofreading enzyme might be. The inevitability of variation, coupled with its “value” as a source of new evolutionary possibilities, provided Arthur H. Sturtevant with the answer to a question he posed in an influential 1937 article in the Quarterly Review of Biology. Sturtevant, who had assembled the first genetic linkage map of a chromosome (the Drosophila X chromosome) in 1913, asked why mutation rates do not evolve to zero. His paper laid the groundwork for the study of what is now called the evolution of evolvability or, somewhat less poetically, second-order selection (Tenaillon et al. 2001).
Betti Sequences over Standard Graded Commutative Algebras with Two Relations

It is well known that if Q is a standard graded polynomial ring in d variables over a field, and R is a quotient of Q with \(\mathop{\mathrm{proj\,dim}}\nolimits _{Q}R \leq 1\), then the Betti sequence of every R-module N is constant after d steps. We prove that if \(\mathop{\mathrm{proj\,dim}}\nolimits _{Q}R = 2\), then the Betti sequence of N is determined explicitly by some initial segment of known length, which can be read off a presentation of N. There are three cases, depending on the degrees of the defining relations of R and on whether these have a common divisor.
Immunotherapy for Metastatic Melanoma with Right Atrial Involvement in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Prognosis for metastatic melanoma has improved significantly with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Given improvements in survival, aggressive surgical treatment may be considered in patients with life-threatening complications from their disease that would not otherwise be considered in advanced disease. Patients with preexisting autoimmune diseases or prior immune-related adverse events from therapy are largely excluded from clinical trials. Concerns exist that immunotherapy in these patients could worsen autoimmune disease or increase the risk of developing additional immune-related adverse events on therapy. We present a case of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis that presented with obstructive heart failure secondary to melanoma that had metastasized to the right atrium. After aggressive surgical resection to stabilize him from his life-threatening heart failure, he was treated with ipilimumab, which was stopped due to an immune-related adverse event. He was then started on pembrolizumab and had a durable response to therapy. Aggressive surgical treatment should be considered in patients with a cancer that may respond to immunotherapy. Furthermore, some patients with preexisting autoimmune disease may be safely treated with checkpoint inhibition therapy, and patients with a severe immune toxicity from one class may successfully be treated with an alternate class.
Granger-causality meets causal inference in graphical models: Learning networks via non-invasive observations

Algorithms developed in the area of graphical models have proven to be useful tools for the analysis and reconstruction of networks of dynamic systems with directed acyclic structure. However, such techniques cannot typically provide a consistent reconstruction for networks of dynamic systems in presence of feedback mechanisms. On the other hand, reconstruction techniques based on causal estimators and one-step-ahead predictors, such as Granger causality, are capable of reconstructing loopy networks, but only if all the operators defining the input/output structure of the network are strictly causal. In this work, we develop a novel reconstruction method for network topologies that combines the advantages of graphical models and causal estimator techniques unifying both approaches under a single framework. The fundamental result is a generalization of Granger causality which provides a consistent reconstruction of the topology of a network of linear dynamic systems under the milder assumption that every loop contains at least one strictly causal transfer function.
Electrical dynamics of isolated cerebral and skeletal muscle endothelial tubes: Differential roles of G-protein-coupled receptors and K+ channels.

Electrical dynamics of freshly isolated cerebral endothelium have not been determined independently of perivascular nerves and smooth muscle. We tested the hypothesis that endothelium of cerebral and skeletal muscle arteries differentially utilizes purinergic and muscarinic signaling pathways to activate endothelium-derived hyperpolarization. Changes in membrane potential (Vm) were recorded in intact endothelial tubes freshly isolated from posterior cerebral and superior epigastric arteries of male and female C57BL/6 mice (age: 3-8 months). Vm was measured in response to activation of purinergic (P2Y) and muscarinic (M3) receptors in addition to small- and intermediate-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (SKCa/IKCa) and inward rectifying K+ (KIR) channels using ATP (100 μmol·L-1), acetylcholine (ACh; 10 μmol·L-1), NS309 (0.01-10 μmol·L-1), and 15 mmol·L-1 KCl, respectively. Intercellular coupling was demonstrated via transfer of propidium iodide dye and electrical current (±0.5-3 nA) through gap junctions. With similarities observed across gender, peak hyperpolarization to ATP and ACh in skeletal muscle endothelial tubes was ~twofold and ~sevenfold higher, respectively, vs cerebral endothelial tubes, whereas responses to NS309 were similar (from resting Vm ~-30 mV to maximum ~-80 mV). Hyperpolarization (~8 mV) occurred during 15 mmol·L-1 KCl treatment in cerebral but not skeletal muscle endothelial tubes. Despite weaker hyperpolarization during endothelial GPCR stimulation in cerebral vs skeletal muscle endothelium, the capability for robust SKCa/IKCa activity is preserved across brain and skeletal muscle. As vascular reactivity decreases with aging and cardiovascular disease, endothelial K+ channel activity may be calibrated to restore blood flow to respective organs regardless of gender.
Differential Responses to Salt Intake-Stress Interactions

There is a well-established literature in the field of hypertension documenting an association between higher dietary salt intake and elevated blood pressure. As long ago as 1904, Ambard and Beajard published a report showing that some hypertensive patients demonstrate a substantial reduction in blood pressure when they restrict their salt intake (cited in Tobian & Hanlon, 1990). Since then, numerous additional clinical investigations have documented beneficial lowering of elevated pressure in many hypertensive patients. Additionally, crosscultural comparisons have highlighted the fact that societies where the average daily salt intake is less than half of that consumed in the United States demonstrate a parallel reduction in the incidence of hypertension while societies consuming more salt show an even higher incidence. Furthermore, “salt-sensitive” and “salt-resistant” animal models have been developed and studied in which the direct causal role of high salt intake in the pathogenesis of hypertension and related cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has been verified. (For reviews, see MacGregor, 1983; Meneely & Battarbee, 1976; Meneely & Dahl, 1961).
The clot thickens--thrombolysis and combination therapies.

Stroke in the human is most frequently caused by an intra-arterial clot. In order to investigate human stroke, appropriate and relevant animal models must be selected. Since the only approved treatment of stroke is that of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) the models selected should be amenable to thrombolytic treatment. We therefore describe a new model of embolic stroke in the rat in which a fibrin rich clot is placed via the internal carotid artery (ICA) at the origin of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Data are summarized describing treatment of embolic stroke with rtPA administered at various times after stroke, the use of combination antiadhesion molecule and rtPA therapy, and the application of MRI to monitor the temporal evolution of physiological changes within is— chemic tissue with and without rtPA intervention and to predict therapeutic efficacy.
The competitive structure of restaurant retailing: the impact of hedonic-utilitarian patronage motives

Abstract This paper investigates the competitive structure of restaurant retailing by developing and testing a conceptual framework that combines household production economics theory with research on hedonic and utilitarian retail patronage. The results generally support this conceptualization. This study contributes to the literature in three ways. First, the theory of household economics provides the missing theoretical rationale for studying the demographic correlates of hedonic versus utilitarian retail patronage motives. Second, this study also provides evidence that the utilitarian motives underlying research on household economics can be meaningfully supplemented by investigating hedonic patronage motives. Finally, this research adds to the literature on restaurant patronage rooted in household economics by studying empirically the role of retail marketing mix variables in restaurant retailing.
Understanding the severity of depression: Which symptoms of depression are the best indicators of depression severity?

Abstract Background In DSM-5, all symptoms of depression are considered equal representations of severity. In ICD-10, the type of symptom is considered in classifying severity. It is important to better understand if the defining symptoms of depression are differentially associated with overall severity so that severity categorization in diagnostic systems is most valid. In the present study from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS) project we examined the association between the individual diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) and global ratings of depression severity. We thus examined whether there is support for the ICD-10 approach in which some symptoms are better indicators of severity than are other symptoms. Methods Patients were evaluated with a semi-structured interview and the presence of each symptom of MDD was recorded. Patients were also rated on the Clinical Global Index of severity (CGI-S). Results All 9 DSM-5 criteria were significantly correlated with the CGI with suicidality having the highest correlation. A regression analysis found that all 9 criteria were significant predictors of the CGI. At the symptom level, 15 of the 17 symptoms were significantly correlated with the CGI (all except increased appetite and increased weight). Discussion There were differences between the symptoms of depression in their association with severity with suicidal ideation, depressed mood, and anhedonia having the highest correlations with severity whereas some symptoms were not significantly associated with severity distinctions. Future descriptions of the severity of depression should not consider all criteria as equal representations of severity.
INCREASING IMAGE SLICE ACQUISITION DECREASES ARTIFACTS GENERATED BY DIFFERENT ROOT-END FILLING MATERIALS

Background After endodontic surgery, radiographic assessment is the method of choice to monitor healing of bone defects. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans are useful to identify the cause of failure of surgical intervention or to confirm healing; however, the artifacts generated by some root-end filling material might compromise this objective. Objective To compare the artifact generated by 4 root-end filling materials at 2 slice acquisition settings—180 and 360 degrees. Hypothesis: Irrespective of the material used, artifacts generated with a 360-degree acquisition will be less than the artifacts generated by a 180-degree acquisition. Materials and Methods Twelve central incisors were endodontically treated, obturated, and then retrograde filled by using amalgam, Biodentine, mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), and super–ethoxy benzoic acid (Super-EBA) (3 of each). A phantom was created; then, tooth samples were inserted and scanned in the center of a 4 × 4 mm field of view (FOV) by using a Morita MCT-1 F8 set at 90kV. Two scan mode settings were used (360 and 180 degrees), the volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) was registered, and the effective dose was calculated. Images were analyzed by using the Image J software to calculate the artifact generated. Results At 90kV, there was a statistically significant decrease in artifact generated by 360-degree scans versus the 180-degree scans regardless of material used (P value = .0001). Furthermore, amalgam generated a statistically significant increase in artifact compared with the other materials (P value Discussion Use of the 360-degree image slice acquisition mode generated significantly less artifact than the 180-degree setting for all materials; also, Biodentine, MTA, and super-EBA are biomechanically adequate for retrograde obturation because they generated significantly less artifact compared with amalgam. However, because exposure is nearly doubled by doubling image slice acquisition, further investigation at lower kV settings is prudent to find a lower dose alternative with similar statistically significant results.
Mid-IR free-space optical communication with quantum cascade lasers

A free space optical communication link with simulated atmospheric turbulence investigation using un-cooled Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) system. Uncooled pulsed Quantum Cascade Laser was used as transmitter and photoelectromagnetic detector as receiver. For high photon efficiency and to eliminate QCL thermal effects signal was modulated at 32-ary Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) scheme. Concept enables extremely small and atmospheric propagation efficient optical communication system.
The Pedestrian Trauma Patient: Perspectives From a Psychiatric Consultation Service

The hospital course of adult pedestrians injured by automobiles and treated by a university trauma service over a 12-month period was reviewed to evaluate the prevalence, recognition, and intervention of substance use and suicidal behavior. The study showed that the pedestrian trauma patient had a dramatically high rate of substance use and a surprisingly low index of suspicion of suicide attempt by the treatment team as a cause of the accident. Appropriate intervention might greatly reduce the financial and human cost of trauma care, but awareness and identification of these risk factors must be taught first.
Super Learner for Survival Data Prediction

Survival analysis is a widely used method to establish a connection between a time to event outcome and a set of potential covariates. Accurately predicting the time of an event of interest is of primary importance in survival analysis. Many different algorithms have been proposed for survival prediction. However, for a given prediction problem it is rarely, if ever, possible to know in advance which algorithm will perform the best. In this paper we propose two algorithms for constructing super learners in survival data prediction where the individual algorithms are based on proportional hazards. A super learner is a flexible approach to statistical learning that finds the best weighted ensemble of the individual algorithms. Finding the optimal combination of the individual algorithms through minimizing cross-validated risk controls for over-fitting of the final ensemble learner. Candidate algorithms may range from a basic Cox model to tree-based machine learning algorithms, assuming all candidate algorithms are based on the proportional hazards framework. The ensemble weights are estimated by minimizing the cross-validated negative log partial likelihood. We compare the performance of the proposed super learners with existing models through extensive simulation studies. In all simulation scenarios, the proposed super learners are either the best fit or near the best fit. The performances of the newly proposed algorithms are also demonstrated with clinical data examples.
Initial development of a measure of evidence-informed professional thinking.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS A number of theories have been proposed on clinical expertise and its development in occupational therapy and allied health professions. Clinical reasoning, outcome measurement and evidence-based practice are names for leading conceptualisations. The aim of this research was to develop an operational measure of habits of mind and practice that constitute these desirable professional activities amongst professional therapists. METHODS Items were developed on the basis of literature review and feedback from an expert panel. An online self-report survey was completed by 107 occupational therapists and other allied health clinicians. Rasch analysis was used to identify and calibrate items that fit the criteria for equal-interval measurement. Residuals from identified equal-interval dimensions were examined using principal components analysis to identify multidimensionality. RESULTS A two-dimension solution employing 32 items was identified. The first dimension comprised items on Critical Clinical Reasoning and had an item separation of 8.49 (0.99 reliability) and a person separation of 2.93 (0.90 reliability). The second dimension comprised items on Evidence-Informed Practice behaviours and had an item separation of 6.19 (0.97 reliability) and a person separation of 2.97 (0.90 reliability). These dimensions were positively correlated (r = .778, p < .001). We named the overall scale 'Evidence-Informed Professional Thinking', or EIPT. The EIPT measures correlated significantly with 12 of 13 relevant external criterion items. CONCLUSION Evidence-informed professional thinking can be measured in terms of two correlated probabilistically equal-interval dimensions: Critical Clinical Reasoning and Evidence-Informed Practice behaviours. The EIPT measure should be useful in research on development and application of clinical expertise, quality and outcomes of care and implementation of improved practices among practicing therapists in clinical treatment settings. Further research is recommended to understand the generalisability, strengths, limitations and correlates of EIPT.
Schnellbestimmung der Kieselsäure in Silicaten, Gesteinen, Sanden und Eisenerzen durch acidimetrische Titration nach Fällung als Kaliumhexafluorosilicat

Eine rasche Bestimmung der Kieselsaure durch eine acidimetrische Titration wird beschrieben, die eine Verbesserung der von Sajo [2] veroffentlichten Arbeit darstellt. Das Prinzip beruht auf der Abscheidung der SiO2 als schwerlosliches K2SiF6. Das Verfahren fuhrt zu guten Ergebnissen und ist der gravimetrischen Methode uberlegen. Eine Einzelbestimmung last sich in etwa 45 min durchfuhren. Bei Serienarbeit kann eine betrachtliche Zeiteinsparung erzielt werden. Hinweise zur Vermeidung von Storungen durch hohe Aluminium- und Titangehalte werden gegeben.
Chapter 12 – Emission Controls

This chapter summarizes various technologies and practices for the control of emissions from oil and gas sources, including the US EPA’s updated New Source Performance Standards (NSPS). Control options for fugitive sources include leak detection and repair (LDAR), the use of low-bleed controllers and electricity-driven pumps, suppression and/or recovery of storage tank vapors, green completions, plunger lift systems for liquids unloading, and the use of composite wraps and flexible plastic liners for natural gas pipelines. Control options for combustion sources include automatic air-to-fuel ratio controllers in gas-fired stationary internal combustion (IC) engines, catalytic emission control systems, diesel particulate filters (DPFs), and flare minimization. A 40% reduction in on-shore methane emissions from the natural gas supply chain is achievable with existing technologies at a net total cost of $0.66/MCF of methane reduced, or less than $0.01/MCF of gas produced. This would save the US economy over $100 million per year.
Music Downloads and the Flip Side of DRM Protection

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is an important yet controversial issue in the information goods markets. Although DRM is supposed to help copyright owners by protecting digital content from illegal copying or distribution, it is controversial because DRM imposes restrictions on even legal users, and there are many industry practitioners who believe that the industry would be better off without DRM. In this paper, we model consumers’ utilities and their incentives to purchase legal products versus pirate illegal ones. This allows us to endogenize the level of piracy and understand how it is influenced by the presence or absence of DRM. Our analysis suggests that, counterintuitively, download piracy might decrease when the firm allows legal DRM-free downloads. Further, we find that a decrease in piracy does not guarantee an increase in firm profits and that that copyright owners do not always benefit from making it harder to copy music illegally. By analyzing the competition among the traditional retailer, the digital retailer and pirated sources of information goods, we get a better understanding of the competitive forces in the market and provide insights into the role of digital rights management.
Teacher Educators as Disruptors Redesigning Courses in Teacher Preparation Programs to Prepare white Preservice Teachers

Many institutions of higher education, and their teacher preparation programs, have mission or core value statements that include terms such as diversity, equity, or social justice. The terms are meant to suggest an inclusive approach but it’s often difficult to see how those terms are operationalized. As two Black pre-tenure faculty members working in predominantly white institutions (PWIs), we have pushed our teacher preparation programs to go beyond putting keywords in mission statements and provide ways to follow through so future teachers can enact the concepts in their classrooms. We use Self-Study in Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to make meaning of our own narratives, the systems that negatively impact people of color, and signaling words within our teacher preparation programs. We use the data from our personal narratives to discuss ways junior faculty can act as disruptors to ensure white preservice teachers are better prepared for the field.
Defensive Escort Teams for Navigation in Crowds via Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning

Coordinated defensive escorts can aid a navigating payload by positioning themselves strategically in order to maintain the safety of the payload from obstacles. In this letter, we present a novel, end-to-end solution for coordinating an escort team for protecting high-value payloads in a space crowded with interacting obstacles. Our solution employs deep reinforcement learning in order to train a team of escorts to maintain payload safety while navigating alongside the payload. The escorts utilize a trained centralized policy in a distributed fashion (i.e., no explicit communication between the escorts), relying only on range-limited positional information of the environment. Given this observation, escorts automatically prioritize obstacles to intercept and determine where to intercept them, using their repulsive interaction force to actively manipulate the environment. When compared to a payload navigating with a state-of-art algorithm for obstacle avoidance our defensive escort team increased navigation success up to 83% over escorts in static formation, up to 69% over orbiting escorts, and up to 66% compared to an analytic method providing guarantees in crowded environments. We also show that our learned solution is robust to several adaptations in the scenario including: a changing number of escorts in the team, changing obstacle density, unexpected obstacle behavior, changes in payload conformation, and added sensor noise.
Differentiation of Human Intestinal Organoids with Endogenous Vascular Endothelial Cells

Summary Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived intestinal organoids (HIOs) lack some cellular populations found in the native organ, including vasculature. Using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), we have identified a population of endothelial cells (ECs) present early in HIO differentiation that declines over time in culture. Here, we developed a method to expand and maintain this endogenous population of ECs within HIOs (vHIOs). Given that ECs possess organ-specific gene expression, morphology, and function, we used bulk RNA-seq and scRNA-seq to interrogate the developing human intestine, lung, and kidney in order to identify organ-enriched EC gene signatures. By comparing these gene signatures and validated markers to HIO ECs, we find that HIO ECs grown in vitro share the highest similarity with native intestinal ECs relative to kidney and lung. Together, these data demonstrate that HIOs can co-differentiate a native EC population that is properly patterned with an intestine-specific EC transcriptional signature in vitro.
Evaluating the potential for Archaea to serve as ice nucleatingparticles

Abstract. Aerosols play a crucial role in cloud formation. Biologically-derived materials from microorganisms such as plant bacteria, fungi, pollen, and various vegetative detritus can serve as ice nucleating particles (INPs), some of which initiate glaciation in clouds at relatively warm freezing temperatures. However, determining the magnitude of the interactions between clouds and biologically-derived INPs remains a significant challenge due to the diversity and complexity of bioaerosols, and limited observations of such aerosols to facilitate cloud ice formation. Additionally, microorganisms from the domain Archaea have to date not been evaluated as INPs. Here, we present the first results reporting the ice nucleation activity of a subset of archaeal cells from Haloarchaea. Intact cells of Halococcus morrhuae and Haloferax sulfurifontis demonstrated the ability to induce freezing as warm as −18 ˚C, while lysed cells of Haloquadratum walsbyi and Natronomonas pharaonis were unable to serve as warm temperature INPs. Exposure to heat and peroxide digestion indicated that the INPs of intact cells were driven by organic (H. morrhuae and H. sulfurifontis) and possibly also heat-labile materials (H. sulfurifontis only). While halophiles are prominent in hypersaline environments such as the Great Salt Lake and the Dead Sea, other members of the Archaea, such as methanogens and thermophiles, are prevalent in anoxic systems in seawater, sea ice, marine sediments, glacial ice, permafrost, and other cold niches. Archaeal extremophiles are both diverse and highly abundant. Thus, assessing their ability to become airborne, and their abilities to impact cloud formation, is necessary to improve understanding of biological impacts on clouds.
Plasticity of Multidimensional Receptive Fields in Core Rat Auditory Cortex Directed by Sound Statistics.

Abstract Sensory cortical neurons can nonlinearly integrate a wide range of inputs. The outcome of this nonlinear process can be approximated by more than one receptive field component or filter to characterize the ensuing stimulus preference. The functional properties of multidimensional filters are, however, not well understood. Here we estimated two spectrotemporal receptive fields (STRFs) per neuron using maximally informative dimension analysis. We compared their temporal and spectral modulation properties and determined the stimulus information captured by the two STRFs in core rat auditory cortical fields, primary auditory cortex (A1) and ventral auditory field (VAF). The first STRF is the dominant filter and acts as a sound feature detector in both fields. The second STRF is less feature specific, preferred lower modulations, and had less spike information compared to the first STRF. The information jointly captured by the two STRFs was larger than that captured by the sum of the individual STRFs, reflecting nonlinear interactions of two filters. This information gain was larger in A1. We next determined how the acoustic environment affects the structure and relationship of these two STRFs. Rats were exposed to moderate levels of spectrotemporally modulated noise during development. Noise exposure strongly altered the spectrotemporal preference of the first STRF in both cortical fields. The interaction between the two STRFs was reduced by noise exposure in A1 but not in VAF. The results reveal new functional distinctions between A1 and VAF indicating that (i) A1 has stronger interactions of the two STRFs than VAF, (ii) noise exposure diminishes modulation parameter representation contained in the noise more strongly for the first STRF in both fields, and (iii) plasticity induced by noise exposure can affect the strength of filter interactions in A1. Taken together, ascertaining two STRFs per neuron enhances the understanding of cortical information processing and plasticity effects in core auditory cortex.
CFD modeling of stagnation reduction in drinking water storage tanks through internal piping

Poor mixing is considered to be the main reason for stagnation in water tanks. This can pose threats to public health. Internal tank piping with sprinklers (distributed outlets) has been previously...
Veteran Patient Experience Academy: Putting Veterans First:

With a national priority to make the Veteran Health Administration (VA) a leading customer service organization and provide patient-centric services to veterans and their families, the Wilmington V...
SPAC Mergers, IPOs, and the PSLRA's Safe Harbor: Unpacking Claims of Regulatory Arbitrage

Many are contending that communications in connection with SPAC mergers should be excluded from the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). This is necessary, it is argued, to close a regulatory loophole and place SPAC mergers and IPOs on a “level playing field” with respect to management projections, as the safe harbor excludes communications in connection with IPOs. Would excluding communications in connection with SPAC mergers from the PSLRA’s safe harbor be good public policy? Is the IPO exclusion itself good public policy? This Article analyzes these surprisingly complex questions.
No Light in the Tunnel: Can US Unconventional Forces Meet the Future?

The continuing debate surrounding the allocation of the American defense budget suggests that the new administration in Washington, although committed to strengthening American military capability, has yet to clarify in its own mind just what capabilities it wishes to strengthen. While they seem to agree that strategic nuclear forces need to be increased it appears that this agreement is based on a failure to thoroughly analyze and select weapons systems and tactical postures that conform realistically to the types of war that the United States is likely to be called upon to fight in the next two decades.
A New Options Theory of Public Interest Lawsuits and Options-Based Risk Multipliers

Public interest lawsuits are ubiquitous and crucial to enforcing constitutional and statutory rights. A feature of such litigation is that plaintiffs' attorneys may not get paid unless they prevail. Courts responded to this by enhancing statutory attorneys fee awards with a multiplier reflecting the risk of losing. This Article provides five distinct contributions to the public interest literature. First, the Article applies to public interest litigation a new and very general technique of options analysis, which recognizes that a lawsuit consists of a sequence of options to continue instead of a once-and-for-all irreversible commitment. The Article demonstrates that an options theory of public interest lawsuits provides novel and central insights different from traditional analysis of plaintiffs' attorneys' incentives to accept cases. Third, the Article derives an options-based risk multiplier, in between the Supreme Court risk multiplier of one and the traditional risk multiplier. Fourth, the Article investigates plaintiffs' attorneys' incentives to settle lawsuits utilizing an options perspective. Finally, the paper utilizes options analysis to suggest reforming the statutory law or judicial doctrine of risk multipliers in order to compensate plaintiffs' attorneys for the risk of not getting paid if they lose.