cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bifurcation, Limit-Point Buckling, and Dynamic Collapse of Transversely Loaded Composite Shells

The transverse-loading response of laminated composite shell structures is studied experimentally and numerically. Monolithic graphite/epoxy shell structures having layups of [§ 45n/0n]s (n= 1;2;and3) closely represent commercial fuselage structures in both geometry and boundary conditions. A combined experimental and numerical approach is used to assess shell response to centered transverse loading. Experimentally, load-dee ection response and mode-shape evolutions are measured and damage resistance characterized via dye-penetrant enhanced x radiography and sectioning. Nonlinear e nite element analyses including buckling and dynamic collapse are conducted for comparison to the experimental data. Modeling results allow a more ree ned interpretation of observed bifurcation phenomena, particularly premature transition to a secondary equilibrium path attributed to geometric imperfections. A novel e nite element technique introduced in previous work is found to be superior to traditional methods for identifying and traversing bifurcation points in this work. A simply supported axial boundary conditionisfound to givea much morecomplex buckling response (bifurcationandlimit-pointbuckling, as well as dynamic collapse ) than specimens with a free axial edge (bifurcation or limit-point buckling ). Experimental and numerical comparisons for the range of thicknesses considered indicate that elasticity of the in-plane boundary condition and transverse shear effects need further consideration. Observed shell damage is typical of that observed for composite plates. Results of this work give new insight into the response of composite fuselage panels to damaging transverse events, particularly in regard to instability/buckling behavior.
Digoxin therapy is not associated with improved survival in epithelial ovarian cancer: A SEER-Medicare database analysis

Abstract Objectives Both in vitro and clinical trial data suggest that cardiac glycosides demonstrate a synergistic anti-tumor effect when administered with platinum chemotherapy. Epidemiologic studies have also demonstrated improved cancer survival in colorectal, breast, head and neck and hepatocellular carcinoma patients on digoxin therapy at the time of cancer treatment. We sought to determine whether digoxin improves survival in epithelial ovarian cancer patients treated with platinum. Methods Surveillance, Epidemiology and End-Results (SEER) tumor registries program data on ovarian cancer patients diagnosed in 2007–2009 were linked to Medicare claims data to capture platinum administration, digoxin use and cardiac comorbidities. We analyzed 762 patients who underwent cancer-directed surgery and received platinum chemotherapy. Patients were considered digoxin users during platinum administration if a prescription was filled within 6months of cancer diagnosis. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to determine the impact of digoxin use on overall survival (OS). Results Among 762 epithelial ovarian cancer patients treated with surgery and platinum chemotherapy, 53 (7%) used digoxin ever and 38 (5%) used digoxin specifically during platinum administration. Adjusting for age, heart disease and Charlson comorbidity score, digoxin use was not associated with OS (HR=1.29, 95% CI 0.81, 2.06). Conclusions In this SEER-Medicare database analysis, digoxin use during chemotherapy was not associated with improved OS outcomes in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer treated with surgery and platinum chemotherapy. These conclusions are limited, however, by a small sample size and bias intrinsic to claims-based data and should be further evaluated in a larger cohort.
Customer satisfaction, loyalty, and repurchase: Meta-analytical review, and theoretical and empirical evidence of loyalty and repurchase differences.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, LOYALTY, AND REPURCHASE: META-ANALYTICAL REVIEW, AND THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF LOYALTY AND REPURCHASE DIFFERENCES
Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease and Intracranial Aneurysms: Is There an Increased Risk of Treatment?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is associated with an increased risk of intracranial aneurysms. Our purpose was to assess whether there is an increased risk during aneurysm coiling and clipping. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were obtained from the National Inpatient Sample (2000–2011). All subjects had an unruptured aneurysm clipped or coiled and were divided into polycystic kidney (n = 189) and control (n = 3555) groups. Primary end points included in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and total hospital charges. Secondary end points included the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes for iatrogenic hemorrhage or infarction; intracranial hemorrhage; embolic infarction; and carotid and vertebral artery dissections. RESULTS: There was a significantly greater incidence of iatrogenic hemorrhage or infarction, embolic infarction, and carotid artery dissection in the patients with polycystic kidney disease compared with the control group after endovascular coiling. There was also a significantly greater incidence of iatrogenic hemorrhage or infarction in the polycystic kidney group after surgical clipping. However, the hospital stay was not longer in the polycystic kidney group, and the total hospital charges were not higher. Additional analysis within the polycystic kidney group revealed a significantly shorter length of stay but similar in-hospital costs when subjects underwent coiling versus clipping. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with polycystic kidney disease face an increased risk during intracranial aneurysm treatment, whether by coiling or clipping. This risk, however, does not translate into longer hospital stays or increased hospital costs. Despite the additional catheterization-related risks of dissection and embolization, coiling results in shorter hospital stays and similar mortality compared with clipping.
Process control, modeling and applications of spray casting

Spray casting involves sequential atomization and droplet consolidation at deposition rates above 0.25 kg/s, and at least eight independent process parameters must be optimized to achieve the desired preform shape, microstructure and yield. Because effective utilization of spray casting requires control of the preform shape with metallurgical integrity, there is a compelling need to quantify the influence of process parameters on shape, microstructure and overall yield. Coupling this knowledge base with appropriate sensor and control technology establishes a means for process control.
Spatial filtering of grating lobes in mobile sparse arrays

Coherent distributed RF systems inherently generate grating lobes due to the sparse structure of the arrays. Because the spatial location of the grating lobes is determined by the position of the transmitters relative to the wavelength of the transmit waveform, the grating lobes can be spatially filtered by modulating the frequency or position of the transmitters, causing the grating lobes to spatially decorrelate over time. In this paper the spatial filtering function due to modulation in frequency and position is derived for sparse arrays of mobile coherent transmitters. Metrics for suppressing all grating lobes, or allowing a small set of grating lobes adjacent to the mainbeam are derived. The grating lobe suppression time is calculated as a function of platform velocity for fixed waveform bandwidths.
P-channel Polycrystalline Silicon Thin Film Transistors on Steel Foil Substrates

We fabricated self-aligned polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) thin film transistors on flexible steel substrates. The polysilicon was formed by furnace crystallization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon at 950°C/20sec or 750°C/2min. The TFTs made from these polysilicon films have hole field effect mobilities in the linear regime of 22 cm2·V−1s−1 (950°C) and 14 cm2·V−1s−1 (750°C). The OFF current at 10 V drain-source voltage is 10−10A and the drain current ON/OFF ratio is ∼106.
*-Aware charging of lithium-ion battery cells

Lithium-ion cells are widely used in various platforms, such as electric vehicles (EVs) and mobile devices. Complete and fast charging of cells has always been the goal for sustainable system operation. However, fast charging is not always the best solution, especially in view of a new finding that cells need to rest/relax after being charged with high current to avoid accelerated capacity fading. Fast charging for its typical Charge-and-Go scenario does not allow this needed relaxation. In this paper, we propose ∗-Aware, a novel charging algorithm which maximizes the charged capacity within the user-specified available charging time (i.e., user-awareness) while ensuring enough relaxation (i.e., cell-awareness). We motivate and evaluate ∗-Aware via extensive measurements over 10 months. ∗-Aware is shown to improve the charged capacity by 6.9-50.5% over other charging algorithms that also ensure relaxation, and by almost 3x in some extreme cases. Furthermore, ∗-Aware slows down the capacity fad- ing by 49.55% when compared to fast charging.
Large-scale multiple sequence alignment and tree estimation using saté

SATe is a method for estimating multiple sequence alignments and trees that has been shown to produce highly accurate results for datasets with large numbers of sequences. Running SATe using its default settings is very simple, but improved accuracy can be obtained by modifying its algorithmic parameters. We provide a detailed introduction to the algorithmic approach used by SATe, and instructions for running a SATe analysis using the GUI under default settings. We also provide a discussion of how to modify these settings to obtain improved results, and how to use SATe in a phylogenetic analysis pipeline.
Topic Models For Feature Selection in Document Clustering.

We investigate the idea of using a topic model such as the popular Latent Dirichlet Allocation model as a feature selection step for unsupervised document clustering, where documents are clustered using the proportion of the various topics that are present in each document. One concern with using “vanilla” LDA as a feature selection method for input to a clustering algorithm is that the Dirichlet prior on the topic mixing proportions is too smooth and well-behaved. It does not encourage a “bumpy” distribution of topic mixing proportion vectors, which is what one would desire as input to a clustering algorithm. As such, we propose two variant topic models that are designed to do a better job of producing topic mixing proportions that have a good clustering structure.
Modified Pubovaginal Sling in Girls with Myelodysplasia

AbstractA pubovaginal sling provides excellent urethral compression in girls with intractable incontinence owing to proximal urethral nonfunction. Provided patients are selected by simple urodynamic criteria, an improvement in continence can be achieved by an operation.
JCL Roundtable: Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction in Menopausal Women

Ovarian failure occurs in most women during the late fifth decade or early sixth decade of life. This causes a number of changes in physiology as estrogen and progestin concentrations decline. These involve lipoprotein metabolism and the vasculature. The risk factors for large vessel disease increase, and dysfunction of the small resistance vessels responds with changes in blood flow to the skin causing unpleasant symptoms. These and other changes result in visits to the physician. A reassessment of risk factors and symptoms is needed to develop a new plan for effective management, both short term and long term.
Movement Disorders at Onset of Narcolepsy

Researchers at University of Bologna; Niguarda Hospital, Milan; and University of Rome, Italy; Montpellier, France; Stanford University, CA, USA; and Institute of Neurology, London, UK analyzed motor features in 39 children with narcolepsy with cataplexy in comparison with 25 age- and sex-matched healthy controls.
Engagement, Innovation, and Impact: Tracking Faculty Activities Under the 2013 AACSB Standards

ABSTRACTThis article describes the process one university followed to develop an efficient way of collecting information related to faculty engagement, innovation, and impact. The purpose of the document (i.e., the tracking record) is to facilitate the production of effective Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Self-Evaluation Reports and Continuous Improvement Review Reports. The experiences recorded and the sample tracking record provided will be of use to accreditation directors, associate deans, and deans across a wide range of universities as they prepare for initial accreditation or maintenance of accreditation under the 2013 AACSB Standards.
Modus Vivendi; A Doctrinal Analysis of the Same-Sex Marriage vs. Religious Freedom Problem

Through the lens of international law and comparative theory, this Note addresses the commonly debated issue of same-sex marriage rights versus religious freedom. After an analysis of the existing solutions to this tension and the shortcomings of prior legal theory, this Note proposes a doctrinal analysis that the judicial branch can use as a check on state legislatures to affirm equal rights and protection for all in new religious freedom and LGBT legislative initiatives.
Laparoscopic approach for the treatment of chronic groin pain after inguinal hernia repair : Laparoscopic approach for inguinodynia

Traditional methods of clinical research may not be adequate to improve the value of care for patients with complex medical problems such as chronic pain after inguinal hernia repair. This problem is very complex with many potential factors contributing to the development of this complication. We have implemented a clinical quality improvement (CQI) effort in an attempt to better measure and improve outcomes for patients suffering with chronic groin pain (inguinodynia) after inguinal hernia repair. Between April 2011 and June 2016, there were 93 patients who underwent 94 operations in an attempt to relieve pain (1 patient had two separate unilateral procedures). Patients who had prior laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (26) had their procedure completed laparoscopically. Patients who had open inguinal hernia repair (68) had a combination of a laparoscopic and open procedure in an attempt to relieve pain. Initiatives to attempt to improve measurement and outcomes during this period included the administration of pre-operative bilateral transversus abdominis plane and intra-operative inguinal nerve blocks using long-acting local anesthetic as a part of a multimodal regimen, the introduction of a low pressure pneumoperitoneum system, and the expansion of a pre-operative questionnaire to assess emotional health pre-operatively. The results included the assessment of how much improvement was achieved after recovery from the operation. Forty-five patients (48%) reported significant improvement, 39 patients (41%) reported moderate improvement, and 10 patients (11%) reported little or no improvement. There were 3 (3%) complications, 13 (11%) hernia recurrences, and 15 patients (13%) developed a new pain in the inguinal region after the initial pain had resolved. The principles of CQI can be applied to a group of patients suffering from chronic pain after inguinal hernia repair. Based on these results additional process improvement ideas will be implemented in an attempt to improve outcomes.
Supramolecular liquid crystals displaying competitive hydrogen bonding: Small molecule mesogens assembled through different hydrogen bond assemblies

A series of supramolecular assemblies created through competitive hydrogen bonding of a n-alkoxy benzoic acid hydrogen bond donor and a mixture of hydrogen bond acceptors: a liquid crystal-forming ...
Is acute pulmonary embolism more severe in the presence of obstructive sleep apnoea? Results from a cohort study

Background: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is very common among survivors of acute pulmonary embolism (APE). Objective: To better characterise clinical features of APE patients suffering from OSA. Method: Survivors of APE were prospectively screened for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) by portable monitoring (PM) during hospitalization. Nocturnal polysomnography was performed in all patients with an apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) >15/h documented by PM and in all subjects with a PM-AHI ≤ 15/h but evidence of increased daytime sleepiness. Results: Out of 253 survivors of APE, 89 patients were diagnosed to have an AHI ≥ 15/h. In contrast to patients with an AHI Conclusion: APE might present more severe in OSA patients compared to patients without relevant SDB.
Simulating low-dose cone-beam CT: A phantom study

Our institution routinely uses limited-angle cone-beam CT (CBCT) from a C-arm with 3D capabilities to diagnose and treat cardiovascular and orthopedic diseases in both adult and pediatric patients. While CBCT contributes to qualitative and quantitative assessment of both normal and abnormal patient anatomy, it also contributes substantially to patient radiation dose. Reducing the dose associated with CBCT exams while maintaining clinical utility can be considered to be of benefit to patients for whom CBCT is routinely used and may extend its adoption to clinical tasks and patient populations where the dose is currently considered prohibitive. In this work we developed and validated a method to simulate low-dose CBCT images from standard-dose projection images. The method was based on adding random noise to real projection images. The method was validated using an anthropomorphic thorax phantom of variable size with a custom-made insert containing iodine contrast rods of variable concentration. Images reconstructed from the low-dose simulations were compared to the actually acquired lower-dose images. Subtraction images of the simulated and acquired lower-dose images demonstrated a lack of residual structure patterns, indicating that differences between the image sets were consistent with random noise only. Noise power spectrum (NPS) and iodine signal-difference-to-noise ratio (SDNR) showed good agreement between simulated and acquired lower-dose images for dose levels between 70% and 30% of the routine dose. The average difference in iodine SDNR between simulated and acquired low-dose images was below 5% for all dose levels and phantom sizes. This work demonstrates the feasibility of accurately simulating low-dose CBCT based on real images acquired using standard dose and degrading the images by adding noise.
Heavy-Ion Channeling

Energetic heavy ions penetrating random solids undergo a rapid series of collisions which degrades their energy and causes excitation and ionization of both the ion and the atoms in the medium. Because of the chaotic nature of the collisions and the short time between relatively violent events it is difficult to study isolated collisions in dense media or to determine the states of ions as they penetrate solids.
Feature Selection Methods For Understanding Business Competitor Relationships

Understanding competition between businesses is essential for assessing the likely success of new ventures or products, for making decisions before investing capital in new businesses, and understanding the impacts of regulatory policy. One important resource for analyzing competitor relationships are business webpages, which can capture the mission, products, services, and key markets associated with a company. However, webpages also contain irrelevant, extraneous, or misleading text, hampering prediction. To address this challenge, predictive models use a process known as feature selection to identify only relevant terms. The diversity and specificity of business domains pose a challenge for automated approaches for feature selection. In this paper, we compare two approaches to feature selection: manually-curated lists of terms provided by experts and automated approaches to feature selection. We evaluate several approaches to feature selection and their impact on predicting competitor relationships, demonstrating that carefully designed automated feature selection approaches can surpass the performance of manually-curated word lists by 10%.
Bullous hemorrhagic dermatosis is an under-recognized side effect of full dose low-molecular weight heparin: a case report and review of the literature

Bullous hemorrhagic dermatosis (BHD) is a systemic side-effect of low molecular weight heparin, characterized by multiple intra-epidermal hemorrhages distant from the site of injection. There have been several small case series and literature reviews on BHD, but none have captured a complete set of reported patients. We sought to describe a case of BHD with late diagnosis and completely summarize the existing English and Spanish literature with searches of Pubmed, Scopus, Ovid Embase and Ovid Medline. After narrowing to 33 relevant reports, we describe 90 reported cases worldwide from 2004 to 2017, in addition to a new case from our institution as a means of comparison. We found that BHD was common in elderly men (mean age 72 ± 12; male:female, 1.9:1) and typically occurred within 7 days of administration of anticoagulation (median 7 days ± 6.4) usually with enoxaparin use (66% of cases). Lesions occurred primarily on the extremities only (67.9% of cases). Coagulation testing was most often normal before administration, and the majority of patients had coagulation testing in therapeutic range during treatment. Most practitioners stopped anticoagulation if continued therapeutic intervention was no longer required (57% of cases), or changed therapy to another anticoagulation if continued treatment was required (14.3% of cases). Therapy was continued outright in 23% of patients. The lesions usually resolved within 2 weeks (mean days, 13.0 ± 7.4). There was no difference in time to resolution between patients who continued the culprit anticoagulant or changed to a different anticoagulant, and those who discontinued anticoagulation altogether (13.9 days vs. 12.1, p = 0.49). Four deaths have been reported in this clinical context, two specified as intracranial hemorrhage. These deaths were unrelated to the occurrence of BHD. Continuation of low-molecular weight heparins appeared to be safe in patients with BHD.
Gene Expression Profiling Reveals a Diverse Array of Pathways Inhibited by Nuclear Receptor SHP during Adipogenesis

Orphan receptor small heterodimer partner (SHP, NROB2) has been shown to be a metabolic regulator in pathways associated with several major aspects of the metabolic syndrome. However, the significance and transcriptional regulatory role of SHP in adipocyte differentiation remain unclear. Transcriptional profiles of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and early differentiating preadipocytes in response to SHP were systemically surveyed using Affymetrix Genome Array representing well-characterized 14,000 genes. Analysis revealed about 963 genes that were up- or down-regulated by more than 2-fold during differentiation and/or by the overexpression of SHP. These genes were organized into 4 clusters that demonstrated concerted changes in expression of genes controlling various aspects of the cellular events and metabolism. Quantitative PCR was employed to further characterize gene expression and led to the identification of several key regulators and stimulators of the adipogenic program as potential new SHP targets. Overexpression of SHP inhibited the differentiation process as well as the accumulation of neutral lipids within the cells. Our data suggests that SHP may function as a molecular switch that governs adipogenesis and a potent adipogenic suppressor that maintains preadipocytes in an undifferentiated state through inhibition of the adipogenic transcription factors and stimulators. Developing SHP agonist may promise a future treatment for obesity.
Abstract P149: Maintenance of Optimal Health Behaviors Over 25 Years and Cumulative Blood Pressure Burden: Prospective Data From the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study

Introduction: Healthy behaviors lower blood pressure (BP) in short-term randomized trials. Hypothesis: Maintaining healthy behaviors for 25 years will be associated with low cumulative BP burden. M...
Comparison of robotic revisional weight loss surgery and laparoscopic revisional weight loss surgery using the MBSAQIP database

Abstract Background The most common bariatric operation in the United States is sleeve gastrectomy. The second and third most common bariatric operations are gastric bypass and revisional bariatric surgery, respectively. Objective The objective of the study was to assess the differences between laparoscopic revisional weight loss surgery (LRWLS) and robotic revisional weight loss surgery (RRWLS). Setting University hospital, United States. Methods Data were extracted from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program database spanning 2015 to 2016 to look at demographic characteristics, operative time, co-morbidities, and length of stay. Using the specified Current Procedural Terminology codes, patients who underwent bariatric procedures and required a revisional procedure were identified. Results A total of 354,865 patients were included in this study; 37,917 (11.9%) patients required revision after undergoing a bariatric procedure. Of these revisions, 94.9% (n = 35,988) were LRWLS, and 5.1% (n = 1929) were RRWLS. There were no differences in patient characteristics between the LRWLS and RRWLS groups. There was a significant difference between the RRWLS and the LRWLS groups in operative time, with the RRWLS group taking 167 minutes and the LRWLS group taking 103 minutes (P Conclusions RRWLS is as safe as LRWLS in the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program database. There is an increase in operative times and length of stay for robotic cases.
Study of a torsion spring fracture

Abstract One flange of a spring belonging to an actuator drive that worked under torsion has been fractured. It is placed next to the electric motors whose mission is to move the drive manually through a hexagonal key. The whole equipment is an extensor-retraction actuator consisting in two electric motors that run a gear. This gear pulls a chain moving a telescopic beam. It was confirmed that there was no signs of anomalous working previous to the fracture. Some roughness requirements were mandatory in the first wire of the spring as well as both spring flanges, thus two springs (used and new) were compared. Several tests were performed in order to determine the cause of the fracture such as a chemical and mechanical characterization of the material, a fractographic analysis of the fracture surface, and the determination of the spring treatment state using metallographic and microscopic techniques. Additional observations were carried out in the other flange in order to detect possible defects. It was verified that the material corresponds to a 300 maraging steel type IV in a solubilization and ageing heat treatment state. The fracture surface presented fractographic characteristics of a typical progressive fracture. It was concluded that although the steel type and treatment state is correct, the roughness of specific zones is not well finished and, may have generated a crack that have nucleated in a notch of the first wire of the spring inner side surface. The crack may be produced by a pinned particle or any other surface defect that afterwards may propagate by a fatigue mechanism.
Catering Innovation: Entrepreneurship and the Acquisition Market

Start-up entrepreneurs depend on M&A markets to exit VC investments. I test a novel catering theory of innovation: Does the market structure of potential acquirers impact entrepreneurial decision-making? Using CrunchBase and LinkedIn data, I find that a standard deviation increase in acquirer market concentration decreases the propensity to become an entrepreneur by 4%, suggesting that fragmented markets are appealing entry markets. Likewise, a standard deviation increase in acquirer concentration increases the catering of entrepreneurs by 9%, as measured by technological overlap with potential acquirers. Catering comes at the cost of breakthrough innovation (16% decrease), the key determinant of economic growth.
Where is QDA hiding? An analysis of the discoverability of qualitative research support on academic library websites

This study explores the discoverability of qualitative research support services, using a purposive sample of academic library websites (n=95). These services were hard to find on most of the websites in our sample. In this paper, we outline the site characteristics that make discoverability easy or hard. Previous studies on qualitative resources at academic libraries have not addressed this topic. Our study fills this gap in the literature. Our aim is to provide information that can help libraries to improve the visibility of their resources for qualitative researchers and their students.
Single-port robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: initial experience and technique with the da Vinci® SP platform

OBJECTIVES To assess the safety and feasibility of the da Vinci® SP (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) robotic platform for a consecutive series of patients who underwent single-port robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (SP-RALP). PATIENTS AND METHODS In all, 10 consecutive patients with biopsy confirmed prostate cancer underwent SP-RALP at our institution. Pre-, peri-, and postoperative data were prospectively collected for key outcomes including: estimated blood loss (EBL), operative time, postoperative pain requirements, duration of hospital stay, and complications. RESULTS The patients were aged 52-77 years with a body mass index of 24.4-36.7 kg/m2 . Prostate volumes ranged from 26 to 136 mL, with a mean (sd) PSA (prostate specific antigen) level of 11.0 (10.6) ng/mL. Lymph node dissection was performed in four patients and nerve sparing in five. No intraoperative complications occurred, and no patients required conversion to an open approach. Total EBL was 20-150 mL, with a median (interquartile range [IQR]) console time of 189 (171-207) min and operative time of 234 (216-247) min. No patients were readmitted or required intervention. Urethral catheters were removed at a median (IQR) of 10 (8-11) days after surgery. CONCLUSION SP-RALP appears to be a safe and feasible approach to performing robotic radical prostatectomy. Long-term follow-up will be necessary to assess initial oncological and functional results.
The State and Future of Smart Agriculture: Insights from mining social media

Smart agriculture involves the use of technology such as drones, GPS, robotics, IoT, AI, big data, and solar energy to improve farming practices. As with any disruptive innovation, however, stakeholder expectations can be misaligned from what the innovation can actually deliver. There can also be varying perspectives on what the innovation entails, related topics of interest, and impediments to large scale adoption. This study examines public perception of smart agriculture and its perceived drivers and challenges as present in social media discourse. We collected online posts from Twitter, Reddit, forums, online news and blogs between January 2010 and December 2018 for analysis. Results show that 38% of social media posts contained emotion with 52% joy, 21% anger and 12% sadness. Through topic analysis, we discovered seven key drivers and challenges for smart agriculture which included: enabling technologies, data ownership and privacy, accountability and trust, energy and infrastructure, investment, job security, and climate change.
Towards Neuro-CoViD-19

CoViD-19 is the current pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Infection by SARS-CoV-2 occurs via the binding of its S protein to the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor (ACE2-R). S binding to ACE2-R leads to a drop in ACE2, a homolog of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). In the central nervous system (CNS), ACE mediates neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and neurotoxicity responsible for several CNS disorders. ACE2 counteracts the damaging effects of ACE on CNS neurons. SARS-CoV-2 can directly access the CNS via the circulation or via cranial nerve I and the olfactory bulb. Inactivation of ACE2 following binding of SARS-CoV-2 S protein to ACE2-R in situ might blunt ACE2-moderating effects upon ACE CNS neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration. Here, we propose a neurobiological mechanism directly involving SARS-CoV-2 binding to ACE2-R in the etiology of putative Neuro-CoViD-19.
Base Editing in Human Cells to Produce Single-Nucleotide-Variant Clonal Cell Lines

Base-editing technologies enable the introduction of point mutations at targeted genomic sites in mammalian cells, with higher efficiency and precision than traditional genome-editing methods that use DNA double-strand breaks, such as zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription-activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) system. This allows the generation of single-nucleotide-variant isogenic cell lines (i.e., cell lines whose genomic sequences differ from each other only at a single, edited nucleotide) in a more time- and resource-effective manner. These single-nucleotide-variant clonal cell lines represent a powerful tool with which to assess the functional role of genetic variants in a native cellular context. Base editing can therefore facilitate genotype-to-phenotype studies in a controlled laboratory setting, with applications in both basic research and clinical applications. Here, we provide optimized protocols (including experimental design, methods, and analyses) to design base-editing constructs, transfect adherent cells, quantify base-editing efficiencies in bulk, and generate single-nucleotide-variant clonal cell lines. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Design and production of plasmids for base-editing experiments Basic Protocol 2: Transfection of adherent cells and harvesting of genomic DNA Basic Protocol 3: Genotyping of harvested cells using Sanger sequencing Alternate Protocol 1: Next-generation sequencing to quantify base editing Basic Protocol 4: Single-cell isolation of base-edited cells using FACS Alternate Protocol 2: Single-cell isolation of base-edited cells using dilution plating Basic Protocol 5: Clonal expansion to generate isogenic cell lines and genotyping of clones.
Frequency-Domain Hot-Wire Measurements of Molten Nitrate Salt Thermal Conductivity

The thermal conductivity of liquids has traditionally been determined by measuring either the steady-state temperature gradient or time-dependent temperature rise in a sample due to an applied heat...
Investigating key predictors of persistent low back pain: A focus on psychological stress.

Abstract Aim To investigate the degree to which psychological stress, self-reported pain scores, and pain sensitivity during an acute state of low back pain (LBP) predict the development of persistent LBP trajectories. Background Identifying which factors influence LBP trajectories is critical to understand why some individuals experience persistent LBP and to illuminate areas for nursing intervention. Methods A secondary data analysis of a prospective study examining trajectories of LBP was conducted. The sample was comprised of 217 adults with acute-onset LBP recruited from the community and followed over 24 weeks. Variables of interest included demographic data, perceived stress scores, self-reported pain scores, and somatosensory characteristics collected within the first 4 weeks of LBP onset. The data were analyzed using non-parametric bivariate comparisons and a semi-parametric Cox proportional hazards model with interval-censoring. Results Individuals with higher psychological stress scores were less likely to experience pain resolution (Hazard ratio [HR] = 0.555, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.36–0.85, p = 0.02). After adjustment for covariates in the final model, the analysis revealed household income (HR = 2.79, 95% CI [1.63–4.67], p Conclusion Heightened psychological stress and pain severity as well as decreased pressure pain thresholds were indicated as influential factors of LBP trajectories. Household income was identified as the dominant predictor, demonstrating that individuals with a higher household income were more likely to resolve their pain. Strategies which integrate assessment of stress, self-reported pain scores, pain sensitivity, and social determinants for patients experiencing pain are needed to advance nursing care.
Improving the Robustness of Social Robot Navigation Systems

Our aim is to advance the reliability of autonomous social navigation. We have researched how simulation may advance this goal via crowdsourcing. We recently proposed the Simulation Environment for Autonomous Navigation (SEAN) and deployed it at scale on the web to quickly collect data via the SEAN Experimental Platform (SEAN-EP). Using this platform, we studied participants' perceptions of a robot when seen in a video versus interacting with it in simulation. Our current research builds on this prior work to make autonomous social navigation more reliable by classifying and automatically detecting navigation errors.
Variation in management of paediatric isolated bicuspid aortic valve: current practice survey.

BACKGROUND Prior to the recent release of appropriate use criteria for imaging valvulopathies in children, follow-up of valvular lesions, including isolated bicuspid aortic valve, was not standardised. We describe current follow up, treatment, and intervention strategies for isolated bicuspid aortic valve with varying degrees of stenosis, regurgitation, and dilation in children up to 18 years old and compare them with newly released appropriate use criteria. METHODS Online survey was sent to members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery and PediHeartNet. RESULTS Totally, 106 responses with interpretable data were received. For asymptomatic patients with isolated BAV without stenosis, regurgitation, or dilation follow-up-intervals increased from 7+/-4 months in the newborn period to 28 +/- 14 months at 18 years of age. Respondents recommended more frequent follow-up for younger patients and those with greater disease severity. More than 80% of respondents treat aortic regurgitation or aortic dilation in the setting of bicuspid aortic valve medically. In general, intervention was recommended once stenosis or regurgitation became severe (stenosis of >4 m/s; regurgitation with LV Z score 4) regardless of age, but was not routinely recommended for younger children (newborn - age 6 years) with severe dilation. Exercise was restricted at 38+/-11 mmHg echocardiographic mean gradient. CONCLUSIONS Current follow-up, treatment, and intervention strategies for isolated bicuspid aortic valve deviate from appropriate use criteria. Differences between the two highlight the need to better delineate the disease course, clarify recommendations for care, and encourage wider adoption of guidelines.
Autonomous Load Balancing in Distributed Hash Tables Using Churn and the Sybil Attack

Distributed Hash Tables (DHTs) are an integral foundation for a variety of modern internet applications. In previous work, we have shown that DHTs can also be used as a means of organizing a large number of workers to tackle large-scale computing problems in a fault tolerant context. Whether a DHT is being used for file access or distributing a large-scale computing job, a cryptographic hash function is used to assign keys for nodes and data. Ideally, these would be uniformly distributed across the available range, thus evenly distributing the nodes and tasks. However, this is rarely the case in practice and as a result, the workload can become highly unbalanced. To address this issue, there have been numerous methods proposed for load balancing DHTs, but often they are a centralized approach.In this paper, we present four methods to autonomously balance the load of DHTs: 1) induced churn; 2) random injection of Sybil Nodes; 3) neighbor injection; and 4) invitation of nodes with low workloads. Each approach is completely decentralized, requiring minimal overhead, with individual nodes making decisions based only upon local information. What makes our approach unique is that the strategies rely on using the inherent churn in a DHT or by a variation of the Sybil attack to balance the workload. We simulate the four strategies on a Chord DHT and show they significantly rebalance the workload in a DHT. The strategy of randomly injecting virtual "Sybil" nodes performed the best in terms of balance and speedup.
Introduction to Special Issue: Domestic Violence in Black Communities

Violence against women and domestic violence within families is a well-documented, internationally recognized social and public health problem that disproportionately impacts Black communities. The...
Keynote Speaker 3 - CERTs, ICT & Cyber Security

The author will discuss the technological trends in CERTs, ICT, and Cyber-security. Many people worldwide do not have access to Internet and proper ICT infrastructures with necessary strategic tools to prevent the ICT possible malfunction(s).
Contingency, irony, and solidarity: The contingency of language

About two hundred years ago, the idea that truth was made rather than found began to take hold of the imagination of Europe. The French Revolution had shown that the whole vocabulary of social relations, and the whole spectrum of social institutions, could be replaced almost overnight. This precedent made Utopian politics the rule rather than the exception among intellectuals. Utopian politics sets aside questions about both the will of God and the nature of man and dreams of creating a hitherto unknown form of society. At about the same time, the Romantic poets were showing what happens when art is thought of no longer as imitation but, rather, as the artist's self-creation. The poets claimed for art the place in culture traditionally held by religion and philosophy, the place which the Enlightenment had claimed for science. The precedent the Romantics set lent initial plausibility to their claim. The actual role of novels, poems, plays, paintings, statues, and buildings in the social movements of the last century and a half has given it still greater plausibility. By now these two tendencies have joined forces and have achieved cultural hegemony. For most contemporary intellectuals, questions of ends as opposed to means – questions about how to give a sense to one's own life or that of one's community – are questions for art or politics, or both, rather than for religion, philosophy, or science.
Polymethacrylate‐supported linear polyethers as solid‐liquid phase transfer catalysts

Oligo(oxyethylene)s immobilized as pendant groups on a polymethacrylate-based resin were used as phase transfer catalysts in the reaction of solid alkali phenoxides with octyl halides in toluene and in the synthesis of benzyl acetate from benzyl bromide and solid alkali acetates in chloroform. The resins are cross-linked homopolymers or copolymers of methyl ethers of oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates of the general formula H2CC(CH3)COO(CH2CH2O)n CH3 with n = 4 (MG4), 8 (MG8) or 22 (MG22), the comonomers being styrene, methyl methacrylate (MMA), acrylonitrile or 4-vinylpyridine. The conversion of the organic halides into the respective products were found to be all pseudo first order reactions and the observed rate constants are proportional to the amount of added catalyst and decrease with increasing crosslinking density of the catalyst. Catalysts with longer oligo(oxyethylene) chains have considerably higher activity. Incorporation of more than 50 mol-% MMA comonomer decreases the catalytic activity at least for the benzyl bromide reaction, but the structure of the comonomer has no significant effect. The catalysts are easily synthesized in large quantities from commercially available monomers.
A qualitative analysis of structural emergence and ascendant leadership in technological appropriation

Recent scholarship on the appropriation of advanced information technology in professional settings has utilized adaptive structuration theory (AST) to move beyond voluntaristic and deterministic perspectives on workplace interaction. Our study seeks to advance the paradigm of adaptive structuration in both theoretical and empirical terms. First, we make a case for a reconceptualization of the duality of structure in AST by integrating insights from William Sewell’s (1992) perspective on this important facet of structuration. Sewell suggests that structures are composed of both schemata (transposable recipes for social action) and resources (animate or inanimate objects actors use to exercise power). Second, we reveal how this reconceptualization of the duality of structure can open up new avenues for research on the appropriation of group decision support systems (GDSS) among work teams. To this end, we analyze interaction fragments—i.e., conversational and gestural exchanges—observed in a sample (N = 10) of over 60 video recorded sessions of GDSS appropriation in quasi-experimental workgroups. In five of the workgroups, the technology was introduced by a facilitator (restrictive treatment); the other five groups were introduced to the GDSS by a chauffeur (non-restrictive treatment). Preliminary results, which we will continue to pursue with an analysis of the full slate of 60 video recordings, reveal how participants transpose culturally meaningful interaction strategies—schemata—to consolidate animate and inanimate resources in the GDSS environment. We term this process “ascendant leadership” and provide rich descriptions of the ways in which such power is exercised and contested across these two different treatment contexts.
Functional characterization of a potassium-selective prokaryotic glutamate receptor

Ion channels are molecular pores that facilitate the passage of ions across cell membranes and participate in a range of biological processes, from excitatory signal transmission in the mammalian nervous system to the modulation of swimming behaviour in the protozoan Paramecium1. Two particularly important families of ion channels are ionotropic glutamate receptors (GluRs)2 and potassium channels3,4. GluRs are permeable to Na+, K+ and Ca2+, are gated by glutamate, and have previously been found only in eukaryotes2. In contrast, potassium channels are selective for K+, are gated by a range of stimuli, and are found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes3,4. Here we report the discovery and functional characterization of GluR0 from Synechocystis PCC 6803, which is the first GluR found in a prokaryote. GluR0 binds glutamate, forms potassium-selective channels and is related in amino-acid sequence to both eukaryotic GluRs and potassium channels. On the basis of amino-acid sequence and functional relationships between GluR0 and eukaryotic GluRs, we propose that a prokaryotic GluR was the precursor to eukaryotic GluRs. GluR0 provides evidence for the missing link between potassium channels and GluRs, and we suggest that their ion channels have a similar architecture, that GluRs are tetramers and that the gating mechanisms of GluRs and potassium channels have some essential features in common.
Prototyping with fine pitch and BGA SMT in oceanic engineering

Applying surface mount technology (SMT) to oceanic devices opens the door for future oceanic technology. The difficulty of designing with and maintaining SMT instruments forces many designers to pursue more favorable choices, but a collection of techniques and tools allows designers to develop SMT designs from the start. This paper should serve as a guideline for a device development process that extends the capabilities of instrumentation through the use of these SMT devices.