cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intraneostriatal administration of glutamate antagonists increases behavioral activation and decreases neostriatal ascorbate via nondopaminergic mechanisms

Behavioral findings suggest that the effects of neostriatal glutamate and ascorbate are opposed to those of neostriatal dopamine. Recent evidence also indicates that glutamate and ascorbate are linked via a carrier-mediated heteroexchange process, suggesting that ascorbate may act through the glutamate system to influence behavior. In order to assess glutamate-ascorbate interactions and their influence on the behavioral output of the basal ganglia, glutamate and homocysteic acid (a glutamate reuptake blocker) as well as NMDA antagonists were infused into the neostriatum of freely moving rats while extracellular neostriatal ascorbate was monitored via electrochemically modified carbon-fiber electrodes. Neostriatal 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), a major dopamine metabolite, also was recorded in order to assess the dependency of any drug effect on the nigrostriatal dopamine system. Intraneostriatal infusions of L-glutamate (1 micrograms/microliters), but not L-homocysteic acid (30 micrograms/microliters), elevated extracellular neostriatal ascorbate levels. Neither of these drugs had any effect on neostriatal DOPAC or overt behavioral activity. Intraneostriatal infusion of the noncompetitive NMDA antagonist dizocilpine (MK-801; 3 micrograms/microliters) or the competitive NMDA antagonist 3-(2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonene (CPPene; 5 micrograms/microliters) decreased neostriatal ascorbate but had no effect on neostriatal DOPAC. Both dizocilpine and CPPene activated behavior in intact and sham-lesioned animals as well as in animals with near-total depletions of neostriatal dopamine following a 6-hydroxydopamine lesion. When administered systemically, however, dizocilpine (1.0 mg/kg) significantly increased neostriatal DOPAC. This effect appears to be regulated via midbrain NMDA receptors, in that this effect was completely abolished by electrolytic lesions of the substantia nigra pars reticulata.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Capturing power at higher voltages from arrays of microbial fuel cells without voltage reversal

Voltages produced by microbial fuel cells (MFCs) cannot be sustainably increased by linking them in series due to voltage reversal, which substantially reduces stack voltages. It was shown here that MFC voltages can be increased with continuous power production using an electronic circuit containing two sets of multiple capacitors that were alternately charged and discharged (every one second). Capacitors were charged in parallel by the MFCs, but linked in series while discharging to the circuit load (resistor). The parallel charging of the capacitors avoided voltage reversal, while discharging the capacitors in series produced up to 2.5 V with four capacitors. There were negligible energy losses in the circuit compared to 20–40% losses typically obtained with MFCs using DC-DC converters to increase voltage. Coulombic efficiencies were 67% when power was generated via four capacitors, compared to only 38% when individual MFCs were operated with a fixed resistance of 250 Ω. The maximum power produced using the capacitors was not adversely affected by variable performance of the MFCs, showing that power generation can be maintained even if individual MFCs perform differently. Longer capacitor charging and discharging cycles of up to 4 min maintained the average power but increased peak power by up to 2.6 times. These results show that capacitors can be used to easily obtain higher voltages from MFCs, allowing for more useful capture of energy from arrays of MFCs.
Transmission-line matrix modeling of superluminal electromagnetic-pulse tunneling through the forbidden gap in two-dimensional photonic band structures

The transmission-line matrix (TLM) method is shown to be an effective technique for calculating the propagation of electromagnetic waves in dielectric arrays exhibiting photonic band gaps. The simulator is particularly valuable for modeling processes whose parameters of interest are intrinsically in the time domain. To illustrate the capabilities of the technique for such temporal problems, the tunneling of electromagnetic pulses through the forbidden gap of a two-dimensional dielectric array is simulated. As researchers have recently measured in one-dimensional systems, pulses tunnel with a group velocity that exceeds the speed of light in vacuum. The TLM simulations show directly that for this superluminal tunneling process the group velocity continues to be a valid descriptor of the peak of the pulse. Furthermore, the results show that once sufficient periodicity exists to create a forbidden gap the tunneling time is constant independent of the thickness of the photonic crystal through which tunneling occurs.
A 4×12.5 Gb/s CWDM Si photonics link using integrated hybrid silicon lasers

We demonstrate a 4λx12.5Gbps Silicon Photonics CWDM link integrating all optical components, electronics, and packaging technologies required to form the link.
The role of interfacial interactions in the dynamic mechanical response of functionalized SWNT-PS nanocomposites

Abstract The dynamic mechanical properties of nanocomposites of functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes dispersed in polystyrene are reported as a function of temperature. For nanocomposites containing less than 0.1 wt% nanotubes, the enhancement of the magnitude of the complex modulus | E ∗ | = E ′ 2 + E ″ 2 , where E′ and E″ are the elastic and loss moduli, respectively, exceeded the predictions of the Halpin–Tsai model (this model is often used to predict the properties of macroscopic composites). In this concentration range, however, the loss tangent, tan δ = E″/E′, of the nanocomposite remained comparable to that of pure PS, i.e., comparable elasticity. At larger concentrations the mechanical response became more elastic than PS, but the magnitude of the complex modulus fell appreciably below predictions based on the Halpin–Tsai model. An alternate hypothesis that relies on the role of attractive interactions between the nanotubes and polystyrene chains, and consistent with previous Raman scattering and glass transition temperature data, is proposed to describe the observed dynamic response.
Evaporation, viscous flow, and electrostatic interaction of charged interfaces in the apparent contact line region

We consider evaporation of an aqueous solution near an apparent contact line separating a macroscopically dry area of a heated solid substrate and a constant-curvature meniscus far away from the substrate. Viscous flow, described by a lubrication-type model, is coupled to the interaction of electrical double layers formed near the solid-liquid and liquid-vapor interfaces. The electrostatic interaction is described using the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation and is shown to affect both normal and shear stress balances at the deformable interface. For steady configurations, we find that the apparent contact line region becomes wider and the total evaporation rate there increases as the substrate potential is increased. Motion of the apparent contact line in response to changes in the substrate temperature is also investigated. The contact line speed is found to increase when the electrostatic effects are incorporated into the model.
Boundary Contractions as Controls in Two-Layer Flows

Two-layer flows past contractions under the assumptions here are governed by a vector-matrix equation of the same type. The steady problem can be reduced to a set of two equations, a detailed study of which reveals the correspondence and noncorrespondence between the two layers of contractions. For two-layer flows with bounded upper layer, only the section where the contraction is the severest can act as a control. When the upper layer is free, this is true only with regard to vertical obstructions. Two-layer flows past horizontal contractions with free upper layer can be controlled at two sections—one at the throat and the other away from it. However, when the flow throughout is subcritical with respect to the free surface wave mode—a common situation—vertical and horizontal contractions are equivalent, the only control being at the severest section.
Virgilian fandom in the Renaissance

Considered as fan works, early modern homages to, derivations from, and continuations of classical texts can help contemporary readers better understand the past and potential future of fan fiction as a queer, emotional, and affectionate investment in the universe of a text. Demonstrating that Sir Philip Sidney's queer, fractured Arcadia can be understood as fan fiction of Virgil's Eclogues shows how readers have always responded to the notion of beloved texts held in the creative commons with traditional fan practices such as subversive slash subtexts, inserted selves, feminine communities of reader-writers, and carefully orchestrated gift economies, whether in ancient Rome, Tudor England, or our own digital era.
Time Series Models

HE MODELS for data described so far have been concerned with independent observations on multivariate values. The data examined in this chapter is for settings where the successive observations are also correlated. This type of data appears frequently in environmental and economic studies where a sequence of observations are taken over an evenly spaced time period.
Fast foreign-key detection in Microsoft SQL server PowerPivot for Excel

Microsoft SQL Server PowerPivot for Excel, or PowerPivot for short, is an in-memory business intelligence (BI) engine that enables Excel users to interactively create pivot tables over large data sets imported from sources such as relational databases, text files and web data feeds. Unlike traditional pivot tables in Excel that are defined on a single table, PowerPivot allows analysis over multiple tables connected via foreign-key joins. In many cases however, these foreign-key relationships are not known a priori, and information workers are often not be sophisticated enough to define these relationships. Therefore, the ability to automatically discover foreign-key relationships in PowerPivot is valuable, if not essential. The key challenge is to perform this detection interactively and with high precision even when data sets scale to hundreds of millions of rows and the schema contains tens of tables and hundreds of columns. In this paper, we describe techniques for fast foreign-key detection in PowerPivot and experimentally evaluate its accuracy, performance and scale on both synthetic benchmarks and real-world data sets. These techniques have been incorporated into PowerPivot for Excel.
The C9ORF72 GGGGCC expansion forms RNA G-quadruplex inclusions and sequesters hnRNP H to disrupt splicing in ALS brains

An expanded GGGGCC hexanucleotide in C9ORF72 (C9) is the most frequent known cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). It has been proposed that expanded transcripts adopt G-quadruplex (G-Q) structures and associate with proteins, but whether this occurs and contributes to disease is unknown. Here we show first that the protein that predominantly associates with GGGGCC repeat RNA in vitro is the splicing factor hnRNP H, and that this interaction is linked to G-Q formation. We then show that G-Q RNA foci are more abundant in C9 ALS patient fibroblasts and astrocytes compared to those without the expansion, and more frequently colocalize with hnRNP H. Importantly, we demonstrate dysregulated splicing of multiple known hnRNP H-target transcripts in C9 patient brains, which correlates with elevated insoluble hnRNP H/G-Q aggregates. Together, our data implicate C9 expansion-mediated sequestration of hnRNP H as a significant contributor to neurodegeneration in C9 ALS/FTD.
The Strength of Awkward Ties: Online Interactions between High School Students and Adults

In this multiple case study of two high schools in the USA, we use interview and focus group data to examine the experiences of teen-age students when they friend and interact with teachers, high school administrators, parents, and other adults on social network sites (SNS). We identify several types of teen-adult interactions on SNS, including finding information, community building, and mentoring online skills, and we connect these findings to literature on homophily and context collapse. We also report on social media norms and policies of the schools where our fieldwork was conducted. We discuss how organizational policies surrounding social media use can inhibit or reinforce the development of age-homophilous networks and thereby encourage or reduce opportunities for teen-adult interaction online. Finally, we conclude that boundary work associated with managing these complex social experiences, though awkward at times, can be an important learning experience for adults and young people alike.
Vascular cell transcriptomic changes to exercise training differ directionally along and between skeletal muscle arteriolar trees.

Objective EXT-induced arteriolar adaptations in skeletal muscle are heterogeneous because of spatial variations in muscle fiber type composition and fiber recruitment patterns during exercise. The purpose of this report is to summarize a series of experiments conducted to test the hypothesis that changes in vascular gene expression are signaled by alterations in shear stress resulting from increases in blood flow, muscle fiber type composition and fiber recruitment patterns. We also report results from a follow-up study of Ankrd23, one gene whose expression was changed by EXT. We expected to see differences in magnitude of changes in gene expression along arteriolar trees and between/among arteriolar trees but similar directional changes. However, transcriptional profiles of arterioles/arteries from OLETF rats exposed to END or SIT reveal that EXT does not lead to similar directional changes in the transcriptome among arteriolar trees of different skeletal muscles or along arteriolar trees within a particular muscle. END caused the most changes in gene expression in 2A arterioles of soleus and white gastrocnemius with little to no changes in the FAs. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis across vessels revealed significant changes in gene expression in 18 pathways. EXT increased expression of some genes (Shc1, desert hedgehog protein (Dhh), adenylate cyclase 4 (Adcy4), G protein binding protein, alpha (Gnat1), and Bcl2l1) in all arterioles examined, but decreased expression of ubiquitin D (Ubd) and cAMP response element modulator (Crem). Many contractile and/or structural protein genes were increased by SIT in the gastrocnemius FA but the same genes exhibited decreased expression in red gastrocnemius arterioles. Ankrd23 mRNA levels increased with increasing branch order in the gastrocnemius arteriolar tree and were increased 19 fold in gastrocnemius muscle FA by SIT. Follow-up experiments indicate that Ankrd23 mRNA level was increased 14-fold in cannulated gastrocnemius FA when intraluminal pressure was increased from 90 and 180 cm H2O for 4 hrs. Also, Ankrd23-/- mice exhibit limited ability to form collateral arteries following femoral artery occlusion compared to WT mice (angioscore WT = 0.18 + 0.03; Ankrd23-/- = 0.04 + 0.01). Further research will be required to determine whether Ankrd23 plays an important role in mechanically-induced vascular remodeling of the arterial tree in skeletal muscle. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The Expression of Religious Beliefs: In the Name of Pluralism, although Not Quite Religious

The 25 years’ jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on the intersection between expression and religion reveals that three main ideas of religion have coexisted alongside each other, for many decades predating the current era. The jurisprudence also shows that the Court somehow accommodated (and justified) these different ideas through a focus on democratic pluralism (not religious pluralism), a conception of pluralism which makes religion (including in its diverse expressions) subservient to democratic principles.
Binding Modes of Ligands Using Enhanced Sampling (BLUES): Rapid Decorrelation of Ligand Binding Modes via Nonequilibrium Candidate Monte Carlo

Accurately predicting protein–ligand binding affinities and binding modes is a major goal in computational chemistry, but even the prediction of ligand binding modes in proteins poses major challenges. Here, we focus on solving the binding mode prediction problem for rigid fragments. That is, we focus on computing the dominant placement, conformation, and orientations of a relatively rigid, fragment-like ligand in a receptor, and the populations of the multiple binding modes which may be relevant. This problem is important in its own right, but is even more timely given the recent success of alchemical free energy calculations. Alchemical calculations are increasingly used to predict binding free energies of ligands to receptors. However, the accuracy of these calculations is dependent on proper sampling of the relevant ligand binding modes. Unfortunately, ligand binding modes may often be uncertain, hard to predict, and/or slow to interconvert on simulation time scales, so proper sampling with current te...
Why is Overthrowing Governments So Hard? Central America in Comparative Perspective

This paper assesses the usefulness of explanations and findings about civil war and revolution. It focuses on Central America, where insurgents overthrew a dictatorship (e.g., Nicaragua in 1979), forced one to reform itself (e.g., El Salvador by 1992), and were defeated (e.g., Guatemala by 1983). Cross-national research under-predicts the incidence of civil war on the isthmus; each country, for example, exhibited higher than average social and economic indicators that supposedly inoculate societies from war. It traces violent conflict to essential features of what I call inconsistent authoritarian regimes, ones that persist, despite their factionalism and inability to eradicate opposition to their rule. While the instability of such regimes encourages opposition challenges to their authority, these autocracies typically solidify when their survival is threatened. This paper is based upon a thorough review of secondary sources, first-hand accounts of regime dynamics, and the analysis of political protest to explain why the military typically crushes protest and rebellion.
Constructing an explicit AdS/CFT correspondence with Cartan geometry

Abstract An explicit AdS/CFT correspondence is shown for the Lie group SO ( 4 , 2 ) . The Lie symmetry structures allow for the construction of two physical theories through the tools of Cartan geometry. One is a gravitational theory that has anti-de Sitter symmetry. The other is also a gravitational theory but is conformally symmetric and lives on 8-dimensional biconformal space. These “extra” four dimensions have the degrees of freedom used to construct a Yang–Mills theory. The two theories, based on AdS or conformal symmetry, have a natural correspondence in the context of their Lie algebras alone where neither SUSY, nor holography, is necessary.
Towards UAV Assisted Multi-Path Data Streaming in Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

In this paper, we aim to combine truly optimal relay node deployment, enabled by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies, with multi-path ad hoc network communications, to improve upon network performance. Particularly, we first develop a novel optimal deployment scheme to allocate a group of UAVs to optimized deployment locations in three dimensions to satisfy coverage rate requirements. We then develop a multi-path detection algorithm to consider distance, bandwidth, and interference in selecting optimal UE-UE and UE-UAV relay node connections. Finally, we conduct a performance evaluation of our designed deployment and detection algorithms. Our experimental results show the better performance of UAV-assisted multi-path communication over single-path communication (also UAV-assisted), with respect to transmission speed and energy consumption.
Phycology: Basic characteristics of the algae

Phycology or algology is the study of the algae. The word phycology is derived from the Greek word phykos , which means “seaweed.” The term algology , described in Webster's dictionary as the study of the algae, has fallen out of favor because it resembles the term algogenic which means “producing pain.” The algae are thallophytes (plants lacking roots, stems, and leaves) that have chlorophyll a as their primary photo synthetic pigment and lack a sterile covering of cells around the reproductive cells. This definition encompasses a number of plant forms that are not necessarily closely related, for example, the cyanobacteria which are closer in evolution to the bacteria than to the rest of the algae. Algae most commonly occur in water, be it fresh water, marine, or brackish. However, they can also be found in almost every other environment on earth, from the algae growing in the snow of some American mountains to algae living in lichen associations on bare rocks, to unicellular algae in desert soils, to algae living in hot springs. In most habitats they function as the primary producers in the food chain, producing organic material from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water. Besides forming the basic food source for these food chains, they also form the oxygen necessary for the metabolism of the consumer organisms.
Substructural logical specifications

A logical framework and its implementation should serve as a flexible tool for specifying, simulating, and reasoning about formal systems. When the formal systems we are interested in exhibit state and concurrency, however, existing logical frameworks fall short of this goal. Logical frameworks based on a rewriting interpretation of substructural logics, ordered and linear logic in particular, can help. To this end, this dissertation introduces and demonstrates four methodologies for developing and using substructural logical frameworks for specifying and reasoning about stateful and concurrent systems. Structural focalization is a synthesis of ideas from Andreoli's focused sequent calculi and Watkins's hereditary substitution. We can use structural focalization to take a logic and define a restricted form of derivations, the focused derivations, that form the basis of a logical framework. We apply this methodology to define SLS, a logical framework for sbubstructural lbogical sbpecifications, as a fragment of ordered linear lax logic. Logical correspondence is a methodology for relating and inter-deriving different styles of programming language specification in SLS. The styles we connect range from very high-level specification styles like natural semantics, which do not fully specify the control structure of programs, to low-level specification styles like destination-passing, which provide detailed control over concurrency and control flow. We apply this methodology to systematically synthesize a low-level destination-passing semantics for a Mini-ML language extended with stateful and concurrent primitives. The specification is mostly high-level except for the relatively few rules that actually deal with concurrency. Linear logical approximation is a methodology for deriving program analyses by performing abstract analysis on the SLS encoding of the language's operational semantics. We demonstrate this methodology by deriving a control flow analysis and an alias analysis from suitable programming language specifications. Generative invariants are a powerful generalization of both context-free grammars and LF's regular worlds that allow us to express invariants of SLS specifications in SLS. We show that generative invariants can form the basis of progress-and-preservation-style reasoning about programming languages encoded in SLS.
Senghor et la Revolution De 1889

Quand la memoire va chercher du bois mort, elle rapporte le fagot qui lui plait. Birago Diop C'est Leopold Sedar Senghor lui-meme qui etablit la genealogie de son oeuvre philosophique et litteraire en la faisant fille de ce qu il a appele "la Revolution de 1889". Cette revolution est celle qui fut realisee par Henri Bergson et cela tombe bien que 1889 soit, en effet, la date de publication du premier ouvrage du philosophe (ce fut sa these): l'Essai sur les donnees immediates de la conscience. Autour de cette date, d'autres evenements litteraires et philosophiques se sont produits qui participent de cette meme revolution, de ce meme >, selon Senghor, et qui donc entrent dans la genealogie qu'il construit. C'est ainsi qu'au gre de ses textes et des circonstances dans lesquelles il les presente, de cette revolution, il arrive a Senghor de multiplier les figures tutelaires. Il en est apres tout des revolutions comme des victoires : elles ont plusieurs peres. En voici trois, tels qu'ils apparaissent dans le texte d'une conference donnee par le poete senegalais lors d'un colloque a Paris en 1983, intitule > (1) : > Trois noms donc, Bergson, Claudel et Rimbaud, et peut-etre quatre. Car il arrivera aussi a L.S. Senghor d'evoquer Nietzsche non pas vraiment comme une figure, mais comme une sorte de precurseur, de pressentiment, de la Revolution de 1889. C'est ainsi qu'il ecrit que > (2) Je vais, tout d'abord, considerer chacune de ces quatre figures qui pour Senghor annoncent, pressentent ou accomplissent la revolution de 89 qu'il se donne pour genealogie. Dans un second moment j'evoquerai la maniere dont Senghor traduit, dans son ecriture, l'appartenance genealogique qu'il se construit ainsi. Quatre figures de la Revolution de 1889 Un mot d'abord sur Nietzsche en prophete annoncant la descente prochaine de l'esprit 89. Senghor lit l'auteur du Zarathoustra depuis Bergson et fait de l'oeuvre du premier, dans sa maniere de lire l'histoire, la promesse de celle du second. L'opposition, dans la pensee de Nietzsche, entre la verite et la vie-qui est la meme chose que celle entre une verite qui est femme et vie et celle qui est dogme, > scientiste et dirigee contre la force du vivre--(3) cette opposition, donc, est reconstruite par Senghor comme prefiguration de la difference qu'etablit Bergson entre > et > (4). Le surhomme nietzscheen devient alors ce representant de cette humanite que Bergson voyait poindre a l'horizon, qui serait > car reunissant les deux formes d'activite cognitive arrivees egalement a > (5). Cette double voie d'acces au reel, on le voit, est egalement identifiee par Senghor au dualisme, qui se trouve au coeur de la philosophie nietzscheenne, en particulier de ses reflexions sur La Naissance de la tragedie, entre le reve apollinien producteur de la belle apparence dans la beaute plastique et l'ivresse dionysiaque dont l'expression la plus haute est la danse ou se rencontrent les forces cosmiques. …
The Use of the Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor to Study Renal Function

It is well known that the discovery of the X-ray represented a major advance in medical science, since it allowed for the first time a non-invasive, direct confirmation of morphological alterations suspected by the physician during physical examination. While the conventional radiograph is a highly valuable method of diagnosis, it is static because fourth-dimensional or dynamic information (i. e., rapid alteration over time) is not provided and third-dimensional information is obscured by the superim- position of anatomic structures. The limitation of the fourth dimension has been solved by following radioopaque tracers through organ systems using rapid-imaging techniques (e. g., cineangiography). However, the problem of superimposition still makes it difficult, and often impossible, to distinguish, unambiguously, one anatomic structure from another, especially when there are only small differences in X-ray density. These kinds of problems are usually overcome by making a number of X-ray pictures from different angles, in which anatomic structures appear in different relationships to one another.
Common Knowledge Semantics of Armstrong's Axioms

Armstrong's axioms were originally proposed to describe functional dependency between sets of attributes in relational databases. The database semantics of these axioms can be easily rephrased in terms of distributed knowledge in multi-agent systems. The paper proposes alternative semantics of the same axioms in terms of common knowledge. The main technical result of this work is soundness and completeness of Armstrong's axioms with respect to the proposed semantics. An important implication of this result is an unexpected duality between notions of distributed and common knowledge.
Services: The Case of Postal Versus Express Delivery Services

In developed countries, services continue to constitute by far the largest share of national economies. For example, in the EU and the United States, approximately seventy and eighty percent, respectively, of the economy falls under the general rubric of services. Services have also increased in importance in trade: in the year 2000, the share of services in total exports came to approximately 28 percent in the United States and 22 percent in the EU, with an average for the entire OECD coming to about 19 percent.1
27 – Large-Scale Data Visualization and Rendering: A Problem-Driven Approach

This chapter presents a systems-based classification of algorithms for dealing with the visualization and rendering of large-scale datasets. This classification provides the fundamental building blocks for a solution that is based on techniques used in the design of parallel algorithms. These techniques focus on the systems level and are based on the parallel decomposition of the data and/or the required tasks. Before describing the classification in detail, the chapter presents the terminology and notation that is used throughout the chapter. To characterize the definition of large-scale data, only the situations in which the datasets are larger than what can be processed by a single computer are considered. Datasets that range from hundreds of megabytes to petabytes in size are visualized. In many cases, new algorithms are required to appropriately leverage the available computing resources and effectively handle the unique properties of a particular dataset. The techniques presented in the chapter provide a foundation for the development of these algorithms.
Pell’s Equation

In February, 1657, Fermat challenged the English mathematicians John Wallis (1616–1703) and Lord William V. Brouncker (1620–1684) to solve the non-linear diophantine equation \(x^{2} - dy^{2} = 1\), where d is nonsquare and positive. The amateur French mathematician Bernard de Bessey (ca. 1605–1675) solved it for d ≤ 150. This equation is now called Pell’s equation, since the great Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) erroneously attributed Brouncker’s work to John Pell (1611–1685) of England. In fact, Pell’s contribution to the analysis of the equation is negligible, since he was “revising someone’s translation [Wallis’] to someone else’s algebra [10].”
Inotropic contractile reserve can risk-stratify patients with HIV cardiomyopathy: A dobutamine stress echocardiography study

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess whether inotropic contractile reserve (ICR) during dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) could risk-stratify patients with human immunodeficie...
A Mixed Methods Study of Tele-ICU Nursing Interventions to Prevent Failure to Rescue of Patients in Critical Care.

Abstract Background: Failure to rescue (FTR) is a benchmark of quality care. Limited evidence exists examining the influence of telemedicine intensive care units (tele-ICU) nursing interventions in...
Serum Perfluorooctanoic Acid and Birthweight: An Updated Meta-analysis With Bias Analysis.

Background A recent meta-analysis of 15 studies found a change in birthweight of -12.8 g (95% CI = -23.1, -2.38) per ng/ml PFOA in maternal or cord blood and -27.1 g (-50.6, -3.6) per log ng/ml PFOA. Almost all studies were done in low-exposed populations. There are nine new studies, adding 6,019 births to the previous 6,937 births. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis of 24 studies. To combine all results, we approximated results for untransformed PFOA from nine studies using log-transformed PFOA. We also included another large study, excluded from previous analyses, in a sensitivity analysis. Results We found a change of birthweight of -10.5 g (-16.7, -4.4) for every ng/ml PFOA in maternal or cord blood. After adding one previously excluded large study, we found little evidence of an association (-1.0 g; 95% CI = -2.4, 0.4). Restricting to studies where blood was sampled from mothers early in the pregnancy or shortly before conception (5,393 births), we found little association of PFOA with birthweight (-3.3 g [-9.6, 3.0]). In studies where blood was sampled late in the pregnancy (7563 pregnancies), lower birthweight was associated with higher PFOA (-17.8 [-25.0, -10.6]). Conclusion Present human evidence provides only modest support for decreased birthweight with increasing PFOA. Studies with a wide range of exposure, and studies with blood sampled early in pregnancy, showed little or no association of PFOA with birthweight. These are studies in which confounding and reverse causality would be of less concern.
Using Feature Selection to Identify Chains of Insecure Software Configuration Parameters

Configurations provide the ability to adjust the behavior of software for a specific deployment; however, ensuring the configuration yields a functional and secure system can be problematic. Configurations can consist of a large number of parameters to manage and contain unknown parameter interdependencies referred to as a parameter chain. The parameters that compose the parameter chain must be set with respect to each other and this additional complexity makes the identification and resolution difficult for system administrators. This paper introduces an evolutionary-based feature selection technique designed to identify and resolve parameter chains found in software configurations. Given a diverse set of configurations (for the same application), random forests are used to determine the importance of the configuration parameters. These importance values are then clustered to identify the parameters belonging to the parameter chain. Identifying a diverse set of configurations is critical. As a result, an evolutionary algorithm is used to discover configurations that have these characteristics. These processes then repeat until the system has converged on a set of suspected chain parameters. The effectiveness of this approach is analyzed experimentally through a study of Apache configurations that are misconfigured with various types of parameter chains. Experimental results indicate the approach is able to identify and resolve parameter chains that have varying complexity (chain composition and logical structure) and length (number of parameters).
Decreasing Length of Hospital Stay and Postoperative Complications After Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Decade Analysis From 2006 to 2016.

Abstract Background In an attempt to decrease costs without increasing complication burden, the development of rapid recovery protocols has led to an increased push for decreased length of hospital stay (LOS) following total hip arthroplasty (THA). The purpose of this study was to analyze trends in LOS and complications following THA over a 10-year period. Methods Using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program registry from 2006 to 2016, we identified all patients who underwent primary THA. Patients were placed into 3 cohorts based on the year of surgery (2006-2009 [N = 3873], 2010-2013 [N = 45,992], 2014-2016 [N = 86,099]). Differences in LOS, operative time, readmission rates, and 30-day postoperative medical complications were compared using bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results Multivariate regression analysis identified a significant decrease in LOS in days for the 2010-2013 cohort (3.2 ± 4.8, P Conclusion Over the last decade, there has been a decrease in LOS and an improved short-term complication profile for THA. With continually increasing rates of utilization of THA along broader patient demographics, these changes are important to help mitigate the costs of higher volume.
Circularly Polarized Small-Footprint Hybrid Ring-Patch Stacked Antenna for Pico-Satellites

This paper presents a small-footprint wideband, wide beamwidth circularly polarized (CP) hybrid stacked patch-ring microstrip antenna for cubesat applications. The antenna ground plane size is chosen such that it can be accommodated on the top plate of a cubesat for communicating with high-orbital satellite networks. Hybrid perturbations are applied on patch and ring for obtaining wide axial ratio beamwidth. The axial ratio bandwidth achieved is significantly larger compared to typical CP patch antennas. This design uses only one probe-feed which significantly reduces the system complexity in cubesat applications. A simulated impedance bandwidth (for VSWR ~ 2) of 8%, AR ~ 3 dB bandwidth of 6% and beamwidths in the order of 96 degrees are achieved from this antenna.
A Spatial Econometric Approach to Measuring Air Pollution Externalities

This paper uses spatial exploratory data analysis and spatial econometrics to analyze the regional transport of air pollution. According to my results, precursor emissions from up to 1000 km away from a variety of directions can have significant effects on ozone air quality, though the effect is not always negative, and although neither the sign nor the significance of the effect is constant over time. NOx emissions from West Virginia and Ohio appear to increase the 90th percentile ozone concentration in a number of other states. Non-monotonicities in ozone production may be a reason why the transport of NOx can sometimes be a positive externality rather than a negative one, and why a cap-and-trade program that reduces aggregate NOx emissions may not always reduce ozone.
Aerosol versus Greenhouse Gas Effects on Tropical Cyclone Potential Intensity and the Hydrologic Cycle

AbstractAerosol cooling reduces tropical cyclone (TC) potential intensity (PI) more strongly, by about a factor of 2 per degree of sea surface temperature change, than greenhouse gas warming increa...
A regimen to minimize pain during blue light photodynamic therapy of actinic keratoses: Bilaterally controlled, randomized trial of simultaneous versus conventional illumination.

Background Blue light photodynamic therapy (PDT) is effective for actinic keratosis, but many patients experience stinging pain during illumination. Objective To compare a conventional regimen (1 hour of 5-aminolevulinic acid [ALA] preincubation, followed by blue light) versus a new modified regimen in which blue light is started immediately after ALA application. Methods A clinical trial with a bilaterally controlled, intrapatient study design was conducted with 23 patients. Topical 20% ALA was applied to the entire face and/or scalp. On 1 side of the body, blue light was started immediately and continued for either 30, 45, or 60 minutes (simultaneous PDT). On the contralateral side, the blue light began 1 hour after ALA application and lasted 1000 seconds (conventional PDT). Pain was evaluated on a scale from 0 to 10. Actinic keratosis lesion counts were determined by clinical examination and photography. Results All patients experienced significantly less pain during simultaneous illumination than during the conventional regimen. At 3 months after treatment, lesion clearance was nearly identical on the 2 sides, as determined by statistical testing of noninferiority ± 15% margin. Limitations Although bilaterally controlled, the study was relatively small. Additional studies are recommended. Conclusion The modified PDT regimen is essentially painless, yet it provides treatment efficacy similar to a conventional regimen.
Exploring cancer survivors' attitudes, perceptions, and concerns about using medical cannabis for symptom and side effect management: A qualitative focus group study.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to gain a greater understanding of cancer survivors’ attitudes, perspectives, and concerns about medical cannabinoids (MCs) for cancer symptom and side effect management. Using qualitative methods, we conducted four focus groups (n = 19) with cancer survivors recruited from a community-based cancer wellness center. Groups were audio-recorded and facilitated by experienced co-moderators who directed discussion using a semi-structured interview guide. Transcripts were coded using principles from Grounded Theory. Analyses revealed the following ten themes and percentages of codes applied: 1) Attitudes & Beliefs (25.3%), 2) Access (17.1%), 3) Information (15.5%), 4) Concern (14%), 5) How MCs Helped (12.6%), 6) Comfort (4.3%), 7) Confusion (3.6%), 8) Trust/Distrust (3.1%), 9) Behaviors (2.3%), and 10) Support (2.2%). Participants reported that MCs offer potential benefits for symptom management and side effect relief, especially in reducing and managing pain. Despite the growing number of states that are legalizing MCs, significant barriers exist that make knowledge and adequate access a challenge for many.
Microgreens: Consumer sensory perception and acceptance of an emerging functional food crop

Microgreens are an emerging functional food crop with promise for sustainably diversifying global food systems, facilitating adaptations to urbanization and global climate change, and promoting human health. Previous work suggests microgreens have high nutritional quality, low environmental impacts, and broad consumer acceptance. For better reception into the global food system and increased per capita consumption, research is needed to elucidate consumer acceptance of various microgreens species, including factors contributing to their acceptance or lack thereof. Using a consumer panel (n = 99), this study evaluated consumer sensory perception and acceptability of six microgreens species (arugula, broccoli, bull's blood beet, red cabbage, red garnet amaranth, and tendril pea), and potential drivers and barriers to consumer acceptance. All microgreens species received high mean liking scores for acceptability by consumers (means ranged from highly acceptable to slightly acceptable), with more distinct differences across microgreens species for flavor and overall acceptability, which appeared to be driven by specific sensory properties. Data from principal component analysis demonstrated that high acceptability scores were associated with higher intent to purchase microgreens and negatively associated with food neophobia. Participants indicated that factors such as knowledge and familiarity of microgreens, cost, access/availability, freshness/shelf life, among other factors, influence their intention to purchase microgreens. These findings suggest that further integration of microgreens into the global food system will be met with high consumer acceptability, but needs to be aligned with enhanced consumer education regarding microgreens, as well as considerations of cost, availability/access, and freshness/shelf life. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Researchers investigated consumer sensory perception and acceptability of six microgreens species (arugula, broccoli, bull's blood beet, red cabbage, red garnet amaranth, and tendril pea), and potential drivers and barriers to consumer acceptance. All microgreens tested had high consumer acceptability, but certain factors such as sensory perception and food neophobia impacted their acceptability. Additionally, participants indicated that factors such as knowledge, access and availability, cost, freshness, and shelf life may impact the purchasing of microgreens and thus are important factors to consider for further integration of this emerging functional food crop into the global food system.
The Relative Burden of Menopausal and Postmenopausal Symptoms versus Other Major Conditions: A Retrospective Analysis of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Data.

BACKGROUND The direct costs associated with menopausal and postmenopausal symptoms (hereafter "menopausal symptoms") may include the costs of physician and emergency department visits, medications, laboratory testing, and the management of side effects. However, much remains unknown about the costs related to menopausal symptoms, including how they compare with the costs of other diseases that are common among menopausal women. OBJECTIVE To compare the economic burden of menopausal symptoms with other select prevalent chronic conditions among a nationally representative sample of US menopausal women aged 45 to 65 years. METHODS Women aged 45 to 65 years who have not had a hysterectomy and who participated in the 2010-2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component were included in the analysis. We estimated the direct costs of care associated with the management of menopausal symptoms and compared them with the direct costs of care for other indications, including osteoporosis, influenza, disorders of lipid metabolism, essential hypertension, mood disorders, esophageal disorders, headache, osteoarthritis, urinary tract infections, asthma, glaucoma, anxiety disorder, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/bronchiectasis, and cataract. Regression analyses were used to estimate the differences in direct costs, which included total expenditures and charges for inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department visits. RESULTS The annual per-patient direct cost of menopausal symptoms was $248 in 2010-2012 dollars. Based on the modeled costs, menopausal symptoms were associated with significantly higher annual costs than osteoporosis, disorders of lipid metabolism, and esophageal disorders; and these annual costs were comparable to those of influenza, asthma, anxiety disorder, essential hypertension, and headache. The direct costs associated with the management of menopausal symptoms were significantly lower than the direct costs associated with osteoarthritis, mood disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/bronchiectasis, urinary tract infections, diabetes, glaucoma, and cataract. CONCLUSION The direct costs of care for menopausal symptoms are substantial and are similar to or greater than the direct healthcare costs associated with a number of medical conditions often requiring medical attention in menopausal women.
The effect of high quality nursing service on peritoneal dialysis in children with renal failure

Objective To explore the effect of high quality nursing service on peritoneal dialysis in children with renal failure. Methods Seventy-two children with renal failure who underwent peritoneal dialysis in our hospital from October 2015 to September 2016 were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The patients in the control group were given general nursing service of peritoneal dialysis for renal failure, on the basis the patients in the experimental group were given high quality nursing service. The self-designed questionnaire was used to assess the satisfaction degree on the nursing staff, and the nursing effect was evaluated by the number of nursing disputes and the number of the children and their families who commended nursing work. Results The satisfaction degree on the nursing staff in the experimental group (97.22%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (77.78%) (P<0.05). The number of the children and their families who commended nursing work in the experimental group (31) was significantly more than that in the control group (12) (P<0.05). The number of nursing disputes in the experimental group was fewer than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion High quality nursing service for children with renal failure in the process of peritoneal dialysis, can improve the comfort degree of children, nursing quality, and family satisfaction, of great significance in improving the quality of medical work and the relationship between doctors and patients. Key words: High quality nursing service; Peritoneal dialysis; Pediatric renal failure