cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neer Award 2017: wear rates of 32-mm and 40-mm glenospheres in a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty wear simulation model.

Background Larger glenosphere diameters have been used recently to increase prosthesis stability and impingement-free range of motion in reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. The goal of this study was to evaluate the rate of polyethylene wear for 32-mm and 40-mm glenospheres. Methods Glenospheres (32 mm and 40 mm, n = 6/group) and conventional polyethylene humeral liners underwent a 5–million cycle (MC) wear simulation protocol. Abduction-adduction and flexion-extension motion profiles were alternated every 250,000 cycles. At each interval, mass loss was determined and converted to volume loss and wear rate. At 0, 2.5 MC, and 5 MC, liners were imaged using micro–computed tomography to determine surface deviation. White light interferometry was performed on liners and glenospheres at 0 and 5 MC to quantify surface roughness. Wear particle morphology was characterized by environmental scanning electron microscopy. Results Total volume loss was significantly higher in 40-mm liners from 1.5 MC onward ( P 3 /MC vs. 68.0 ± 18.9 mm 3 /MC; P P = .002). Surface roughness measurements showed no difference for liners; however, increased roughness was noted for 40-mm glenospheres at 5 MC compared with 32 mm ( P Conclusion Larger glenospheres underwent significantly greater polyethylene volume loss and volumetric wear rates, whereas smaller glenospheres underwent greater polyethylene surface deviations. The enhanced stability provided by larger glenospheres must be weighed against the potential for increased polyethylene wear.
Role of conditioning intensity measure in the influence of ground motion duration on the structural response

Abstract Although several research studies have examined some effects of ground motion (GM) duration on the structural responses, many questions in this field remain unexplored and unaddressed. One area that remains a topic of debate in this field is that no outcomes can be found with regard to the effect of GM duration on structural responses when considering different choices of conditioning intensity measures (IMs). This study examines the role of the conditioning IM in the degree that GM duration influences the structural responses. To this end, the seismic demand in three different structural systems from low- to high-rise buildings are estimated using multiple stripe analyses subjected to different sets of GMs from shallow crustal seismic zone. It is found that duration of GMs from shallow events affects the structural response but not as much as that reported for GMs from subductions events. The results also reveal that the importance of GM duration mainly depends on the considered conditioning IM. Specifically, GM duration does not substantially affect the structural responses in terms of probability of collapse if peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, spectrum intensity, spectral acceleration at higher modes are implemented as the conditioning IMs. On the other hand, in the case of cumulative absolute velocity and spectral acceleration at the fundamental and lengthened periods, the structural responses are considerably affected by GM duration.
Superintendents' Perceptions of 1:1 Initiative Implementation and Sustainability

One of the fastest growing, most discussed, and most expensive technology initiatives over the last decade has been one-to-one (1:1) computing initiatives. The purpose of this study was to examine ...
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Can Adversely Impact Domains of Sexual Function Such as Satisfaction with Sex Life.

Aspects of sexual health, which can be adversely affected by chronic disease, have been inadequately explored in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We evaluated patient-reported interest in sexual activity and satisfaction with sex life in a large cohort of IBD patients. We conducted a cross-sectional study within the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Partners Internet cohort. Sequential participants completed a 6-question supplemental online survey to examine sexual interest and satisfaction using the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System® (PROMIS®) Sexual Function and Satisfaction measures. One-sample t tests were used to compare interest and satisfaction scores to general population norms. Among 2569 individuals, 1639 had Crohn’s disease (CD), 930 had ulcerative colitis (UC) or indeterminate colitis, and 71% were women. Mean PROMIS scores for sexual interest were comparable to the general US population in men (CD: 49 and UC: 48 vs. population mean 50) and women (CD: 41 and UC: 40 vs. population mean 42). However, sexual satisfaction scores were lower than the US population in men (CD: 48 and UC: 48 vs. 51) and women (CD: 47 and UC: 46 vs. 49), p < 0.01 for both. Older age, disease activity, depression, anxiety, and pain were associated with lower interest and satisfaction and lowered IBD-specific quality of life. IBD patients in a large online survey had similar levels of sexual interest but decreased sexual satisfaction compared to the general population. Exploring these sexual health domains during clinical encounters can aid in improving IBD quality of life.
Redox Mechanisms in Neurodegeneration: From Disease Outcomes to Therapeutic Opportunities.

Abstract Significance: Once considered to be mere by-products of metabolism, reactive oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur species are now recognized to play important roles in diverse cellular processes su...
Quaternary stereocentres via an enantioconvergent catalytic S N 1 reaction

The unimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN1) mechanism features prominently in every introductory organic chemistry course. In principle, stepwise displacement of a leaving group by a nucleophile via a carbocationic intermediate enables the construction of highly congested carbon centres. However, the intrinsic instability and high reactivity of the carbocationic intermediates make it very difficult to control product distributions and stereoselectivity in reactions that proceed via SN1 pathways. Here we report asymmetric catalysis of an SN1-type reaction mechanism that results in the enantioselective construction of quaternary stereocentres from racemic precursors. The transformation relies on the synergistic action of a chiral hydrogen-bond-donor catalyst with a strong Lewis-acid promoter to mediate the formation of tertiary carbocationic intermediates at low temperature and to achieve high levels of control over reaction enantioselectivity and product distribution. This work provides a foundation for the enantioconvergent synthesis of other fully substituted carbon stereocentres.
Late-time mixing and turbulent behavior in high-energy-density shear experiments at high Atwood numbers

The LANL Shear Campaign uses millimeter-scale initially solid shock tubes on the National Ignition Facility to conduct high-energy-density hydrodynamic plasma experiments, capable of reaching energy densities exceeding 100 kJ/cm3. These shock-tube experiments have for the first time reproduced spontaneously emergent coherent structures due to shear-based fluid instabilities [i.e., Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH)], demonstrating hydrodynamic scaling over 8 orders of magnitude in time and velocity. The KH vortices, referred to as “rollers,” and the secondary instabilities, referred to as “ribs,” are used to understand the turbulent kinetic energy contained in the system. Their evolution is used to understand the transition to turbulence and that transition's dependence on initial conditions. Experimental results from these studies are well modeled by the RAGE (Radiation Adaptive Grid Eulerian) hydro-code using the Besnard-Harlow-Rauenzahn turbulent mix model. Information inferred from both the experimental data and the mix model allows us to demonstrate that the specific Turbulent Kinetic Energy (sTKE) in the layer, as calculated from the plan-view structure data, is consistent with the mixing width growth and the RAGE simulations of sTKE.
On Bureaucratic Behavior

Bureaucracy is by its inherent nature inefficient. This fact is due to the structure of the governance in a democratic system: the bureaucrats respond to the political apparatus and they do not respond directly to the citizens who elect the above quoted political apparatus. Bureaucracies, as Von Mises argues, supply services that cannot be bought or sold for a per unit price. Consequently, bureaucracies cannot be governed by a profit objective or economic calculation. In the absence of a profit objective bureaucracies are centrally governed by auto referential rules. Not working on the basis of the free sinallagma exchange, bureaucracies are basically an instrument to deny the freedom of choice of the citizen with whom bureaucracy does not have a direct relationship. The bureaucrats as individuals are governed, as all other human beings, by the maximization of their own utility and in doing so they are not controlled by their true stakeholder, the citizen. “Civil Servant”, a term often referred to bureaucrats, is one of the most hypocritical way of saying that can be found in political economy: the bureaucrats certainly serve themselves and their own interests in a very “educated”(civil) manner but, not being controlled directly by their natural clients- the citizens-, they are allowed by a colluded political apparatus, whose unique interest is that of being re-elected, to maximize their own utility, an end that very often does not coincide with the maximization of the citizens’ utility.
How accurately does wrist actigraphy identify the states of sleep and wakefulness

Study objectives Because sleep and wakefulness differ from each other by the amount of body movement, it has been claimed that the two states can be accurately distinguished by wrist actigraphy. Our objective was to test this claim in lengthy polysomnographic (psg) and actigraphic (acf) samples that included night and day components. Design Fourteen healthy young (21-35 years) and old (70-72 years) men and women lived in a laboratory without temporal cues for 7 days. Each subject continuously wore sleep-recording electrodes as well as 2 wrist-movement recorders. Act measurements were converted to predictions of sleep and wakefulness by simple-threshold and multiple-regression methods. Psg served as the gold standard for calculation of predictive values (PV, the probability that an act prediction is correct by psg criteria). Setting N/A. Participants N/A. Interventions N/A. Measurements and results The 7-day act recordings showed clear circadian cycles of high and low activity that respectively corresponded to subjective days, when subjects were wakeful, and subjective nights when they slept. Lower act levels corresponded to deeper states of psg sleep. Logistic regression on a 20-minute moving average of act gave the highest overall PV's. Nevertheless, the mean PV for sleep (PVS) was only 62.2% in complete, day + night samples. PVS was 86.6% in night samples. Act successfully predicted wakefulness during subjective nights (PVW = 89.6) and accurately measured circadian period length and the extent of sleep-wake consolidation, but it overestimated sleep rate and sleep efficiency. Act systematically decreased before sleep onset and increased before awakening, but reliable transitions among joint psg/act states (the Markov-1 property) were not demonstrated. Conclusions Low PV's and overestimation of sleep currently disqualify actigraphy as an accurate sleep-wake indicator. Actigraphy may, however, by useful for measuring circadian period and sleep-wake consolidation and has face validity as a measure of rest/activity.
Measuring Audiometric Outcomes

Audiometry provides evidence to 19 of the topic areas in this book and to much of the otolaryngologic literature. Audiometric evaluations, consisting of pure tone thresholds and word recognition scores are not data points; they are very general evaluations designed to cover all reasonable questions about the peripheral auditory system of the patient. It is clear that audiometric evaluations contain a great deal of useful data, and equally clear that large amounts of the information should be reduced and refocused in order to serve as useful study evidence. This chapter will explore some fine points regarding audiometric data, and attempt to provide support for the process of data reduction and focus. Issues related to pure tones will be addressed first, followed by a discussion of standard word recognition.
Increased motor vehicle crashes following induced earthquakes in Oklahoma, USA

Anxiety-inducing life events increase the risk of motor vehicle crashes. We test the hypothesis that earthquakes, known to increase anxiety in the population, also increase the incidence of motor vehicle crashes. Our study took place in Oklahoma, USA where wastewater injection resulted in increased induced seismicity between 2010 and 2016. We identified dates of earthquakes ≥ magnitude 4 (a level felt by most people) with data from the U.S. Geologic Survey. The Oklahoma Highway Safety Office provided county-level monthly vehicle crash counts. We defined high, medium, and low earthquake exposure counties based on the location of earthquake epicenters. Using time-series analyses, we evaluated the association between monthly counts of ≥magnitude 4 earthquakes and motor vehicle crashes by exposure group. Earthquakes ≥ magnitude 4 took place in 38 of 84 study months, and a monthly average of 5813 (SD = 384) crashes occurred between 2010 and 2016. In high-exposure counties, we observed an additional 39.2 motor vehicle crashes per each additional ≥ magnitude 4 earthquake in the prior month (SE = 11.5). We found no association between the timing of ≥magnitude 4 earthquakes and motor vehicle crashes in the medium or low exposure counties. With a binary earthquake exposure variable, we found a 4.6% (SE = 1.4%) increase in motor vehicle crashes in the high exposure counties in the month following 1 or more ≥magnitude 4 earthquakes. Consistent with our hypothesis, there was no association between earthquakes of magnitude ≤ 2.5 and motor vehicle crashes in the high-exposure counties. This novel evidence of an association between induced earthquakes in Oklahoma and motor vehicle crashes warrants future research given the high economic and social costs of such vehicle crashes.
Low-cost customizable microscale toolkit for rapid screening and purification of therapeutic proteins.

Biopharmaceutical separations require tremendous amounts of optimization to achieve acceptable product purity. Typically, large volumes of reagents and biological materials are needed for testing different parameters, thus adding to the expense of biopharmaceutical process development. This study demonstrates a versatile and customizable microscale column (µCol) for biopharmaceutical separations using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) as an example application to identify key parameters. µCols have excellent precision, efficiency, and reproducibility, can accommodate any affinity, ion-exchange or size-exclusion-based resin and are compatible with any high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. µCols reduce reagent amounts, provide comparable purification performance and high-throughput, and are easy to automate compared with current conventional resin columns. We provide a detailed description of the fabrication methods, resin packing methods, and µCol validation experiments using a conventional HPLC system. Finite element modeling using COMSOL Multiphysics was used to validate the experimental performance of the µCols. In this study, µCols were used for improving the purification achieved for granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) expressed using a cell-free CHO in vitro translation (IVT) system and were compared to a conventional 1 ml IMAC column. Experimental data revealed comparable purity with a 10-fold reduction in the amount of buffer, resin, and purification time for the μCols compared with conventional columns for similar protein yields.
High-Quality GaAs Planar Coalescence over Embedded Dielectric Microstructures Using an All-MBE Approach

We demonstrate for the first time an entirely molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) approach to high-quality GaAs planar coalescence over embedded dielectric microstructures. Specifically, an all-MBE approach was achieved by developing a new two-stage growth process, merging the MBE growth regimes of III-flux modulated lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) with self-ordered planarization of nonplanar substrates to produce highly selective planar coalescence specifically for embedding [010]-aligned silica gratings patterned on (001) substrates. The resulting planar coalescence returned a smooth (001) surface with surface roughness as low as 3 nm root-mean-square and photoluminescence (PL) equivalent to grating-free controls. In demonstrating high-quality GaAs coalescence, we also report for the first time an intentionally enhanced single InGaAs/GaAs/AlAs quantum well PL test structure seamlessly grown directly above embedded silica gratings, leading to a 1.4× enhancement in PL as a result of both Purcell and extractio...
Extreme Events, Cat Bonds, ROA in the Context of Fat Tail Distributions, and the Weitzman Effect

In this chapter the mathematical framework developed in Chap. 2 is used to apply ROA in an area for which extensions of Black-Scholes or NPV cannot be used: fat tail distributions, i.e., areas in distributions where extreme events reside. This chapter paves the way to the policy discussion of the response to climate change, where such distributions are pervasive.
Non-isotopic PAGE analysis of amplified products from simple sequence repeat single-primer polymerase chain reaction

We describe modifications to two genetic typing procedures, simple sequence repeat (SSR)-anchored polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and single primer amplification of SSRs (SPARs), by combining polyacrylamide gel (PAGE) resolution of PCR amplified products with silver staining for detection. Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) and chicken (Gallus domesticus) genomic DNA were used as templates in the PCR typing. The single primers used for PCR analyses were (CAC), (TCC), (GACT), (TGTC) and (TTTA). The PCR conditions have previously been described. As expected, the number of fragments detected by the analyses were higher than those previously described using agarose but lower than that reported by others from PAGE analyses and radioisotope detection. Unlike agarose gel analyses, all the primers amplified polymorphic products ranging from 22 percent (%) for (TGTC) to 44% for (TCC) (Table 1). The results suggest that the level of polymorphic DNA fragments from genetic typing by SPARs of SSRs could be increased, above that of agarose and ethidium bromide staining, by PAGE analyses followed by silver staining for detection. The level of DNA polymorphism detected was however lower than radioisotope detection, but the safety and ease of the modified method described in the current work may make it a preferable approach to both SPARs and SSR-anchored PCR for genetic mapping in eukaryotes.
What’s New in the Surgical Management of Glaucoma

Although trabeculectomies and tube shunts remain the main surgical pillars of glaucoma management, the last decade has seen an unprecedented expansion in new surgical approaches for glaucoma. Several minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries (MIGS) are in development or have been recently introduced into practice.
Blockade of B7H1 by Monoclonal Antibodies Enhances Therapeutic Immunity of DKK1 Vaccine in Multiple Myeloma

Abstract 2941 Current approaches for vaccination and immunotherapy are often capable of eliciting strong T-cell responses against tumor antigens. However, negative regulatory mechanisms within the tumor microenvironment inhibit antitumor T-cell function, leading to evasion from immune attack. One inhibitory mechanism is upregulation of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1/B7H1) expressed on tumor or stromal cells, which binds to programmed death-1 (PD-1) on activated T cells. PD-1 and B7H1 engagement results in diminished antitumor T-cell responses and correlates with poor outcome in murine and human cancers. To cure mice with large tumor burdens by administering tumor vaccines, we hypothesized that it is necessary not only to enhance the immunogenicity of the vaccines, but also to target the suppressive tumor microenvironment and break immune suppression on effector cells. Therefore, we explored combinational treatments in a myeloma setting by using vaccination and anti-B7H1 blocking mAbs to enhance clinical efficacy of cancer vaccines. To establish mouse tumor models for evaluation of tumor-associated B7H1 in the inhibition of T-cell immunity, first, we examined the expression of B7H1 in four murine myeloma cell lines that originated from Balb/c mice. Results showed that all the myeloma cells expressed a negative T-cell costimulatory molecule B7H1, and blocking surface B7H1 by using a specific mAb (M5H1) enabled tumor-specific CTLs from vaccinated mice to be more efficient at lysing the tumor cells. Thus these results suggest that B7H1 on tumor cells and PD-1 on T cells may form a B7H1/PD-1 molecular shield to prevent lysis by T cells and actively inhibit the cytolytic function of tumor-specific CTLs by expressing B7H1. Next, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of DKK1-DNA vaccine in mice with established myeloma. In these experiments, DKK1-DNA vaccine plus CpG was used as a standard vaccine. Anti-B7H1 (M5H1) mAb was used to block negative T-cell signaling in mice receiving DKK1-DNA vaccination. Balb/c mice were first inoculated subcutaneously with the myeloma cells (1 million cells per mouse). Ten days after tumor inoculation, mice were immunized with three injections of the vaccines on days 10, 14, and 17 after tumor inoculation. Mice were also injected intraperitoneally with B7H1 (200 μg per mouse per treatment) on days 1, 4, 7, and 10 following the first vaccination. Mice receiving injections of PBS, isotype IgG (200 μg per mouse per treatment), or CpG- (50 μg per mouse per treatment) alone were used as controls. Results show that mice receiving DKK1-DNA vaccine (plus CpG) together with B7H1 induced more robust tumor growth inhibition (P Finally, we investigated the mechanism of therapeutic efficacy of vaccine enhanced by anti-B7H1 mAbs. Our results showed that the percentages of IL-10-secreting or Foxp3+ Tregs in the spleens and tumors are significantly decreased in mice vaccinated with DKK1 DNA plus CpG in combination with anti-B7H1 antibodies (P Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
The Relationship Between Electronic Cigarette Use and Conventional Cigarette Smoking Is Largely Attributable to Shared Risk Factors.

Introduction The growing popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) among youth raises concerns about possible causal effects on conventional cigarette smoking. However, past research remains inconclusive due to heavy confounding between cigarette and e-cigarette use. This study uses propensity score methods to robustly adjust for shared risk in estimating the relationship between e-cigarette use and conventional smoking. Methods Cross-sectional data from 8th and 10th graders were drawn from the 2015-2016 waves of Monitoring the Future (n = 12 421). The effects of (1) lifetime and (2) current e-cigarette use on (A) lifetime and (B) current conventional cigarette smoking were examined using logistic regression analyses with inverse propensity weighting based on 14 associated risk factors. Results After accounting for the propensity for using e-cigarettes based on 14 risk factors, both lifetime and current e-cigarette use significantly increased the risk of ever smoking a conventional cigarette (OR = 2.49, 95% CI = 1.77 to 3.51; OR = 2.32, 95% CI = 1.66 to 3.25, respectively). However, lifetime (OR = 2.17, 95% CI = 0.62 to 7.63) and current e-cigarette use (OR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.55 to 1.63) did not significantly increase the risk of current conventional cigarette smoking. Conclusions E-cigarette use does not appear to be associated with current, continued smoking. Instead, the apparent relationship between e-cigarette use and current conventional smoking is fully explained by shared risk factors, thus failing to support claims that e-cigarettes have a causal effect on concurrent conventional smoking among youth. E-cigarette use has a remaining association with lifetime cigarette smoking after propensity score adjustment; however, future research is needed to determine whether this is a causal relationship or merely reflects unmeasured confounding. Implications This study examines the relationship between e-cigarette use and conventional smoking using inverse propensity score weighting, an innovative statistical method that produces less-biased results in the presence of heavy confounding. Our findings show that the apparent relationship between e-cigarette use and current cigarette smoking is entirely attributable to shared risk factors for tobacco use. However, e-cigarette use is associated with lifetime cigarette smoking, though further research is needed to determine whether this is a causal relationship or merely reflects unaccounted-for confounding. Propensity score weighting produced significantly weaker effect estimations compared to conventional regression control.
More Than Half the Sky: Women and Urban Neighbourhood Workshops in China, 1958–1978

From the Great Leap Forward (GLF) of 1958–1960 onwards, China's urban neighbourhood workshops and services mostly hired women. The GLF marked the beginning of a large-scale and irreversible trend towards near universal employment of women in China's cities. By the end of the Mao era, about 42 per cent of women working in industry were employed in “collectives” that were largely developed from urban neighbourhood industry. This article takes Shanghai as a case study to examine this type of employment for women in China. It documents the origin and development of the institution, explores the nuances of state–labour interactions at its site, and argues that as far as the enduring effects of women's participation in the workforce are concerned, the disastrous GLF was indeed the initiator and in this respect may well be seen as a blessing in disguise.
Forecasting Daily Wildfire Activity Using Poisson Regression

Wildfires and their emissions reduce air quality in many regions of the world, contributing to thousands of premature deaths each year. Smoke forecasting systems have the potential to improve health outcomes by providing future estimates of surface aerosol concentrations (and health hazards) over a period of several days. In most operational smoke forecasting systems, fire emissions are assumed to remain constant during the duration of the weather forecast and are initialized using satellite observations. Recent work suggests that it may be possible to improve these models by predicting the temporal evolution of emissions. Here, we develop statistical models to predict fire activity one to five days into the future using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite fire counts and weather data from ERA-interim reanalysis. Our predictive framework consists of two-Poisson regression models that separately represent new ignitions and the dynamics of existing fires on a coarse resolution spatial grid. We use ten years of active fire detections in Alaska to develop the model and use a cross-validation approach to evaluate model performance. Our results show that regression methods are significantly more accurate in predicting daily fire activity than persistence-based models (which suffer from an overestimation of fire counts by not accounting for fire extinction), with vapor pressure deficit being particularly effective as a single weather-based predictor in the regression approach.
Designing a Student Video Presentation Assignment: Considerations for Minimizing Stress

Oral communication has been identified as a key skill for undergraduate students to master. Presenting results from course projects is a common means to provide students with an opportunity to practice planning a presentation, making slides, and communicating results to their peers. However, with large classes, there may not be enough time to give all students an equal opportunity to present their results. In this study, students produced videos sharing results of their term design project in a senior-level required control systems course at a private STEM-focused institution in the Midwest. In addition to the videos, the traditional question and answer period that accompanies inclass presentations was replaced with an asynchronous online discussion board. This paper focuses on how an assignment can be designed to reduce additional stress caused by a new format for both faculty and students.
Eomakhaira molossus, A New Saber-Toothed Sparassodont (Metatheria: Thylacosmilinae) from the Early Oligocene (?Tinguirirican) Cachapoal Locality, Andean Main Range, Chile

Thylacosmiline sparassodonts (previously recognized as thylacosmilids) are among the most iconic groups of endemic South American Cenozoic mammals due to their distinctive morphology and convergent resemblance to saber-toothed placental carnivores. However, the early evolution of this group and its relationship to other sparassodonts remains poorly understood, primarily because only highly specialized Neogene taxa such as Thylacosmilus, Anachlysictis, and Patagosmilus are well known. Here, we describe a new Paleogene sparassodont, Eomakhaira molossus, from the Cachapoal locality of central Chile, the first sparassodont reported from early Oligocene strata of the Abanico Formation. Eomakhaira shares features with both Neogene thylacosmilines and Paleogene “proborhyaenids,” and phylogenetic analyses recover this taxon as sister to the clade of Patagosmilus + Thylacosmilus. This broader clade, in turn, is nested within the group conventionally termed Proborhyaenidae. Our analyses support prior hypotheses of a close relationship between thylacosmilines and traditionally recognized proborhyaenids and provide the strongest evidence to date that thylacosmilines are proborhyaenids (i.e, the latter name as conventionally used refers to a paraphyletic group). To reflect the internestedness of these taxa, we propose use of Riggs' (1933) original name Thylacosmilinae for the less inclusive grouping and Proborhyaenidae for the more inclusive one. Saber teeth arose just once among metatherians (among thylacosmilines), perhaps reflecting a developmental constraint related to nonreplacement of canines in metatherians; hypselodonty may have relaxed this potential constraint in thylacosmilines. The occurrence of Eomakhaira in strata of early Oligocene age from the Chilean Andes demonstrates that the stratigraphic range of thylacosmilines spanned almost 30 million years, far surpassing those of saber-toothed placental lineages.
The Combined Effects of Response Time and Message Content on Growth Patterns of Discussion Threads in Computer-Supported Collaborative Argumentation.

This study examined the effects of response time and message content on the growth patterns of discussion threads in computer-supported collaborative argumentation. Event sequence analysis was used to measure response times between threaded messages and responses containing arguments, evidence, critiques, evaluations, and other comments from online debates. The results supported and contradicted the findings of Hewitt and Teplovs (1999). Response rates overall declined at a rate of 17% per day in wait time across all message categories. On the other hand, the posting of critiques and particular types of argumentative exchanges produced higher response rates of .72 and higher, and their average wait times of 1.04 days were significantly longer than those of other message types. The debate format and use of message labels may have produced sufficient argumentative exchanges to produce high response rates despite the long response times, which in turn helped sustain the growth of discussion threads. L’etude examine les effets du temps de reponse et du contenu du message sur les modeles de croissance du volume des discussions dans l’argumentation collaborative assistee par ordinateur. L’analyse sequentielle des evenements a ete utilisee pour mesurer les temps de reponse, i.e. le temps entre les messages envoyes et les reponses recues qui contenaient des arguments, des preuves, des critiques, des evaluations et d’autres commentaires issus des debats en ligne. Les resultats ont appuye et contredit les resultats de Hewitt et Teplovs (1999). D’une part, le rythme des reponses a diminue dans l’ensemble, a un taux de 17 % par jour en temps d’attente dans toutes les categories de message. D’autre part, les articles de critique et d’argumentation ont produit des taux de reponse plus eleves, soit de 72 % et plus, et leur temps d’attente moyen, 1,04 jours, etait nettement plus long que celui des autres types de message. Il est possible que la formule debat et l’utilisation de labels pour identifier les messages aient produit suffisamment d’echanges d’argumentation entrainant des taux de reponse eleves, malgre les longs temps de reponse, qui a leur tour ont favorise la croissance du volume des discussions.
A Reconfigurable Passive Switched-Capacitor Multiply-and-Accumulate Unit for Approximate Computing

A reconfigurable switched-capacitor based multiply and accumulate unit (MACU) is proposed in this work. The multiplication is achieved by a digital-to-capacitance converter (DCC) with a flexible weight resolution of 2-6 bits. The accumulation output is digitized using a reconfigurable 6-9 bit successive approximation register analog to digital converter (SAR ADC). The design is implemented in 65nm CMOS process. The power consumption tends to reduce with the reduction of ADC resolution. The proposed MACU achieved an efficiency of 20.83 TOPS/W at an output resolution of 6. Simulation results for edge detection, MNIST image classification, and speech denoising are presented to prove the effectiveness of the proposed unit.
One size fits all?: Modeling face-mask fit on population-based faces

Abstract The use of face masks by the general population during viral outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, although at times controversial, has been effective in slowing down the spread of the virus. The fit of simple cloth masks on the face as well as the resulting perimeter leakage and face mask efficacy are expected to be highly dependent on the type of mask and facial topology. However, this effect has to date, not been examined and quantified. Here, we study the leakage of a rectangular cloth mask on a large virtual population of subjects with diverse facial features, using computational mechanics modeling. The effect of weight, age, gender, and height on the leakage is studied. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended mask size was used as a basis for comparison and was found not to be the most effective design for all subjects. Thin, feminine, and young faces benefit from mask sizes smaller than that recommended by the CDC. The results show that side-edge tuck-in of the masks could lead to a larger localized gap opening in many face categories, and is therefore not recommended for all. The perimeter leakage from the face mask worn by thin/feminine faces is mostly from the leakage area along the bottom edge of the mask and therefore, a tuck-in of the bottom edge of the mask or a mask smaller than the CDC recommended mask size are proposed as a more effective design. The leakage from the top edge of the mask is determined to be largely unaffected by mask size and tuck-in ratio, meaning that other mechanical alterations such as a nose wire strip are necessary to reduce the leakage at this site.
Vehicle Design and Optimization Model for Urban Air Mobility

Urban air mobility refers to an envisaged air taxi service, using small, autonomous, vertical-takeoff-and-landing, battery-powered electric aircraft. A conceptual design and optimization tool for u...
Collaboration between the US and Mexican HIV/AIDS sectors: the role of community‐based organizations and federal HIV/AIDS funding policies in creating a binational political‐organizational field

Elaborates on the diversity of the people movement between the USA and Mexico and the effect on goods and resources for the two, particularly regarding HIV/AIDS collaboration. Makes observations about the US/Mexico political‐organizational field, such as the governmental, service, activist, academic and religious. Spotlights San Diego – Tijuana as binational fields which prove a sound example of what can be achieved at local and federal levels – for the benefit of both communities. Concludes with policy recommendations for effective binational collaboration on the US and Mexican sides, with the USA providing more funds for the Mexican side of the border.
Evaluating the effectiveness of public participation efforts by environmental agencies: repermitting a smelter in El Paso, Texas, USA

Public participation is central to environmental policy-making processes. Government agencies often scramble to involve the public in legitimizing policy decisions. No single tool exists to assess the effectiveness of public participation. Extending previous research, this paper clarifies a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of public participation and we apply this framework to the efforts of three levels of government in the United States—federal, state, and local—in the case surrounding the repermitting of atmospheric emissions from industrial activity at the American Smelting and Refining Company smelter located in western El Paso, Texas. Results show that the three government agencies assessed in this study did not effectively achieve adequate opportunities for public participation. This failure could lead to several undesired repercussions, including increasing public resentment and hostility and also future resistance to participation.
Intimate Partner Violence Exposure and Childhood Psychopathology: Associations with Discriminating Fearful and Angry Faces in Young Children

Childhood exposure to traumatic violence may shape how children respond to threatening faces and increase risk for psychopathology. Maltreated children may exhibit altered processing of threatening faces; however, the effects of witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) on children’s discrimination of facial expressions is under-studied. Emotional face processing differentially relates to psychopathology, with some evidence suggesting improved detection of angry faces in children with fear-related anxiety symptoms, whereas externalizing symptoms are associated with poorer detection of fearful faces and perhaps emotional faces broadly. In this cross-sectional study, we examined discrimination of threatening emotional faces (angry, fearful) in relation to experiences of probable abuse and witnessing of physical IPV, as well as psychopathology. Children (N = 137, mean age = 5.01 years, SD = 0.81) completed a “face in the crowd task” designed to examine discrimination of angry and fearful faces. Children either searched for an angry face among fearful distractor faces or a fearful face among angry distractors. Probable child abuse, witnessed IPV, and symptoms were assessed in semi-structured maternal interviews. Children who witnessed violence showed poorer accuracy when fearful faces were the target; however, effects for probable abuse were non-significant. Greater fear-related anxiety symptoms were associated with poorer accuracy for fearful faces. Externalizing symptoms were associated with poorer overall accuracy. Findings suggest that IPV and fear-related anxiety symptoms were associated with difficulty detecting fearful faces when angry distractors were present, consistent with prior research. Implications of violence- and symptom-associated deficits in emotional face processing are discussed.
Investigating Covid-19 pandemic-induced effects on detection of emergent clinical imaging findings by large-scale tracking of utilization and reading results for AI-based image analysis services

We introduce a method for tracking results and utilization of Artificial Intelligence (tru-AI) based on machine learning applications in medical imaging, for analyzing pandemic-induced effects on healthcare systems. By tracking both large-scale utilization and AI results data, the tru-AI approach can establish surrogates for measuring the amount of care provided and estimate the prevalence of certain disease conditions under unusual circumstances, such as pandemic outbreaks. To quantitatively evaluate our approach, we analyzed service requests for automatically identifying intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) on head CT using a commercial AI solution (Aidoc, Tel Aviv, Israel). This software is typically used for AI-based prioritization of radiologists’ reading lists for reducing turnaround times in patients with emergent clinical findings, such as ICH or pulmonary embolism. Imaging data is anonymized, uploaded to a cloud-based inference machine in real time, and AI-based ICH detection results are returned. We recorded N = 3,084 emergency-setting non-contrast head CT studies at a major US healthcare system during two observation periods, namely (i) a pre-pandemic epoch (January 1–31, 2020) and (ii) after the Covid-19 outbreak (March 15 – April 30, 2020). Although daily counts of unique imaged patients were significantly lower during (37.9 ± 7.6) than before (42.0 ± 6.2) the Covid-19 outbreak, we found that ICH was more likely to be observed during than before the Covid-19 outbreak (p<0.05). Our results suggest that, by tracking both large-scale utilization and AI results data, the tru-AI approach can contribute clinical value as an exploratory tool, aiming at a better understanding of pandemic-related effects on healthcare.
Multiplexed live-cell profiling with Raman probes.

Single-cell multiparameter measurement has been increasingly recognized as a key technology toward systematic understandings of complex molecular and cellular functions in biological systems. Despite extensive efforts in analytical techniques, it is still generally challenging for existing methods to decipher a large number of phenotypes in a single living cell. Herein we devise a multiplexed Raman probe panel with sharp and mutually resolvable Raman peaks to simultaneously quantify cell surface proteins, endocytosis activities, and metabolic dynamics of an individual live cell. When coupling it to whole-cell spontaneous Raman micro-spectroscopy, we demonstrate the utility of this technique in 14-plexed live-cell profiling and phenotyping under various drug perturbations. In particular, single-cell multiparameter measurement enables powerful clustering, correlation, and network analysis with biological insights. This profiling platform is compatible with live-cell cytometry, of low instrument complexity and capable of highly multiplexed measurement in a robust and straightforward manner, thereby contributing a valuable tool for both basic single-cell biology and translation applications such as high-content cell sorting and drug discovery. Currently relatively few functional probes for Raman-based live-cell profiling exist. Here the authors build on their previous ultra-bright Raman dots to devise a 14-plexed Raman probe panel to quantify cell surface proteins, endocytosis activities and metabolic dynamics of single live cells.
Visualization of the 10-nm filament vimentin rings in vascular endothelial cells in situ: Close resemblance to vimentin cytoskeletons found in monolayers in vitro☆

Abstract Surface staining of the intact vascular endothelial cell layer lining the lumen of guinea pig thoracic aorta with antibodies to vimentin revealed that at least 70% of the cells contained intact perinuclear rings of 10-nm filaments. This correlated with the observations made on these cells in culture: 60–80% of the endothelial cells at confluence have complete perinuclear rings. By one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and immunoprecipitation we confirmed that vimentin [17, 18] is the major constituent polypeptide of the 10-nm filaments in guinea pig endothelial cells. These results indicate that the vimentin [17] 10-nm filament cytoskeleton found in guinea pig endothelial cells in vitro is similar to the cytoskeleton found in situ.
P-Carbamino phenyl arsonic acid in the treatment of trichomonas vaginalis vaginitis

Abstract 1.1. A report is made of 21 cases of Trichomonas vaginalis vaginitis treated with carbarsone. 2.2. In this series, there were two recurrences, which probably represent reinfections from the husband. 3.3. Carbarsone administered in the manner here described caused no toxic symptoms. Nevertheless, the patients should be watched closely because of the large doses of the drug used. 4.4. The importance of treatment also during menstruation, and the examination of the male especially in instances of seeming recurrence are stressed. 5.5. The treatment of the rectum is stressed because of the possibility of its being a source of infection. 6.6. The treatment is carried out entirely by the patient, and thus avoids all forms of office treatment, which is generally painful at this time.
Abnormalities of vascular structure and function in pediatric hypertension

Hypertension is associated with adverse cardiovascular (CV) events in adults. Measures of vascular structure and function, including increased carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and elevated arterial stiffness predict hard CV events in adulthood. Newer data suggest that abnormalities in target organ damage are occurring in adolescents and young adults with high blood pressure. In this review, we discuss the techniques for measuring vascular dysfunction in young people and the evidence linking blood pressure levels to this type of target organ damage.
Callgraph properties of executables

This paper examines the callgraphs of 120 malicious and 280 non-malicious executables. Pareto models are fitted to indegree, outdegree and basic block count distributions, and a statistically significant difference is shown for the derived power law exponent. A two-step optimization process is hypothesized to account for structural features of the executable.
Multipoint Monin-Obukhov similarity and its application to turbulence spectra in the convective atmospheric surface layer

AbstractA generalized Monin–Obukhov similarity hypothesis for the atmospheric surface layer is proposed. It employs the Monin–Obukhov length as a length scale in both the horizontal and vertical directions, in contrast to the original Monin–Obukhov similarity. Therefore, the horizontal turbulence scales, which are contained in multipoint statistics, must be explicitly included. The similarity hypothesis is formulated for the joint probability density function (JPDF) of multipoint velocity and temperature differences and is termed the multipoint Monin–Obukhov similarity (MMO). In MMO, the nondimensional JPDF in the surface layer depends on the separation vectors and the heights from the ground, both nondimensionalized by the Monin–Obukhov length. A key aspect of MMO is that at heights much smaller than the absolute value of the Monin–Obukhov length, both shear and buoyancy can be important. As an application, MMO is used to predict the two-dimensional horizontal turbulence spectra in the convective surface...
Density-gradient banding of denatured deoxyribonucleic acid in cesium sulphate

Abstract A new continuous-source, monochromatic ultraviolet optical system designed for use in the Spinco Model-E ultracentrifuge was constructed and its properties described. Using this system, the flotation density of native and denatured DNA from various T-bacteriophages in Cs2SO4 was determined. It was found that all the denatured DNA's examined gave rise to two density bands, except for T6 DNA which possibly had three bands, in Cs2SO4 but not in CsCl. The relevance of these findings to the data of others was discussed.
A pharmacological study of a crystalline glycoside of Caulophyllum thalictroides.

Pharmacological studies demonstrate that the outstanding action of a crystalline glycoside isolated from Caulopbyllum thalictroides is that of a smooth muscle stimulant.