cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Planning for Innovation: A Process Oriented Perspective

Publisher Summary Organizations continue to place an ever-increasing premium on innovation—the successful implementation of novel and useful ideas. The reasons for the pursuit of innovation are seemingly quite justified. Simply put, businesses that can bring products to market before competitors stand to have a unique competitive advantage over those that lag in development. Moreover, organizations that continually seek new and novel ways to operate might also gain a competitive advantage over those businesses that continue to engage in outdated and inefficient practices. Planning is not a “set and forget” activity—leaders cannot develop a plan and put the innovation to function on autopilot. Planning, in general, requires constant monitoring. Planning for innovation requires even greater attention and flexibility. For those willing to invest time and energy, planning for innovation can provide leaders with a useful means to create movement toward an innovation strategy. The tendency to avoid the often risk-saturated opportunities characterizing innovation means some guidance is necessary to put organizations on a creative path. The development of innovation plans, even with their complexity and need for near constant attention, provide this “push” necessary for moving toward unknown territory.
Abstract 127: Structure and Function Relationship of Phospholipid Transfer Protein in Lipid Transfer Activity Revealed by Electron Microscopy

Human phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) mediates the transfer of lipids among atheroprotective high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and atherogenic low-density lipoproteins (LDL) by an unknown mechanism. Delineating this mechanism would be an important step toward the understanding and regulation of PLTP for treating cardiovascular diseases, hypoalphalipoproteinemia and hyperalphalipoproteinemia. Using electron microscopy, negative-staining, and single-particle image processing, we discovered that PLTP penetrates each class of HDL, LDL and liposome independently, and also bridges a ternary complex with one of its distal end-domains penetrating into HDL and another distal domain interacting with LDL. These new insights into PLTP interaction with lipoproteins and liposomes provide a molecular basis for analyzing PLTP-dependent lipid transfer between lipoprotein particles.
Competitive Decline in U.S. Innovation: The Management Factor

(1982). Competitive Decline in U.S. Innovation: The Management Factor. Research Management: Vol. 25, No. 5, pp. 34-41.
Access to Hemoglobin A1c in Rural Africa: A Difficult Reality with Severe Consequences

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to have the highest diabetes-related mortality rate in the world. While there exists a multitude of health system barriers driving poor diabetes control, rural facilities particularly in SSA lack access to proper monitoring of glucose and other key biologic tests. At best, most of these diabetes patients receive random blood sugar readings only on the day of their clinic visit. This approach has very limited clinical value in determining dosage adjustments for narrow therapeutic index medications such as insulin. Furthermore, access to other blood tests and physical exam tools for detecting early signs of diabetes complications is limited. We propose that routine access to hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing would not only allow for close monitoring of diabetes control but also provide critical data informing the population level risk for diabetes complications. However, implementing HbA1c testing does have its own barriers at rural facilities, including high costs, refrigeration requirements, and perceived discordance between HbA1c values and mean blood glucose levels for SSA patients. Fortunately, several pilots in rural SSA have illustrated feasibility of HbA1c testing. Further political will, price reduction, and context-specific research are needed. Increasing access to HbA1c testing is a critical step to combat the high diabetes-related mortality rates in rural SSA.
Were chondrites magnetized by the early solar wind

Abstract Chondritic meteorites have been traditionally thought to be samples of undifferentiated bodies that never experienced large-scale melting. This view has been challenged by the existence of post-accretional, unidirectional natural remanent magnetization (NRM) in CV carbonaceous chondrites. The relatively young inferred NRM age [∼10 million years (My) after solar system formation] and long duration of NRM acquisition ( 1 – 10 6 y) have been interpreted as evidence that the magnetizing field was that of a core dynamo within the CV parent body. This would imply that CV chondrites represent the primitive crust of a partially differentiated body. However, an alternative hypothesis is that the NRM was imparted by the early solar wind. Here we demonstrate that the solar wind scenario is unlikely due to three main factors: 1) the magnitude of the early solar wind magnetic field is estimated to be
Keynote Talk: High-Frequency Trading and the Design of Financial Exchanges: Will the Market Fix the Market?

The first part of this talk will cover the argument in Budish, Cramton and Shim [1] that the predominant market design used by financial exchanges around the world, called the continuous limit order book, is flawed. The flaw - essentially, a glitch introduced in the transition from human-based financial exchanges to electronic ones - is to treat time as a continuous variable, and process requests to trade serially. This combination of continuous time and serial processing creates mechanical arbitrage opportunities based on symmetric public information --- a violation of efficient markets theory, built right into the market design! --- which in turn harms liquidity provision and induces a never-ending, socially wasteful, arms race for speed. That is, much of high-frequency trading is a symptom of flawed market design. We propose an alternative market design, called frequent batch auctions, in which time is discrete and orders are batch processed using auctions, and show that this directly fixes the problem with the continuous market. The second part of this talk will ask whether the "market will fix the market?" that is, whether market forces will lead to the adoption of discrete-time trading instead of continuous-time trading, or whether a regulatory intervention would be needed. This requires a model of how modern stock exchanges compete and earn profits, the subject of new work-in-progress with Lee and Shim [2]. The model shows that competition among stock exchanges is fierce on the dimension of traditional trading fees, but that exchanges have market power in the sale of exchange-specific speed technology - i.e., arms for the arms race. We then use the model to study the private and social returns to market design innovation. We find that even though the social returns to adopting discrete-time trading would be large and positive, the private returns can be negative, due to the loss of rents from speed technology. We discuss some modest policy interventions that could tip the balance of incentives and encourage the "market to fix the market". Last, I will discuss some open questions about financial market design that lie at the intersection of economics and computer science. [1]Budish, E, P. Cramton and J. Shim. 2015. The High-Frequency Trading Arms Race: Frequent Batch Auctions as a Market Design Response. Quarterly Journal of Economics, pg. 1547-1621. [2]Budish, E, R. Lee and J. Shim. 2018. Will the Market Fix the Market? A Theory of Stock Exchange Competition and Innovation. Manuscript in Preparation.
The Use of Polystyrene Latexes in Medicine

Latexes are colloidal dispersions of submicroscopic polymer spheres and thus have a dual character: colloidal and polymeric. The properties of particles of such a small size are determined predominantly by their surface characteristics. As polymers prepared from various synthetic monomers, latex particles have the properties inherent to that particular polymer species. Most latexes belong to the lyophobic classification, i.e. their particles are comprised of hydrophobic polymers (in contrast, the lyophilic colloids are exemplified by polymer molecules in solution e.g. methylcellulose and polyvinyl alcohol. Colloidal sols are considered to derive their stability from one of two mechanism: 1) double layer repulsion and 2) steric stabilization. The Verwey-Overbeek theory of double layer repulsion describes the interaction of colloidal particles as the additive combination of two types of forces: 1) electrostatic forces of repulsion arising from the double layer and 2) London-van der Waals forces of attraction. A second mechanism of stabilization is based on the steric effect of adsorbed polymer molecules. Such adsorption can have one of two effects: 1) it can enhance the stability of the colloidal sol by preventing the mutual approach of colloidal particle to a distance at which the London-van der Waals forces of attraction are predominant or 2) it can cause flocculation of the colloidal particles by the formation of polymeric bridges between adjacent particles.
Negative Plus Positive Feedback

One striking feature of the vertebrate body is its ability to maintain relatively constant many intensive properties of its internal fluid compartments when the body is exposed to stresses which alter the magnitude of these properties. The regulated intensive properties of the internal environment include temperature, intracellular and extracellular concentrations of certain micro-solutes and colloids (those controlled by more than the law of mass action). This ability to regulate these intensive properties depends upon the nervous system. Each intensive property is transduced by a neural receptor specific for that property into action potentials at a rate (and/or sequence) depending on the magnitude of the intensive property. These are conducted to the brainstem, where they are integrated with other relevant neural activities which may include action potentials from (1) receptors transducing the same intensive property of the brainstem, (2) receptors transducing other intensive properties indirectly affecting the regulated intensive property of the internal environment and (3) neural elements which establish the reference of the regulated intensive property of the internal environment. The reference (and its neural correlate) for a regulated intensive property is optimal for each species and evolved with the species. The reference may be adjusted by intensive properties which affect the internal regulated intensive property directly or indirectly, and it may also vary daily and seasonally. When the magnitude of the regulated intensive property differs from its reference magnitude, the difference between their corresponding neural activities activates neurons, which in turn activate an appropriate response to limit the difference.
The retrotransposon family micropia in Drosophila species

During the diplotene of the prophase of meiosis, the oocytes of many animal species contain spectacular chromosome structures called lampbrush loops (reviewed e.g. by 4Callan, 1987; 5Davidson, 1986). Their basic function seems to be the synthesis and maintenance of a large pool of pre-zygotic transcripts. In most Drosophila species it is the Y-chromosome that develops lampbrush loops in primary spermatocytes during the prophase of meiosis. The Y chromosome is only needed during spermatogenesis as males lacking the Y chromosome are completely viable but sterile (Bridges, 1916). Except during meiosis, the Y chromosomes remain condensed, a typical feature of heterochromatin. Corresponding to this is its repetitive sequence organization which has caused problems in establishing the true origin of these sequences from the Y chromosomal lampbrush loops (Vogt & 30Hennig, 1983). These difficulties were overcome by the application of the microcloning technique to dissect and then directly clone sequences from less than 0.1 pg of Y chromosomal lampbrush loop DNA (12Hennig et al., 1983; Hennig et al., 1989). In order to succeed with these experiments lampbrush loop structures of primary spermatocytes from Drosophila hydei, known to contain the most distinctive loops among all Drosophila species, were micro-dissected from partial Y chromosomes carrying only one or two lampbrush loops (Hackstein et al., 1982). ‘Microclones’ recovered from the lampbrush loops ‘Threads’ and ‘Pseudonucleolus’ led to the discovery of the micropia retrotransposon family (15Huijser et al., 1988; 20Lankenau et al., 1988>).
Long-Distance Signaling in Systemic Acquired Resistance

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is an inducible defense mechanism in plants that is activated throughout the foliage in response to a prior localized exposure to a foliar pathogen. The enhanced resistance status resulting from the activation of SAR can be maintained over a couple of generations. Critical to SAR is effective long-distance communication by the pathogen-inoculated organ with rest of the foliage, which requires the lipid transfer protein DIR1. The emerging consensus is that long-distance signaling in SAR involves networking between multiple vascular-translocated signaling molecules. The proposed salicylic acid receptor NPR1 is important for downstream signaling that involves defense priming. Chromatin remodeling is projected as an important mechanism in priming and memory associated with SAR.
Hierarchical Polynomial-Based Key Management Scheme in Fog Computing

Accretion of Internet of Things (IoT) devices connected to the cloud has created several performance issues such as high latency and network congestion. To overcome these issues, fog computing has been deployed at the edge of the network between the cloud and the user network. Although fog comes with promising solutions to overcome the performance issues in the cloud, security and privacy issues need further attention. Designing security protocols in resource-limited user devices (i.e. IoT) is a challenging task. We propose a lightweight hierarchical key management with a deterministic scheme that guarantees a shared key between a fog node and a user device. Furthermore, it is a scalable scheme in which a new node can be easily added without affecting the security of the network. Moreover, the security can be enhanced without increasing the storage requirements of user devices.
Simulation As A Tool In Designing And Evaluating A Robotic Apple Harvesting System

Abstract During the past several years, significant effort has been made to develop a robotic system to harvest fresh market apples in a modern apple orchard at Washington State University (WSU). This system has gone through several modifications to achieve enhanced system accuracy, speed, robustness, and reduction of fruit damage and cost. However, due to the short window of apple picking each year and the challenging environment of the orchard, those modifications had limited success in improving the robotic systems performance even with extensive laboratory testing before each field trial. To further assess potential problems, better prepare for the field trial, and make best use of the limited time in the field, in silico testing is necessary in addition to laboratory testing. In this work, computer modeling and simulation were used to help identify potential problem in the robotic system, evaluate the effectiveness of the newly made modifications, and aid in both algorithm development and configuration design of the system. By doing simulations with field study data and workspace analysis of the system, we developed a novel algorithm to improve the reachability of the picking arm. We also concluded that the overlap of the arm’s workspace and the fruit space is the key in deciding the reachability of the manipulator instead of the volume of arm’s workspace.
deconvSeq: deconvolution of cell mixture distribution in sequencing data

Motivation Although single-cell sequencing is becoming more widely available, many tissue samples such as intracranial aneurysms are both fibrous and minute, and therefore not easily dissociated into single cells. To account for the cell type heterogeneity in such tissues therefore requires a computational method. We present a computational deconvolution method, deconvSeq, for sequencing data (RNA and bisulfite) obtained from bulk tissue. This method can also be applied to single-cell RNA sequencing data. Results DeconvSeq utilizes a generalized linear model to model effects of tissue type on feature quantification, which is specific to the data structure of the sequencing type used. Estimated model coefficients can then be used to predict the cell type mixture within a tissue. Predicted cell type mixtures were validated against actual cell counts in whole blood samples. Using this method, we obtained a mean correlation of 0.998 (95% CI 0.995-0.999) from the RNA sequencing data of 35 whole blood samples and 0.95 (95% CI 0.91-0.98) from the reduced representation bisulfite sequencing data from 35 whole blood samples. Using symmetric balances to obtain the correlation between compositional parts, we found that the lowest correlation occurred for monocytes for both RNA and bisulfite sequencing. Comparison with other methods of decomposition such as deconRNAseq, CIBERSORT, MuSiC and EpiDISH showed that deconvSeq is able to achieve good prediction using mean correlation with far fewer genes or CpG sites in the signature set. Availability and implementation Software implementing deconvSeq is available at https://github.com/rosedu1/deconvSeq. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Prevalence of obesity and associated risk factors among school children in primary schools in Lusaka, Zambia

Objectives: Todetermine the prevalence of obesity and associated risk factors among primary school children in Lusaka, Zambia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study done in day primary schools in Lusaka District, Zambia, between October 2017 and March 2018. The study was conducted in fourteen schools, using a stratified multistage sampling. Two schools, one government and one private were selected randomly from each of the seven constituencies of Lusaka district. The pupils in each school were selected randomly using a probability proportionate to size sampling strategy. Information collected included anthropometric measurements, school head teacher reported, parent/guardian-reported, and childreported questionnaires on lifestyle, diet and physical activity. Results: A total of 556 pupils were selected. The prevalence of obesity was 8.8 percent and overweight 12.6 percent with the burden increasing with age [adjusted Odds Ratio = 1.35, 95percent Confidence Interval (CI)= 1.05- 1.74, P- value= 0.02].The mean age of the pupils was 10.5 years (SD= 1.47). Boys had on average 38percent reduced odds for overweight/obesity compared to girls [Adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.62, 95percent Confidence Interval (CI) = 0.40 – 0.97, P-value = 0.034]. Pupils in private schools had on average twice increased odds for overweight/obesity (OR = 2.26, CI = 1.47 – 3.48, P-value < 0.001) than pupils in government schools. Pupils who watched TV for less than an hour had on average 55percent reduced odds for overweight/obesity (OR = 0.45, CI = 0.25 – 0.81, P-value = 0.007), than those that watched TV for more than 1 hour. Concluson: The prevalence of obesity and overweight among primary school going children was 8.8 percent and12.6percent respectively. The risk factors associated with obesity include female gender, enrolment in a private school and proloned watching of television. Keywords: Lusaka, Children, Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet, Lifestyle
The validity of transcutaneous oxygen measurements in predicting healing of diabetic foot ulcers.

INTRODUCTION In 2002 Fife and Strauss (Fife, et al. Wound Rep Reg, 10:198-207; Strauss, et al. Foot Ankle Intl, 23:933-937) studied the predictability of transcutaneous oxygen measurements (TCOMs) for healing diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). This paper analyzes the validity of the two studies and combines their information to predict which DFU will heal with adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) treatments. METHODS A statistical review of the Fife and Strauss papers was performed. The numbers presented in the papers were subjected to analyses to compare like by like data as well as test for p-values and odds ratios for predicting healing of DFUs with HBO₂. RESULTS In the Strauss paper 143 subjects were studied in retrospective and prospective series. In those TCOMs which exceed 200 mmHg with HBO₂ healing occurred in 87.5% even if the room air TCOM was ⟨ 30 mmHg (p ⟨ 0.001). The Fife paper studied retrospectively a subset of 221 patients who had TCOMs with HBO₂. Failure rates for healing decreased progressively from 35.7% to 14.3%, with TCOMs grouped in 100-mmHg increments from 200 mmHg to 699 mmHg. This resulted in absence of statistical significance for any 100-mmHg range over 200 mmHg with HBO₂ due to the small number of subjects for each 100-mmHg grouping. CONCLUSIONS Although differences exist between the study designs, each complements the other. If TCOMs exceed 200 mmHg with HBO₂, both authors observed that almost 90% of DFUs healed regardless of the room air readings when HBO₂ was used as an adjunct to management.
The Politics of Pity versus Piety: The Poetics and Politics Behind Different Feminist Accounts on the Muslim Woman

This article analyzes two books that utilize the construct of “The Muslim Woman” as a symbol for public consumption across a global and conceptual scale: Saba Mahmood’s book, 'Politics of Piety', and Malala Yousafzai’s and Christina Lamb’s 'I am Malala'. The motivation behind the analysis is to situate the texts within debates on essentialism within accounts of Muslim women. While essentialism and the critique of it in such discussions are not a novelty, the books demonstrate a physical manifestation of essentialism and a reductionist reaction toward this brand of essentialism. Through analysis of the content, poetics, and response toward the books, I argue that scholarship surround Muslim women are still mired in essentialism albeit efforts to avoid it due to a lack in direction as to how to resolve the issue. I suggest using a combination of power convolution and intersectionality of identities to capture the representation of Muslim women.
CD49f protein expression varies among genetic subgroups of B lymphoblastic leukemia and is distinctly low in KMT2A-rearranged cases.

Background CD49f (integrin α6) is a useful marker for minimal residual disease (MRD) detection in B lymphoblastic leukemia and has recently been suggested to mediate infiltration of the central nervous system by leukemic B lymphoblasts. However, data regarding expression of CD49f protein in B lymphoblastic leukemia are limited, and whether CD49f protein expression varies among genetic subgroups of B lymphoblastic leukemia is unknown. Methods CD49f protein expression was characterized by flow cytometry in a series of 40 cases of B lymphoblastic leukemia, which included the genetic subgroups: KMT2A-rerranged, BCR-ABL1+, ETV6-RUNX1+, hypodiploidy, and hyperdiploidy. Results Expression of CD49f differed significantly among the five genetic subgroups studied, whether assessed by percentage of blasts positive for the antigen (p = .0001, Kruskal-Wallis) or median fluorescence intensity (MFI) (p = .0001, Kruskal-Wallis). Moreover, the percentage of CD49f+ blasts and MFI of CD49f were significantly lower in KMT2A-rearranged cases than in cases without KMT2A rearrangement (p = .0002 for both, Mann-Whitney). Conclusions CD49f protein expression varies among genetic subgroups of B lymphoblastic leukemia, and is distinctly low in KMT2A-rearranged cases.
Minimum Distortion Point Tracking

This article introduces the notion of minimum distortion point tracking (MDPT) : a control strategy where switching waveforms are optimally phase shifted to minimize aggregate ripple power for networks of dc–dc converters that are connected in series or parallel at the input or output. In a sense, MDPT generalizes the ubiquitous concept of interleaving in balanced systems to a broad class of asymmetric series- or parallel-connected dc–dc converters. For networks of up to one hundred interconnected power converters, MDPT demonstrates a one to two order of magnitude reduction (−14 to −22 dB) in distortion power. We present and experimentally verify three algorithms that can dynamically solve the MDPT optimization problem on a network of three input-parallel connected dc–dc buck converters handling 1.8 kW. The experimental results illustrate an up to $\text{3.06}\times$ reduction in the peak-to-peak ripple of the parallel-side bus voltage and convergence close to an optimal steady-state solution in 5 ms.
Cost Reduction of School Bus Fleet Electrification With Optimized Charging and Distributed Energy Resources

Considerations for electrifying school buses are presented with an analysis of battery sizing to match bus-driving requirements. The charging and vehicle-to-building dispatch of the electric school buses were optimized to evaluate the potential to reduce the impact of the bus charging on the school's electric utility bill. Distributed energy resources and flexible building loads were also considered with the school bus electrification to evaluate the further reductions in energy costs with enhanced systems integration and optimized dispatch. The effect of degradation on the school bus batteries was analyzed to determine if the smart-charging and vehicle-to-building battery operation decreases the life of the battery. The results show that there is an opportunity to mitigate the increase in electric utility bill with improved charging controls and bi-directionally operating the school bus batteries. The battery degradation analysis using dispatch with optimized charging and discharging shows that acceptable battery life remains.
Poor Sleep Hygiene is Associated with Decreased Discrimination and Inattention on Continuous Performance Task in Doctor of Physical Therapy Students: A Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction Reduced sleep quality impairs learning, memory formation, attention, and executive function ability. Poor sleep quality or sleep hygiene has been shown to impair academic performance of undergraduate and medical students. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between sleep quality, sleep hygiene, and cognitive performance in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students. Methods Fifty DPT students at the University of Kansas Medical Center completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI). Cognitive performance was assessed using the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) which is a test of sustained attention and the Trail-Making Task (TMT) to assess executive functioning. An actigraph was worn for one week to objectively characterize sleep outcomes. Spearman's correlations were performed to assess the association between self-report sleep quality, sleep hygiene, and outcomes on the cognitive tasks. Post-hoc Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted to examine group differences between sleep outcomes and cognitive performance for demographic variable categories. Results Twenty-three students (46%) reported poor sleep quality, and 27 participants (54%) had objectively-reported poor sleep quality. There was a significant positive correlation between SHI and Detectability (rs= 0.297, p= 0.036) and Omissions (rs=.343, p=0.015). There were group differences between sex and number of pets on the CPT outcomes, and there was a significant group difference between the number of drinks/week categories on the SHI. Discussion and conclusions About half of the participants were identified as having poor sleep quality. Poorer sleep hygiene was associated with poorer discrimination and inattention, which could potentially impact the students' academic and clinical performance as well as their health and wellbeing. Also, certain demographic variables may modulate the results.
The electronic medical record and COVID-19: Is it up to the challenge?

• Improvements to the electronic medical records must occur prior to the next pandemic. • During pandemics, infection preventionists’ should advise staff, not review charts. • Automation can help improve healthcare safety and quality.
Repeat Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for Recurrent Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia: A Systematic Review and Our Initial Experience.

Background Glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN) is a rare facial pain syndrome with debilitating symptoms. For medication-resistant GPN, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an emerging treatment option with a promising role; however, recurrence rates after SRS are fairly high. We present a patient who underwent repeat SRS for recurrent GPN and subsequently maintained over 3 years of complete pain relief. For the first time, we present a systematic review of repeat SRS for recurrent GPN. Summary Twelve cases of repeat SRS for GPN have previously been reported in the literature (13 studies including ours). Among patients with follow-up, initial pain relief was achieved in 83% (n = 10) of cases a median of 5 weeks after repeat SRS; 2 patients failed to obtain any pain relief. A favorable pain response (BNI I-IIIb) was achieved in 67 and 58% of cases at 6 and 12 months, respectively. All 13 were targeted to the glossopharyngeal meatus. Three patients (23%) experienced adverse radiation effects. Five patients (50%) experienced recurrence a median of 14 months after repeat SRS. Two patients (17%) required additional surgical intervention. At the final follow-up, 75% (n = 9) of the patients had a favorable pain outcome. Key Messages: Repeat SRS may be a viable alternative to open surgery for the treatment of recurrent GPN, albeit with an increased risk of adverse radiation effects. Though limited by a small cohort of patients, the best predictors of an effective second treatment may be a response to initial SRS for >5 months, a maximum dose >75 Gy, and a target at the glossopharyngeal meatus. Larger prospective studies are needed to better define its role.
Economic consequences of rheumatic heart disease: A scoping review.

Abstract Background Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains endemic in less-resourced regions and countries and results in high medical and non-medical costs to households, health systems, and society. This scoping review maps out the available evidence on the economic impact of RHD and its antecedents and suggests future research priorities. Method We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews. We identified articles through systematic electronic database search supplemented by expert knowledge of unpublished literature. Studies were included if they collected empirical RHD-related costing data as a primary or secondary objective and if the data were collected from 2000 onward. Main quantitative findings by intervention, costing perspective, and location were charted, and a standardized quality assessment tool was used to appraise included studies. Results The index search identified 2519 electronic records and two grey-literature graduate theses. Six full texts were included in the review. Primary prevention costs were modest, while secondary and especially tertiary prevention were more costly. Most estimates were of health sector costs and for tertiary interventions. Only two studies described RHD-related costs in non-high-income countries. Most studies were of adequate methodological quality. Conclusion Research into the costs of RHD has mostly been done in wealthy countries. Costs from the household perspective, which are particularly important in countries with limited public healthcare finance, are lacking. To inform advocacy and guide implementation of the 2018 World Health Assembly resolution on RHD, high-quality, local cost estimates will be needed from a range of representative, RHD-endemic countries.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Convalescent Plasma Versus Standard Plasma in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infected Hospitalized Patients in New York: A Double-Blind Randomized Trial.

OBJECTIVES: Four peer-reviewed publications have reported results from randomized controlled trials of convalescent plasma for coronavirus disease 2019 infection; none were conducted in the United States nor used standard plasma as a comparator. To determine if administration of convalescent plasma to patients with coronavirus disease 2019 increases antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and improves outcome. DESIGN: Double-blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Hospital in New York. PATIENTS: Patients with polymerase chain reaction documented coronavirus disease 2019 infection. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomized (4:1) to receive 2 U of convalescent plasma versus standard plasma. Antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were measured in plasma units and in trial recipients. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Enrollment was terminated after emergency use authorization was granted for convalescent plasma. Seventy-four patients were randomized. At baseline, mean (sd) Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (23.4 [5.6] and 22.5 [6.6]), percent of patients intubated (19% and 20%), and median (interquartile range) days from symptom onset to randomization of 9 (6-18) and 9 (6-15), were similar in the convalescent plasma versus standard plasma arms, respectively. Convalescent plasma had high neutralizing activity (median [interquartile range] titer 1:526 [1:359-1:786]) and its administration increased antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by 14.4%, whereas standard plasma administration led to an 8.6% decrease (p = 0.005). No difference was observed for ventilator-free days through 28 days (primary study endpoint): median (interquartile range) of 28 (2-28) versus 28 (0-28; p = 0.86) for the convalescent plasma and standard plasma groups, respectively. A greater than or equal to 2 point improvement in the World Health Organization scale was achieved by 20% of subjects in both arms (p = 0.99). All-cause mortality through 90 days was numerically lower in the convalescent plasma versus standard plasma groups (27% vs 33%; p = 0.63) but did not achieve statistical significance. A key prespecified subgroup analysis of time to death in patients who were intubated at baseline was statistically significant; however, sample size numbers were small. CONCLUSIONS: Administration of convalescent plasma to hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 infection increased antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease 2 but was not associated with improved outcome.
Computational Models of Mentalizing

Humans have a remarkable ability to infer and represent others’ mental states such as their beliefs, goals, desires, intentions, and feelings. In this chapter, we review some of the innovations that have developed in economics, computer science, and cognitive neuroscience in modeling the computations underlying several mentalizing operations. Broadly, this involves building models of how agents infer the mental states of other agents within constrained environments. These models include modules for representing the goals and desires of an agent (e.g., maximize reward, or minimize embarrassment), inferring the mental states of other agents (e.g., beliefs, goals, desires, intentions, and feelings), and integrating these goals and mentalizing computations to produce optimal behavioral policies to navigate the environment. The mathematical operationalization of these constructs provides a general framework that can be validated by behavior and neural recording techniques and extended in the future by contributions from multiple scientific disciplines.
Mindfulness effects on lifestyle behavior and blood pressure: A randomized controlled trial.

Author(s): An, Eunjoo; Irwin, Michael R; Doering, Lynn V; Brecht, Mary-Lynn; Watson, Karol E; Corwin, Elizabeth; Macey, Paul M | Abstract: Background and aimsHTN affects nearly 50% of U.S. adults and is the leading modifiable cardiovascular risk factor. A healthy diet and exercise can improve BP control, but adherence to these interventions is low. We tested whether a multimodal mind-body program, Mindful Awareness Practices (MAP) could improve BP and lifestyle behaviors associated with HTN when compared to a Health Promotion Program (HPP).MethodsAdults with BP g120/80 were randomized to MAP or HPP. Outcome measurements of BP, self-reported diet, and exercise were analyzed with intent-to-treat group comparisons using repeated measures linear mixed models.ResultsThere was an MAP-HPP between-group difference in interactions of time-by-systolic BP (Pn= 0.005) and time-by-diastolic BP (Pn= .003). The mean drops in SBP from baseline to week 13 for the MAP group was 19 mm Hg (138 ± 15 mm Hg-119 ± 6 mm Hg) compared to 7 mm Hg (134 ± 18 mm Hg-127 ± 22 mm Hg) in the HPP group. Similarly, a greater reduction in DBP was observed in the MAP group compared to the HPP group, 12 mm Hg (89 mm Hg ± 11-77 ± 7 mm Hg) and 1 mm Hg (81 ± 16 mm Hg-80 ± 18 mm Hg), respectively. Mediational analysis of the MAP group showed the total effect of mindfulness practice minutes on SBP with indirect effect (ab) of -.057 was significant, resulting in a 40% lower SBP for total effect (c) compared to direct (c') effect alone. The mediational model suggests MAP has a modest positive influence on participants initiating lifestyle behavior change, which partially explains the greater reduction in BP by the MAP group.ConclusionOur findings suggest a multimodal mind-body program involving mindfulness practice may improve BP control in adults with HTN.
Spectrum of tensor perturbations in warm inflation

We compute the spectrum of tensor perturbations in warm inflation. We find that the spectrum, besides the standard component $\ensuremath{\propto}{H}^{2}/{M}_{P}^{2}$ associated to the amplification of the tensor vacuum fluctuations, acquires a component $\ensuremath{\propto}{\ensuremath{\ell}}_{\mathrm{mfp}}{T}^{5}/{M}_{P}^{4}$, where ${\ensuremath{\ell}}_{\mathrm{mfp}}$ and $T$ are, respectively, the mean free path and the temperature of the thermal degrees of freedom. The new contribution is due to the direct production of gravitational waves by the thermal bath and can exceed the standard one in a viable region of parameter space. This contribution is dominated by thermal fluctuations at scales longer than ${\ensuremath{\ell}}_{\mathrm{mfp}}$.
H ∞ robust control synthesis for a large space structure

In a design study involving the use of H∞ optimal control theory, an 11-state control law is generated for a 116-state model of a large flexible space structure. A combination of co-located rate feedback, modal truncation, and optimal Hankel-norm model techniques is found to lead to a vastly simplified four-state model for the structure which, by singular-value theory, is proved to be satisfactory for design of a controller whose bandwidth exceeds the natural frequencies of all of the modes of the original 116-state model. Specifications regarding disturbance attenuation, bandwidth, and stability robustness are quantitatively expressed as weighting functions in a mixed-sensitivity H∞ optimal control synthesis problem, the solution to which is computed by the authors' program LINF.
A Note on General Relativity, Energy Conservation, and Noether’s Theorems

The subject of this note has been a small historical thread in the long and complex story of the status of energy conservation in General Relativity, concerning two related claims made by Klein and Hilbert: that the energy conservation law is an identity in generally covariant theories, and that this marks a contrast with other (earlier) theories. Both these claims were disputed by Einstein. We have seen how three theorems proved by Noether and Klein can be brought to bear on this disagreement, showing that: (1) Klein’s worry over the physical significance of the energy conservation law in General Relativity was perhaps not adequately addressed by Einstein, even though in the end we side with Einstein against Klein, and (2) the possibility of re-writing the energy conservation law in the form that so worried Klein does indeed depend upon the local symmetry structure of General Relativity.
Control and modeling of drug delivery devices for the treatment of diabetes

The complications of diabetes are thought to arise from poor control of blood glucose concentration because of inadequate secretion of insulin by the pancreas. This has motivated the undertaking of novel therapeutic approaches to improve insulin delivery. In this paper, two approaches are presented: model-based control algorithms for use in implantable insulin pumps, and a novel polymeric device which releases insulin at desirable levels.
Metabolic changes in early poststatus epilepticus measured by MR spectroscopy in rats

There is little experimental in vivo data on how differences in seizure duration in experimental status epilepticus influence metabolic injury. This is of interest given that in humans, status duration is a factor that influences the probability of subsequent development of epilepsy. This question is studied using 7-T magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy, T2 relaxometry in the incremented kainate rodent model of temporal lobe epilepsy, using two durations of status epilepticus, 1.5 and 3 hours. Histologic evaluation was performed in a subset of animals. Three days after status, single-voxel (8 mm(3)) point resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) MR spectroscopic measurements were acquired at 7 T to assess the cerebral metabolites measured as a ratio to total creatine (tCr). The status injury resulted in decreased N-acetylaspartate NAA/tCr, increased myo-inositol/tCr and glutamine/tCr, increased T2, and significant declines in NeuN-stained neuronal counts in both status groups. Regressions were identified in the status groups that provide evidence for neuronal injury and astrocytic reaction after status in both the short and long status duration groups. The long status group displays changes in glutathione/tCr that are not identified in the short status group, this difference possibly representing a maturation of injury and antioxidant response that occurs in synchrony with glutamatergic injury and glial activation.
An inexpensive interactive processing system for NOAA satellite image

Summary form only given, as follows. A PC (personal computer)-based image-processing system has been produced to enhance the image analysis functions within NOAA (the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and to facilitate high-quality product creation and rapid dissemination. It uses basic commercially available components and NOAA-written software. This system allows for display of mapped, gridded, full 11-bit resolution image information from LAC, GAC, or GOES images. The dynamic color enhancement utilities allow for easy interpretation of ocean thermal structure details because each area of an image can be custom-enhanced with as many or as few color intervals as necessary and annotated on separable nondestructive overlay planes for future use or direct distribution. The software is menu-driven and quite simple to operate. >
Simulation Approach to One-Stage and Sequential Optimal Design Problems

In this presentation we introduce an algorithm for Bayesian optimal design based on smoothing a scatterplot of observed losses (or utilities) for a Monte Carlo sample of simulated experiments. Denote with d, θ and y the design parameters, the parameter vector and the data, respectively. The Bayesian optimal design problem is to find the design d* which maximizes the pre-posterior expected utility u(d) = ∫ U(d, y, θ)dp d (θ, y), where p d (θ, y) is the joint distribution under design d on parameter and sample space, and U(d, y, θ) is the relevant payoff when the data y is observed under design d and the parameter θ. For example, we might want to estimate the parameters θ in a regression model under squared error loss.
PLL-less robust active and reactive power controller for single phase grid-connected inverter with LCL filter

Grid connected inverters, especially those used in DG (Distributed Generation) system, are expected with decoupled and flexible power control ability. Many existing power control methods are based on synchronous reference frame transformation, which requires the phase angle information provided by Phase-Locked Loop (PLL). This creates additional drawbacks of the system and makes the system complex. This paper presents a controller for single-phase grid connected inverter system with LCL filter in stationary reference frame. And PLL is avoided. Compared with traditional power control scheme for single phase grid-connected inverter controller, this control scheme has faster response, higher reliability and decoupled real and reactive power control ability. Moreover, the proposed controller has good robustness under different distorted grid conditions. Since the controller is totally implemented in stationary reference frame, the control algorithm comes to be simpler and easier. The designed current controller, combining the active damping technique, helps restrain the high resonant peak value. Compared with traditional PI based current controller, the designed current controller, which is based on the Proportional & Resonant (PR) controller, provides the system with high gain in wide range of frequency to track given reference value fast and output excellent grid current with low THD.
Photometric and Spectroscopic Performance of a Thinned RCA CCD Detector

Publisher Summary A 320 × 512 thinned RCA charge-coupled device (CCD) was incorporated into a direct-imaging camera and later duplicated for use in a grating spectrometer in a non-intensified mode. The system design incorporates a cryogenic dewar, a TTL timing sequencer, careful attention to system noise and stability, and minicomputer control. Measurements of system performance were taken with both systems using the same thinned chip; model number SID 53612. The system gain was measured in a conventional manner by relating the mean and variance of exposures of a uniform source of white light. Each image was flat-field corrected by a similar exposure after subtracting the bias from each frame. The chapter also explores the estimate of accuracy with which simulated circular aperture magnitudes of stars can be measured. The pixel counts were summed within a circular aperture large enough to contain more than 99% of the star's light, and the background was measured within a circular annulus surrounding it. The standard deviation was 0.006 to 0.008 magnitudes over time spans short enough to ensure that atmospheric conditions were constant.
The RAID-6 liberation codes

The RAID-6 specification calls for a storage system with multiple storage devices to tolerate the failure of any two devices. Numerous erasure coding techniques have been developed that can implement RAID-6; however, each has limitations. In this paper, we describe a new class of RAID-6 codes called the Liberation Codes. These codes encode, update and decode either optimally or close to optimally. Their modification overhead is lower than all other RAID-6 codes, and their encoding performance is often better as well. We provide an exact specification of the Liberation Codes and assess their performance in relation to other RAID-6 coding techniques. In the process, we describe an algorithm called bit matrix scheduling, which improves the performance of decoding drastically. Finally, we present a freely available library which facilitates the use of Liberation Codes in RAID-6 sytems.
Effect of pH on platelets and identification of ribonucleoprotein from platelets.

Summary1. Platelets agglutinated at acid pH? maximal at pH 4.5. They dissolved at pH 10.5. 2. The major substance of platelets was found to be ribonucleoprotein.