cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
All Electric System Architecture for Aircraft and Propulsion

This paper describes a system architecture for future All Electric Aircraft (AEA). The proposed AEA system integrates electrical power management, which uses an HVDC grid system to control supply and demand of electrical power, and thermal management, which provides adjustable cooling of power electronics with an autonomous air-cooling system. The proposed system concept will achieve efficient and adequate energy and power management of the aircraft system, helping to reduce overall energy consumption and consequently reducing fuel burn of the aircraft.
Changes in the geographic concentration and location of residence of immigrants

Increases in the number and size of enclaves of the new immigrant groups from Latin America and Asia during the 1980s have changed the ethnic composition of many American cities. I have classified primary and secondary enclave networks for each immigrant country of origin in order to examine changes in the geographic concentration of immigrants. First I calculated the Duncan index of dissimilarity for immigrants relative to natives at the metropolitan area level. I then use individual-level data to follow immigrant cohorts over time in order to examine how time in the United States is associated with movements from primary enclaves to other geographic areas in the immigrant networks. There is movement from the primary enclave to the periphery of the primary enclave, to areas of smaller groupings of immigrants from the same country of origin, and to areas that do not have large groupings of immigrants from the same country. It is significant that many of these changes in location occur quite late in the assimilation process
Drug Analogs of COX-2 Selective Inhibitors Lumiracoxib and Valdecoxib Derived from in silico Search and Optimization

The medicinal activity of COX-2 inhibitors are sufficiently beneficial to urge the search for new drug designs. This study presents 16 analogs of lumiracoxib and 10 analogs to valdecoxib having properties suitable as COX-2 inhibi- tors. For lumiracoxib analogs the mean Log P, polar surface area, and formula weight are 3.00, 70.46 A 2 , and 276.60, re- spectively. For valdecoxib analogs the mean Log P, polar surface area, and formula weight are 3.65, 68.46 A 2 , and 322.32, respectively. Grubb's test analysis of seven properties for seven known COX-2 selective inhibitors and those of 26 analog compounds indicated no outliers. The unpaired t-test compared Log P and polar surface area of seven known COX-2 in- hibitors to all 26 analogs and found no difference. All 26 analogs showed no violation of the Rule of 5, this being an indi- cator of favorable bioavailability. Hierarchical cluster analysis by single linkage indicated lumiracoxib is most similar to analogs 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, and 17. Valdecoxib has highest similarity to analogs 8, 19, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, and 28. Multiple regression analysis successfully produced equations for prediction of similar compounds to lumiracoxib and valdecoxib. Path analysis indicated that number of atoms, oxygen & nitrogen atoms, and Log P are the greatest de- terminants for formula weight for known COX-2 inhibitors. Criteria for molecular properties is established for identifying COX-2 inhibitors. These 26 analogs show much potential for active COX-2 inhibition.
Metaphor and Gesture edited by Alan Cienki and Cornelia Mueller: Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2008, 306 pages, $149 (hardcover), ISBN 978-902 7228437

In this timely volume, researchers in metaphor and gesture address questions at the confluence of the two topics. In addition to the obvious questions, whether (and how) gestures can express metaph...
Probabilistic risk assessment of manned balloon programs

The Red Bull Stratos and Paragon StratEx were ground breaking projects in terms of pushing the human envelope for survivability. The data collected is of great value for future development of manned space programs. They showed among other things that it is possible for a human to survive transonic and supersonic speeds without a vehicle protection. One of the ways the two projects will be used is by evaluating the reliability of the systems and defining the parameters that are of high criticality during a crew escape. The PRA on mission architectures also helps in determining the safest mission hardware and human operations, leading to a more successful crew escape outcome. An after the fact PRA was performed by Teri Hamlin on the Space Shuttle program for all flights. The intent was to study the change in risk with changes in flight hardware and procedures [1]. This could be used to establish safety recommendations and flight procedures on future human spaceflight missions. A similar study is being carried out on the recent stratospheric balloon jumps, the Red Bull Stratos and StratEx in conjunction with Paragon Space Development Corporation. The two missions are being studied in detail for failure modes inherent in design and procedures and a risk analysis will be performed. The safety of high altitude bailout systems and procedures will be validated and the risk drivers hence found will be addressed for such a bailout. Due to different mission architectures used in the two jumps, a direct comparison between systems will be made which would help in a trade studies of such systems. Furthermore, the results found will be a design driver in stratospheric balloon programs for scientific and commercial applications.
Social media analytics and research testbed (SMART): Exploring spatiotemporal patterns of human dynamics with geo-targeted social media messages:

The multilevel model of meme diffusion conceptualizes how mediated messages diffuse over time and space. As a pilot application of implementing the meme diffusion, we developed the social media ana...
Thermal Stability of Aluminum-Rich ZSM-5 Zeolites and Consequences on Aromatization Reactions

The thermal stability and unique shape selectivity of the ZSM-5 structure have made this zeolite a popular choice for gas-phase petrochemical and biorenewable conversions. However, with processes such as catalytic fast pyrolysis and methane aromatization being studied at temperatures between 500 and 800 °C, it is imperative to better understand the dynamic changes that may occur under these conditions. Here, we study the chemistry of high aluminum content commercial ZSM-5 zeolites in the high-temperature regime. Our results suggest these catalysts thermally degrade within hours above 600 °C, emphasizing the importance of operating conditions on long-term catalyst performance. Detailed characterization of the thermally treated zeolites indicates that they retained the desired MFI crystallographic structure but displayed significant changes in Bronsted and Lewis acid site densities due to extensive dealumination. Depending on temperature, up to 50% of the aluminum initially present in the zeolite structure ...
Technical Advance: Changes in neutrophil migration patterns upon contact with platelets in a microfluidic assay

Neutrophils are traditionally regarded as the "first responders" of the immune system. However, recent observations revealed that platelets often respond earlier to recruit and activate neutrophils within sites of injury and inflammation. Currently, platelet-neutrophil interactions are studied by intravital microscopy. Although such studies provide exceptional, physiologic in vivo data, they are also laborious and have low throughput. To accelerate platelet-neutrophil interaction studies, we have developed and optimized an ex vivo microfluidic platform with which the interactions between platelets and moving neutrophils are measured at single-cell level in precise conditions and with high throughput. With the use of this new assay, we have evaluated changes in neutrophil motility upon direct contact with platelets. Motility changes include longer distances traveled, frequent changes in direction, and faster neutrophil velocities compared with a standard motility response to chemoattractant fMLP. We also found that the neutrophil-platelet direct interactions are transient and mediated by CD62P-CD162 interactions, localized predominantly at the uropod of moving neutrophils. This "crawling," oscillatory neutrophil behavior upon platelet contact is consistent with previous in vivo studies and validates the use of this new test for the exploration of this interactive relationship.
Nothing as practical as a good theory does Lewin's Maxim still have salience in the applied social sciences?

In the spirit of the theme of ASIST 2015, the influence of Kurt Lewin's Maxim---"there is nothing as practical as a good theory"---in the applied social sciences (including Information Science) is examined through the lens of Obliteration by Incorporation text analysis. Six hundred ninety three English language scholarly journal articles published between 1945-2013, retrieved through a search of broad and specialized full-text bibliographic databases as well as back issues of JASIS/JASIST using known variants of Lewin's Maxim, were categorized based on the text associated with the Maxim. Psychology, Management, and Education articles dominated the retrieval (~70%) while Information Science was essentially invisible. In successive 5-year periods between 1989 and 2013, the proportion of Explicit Citations to Lewin's writings increased in all three subject areas, while the proportions of invocations of Lewin (attribution without citation) and Implicit Citations (use of the Maxim without attribution) varied from one period to the next; Lewin's influence appears to be increasing rather than being obliterated. The influence of Lewin's ideas in Information Science was not visible here but merits further exploration.
Associates of Engagement in Adult-Oriented Follow-Up Care for Childhood Cancer Survivors

Abstract Purpose Understanding how to predict appropriate uptake of adult-oriented medical care is important for adult patients with pediatric-onset chronic health conditions with continued health vulnerability. We examined associates of engagement in adult survivors of childhood cancer following transfer to adult-oriented care. Methods Adult survivors of childhood cancer (N = 80), within 1–5 years post transfer from pediatric to adult-oriented follow-up care, completed assessments of engagement with recommended adult-oriented follow-up care and psychosocial and transition readiness measures. Measures were validated with adolescent and young adults and/or intended to measure readiness to transition to adult care. Results Earlier age at diagnosis, parental involvement in health care decision-making, higher motivation, and increased comfort speaking to providers about health concerns were significantly associated with attendance at adult-oriented follow-up care visits. Conclusions Associates of engagement in adult care are complex, representing social-ecological variables. Current measures of transition readiness or adolescent and young adult health-related measures may not adequately capture the associates of engagement in care or identify targets of intervention to promote successful transfer of care. Identifying patients at risk for loss to follow-up will be useful to design interventions for young adult survivors of childhood cancer and other young adults with pediatric-onset chronic conditions who require ongoing adult-oriented care.
“The third sex is here to stay”: Rhetorical reconstructions of lesbian sexuality in Vice Versa

ABSTRACTVice Versa, published in Los Angeles from 1947–1948 and regarded as the first lesbian periodical in the United States, was authored and edited by Lisa Ben (anagram for “lesbian”). While Vic...
Can improving patient hand hygiene impact Clostridium difficile infection events at an academic medical center

Background Hand hygiene plays an important role in the prevention of Clostridium difficile (CD) infection (CDI). Patient hand hygiene (PHH) may be a potentially underused preventative measure for CDI. Patient mobility and acuity along with a lack of education present obstacles to PHH for the hospitalized patient. Surveys of patients at our institution showed a need for increased PHH opportunities. The objective of this study was to increase PHH and to examine if PHH affected CDI at our hospital. Methods A biphasic, quasi-experimental study was performed to increase PHH through education for staff and to provide education, assistance, and opportunities to the patient for hand cleaning. PHH practice was assessed by patient surveys and analyzed by χ2 test. PHH effect on CDI was determined by following health care facility–onset CD laboratory–identified events data analyzed by National Healthcare Safety Network standardized infection ratios (SIRs). Results PHH opportunities improved significantly (P Conclusions PHH opportunities can be increased by providing education and opportunities for patients to clean their hands. PHH should be considered a relevant preventative measure for CDI in hospitalized patients.
How do patients describe their disabilities? A coding system for categorizing patients' descriptions.

Abstract Background To provide care that meets the values and preferences of patients with disabilities, health care providers need to understand patients' perceptions and understanding of their disability. No studies have explored patients' definitions of disability within the healthcare setting. Objective The aim of the study was to understand how patients' define their disability in the healthcare setting and to develop a coding system for categorizing how they describe their disability. Methods In 2000 all new outpatients at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN completed a form that inquired if they had a disability and if so, to write in the disability. The research team categorized the responses by disability type (e.g.: visual or physical) and how the patient described his disability or “disability narrative” (e.g.: diagnosis or activity). Results Within 128,636 patients, 14,908 reported a disability. For adults, lower limb (26%) and chronic conditions (24%) were the most frequent disability type and activity limitations (56%) were the most frequent disability narrative category. For pediatric patients, developmental disabilities (43%) were the most frequently reported disability type and diagnoses (83%) were the most frequent disability narrative category. Patients used different disability narrative categories to describe different disability types. For example, most adults reporting a mental health listed a diagnosis (97%), compared to only 13% of those with lower limb disabilities. Conclusions Patients had diverse descriptions of their disabilities. In order for providers and healthcare organizations to provide high-quality care, they should engage patients in developing a consistent, patient-centered language around disability.
Making Environmental Law Work

Compliance has no one definition. Noncompliance has no one explanation. A farmer or small businessperson sees noncompliance as a response to unfair regulations promulgated by bureaucrats who do not possess adequate knowledge of the private sector. Legal counsel to an environmental agency concludes that the pollution problem would be solved if government more efficiently ai;d aggressively enforced major regulatory laws. The vice-president for environmental affairs of a large corporation, a resident of a community that has been polluted by a neighboring industry, the technical consultant to a legal suit involving unacceptable disposal techniques all have different views of the compliance problem.
Salmonella Vaccines: Conduits for Protective Antigens

Vaccines afford a better and more cost-effective approach to combatting infectious diseases than continued reliance on antibiotics or antiviral or antiparasite drugs in the current era of increasing incidences of diseases caused by drug-resistant pathogens. Recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccines (RASVs) have been significantly improved to exhibit the same or better attributes than wild-type parental strains to colonize internal lymphoid tissues and persist there to serve as factories to continuously synthesize and deliver rAgs. Encoded by codon-optimized pathogen genes, Ags are selected to induce protective immunity to infection by that pathogen. After immunization through a mucosal surface, the RASV attributes maximize their abilities to elicit mucosal and systemic Ab responses and cell-mediated immune responses. This article summarizes many of the numerous innovative technologies and discoveries that have resulted in RASV platforms that will enable development of safe efficacious RASVs to protect animals and humans against a diversity of infectious disease agents.
Network Scheduling and Message-passing

Algorithms are operational building-blocks of a network. An important class of network algorithms deal with the scheduling of common resources among various entities such as packets or flows. In a generic setup, such algorithms operate under stringent hardware, time, power or energy constraints. Therefore, algorithms have to be extremely simple, lightweight in data-structure and distributed. Therefore, a network algorithm designer is usually faced with the task of resolving an acute tension between performance and implementability of the algorithm. In this chapter, we survey recent results on novel design and analysis methods for simple, distributed aka message-passing scheduling algorithms. We describe how the asymptotic analysis methods like fluid model and heavy traffic naturally come together with algorithm design methods such as randomization and belief-propagation (message-passing heuristic) in the context of network scheduling.
The Quest to Define Individual Risk After Living Kidney Donation.

O'Keeffe and colleagues' meta-analysis concluded that living kidney donors face elevated relative risks for end-stage renal disease, preeclampsia, and high diastolic blood pressure. The editorialis...
Microring resonator based compact on-chip phase tuner

We study the mode-splitting microring resonators for compact and efficient phase tuners. Through optimization of inter-modal and ring-waveguide coupling 72.535 ps group delay and 1.4208 rad phase shift with 5.83 dB loss are achieved.
The Materials Genome Initiative and artificial intelligence

The Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) seeks to accelerate the discovery, design, development, and deployment of new materials through the creation of a materials innovation infrastructure. This infrastructure is essentially a system for providing data and tools that encapsulate our existing knowledge about materials, and the means to create new knowledge. Given this approach, MGI is also deeply linked to the ongoing exponential growth in applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to materials research. This article explores the connections between MGI, the consequent need for data publication, the implications for data-driven science, and the application of AI to materials design. Examples will demonstrate how materials research is transforming in remarkable ways, and that the MGI vision of accelerated materials discovery is within reach.
Two New Triangulations for Homotopy Fixed Point Algorithms with an Arbitrary Grid Refinement

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses two new families of triangulations and corresponding fixed point algorithms, both allowing for an arbitrary grid refinement using a homotopy type fixed point algorithm. While the first is a directly constructed triangulation featuring an arbitrary grid refinement, the second relies on the fact that instead of looking for new triangulations, one can manipulate the function by dilating it around the approximate fixed point, thus achieving the same effect as a grid refinement. However, one can also consider the dual point of view, that of deforming the triangulation while keeping the function fixed. The latter approach gives more insight into the mechanism and convergence properties of the new algorithms, and is discussed in the chapter. The dynamic shift algorithm is based on a totally new approach to the problem of refining the grid by an arbitrary factor for homotopy type fixed-point algorithms. In constructing a homotopy—and, to a certain extent, also a restart— algorithm, one is restricted by the triangulations that one can use.
A comprehensive review of exceptional responders to anticancer drugs in the biomedical literature.

Abstract Importance There is broad interest in patients who have exceptional responses to cancer drugs and only one prior systematic review of published case reports. Objective To systematically summarise case reports of patients who have had a super response to a cancer drug and determine patterns and completeness of documentation. Design, setting and participants This is a systematic search of biomedical literature and hand searches of seven prominent oncology journals. All cases were adults with cancer in the metastatic or unresectable setting and who were classified as having a remarkable response to a drug therapy were included. Our study was conducted between January 2017 and April 2017. Main outcomes and measures We extracted patient and tumour characteristics, characteristics surrounding the exceptional response and pertinent oncologic history. Additionally, we noted authors' financial conflicts of interest, if given. Results We found 180 cases of exceptional response. The most common malignancy was breast cancer (28/180), and the most common class of drug therapy used was targeted therapies (161/274). The median year of publication was 2015. Depth of response included 33% (61/180) complete response, 55% (100/180) partial response and 7.7% (14/180) stable disease. The median length of response to the drug was 14 months. Fifty-nine percent (107/180) reported a driver mutation, and only 52% (56/107) reported two or more correlative studies. Only 14% (26/180) reported a denominator or total number treated to observe this response. Of cases that reported duration of response to a previous drug given in the unresectable setting, 49% demonstrated a progression-free survival ratio of exceptional response to prior line of 1.3 or greater (Von Hoff ratio). Conclusions and relevance Our survey found that exceptional responders tended to have solid organ malignancies and most received targeted therapies. Many of our cases of exceptional responders were missing important information about the response and key oncologic history. Standardised criteria should be used to maximise usefulness of these case reports in the future.
Influence of Time and Flood on Diurnal Mammal Diversity and Story Level Use in Igapó Forest in the Peruvian Amazon

Rainforests support the highest biodiversity on Earth but are one of the most threatened ecosystems due to forest destruction and predicted effects of climate change. Mammals are an important component of rainforest ecosystems, and mammal diversity cannot be explained by forest type alone, but also by considering vertical stratification of the forest. We conducted surveys during a wet year and a dry year to estimate diversity of diurnal mammals that inhabit seasonally flooded forest in the Peruvian Amazon. We considered the vertical stratification of the forest to assess whether diversity varied by story level, and estimated alpha, beta, and gamma diversity. Mammal diversity did not differ between wet and dry years, although species richness was marginally higher in the wet year and evenness slightly low in both years. Mammal diversity differed by story level between years, but was the highest in the canopy in each year. Alpha diversity was higher in the dry year compared to the wet, and beta and gamma diversity were higher in the wet compared to the dry year. During the wet and dry year, the frequency of sightings of species was influenced by time of day and varied by story level. Protection of continuous, mature forests with large canopies has important conservation implications as these areas most likely protect the greatest diversity of mammals, while also providing shelter and food for other taxa.
Channeled Autonomy:Joint Effects of Autonomy and Feedback on Team Performance through Goal Clarity

We adopt Chen & Kanfer’s (2006) framework of team motivation to introduce a model in which a combination of high autonomy and high performance feedback motivates higher levels of team performance. ...
Sensitivity to AM incoherence is affected by center frequency and modulation rate

Fine-grained sensitivity to frequency modulation (FM) at slow rates and low-frequency carriers is thought to be due to auditory-nerve phase locking (time code). Alternatively, a unitary code for FM at all rates and carrier frequencies could be based on cochlear conversion of FM to amplitude modulation (AM) (place code). One weakness of the place-coding theory is it cannot readily explain rate- and carrier-dependent trends in FM sensitivity. This study asked whether FM trends could potentially be explained by sensitivity to two AM envelopes that are out of phase (incoherent AM) at separate cochlear locations, thereby simulating the effects of FM. AM discrimination was assessed for two-component complexes centered at low (500 and 1500 Hz) and high (7000 Hz) frequencies, spaced 2/3 or 4/3 octaves apart, and modulated at slow (2 Hz) and fast (20 Hz) rates. Coherent and incoherent two-component AM detection was assessed for the same conditions. Preliminary results show that sensitivity to AM incoherence is best at low center frequencies and slow rates, consistent with trends traditionally found in FM detection that have been attributed to time coding. Findings suggest time coding may not be necessary to explain trends in FM sensitivity. [Work supported by NIH Grant R01DC005216.] Fine-grained sensitivity to frequency modulation (FM) at slow rates and low-frequency carriers is thought to be due to auditory-nerve phase locking (time code). Alternatively, a unitary code for FM at all rates and carrier frequencies could be based on cochlear conversion of FM to amplitude modulation (AM) (place code). One weakness of the place-coding theory is it cannot readily explain rate- and carrier-dependent trends in FM sensitivity. This study asked whether FM trends could potentially be explained by sensitivity to two AM envelopes that are out of phase (incoherent AM) at separate cochlear locations, thereby simulating the effects of FM. AM discrimination was assessed for two-component complexes centered at low (500 and 1500 Hz) and high (7000 Hz) frequencies, spaced 2/3 or 4/3 octaves apart, and modulated at slow (2 Hz) and fast (20 Hz) rates. Coherent and incoherent two-component AM detection was assessed for the same conditions. Preliminary results show that sensitivity to AM incoherence is be...
Direct Model Predictive Control of Novel H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter Based Grid-Connected Photovoltaic System

In this paper, a direct model predictive control (DMPC) for the novel H-Bridge multilevel inverter topology-based grid-connected photovoltaic system (GCPS) is presented. The DMPC has several advantages over the conventional control techniques, including optimality, ability to handle multiple control goals, and direct manipulation of semiconductor switches instead of the modulator. The main control goals in the GCPS are to extract the maximum energy from the photovoltaic (PV) system and inject the current into the grid with minimum total harmonic distortion (THD) or close to unity power factor. The DMPC performs well in terms of these control goals. The entire GCPS with the proposed controller is simulated in Simulink MATLAB and the results are compared with the existing GCPSs in the literature. The usage of less number of semiconductor switches while keeping the same number of output voltage levels made the proposed GCPS efficient, less costly, and simpler in design. Moreover, its voltage and current THD are comparable with the systems existing in the literature.
The link between purine metabolism and production of antibiotics in streptomyces

Stress and starvation causes bacterial cells to activate the stringent response. This results in down-regulation of energy-requiring processes related to growth, as well as an upregulation of genes associated with survival and stress responses. Guanosine tetra- and pentaphosphates (collectively referred to as (p)ppGpp) are critical for this process. In Gram-positive bacteria, a main function of (p)ppGpp is to limit cellular levels of GTP, one consequence of which is reduced transcription of genes that require GTP as the initiating nucleotide, such as rRNA genes. In Streptomycetes, the stringent response is also linked to complex morphological differentiation and to production of secondary metabolites, including antibiotics. These processes are also influenced by the second messenger c-di-GMP. Since GTP is a substrate for both (p)ppGpp and c-di-GMP, a finely tuned regulation of cellular GTP levels is required to ensure adequate synthesis of these guanosine derivatives. Here, we discuss mechanisms that operate to control guanosine metabolism and how they impinge on the production of antibiotics in Streptomyces species.
Menopausal Symptom Relief and Side Effects Experienced by Women Using Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy and Synthetic Conjugated Equine Estrogen and/or Progestin Hormone Replacement Therapy, Part 1.

The use of compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy by menopausal women has become a popular alternative to traditional synthetic conjugated equine estrogen and progestin hormone replacement therapy due to safety concerns raised by recent studies. However, due to the lack of randomized, large-scale trials to evaluate the efficacy and side-effect profile of compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy many healthcare providers are reluctant to prescribe such therapy. The purpose of this study was to compare women's menopausal symptom relief and side effects experienced when using compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and traditional hormone replacement therapy. A descriptive comparative design was used. Inferential and descriptive statistical procedures including a paired difference t-test, two-sample t-test, and f-tests (percentage, mean, standard deviation, frequency) were run on the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The framework used to guide this study was Lenz and Pugh's Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms. Surveys were distributed once to a convenient sample of women aged 35 and older when they dropped off or picked up their prescriptions at a pharmacy. Of the 216 surveys distributed, 70 were returned from those women taking compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and 53 from traditional hormone replacement therapy. The survey contained 15 questions pertaining to age, duration of hormone replacement therapy, type and formulation of hormone replacement therapy, reasons for initiating hormone replacement therapy, symptoms before and one month after hormone replacement therapy, and side effects related to hormone replacement therapy. Included in part 1 of this series of articles was the introduction to the study conducted and the results of the literature review that was conducted for the purpose of examining the current data related to the topic of hormone replacement therapy. Part 2 provides a brief discussion on the significance of this study to nursing and provides the methods used in this study. The results of this study will be summarized in forthcoming articles in this series.
Data on player activity and characteristics in a Serious Game Environment.

Abstract This dataset presents 159 players' computer log data when they play a Serious Game along with their characteristics data including problem-solving performance scores, demographic information, metacognition, and goal orientation measurements. A total of 85,194 log files were recorded during one-hour game play. The data here are related to the research paper entitled “The Impact of Learner Metacognition and Goal Orientation on Problem-Solving in a Serious Game Environment” by Liu and Liu [1]. The data collected would provide insights on the relationship among individual player characteristics, in-game behavior and performance in the game.
Taxon-specific microbial growth and mortality patterns reveal distinct temporal population responses to rewetting in a California grassland soil.

Microbial activity increases after rewetting dry soil, resulting in a pulse of carbon mineralization and nutrient availability. The biogeochemical responses to wet-up are reasonably well understood and known to be microbially mediated. Yet, the population level dynamics, and the resulting changes in microbial community patterns, are not well understood as ecological phenomena. Here, we used sequencing of 16S rRNA genes coupled with heavy water (H218O) DNA quantitative stable isotope probing to estimate population-specific rates of growth and mortality in response to a simulated wet-up event in a California annual grassland soil. Bacterial growth and mortality responded rapidly to wet-up, within 3 h, and continued throughout the 168 h incubation, with patterns of sequential growth observed at the phylum level. Of the 37 phyla detected in the prewet community, growth was found in 18 phyla while mortality was measured in 26 phyla. Rapid growth and mortality rates were measurable within 3 h of wet-up but had contrasting characteristics; growth at 3 h was dominated by select taxa within the Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, whereas mortality was taxonomically widespread. Furthermore, across the community, mortality exhibited density-independence, consistent with the indiscriminate shock resulting from dry-down and wet-up, whereas growth was density-dependent, consistent with control by competition or predation. Total aggregated growth across the community was highly correlated with total soil CO2 production. Together, these results illustrate how previously “invisible” population responses can translate quantitatively to emergent observations of ecosystem-scale biogeochemistry.
Invasive histiocytoma in the ear canal of a dog.

Background Cutaneous histiocytomas (CH) are derived from epidermal Langerhans cells. Single CH are generally associated with a good prognosis in dogs because most undergo spontaneous remission. However, aggressive behaviour and lymph node metastasis have been reported in a small number of dogs with single CH. Objective To describe the clinical presentation, treatment and disease progression of an aggressive CH located in the ear canal of a dog. Animal An 8-year-old intact male Rottweiler dog. Methods and materials A unilateral ear canal mass was identified as a CH on routine haematoxylin and eosin stained samples. The diagnosis was confirmed by the demonstration of markers associated with Langerhans cells (Iba-1, E-cadherin and CD18) and the absence of markers associated with B cells (CD79a, CD20, Pax5), T cells (CD3), plasma cells (Mum-1) and macrophages (CD11d, CD204). Results A total ear canal ablation was performed, but tumour cells extended throughout the horizontal canal and to the deep surgical margin. Due to the locally invasive nature of the mass and incomplete excision, adjunctive chemotherapy with CCNU was pursued. No measurable local disease was appreciable at the time of the last treatment. At 250 days post-surgery the dog was euthanized owing to the development of multiple abdominal masses. No evidence of local tumour recurrence was noted. Conclusions and clinical importance Although single CH are typically associated with benign behaviour, the mass in this dog demonstrated locally invasive behaviour. Cutaneous histiocytomas in the ear canals of dogs may represent a particularly aggressive variant of the condition.
Impersonations: the artifice of Brahmin masculinity in South Indian dance: by Harshita Mruthinti Kamath, Oakland, California, University of California Press, 2019, 215 pp., $34.95 (paperback), ISBN 9780520301665

Harshita Mruthinti Kamath’s Impersonations locates how practices of female impersonation have shaped brahmin masculinity in the village of Kuchipudi, home to the eponymous dance form from the South...
Conformation of HIV-1 Envelope governs rhesus CD4 usage and simian-human immunodeficiency virus replication

Abstract Infection of rhesus macaques with simian-human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIVs) is the preferred model system for vaccine development because SHIVs encode HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins (Env) – a key target of HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies. Since the goal of vaccines is to prevent new infections, SHIVs encoding circulating HIV-1 Env are desired as challenge viruses. Development of such biologically relevant SHIVs has been challenging as they fail to infect rhesus macaques, mainly because most circulating HIV-1 Env do not use rhesus CD4 (rhCD4) receptor for viral entry. Most primary HIV-1 Env exist in a closed conformation and occasionally transit to downstream, open conformation through an obligate intermediate conformation. Here, we provide genetic evidence that open Env conformations can overcome the rhCD4 entry barrier and increase replication of SHIVs in rhesus lymphocytes. Consistent with prior studies, we found that circulating HIV-1 Env do not use rhCD4 efficiently for viral entry. However, using HIV-1 Env with single amino acid substitutions that alter their conformational state, we found that transitions to intermediate and open Env conformation allow usage of physiological levels of rhCD4 for viral entry. We engineered these single amino acid substitutions in the transmitted/founder HIV-1BG505 Env encoded by SHIV-BG505 and found that open Env conformation enhances SHIV replication in rhesus lymphocytes. Lastly, CD4-mediated SHIV pull-down, sensitivity to soluble CD4, and fusogenicity assays indicated that open Env conformation promotes efficient rhCD4 binding and viral-host membrane fusion. These findings identify conformational state of HIV-1 Env as a major determinant for rhCD4 usage, viral fusion, and SHIV replication. Importance Rhesus macaques are critical animal model for preclinical testing of HIV-1 vaccine and prevention approaches. However, HIV-1 does not replicate in rhesus macaques, and thus chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIVs), which encode HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins, are used as surrogate challenge viruses to infect rhesus macaques for modeling HIV-1 infection. Development of SHIVs encoding envelope from clinically relevant, circulating HIV-1 variants has been extremely challenging as such SHIVs replicate poorly, if at all, in rhesus lymphocytes. This is because most circulating HIV-1 envelope do not use rhesus CD4 efficiently for viral entry. In this study, we identify conformational state of HIV-1 envelope as a key determinant for rhesus CD4 usage, viral-host membrane fusion, and SHIV replication in rhesus lymphocytes.
Pediatric Patient-Reported Quality of Life Before and after Radiotherapy: A Prospective Registry Study.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) Modern radiotherapy (RT) technologies strive to effectively treat pediatric cancers while minimizing impact on quality of life (QoL). We hypothesized that with contemporary RT and supportive cares, most children maintain QoL during RT, but certain patient or treatment factors may be associated with clinically meaningful changes in QoL and require increased attention. MATERIALS/METHODS We utilized a prospective QoL registry and reviewed clinical data for pediatric patients treated with RT from 2015- 2019 at two institutions. PedsQL™ Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory surveys were completed by patients or parents at the start (pre-RT) and completion of RT (post-RT). QoL scores were compared to a "healthy child score" of 83 +/-14.8. Changes in QoL from pre-RT to post-RT and differences in QoL between groups were compared to a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of 4.4. RESULTS Of 177 pediatric patients treated during the study period, 141 (80%) completed QoL surveys at any time point, and 79 (44%) completed both pre-RT and post-RT surveys. Sensitivity analyses showed patients who didn't complete post-RT surveys were not more likely to have post-RT physician-assessed grade 2+ toxicity. Of the 79 who completed both surveys, 19 (24%) were treated with craniospinal irradiation (CSI), 18 (23%) were treated with non-CSI CNS radiation, and 42 (53%) were treated for extracranial disease. Seventy-four patients (94%) received protons. Pre-RT, 53% of patients had total QoL scores within the healthy child range (healthy QoL), compared to 59% post-RT. From pre-RT to post-RT, only 7 patients (8%) had QoL scores drop from healthy to unhealthy QoL, while 12 (15%) improved from unhealthy to healthy, 35 (44%) remained healthy, and 25 (32%) remained unhealthy. For patients who received CSI, 58% had healthy QoL pre-RT, compared to 63% post-RT. Patients receiving chemotherapy prior to RT were more likely to have unhealthy QoL pre-RT (P < 0.001), and those receiving concurrent chemotherapy were more likely to have unhealthy QoL post-RT (P = 0.002). For the entire cohort, there was no significant change in QoL from pre-RT to post-RT (median change +1.6, IQR -5.9-+11.9, P = 0.880 for MCID). Thirty-four patients (43%) met the MCID for improvement in QoL during treatment, while 22 (28%) met the MCID for decline in QoL. No patient or treatment factors, including race, ethnicity, disease stage, insurance status, prior surgery, total radiation dose or fractions, or daily anesthesia were associated with worsening of QoL from pre-RT to post-RT. CONCLUSION With modern RT techniques and supportive care, there was no statistically or clinically significant decline in pediatric QoL during RT, with almost 60% of patients falling within the healthy child range at the end of RT. Chemotherapy prior to and during RT appears to impact QoL, and these patients should be counseled and monitored carefully.
Is Number of Pregnancies a Risk Factor for Heart Attack in Women

v INTRODUCTION 1 METHODS 4 RESULTS 8 DISCUSSION 13 CONCLUSION 15 TABLES 17 FIGURES 26 REFERENCES 30
Power Electronic Concepts

The distinguishing feature of wind and photovoltaic generators compared with conventional generators is that they are controlled and interfaced to the grid through power electronic converters. The characteristics and performance of these generators, both static and dynamic, are to a large extent determined by the design of the power electronic converters. Hence, it is important to have a good understanding of the operating principles, characteristics, and basic design of these converters in the study of integration of wind and PV systems and their impact on power systems. The power converters for wind energy systems are based on voltage source converter (VSC) topologies employing pulse width modulation (PWM) methods at a relatively high frequency, usually in the order of a few kHz for the utility-scale applications considered here. Therefore, the focus of this chapter is on understanding the basic principles of operation of typical voltage source converters used in grid interface applications.
SU-E-T-689: Semi-Automated GPU-Based Monte Carlo Dose Calculation for Total Body Irradiation

Purpose: To enable fast and accurate TBI dose calculations for research and clinical applications. Methods: We adapted GPU-based Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation library written for patient specific IMRT quality assurance to enable us to compute dose delivered to a patient during total body irradiation (TBI). The full CT dataset of the patient is loaded into the system along with organ contours, specifically, the body and lung contours, as well as rectangular contours denoting compensator sizes and locations. The CT data is automatically cropped by setting all values outside of the body contour to air HU value. The lung and compensator contours are automatically voxelized, projected and rotated by 45 degrees onto the 40×40 cm fluence map plane and weighted by the appropriate attenuation value. The mirror image of the fluence map is also computed for the opposite beam configuration (P-A for A-P, or R-L for L-R). The fluence maps are then included as input, along with the auto-segmented material types and density values from the CT dataset, into the GPU-based MC calculation. The Result is the full body MC calculated TBI dose for the patient which can then be used for various research studies. The users upload their data to the GPU server using FTP. The interface to the calculation software is in the form of an iPython Notebook, enabling the user to access the GPU server through a common web browser to input various parameters, monitor the process, and analyze results. Results: The developed software enables researchers and clinicians to compute MC TBI dose results in less than 2 minutes given lung and body contours and compensator transmission coefficients. Conclusion: We successfully designed and developed a semi-automated MC TBI dose calculation software to enable research and clinical studies.
Inequality, Individualized Risk & Insecurity

Based on the 24th Fairchild Lecture at the University of Wisconsin Law School, this article demonstrates how extreme economic inequality in this country exacerbates the insecurity most people face. Four areas of labor and employment law are explored to show the risks workers carry and how economic inequality heightens them. While the increasingly globalized economy, and its resulting increase in business volatility, has contributed to economic inequality, in the United States much of that inequality is the consequence of government action and inaction. Government policy has moved from the goal of decreasing inequality after World War II to increasing it in the last forty years. That this has gone unchallenged until the Great Recession is the result of a general decline in focus on inequality in society generally, but also by many academic disciplines. The collective good has lost out to an idealized view of individualism, individualism divorced from the reality of the lives most people lead. The richest segment of society has invested, and continues to invest, considerable effort to reinforce our focus on narrow individualism and to gain influence in government policy making. While that effort has been undertaken quite broadly, the investment in election outcomes has led to a bidding war between the two parties for campaign and electioneering money. In Citizens United, the Supreme Court opened unlimited electioneering spending to individuals, corporations and other organizations. The government has lost the power to regulate the present “gift economy” in Washington that now drives the establishment of government policy: Buying access to policy makers is not, as a matter of constitutional law, corruption or its appearance and so it cannot be regulated. Recapturing public policy from the undue influence of money will be quite difficult in face of Citizens United. Further, our politicians and policy makers, without regard to party affiliation, fear change in the status quo and so far resist reforms that are possible even within the tight constraints of Citizens United. The article will discuss the work being done in several academic disciplines to refocus on economic inequality. But a change in academic focus is only one small step in the right direction. Given the momentum supporting the present system, it may take a broad-based social movement to force changes in election spending. That is a prerequisite for government policymakers to escape the overwhelming role that money now plays in establishing national policy to allow them to once again address the real needs of our nation.