cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using Biodata and Situational Judgment Inventories across Cultural Groups

The present research compares the operation of situational judgement and biodata measures between Chinese and U.S. respondents. We describe the development and past research on both measures, followed by hypothesized differences across the two groups of respondents. We base hypotheses on the nature of the Chinese and U.S. educational systems and cultural value differences from the GLOBE studies (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004). Results indicate some evidence of mean differences across groups at the scale level but little effect of national origin when examining the test battery as a whole. We conclude with recommendations concerning the use of situational judgment and biodata measures in situations in which the evaluated individuals come from different cultural contexts.
Impacts of Pear Thrips Damage on Root Carbohydrate, Sap, and Crown Characteristics of Sugar Maples in a Pennsylvania Sugarbush

Fall root total nonstructural carbohydrate concentration (TNC), spring sap sugar con- centration and volume, and summer crown condition were compared for 2 years among sugar maples (Acer saccharum Marsh.) that exhibited different degrees of crown damage following a 1989 attack of pear thrips (Taeniothrips inconsequens Uzel) in a Pennsylvania sugarbush. Trees with heavy damage had lower root TNC the fall following attack and greater crown transparency in both years following attack compared with trees with less damage. In the first year following attack, sap sugar concentration and volume were greater for trees with light damage than trees with moderate or heavy damage. In the second year following attack, sap volume was still greatest for trees with light damage wle trees with heavy damage had the highest sugar concentration of all damage classes. Calculated syrup production based on sap sugar concentration and volume was greatest for trees with light damage and lowest for trees with heavy damage in both years. Trees with heavy damage in 1989 had earlier 1991 spring budburst than trees with light damage, and early budburst was assodated with greater 1991 thrips infestation. The results indicate that pear thrips damage had a detrimental impact on tree health and syrup production for the next 2 years. FOR. Scl. 38(2):381-392. ADDITIONAL KEY WORDS. Insect damage, Acer sacchamm, Taeniothrips inconseqens, phenology, sap sugar concentration, maple syrup production.
Birds of large floodplain forests: local and regional habitat associations on the Upper Mississippi River

CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Dissertation organization 3 CHAPTER 2. PLANT DOMINANCE AND STRUCTURE OF UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOODPLAIN FORESTS: HOW POTENTIAL CHANGES COULD AFFECT BIRDS 5 Abstract 5 Introduction 6 Study area 7 Methods 8 Results 9 Discussion 10 Acknowledgements 13 Literature cited 13 Appendix A. Locations of vegetation study plots. Pools 6-10 of the Upper Mississippi River. 22 Appendix B. Plants identified from Upper Mississippi River forests in 1992. 23 CHAPTER 3. THE BREEDING BIRD COMMUNITY OF UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOODPLAIN FORESTS 26 Abstract 26 Introduction 26 Methods 27 Results 30 Discussion 30 Acknowledgements 32 Literature cited 33 Appendix A. Locations of study plots. Pools 6-10 of the Upper Mississippi River. 4026 Introduction 26 Methods 27 Results 30 Discussion 30 Acknowledgements 32 Literature cited 33 Appendix A. Locations of study plots. Pools 6-10 of the Upper Mississippi River. 40
Economic analysis of Lidar-based proactively controlled wind turbines

Abstract This paper analyzes the financial feasibility and the investment attractiveness of a wind farm that uses a Lidar unit for proactive turbine controls. A thorough technical analysis is performed for evaluating the effectiveness of the Lidar for proactive blade pitch control. It is observed that using a Lidar for individual blade pitch control results in a significant reduction of the blade root damage equivalent loads. Furthermore, a pro-forma cashflow based economic tool is developed for modeling, comparing, and analyzing wind energy projects. This tool utilizes capital budgeting tools such as net present value, internal rate of return, equivalent annual annuity and payback period for analyzing investment attractiveness. Moreover, this paper utilizes wind conditions, costs and expenses, financing schemes, incentives, and operational strategies for analyzing wind projects with or without Lidars. The component fatigue load reduction achieved using Lidar based control can either be used to increase the useful life of the farm or to up-rate (repower) the turbine for the same operational life. This work analyzes the financial impacts of each of the aforementioned scenarios for a range of wind conditions. Also, the financial impact of PTC availability on a Lidar-assisted wind project has been analyzed in this research.
Proton Therapy for Vaginal Reirradiation

Abstract Primary or recurrent gynecologic cancers in operable patients with a history of prior pelvic radiation are typically treated with surgery based on the risk of late toxicities historically associated with reirradiation. A number of studies have demonstrated that, compared with conventional radiation therapy (RT) using photons, proton therapy (PT) offers dosimetric advantages for patients with gynecologic cancers by reducing radiation dose to healthy tissues. Thereby, we expect that, in appropriately selected cases, PT may reduce long-term treatment-related morbidities without compromising treatment efficacy. Herein, we describe the treatment planning, technique, and long-term follow-up of a patient who was treated with PT for a primary vaginal carcinoma nearly 30 years after a prior course of pelvic RT. Using this case, we illustrate the utility and advantages of PT in the treatment of cancers that occur at less favorable sites, adjacent to normal structures with low radiation tolerance, or in pai...
Numerical Stress Analysis during Cooldown and Compressive Loading in an Imperfect Nb3Sn Wire

High field superconductors are critical to the success of next step magnetic fusion confinement devices such as ITER and DEMO. The low-temperature superconducting material that is currently favored...
MultIethNic Study of BrEast ARterial Calcium Gradation and CardioVAscular Disease: cohort recruitment and baseline characteristics.

Abstract Purpose MultIethNic Study of BrEast ARterial Calcium Gradation and CardioVAscular Disease (MINERVA) was designed to answer the question of whether a novel continuous breast arterial calcification (BAC) mass score improves cardiovascular risk stratification among asymptomatic postmenopausal women. This article describes recruitment and baseline characteristics. Methods MINERVA is a multiethnic longitudinal cohort study. The phenotype data include BAC mass by densitometry applied to digital mammograms, sociodemographic factors, self-reported medical history, medications, parental history, reproductive history, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, anthropometry, ankle-brachial index, blood pressure, laboratory panel, breast volumes, cognitive function, bioelectrical impedance, habitual diet, dietary supplements, sleep, psychosocial factors, and sun exposure. Results A total of 5145 women aged 60 to 79 years with available digital, uncompressed mammograms were recruited from the membership of Kaiser Permanente of Northern California between October 24, 2012 and February 13, 2015 and completed a baseline clinic visit or an abbreviated phone questionnaire. Of those, 4153 underwent phlebotomy and have blood biomarkers. Overall prevalence of BAC was 26%, and it varied by age and race. The mean (SD) BAC mass was 12 (23) mg and the range 0–342 mg. Conclusions MINERVA is the first cohort with a continuous measure of BAC. The cohort is large, ethnically diverse, and deeply phenotyped in terms of socioeconomic, behavioral, and clinical factors, and blood biomarkers.
Critical thermal limits of bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) are marked by stereotypical behaviors and are unchanged by acclimation, age or feeding status

ABSTRACT Critical thermal limits often determine species distributions for diverse ectotherms and have become a useful tool for understanding past and predicting future range shifts in response to changing climates. Despite recently documented population declines and range shifts of bumblebees (genus Bombus ), the few measurements of thermal tolerance available for the group have relied on disparate measurement approaches. We describe a novel stereotypical behavior expressed by bumblebee individuals during entry into chill coma. This behavioral indicator of minimum critical temperature (CT min ) occurred at ambient temperatures of 3–5°C (approximately 7–9°C core temperatures) and was accompanied by a pronounced CO 2 pulse, indicative of loss of spiracle function. Maximum critical temperature (CT max ) was indicated by the onset of muscular spasms prior to entering an unresponsive state and occurred at ambient temperatures of approximately 52–55°C (42–44°C core temperatures). Measurements of CT min and CT max were largely unaffected by acclimation, age or feeding status, but faster ramping rates significantly increased CT max and decreased CT min . This high-throughput approach allows rapid measurement of critical thermal limits for large numbers of individuals, facilitating large-scale comparisons among bumblebee populations and species – a key step in determining current and future effects of climate on these critical pollinators.
UVA/riboflavin collagen crosslinking stiffening effects on anterior and posterior corneal flaps.

Abstract The UVA/riboflavin collagen crosslinking (CXL) is one of the treatment procedure for stopping the progression of keratoconus. The inclusion criterion for this procedure is a minimum corneal thickness of 400 μm, which is not often met in patients with advanced keratoconus. Preoperatively swelling thin corneas was shown to stabilize the keratectasia without any postoperative endothelial damage. Recently, we have shown that swelling porcine corneas prior to the CXL treatment had no significant effect on the resulting improvement in their tensile properties. In the present study, we extended this previous study and characterized the stiffening effects of CXL on anterior and posterior flaps as a function of their hydration. A DSAEK system was used to excise 10 mm corneal flaps from 80 porcine corneas. Individual flaps were crosslinked at different initial hydration levels by using riboflavin solutions composed of different dextran concentrations; the thickness was taken as a measure of flap hydration. A DMA machine was used to measure the tensile properties either immediately after the CXL treatment or after the thickness (hydration) of the crosslinked samples was brought down to a specific value. The average thickness of anterior groups was 670 μm, 540 μm, and 410 μm, and the average thickness of posterior groups was 845 μm, 650 μm, and 440 μm. It was found that although CXL significantly increased the tensile properties of all anterior groups, it had an insignificant effect on the stiffness of posterior flaps. Furthermore, except for the posterior flaps in 845 μm and 650 μm thickness groups, decreasing the hydration significantly increased the tensile modulus (p
U.S. Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Trading Program: Results and Further Applications

The use of emissions trading (cap and trade) is gaining worldwide recognition as an extremely effective policy tool. More than 4 million tons of SO2 have been reduced annually from sources participating in the US SO2 emissions trading program. Ambient SO2 levels and sulfate deposition have decreased by over 25 percent in the most sensitive ecosystems. By harnessing market forces, the program has led to significant cost savings. This paper discusses the results of the US SO2 emissions trading program and emerging efforts in the US and around the world to use emissions trading.
Analysis of a U.S. Fashion Brand's Outsourcing from Bangladesh: Problems and Proposed Solution

This research focused on exploring the role of apparel outsourcing from Bangladesh for the U.S. and the ways to reduce the effect of inefficiency factors to make this outsourcing long-term sustainable. In this research, a sequential mixed case study was conducted. Gary Teng and Jaramillo's (2005) supplier evaluation model was used to evaluate the outsourcing performance of Bangladeshi and Vietnamese suppliers for a U.S. fashion brand (i.e., Phillips Van-Heusen (PVH). The supplier evaluation model has 20 factors under five clusters (i.e., delivery, flexibility, cost, quality & reliability). On the other part of the research, in-depth interviews were taken from three buyers in the Bangladeshi local office of PVH and three Bangladeshi suppliers from three different companies. The supplier evaluation scores revealed that the Bangladeshi supplier had a very competitive position compared to its competitor (Vietnamese supplier). Bangladesh scored 0.410 while Vietnam scored 0.307 out of 1.0. In terms of the five clusters, Bangladesh (0.106) has a great advantage in the cost cluster over Vietnam (0.281). Bangladesh (0.204) is also more advanced in the quality cluster than Vietnam (0.192). For the remaining three clusters, Vietnam has marginal advancement than Bangladesh. Specifically, the Bangladeshi supplier performed higher than expected in the capacity, negotiability, continuous improvement, and certification factors. The Bangladeshi supplier just met the buyer's expectations in information sharing, customization, customer service, feeling of trust, and country's political situation factors. This research gives an overview of the apparel business practice in Bangladesh to the unexplored part of the U.S. fashion industry.
Heuristically Informed Unsupervised Idiom Usage Recognition.

Many idiomatic expressions can be interpreted figuratively or literally depending on their contexts. This paper proposes an unsupervised learning method for recognizing the intended usages of idioms. We treat the usages as a latent variable in probabilistic models and train them in a linguistically motivated feature space. Crucially, we show that distributional semantics is a helpful heuristic for distinguishing the literal usage of idioms, giving us a way to formulate a literal usage metric to estimate the likelihood that the idiom is intended literally. This information then serves as a form of distant supervision to guide the unsupervised training process for the probabilistic models. Experiments show that our overall model performs competitively against supervised methods.
Mathematical modeling of circadian rhythms

Circadian rhythms are endogenous ~24-hr oscillations usually entrained to daily environmental cycles of light/dark. Many biological processes and physiological functions including mammalian body temperature, the cell cycle, sleep/wake cycles, neurobehavioral performance, and a wide range of diseases including metabolic, cardiovascular, and psychiatric disorders are impacted by these rhythms. Circadian clocks are present within individual cells and at tissue and organismal levels as emergent properties from the interaction of cellular oscillators. Mathematical models of circadian rhythms have been proposed to provide a better understanding of and to predict aspects of this complex physiological system. These models can be used to: (a) manipulate the system in silico with specificity that cannot be easily achieved using in vivo and in vitro experimental methods and at lower cost, (b) resolve apparently contradictory empirical results, (c) generate hypotheses, (d) design new experiments, and (e) to design interventions for altering circadian rhythms. Mathematical models differ in structure, the underlying assumptions, the number of parameters and variables, and constraints on variables. Models representing circadian rhythms at different physiologic scales and in different species are reviewed to promote understanding of these models and facilitate their use. This article is categorized under: Physiology > Mammalian Physiology in Health and Disease Models of Systems Properties and Processes > Organ, Tissue, and Physiological Models.
Ultrasound in the ICU: Nuts and Bolts for Managing the ACS Patient

Acute surgeons are faced with the daunting task of making a diagnosis and treatment plan in situations of limited time, information, and resources in patients with life- and limb-threatening conditions. Adoption of bedside ultrasonography by the clinician, also called point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS), has become an essential part of the practice of acute care surgery. POCUS can identify significant abdominal trauma, differentiate shock states, and identify pneumothorax in a rapid, repeatable, and safe manner. It can also facilitate, speed, and enhance the safety of invasive procedures. Medical students are now being taught ultrasonography skills in their junior years of medical school. Surgical residencies and fellowships are increasingly adopting ultrasound curricula. The quality of ultrasound equipment and images is improving, ease of use is better, and cost of equipment has decreased significantly. Acute surgeons who understand the abilities and limitations of POCUS are better equipped to manage surgical crises.
Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Systems in Primate Brain: Anatomical Organization and Role in the Pathology of Aging and Dementia

Over the past several years, there have been substantial advances in our understanding of cholinergic systems in the primate central nervous system. Cholinergic neurons in the medial septum, diagonal band of Broca (dbB), and nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM) provide the major cholinergic innervation to the amygdala, hippocampus, and neocortex. These cholinergic cell groups, recently termed the Chl-4 system (26), are affected in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related disorders. In this review, we first discuss: the anatomical organization of the Chl-4 system; evidence implicating this system in the pathology of AD and related disorders; and hypothetical models by which dysfunction and, eventually, death of these cells may account for some of the neurochemical/neuropathological changes observed in the brains of individuals with AD and related dementias.
Austen’s Swarms and Plots

This essay examines the way that things happen in Austen’s plots. It suggests that mobility and numerousness characterize not just a social universe represented in the novels but a particular view ...
Exploring correlates for paid versus unpaid internships or co-ops for graduating business students

Using a complete data sample of 579 graduating business seniors, this study successfully created separate items for measuring paid internships/cooperative education (co-ops) and unpaid internships/...
The Invisible Hand, the Regulatory Touch, or the Platform’s Iron Grip?

The “invisible hand” has become an icon for an economic philosophy that assumes a laissez-faire governmental policy will result in optimal social and financial outcomes as market forces will drive a socially efficient equilibrium. This approach is in tension with another philosophy that emphasizes the role of regulation in correcting market failures that inhibit markets from functioning smoothly. At the heart of this paper is a third approach to market regulation—that of the multi-sided platform. Multi-sided platforms are designed specifically to control and craft parties’ underlying transactions. In the modern era, data-savvy platforms collect information on every participant and transaction; control entrance, information flow, and competition design; assist in searching and matching; set the contractual terms (and sometimes even price) of a finalized transaction; allocate risk between parties; and are often involved in enforcing the transaction or resolving disputes. Thus, the laissez-faire assumption of refraining from government intervention in markets takes on a new meaning as it leaves the market to be governed not by the invisible hand of competition, but by iron grip of the platform that closely monitors and designs every aspect of its underlying parties’ interactions. This paper suggests that when assessing whether regulators can concede some of their roles to private actors, competition and transparency can act as central forces aligning platforms’ incentives with those of the public, and conversely, as platforms’ activities and policies grow more opaque, or competitive forces are weakened, policy makers should be concerned that such regulatory powers may be misused.
Seeing is believing: examining self-efficacy and trait hope as moderators of youths’ positive risk-taking intention

The present study builds on research related to the illusion of skills acquisition and the risk perception attitude framework to examine positive risk-taking intention amongst youths. Positive risk...
Sex-based differences in landing mechanics vary between the drop vertical jump and stop jump.

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to compare landing mechanics between the stop jump (SJ) and drop vertical jump (DVJ) and to compare sex-based differences in landing mechanics between tasks. 50 healthy recreational athletes were recruited and each participant completed seven SJs and seven DVJs. Peak knee flexion and abduction angle, knee flexion and ab/adduction range of motion (ROM), peak vertical and posterior ground reaction force (GRF), peak internal knee extension and knee adduction moment were computed for the dominant limb during the first landing of both tasks. A two-way ANOVA was used to determine the effects of and interactions between sex (men vs women) and task (SJ vs DVJ) for each outcome. There was an interaction for peak vertical GRF (p = 0.024), knee flexion ROM (p = 0.027), knee ab/adduction ROM (p = 0.047), and peak knee flexion (p = 0.034) and adduction (p = 0.012) moment. The SJ resulted in smaller vertical GRFs, larger posterior GRFs, and larger peak internal knee adduction moments relative to the DVJ (all p
Does Nodal Metastasis and Perineural Invasion Affect Local Control in Hyalinizing Clear Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity? A Case Report with Long Term Follow-Up

Hyalinizing clear cell carcinoma (HCCC) is a rare, low-grade neoplasm accounting for approximately 1% of salivary gland neoplasms. Histologically, it is characterized by a monomorphous population of clear cells arranged in sheets, nests, or cords, lacking ductal structures. Until recently, clear cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (OC) represented a diagnosis of exclusion when other head and neck pathologic entities such as epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma or mucoepidermoid carcinoma could be ruled out, making definitive diagnosis by light microscopy and immunoprofiling a challenge. As a result, initial biopsies are often misclassified, and could result in under- or overtreatment. More recently, the presence of the EWSR1-ATF1 gene fusion has been adopted to definitively diagnose HCCC. Typically, HCCC demonstrates clinical indolence and responds well to curative surgical excision alone for localized disease, with adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) reserved for high risk features including perineural invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and regional cervical metastasis. The literature, however, lacks consensus regarding the role of adjuvant radiotherapy. In this article, we report a case of HCCC in a rare site involving the ventral tongue, with high risk features of perineural invasion and cervical nodal metastasis. The patient underwent surgical excision alone; declining adjuvant radiotherapy despite the high risk features, and was alive with no evidence of disease at the 42-month mark. Furthermore, we provide an update on the current prognostic indicators for HCCC, and emphasize the need for chromosomal analysis to achieve a definitive diagnosis.
Multimodal Cardiopulmonary Bypass Skills Assessment Within a High-Fidelity Simulation Environment.

Background A high-fidelity simulator that uses a perfused porcine heart, cannulae, and tubing has been demonstrated to be a useful training adjunct. We hypothesized that multimodal assessment of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) skills within this high-fidelity simulated environment could discern expert from trainee performance. Methods Three traditional fellows (postgraduate year 6-8) and 3 attending surgeons each performed 3 aortic cannulations. The third sequence included venous cannulation, commencement of CPB, and placement of a cardioplegia catheter and aortic cross-clamp. Performance across 20 cognitive and 21 technical domains was evaluated. Surgeon and assistant hand movements and economy of motion were assessed by electromagnetic motion sensors worn under sterile gloves. Results Analysis showed a significant difference in cognitive (6.7 ± 2.3 vs 4.6 ± 2.7, P = .03) but not technical (6.2 ± 2.5 vs 5.8 ± 2.2, P = .7) scores favoring the experts. In addition, experts showed higher efficiency by spending 64 ± 14 seconds to construct a nonpledgeted aortic purse-string suture and secure it with a Rummel, while trainees spent 82 ± 30 seconds to complete this task (P = .03). Motion analysis revealed similar path lengths between experts and trainees for cannulation and CPB but significantly shorter path lengths for experts in cross-clamp (47.5 ± 15.5 m vs 91.9 ± 20.3 m, P = .04). Conclusions Multimodal assessment using cognitive, technical, and motion analysis of basic CPB tasks using a high-fidelity simulation environment is a valid system to measure performance and discriminate experts from trainees. This construct may allow for development of “competence thresholds” with important implications for training and certification in cardiothoracic surgery.
The prevalence of asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 as determined by routine preoperative testing

Background:The coronavirus disease SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has swiftly spread throughout the globe, greatly influencing all aspects of life. As in previous pandemics, concerns for limited resources a...
The Globalisation of Foreign Aid: Global Influences and the Diffusion of Aid Priorities

This chapter explains why bilateral aid donors often look and act alike, despite distinct national interests and histories—a phenomenon previously identified as “the globalisation of foreign aid”. It identifies processes that drive the similarity of aid actors and the diffusion of aid priorities, contributing to the globalisation of aid. The chapter reflects upon: (1) how the isomorphism of aid institutions and the homogenisation of aid policy represent the effects of these common processes of globalisation; (2) the implications of the globalisation of aid on the 2030 Agenda; and (3) how the globalisation of aid contributes to the “contested cooperation” framework woven through this volume.
Quantitative amplitude-measuring multimode fiber OTDR sensor using speckle pattern tracking

Here, we demonstrate a multimode fiber Rayleigh-based sensor that can make quantitative strain measurements by tracking the amplitude of the backscattered speckle pattern recorded on a high-speed camera. The diversity of spatial modes provides sufficient information to recover both the magnitude and algebraic sign of the strain. Amplitude-measuring multimode fiber Rayleigh sensors have reduced sensitivity to laser phase noise, have higher thresholds for nonlinear effects, improving noise performance, and are completely immune to interference fading. The sensor presented here achieves pe/√Hz-level noise, over 10 kHz of bandwidth, and operates at a range of up to 2 km.
Management Guidelines During Harvest and Storage of Silage

Management techniques during harvest and storage can have marked effects on the quality of forages stored as silage. Wilting to correct moistures and chopping forages to recommended particle lengths will help during the silo packing process. High cutting of corn silage may be an option for some producers to consider in the future. However, no recommendations can be made until more research is completed. Mechanical processing of corn silage can help to improve its nutritive value by improving starch and fiber digestion. Rapid packing to recommended densities and excluding air from the forage mass stimulates a more optimal fermentation in the silo. To help with the ensiling process, microbial inoculation encourages a more efficient fermentation. When forages are drier than 40% DM, inoculants are more effective if applied in a liquid form. All silage additives should be added such that they are distributed evenly throughout the forage mass. Covering bunk and pile silos with plastic is a cost efficient mechanism to save nutrients during storage. Finally, good feedout and silo face management can also help to maintain silages with a high nutritive value.
Corporate Funding Liquidity, Exposure to the Financial Industry, and Stock Returns

Distress in the financial sector affects businesses in the corporate sector by spilling over into financing channels. This creates problems for businesses which rely heavily on a continuous supply of funding. These businesses are forced to bypass positive NPV projects when the quantity of available financing in the economy dries up. This reliance on external funding creates risks for businesses. Using two proxies, we explore whether this risk is priced in the cross section of stock returns. While the first proxy measures a firm's reliance on external financing, the second proxy measures a firm's exposure to downside risk in the financial sector. Ex-ante, we expect these proxies to capture similar effects, and to generate a positive premium in the cross-section of returns. As expected, we find that reliance on external finance carries a significantly positive premium. In contrast, however, we find that exposure to downside risk in the financial sector is associated with a significantly negative. High exposure to downside risk in the financial sector generates a discount when compared to assets with low exposure. This effect is robust to controls for other factors known to generate negative premia in the cross section. We find preliminary evidence indicates that this puzzling negative premium may be created by a “bailout discount”.
Novel ACE2 protein interactions relevant to COVID-19 predicted by evolutionary rate correlations

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the cell receptor that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 binds to and uses to enter and infect human cells. COVID-19, the pandemic disease caused by the coronavirus, involves diverse pathologies beyond those of a respiratory disease, including micro-thrombosis (micro-clotting), cytokine storms, and inflammatory responses affecting many organ systems. Longer-term chronic illness can persist for many months, often well after the pathogen is no longer detected. A better understanding of the proteins that ACE2 interacts with can reveal information relevant to these disease manifestations and possible avenues for treatment. We have undertaken an approach to predict candidate ACE2 interacting proteins which uses evolutionary inference to identify a set of mammalian proteins that "coevolve" with ACE2. The approach, called evolutionary rate correlation (ERC), detects proteins that show highly correlated evolutionary rates during mammalian evolution. Such proteins are candidates for biological interactions with the ACE2 receptor. The approach has uncovered a number of key ACE2 protein interactions of potential relevance to COVID-19 pathologies. Some proteins have previously been reported to be associated with severe COVID-19, but are not currently known to interact with ACE2, while additional predicted novel ACE2 interactors are of potential relevance to the disease. Using reciprocal rankings of protein ERCs, we have identified strongly interconnected ACE2 associated protein networks relevant to COVID-19 pathologies. ACE2 has clear connections to coagulation pathway proteins, such as Coagulation Factor V and fibrinogen components FGA, FGB, and FGG, the latter possibly mediated through ACE2 connections to Clusterin (which clears misfolded extracellular proteins) and GPR141 (whose functions are relatively unknown). ACE2 also connects to proteins involved in cytokine signaling and immune response (e.g. XCR1, IFNAR2 and TLR8), and to Androgen Receptor (AR). The ERC prescreening approach has elucidated possible functions for relatively uncharacterized proteins and possible new functions for well-characterized ones. Suggestions are made for the validation of ERC-predicted ACE2 protein interactions. We propose that ACE2 has novel protein interactions that are disrupted during SARS-CoV-2 infection, contributing to the spectrum of COVID-19 pathologies.
Hybrid User Model for Capturing a User’s Information Seeking Intent

A user is an important factor that contributes to the success or failure of any information retrieval system. Unfortunately, users often do not have the same technical and/or domain knowledge as the designers of such a system, while the designers are often limited in their understanding of a target user’s needs. In this chapter, we study the problem of employing a cognitive user model for information retrieval in which knowledge about a user is captured and used for improving his/her performance in an information seeking task. Our solution is to improve the effectiveness of a user in a search by developing a hybrid user model to capture user intent dynamically and combines the captured intent with an awareness of the components of an information retrieval system. The term “hybrid” refers to the methodology of combining the understanding of a user with the insights into a system all unified within a decision theoretic framework. In this model, multi-attribute utility theory is used to evaluate values of the attributes describing a user’s intent in combination with the attributes describing an information retrieval system. We use the existing research on predicting query performance and on determining dissemination thresholds to create functions to evaluate these selected attributes. This approach also offers fine-grained representation of the model and the ability to learn a user’s knowledge dynamically. We compare this approach with the best traditional approach for relevance feedback in the information retrieval community—Ide dec-hi, using term frequency inverted document frequency (TFIDF) weighting on selected collections from the information retrieval community such as CRANFIELD, MEDLINE, and CACM. The evaluations with our hybrid model with these testbeds show that this approach retrieves more relevant documents in the first 15 returned documents than the TFIDF approach for all three collections, as well as more relevant documents on MEDLINE and CRANFIELD in both initial and feedback runs, while being competitive with the Ide dec-hi approach in the feedback runs for the CACM collection. We also demonstrate the use of our user model to dynamically create a common knowledge base from the users’ queries and relevant snippets using the APEX 07 data set.
A Principal Components Model of Simcalc Mathworlds

This study examines changes in student knowledge through a pretest/posttest assessment using data from an experimental research project on the effects of dynamic software on student outcomes in 7th-grade classrooms. Through a principal components analysis, we found that students who used the software had test results that clustered concepts differently than students who did not, grouping together test questions involving various representations of rate and proportionality. Students who did not use the software had test results that grouped test questions together based on surface features and proximity. We present a model showing how increased access to dynamic software leads to an increased ability to fuse concepts, where students add to their mental models and link various representations of the same mathematical concepts together.
WAIS-R intersubtest scatter in patients with dementia of Alzheimer's type

This study explored the relationship between three indices of intersubtest scatter and level of cognitive deterioration in a sample of 104 patients with dementia of Alzheimer's type, who ranged in age between 52 and 84 years. Scatter was highly related to education and premorbid level of functioning. Advancement of dementia was shown to be associated with decrease in scatter, which suggests caution in interpretation of high magnitude of inter-subtest scatter as an indication of brain dysfunction. Easy-to-calculate range of scatter proved to be adequate measure of scatter. Calculation of more complex indices, such as PVI, provides only minimal incremental gain.
Understanding Our Knowledge Gaps: Or, Do We Have an ICT4D Field? And Do We Want One?

Recent discussions at ICT4D conferences and workshops, here at the Harvard Forum and in planning sessions for conferences, have reminded us of the sometimes strong, and often unhelpful, walls that can be constructed across ICT4D’s cross-disciplinary areas, as well as of the common tendency for professionals in this aeld to intellectually jog in place. Here’s that story. Some of us attended the ICTD2009 Conference in Doha, Qatar, certainly one of the biggest and most robust peer-reviewed academic conferences in the ICT4D space. I sit on its advisory board, so I’ve been following with keen interest a proposal to co-locate with the December 2010 ICTD meeting at Royal Holloway in London, a parallel, more technical, computer science-focused conference now called ACM DEV 2010. In August 2009, Tapan Parikh, a faculty member at the University of California Berkeley, co-organized a workshop in Berkeley on Computer Science and Global Development. That workshop was supported with National Science Foundation funds and tasked with providing strategic vision to, and mobilization of, the computing research community around ICT4D themes. The main questions of this workshop could be summarized thus: Is ICT4D work real computer science? How can we raise the proale of this work within traditional CS departments? How can we get more respect for our work? Do we need more formal structure and organization to accomplish any of these goals? To the last question, the response was “yes,” and a structure was mooted, namely an Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) special interest group (SIG) to cover the ICT4D intellectual space.1 The ACM is the world’s oldest computing professional society, and work is under way to secure its sanction for this SIG. Granted, I’m always hesitant about growing new organizations or outlets in this space, given the saturation that would seem to call for consolidation rather than proliferation. A recent overview of ICT4D publishing outlets by Richard Heeks (http://ict4dblog .wordpress.com/) cataloged 16 specialty journals in the space, which seems an extraordinarily large number given the size of the research community. That notwithstanding, an ACM SIG in ICT4D seems to me to be a perfectly ane idea. However, along with the idea for an ACM SIG has come a call for a technical-only (really, a computer science-only) conference in ICT4D; and thus has sprung ACM DEV 2010, to be co-located during ICTD2010 in London. All three of these activities—ICTD2009 in Doha, the NSF-supported workshop in Berkeley, and ACM DEV 2010—serve to remind us how frac-
Insights from enterprise assessment: How to analyze LESAT results for enterprise transformation

Due to the growing recognition of the importance of plasticity and adaptability in organizations, many enterprise leaders have sought to integrate transformation processes and continuous improvement goals into strategic planning efforts. Assessment tools provide the necessary insights to support and guide enterprise level transformation efforts. They contribute a multitude of information, including the current state of the organization, strengths and weakness, and team cohesion and prioritized needs; all of which assist in planning and guiding ongoing transformation efforts. In this paper, we examine a specific assessment tool LESAT, the Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool, and associated ways of analyzing and interpreting assessment results in order to drive the transformation process. The insights draw from a combination of strategies including developing measurement tools, experiences collecting data, facilitating self-assessment exercises, and interpreting results in support of transformation planning. In addition, we examine common mistakes and threats to validity that may undermine or hurt the assessment analysis. This paper is designed to aid practitioners in choosing the most beneficial interpretation strategies to gain the greatest possible benefit from their assessment process.
Vivian Bruce, Conger. The Widows Might: Widowhood and Gender in Early British America

In this astute and thoroughly researched book, Vivian Bruce Conger examines the multiplicity of ways widows employed to define and construct their life in early British America. The author's study ...
Passive Sonar Array Sub-space Processing based on Modal Decomposition

In passive underwater sonar, current attention is on large arrays which can provide the needed array gain and high resolution beamforming. However, full-rank adaptive processing for these arrays requires sufficient sample support which if often difficult to acquire in dynamic shallow water environments. Furthermore, complicated acoustic propagation and uncertainties about the ocean parameters can limit the effectiveness of adaptive techniques. Several researchers have proposed mode-based processing methods for Matched Field Processing, depth-dependent pre-filtering, and reduced rank processing. For arrays that provide the ability to decompose the field into modes, these methods are believed to be less sensitive to environmental mismatch with the added potential advantage of computational efficiency. In this paper, we attempt to quantify the performance of mode-based processing in uncertain environments, and compare this performance to more classic processing approaches. Results are presented from Monte Carlo simulations of range-dependent environments in which the uncertainty in the sound speed and bottom bathymetry is varied parametrically.
Sinonasal eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis: A systematic review

Background Eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis (EAF) is a benign rare lesion of the upper respiratory mucosa. EAF most commonly presents with an obstructive nasal mass. Due to the rarity of EAF, case reports and case studies have predominated the literature. This systematic review discusses the demographics, clinical presentation, associated findings, management, and outcomes of this uncommon entity. Methods The PubMed database was searched for all articles describing patients diagnosed with sinonasal EAF. Additional cases were examined from the bibliographies of selected articles. Demographics, clinical presentation, associated findings, radiography, management, and outcome were analyzed. Results Fifty-two cases were included from 34 articles, including 1 case from our institution. The most common presenting symptom was nasal obstruction (78.8%). Fourteen patients (26.9%) had a previous history of nasal surgery or trauma. Surgical resection alone was the most commonly used primary treatment approach (50.0%), resulting in the greatest proportion of disease-free patients (55.6%) over a median follow-up period of 36 months. A combination of surgery and corticosteroids was the second-most-common treatment modality, used in 28.8% of cases. Of the 40 cases reporting patient outcomes, 100% of patients were alive at follow-up independent of treatment modality. Conclusion To date, this review contains the largest number of patients with sinonasal EAF. Aggressive surgical resection alone constitutes the most common treatment modality and may be most effective at eradicating disease.
Temporal evolution of carbon budgets of the Appalachian forests in the U.S. from 1972 to 2000

Abstract Estimating dynamic terrestrial ecosystem carbon (C) sources and sinks over large areas is difficult. The scaling of C sources and sinks from the field level to the regional level has been challenging due to the variations of climate, soil, vegetation, and disturbances. As part of an effort to estimate the spatial, temporal, and sectional dimensions of the United States C sources and sinks (the U.S. Carbon Trends Project), this study estimated the forest ecosystem C sequestration of the Appalachian region (186,000 km2) for the period of 1972–2000 using the General Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS) that has a strong capability of assimilating land use and land cover change (LUCC) data. On 82 sampling blocks in the Appalachian region, GEMS used sequential 60 m resolution land cover change maps to capture forest stand-replacing events and used forest inventory data to estimate non-stand-replacing changes. GEMS also used Monte Carlo approaches to deal with spatial scaling issues such as initialization of forest age and soil properties. Ensemble simulations were performed to incorporate the uncertainties of input data. Simulated results show that from 1972 to 2000 the net primary productivity (NPP), net ecosystem productivity (NEP), and net biome productivity (NBP) averaged 6.2 Mg C ha−1 y−1 (±1.1), 2.2 Mg C ha−1 y−1 (±0.6), and 1.8 Mg C ha−1 y−1 (±0.6), respectively. The inter-annual variability was driven mostly by climate. Detailed C budgets for the year 2000 were also calculated. Within a total 148,000 km2 forested area, average forest ecosystem C density was estimated to be 186 Mg C ha−1 (±20), of which 98 Mg C ha−1 (±12) was in biomass and 88 Mg C ha−1 (±13) was in litter and soil. The total simulated C stock of the Appalachian forests was estimated to be 2751 Tg C (±296), including 1454 Tg C (±178) in living biomass and 1297 Tg C (±192) in litter and soil. The total net C sequestration (i.e. NBP) of the forest ecosystem in 2000 was estimated to be 19.5 Tg C y−1 (±6.8).
Underlying material response for Lüders-like instabilities

Abstract The initial yielding of some low carbon steels exhibits a material instability known as Luders banding. This is a dislocation driven phenomenon that macroscopically manifests as inhomogeneous deformation. For example, in a displacement controlled uniaxial test Luders banding leads to coexistence of two deformation regimes while the stress remains relatively unchanged. Shape memory alloys whose behavior is governed by solid–solid phase transformations, in some temperature regimes exhibit similar localizations albeit reversible. Such localizations have undesirable consequences in structural applications such as stretch marks and structural instabilities. Modeling of this behavior in order to assess its consequences in structures is hampered because the true material response over the stress plateau is unknown. This work used an experimental technique, outlined in Shioya and Shiroiri (1976) that extracts the underlying material response of such materials from a tensile test. Laminates consisting of face-strips of a hardening material and an unstable core, if properly designed, can suppress the inhomogeneous deformation of the core resulting in a monotonically increasing response. This method revealed that both steel and NiTi strips have up-down-up responses. The extracted responses incorporated in finite element models are shown to reproduce both the laminate experiments and the behavior of strips made of unstable materials alone.
The conservation status of the river lapwing Vanellus duvaucelii in southern Laos

Abstract The river lapwing inhabits wide, slow rivers with sand or gravel bars and islands. The southern Lao population may represent 1·5–3% of the world population. Rivers used by river lapwings are selected for settlement by people, and birds suffer from human disturbance: numbers of river lapwings and villages per km of river are inversely correlated. Populations remote from human pressure are further threatened by hydropower development. The river lapwing is only one of a community of declining birds of sandbar habitats; four other species are approaching national extinction in Laos. A substantial proportion of a major catchment should be protected. Further studies and a monitoring programme for the river lapwing are needed.