cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimum power and beam allocation based on traffic demands and channel conditions over satellite downlinks

For data services over satellite networks, the efficient management of satellite downlink communication resources is crucial for economic competitiveness of the medium. To support a broad spectrum of users with small terminals at high rates, narrow transmit spotbeams on the satellite will be used. Since satellite transmitter resources are expensive and there can be many spotbeam-coverage cells within the satellite service area, it is attractive to use some form of agile scanning beam system and to time-share these precious resources. An optimized design of the multibeam antenna pattern and scheduling can further improve the efficiency of transmission and power management. In this paper, the advantage of parallel multibeams in terms of spectral efficiency and power gain is shown, and the issue of multibeam power allocation based on traffic demands and channel conditions over satellite downlinks with power and delay constraints is addressed. The study indicates that the use of a parallel multibeam scheme with optimum power allocation can achieve a substantial power gain and reasonable proportional fairness. By coupling power allocation with multibeam scheduling when the number of active beams is smaller than the number of cells, the authors show that a modest number of active parallel beams are sufficient to cover many cells efficiently.
A control-based framework for self-managing distributed computing systems

This paper describes an online control framework to design self-managing distributed computing systems that continually optimize their performance in response to changing computing demands and environmental conditions. An online control technique is used in conjunction with predictive filters to tune the performance of individual system components based on their forecast behavior. In a distributed setting, a global controller is used to manage the interaction between components such that overall system requirements are satisfied.
Vomiting in a 22-day-old firstborn male.

A 22-day-old healthy appearing male infant presented with persistent vomiting after feeding with onset shortly after birth. This is the father’s second child and the mother’s first. Switching formulas had been unsuccessful. Abdominal X-ray (AXR) revealed a dilated air-filled stomach with a nonspecific bowel gas pattern (Fig. 1). Ultrasound (US) demonstrated a thick and elongated pylorus, confirming the diagnosis (Figs. 2 and ​and33). Fig. 1 AXR showing a dilated and air-filled stomach Fig. 2 US showing an elongated and thickened pylorus Fig. 3 US view from a slightly different angle confirms the measurements Pyloric stenosis is an important cause of gastric outlet obstruction and vomiting in infants. Peak incidence occurs between 2 and 5 weeks of age with an incidence of 1–8 per 1,000 live births. Male infants are predominantly affected 4:1 over female infants [1]. There is a familial component, with sons of affected fathers carrying a 5% risk of pyloric stenosis [2]. The cardinal feature of this disorder is projectile, nonbilious vomiting that occurs anywhere from the end of feeding up to 30 min after. Afterwards the infant exhibits a desire to feed more. Persistent emesis results in hypokalemic hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis with dehydration. Palpation of an olive-shaped, muscular, mobile, and nontender mass in the left upper quadrant is pathognomonic of this condition. During feeding, gastric peristaltic waves can sometimes be observed from left to right upper abdominal quadrants. Radiographic signs of pyloric stenosis include gastric distension with air, a maximal gastric diameter of 7 cm or greater, and thick walled gastric antrum [3]. Abdominal US confirms the diagnosis by illustrating the increased length and thickness of the pyloric muscle. Before surgical treatment, correction of dehydration and serum electrolytes is necessary. Definitive therapy is pyloromyotomy with an excellent outcome [4].
Managing Network Organizations in the Knowledge Economy: Learning from Success and Failure

The current economy has brought the network model of organization to the forefront of management theory and practice. The network model is often presented in organization and ICT literature with an air of enthusiasm that underscores the advantages of this model as flexible, cooperative, innovative, and knowledge and technology intensive. Such themes are normally based on a networking logic that assumes the trustful cooperation of large and small production firms in favor of competitive advantage in a rapidly changing and volatile environment. This chapter challenges both the logic and the themes based upon it. Using Enron as a case study, the chapter seeks to enrich the logic, to broaden the themes, and to finally arrive at a more realistic picture of the network enterprise. This is made possible by extending the unit of analysis beyond the production firm, to include, among others, subsidiaries, banks, investors, auditors, and government agencies. The managerial implications of these shifts will be discussed.
Adhesion of Chlorella vulgaris on Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Surfaces

This experimental study reports the adhesion rate and adhesion density of Chlorella vulgaris on hydrophilic glass, and hydrophobic indium tin oxide (ITO) surfaces at constant shear rate. Cultivation of algae as biofilms offers an energy and water efficient method for algal biofuel production. In order to design algal biofilm cultivation systems, algal adhesion and biofilm formation on substrates with different surface properties must be known. To assess this, a parallel plate flow chamber was used to quantify the adhesion rate of the commonly used algae Chlorella vulgaris to the surfaces under controlled shear rates. The contact angle and zeta potential measurements were made both for the algal cells and the adhesion surfaces to model adhesion. The experimental results were compared with the predictions of the Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, Overbeek (DLVO), extended DLVO (XDLVO) theories, and the thermodynamic model. The experiments showed that the rate of adhesion over the hydrophobic surface was 81 cells mm−2 min−1 which was 3 times larger than that of the hydrophilic surface for the first forty minutes of the adhesion experiments. Moreover, the final adhesion density over the hydrophobic surface was 6182 mm−2 after an experimental duration of 320 minutes which was 2.7 times that of the hydrophilic surface. Detachment studies done with increased shear rates showed that the adhesion strength of algae was also higher over the hydrophobic surface. The experimental results fit best with the results from the XDLVO theory. However, the model was inaccurate in predicting high detachment rate from the hydrophilic surface with increased shear rates. Results show the importance of surface material selection for the initial adhesion of cells. These results can be used for selection and design of surface materials for optimizing initial adhesion of algae cells in algal biofilm photobioreactors. Furthermore, the results can also be used for the design of planktonic photobioreactors to avoid biofouling.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
N/D equations with a finite strip

A rather complete treatment is given here ofN/D equations where theD function has only a finite cut. The original work of Chew on such equations is reviewed and expanded to prove the existence of solutions whenever δ1(s1)<π and to reduce the integral equation forN in these cases to a combined Wiener-Hopf-Fredholm type. An explicit formula for the Wiener-Hopf resolvent kernel is obtained which involves a single integral over products of hypergeometric functions. CDD ambiguities are investigated and maximal analyticity of the second degree, or analyticity in angular momentum, is demonstrated as a tool for removing all ambiguity from the solution.
Effect of Neurohormonal Blockade Drug Therapy on Outcomes and Left Ventricular Function and Structure After Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation.

Neurohormonal blockade drug therapy (NHBDT) is the cornerstone therapy in heart failure (HF) management for promoting reverse cardiac remodeling and improving outcomes. It's utility in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) supported patients remains undefined. Sixty-four patients who received continuous flow LVAD at our institution were retrospectively reviewed and divided into 2 groups: no-NHBDT group (n = 33) received LVAD support only and NHBDT group (n = 31) received concurrent NHBDT based on the clinical judgment of the attending physicians. Cardiac remodeling (echocardiographic parameters and biomarkers) and clinical outcome (functional status, HF-related hospital readmissions, and mortality) data were collected. A statistically significant increase in ejection fraction, decrease in LV end-diastolic diameter index and LV mass index, and a sustained reduction in N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) were observed in the NHBDT group at 6 months after LVAD implant (p
Bounds on the Roots of a Polynomial

(1976). Bounds on the Roots of a Polynomial. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 49, No. 5, pp. 240-242.
Effect of dietary variations upon the toxicity of DDT to rats or mice.

SummaryMice fed 0.03% to 0.04% of DDT in a medium fat diet (5%) developed toxic symptoms and died; 0.10% to 0.15% of DDT in the same diet was necessary to produce a similar toxicity in the rat.A reduction in the level of dietary fat to 0.5% decreased the toxicity of DDT in both species; when the diet contained 15% of fat, the symptoms of toxicity were aggravated. Several different types of fat were essentially equal in aggravating the toxicity. On a low protein diet (10%) the toxicity of DDT was increased somewhat; whereas on a high protein diet (30%) the effects were variable.
Attitudes towards in-app advertising: a uses and gratifications perspective

This multi-phase study contributes to the uses and gratifications literature by focusing on young adults in the USA and their use of smartphone applications apps in the belief that a thorough understanding of the gratifications sought GS from smartphone apps will provide guidance to advertisers regarding the relative levels of involvement associated with each type of app. The first stage addressed scale development. Focus groups and surveys were conducted to develop scales for GS by young adults. Surveys were fielded to provide an exploratory factor analysis and subsequent confirmatory factor analysis. The second stage of the research addressed the relationships between GS, gratifications obtained from specific smartphone apps, and attitudes toward advertising on those apps. Results suggest that consumers are most tolerant of in-app advertising when it is encountered in apps used for assistance and informational purposes.
Delta Tocotrienal Inhibit mTOR Pathway by Modulating Glutamine Uptake and Transporters in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung cancer, with the majority of cases being non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), is one of the leading causes of death among cancers. NSCLC has exhibited high rate of glutamine dependency during i...
Law and Order in Ancient Athens

The classical Athenian 'state' had almost no formal coercive apparatus to ensure order or compliance with law: there was no professional police force or public prosecutor, and nearly every step in the legal process depended on private initiative. And yet Athens was a remarkably peaceful and well-ordered society by both ancient and contemporary standards. Why? Law and Order in Ancient Athens draws on contemporary legal scholarship to explore how order was maintained in Athens. Lanni argues that law and formal legal institutions played a greater role in maintaining order than is generally acknowledged. The legal system did encourage compliance with law, but not through the familiar deterrence mechanism of imposing sanctions for violating statutes. Lanni shows how formal institutions facilitated the operation of informal social control in a society that was too large and diverse to be characterized as a 'face-to-face community' or 'close-knit group'.
Low-Grade Astrocytoma Variants

This chapter deals with a miscellaneous group of astrocytoma variant lesions. Some of the more distinctive variants are separately dealt with in other chapters, including the pilocytic astrocytoma (Chapter 7), pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (Chapter 8), and subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (Chapter 9). This chapter will focus on four particular astrocytoma variants including the gemistocytic astrocytoma, protoplasmic astrocytoma, infantile desmoplastic astrocytoma, and the gliofibroma.
The Recent Past and Near Future of Reporting In-Chambers

Compiling in-chambers opinions in traditional books of cases was a good idea in 2001 – when Cynthia J. Rapp created the first three volumes of A Collection of In Chambers Opinions by the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (aka Rapp’s Reports) – and 2004 – when the Green Bag published them. Now the time has come to make some changes. The Journal of In-Chambers Practice – Ira Brad Matetsky’s new periodical, the first issue of which you are now reading – is where those changes will take place.
The steering of THz pulses using thin emitters excited by tilted optical pulse-fronts

A potentially scalable, efficient, and rapid method of steering THz pulses emitted from thin media using optical pulse-front tilt is developed theoretically and verified in a proof-of-concept experiment. This method can also measure pulse-front tilt.
Multiplexed efficient on-chip sample preparation and sensitive amplification-free detection of Ebola virus

An automated microfluidic sample preparation multiplexer (SPM) has been developed and evaluated for Ebola virus detection. Metered air bubbles controlled by microvalves are used to improve bead-solution mixing thereby enhancing the hybridization of the target Ebola virus RNA with capture probes bound to the beads. The method uses thermally stable 4-formyl benzamide functionalized (4FB) magnetic beads rather than streptavidin coated beads with a high density of capture probes to improve the target capture efficiency. Exploiting an on-chip concentration protocol in the SPM and the single molecule detection capability of the antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) biosensor chip, a detection limit of 0.021pfu/mL for clinical samples is achieved without target amplification. This RNA target capture efficiency is two orders of magnitude higher than previous results using streptavidin beads and the limit of detection (LOD) improves 10×. The wide dynamic range of this technique covers the whole clinically applicable concentration range. In addition, the current sample preparation time is ~1h which is eight times faster than previous work. This multiplexed, miniaturized sample preparation microdevice establishes a key technology that intended to develop next generation point-of-care (POC) detection system.
Molecular systematics of the critically-endangered North American spinymussels (Unionidae: Elliptio and Pleurobema ) and description of Parvaspina gen. nov.

Despite being common in numerous marine bivalve lineages, lateral spines are extremely rare among freshwater bivalves (Bivalvia: Unionidae), with only three known species characterized by the presence of spines: Elliptio spinosa, Elliptio steinstansana, and Pleurobema collina. All three taxa are endemic to the Atlantic Slope of southeastern North America, critically endangered, and protected by the US Endangered Species Act. Currently, these species are recognized in two genera and remain a source of considerable taxonomic confusion. Because spines are rare in freshwater mussels and restricted to a small region of North America, we hypothesized that spinymussels represent a monophyletic group. We sequenced two mtDNA gene fragments (COI and ND1) and a fragment of the nuclear ITS-1 locus from >70 specimens. Bayesian and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic reconstructions suggest that the spinymussels do not comprise a monophyletic group. Elliptio steinstansana is sister to P. collina, forming a monophyletic clade that was estimated to have diverged from its most recent ancestor in the late Miocene and is distinct from both Elliptio and Pleurobema; we describe a new genus (Parvaspina gen. nov.) to reflect this relationship. Additionally, E. spinosa forms a monophyletic clade that diverged from members of the core Elliptio lineage in the mid-Pliocene. Furthermore, E. spinosa is genetically divergent from the other spinymussel species, suggesting that spines, while extremely rare in freshwater mussels worldwide, may have evolved independently in two bivalve lineages. Recognizing the genetic distinctiveness and inter-generic relationships of the spinymussels is an important first step towards effectively managing these imperiled species and lays the groundwork for future conservation genetics studies.
Disease Campaigns and the Decline of Treatment Advocacy

In the past fifty years, disease advocacy organizations have multiplied and gained political influence, but they have often been reluctant to ask the government to intervene in health care provision. This article asks why. Using original quantitative and qualitative data on the goals and political claims of over one thousand organizations from 1960 through 2014, I find that many early disease advocacy organizations prioritized health care access. But unfavorable political climates discouraged new organizations from focusing on access to treatment. When health care became particularly controversial, even organizations with health care-related missions refrained from pursuing this goal politically. Eventually, politically active organizations began to drop treatment provision from their missions. Over the decades, the troubled politics of health care reshaped the field of disease advocacy, diminishing its focus on medical treatment.
An enhanced adaptive frequency locked loop for variable frequency controls

These days, variable frequency current mode controls are widely used in voltage regulators (VRs) for their higher light load efficiency, better small signal property and better transient response than fixed frequency current mode controls. One major issue for variable frequency control is its large switching frequency (fsw) variation with duty cycle. This variable fSW creates unpredictable noise in the system which is difficult to filter out, and hence not preferred by many frequency sensitive applications like mobile applications. While using variable frequency control e.g. constant on-time control (COT) in these applications, people use ‘Adaptive COT’ control which slowly changes the Ton with duty cycle at steady state operation to keep the steady state frequency constant. V in /V ref Feed-forward method and ‘Phase Locked Loop (PLL)’ method are very widely used to realize Adaptive COT control in the industry. Normally, V in /V ref feed-forward method is very simple and fast but naturally suffers inaccuracy issue for its feed-forward approach; while PLL method is very accurate but suffers from complicated additional loop adjustment. Therefore, this paper proposes a new accurate but simple frequency control loop for variable frequency controls. This paper also proposes two additional techniques for performance improvements in proposed method, namely, faster loop settling time by using feed-forward signal and better loop stability with duty cycle variation by adding adaptive loop gain control.
The Impact of Cirrhosis and Prescription Medications on QTc Interval Before and After Liver Transplantation.

Background:Higher rates of corrected QT (QTc) prolongation have been reported in patients with cirrhosis. The impact of liver transplantation and prescription medications on the natural history of ...
Substitution of Formal and Informal Home Care Service Use and Nursing Home Service Use: Health Outcomes, Decision-Making Preferences, and Implications for a Public Health Policy.

Objectives: The purposes of this study are: (1) to empirically identify decision-making preferences of long-term healthcare use, especially informal and formal homecare service use; (2) to evaluate outcomes vs. costs based on substitutability of informal and formal homecare service use; and (3) to investigate health outcome disparity based on substitutability. Methodology and Data: The methods of ordinary least squares, a logit model and a bivariate probit model are used by controlling for socio-economic, demographic and physical/mental health factors to investigate outcomes and costs based substitutability of informal and formal healthcare use. The data comes from the 2013 Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR), which is designed by Keizai-Sangyo Kenkyu-jo, Hitotsubashi University, and the University of Tokyo. The JSTAR is a globally comparable data survey of the elderly. Results: There exists a complement relationship between the informal homecare and community-based formal homecare services, and the elasticity’s ranges from 0.18~0.22. These are reasonable results which show that unobservable factors are positively related to informal homecare and community-based formal homecare, but negatively related to nursing home services based on our bivariate probit model. Regarding healthcare outcome efficiency issue, the informal homecare is the best one among three types of elderly care: informal homecare, community-based formal homecare, and nursing home services. Health improvement/outcome of elderly with the informal homecare is heavier concentrated on informal homecare services than the elderly care services by community-based formal homecare and nursing homecare services. Conclusions: Policy makers need to address a diversity of health outcomes and efficiency of services based on providing services to elderly through resource allocation to the different types of long-term care. A provision of partial or full compensation for elderly care at home is recommendable and a viable option to improve their quality of lives.
Factors that Differentiate Prescription Stimulant Misusers from those At-Risk for Misuse: Expectancies, Perceived Safety, and Diversion.

ABSTRACTBackground: The nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NMUPS) is one of the most prevalent illicit behaviors on college campuses. While numerous risk factors for NMUPS have been identif...
Relict Convective Features in the Weddell Sea

Abstract The Weddell Sea is characterized by a weak, primarily barotropic, cyclonic circulation. The water column is characterized by low static stability which, coupled with annual winter ice formation over all but the westernmost Weddell which is permanently ice-covered, facilitates deep convection. The eastern Weddell is the most likely site of deep convection, probably in the form of mesoscale convective cells with associated cyclonic circulation. These cells can migrate westward under the influences of the regional circulation and the interaction between the cell circulation and planetary vorticity (the beta effect), evolving and decaying through a variety of processes during this migration. They can provide a means to advect lower temperature mid-depth water into the central and western Weddell gyre, and provide possible explanations for a variety of features which have been found there.
Clinical Pathology of the Domestic Rabbit: Acquisition and Interpretation of Samples

Diagnostic laboratories are receiving increasing numbers of samples from practitioners as they strive to diagnose complex disease processes and manage rabbit cases. Proper acquisition of diagnostic samples and interpretation of results are key skills necessary for successful management of medical cases. This article reviews the collection and interpretation of clinicopathologic samples commonly used in rabbits.
A Method for Determining Binding of Hexanal by Myosin and Actin Using Equilibrium Headspace Sampling Gas Chromatography

SUMMARY An equilibrium headspace sampling method was developed and used to investigate the binding of hexanal to muscle myofibrillar proteins in aqueous solution. Utilizing a diphasic system (lipid/water), headspace concentrations were measured by headspace sampling gas chromatography over a range of ligand concentrations and binding constants calculated. Coefficient of variation between duplicate headspace measurements averaged 4% and less than 10% between replications; however, calculated Klotz constants varied significantly. In an attempt to reduce Klotz plot variation, linear regression was applied to headspace measurements prior to the calculation of BOUND verses FREE variables used to plot Klotz plots. Headspace data modification of hexanal standard curves (with and without added protein) did not reduce variation in calculated Klotz constants N, the number of binding sites (number of molecules of hexanal per protein molecule) or in the Klotz constant (K). In a second attempt to reduce Klotz plot variation, two calculation methods were compared. A nonlinear calculation method should be used on nonlinear Klotz plots while the traditional linear calculation method should be used on linear Klotz plots to calculate binding constants. There were significant (P
A Twitch or a Blink, an Ethnographer’s Path to Understanding Culture: A Lecture

Ethnography requires careful planning and honed analytic skills. The ethnographer’s necessary tool, the measurement instrument predicating all others, is the skillful ethnographer. The ethnographer’s subjectivity acts as the device necessary to plumb the depths of social interaction. No device, other than the skilled ethnographer, can accurately describe the intricacies of social life. Interviews, social network models, and the objective metrics for testing hypotheses cannot be fashioned without the ethnographer at the vanguard. Ethnographers’ participant observation uses a wide range of specialized research tools to open a path to, in Geertz’s terminology, thick description. Thick description captures the threshold of subjective cultural understanding. The ethnographer collects the data that recognize the difference between a twitching eye and a meaningful blink. The cultural information transmitted in a blink unveils complexities of an individual’s worldview. Worldview analysis requires analytic competency in ethnolinguistics and sociolinguistics as language cuts closer to the mind than other evidence. Participant observation and supplementary data analysis uncover the semantics and pragmatics that expose individual and cultural worldview. Only then, when ethnographers have exhausted their research toolkit, can anthropologists call their research ethnography.
Omnidirectional 3D Gamma-ray Imaging with a Free-moving Spherical Active Coded Aperture

The integration of gamma-ray imaging and visual scene data in 3D has been shown to improve radioactive source localization and mapping capabilities. Contextual sensors such as visual cameras and light detection and ranging units are used with Simultaneous Localization and Mapping algorithms to create 3D scene models and to track both the position and orientation of the system in real-time as it moves freely through an environment. The 3D scene models are also used to constrain the gamma-ray image reconstruction to only occupied voxels in the 3D space, increasing localization accuracy and decreasing computational time. These concepts have recently been demonstrated with mobile germanium and CdZnTe (CZT) Compton imaging systems. Here we utilize a hand-portable, CZT-based, free-moving spherical active coded aperture system currently being developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The active configuration enables broad-energy dual-mode coded aperture and Compton imaging, and the spherical arrangement of detectors overcomes the limited field-of-view inherent in active two-plane systems. In this work, we demonstrate the omnidirectional 2D and 3D imaging capability of the system in the low-energy coded aperture modality and explore GPUparallelization for real-time reconstruction.
The Maximum Principle: Pure State and Mixed Inequality Constraints

In Chap. 2 we addressed optimal control problems having constraints only on control variables. We extended the discussion in Chap. 3 to treat mixed constraints that may involve state variables in addition to control variables.
Impact of Hormone Therapy on Laboratory Values in Transgender Patients

BACKGROUND: For transgender individuals taking hormone therapy (HT), data on laboratory values are limited, and the effects on laboratory values cannot be easily predicted. We evaluated the impact on common laboratory analytes in transgender individuals before and after initiation of HT. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of transgender patients identified at transgender-specific clinics at an urban county hospital and community clinic. Laboratory data were collected on hormone concentrations, hematologic parameters, electrolytes, lipids, and liver and renal markers before and after initiation of HT. RESULTS: We identified 183 transgender women (TW) and 119 transgender men (TM) for whom laboratory data were available. In all, 87 TW and 62 TM had baseline laboratory data, and data were also available for 133 TW and 89 TM on HT for >6 months. The most significant changes were seen in red blood cell count, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, and creatinine levels after >6 months of HT, which increased in TM and decreased in TW after HT (P 0.6). Alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase levels increased in TM; however, the effect size was small (d index 0.6). Additionally, TM were found to have increased triglycerides and decreased HDL levels (P 0.6). CONCLUSIONS: Changes occur in several common laboratory parameters for patients on HT. Some laboratory values changed to match the gender identity, whereas others remained unchanged or were intermediate from the baseline values. These findings will help guide interpretation of laboratory test results in transgender patients taking HT.
Electronic cigarette and tobacco use in individuals entering methadone or buprenorphine treatment.

Abstract Background Although smoking is prevalent among populations with opioid use disorder (OUD), few studies have examined electronic cigarette (EC) use in individuals seeking opioid agonist therapy (OAT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and correlates of EC use among individuals seeking OAT. Methods 782 patients seeking OAT for OUD completed surveys assessing current and past EC use, reasons for use, current and past cigarette smoking, nicotine dependence, psychiatric distress, trauma, and pain. Bivariate and multivariate models evaluated correlates of daily EC use, past-30-day EC use, and current cigarette smoking. Results 6% of patients reported daily EC use, 18% reported past-30-day use, 62% reported EC use history, and 85% reported current cigarette smoking. 46% reported using ECs to quit or cut down smoking. In multivariate analyses, daily EC use was associated with higher odds of being a former smoker (OR 21; CI 1.7–273) and lower odds of ever smoking more than 100 cigarettes (OR 0.07; CI 0.01–0.32), while EC use in the past 30 days was associated with lower odds of being Caucasian (OR 0.55; CI 0.34–0.89), ever smoking more than 100 cigarettes (OR 0.13; CI 0.02–0.67), and history of chronic pain (OR 0.59; CI 0.38-0.90), and higher odds of reporting psychiatric distress (OR 1.5; CI 1.1–2.2). Conclusions EC use is common among people with OUD who smoke cigarettes. Those with daily use had higher odds of being former smokers than current smokers. Interventions using ECs may be effective to help reduce harms and mortality in OUD.
Cardiac MRI use in the diagnosis of acute infectious myocarditis

Viral myocarditis is a prevalent disease amongst endemic nations. With increased opportunity of travel, and warmer climates for arthropod-vectors to spread, infectious myocarditis incidence is likely to rise as well. Acute manifestations of myocarditis include fevers, generalized weakness, myalgias, and arthralgias. While death is rare, long-term morbidity related to acute complications plus chronic cardiac structural changes can occur. No current guidelines for long-term myocarditis follow-up and designated treatment strategies exist, and future work in these areas is required.
SMART 2.0: A Multimodal Weight Loss Intervention for Young Adults

A significant number of young Americans are vulnerable to excess weight gain, especially during the college years. While technology-based weight loss interventions have the potential to be very engaging, short-term approaches showed limited success. In our work we aim to better understand the impact of long-term, multimodal, technology-based weight loss interventions, and study their potential for greater effect among college students. In this paper we lay the basis for our approach towards a multimodal health intervention for young adults: we present formative work based on interviews and a design workshop with 26 young adults. We discuss our intervention at the intersection of user feedback, empirical evidence from previous work, and behavior change theory.
Abstract 034: Differential Regulation of Renal Injury in Npr1 Gene-Targeted Male and Female Mice: Role of Class I-Specific HDAC Inhibitor

The objective of the present study was to gain insight into the effect of class I-specific histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, mocetinostat (MGCD0103; MGCD) on Npr1 (coding for natriuretic peptid...
Surgical Management of Primary Skull Base Osteosarcomas: Impact of Margin Status and Patterns of Relapse.

Background Skull base osteosarcomas are aggressive neoplasms characterized by bony invasion and extracompartmental/extra-osseous soft tissue extension that pose obstacles to achieving complete resection. Management is further complicated by the paucity of data regarding the efficacy of surgery within the treatment paradigm. Objective To identify the impact of margin status on local progression free survival (PFS) and disease specific survival (DSS). Methods A retrospective review was performed of 36 patients with osteosarcoma who underwent gross total resection with negative margins (R0), or positive margins (R1). Patient demographics, prior treatments, relapse patterns, and survival were collected. Univariate analysis was performed to determine the impact of margin status on the PFS (primary outcome) and DSS (secondary outcome). Results R0 resection was achieved in 67%, 25% patients had local recurrence, and 19.4% patients had distant metastasis. In assessing the entire cohort, R0 resections had improved DSS (P = .002) and PFS (P = .04). In chemotherapy-naive patients, R0 resections also had improved impact on PFS (P = .04) and DSS (P = .027). For radiation-naive patients, improvements in PFS (P = .026) and DSS (P = .031) were also noted. Conclusion Skull base osteosarcomas present management challenges in which both local and systemic disease progression is the cause of mortality. Achieving R0 resections significantly improves PFS and DSS in treatment-naive patients within multimodality treatment paradigms. Salvage surgery may benefit in patients after failing previous radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Further work is needed to determine optimal treatment strategies. These data represent the largest series reported to date.
In-vivo longitudinal changes in thickness of the postnatal canine retina

Abstract The objectives of the present work were to assess by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) the changes in thickness of the outer nuclear layer (ONL), the ONL + photoreceptor inner segment (IS), and the retinal thickness, as a function of age in the normal canine retina. OCT retinal scans extending from the edge of the optic nerve head (ONH) along the superior and inferior meridians were captured in both eyes of 17 normal dogs at age ranging from 4 to 119 weeks. The different parameters along the superior and the inferior regions were determined following manual segmentation using the Heidelberg Eye Explorer software. Changes in thickness with age were modeled using one-phase exponential decay models. In vivo OCT imaging results showed no interocular statistically significant differences in ONL, ONL + IS, and retinal thickness at any age. All three parameters were however found to be statistically significantly thicker in the superior vs inferior retina. A rapid thinning of the three layers occurs in both the superior and inferior retina between 4 and 12 weeks of age, before reaching a plateau at around 20 weeks of age. In conclusion, the ONL, ONL + IS, and retinal thickness of the normal canine retina decrease significantly during the first three postnatal months, and is likely attributed to an overall increase in the eye volume and tangential dispersion of the photoreceptor since early photoreceptor developmental cell death is very limited at that age. Establishment of the natural history of ONL, ONL + IS, and retinal thinning will allow a more accurate assessment of the progression of a retinal degenerative condition as well as facilitate the detection of positive rescue effect of novel retinal therapies evaluated in this large animal model.
Generalized Equivalence Theory Used with Spatially Linear Sources in the Method of Characteristics for Neutron Transport

A recent hybrid stochastic-deterministic calculation scheme using Monte Carlo–tallied group cross sections in a deterministic solver uses the best of both worlds for accurate and fast reactor agnos...
COVID-19 Usurps Host Regulatory Networks

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 binds the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the cell surface and this complex is internalized. ACE2 serves as an endogenous inhibitor of inflammatory signals associated with four major regulator systems: the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), the complement system, the coagulation cascade, and the kallikrein-kinin system (KKS). Understanding the pathophysiological effects of SARS-CoV-2 on these pathways is needed, particularly given the current lack of proven, effective treatments. The vasoconstrictive, prothrombotic and pro-inflammatory conditions induced by SARS-CoV-2 can be ascribed, at least in part, to the activation of these intersecting physiological networks. Moreover, patients with immune deficiencies, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and kidney disease often have altered activation of these pathways, either due to underlying disease or to medications, and may be more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Certain characteristic COVID-associated skin, sensory, and central nervous system manifestations may also be linked to viral activation of the RAAS, complement, coagulation, and KKS pathways. Pharmacological interventions that target molecules along these pathways may be useful in mitigating symptoms and preventing organ or tissue damage. While effective anti-viral therapies are critically needed, further study of these pathways may identify effective adjunctive treatments and patients most likely to benefit.
3D sketching for 3D object retrieval

Sketching provides the most natural way to provide a visual search query for visual object search. However, how to draw 3D sketches in a three-dimensional space and how to use a hand-drawn 3D sketch to search similar 3D models are not only interesting and novel, but also challenging research topics. In this paper, we try to answer them by initiating a novel study on 3D sketching and build a 3D sketching system which allows users to freely draw 3D sketches in the air and demonstrate its promising potentials in related applications such as collecting 3D sketch data and conducting 3D sketch-based 3D model retrieval. By utilizing the 3D sketching system, we collect a 3D sketch dataset, build a 3D sketch-based 3D model retrieval benchmark, and organize a Eurographics Shape Retrieval Contest (SHREC) track on 3D sketch-based shape retrieval based on the benchmark. We investigate 3D sketch and model matching problems and propose a novel 3D sketch-based model retrieval algorithm CNN-SBR based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and achieve the best performance in the SHREC track. We wish that the 3D sketching system, the 3D sketch-based model retrieval benchmark, and the proposed 3D sketch-based model retrieval algorithm CNN-SBR will further promote sketch-based shape retrieval and its applications. We have made all of these publicly available on the project homepage: http://orca.st.usm.edu/~bli/SBR16/project.html .
Personalization of Smart-Devices: Between Users, Operators, and Prime-Operators

Your relationships with smart-devices are about to get complicated. Remote operability of smart-devices allows new actors to overcome traditional physical barriers and participate in the operation of the devices. This technology also empowers operators to personalize the operation of smart-devices for specific users, that is, to operate the smart-device differently for different users, prompting specific users to act in a specific way by limiting their actions. These features of the Internet of Things (IoT) will change the relationships between users and devices. As such, remote operability and personalization bring forth a myriad of legal questions concerning the operation and regulations of smart-devices. This article provides a comprehensive account of personalization in the context of smart-devices. It begins by exploring the concept of personalization of smart-devices and explaining how personalization is done. Next, it argues that the personalization of smart-devices combines personalization of code and physical space, and that it can enable greater personalization of market constraints on users. The article also explains how personalization of smart-devices extends law’s practical reach. In turn, this expansion affects the content of law: it facilitates the creation of more nuanced personalized law and invites legalization of spaces and actors that were previously unregulated. The article highlights the possible operators of smart-devices – users, private companies, and the state. It then distinguishes between various mods of constraint that those actors can impose using smart-devices – notice, nudge, and prevention. By converging the actors and the possible constraints, the article normatively assesses the potential harms of different personalization schemes. Next, the article discusses the distribution of legal powers between operators and users. Drawing on those discussions, the article explores essential considerations for the regulation of smart-devices operators. Finally, this article introduces the prime-operators of smart-devices. Prime-operators have informational, computational, and economic advantages over users and other operators. Those advantages enable only prime-operators to extract considerable social value from the operations of smart-devices. It also gives prime-operators unique moderation powers, enabling them to favor certain operators over others. This article identifies both desirable and troubling powers of prime-operators and sets the foundations for a much-needed legal scholarship about those overlooked players.
College students' experiences with substance use at electronic music events: A qualitative study.

Objective: To understand college students’ experiences with substance use at electronic music events (EME), including harm-reduction strategies and receptivity to educational intervention.Participa...
Psychoanalysis and the Monotheistic Origins of Modern Science

For Freud, the question of where psychoanalysis stands in relation to religion, science, and philosophy was clear: as a continuation of the project of Enlightenment, psychoanalysis was on the side of science, usually allied with philosophy, and almost always against religion. Freud’s medical education included study in the newly developing synthesis of biology and physics associated with the Berlin Physicalist Society lead by Herman Helmholtz and Ernst Brucke. Helmholtz’s dynamic theory of energy as subject to displacement and transformation but fundamentally indestructible would be key to Freud’s account of “libido” and his early understanding of the dynamic relationship of conscious and unconscious aspects of mind. Freud fully expected that in time all of the discoveries of psychoanalysis would be corroborated and established on a quantitative foundation, as modern science unfolded from the “Copernican Turn” represented above all by Galileo’s mathematization of astronomy and physics. Freud also explicitly connected psychoanalysis with the “second Copernican Turn” announced by Kant’s critical philosophy, which, on the one hand, bracketed both theological and Rationalist beliefs in knowledge through revelation or pure reason, and on the other, criticized Empiricist attempts to define knowledge in terms of direct perception. Like Kant, Freud insisted that science needed to take the fact of subjectivity into account, but whereas for Kant this meant describing the transcendental structure of the subject, for Freud the subject is always a singular conjunction of individual and phylogenetic history. As a modern science, psychoanalysis would take its cue from Nietzsche and Darwin, and expand in parallel with developments in modern physics and biology as well as research in the social and cultural sciences.
Influence of a clinical experiential activity on student confidence in conducting effective fall-risk assessment on older adults.

The ability to confidently perform fall-risk assessment on older adults is critical for Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students prior to entering workforce. The complex nature of falls makes it c...
ACE: a probabilistic model for characterizing gene-level essentiality in CRISPR screens

High-throughput CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screens are widely used to evaluate gene essentiality in cancer research. Here we introduce a probabilistic modeling framework, Analysis of CRISPR-based Essentiality (ACE), that accounts for multiple sources of variation in CRISPR-Cas9 screens and enables new statistical tests for essentiality. We show using simulations that ACE is effective at predicting both absolute and differential essentiality. When applied to publicly available data, ACE identifies known and novel candidates for genotype-specific essentiality, including RNA m6-A methyltransferases that exhibit enhanced essentiality in the presence of inactivating TP53 mutations. ACE provides a robust framework for identifying genes responsive to subtype-specific therapeutic targeting.
Mixed-method analysis of the quad council competencies for public health nurses.

OBJECTIVE Evaluate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) of public health nurses (PHNs) related to the eight Domains of the 2011 Quad Council Competencies for Public Health Nurses (QCC-PHN). This manuscript is Part 2 of an exploratory study published in the Public Health Nursing journal on PHNs' knowledge, skills, attitudes, and application of the Quad Council Competencies (Harmon et al., 2020). DESIGN In this mixed-method descriptive research study, the multisite team conducted an online survey among a convenience sample of 296 PHNs to determine differences in KSA for each of the eight QCC-PHN Domains. MEASUREMENTS Analysis of variance (ANOVA) testing revealed differences in KSA for the QCC-PHN, Domains. Post-hoc tests and qualitative thematic analysis of PHNs open-ended comments were used to provide additional data. RESULTS ANOVA results showed significant differences in knowledge and skills in all Domains and a significant difference in attitude in only one domain, Domain 7. Post-hoc test results showed significant differences in KSA between position titles for most Domains. CONCLUSIONS Recommendations include using the QCC-PHN to standardize the professional and diverse roles of the PHN workforce.