cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cement Viscosity As A Function Of Concentration

The Krieger-Dougherty equation allows calculation of viscosity as a function of volume fraction for suspensions of noninteracting particles. For model suspensions (of spherical, monosized particles), it has been shown to provide excellent agreement between calculated and measured viscosities. In the present study, this equation was applied to portland cement pastes, also with good correlations between calculated and measured viscosities. Because cement has a broad particle size distribution and its particles are angular and elongated, the two constants in this equation (the maximum volume fraction and the intrinsic viscosity) were estimated using nonlinear optimization techniques. The equation provides an excellent fit to measured viscosity data. However, the nature of the equation makes the estimation somewhat difficult, and the solutions are not well-defined.
Natural killer cells: immunobiology and clinical prospects.

(1991). Special Article: Natural Killer Cells: Immunobiology and Clinical Prospects. Cancer Investigation: Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 173-184.
VITA: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature and an Analysis of the Program in Accounting Education in the U.S.

ABSTRACT: This paper provides a review of the literature on the role of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in accounting education. The consensus is that the VITA program affords students an experiential learning opportunity to enhance their academic experience with real-life work exposure. However, there also seems to be a sense of underutilization of VITA as a service learning activity. Underlying that sentiment, somewhat, is the lack of an ongoing, constructive discourse on current practices. These observations provided us the impetus to develop and administer a cross-sectional survey investigating the structure of VITA programs in accounting education in the U.S. We utilize a non-sampling research design in that we reach out to the entire population of accounting programs in the U.S. The study includes an analysis of active VITA programs, an investigation into the demise of discontinued programs, and descriptive information on institutions that have never offered a program. Our goal is...
Quantitative correlations in degenerative arthritis of the knee

Progression of roentgenographic changes over five to eleven years and the relationship of roentgenographic changes to symptoms, function and quadriceps strength were evaluated in fifty knees (thirty-five patients). Patellofemoral arthritis progressed more than that of the weight-bearing compartments. Increased degeneration of the medial compartment occurred in less than 50 per cent of the varus knees. Severity of roentgenographic degeneration was not related to body weight. Women had more severe patellofemoral arthritis and greater limitation of activity than men. Increased patellofemoral arthritis was associated with increased pain, increased functional impairment, and decreased quadriceps strength.
Gap Filling of the Coastal Ocean Surface Currents from HFR Data: Application to the Mid-Atlantic Bight HFR Network

AbstractHigh-frequency radar (HFR) surface current data are an increasingly utilized tool for capturing complex dynamics of coastal ocean systems worldwide. The radar is uniquely capable of sampling relevant temporal and spatial scales of nearshore processes that impact event response activities and basic coastal ocean research. HFR is a shore-based remote sensing system and is therefore subject to data gaps, which are predominately due to environmental effects, like increased external noise or low signal due to ocean surface conditions. Many applications of these surface current data require that these gaps be filled, such as Lagrangian numerical models, to estimate material transport and dispersion. This study introduces a new penalized least squares regression method based on a three-dimensional discrete cosine transform method to reconstruct hourly HFR surface current data with a horizontal resolution of 6 km. The method explicitly uses both time and space variability to predict the missing value. Fur...
Entropy of cardiac repolarization predicts ventricular arrhythmias and mortality in patients receiving an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator for primary prevention of sudden death.

Aims The need for a readily available, inexpensive, non-invasive method for improved risk stratification of heart failure (HF) patients is paramount. Prior studies have proposed that distinct fluctuation patterns underlying the variability of physiological signals have unique prognostic value. We tested this hypothesis in an extensively phenotyped cohort of HF patients using EntropyXQT, a novel non-linear measure of cardiac repolarization dynamics. Methods and results In a prospective, multicentre, observational study of 852 patients in sinus rhythm undergoing clinically indicated primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation (2003–10), exposures included demographics, history, physical examination, medications, laboratory results, serum biomarkers, ejection fraction, conventional electrocardiographic (ECG) analyses of heart rate and QT variability, and EntropyXQT. The primary outcome was first ‘appropriate’ ICD shock for ventricular arrhythmias. The secondary outcome was composite events (appropriate ICD shock and all-cause mortality). After exclusions, the cohort ( n = 816) had a mean age of 60 ± 13 years, 28% women, 36% African Americans, 56% ischaemic cardiomyopathy, and 29 ± 16% Seattle HF risk score (SHFS) 5-year predicted mortality. Over 45 ± 24 months, there were 134 appropriate shocks and 166 deaths. After adjusting for 30 exposures, the hazard ratios (comparing the 5th to 1st quintile of EntropyXQT) for primary and secondary outcomes were 3.29 (95% CI 1.74–6.21) and 2.28 (1.53–3.41), respectively. Addition of EntropyXQT to a model comprised of the exposures or SHFS significantly increased net reclassification and the ROC curve area. Conclusions EntropyXQT measured during ICD implantation strongly and independently predicts appropriate shock and all-cause mortality over follow-up. EntropyXQT complements conventional risk predictors and has the potential for broad clinical application.
On the pH-Responsive, Charge-Selective, Polymer-Brush-Mediated Transport Probed by Traditional and Scanning Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy

The complete and reversible charge-selective sequestration of fluorophores by a weak polyelectrolyte brush, poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethylmethacrylate) (PDMAEMA) was demonstrated using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). The chemistry and thickness of the weak polyelectrolyte PDMAEMA was tuned reversibly between neutral and cationic polymer forms. Thus, by switching the pH successively, the brush architecture was tuned to selectively trap and release anionic dye probes while continuously excluding cationic molecules. In addition, line-scan FCS was implemented and applied for the first time to a synthetic polymer system and used to identify a new, slower diffusion time on the order of seconds for the sequestered anionic probe under acidic conditions. These results, which quantify the selective sequestration properties of the PDMAEMA brush, are important because they enable a better understanding of transport in polymers and establish a spectroscopic means of evaluating materials with proposed applica...
Optical Dissection of Mesoscale Cerebral Hemodynamics in the Behaving Brain

We investigated the hemodynamic response to locomotion in the cerebral cortex of awake mice. Arterial and venous signals had distinct spatiotemporal dynamics, neural coupling, and sensitivity to cardiovascular state.
Use of mammography in screening for breast cancer.

SUMMARY Recognizing the enormous impact that quality breast screening mammography can have on reducing breast cancer deaths, we need to determine when women’s and physician’s perceived restrictions for mammography examination impede the progress of its use for early cancer detection. A uniform system should emphasize valid communication and education between women and their physicians. Women seek to have a voice in their medical treatment. Yet that responsibility has an emotional price. Physicians and patients must decide together on the most appropriate strategies to enhance communication and adopt specific guidelines they will adhere to, to detect and cure early breast cancer. Women must be educated about breast screening mammography, and physicians must increase their efforts to proclaim its importance. Women need be assured the trend is toward using the most modern mammographic techniques. Quality medical care is medicine’s purpose and in women’s best interest. At present, no other diagnostic method is equivalent to mammography and capable of providing an equivalent impact on improving the detection and cure rate of breast cancer. Despite medical activities designed to reduce uncertainty in medicine, scientific evidence has not provided systematic answers as to the “best” way to approach issues of quality, cost, accessibility, or communication for breast screening mammography.3 No particular expert opinion or preference prevails for breast screening protocols. What is needed is adoption of a multidisciplinary approach, educating and motivating women and physicians to participate in breast screening activities. With trends directed toward high-volume breast screening operations, low-cost, quality mammography must be available and be impeccably performed. Some activities are natural subjects for financial quantification. It is objectionable to assume, however, that we can accurately place and agree on dollar amounts alone to represent the costs and benefits of screening mammography. The gaps between practices and attitudes about the benefits, risks, and costs of screening mammography suggest that people are not satisfied with the way physicians, women, influential groups, or regulatory agencies are balancing all of the elements. Better communication must exist between physicians and their peer groups involved in performing responsible mammography. Better communication must be achieved between physicians and women to take advantage of the usefulness of quality breast screening mammography. High-quality screening programs must be linked to third-party reimbursement and to legislation, if we are to make a difference. Screening mammography deserves our medical, economic, social, and political attention and action.
Diabetes: targeting an old adversary.

For the first time in almost 20 years, new recommendations on diagnosis, classification, and testing strategies for diabetes have been issued. For clinical labs, combatting this old enemy under the new guidelines will include expanded patient screening and closer monitoring. Learn about the high-risk groups in the U.S. population, the long-term effects of diabetes, and how changes in testing approaches can improve disease management and patient outcomes.
Effects of Tutorial Interventions in Mathematics and Attention for Low-Performing Preschool Children

ABSTRACTTwo intervention approaches designed to address the multifaceted academic and cognitive difficulties of low-income children who enter pre-K with very low math knowledge were tested in a ran...
Daclatasvir vs telaprevir plus peginterferon alfa/ribavirin for hepatitis C virus genotype 1

Daclatasvir vs telaprevir plus peginterferon alfa/ribavirin for hepatitis C virus genotype 1
A sagebrush wilt disease of unknown cause

A sagebrush wilt disease is causing severe damage to Forest Service uniform shrub garden plantings in Utah. Plants within most species of the section Tridentatae express disease symptoms and may die within several months. Varying degrees of susceptibility are evident within and between species. Modification of the soil environment through past agricultural use may dispose these wildland shrubs to associated potentially pathogenic fungi.
The Long and Short of ETFs

An investment strategy is as good as its ability to take advantage of unusually profitable opportunities or simply reduce exposure to risk. Hence, selecting the right instrument is critical in determining how much success an investor will have with his or her chosen investment strategy. It could be rendered inept by the confines of the instruments being employed to implement it, such as the lack of continuous pricing, the trading restriction of the uptick rule, or any other restrictions that would limit the range of customized investment approaches in which they can be used.
Impacts of Soil Type and Moisture on the Capacity of Multi-Carrier Modulation in Internet of Underground Things

Unique interactions between soil and communication components in wireless underground communications necessitate revisiting fundamental communication concepts from a different perspective. In this paper, capacity profile of wireless underground (UG) channel for multi-carrier transmission techniques is analyzed based on empirical antenna return loss and channel frequency response models in different soil types and moisture values. It is shown that data rates in excess of 124 Mbps are possible for distances up to 12 m. For shorter distances and lower soil moisture conditions, data rates of 362 Mbps can be achieved. It is also shown that due to soil moisture variations, UG channel experiences significant variations in antenna bandwidth and coherence bandwidth, which demands dynamic subcarrier operation. Theoretical analysis based on this empirical data show that by cyber-physical adaption to soil moisture variations, 180% improvement in channel capacity is possible when soil moisture decreases. It is shown that compared to a fixed bandwidth system; soil-based, system and sub-carrier bandwidth adaptation leads to capacity gains of 56%-136%. The analysis is based on indoor and outdoor experiments with more than 1,500 measurements taken over a period of 10 months. These semi-empirical capacity results provide further evidence on the potential of underground channel as a viable media for high data rate communication and highlight potential improvements in this area.
Symmetry in Physics

In this talk1 I shall take the liberty to confine myself to purely subjective ideas. In keeping with the spirit of the Symposium, I will not enter into technical details of any kind. By the same token, and so as to avoid the impression that I attempted a comprehensive learned survey of the field, I shall refrain from quoting any references.
Comparing Digital vs Paper Decision Aids about the Use of Antipsychotic Medication: Client, Clinician, Caregiver and Administrator Perspectives

Objective: Decision Aids (DAs) help patients participate in medical decisions. DAs can be in paper or digital format, but little is known about the readiness of people with psychosis to use digital technologies for decision-making in psychiatry. We evaluated attitudes and readiness for digital DAs among four stakeholder groups: people with psychosis, clinicians, caregivers, and administrators. Methods: Semi-structured interviews included 19 respondents: six people with a history of psychosis (clients), six clinicians, five caregivers, and two administrators. We recorded, transcribed, and coded interviews for themes using a qualitative inductive analytic process. Results: Our analysis revealed three key themes addressing readiness for involvement in an interactive digital decision-making: (1) preferences for paper DAs; (2) disadvantages of digital DAs (lack of computer skills, lack of access to digital devices, compounded by clients’ age and socioeconomic status); (3) advantages of digital DAs (accessibility to illiterate people or those with disabilities, decrease in cognitive burden). Conclusions: Our study suggests that the introduction of digital DAs into psychiatric medication consultations could be potentially well received. Appropriate training and access to digital devices may facilitate the adoption of digital DAs in mental health care.
Critical Limb Ischemia

At the beginning of the third millennium the studies on the epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) led to the conclusion that we are facing a very serious public health threat, that of a pandemic of cardiovascular disease. In this context, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and its components [i.e., intermittent claudication (IC), critical limb ischemia (CLI), and acute limb ischemia (ALI)] should also be treated as a prevalent global disease [1]
Retroviral Vectors for the Study of Neuroembryology: Immortalization of Neural Cells

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on retrovirally immortalized primary neural progenitors that give rise to neurons, particularly from the standpoint of transplantation into the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Cell lines form an important part of the immortalization of neural cells. In a library of cell lines, Each line might represent cells plucked from defined developmental times and specific locations and could provide an unlimited source of homogeneous material from which factors could be purified and against which reagents could be assayed. The ability of immortalized neural progenitors to integrate normally into the nervous system following transplantation offers a potential therapeutic approach to certain neurodegenerative diseases. The genes that have been most successful at immortalization have been avian myc (v-myc) and SV40 large T antigen. These genes induce unlimited mitotic activity in vitro without promoting oncogenic qualities. There are two techniques that are used maintain progenitors, removed from the brain, in a proliferative state in vitro: transduction of immortalizing genes into neural progenitors and chronic exposure of progenitors to mitogenic cytokines. The sources of neural progenitors for transplant studies are neonatal cerebellum, embryonic and adult hippocampus, embryonic and adult striatum, and embryonic raphe nucleus. Technical aspects of grafting immortalized neural cells include labeling donor cells for engraftment and immune rejection, which can sometimes be rectified by cyclosporin immunosuppression of hosts. The chapter also discusses the strategies to test the ability of immortalized neural cell lines to effectively perform repairing by repopulating the cytoarchitecture of lesioned or mutant animals. Two other areas related to CNS dysfunction that have emerged as topics of interest are neural progenitor and stem cell biology with gene therapy and repair of the CNS via transplantation. Immortalized neural progenitors, when transplanted into the CNS, intermingle nondisruptively with endogenous progenitors and respond to the same spatial and temporal developmental signals similarly as host progenitors.
Electronic and Steric Tuning of a Prototypical Piano Stool Complex: Rh(III) Catalysis for C-H Functionalization.

ConspectusThe history of transition metal catalysis is heavily steeped in ligand design, clearly demonstrating the importance of this approach. The intimate relationship between metal and ligand can profoundly affect the outcome of a reaction, often impacting selectivity, physical properties, and the lifetime of a catalyst. Importantly, this metal–ligand relationship can provide near limitless opportunities for reaction discovery. Over the past several years, transition-metal-catalyzed C–H bond functionalization reactions have been established as a critical foundation in organic chemistry that provides new bond forming strategies. Among the d-block elements, palladium is arguably one of the most popular metals to accomplish such transformations. One possible explanation for this achievement could be the broad set of phosphine and amine based ligands available in the chemist’s toolbox compatible with palladium. In parallel, other metals have been investigated for C–H bond functionalization. Among them, pen...
Psychedelic Drug (LSD, PCP, Hallucinogenic Mushrooms) Intoxication

Many substances with psychedelic properties have been used throughout the ages. They come from plants and mushrooms and are used spiritually during ceremonies or recreationally. LSD is the first of these substances to have been synthetized in 1938 by Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann.
QUARK EXCHANGE AND NUCLEAR DYNAMICS

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of the quark exchange and nuclear dynamics. Descriptions of nuclear structure and dynamics based upon nucleon degrees of freedom and effective interactions have proved quantitatively successful for a broad range of phenomena. The chapter discusses the duality between hadron and quark descriptions and also the limits of the hadronic description. The properties of isolated hadrons have guided construction of color-singlet confining forces in quark models. The color-hidden dynamics associated with the confinement mechanism can be investigated only with the interaction of two or more hadrons. Utilization of nuclear observables to learn about color non-singlet dynamics is a major issue that requires identification of the appropriate observables and perhaps of new modes of two and multi-hadron systems built upon the hidden color degree of freedom. Qualitative understanding of hadronic phenomena in terms of quark degrees of freedom, that is, the role of compositeness and color, is of primary importance.
Socializing Rejection and Failure in Artistic Occupational Communities

Failure is a normal aspect of work in creative industries; even highly successful artists are subject to rejection by critics, fans, and peers. It is known that organizations such as schools and wo...
Association of pre-allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant 25-hydroxy-vitamin D level and development of acute skin graft-versus-host-disease: A retrospective analysis of 154 patients.

e18539Background: The pathophysiology of acute skin graft versus host disease (asGVHD) is thought to be initiated when donor T cells encounter recipient dendritic cells (DC) and become activated. S...
Predicting the potential distribution of the non-native Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarkii in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Abstract The ongoing threat of introduction of invasive species, including crayfish, to the Laurentian Great Lakes has motivated the development of predictive models to inform where these invaders are likely to establish. Our study is among the first to apply regional freshwater-specific GIS layers to species occurrence data to predict ecosystem suitability to invasions, specifically for the red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, in the Great Lakes. We combined a database of crayfish species occurrences with the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework (GLAHF) GIS layers to model habitats suitable to invasion by P. clarkii using boosted regression trees and physiological information for this species. We developed a model of all suitable crayfish habitat across the Great Lakes, then constrained this habitat to areas anticipated to be suitable for P. clarkii based on known physiological limitations of this species. Specifically, P. clarkii requires a minimum temperature of 15 °C for copulation and oviposition, with peak reproduction occurring at temperatures of 20–23 °C. We identified 2% of the Great Lakes as suitable for P. clarkii establishment and 0.88% as optimal for this crayfish, primarily located on the southern coastlines of lakes Michigan and Erie and shallow bays including Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron), Green Bay (Lake Michigan), and Henderson Bay (Lake Ontario). These predictions of where P. clarkii is likely to establish populations can be used to identify areas where education, outreach, compliance, and law enforcement efforts should seek to prevent new introductions of this crayfish and help prioritize locations for surveillance to detect newly established populations.
Jacques Lacan and the Logic of Structure: Topology and language in psychoanalysis

Lacan postulated that the psyche can be understood by means of certain structures, which control our lives and our desires, and which operate differently at different logical moments or stages of formation. Jacques Lacan and the Logic of Structure offers us a reading of the major concepts of Lacan in terms of his later topological theory and aims to show how this was always a concern for Lacan and not only an issue in the last seminars. Ellie Ragland discusses how various stages of formation can be uncovered topologically within language itself, and operate to place certain properties – fantasy, the drive, jouissance, discourse and ethics in language itself. In this way she explores not only how language actually works in tandem with the properties, but also gives a different idea of what knowledge actually is and what implications that may have for reimagining and reworking differential/diagnostic structures. Jacques Lacan and the Logic of Structure is a compelling exponent of the innovative approaches Lacan takes to rethinking what psychoanalysis is and what it can do to enlighten psychoanalysts and treat patients. It will be essential reading to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists training graduate students in the fields of film, literary, gender and cultural studies.
Does Gender Differentiate the Effects of Retirement on Cognitive Health

Prior research on change in cognitive performance before and after retirement suffers from inattention to gender context. This study theoretically motivates the testing of gender differences in cognitive decline after retirement. I drew 67,905 observations of cognitive function based on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status from 18,453 participants (7,830 men and 10,623 women) in the Health and Retirement Study (1992-2014). I used fixed-effects two-stage least square models to account for unobserved heterogeneity between men and women in the sample and the endogeneity of retirement decision. I also controlled for change in depressive symptoms, mobility limitations, individual wealth, medical expenses, and spousal income. Retirement predicts a decrease in the cognitive score by 2.168 on a scale of 0-35 for women, but no change for men. Continued employment may buffer against risk factors that aggravate women's cognitive health.
Tips for Success in Navigating a Master's Degree in Dance

ABSTRACTIn this article, I offer fourteen navigation tips on how to prepare for, traverse, and be successful in a master's program in dance. These navigation tips range from the social (getting out...
Carbon Nanotube and Cellulose Nanocrystal Hybrid Films

The use of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) in high performance coatings is attractive for micro-scale structures or device fabrication due to the anisotropic geometry, however CNC are insulating materials. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are also rod-shaped nanomaterials that display high mechanical strength and electrical conductivity. The hydrophobic regions of surface-modified CNC can interact with hydrophobic CNT and aid in association between the two anisotropic nanomaterials. The long-range electrostatic repulsion of CNC plays a role in forming a stable CNT and CNC mixture dispersion in water, which is integral to forming a uniform hybrid film. At concentrations favorable for film formation, the multiwalled nanotubes + CNC mixture dispersion shows cellular network formation, indicating local phase separation, while the single-walled nanotube + CNC mixture dispersion shows schlieren texture, indicating liquid crystal mixture formation. Conductive CNT + CNC hybrid films (5-20 μm thick) were cast on glass microscope slides with and without shear by blade coating. The CNT + CNC hybrid films electrical conductivity increased with increasing CNT loadings and some anisotropy was observed with the sheared hybrid films, although to a lesser extent than what was anticipated. Percolation models were applied to model the hybrid film conductivity and correlate with the hybrid film microstructure.
Graft-Versus-Host Disease after Solid Organ Transplant Is Frequently Associated with Bone Marrow Failure and Hemophagocytosis

Introduction Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after solid organ transplant (SOT) is a rare complication with high mortality. Unique to SOT is bone marrow GVHD, with most patients dying of bone marrow failure (BMF) and subsequent sepsis. Elevated ferritin has been described as a poor prognostic factor, and there are reports of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) after SOT. We reviewed bone marrow aspirate slides of SOT patients with GVHD to determine pathologic features of BMF. Methods Number of hemophagocytic (HP) cells per slide were counted and averaged over two slides, by two independent hematopathologists, and graded as mild (1-4), moderate (5-10), and severe (>10) by number of HP cells. Donor and host DNA chimerisms were quantified using polymerase chain reaction, after CD3 and CD33 separation by flow cytometry. Results A total of 9 bone marrow biopsies from 6 patients were reviewed (Table). One patient had serial marrows, with initial count recovery and then subsequent intermittent cytopenias. Five marrows showed evidence of moderate-severe HP; of these, only 1 patient had full count recovery. Increasing donor CD3 marrow, but not peripheral blood chimerisms correlated with BMF. Ferritin levels were not associated with severity of HP (p=0.45), nor with count recovery (p=0.37). Conclusions BMF with increased HP cells is associated with a low likelihood of blood count recovery, and worse prognosis after SOT. Marrow but not peripheral blood donor CD3 chimerisms are prognostic for BMF. Identification of HLH features may guide prognosis and therapeutics in these patients. Further studies are needed to clarify the pathophysiology of SOT BMF, and whether HLH-targeted therapies may improve outcomes.
UGT2B10 Genotype Influences Serum Cotinine Levels and Is a Primary Determinant of Higher Cotinine in African American Smokers

Background: Cotinine is the most widely used biomarker of tobacco exposure. At similar smoking levels, African Americans have higher serum cotinine than Whites. UGT2B10-catalyzed cotinine glucuronidation impacts these levels, and African Americans often have low UGT2B10 activity due to a high prevalence of a UGT2B10 splice variant (rs2942857). Methods: Two UGT2B10 SNPs (rs6175900 and rs2942857) were genotyped in 289 African Americans and 627 White smokers. Each smoker was assigned a genetic score of 0, 1, or 2 based on the number of variant alleles. Total nicotine equivalents (TNE), the sum of nicotine and six metabolites, and serum cotinine and 3′-hydroxycotinine were quantified. The contribution of UGT2B10 genetic score to cotinine concentration was determined. Results: Serum cotinine was significantly higher in smokers with UGT2B10 genetic scores of 2 versus 0 (327 ng/mL vs. 221 ng/mL; P Conclusions: UGT2B10 genotype is a major contributor to cotinine levels and explains the majority of high serum cotinine in African American smokers. Impact: Cotinine levels in smokers may greatly overestimate tobacco exposure and potentially misinform our understanding of ethnic/racial difference in tobacco-related disease if UGT2B10 genotype is not taken into account.
Computational Restructuring: Rethinking Image Compression Using Resistive Crossbar Arrays

Image compression is performed on billions of edge devices deployed in the Internet of Things (IoT). The bottleneck of the compression is the 2-D discrete cosine transform (2D DCT), which involves performing two matrix–matrix multiplications in series. Earlier studies have explored directly mapping the 2D DCT computation to emerging resistive crossbar arrays (RCAs), which promise to perform matrix–vector multiplication (MVM) with extremely small energy-delay product. The main drawback is that the series computation is inherently vulnerable to errors. In this article, we propose to fundamentally rethink how to perform image compression using RCAs. The key idea is to restructure the computation to natively match the properties of the underlying resistive hardware. This allows three of the main design steps within image compression (2D DCT, quantization, and zig-zag reordering) to be integrated into a single analog MVM operation. The integration is facilitated by the development of a 2D DCT reconstruction technique, a frequency spectrum optimization technique, and a quantization optimization technique. The techniques improve the robustness to errors, eliminates the storage of intermediate data, enables processing of small image blocks, facilitates the utilization of large-scale RCAs, and reduces the requirements on the expensive domain interfaces. Compared with the previous work, the experimental results demonstrate significant improvements in image quality while reducing power and latency with up to 62% and 21%, respectively.
It’s okay to be White: laundering White supremacy through a colorblind victimized White race-consciousness raising campaign

In 2017 users on the 4chan messaging platform concocted a scheme to launder their white supremacist messaging into the mainstream racial discourse. The campaign, proclaiming “It’s Okay to be White,...
Driving impairments and duration of distractions: Assessing crash risk by harnessing microscopic naturalistic driving data.

Abstract Distracted and impaired driving is a key contributing factor in crashes, leading to about 35% of all transportation-related deaths in recent years. Along these lines, cognitive issues like inattentiveness can further increase the chances of crash involvement. Despite its prevalence and importance, little is known about how the duration of these distractions is associated with critical events, such as crashes or near-crashes. With new sensors and increasing computational resources, it is possible to monitor drivers, vehicle performance, and roadway features to extract useful information, e.g., eyes off the road, indicating distraction and inattention. Using high-resolution microscopic SHRP2 naturalistic driving data, this study conducts in-depth analysis of both impairments and distractions. The data has more than 2 million seconds of observations in 7394 baselines (no event), 1228 near-crashes, and 617 crashes. The event data was processed and linked with driver behavior and roadway factors. The intervals of distracted driving during the period of observation (15 seconds) were extracted; next, rigorous fixed and random parameter logistic regression models of crash/near-crash risk were estimated. The results reveal that alcohol and drug impairment is associated with a substantial increase in crash/near-crash event involvement of 34%, and the highest correlations with crash risk include duration of distraction through dialing on a cellphone, texting while driving, and reaching for an object. Using detailed pre-crash data from instrumented vehicles, the study contributes by quantifying crash risk vis-a-vis detailed driving impairment and information on secondary task involvement, and discusses the implications of the results.
Does antipsychotic combination therapy reduce the risk of hospitalization in schizophrenia

: Despite treatment with antipsychotic medication, approximately 1/3 of individuals with schizophrenia will fail to have an adequate response. To treat these patients, a commonly utilized approach ...
RL-Controller: a reinforcement learning framework for active structural control.

To maintain structural integrity and functionality during the designed life cycle of a structure, engineers are expected to accommodate for natural hazards as well as operational load levels. Active control systems are an efficient solution for structural response control when a structure is subjected to unexpected extreme loads. However, development of these systems through traditional means is limited by their model dependent nature. Recent advancements in adaptive learning methods, in particular, reinforcement learning (RL), for real-time decision making problems, along with rapid growth in high-performance computational resources, help structural engineers to transform the classic model-based active control problem to a purely data-driven one. In this paper, we present a novel RL-based approach for designing active controllers by introducing RL-Controller, a flexible and scalable simulation environment. The RL-Controller includes attributes and functionalities that are defined to model active structural control mechanisms in detail. We show that the proposed framework is easily trainable for a five story benchmark building with 65% reductions on average in inter story drifts (ISD) when subjected to strong ground motions. In a comparative study with LQG active control method, we demonstrate that the proposed model-free algorithm learns more optimal actuator forcing strategies that yield higher performance, e.g., 25% more ISD reductions on average with respect to LQG, without using prior information about the mechanical properties of the system.
Scalable FSM parallelization via path fusion and higher-order speculation

Finite-state machine (FSM) is a fundamental computation model used by many applications. However, FSM execution is known to be “embarrassingly sequential” due to the state dependences among transitions. Existing solutions leverage enumerative or speculative parallelization to break the dependences. However, the efficiency of both parallelization schemes highly depends on the properties of the FSM and its inputs. For those exhibiting unfavorable properties, the former suffers from the overhead of maintaining multiple execution paths, while the latter is bottlenecked by the serial reprocessing among the misspeculation cases. Either way, the FSM parallelization scalability is seriously compromised. This work addresses the above scalability challenges with two novel techniques. First, for enumerative parallelization, it proposes path fusion. Inspired by the classic NFA to DFA conversion, it maps a vector of states in the original FSM to a new (fused) state. In this way, path fusion can reduce multiple FSM execution paths into a single path, minimizing the overhead of path maintenance. Second, for speculative parallelization, this work introduces higher-order speculation to avoid the serial reprocessing during validations. This is a generalized speculation model that allows speculated states to be validated speculatively. Finally, this work integrates different schemes of FSM parallelization into a framework—BoostFSM, which automatically selects the best based on the relevant properties of the FSM. Evaluation using real-world FSMs with diverse characteristics shows that BoostFSM can raise the average speedup from 3.1× and 15.4× of the existing speculative and enumerative parallelization schemes, respectively, to 25.8× on a 64-core machine.
Plasma membrane calcium ATPases: From generic Ca2+ sump pumps to versatile systems for fine-tuning cellular Ca2+

The plasma membrane calcium ATPases (PMCAs) are ATP-driven primary ion pumps found in all eukaryotic cells. They are the major high-affinity calcium extrusion system for expulsion of Ca(2+) ions from the cytosol and help restore the low resting levels of intracellular [Ca(2+)] following the temporary elevation of Ca(2+) generated during Ca(2+) signaling. Due to their essential role in the maintenance of cellular Ca(2+) homeostasis they were initially thought to be "sump pumps" for Ca(2+) removal needed by all cells to avoid eventual calcium overload. The discovery of multiple PMCA isoforms and alternatively spliced variants cast doubt on this simplistic assumption, and revealed instead that PMCAs are integral components of highly regulated multi-protein complexes fulfilling specific roles in calcium-dependent signaling originating at the plasma membrane. Biochemical, genetic, and physiological studies in gene-manipulated and mutant animals demonstrate the important role played by specific PMCAs in distinct diseases including those affecting the peripheral and central nervous system, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Human PMCA gene mutations and allelic variants associated with specific disorders continue to be discovered and underline the crucial role of different PMCAs in particular cells, tissues and organs.
Partitioning and Rights: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Accidental Jurisprudence of Democratic Process

In democracies that allocate to a court responsibility for interpreting and enforcing the constitutional ground rules of democratic politics, the sheer importance of the task would seem to oblige such courts to guide their rulings by developing an account of the nature and prominent features of the constitutional commitment to democracy. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, has from the beginning refused to develop a general account – a theory – of how the U.S. Constitution establishes and structures democratic politics. The Court’s diffidence left a vacuum at the heart of its constitutional jurisprudence of democratic process, and like most vacuums, this one was almost immediately occupied. But the Court filled its jurisprudential hole not primarily by invoking principles of democracy – even unstated ones – but by doing instead what reluctant decision makers often do: by reaching for whatever is handy. This reaction took two main forms. First, in the absence of a pertinent theory to guide it, the Court fell back on habit, specifically a habit, developed in its earliest cases, of solving problems of political power and representation by partitioning the electorate – that is, by ordering it subdivided. By resorting reflexively to this approach, the Court soon came to treat partitioning as the preferred solution to most problems of democratic representation. Second, the Court reached for the tools of decision that were most ready at hand, and those tools were individual rights, initially equal protection, then the freedoms of speech and association. But because these tools were ill-suited to the task, the Court ended up stretching First Amendment analysis in these cases beyond its plausible bounds and purposes. A well-ordered democratic state needs a thoughtful and deliberate jurisprudence of democracy and democratic practice. Instead, the Court has provided an accidental, haphazard jurisprudence of habit and availability.
Diagnosis of Brain Death in Children by Radionuclide Cerebral Imaging

Nine children with clinically suspected brain death were evaluated by radionuclide cerebral imaging and four-vessel dye contrast cerebral arteriography. The scans showing absence of cerebral blood flow were verified by arteniography in all children. There was complete agreement in all cases. It was concluded that failure to detect cerebral blood flow by radionuclide cerebral imaging in children is a valid demonstration of absence of cerebral circulation for purposes of determining brain death. The scan is significantly less expensive than dye-constast arteniograms. The test is portable, and thus it eliminates the need for transportation of extraordinarily ill patients. The scanning technique is noninvasive and may be particularly helpful in the diagnosis of brain death in patients in whom intravenous infusions of barbiturate might otherwise obscure the clinical and EEG examination.
Financial Reporting Discretion and Corporate Voluntary Disclosure: Evidence from the Software Industry

This paper studies the effects of new accounting standards that limit the amount of financial reporting discretion on corporate voluntary disclosure policies. Specifically, it tests the prediction that the decrease in management's discretion with respect to revenue recognition, following the issuance of Statement of Position (SOP) 91-1 in 1992, affected the extent to which managers of software companies voluntarily disclose information outside the financial statements. Consistent with the predictions, the empirical evidence indicates that, relative to a matched control group of non-aggressive reporting firms, managers of aggressive reporting firms reduced the extent to which they issue earnings forecasts, and increased the frequency in which they modify their cash payout policy and disclose non- financial information. Further analysis reveals that earnings management incentives, similar to the ones suggested in the extant accounting literature, do not seem to explain the aggressive revenue recognition practices during pre SOP 91-1 period, and suggests that managers of software companies were using their accounting discretion in an attempt to convey information to investors. Overall, I interpret the empirical findings as evidence of the potential costs associated with new accounting standards that decrease the amount of financial reporting discretion.
Pharmacological analysis of a monosynaptic reflex in the cockroach, Periplaneta americana.

1. 1. The monosynaptic connexion between the trochanteral hairplate afferents and the motoneurone D8 was investigated pharmacologically. 2. 2. Electrical stimulation of the hairplate produced a 1:1 reflex activation of D8 which was blocked by saline containing 50 mM-Mg2+. 3. 3. Changes in the hairplate-to-D8 reflex and in the tonic activity of D8 were monitored during perfusion of drugs known to affect cholinergic transmission. 4. 4. The reflex response was blocked by cholinergic antagonists (atropine, d -tubocurarine, α-bungarotoxin, hexamethonium, decamethonium and TMA); and by an inhibitor of ACh synthesis (hemicholinium-3); it was blocked and desensitized by agonists (carbachol and nicotine) and depolarized and blocked by an AChE inhibitor (eserine). 5. 5. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that ACh is a sensory transmitter in the insect CNS.
Database Mining Using Soft Computing Techniques. An Integrated Neural Network−Fuzzy Logic−Genetic Algorithm Approach

Two different soft computing (SC) techniques (a competitive learning neural network and an integrated neural network−fuzzy logic−genetic algorithm approach) are employed in the analysis of a database subset obtained from the Cambridge Structural Database. The chemical problem chosen for study is relevant to the relationship between various metric parameters in transition metal imido (LnMdNZ, Z = carbon-based substituent) complexes and the chemical consequences of such relationships. The SC techniques confirmed and quantified the suspected relationship between the metal−nitrogen bond length and the metal−nitrogen−substituent bond angle for transition metal imidos: increased metal−nitrogen−carbon angles correlate with shortened metal−nitrogen distances. The mining effort also yielded an unexpected correlation between the NC distance and the MNC angleshorter NC correlate with larger MNC. A fuzzy inference system is used to construct an MNred−NC−MNC hypersurface. This hypersurface suggests a complicated inte...
Thermal and Magnetic Properties of Coronene and Related Molecules

Ab initio calculations of coronene and other benzenoid aromatic hydrocarbons at the SCF, MP2, and density-functional levels are used to estimate the gas-phase ΔHf° of coronene. The results obtained show that the best improvement over the SCF ΔHf° is obtained using the correlation-corrected B3LYP density-functional method, while the MP2 results appear to make agreement with the experimental value worse. The B3LYP/6-311G** ΔHf° of coronene and benzo[ghi]perylene are 71.8 and 73.2 kcal/mol. The computed proton and 13C NMR chemical shifts of coronene are in good agreement with experiment. The calculated nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICS) suggest that the central ring of coronene has diminished aromatic character, but the peripheral rings are fully aromatic. For benzo[ghi]perylene, the NICS values reveal that only three of the five peripheral rings are fully aromatic. The magnetic susceptibility of coronene shows a large exhaltation, Λ, relative to a nonaromatic model system. Thermal and magnetic prope...
New faces of Eve: Women in electrical engineering

The gap between the number of highly trained technical people and the positions to be filled is widening year by year. There has been much soul searching on the parts of the profession and of education as to where the fault lies, but one important reservoir of talent remains largely untapped?the woman engineer. This article examines the motivations of the woman who selects engineering as a career, and discusses her problems and potential in a field that has always been associated with the masculine image.