cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pettit's Republic

In Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government, Philip Pettit seeks to revive republicanism not only as a critical perspective on contemporary political life but as a guiding principle for the design of modern political institutions. His conception of republicanism sees it as aimed at securing a kind of liberty: freedom from domination, which he defines as dependence on the arbitrary will of another. Pettit contrasts his conception of liberty (freedom as nondomination) with the notion, traced to Hobbes, Bentham and "enlightenment" thinkers, of freedom as nonin terference, a conception of freedom that put things off on the wrong track.1 Modernists, following Hobbes, think that you are unfree only to the extent that your choices are actually constrained by physical obstacles or the interfering actions of another. Freedom, for these thinkers, consists in the absence of interference with your actual choices. Nondomination, by contrast, is not being subject to arbitrary interference by another (a dominator), rather than actually being interfered with. Dominators are supposed to be agents?whether individuals or collectivities?capable of interfering arbitrarily with others through their intentional actions. To be subject to another's arbitrary will is to be subject to a will that does not track one's own interests but is responsive instead to the will or desires of the dominating agent. Thus, if you can be interfered with only on the basis of considerations that track your interests, you are not dominated. Such in terference is not arbitrary in Pettit's sense and so does not count as producing domination. Nondomination differs from noninterference, according to Pettit, in offering a more robust form of liberty. The notion of robustness is illus trated by Pettit's example of the slave of a benevolent master: such a slave is not actually interfered with in her choices, but she would be if the master were to become less benevolent. Such a slave is therefore vulner
Laminar Flame Speed of Hydrocarbon Fuels with Preheat and Low Oxygen Content

Measurements of laminar flame speed of hydrocarbon fuels in O2/N2/CO2/He mixtures at high preheat conditions of up to 650 K and pressure up to 10 atm are presented. Pure C3H8 and binary fuel mixtures of CH4/C2H6 and CH4/C3H8 are considered for present study. Oxygen mole fraction in the oxidizer was varied from 14.3% to 21%. The measurements were performed by determining the reaction zone area of a jet flame using chemiluminescence imaging. This technique has been shown to provide good results for determining unstretched laminar flame speed. The results are in good agreement with the stretch – corrected flame speed values reported in the literature. Flame speed predictions from leading chemical kinetics mechanism are also compared to the experiments and are found to be in reasonable agreement over range of equivalence ratio. However a number of systematic differences are observed between the experiment results and numerical predications.
Rapid fine root C and N mineralization in a northern temperate forest soil.

While fine roots (≤2-mm diameter) are major suppliers of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) to northern temperate and boreal forest soils, our understanding of how long-term plant and N inputs affect fine root decomposition rates and the amount of root-derived organic matter (OM) stabilized in forest soils is incomplete. We examined the influence of long-term aboveground and/or belowground litter and inorganic N additions on mineralization and vertical transport of fine root-derived C and N during the first 2 years of decomposition of dead fine root in the field. We used an existing long-term field manipulation experiment located in a northern Michigan forest; with (i) exclusion of above and below-ground inputs, (ii) exclusion of belowground inputs alone, or (iii) inorganic N additions, for 6 years prior to the addition of dual-labeled (13C and 15N) Acer rubrum fine roots. After 2 years in soil, labeled fine roots rapidly decomposed in all treatments, with only 20.7 % of root 13C and 35.8 % of root 15N recovered in soil (0–20 cm depth). This was likely because of the combined effects of (1) root litter chemistry, (2) processing of root litter by exotic earthworms, and (3) the low stabilization potential of the coarse-textured soil at the site. Neither the long-term exclusion of litter inputs nor increased inorganic N additions influenced root mineralization rates; and there were no detectable effects of either treatment on CO2 efflux or on dissolved organic C loss. During the 2-year study, exclusion of litter inputs did not affect root C retention in soil but lowered C:N ratios of roots recovered in that treatment. Inorganic N additions had no significant effect on root-derived C or N retention in the soil. Our results show that fine root litter turns over faster than previously thought in coarse-textured temperate forests soils that lack effective OM stabilization mechanisms.
Examining causal components and a mediating process underlying self-generated health arguments for exercise and smoking cessation.

OBJECTIVE Self-persuasion-generating one's own arguments for engaging in a specific behavior-can be an effective strategy to promote health behavior change, yet the causal processes that explain why it is effective are not well-specified. We sought to elucidate specific causal components and a mediating process of self-persuasion in two health behavior domains: physical activity and smoking. METHODS In two experiments, participants were randomized to write or read arguments about regular exercise (Study 1: N = 76; college students) or smoking cessation (Study 2: N = 107; daily smokers). In Study 2, we also manipulated the argument content (matched vs. mismatched participants' own concerns about smoking) to isolate its effect from the effect of argument source (self vs. other). Study outcomes included participants' reports of argument ratings, attitudes, behavioral intentions (Studies 1 & 2), and cessation attempts at 1 month (Study 2). RESULTS In Study 1, self-generated arguments about exercise were evaluated more positively than other arguments (p = .01, d = .63), and this biased processing mediated the self-generated argument effect on attitudes toward exercise (β = .08, 95% CI = .01, .18). In Study 2, the findings suggested that biased processing occurs because self-generated argument content matches people's own health concerns and not because of the argument source (self vs. other). In addition, self-generated arguments indirectly led to greater behavior change intentions (Studies 1 & 2) and a greater likelihood of a smoking cessation attempt (Study 2). CONCLUSIONS The findings elucidate a causal component and a mediating process that explain why self-persuasion and related behavior change interventions, such as motivational interviewing, are effective. Findings also suggest that self-generated arguments may be an efficient way to deliver message interventions aimed at changing health behaviors.
Solvent-induced fragmentation of prostaglandin endoperoxides. New aldehyde products from PGH2 and a novel intramolecular 1,2-hydride shift during endoperoxide fragmentation in aqueous solution

Mise en evidence d'un remarquable effet de solvant sur la stabilite du noyau endoperoxyde dioxa-2,3 bicyclo [2.2.1] heptane, de la prostaglandine PGH2. Effet isotopique cinetique du deuterium
A Carbon Emission Reduction Calculation Method of Photovoltaic Considering Influence of Reserve

The calculation of actual emission reduction of grid-connected photovoltaic(PV)stations plays a very important role in the planning of PV stations and the development of PV industry.With the steady expansion of PV stations,the adverse effects of power output fluctuation in the traditional power system will,in turn,become more conspicuous.To mitigate such adverse effects,it is necessary to have some spinning reserve on the system side and the effect should be counted in the carbon emission reduction of PV.This paper analyzes the measured power data of Longyuan photovoltaic station in Geermu area of Qinghai province,gives the classification algorithm for PV power curves based on the characteristics of power fluctuation.The curves are divided into four categories based on the fluctuation,corresponding to the sunny,overcast,hardly cloudy and cloudy weather conditions.The statistics of power generation of PV station under each weather condition is also given.Based on this,the carbon emission reduction calculation model and method considering the influence of reserve are also proposed,which can accurately calculate the carbon emission reduction effects according to the capacity and meteorological information.This algorithm is also able to calculate the carbon reduction benefits for PV station planning.
Transgenic Soybean Production of Bioactive Human Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF).

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating condition of premature infants that results from the gut microbiome invading immature intestinal tissues. This results in a life-threatening disease that is frequently treated with the surgical removal of diseased and dead tissues. Epidermal growth factor (EGF), typically found in bodily fluids, such as amniotic fluid, salvia and mother’s breast milk, is an intestinotrophic growth factor and may reduce the onset of NEC in premature infants. We have produced human EGF in soybean seeds to levels biologically relevant and demonstrated its comparable activity to commercially available EGF. Transgenic soybean seeds expressing a seed-specific codon optimized gene encoding of the human EGF protein with an added ER signal tag at the N’ terminal were produced. Seven independent lines were grown to homozygous and found to accumulate a range of 6.7 +/- 3.1 to 129.0 +/- 36.7 μg EGF/g of dry soybean seed. Proteomic and immunoblot analysis indicates that the inserted EGF is the same as the human EGF protein. Phosphorylation and immunohistochemical assays on the EGF receptor in HeLa cells indicate the EGF protein produced in soybean seed is bioactive and comparable to commercially available human EGF. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using soybean seeds as a biofactory to produce therapeutic agents in a soymilk delivery platform.
Circulation: Burn Shock Resuscitation

Severe burn injury results in an extensive loss of the body’s cutaneous barrier and initiation of systemic inflammation. The result of this is a progressive decrease in intravascular volume ultimately resulting in organ failure and death. The key component in burn shock resuscitation is maintaining adequate intravascular volume in order to prevent organ failure. In this chapter, we will introduce the pathophysiology of burn shock, burn shock resuscitation algorithms, calculation of fluid requirements, monitoring of resuscitation, complications of fluid resuscitation, and adjunctive resuscitative therapies.
The Bad Old Good Days Come Back: Resonances and Reversals of Heart of Darkness in A Guest of Honour

(2007). The Bad Old Good Days Come Back: Resonances and Reversals of Heart of Darkness in A Guest of Honour. Journal of the African Literature Association: Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 25-54.
Activity of gemcitabine and vinorelbine in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

e15507 Background: After first-line, cisplatin-containing chemotherapy for metastatic urothelial carcinoma, there are no universally accepted second-line regimens. Two prior studies reported 33-48%...
On the Cusp

A new president is stepping into leadership at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). Opportunities abound. The fact that both diabetes and heart disease are reversible is a message that is not reaching the majority of the general public. But times are changing and lifestyle treatment is on the cusp of being accepted as the self-evident best treatment for chronic medical conditions. ACLM is poised to be the leader in this area. Our members passion and experience are our richest resources. Each member is encouraged to be involved with the different committees of ACLM. Choices include Conference Planning, Education, Research, practice Models, Publications, Awards, Business Development, Membership Development, Strategic Partnerships, Marketing and Communications.
Time Temperature Heating Effect on Biuret-Positive Water-Extractable Porcine and Bovine Muscle Proteins

Ground pork longissimus or beef semimembranosus muscle was heated in stoppered glass tubes in a controlled temperature bath at 60, 65, 67.5, 70, or 75°C and held for 0, 7.5, 15 or 30 min after the sample reached the desired internal temperature, removed, and cooled (0-2°C) immediately. Heated samples were homogenized with deionized water at a ratio of 1:3.3 (w/v) muscle to water. The amount of water-extractable proteins was determined by the biuret method. Eight ml of clear extract from each treatment was reheated for 15 min at 70°C, removed, and cooled (0-2°C) immediately. Coagulum was removed by filtration (0.45 μm), and a biuret measurement made on the clear extract. These two values were used to calculate a water-extractable biuret-positive ratio (EBPR) value for a specific time/temperature treatment. The base value of 70°C was selected for the ratio because it represents a temperature slightly above that necessary for thermal inactivation of certain animal viruses required by USDA-APHIS/FSIS for certain imported canned meat products. Heat denaturation/coagulation of water-extractable, biuret-positive bovine and porcine compounds with subsequent solubility loss was a time/temperature-dependent process through 70°C. EBPR values for bovine and porcine muscles heated up to 60, 65, 67.5, 70, or 75°C with no holding time were 2.11, 1.23, 1.08, 1.07, 1.02 and 2.88, 1.65, 1.13, 1.04, and 1.02, respectively. Using 70°C as the critical denaturation/coagulation temperature, EBPR values for beef and pork were 1.07 ± .024 and 1.04 ± .066, respectively. Upper 95% confidence limits were 1.30 for beef and 1.12 for pork.
General Choice of ES Dithers

In this chapter we establish a simple and general extension of the previously developed bounded form of ES to a general class of oscillatory functions, including functions discontinuous with respect to time, such as triangle or square waves with dead time. We establish our main results by combining a novel idea for oscillatory control with an extension of functional analytic techniques originally utilized by Kurzweil, Jarnik, Sussmann, and Liu in the late 80 s and early 90s. We demonstrate the value of the result with an application to inverter switching control.
The Impact of Patent Protection on Outsourcing Decisions by U.S. Manufacturing Firms

Many countries have strengthened their patent laws over the past 20 years as they have implemented their WTO intellectual property obligations. This benefits American firms, many of which lobbied for the establishment of enforceable intellectual property rights within the WTO framework. It is often assumed to be unambiguously beneficial for American workers at these firms. However, it may be that American workers who produce goods embodying patented technology were better protected when the level of patent protection offered in the U.S. was higher than that offered in countries with lower production costs. The rationale is straightforward – firms that rely on patent protection may have been more inclined to produce domestically when producing overseas was more likely to result in intellectual property theft and competition from infringing goods. As intellectual property protection strengthened in countries with lower production costs, outsourcing may have become more feasible.This paper tests the hypothesis that U.S. firms have been more likely to outsource production of patent-intensive intermediate goods from countries with stronger patent laws. A series of regressions demonstrate that this was indeed the case for three broad patent-intensive industries between 1997 and 2010, a time when both the strength of intellectual property rights and outsourcing were on the rise. Controlling for variables related to factor costs, gravity model determinants, and institutional quality, as well as time, industry, and country fixed effects, an increase in a country’s score on the Ginarte-Park Patent Index was associated with a significant increase in U.S. imports of intermediate goods from that country. The degree to which patent protection affected these trade flows differed by industry. As individual countries adjusted the level of patent protection they provided during this time, firms in those countries found themselves shipping more intermediate goods from these industries to the U.S.
PHENIX results on open heavy flavor production and flow in Au+Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV.

The paper presents recent PHENIX results for the nuclear modification factor RAA in Au + Au Collisions at S N N = 200 GeV for the electrons originating from semi-leptonic decays of open heavy flavor carrying particles. We also report the results of the azimuthal asymmetry ( v 2 ) measurement for those electrons, which is directly related to the heavy quark elliptic flow.
The Crisis in the US Litigation Model of Labour Rights Enforcement

The US is the only advanced country that expects victims of wage theft or discrimination to sue in courts of general jurisdiction, as it lacks labor courts or administrative agencies with power to compel remedies. This omission is intentional. Both the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were weakened in the drafting process to weaken administrative power. This choice for litigation is poorly-defended, rapidly approaching crisis, and makes resolution more difficult of such much-commented problems in labor rights enforcement as affixing responsibility in complex organization and classification of workers. As employment law increasingly becomes state law, states will experiment with administrative agencies with powers to grant remedies.
Multi-Physics Graphical Model-Based Fault Detection and Isolation in Wind Turbines

Early detection and isolation of faults in wind power generators increases the availability of wind turbines and reduces their down times and maintenance costs. Wind turbines constitute a complex system that includes sub-systems from different physical domains such as electrical, mechanical, and hydraulic systems. They constitute hybrid dynamical systems comprising discrete parts due to presence of power electronic switches and continuous parts such as induction machines, pitch actuator and mechanical drive-train. In this paper, a multi-physics graphical model-based fault detection and isolation (FDI) method is developed for doubly fed induction generator-based wind turbines. The model of the wind turbine is developed using hybrid bond-graph theory that captures causal, temporal, and structural properties of the system. Causality inversion method is then employed to derive analytical redundancy relations (ARRs) based on the developed model. The FDI is performed based on the changes in the values of ARRs. A systematic approach based on Chi-square criterion is developed to determine the values of thresholds, based on which the change in ARRs due to occurrence of faults are detected. The capability of the proposed method in accurate and fast detection and identification of mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic faults is demonstrated by the simulation results.
Predicting Viral News Events in Online Media

The information diffusion and dissemination define critical dynamics observed in large complex networks. The underlying information propagation topology, however, is often hidden or incomplete because of the lack of explicit citations of the sources. We proposed a scalable parallel algorithm to derive the node embeddings to better understand the information dissemination patterns and predict emergent cascades of viral events in online media. Unlike previous works which concentrate on modeling the links of information propagation, our algorithm infers the topic-specific output influence and the input selectivity of nodes. The parallel algorithm iteratively merges local node embeddings in particular communities to obtain the global optimal results so that the processing of cascades can be significantly accelerated. Based on the obtained latent representation of nodes, the emergent cascades of viral news events in online media can be successfully predicted with an 80\% accuracy at its early stage. Experimental results show that our parallel inference algorithm achieves a 10-fold acceleration and requires a low communication overhead, while the accuracy of the cascade size prediction is preserved.
Parallel Computing for Geocomputational Modeling

In the past decade, the emergence of cyberinfrastructure has rendered high-performance computing resources and parallel technologies increasingly open to domain-specific science discovery. The capability of these high-performance computing resources and associated parallel technologies has greatly stimulated researchers to utilize them for domain-specific problem-solving that requires considerable computational support. The objective of this paper is to investigate in detail the utility of parallel computing in geocomputational modeling. We discuss fundamentals in parallel computing and relevant technologies. To best leverage diverse high-performance computing resources often requires well-crafted parallel computing strategies or algorithms. We review the use of parallel computing for geocomputational modeling by focusing on four aspects: spatial statistics, spatial optimization, spatial simulation, and cartography and geovisualization. We design a case study of a spatial agent-based model to show how parallel computing can be exploited to empower advanced geocomputational modeling. Results demonstrate that the evolving parallel computing provides solid support for computationally intensive geocomputational modeling.
Recovery of lower cranial nerve function after surgery for medullary brainstem tumors.

Objective Although optimal treatment for intrinsic focal tumors of the medulla remains controversial, many surgeons advocate radical surgery for patients with these tumors. Postoperative surgical morbidity may include loss of lower cranial nerve function and significant motor deficits. Recovery of lower cranial nerve dysfunction after radical surgery has not been reported previously. Methods Forty-one children and adolescents with tumors involving the medulla underwent operations between 1986 and 1997. Nineteen (46%) of these patients experienced loss of lower cranial nerve function requiring tracheostomy, ventilator support, and feeding gastrostomy. A retrospective analysis of this patient population and the time to cranial nerve recovery was undertaken. Results Thirteen (68%) of the 19 patients with loss of lower cranial nerve function had full recovery of lower cranial nerve function. Two patients (11%) have had significant improvement in their lower cranial nerve function, and four patients (21%) have remained without lower cranial nerve function. Conclusion Lower cranial dysfunction is common after surgery for intrinsic medullary tumors. However, the majority of patients who require tracheostomy or gastrostomy tubes will recover cranial nerve function.
Dendriform Pulmonary Ossification in the Absence of Usual Interstitial Pneumonia: CT Features and Possible Association With Recurrent Acid Aspiration

OBJECTIVE. Dendriform pulmonary ossification (DPO) is a rare lung disease in which mature bone is present in the peripheral interstitium of the lung. It typically occurs in patients with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). We assessed patients with CT findings of DPO without UIP to determine possible causative factors and to assess the clinical and CT course. We hypothesized that DPO without UIP would be a unique entity. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We retrospectively reviewed CT reports for the word “ossification.” Two observers reviewed each examination for micronodules 1–5 mm in diameter in the peripheral interstitium (subpleural and perifissural spaces and interlobular septa), some of which had high attenuation on mediastinal windows, presence of contiguous clusters of nodules resulting in a branching pattern, and lack of findings of UIP or focal lung disease. We reviewed the electronic medical records and follow-up CT and clinical information in all eligible patients. RESULTS. The study population consiste...
Segmentation and tracking of inferior vena cava in ultrasound images using a novel polar active contour algorithm

Medical research suggests that the area of the IVC and its temporal variation imaged by bedside ultrasound is useful in guiding resuscitation of the critically-ill. Unfortunately, gaps in the vessel wall and intraliminal artifact represents a challenge for both manual and existing algorithm-based segmentation techniques. In this paper, a novel polar active contour algorithm based on the third image moment is proposed and used for segmentation and tracking of the IVC in ultrasound images. To validate the proposed research in this paper, we compare the proposed algorithm with manual segmentation and three state-of-the-art relevant algorithms. It is shown that the algorithm outperforms other techniques and in some scenarios appear to have advantages over manual segmentation creating the potential to improve medical management of the critically-ill patients.
Primary Liver Tumors Other than Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Clinical and Molecular Pearls

Liver tumors, excluding hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic disease, are rare. However, it is important to understand how to distinguish these lesions from hepatocellular carcinoma. They run the spectrum of benign to malignant, some aggressive with relatively few therapeutic options. The goal of this paper is to review the most recent literature to provide current insights into diagnosis, treatment, and pathogenesis of these tumor types. Recent literature has focused on oncogenomics and putative targets for therapeutic intervention. Several ongoing studies are elucidating molecular pathways and evaluating novel therapies in these rare tumors and we focus on these findings, particularly in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and fibrolamellar HCC. While these advances are promising, surgical resection continues to be associated with the greatest survival benefit for rare malignant tumors of the liver. Clinicians must be aware of rare liver tumors to distinguish them from hepatocellular carcinoma and to develop a differential diagnosis in complicated or atypical presentations. In these rare tumors, advances in understanding tumor biology hold the promise of expanding diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities.
READING MACHADO THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS: CASE STUDIES FROM THE TRANSLATIONS OF MEMÓRIAS PÓSTUMAS

For the past few decades, Anglophones have had access to three different translations of the Memorias postumas de Bras Cubas . Rather than muddying the waters, the divergences to be found between these versions of the novel may prove a fruitful entry into the text for scholars working in both languages. This paper provides a series of case studies from the translations of the novel, illustrating how a reading of the English versions allows us, the readers of Machado’s readers, to map ambiguities and intertextual references. Keywords: Machado de Assis; criticism by translation; Memorias postumas de Bras Cubas
hnRNP L‐dependent protection of normal mRNAs from NMD subverts quality control in B cell lymphoma

The human nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway (NMD) performs quality control and regulatory functions within complex post-transcriptional regulatory networks. In addition to degradation-promoting factors, efficient and accurate detection of NMD substrates involves proteins that safeguard normal mRNAs. Here, we identify hnRNP L as a factor that protects mRNAs with NMD-inducing features including long 3'UTRs. Using biochemical and transcriptome-wide approaches, we provide evidence that the susceptibility of a given transcript to NMD can be modulated by its 3'UTR length and ability to recruit hnRNP L. Integrating these findings with the previously defined role of polypyrimidine tract binding protein 1 in NMD evasion enables enhanced prediction of transcript susceptibility to NMD. Unexpectedly, this system is subverted in B cell lymphomas harboring translocations that produce BCL2:IGH fusion mRNAs. CRISPR/Cas9 deletion of hnRNP L binding sites near the BCL2 stop codon reduces expression of the fusion mRNAs and induces apoptosis. Together, our data indicate that protection by hnRNP L overrides the presence of multiple 3'UTR introns, allowing these aberrant mRNAs to evade NMD and promoting BCL2 overexpression and neoplasia.
Acoustic Wireless Power and Data Telemetry for Structural Health Monitoring

This paper proposes wireless power and data telemetry based on acoustic guided waves that travel on or through structures to enable acoustically-coupled sensor networks for structural health monitoring (SHM) of complex structures such as aircraft. Specifically, we develop adaptive Lamb-wave beamforming techniques using linear piezoelectric transducer arrays to enhance power transfer efficiency and telemetry targeting accuracy. GaN-based power amplifiers (up to 80 Vpp) and tunable low pass filter (LPF) banks (0.1-2.0 MHz) under adaptive control by an FPGA are implemented to drive such arrays. Binary frequency shift keying (BFSK) modulated on the power waveform is also proposed for data transfer in such reverberative and dispersive media. Optimal frequencies are investigated to maximize power transmission and minimize the bit error rate (BER). The proposed telemetry approach is experimentally evaluated on an SHM test bed for a drive level of 20 Vpp and achieves a power transfer of ~ 225.5 µ W at 0.5 m and a BER of 10−4 at 80 bps.
Sepsis and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in the ICU

The management of sepsis in the patient with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is dependent on 2 primary principles: 1) optimizing right ventricular (RV) function, and 2) reducing pulmonary vas...
Fully-covered esophageal stent migration rates in benign and malignant disease: a multicenter retrospective study

Background and study aims Stent migration is a common complication of fully-covered self-expanding metal stents (FCSEMS), but the rate of clinically relevant migration as defined by stent migration followed by reintervention via endoscopy for stent replacement is unknown. The goal of this study is to gain insight into the total migration rate and clinically relevant migration rate of different types of FCSEMS placed within benign and malignant strictures with specific attention paid to stent manufacturer, diameter, and length. Patients and methods Multicenter retrospective analysis of endoscopic data from patients with FCSEMS placed within benign or malignant strictures. FCSEMS used included a variety of sizes and manufacturers. Results A total of 369 patients were included, 161 of whom had benign strictures and 208 of whom had malignant strictures. The total migration rate and clinically relevant migration rate in benign strictures were 30 % and 17 %, respectively. For benign strictures, Wallflex stents had a clinically relevant migration rate of 15 %, compared to Endomaxx stents with 19 %, and Evolution stents with 25 % (P = 0.52). The total migration rate and clinically relevant migration rates in malignant strictures were 23 % and 14 %, respectively. Evolution stents had a significantly higher clinically relevant migration rate (29 %) than the Wallflex stents (7 %) and the endomaxx stents (12 %), P = 0.003. Conclusion This study is the largest to investigate migration rates for FCSEMS in benign and malignant strictures. Clinically relevant migration is a relatively common occurrence with all stent types studied and better anti-migration features are needed.
Skeptical Theism to the Rescue

In this chapter, I consider whether skeptical theism can successfully defend traditional theism against a logical argument from evil grounded in the fundamental requirements of our morality that are captured by the exceptionless minimal components of the Pauline Principle.
The Role of Internationalization Decision and Institutional Distance on Crowdfunding Performance

In this study, we examine whether the performance of entrepreneurial ventures opting for financial investments through crowdfunding are influenced by the distances embedded within country level inf...
A Frequency Tuneable Switched-Capacitor PA in 65nm CMOS

A frequency tuneable, switched capacitor power amplifier (SCPA) is introduced that allows it to operate in relatively narrow channel bandwidths (10’s of MHz) while enabling operation across a much wider frequency band (>1GHz). An SCPA is connected in series with a fixed inductor and a digitally programmable capacitor (DPC) that allows frequency tuning of the SCPA resonance. A prototype is fabricated in a 65nm CMOS process and embedded with the DPC on a printed circuit board for validation. The measured prototype operates from supply voltages of 1.2 and 2.4 V and achieves linear operation over 58.8% fractional bandwidth (1.4–2.5 GHz) with less than 1.7 dB output power variation. Due to its linearity, no digital pre-distortion is required to achieve measured ACLR 14.1 dBm.
The Practical Importance of Measurement Invariance

Psychologists and organizational scientists and others interested in measurement have long been concerned about the reliability and validity of instruments that are used with different groups and in different situations. In the past several decades, the increased globalization of many business enterprises and other institutions has resulted in the need and desire to use research instruments with individuals in different cultures. Most major consulting ﬁ rms with practices that include survey research and the assessment of human potential work in countries in multicultural and multilingual contexts. Researchers are also interested in extending their ideas and theories beyond the U.S. culture in which much of our psychological research has been conducted. The major assumption, often untested, is that individuals with the same observed score on some measuring device have the same standing on the construct that is the target of measurement. However, differences (e.g., in culture, in language) in the populations being measured necessitate examining the degree to which the instrument measures the same construct across these groups. Test equivalence (alternatively, measurement equivalence/invariance) is recognized as an important concern for different cultural or gender groups even when members of these groups use the same language, highlighting the fact that nonequivalence can occur along a wide variety of dimensions. More formally deﬁ ned, measurement invariance means that individuals whose standing on some construct is equivalent receive the same observed scores on a measure regardless of group membership or status.
A Study on Automatic Detection of IDC Breast Cancer with Convolutional Neural Networks

Developing effective methods for the automated detection of IDC remains a challenging problem for breast cancer diagnosis. Recently, Cruz and his coworkers proposed a machine learning approach for detection of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) from whole image slides containing breast cancer cells. Their method, based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), does not need to handcraft features from images. Their work has the potential of revolutionizing cancer detection, promoting further research and development in this exciting direction. Inspired by Cruz's work, our team investigated various CNN architectures for automated detection of breast cancer. We first implemented a baseline CNN similar to Cruz'ss, and then extended it to four different architectures. All architectures were trained over a large dataset of approximately 275,000, 50x50 RGB image patches. Measurement of quantitative results were done through a global average of 10-Fold Cross Validation tests. Each methodology used the performance measures, F-Measure (F1), and Balanced Accuracy (BAC). One of the fine-tuned CNN architectures yielded the best results in F1, BAC and accuracy (92%, 87%, and 89%, respectively). We also discovered through this study that data augmentation was not effective in automatic detection of breast cancers with the given dataset.
The small EF-hand protein CALML4 functions as a critical myosin light chain within the intermicrovillar adhesion complex

Specialized transporting and sensory epithelial cells employ homologous protocadherin-based adhesion complexes to remodel their apical membrane protrusions into organized functional arrays. Within the intestine, the nutrient-transporting enterocytes utilize the intermicrovillar adhesion complex (IMAC) to assemble their apical microvilli into an ordered brush border. The IMAC bears remarkable homology to the Usher complex, whose disruption results in the sensory disorder type 1 Usher syndrome (USH1). However, the entire complement of proteins that comprise both the IMAC and Usher complex are not yet fully elucidated. Using a protein isolation strategy to recover the IMAC, we have identified the small EF-hand protein calmodulin-like protein 4 (CALML4) as an IMAC component. Consistent with this finding, we show that CALML4 exhibits marked enrichment at the distal tips of enterocyte microvilli, the site of IMAC function, and is a direct binding partner of the IMAC component myosin-7b. Moreover, distal tip enrichment of CALML4 is strictly dependent upon its association with myosin-7b, with CALML4 acting as a light chain for this myosin. We further show that genetic disruption of CALML4 within enterocytes results in brush border assembly defects that mirror the loss of other IMAC components and that CALML4 can also associate with the Usher complex component myosin-7a. Our study further defines the molecular composition and protein-protein interaction network of the IMAC and Usher complex and may also shed light on the etiology of the sensory disorder USH1H.
Supporting the speaking development of students in a Swahili-as-a-foreign-language (SFL) classroom

Till date, the development of students’ language skills in a Swahili-as-a-foreign-language (SFL) context has not been thoroughly investigated. Rather, a majority of work has focused on grammar. This paper examines the activities that are used in an elementary SFL classroom at an American University to support the speaking development of students. Observation and in-depth interviews reveal that there are four main speaking activities used to support students’ speaking development. The findings highlight the importance of purposefully selecting speaking activities to support the speaking development of students in a SFL classroom.
Geometrically nonlinear Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko micropolar beam theories

Two ways of incorporating moderate rotations of planes normal to the axis of a straight beam into the Euler–Bernoulli and the Timoshenko micropolar beam theories are presented. In the first case, the von Karman nonlinear strains are used to incorporate the moderate rotations of normal planes into the beam theories. In the second case, appropriate approximations are made on the nonlinear Cosserat deformation gradient to reflect the condition of moderate rotations of the normal planes. The governing nonlinear differential equations and corresponding natural boundary conditions in both cases are derived using the principle of virtual displacements. A weak-form Galerkin displacement finite element formulation is presented for the developed nonlinear beam theories. The phenomenon of locking usually encountered in beam displacement finite elements is eliminated using higher-order finite elements with nodes located at spectral points. Finally, numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effect of coupling number and bending characteristic length scale on deflections and microrotations when a micropolar beam is modeled with the developed nonlinear beam theories.
Improving Calibration in Deep Metric Learning With Cross-Example Softmax.

Modern image retrieval systems increasingly rely on the use of deep neural networks to learn embedding spaces in which distance encodes the relevance between a given query and image. In this setting, existing approaches tend to emphasize one of two properties. Triplet-based methods capture top-$k$ relevancy, where all top-$k$ scoring documents are assumed to be relevant to a given query Pairwise contrastive models capture threshold relevancy, where all documents scoring higher than some threshold are assumed to be relevant. In this paper, we propose Cross-Example Softmax which combines the properties of top-$k$ and threshold relevancy. In each iteration, the proposed loss encourages all queries to be closer to their matching images than all queries are to all non-matching images. This leads to a globally more calibrated similarity metric and makes distance more interpretable as an absolute measure of relevance. We further introduce Cross-Example Negative Mining, in which each pair is compared to the hardest negative comparisons across the entire batch. Empirically, we show in a series of experiments on Conceptual Captions and Flickr30k, that the proposed method effectively improves global calibration and also retrieval performance.
Scattering of gravitational and electromagnetic waves off AdS 2 × S 2 in extreme Reissner-Nordstrom

The direct product of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime with a two-sphere is an exact solution of four-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell theory without a cosmological constant. In this paper, we analytically solve the coupled gravitational and electromagnetic perturbation equations of AdS2 × S2 in Einstein-Maxwell theory. On the other hand, AdS2 × S2 also describes the near-horizon region of the extreme Reissner-Nordstrom (ERN) black hole. We therefore also solve the connection problem: we show how the AdS2 × S2 perturbation equations arise from an appropriate near-horizon approximation of the corresponding equations for the ERN and then, using matched asymptotic expansions, we analytically extend the AdS2 × S2 solutions away from the near-horizon region connecting them with solutions in the far asymptotically flat region. From the point of view of ERN our results may be thought of as computing the classical scattering matrix for gravitational and electromagnetic waves which probe the near-horizon region of the black hole.
Links between objective sleep and sleep variability measures and inflammatory markers in adults with bipolar disorder

Abstract Premature mortality and increased physical comorbidity associated with bipolar disorder (BD) may be related to accelerated biological aging. Sleep disturbances and inflammation may be key mechanisms underlying accelerated aging in adults with BD. To our knowledge, these relationships have not been examined rigorously. This cross-sectional study included 50 adults with BD and 73 age- and sex-comparable non-psychiatric comparison (NC) subjects, age 26–65 years. Participants were assessed with wrist-worn actigraphy for total sleep time (TST), percent sleep (PS), and bed/wake times for 7 consecutive nights as well as completing scales for subjective sleep quality. Within-individual variability in sleep measures included intra-individual standard deviation (iSD) and atypicality of one evening's sleep. Blood-based inflammatory biomarkers included interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Linear regression analyses tested relationships of mean and iSD sleep variables with inflammatory marker levels; time-lagged analyses tested the influence of the previous evening's sleep on inflammation. BD participants had worse subjective sleep quality, as well as greater TST iSD and wake time iSD compared to the NC group. In all participants, higher TST iSD and lower mean PS were associated with higher IL-6 levels (p = 0.04, ηp2 = 0.042; p = 0.05, ηp2 = 0.039, respectively). Lower mean PS was associated with higher CRP levels (p = 0.05, ηp2 = 0.039). Atypicality of the previous night's TST predicted next day IL-6 levels (p = 0.05, ηp2 = 0.04). All of these relationships were present in both BD and NC groups and remained significant even after controlling for sleep medications. Overall, sleep measures and their variability may influence inflammatory markers in all adults. Thus, sleep may be linked to the inflammatory processes believed to underlie accelerated aging in BD.
Amorphous solid dispersions and the confounding effect of nanoparticles in in vitro dissolution and in vivo testing: Niclosamide as a case of study

We developed an amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) of the poorly water-soluble molecule niclosamide that achieved more than a 2-fold increase in bioavailability. Notably, this niclosamide ASD formulation increased the apparent drug solubility about 60-fold relative to the crystalline material due to the generation of nanoparticles. Niclosamide is a weakly acidic drug, BCS class II, and a poor glass former with low bioavailability in vivo. Hot-melt extrusion is a high-throughput manufacturing method commonly used in the development of ASDs for increasing the apparent solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble compounds. We utilized the polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate (PVP-VA) to manufacture niclosamide ASDs by extrusion. Samples were analyzed based on their microscopic and macroscopic behavior and their intermolecular interactions, using DSC, XRD, NMR, FTIR, and DLS. The niclosamide ASD generated nanoparticles with a mean particle size of about 100 nm in FaSSIF media. In a side-by-side diffusion test, these nanoparticles produced a 4-fold increase in niclosamide diffusion. We successfully manufactured amorphous extrudates of the poor glass former niclosamide that showed remarkable in vitro dissolution and diffusion performance. These in vitro tests were translated to a rat model that also showed an increase in oral bioavailability. O_FIG_DISPLAY_L [Figure 1] M_FIG_DISPLAY C_FIG_DISPLAY
Evaluation of Endovascular Intervention for Tracheo-Innominate Artery Fistula: A Systematic Review.

Background:While the standard of care for suspected tracheo-innominate artery fistula (TIF) necessitates sternotomy, perioperative mortality remains high. Endovascular interventions have been attem...
Maps as Inscription of Power: Imposing Visibility on New York’s “Shadow Transit”

This article examines a digital map depicting paratransit in New York City as an example of work that, in not taking into account how impositions of visibility might impact vulnerable populations, ...
Industry Technological Changes, Venture Capital Incubation, and Post-IPO Firm Innovation and Performance

This paper examines the determinants of the length of the venture capital incubation period and its impact on the post-IPO innovation and performance of investee firms. Venture capitalists (VCs) shorten incubation periods and take firms public when the industry shows rapid technological changes; further, firms with longer incubation periods earn more patents, are more likely to survive, and exhibit better performance after their IPOs. Incubation period effects on post-IPO firm performance are robust after controlling for incubation-period endogeneity. Finally, firms financed by more experienced VC earn more post-IPO patents. The findings provide new evidence of interactions between financial and product markets, and support the value-creating role of VCs.