cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Apolipoprotein L1 and Chronic Kidney Disease Risk in Young Potential Living Kidney Donors.

Annually in the United States, over 6,000 healthy individuals undergo living donor nephrectomy for the purposes of kidney transplantation.1,2 Living kidney donors gain no medical benefit from donation, exposing themselves to health risks associated with major surgery and reduced renal mass, including chronic kidney disease (CKD), entirely for the benefit of another individual.3,4 Essential to this process is proper medical evaluation and informed consent to promote donor autonomy in medical decision-making, requirements that mandate accurate quantification and communication of donor candidate risk for CKD. This is particularly crucial for young potential living kidney donors, who have the lengthiest remaining risk exposure, and African Americans (AA), who are at enhanced risk of CKD.5 Recently, an online risk tool was developed using population-based data that quantified the combined effect of 10 health characteristics to estimate the risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) among living kidney donor candidates.6 While informative, this study of seven cohorts was limited by short follow-up (median 4 to 16 years), heterogeneity of cohort design (incorporating both longitudinal and cross-sectional cohorts), no data on family history, and older age of potential living kidney donors (40–63 years-old). These limitations compromise the accuracy of lifetime estimates for ESRD among young living kidney donors and do not address the risk of the more proximate endpoint of CKD. Beyond the predictive value of baseline health characteristics is the rapidly evolving understanding of an individual’s genetic-risk profile.7–9 Recently, apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1) variants have been associated with nondiabetic CKD in AAs.10,11 About 40% of AAs have one of these renal-risk variants, with 13% of AAs demonstrating two.10,12,13 Previous work indicates that odds of CKD among individuals with one renal-risk variant were 1.3-fold higher and 7.3-fold higher among individuals with two variants compared to individuals without a variant allele.14 Independent of other risk factors, it is hypothesized that AA potential living kidney donors with APOL1 variants may be at particularly high risk of CKD;15 however, incorporation of APOL1 genotype into risk prediction models has not been done. The goal of this study was to develop a novel CKD risk prediction tool for young potential living kidney donors by leveraging data from a longitudinal cohort of adults ages 18–30 with more than 25 years of follow-up and availability of APOL1 genotyping.
Using frame semantics in authorship attribution

Authorship attribution is a stylometric technique that associates text to authors based on the type of writing styles. Researchers have looked for ways to analyze the context of these texts, in some cases with limited results. Most of the approaches view information at the syntactic and physical levels and tend to ignore information from the semantic levels. In this paper, we present a technique that incorporates the use of semantic frames as a method for authorship attribution. We hypothesize that it provides a deeper view into the semantic level of texts, which is an influencing factor in a writer's style. We use a variety of online resources in a pipeline fashion to extract information about frames within the text. The results show that our “bag of frames” approach can be used successfully for stylometry.
What Does it Take to Make Discovery a Success?: A Survey of Discovery Tool Adoption, Instruction, and Evaluation Among Academic Libraries

ABSTRACTDiscovery tools have been widely adopted by academic libraries, yet little information exists that connects common practices regarding discovery tool implementation, maintenance, assessment, and staffing with conventions for research and instruction. The authors surveyed heads of reference and instruction departments in research and land-grant university libraries. The survey results revealed common practices with discovery tools among academic libraries. This study also draws connections between operational, instructional, and assessment practices and perceptions that participants have of the success of their discovery tool. Participants who indicated successful implementation of their discovery tool hailed from institutions that made significant commitments to the operations, maintenance, and acceptance of their discovery tool. Participants who indicated an unsuccessful implementation, or who were unsure about the success of their implementation, did not make lasting commitments to the technical...
Biological conversion of coal gas to methane

Biological conversion of low-Btu coal synthesis gas to higher Btu methane was demonstrated using both pure co-cultures and/or adapted-mixed anaerobic bacteria.Peptostreptococcus productus metabolized coal gas to mainly acetate and CO2. The co-cultures containing methanogens converted these products to methane. In mixed culture studies, CH4 and small amounts of acetate were produced. Reactor studies using stirred-tank and immobilized cell reactors exhibited excellent potential to convert CO, CO2 and H2 to methane at higher gas flow rates. Gas retention times ranging from 0.7 to 2 hours and high agitation were required for 90 percent CO conversion in these systems. This paper also illustrates the potential of biological methanation and demonstrates the need for good mass transfer in converting gas phase substrates.
Ward Thomas and Sons, Inc

An MBA student attempts to use linear programming to help his family reduce feeding costs on their dairy farm. The objectives of the case include practice at formulating linear-programming problems (in particular, deciding what level of detail is appropriate) and recognizing that insights gained from building linear-programming models often exceed the original intent. Excerpt UVA-QA-0378 Rev. Feb., 4, 2013 WARD THOMAS AND SONS, INC. Another beautiful August day in 1987 was drawing to a close as Brian Thomas reviewed the data he had collected on milk production at Ward Thomas and Sons, Inc. (WT&S). Caught in the profitability squeeze affecting the dairy industry nationwide, WT&S had suffered through several years of minimal or negative profit from its milking operations. Thomas, an MBA student, was anxious to see if he could help his family by using his recently acquired knowledge of linear programming to reduce the cost of feeding the dairy herd, thereby improving the farm's competitive position. The Dairy Industry The decade of the 1980s had not been kind to the dairy industry as it struggled through a period of declining profitability. Although farmers had become more productive (average annual milk production per cow had increased from 7,761 lb. in 1940 to 15,528 lb. in 1987), people had become more health conscious. As a result, per capita consumption of milk and milk-related products had remained constant or, in some cases, declined. In addition, the price of dairy products had not kept pace with inflation, and farm profit margins had narrowed considerably. Federal milk-subsidy programs had been cut back, lowering the level of payments to farmers. In the mid-1980s, the Department of Agriculture had even implemented a temporary program that paid farmers to sell entire herds and discontinue dairy farming in an effort to lower the total supply of milk. . . .
Contributions of Mirror and Ion Bernstein Instabilities to the Scattering of Pickup Ions in the Outer Heliosheath

Maintaining the stability of pickup ions in the outer heliosheath is a critical element for the secondary energetic neutral atom (ENA) mechanism, a theory put forth to explain the nearly annular band of ENA emission observed by the Interstellar Boundary EXplorer. A recent study showed that a pickup ion ring can remain stable to the Alfven/ion cyclotron (AC) instability at propagation parallel to the background magnetic field when the parallel thermal spread of the ring is comparable to that of a background population. This study investigates the potential role that the mirror or ion Bernstein (IB) instabilities can play in the stability of pickup ions when conditions are such that the AC instability is suppressed. Linear Vlasov theory predicts relatively fast mirror and IB instability growth even though AC instability growth is suppressed. For a few such cases, two-dimensional hybrid and macroscopic quasi-linear simulations are carried out to examine how the unstable mirror and IB modes evolve and affect the pickup ion ring beyond the linear theory picture. For the parameters used, the mirror mode dominates initially and leads to a rapid parallel heating of the pickup ions in excess of the parallel temperature of the background protons. The heated pickup ions subsequently trigger onset of the AC mode, which grows sufficiently large to be the dominant pitch angle scattering agent after the mirror mode has decayed away. The present results indicate that the pickup ion stability needed may not be guaranteed once the mirror and IB instabilities are taken into account.
Supporting Women at the Time of Abortion: A Mixed‐Methods Study of Male Partner Experiences and Perspectives

Context Although men are commonly viewed as unaware, uninvolved and even obstructive regarding their partner's abortion access, those who accompany women to an abortion appointment may be more supportive. A better understanding of men's motivations could inform clinic policies regarding their involvement. Methods In 2015-2016, data were collected from male partners of women seeking an abortion at two clinics in a large Midwestern city. Twenty-nine interviews were conducted to explore how men wanted to be involved in the abortion and why they accompanied their partners. Thematic content analysis was used to examine these data, and emergent themes informed a survey, completed by 210 men, that focused on perceptions about and reasons for accompaniment. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the survey data. Results Four in 10 interviewees were aged 25-34, as were half of survey respondents. Overall, most had at least some college education and were in long-term or committed relationships. Interviewees described providing primarily instrumental (e.g., transportation and financial) and emotional (e.g., companionship and reassurance) support during the abortion process. While 57% of survey respondents would not have chosen to terminate the pregnancy if the decision had been their own, all wanted to support their partners. Notably, 70% viewed the appointment as an opportunity to receive contraceptive counseling. Conclusions Positive narratives regarding men's support for the abortion decisions of their partners provide a counterpoint to commonly held negative narratives. Future research should explore how supportive men who accompany partners at the time of an abortion may improve women's abortion experiences.
Water Quality Management in Ponds

If a fish pond is built on pesticide-free soil and filled with unpolluted fresh water, the initial water quality conditions are ideal for channel catfish culture. Dissolved oxygen concentrations are near saturation, and the water contains negligible concentrations of carbon dioxide, ammonia, nitrite, or other toxic substances. When fish are stocked and fed, the environment immediately begins to deteriorate and becomes less fit for the fish. The degree to which conditions deteriorate is related to the amount of fish waste reaching the water. This in turn is related to the number and weight of fish in the pond and the amount of feed they are offered.
The Kubo Formula and Linear Response

In much of semiconductor transport theory, it is our main aim to calculate the response of the distribution of electrons, within our device or bulk semiconductor sample, to an applied perturbation. While this perturbation is usually an electric field, it may also be a magnetic field, temperature gradient, density gradient, pressure, or any combination of these generalized forces. Energy from these forces is coupled to the electrons and subsequently decays to the lattice via interaction with the phonons. In small semiconductor devices, we would like to know the entire time dependence of the appropriate interactions, and usually we use some form of kinetic theory based upon the Boltzmann transport equation, which itself is not valid on the short time scales. The response is directly related to the nature of the scattering of the electrons by the lattice, and is often characterized in terms of relaxation times, such as the momentum relaxation time and the energy relaxation time. In turn, these averaged quantities are the macroscopic effects of the microscopic fluctuations introduced by the scattering processes themselves. As a consequence, it is possible to relate them directly to the averaged response to the spectrum of the fluctuations themselves—the traditional fluctuation-dissipation theorem.
Investigation of BWR depletion calculations with SAS2H

The SAS2H sequence of the SCALE system has historically been used to characterize isotopics, radiation sources, and decay heat for spent nuclear fuel. However, there has been little work performed to investigate the viability of the SAS2H modeling limitations in application to the geometric complexities of boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel. Thus, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has initiated a study to investigate the use of SAS2H for calculating spent BWR fuel isotopics for criticality analyses and to assess the adequacy of SAS2H for this task. This paper discusses comparisons between one-dimensional (1-D) SAS2H and detailed two-dimensional (2-D) HELIOS assembly calculations. The work described in this paper is a small part of this larger project to assess BWR modeling for spent-fuel characterization.
Effect of return period on normalized rainfall distributions in the United States

AbstractThe assumption that normalized 24-h rainfall distributions are independent of return period is investigated. The results of this study show that this assumption is justified in the interior...
Effect of Immunotherapy and Stem Cell Transplant on Survival in T Cell Lymphoma. NCDB Analysis

Introduction T cell lymphomas contribute to less than 15 percent of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in adults. Peripheral T cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL, NOS), Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), Angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL) contribute to approximately 75 percent of these T cell lymphomas. We did a population based study to evaluate the role of stem cell transplant and immunotherapy on survival outcome in stage four T cell lymphoma. Methods Data was analyzed from 4395 men and women (≥ 18 years of age) registered in the National Cancer Database (NCDB) who were diagnosed with stage four T cell lymphoma – PTCL, ALCL and AITL between 2004 and 2013 and had follow-ups to end of 2014. The primary predictor variable was treatment received, and overall survival was the outcome variable. Additional variables addressed and adjusted included gender, age, race, Charleston Comorbidity Index and histology. Results The mean age of patients was 58 years with standard deviation of 16. In multivariate analysis, after adjusting for secondary predictor variables, treatment modality was a statistically significant predictor of overall survival. Chemotherapy, SCT and immunotherapy decreased the mortality risk by 52, 70 and 22 %, respectively. Among the group with immunotherapy, pts with PTCL NOS and AITCL ALK negative derived the greatest benefit. Conclusion SCT and immunotherapy leads to improved survival in pts with T cell lymphoma. Among pts with T cell lymphoma, PTCL and ALCL ALK -, derive the greatest benefit from immunotherapy. Further clinical; research needs to be done to evaluate the role of immunotherapy in T cell lymphoma
Review: The Chicago Architecture Biennial

The Chicago Architecture Biennial New architecture and design biennials are proliferating at a rapid pace throughout the world. They seem to be fulfilling needs that are driven by the role of global tourism in urban economies and by a desire among educators, professionals, and general audiences for more inclusive and public discussions about the built environment. The most successful biennials are the ones that connect people who have innovative ideas with those who have the resources to implement them. I write as an architectural educator and historian (and occasional critic) who trained in Venice (where the world's first architectural biennial was officially launched in 1980 under the directorship of Italian architect and historian Paolo Portoghesi) and moved to Chicago shortly before the city launched itself into the biennial circuit with its inaugural edition in 2015–16. Thus, I am no stranger to the power of biennials to stimulate, exhaust, and occasionally frustrate body and mind with installations and catalogues that promise diligent visitors illumination concerning the complexities of contemporary architecture and urban culture. In recent years biennials have done what a handful of architecture centers in North America (Canadian Centre for Architecture) and Europe (Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Netherlands Architecture Institute) started decades earlier by catering to ordinary citizens in addition to educators, professionals, and students. Like diviners who find water where none appears on the surface, the best curators identify and train our focus on important issues that we have been too distracted to notice or have lacked the knowledge and critical distance to understand without guidance. In Chicago, with its remarkable history of groundbreaking architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning, civic and cultural leaders made the wise and strategic decision to embark on an …
catena‐Poly[[(acetonitrile‐κN)silver(I)]‐di‐μ‐trifluoromethanesulfonato‐κ4O:O′‐[(acetonitrile‐κN)silver(I)]‐μ‐tetraphenyldiphosphine‐κ2P:P′]

The silver(I)-based title polymer, [Ag2(CF3SO3)2(C28H26N2P2)]n, has been synthesized and structurally characterized. The compound shows the formation of a centrosymmetric eight-membered Ag/O/S/O/Ag/O/S/O ring situated around an inversion center, with the AgI ions bridged by two trifluoro­methane­sulfonate ions in a staggered conformation. The rings are then linked by tetra­phenyl­diphosphine ligands into a one-dimensional polymer. The rings have an Ag⋯Ag separation of 5.419 (5) A and are linked by a 2.2206 (15) A P—P bond. All AgI ions have pseudo-tetra­hedral geometry, with a coordination environment consisting of two O atoms from two symmetry-related trifluoro­methane­sulfonate ions, a P atom from a phosphine ligand and an N atom from an acetonitrile ligand.
Servicio doméstico y actividad de cuidados en el hogar: la encrucijada desde lo privado y lo público

espanolLos cambios sociales y demograficos propios de las sociedades actuales dan paso a la necesidad de reconfigurar el funcionamiento habitual de los cuidados: las demandas aumentan y se diversifican, mientras que disminuye la capacidad real de su cobertura por parte de las familias. Las respuestas desde el Estado ante este desequilibrio son claramente insuficientes, propias de un Estado asistencialista que desplaza la responsabilidad del cuidado al ambito familiar y que principalmente asumen las mujeres. Ante esta tesitura, las familias recurren a la externalizacion de los cuidados. Como estrategia privada destaca especialmente el recurso a la contratacion de servicio domestico, que deja de asociarse a la posicion social. Si bien la contratacion de personas para el cuidado implica una forma de reconocer economicamente labores que nunca han sido consideradas productivas, la regulacion normativa del sector es insuficiente y refleja un claro desinteres juridico y politico. Estamos ante una encrucijada de los cuidados que no encuentra solucion ni desde lo privado ni desde lo publico: en primer lugar, la familia no puede dar respuesta a la necesidad de cuidado. En segundo lugar, el Estado no aporta soluciones publicas suficientes. Por ultimo, la regulacion del servicio domestico, que impone una desigualdad clara frente al resto de trabajadores del regimen general, sume a trabajadoras y por lo tanto a los demandantes de cuidado en una situacion de vulnerabilidad. EnglishSocial and demographic changes lead to the need to reconfigure the usual functioning of care: while care demands increase and diversify, the actual capacity of their coverage by families decreases. The response from the State to this imbalance is clearly insufficient, typical of a welfare state that shifts the responsibility of care to the family and that is mainly assumed by women. Given this situation, families resort to the outsourcing of care. As a private strategy, the use of domestic service, which is no longer associated with social position, is particularly highlighted. Although the hiring of people for care implies a way of economically recognizing tasks that have never been considered productive, the regulation of the sector is insufficient and reflects a clear legal and political disinterest. So, we are at a crossroads where neither familiar or state care solutions are sufficient. First, the family cannot cover the care need. Secondly, the State does not provide adequate and sufficient public care alternatives. Overall, lack of regulation for domestic workers clearly differentiates these workers from others from a legal standpoint, causing a double vulnerability in workers and in the receptors of care. KEYWORDS: care;
Measurements of electric quadrupole transition frequencies in Ra+226

We report the first driving of the $7s{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}6d{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{D}_{3/2}$ and $7s{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}6d{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{D}_{5/2}$ electric quadrupole (E2) transitions in ${\mathrm{Ra}}^{+}$. We measure the frequencies of both E2 transitions and two other low-lying transitions in $^{226}\mathrm{Ra}^{+}$ that are important for controlling the radium ion's motional and internal states: $6d{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{D}_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}7p{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{3/2}^{o}$ and $6d{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{D}_{5/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}7p{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{3/2}^{o}$.
Chemoprevention of Colorectal Cancer by Anthocyanidins and Mitigation of Metabolic Shifts Induced by Dysbiosis of the Gut Microbiome

Diets rich in fat, smoking, as well as exposure to environmental pollutants and dysbiosis of gut microbiota, increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Much progress has been made in combating colorectal cancer. However, options for chemoprevention from environmental insult and dysbiosis of gut microbiota remain elusive. We investigated the influence of berry-derived anthocyanidins (Anthos), with and without encapsulating them in bovine milk-derived exosomes (ExoAnthos), on the chemoprevention of bacteria-driven colon tumor development. Anthos and ExoAnthos treatment of colon cancer cells showed dose-dependent decreases in cell viability. Calculated selectivity index (SI) values for Anthos and ExoAnthos suggest that both treatments selectively targeted cancer over normal colon cells. In addition, ExoAnthos treatment yielded higher SI values than Anthos. Anthos and ExoAnthos treatment of ApcMin/+ mice inoculated with enterotoxigenic Bacteriodes fragilis (ETBF) bacteria led to significant decreases in colon tumor numbers over mice receiving vehicle treatments. Western blot analysis of normal colon, colon tumor, and liver tissue lysates showed that mice inoculated with ETBF featured increased expression of phase I enzymes in normal colon tissue and decreased expression of phase II enzymes in liver tissue. Treatment with the Anthos and ExoAnthos reverted the modulation of phase I and phase II enzymes, respectively; no significant changes in phase II enzyme expression occurred in colon tumor tissue. Treatment of HCT-116 cells with the ubiquitous carcinogen, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) led to similar modulation of phase I and II enzymes, which was partially mitigated by treatment with Anthos. These results provide a promising outlook on the impact of berry Anthos for prevention and treatment of bacteria- and B[a]P-driven colorectal cancer.
Development and Evaluation of a Prospective Staffing Model to Improve Retention

Aims To improve predictability and accuracy of hiring using historical staffing data, quality improvement and workforce engagement. Background Twenty-three per cent of newly licensed nurses leave their first job within one year, costing employers $52,100 per nurse replacement. Tools for anticipatory hiring strategies are not available in the literature. Methods We used retrospective, secondary data analysis to develop a Prospective Staffing Model and conduct a five-year longitudinal evaluation of the implementation of the model in a convenience sample at a quaternary academic Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit. We used a team-based, quality improvement approach to restructure recruitment and hiring strategies, standardize new graduate nurse orientation and implement AACN Healthy Work Environment standards. Results Over the five-year prospective evaluation period (2014-2018), 388 nurses were hired and included in the evaluation cohort. Retention increased (n = 286 days) and turnover decreased (17.6%) between 2014 and 2018. Improvements in workforce stability were sustained at five years. Conclusions Use of a Prospective Staffing Model is associated with improved nurse retention and decreased turnover, and may improve workforce stability. Implications for nursing management Results suggest that an innovative tool can mitigate the deleterious effects of turnover, adding to current knowledge and providing a method for anticipatory assessment of local turnover.
Transcription factor network analysis identifies REST/NRSF as an intrinsic regulator of CNS regeneration

The inability of neurons to regenerate long axons within the CNS is a major impediment to improving outcome after spinal cord injury, stroke, and other CNS insults. Recent advances have uncovered an intrinsic program that involves coordinate regulation by multiple transcription factors that can be manipulated to enhance growth in the peripheral nervous system. Here, we used a system-genomics approach to characterize regulatory relationships of regeneration-associated transcription factors, identifying RE1-Silencing Transcription Factor (REST; Neuron-Restrictive Silencer Factor, NRSF) as a predicted upstream suppressor of a pro-regenerative gene program associated with axon regeneration in the CNS. We validate our predictions using multiple paradigms, showing that mature mice bearing cell type-specific deletions of REST or expressing dominant-negative mutant REST showed improved regeneration of the corticospinal tract and optic nerve, accompanied by upregulation of regeneration-associated genes in cortical motor neurons and retinal ganglion cells, respectively. These analyses identify a novel role for REST as an upstream suppressor of the intrinsic regenerative program in the CNS and demonstrate the power of a systems biology approach involving integrative genomics and bio-informatics to predict key regulators of CNS repair.
Religiousness and help seeking: individual, congregational, and clergy factors

Religious individuals are less likely to seek psychotherapy than nonreligious individuals, but few studies have looked at factors that may facilitate or hinder help seeking in these individuals. Us...
Risk of Complications in Children With Adrenal Insufficiency and Covid-19

Background: Adrenal insufficiency may put a person at higher risk with infections due to a lack of normal stress response by the body. Limited data has been available in pediatric adrenal insufficiency with Covid-19 Methods: We used TriNetX, with a large COVID-19 database, collecting real-time electronic medical records data. We compared children (0-18 years) who were diagnosed with Covid-19 with and without Adrenal insufficiency. This database collected information from 54 health care organizations Results: Mortality rate in children with Covid-19 and Adrenal insufficiency was 2.246% (19/846). Mortality rate in children with Covid-19 without adrenal insufficiency was 0.097 % (244/252211). Relative risk of mortality for children with Covid-19 and Adrenal insufficiency was 23.2 with a p value of < 0.0001. Endotracheal intubation rate in children with Covid-19 and Adrenal insufficiency was 1.418% (12/846). Endotracheal intubation rate in children with Covid-19 without Adrenal insufficiency was 0.065% (165/252211). Relative risk of endotracheal intubation for children with Covid-19 and Adrenal insufficiency was 21.68 with a p value of < 0.0001. Sepsis rate in children with Covid-19 and Adrenal insufficiency was 6.974% (59/846). Sepsis rate in children with Covid-19 without Adrenal insufficiency was 0.274% (691/252211). Relative risk of sepsis for children with Covid-19 and Adrenal insufficiency was 25.45 with a p value of < 0.00001. Conclusion: Mortality rate, endotracheal and sepsis showed increased association in children with Adrenal insufficiency and Covid-19 versus children with Covid-19 and no Adrenal insufficiency. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to study complication rates of Covid-19 and Adrenal insufficiency.
A 40nm RRAM Compute-in-Memory Macro Featuring On-Chip Write-Verify and Offset-Cancelling ADC References

Resistive random access memory (RRAM) based compute-in-memory (CIM) has shown great potentials for deep neural network (DNN) inference. Prior works generally used off-chip write-verify scheme to tighten the RRAM resistance distribution and used off-chip analog-to-digital converter (ADC) references to fine-tune partial sum quantization edges. Though off-chip techniques are viable for testing purposes, they are unsuitable for practical applications. This work presents an RRAM-CIM macro that features 1) on-chip write-verify to speed up initial weight programming and periodically refresh cells to compensate for resistance drift under stress, and 2) on-chip ADC reference generation that provides column-wise tunability to mitigate offsets induced by process variation to guarantee CIFAR-10 accuracy of >90%. The design is taped-out in TSMC N40 RRAM process, and achieves 36.4TOPS/W for 1×1b MAC operations on VGG-8 network.
VEHICLE MISFUELING IN CALIFORNIA DURING 1979

A survey of vehicle refueling practices in California during the gasoline shortage of 1979 indicates that the use of leaded gasoline in catalyst equipped vehicles was occurring at a rate of about 1.6%. Based on the effect that leaded fuel has on the exhaust emission characteristics of catalyst equipped vehicles it is estimated that misfueling in California is increasing hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions by about 4% and 1.6%, respectively from late model passenger cars.
Understanding the Culture of Ahiska Turks in Wheaton, Illinois: A Case Study

This study focuses on the cultural characteristics of Ahiska Turks in Wheaton, Illinois in the United States. By trying to understand the culture of the participants, I sought to shed light on how the Ahiska Turks managed to cope with the hardship they experienced and yet preserved their ethnic identities. In this multicase study, I interviewed six male Ahiska Turks. As a result of my analyses, eight themes emerged: family, religion (i.e., Islam), language (i.e., Turkish), communal life, endogamy, authoritarianism, oppression against the preservation of culture and identity, and education for upward mobility. The Ahiska Turks’ agrarian way of life, the preservation of their language, and their preference of integration to the larger society for acculturation make them who they are today. Keywords: Ahiska Turks, Meskhetian Turks, Culture, Acculturation, Integration Culture plays such a significant role in human life that no society can exist without it. All norms, value systems, and ways of conducts are the products of culture. Culture determines how an individual should act, dress, talk, eat, be educated, interact, believe, etc. Scholars of human development believe that there is a strong relation between cultural practices and the development of how members of a particular society think, remember, reason, solve problems, act, and behave. In this sense, every individual in all communities are “cultural participants” (Rogoff, 2003, p. 10). Figuring out what is meant by culture and how people acquire culture is an essential step to start investigating a culture and its participants. According to LeVine (1982), culture is “an organized body of rules concerning the ways in which individuals in a population should communicate with one another, think about themselves and their environments, and behave toward one another and toward objects in their environments” (p. 4). LeVine’s (1982) definition of culture has an anthropological perspective positing that culture determines human behavior and human adjustment to the surrounding environment, and thus, helps people organize a collective life. Each culture has its own set of rules that the members of that particular population have to follow. These rules are both implicit and explicit. When a rule is recognized and justified by the members of a particular society it becomes institutionalized. In other words, sociocultural environments are institutions that regulate norms. Individuals must follow the institutionalized rules (cultural norms) in order to fit in with the community (LeVine, 1982). Phinney and Ong (2007) posit that both individual and collective cultures have fundamental importance in the identity formation process of immigrants. Even though there does not seem to be a consensus on the definition of ethnic identity, the term refers to people’s sense of belonging to their origins (Phinney & Ong, 2007). Ethnic identity is
Effect of a television programme on nutrition cognitions and intended behaviours.

Aim: The present study examined the effect of nutrition-related information in the Lisa the Vegetarian episode from the prime-time television series The Simpsons on children's nutrition cognitions and intended behaviours. This episode was chosen because its storyline is rich in nutrition-related information. Methods: The sample was girls aged 9 and 10 years from New Jersey in the USA who were assigned to either the treatment group (n = 34) or control (n = 37). At the pretest, both study groups completed a self-administered questionnaire that measured nutrition cognitions (knowledge, outcome expectations, attitude and perceived norms) conveyed in the programme and intended behaviours related to vegetarianism. At the post-test, administered 7 to 14 days later, the control group again completed the questionnaire. The treatment group viewed the television programme and completed the questionnaire. At the follow-up post-test, administered 7 to 14 days after the post-test, both groups again completed the questionnaire. Results: Analysis of covariance, with pretest score as the covariate, revealed that the treatment group mean post-test and follow-up post-test knowledge and intended behaviour scores were significantly more positive and attitude scores were significantly more negative than the control group. Conclusion: Study findings indicate that television programmes must be recognised as an important vehicle for conveying nutrition-related information that affects children's cognitions and intended behaviours.
Atención en salud rural en Georgia y en la Zona Atlántica de Costa Rica

Deseo contarles sobre mi interes en estudios de salud rural y como me parecen que encajan esos estudios en la Antropologia Medica tradicional
Cyclosilthianes: II. Stereoisomers of methylethyl— and methylvinycyclo—silthianes☆

1,3,5-Trimehtyl-1,3,5-triehtylcyclotrisilthiane (I) was prepared by treating methylthyldichlorosilane with hydrogen sulfide in the presence of pyridime. 1,3,5-Trimethyl-1,3,5-trivinylcyclotrisilthiane (II) was prepared in a similar manner from methylethyldichlorosilane. The PMR spectrum of these cyclosilthianes is interpreted in terms of a mixture of conformational isomers. The PMR spectrum of these substances in solution did not allow a distinction among the chair and boat forms possible for the cyclosilthiane ring. Continued refluxing of (I) or (II) resulted in the isolation of a 5050 mixture of cis and trans-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-diethylcyclodisilthiane (III), (IV) and 1,3-dimethyl-1,3-divinylcyclodisilthiane (V), (VI) respectively. When (II) was heated or prepared at higher temperature, the PMR spectrum of the product contained resonances in the methyl region indicating the presence of additional methylvinylcyclosilthianes. Polymeric methylvinylsilthiane was isolated as one of the products formed when (II) is heated.
Novel control of an inverted pendulum

High frequency vertical oscillations of the pivot point of the inverted pendulum are investigated as a means of stabilizing the pendulum. Four cases are considered. The standard cart-pendulum is analyzed using optimal control techniques both with and without a vertical pivot oscillation. The stability of a simple inverted pendulum is investigated with a pure tone vertical displacement and then a gradient search is applied to determine a modulated vertical displacement to achieve asymptotic stability.
Senior Corporate Officers and the Duty of Candor: Do the CEO and DFO Have a Duty to Inform?

This article focuses on the duty to inform as a framework to assess liability of senior officers of public companies who withhold information from directors. The broadening of the definition of the duty to inform that senior officers owe directors to include an underlying affirmative duty to provide information, even when director or shareholder action is not requested, offers an opportunity for greater monitoring of corporate governance by focusing on those often most culpable. Currently, the plain language of Delaware’s delegation of authority statute protects directors who reasonably rely in good faith on the reports of corporate officers. However, officers’ reports must include more than minimum disclosure requirements. An affirmative duty to inform means senior corporate officers many not remain silent when in possession of superior information unknown to directors and that they have an underlying obligation of disclosure to enable directors to properly meet their oversight obligations. Part II of this article provides an overview of the Disney litigation. Part III of this article explores the rationale that senior corporate officers and directors owe the same fiduciary duties. Part IV examines the duty of disclosure in Delaware. Part V explores the fiduciary duties of senior officers as managers of the day-to-day affairs of the corporation and their superior position of control over directors. Finally, in Part VI, this article concludes that Delaware state fiduciary claims remain an important tool for shareholders to monitor corporate governance.
The effects of independent and interdependent self-construals on reactions to transgressions: distinguishing between guilt and shame

AbstractThe self-conscious emotions of guilt and shame are commonly distinguished by the self-reflective processes that foster these emotions. Distinctions based on resulting behavioral reactions, however, have been questioned in recent studies highlighting the role of different self-motivations. The current work draws on the self-construal literature to further clarify the antecedents and consequences of guilt and shame. We hypothesized that conceptualizing the self as independent from (vs. interdependent with) others fosters behavior-related (vs. self-related) cognitions typically associated with guilt (vs. shame). Additionally, we predicted that the deleterious consequences of shame for externalizing blame are more characteristic of independent (vs. interdependent) selves. These hypotheses were supported across two studies that measured (Study 1) and primed (Study 2) self-construals. Overall, our results suggest that the cognitive reactions associated with guilt and shame are differently encouraged by ...
Enhancing Mobile Recommender Systems with Activity Inference

Today's mobile leisure guide systems give their users unprecedented help in finding places of interest. However, the process still requires significant user interaction, for example to specify preferences and navigate lists. While interaction is effective for obtaining desired results, learning the interaction pattern can be an obstacle for new users, and performing it can slow down experienced users. This paper describes how to infer a user's high-level activity automatically to improve recommendations. Activity is determined by interpreting a combination of current sensor data, models generated from historical sensor data, and priors from a large time-use study. We present an initial user study that shows an increase in prediction accuracy from 62% to over 77%, and discuss the challenges of integrating activity representations into a user model.
Mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase-1 is essential for murine CD4(+) T cell metabolic activation.

Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase-1 is the first rate limiting step in de novo glycerophospholipid synthesis. We have previously demonstrated that GPAT-1 deletion can significantly alter T cell function resulting in a T cell phenotype similar to that seen in aging. Recent studies have suggested that changes in the metabolic profile of T cells are responsible for defining specific effector functions and T cell subsets. Therefore, we determined whether T cell dysfunction in GPAT-1 −/− CD4+ T cells could be explained by changes in cellular metabolism. We show here for the first time that GPAT-1 −/− CD4+ T cells exhibit several key metabolic defects. Striking decreases in both the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) were observed in GPAT-1 −/− CD4+ T cells following CD3/CD28 stimulation indicating an inherent cellular defect in energy production. In addition, the spare respiratory capacity (SRC) of GPAT-1 −/− CD4+ T cells, a key indicator of their ability to cope with mitochondrial stress was significantly decreased. We also observed a significant reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential in GPAT-1 −/− CD4+ T cells compared to their WT counterparts, indicating that GPAT-1 deficiency results in altered or dysfunctional mitochondria. These data demonstrate that deletion of GPAT-1 can dramatically alter total cellular metabolism under conditions of increased energy demand. Furthermore, altered metabolic response following stimulation may be the defining mechanism underlying T cell dysfunction in GPAT-1 −/− CD4+ T cells. Taken together, these results indicate that GPAT-1 is essential for the response to the increased metabolic demands associated with T cell activation.
Neuroprotective effect of phenytoin against in utero hypoxic brain injury in fetal guinea pigs

The present study tests the hypothesis that phenytoin, an antiepileptic agent known to block Na+ and Ca2+ channels, will prevent hypoxic brain injury in the fetus by preventing lipid peroxidation and preserving Na+, K+-ATPase activity. Studies were performed in 37 fetuses obtained from pregnant guinea pigs at 58–60 days gestation (term). The pregnant guinea pigs were divided into four groups: a normoxic group, a hypoxic group, a normoxic group treated with phenytoin, and a phenytoin treated hypoxic group. There were eight to ten fetal guinea pigs in each group. The treatment groups were given phenytoin 30 mg/kg (50 mg phenytoin/ml solvent) intraperitoneally. Hypoxia was induced by exposing the guinea pigs to 7% oxygen for 60 min. This level of hypoxia has been shown to decrease ATP and phosphocreatine levels by 90%. The fetal brains were harvested and the brain cell membranes were prepared from each group of fetuses. Na+, K+-ATPase activity and lipid peroxidation products, measured as relative fluorescent intensity, were determined. The mean Na+, K+-ATPase activity in the control, hypoxic, phenytoin-normoxic and phenytoin-hypoxic groups was 56.4 ± 9.7, 37.9 ± 10.6, 47.0 ± 8.4 and 52.0 ± 9.7 μmol inorganic phosphate/mg protein per h, respectively. The hypoxic group had significantly less Na+, K+-ATPase activity than both the normoxic group (P < 0.01), and the phenytoin treated hypoxic group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the normoxic group and either of the phenytoin-treated groups (P = ns). The mean relative fluorescent intensity, measured in μg quinine sulfate/g brain, was higher in the hypoxic, 1.85 ± 0.36, than in the normoxic group, 1.25 ± 0.10 (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between phenytoin-hypoxic group (1.53 ± 0.35) and the phenytoin-normoxic group (1.50 ± 0.45; P = ns). Exposure to hypoxia caused a decrease in Na+, K+-ATPase activity and an increase in lipid peroxidation of fetal brain cell membranes. Treatment with phenytoin before exposure to hypoxia prevented these changes, preserving brain cell membrane structure and function. These data suggest that administration of phenytoin prior to in utero hypoxia may be neuroprotective.
Suppression of the blackout due to blinks

Abstract An eyeblink causes an almost complete occlusion of light entering the eye. Yet people scarcely notice their blinks and the subjective visual world remains continuous and stable. We first duplicated the optical effect of a blink with an appropriate decrement in the illumination of a Ganzfeld. Viewed with eyes open, this momentary dimming seemed much stronger than the physically equal one produced by lid closure during a real blink. We then found that subjective equality with the real blink could be attained when the open eyes viewed a decrement of reduced magnitude and duration. We infer that a voluntary blink is accompanied by a suppression that fills in the blackout that would otherwise be perceived.
Where Is the Good in Goodbye

Although goodbyes are never easy, in parting with Molecular Therapy I would like to reflect on the good we have achieved together and to make sure that you, the readership of this journal, understand what we have been trying to achieve through the changes—some established, some still being implemented—we have made to the journal over the past five years. You can also let my successor know which of these changes have worked and which have been “epic failures.”
Connective Tissue Growth Factor reporter mice label a subpopulation of mesenchymal progenitor cells that reside in the trabecular bone region

Few gene markers selectively identify mesenchymal progenitor cells inside the bone marrow. We have investigated a cell population located in the mouse bone marrow labeled by Connective Tissue Growth Factor reporter expression (CTGF-EGFP). Bone marrow flushed from CTGF reporter mice yielded an EGFP+ stromal cell population. Interestingly, the percentage of stromal cells retaining CTGF reporter expression decreased with age in vivo and was half the frequency in females compared to males. In culture, CTGF reporter expression and endogenous CTGF expression marked the same cell types as those labeled using Twist2-Cre and Osterix-Cre fate mapping approaches, which previously had been shown to identify mesenchymal progenitors in vitro. Consistent with this past work, sorted CTGF+ cells displayed an ability to differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes in vitro and into osteoblast, adipocyte, and stromal cell lineages after transplantation into a parietal bone defect. In vivo examination of CTGF reporter expression in bone tissue sections revealed that it marked cells highly localized to the trabecular bone region and was not expressed in the perichondrium or periosteum. Mesenchymal cells retaining high CTGF reporter expression were adjacent to, but distinct from mature osteoblasts lining bone surfaces and endothelial cells forming the vascular sinuses. Comparison of CTGF and Osterix reporter expression in bone tissue sections indicated an inverse correlation between the strength of CTGF expression and osteoblast maturation. Down-regulation of CTGF reporter expression also occurred during in vitro osteogenic differentiation. Collectively, our studies indicate that CTGF reporter mice selectively identify a subpopulation of bone marrow mesenchymal progenitor cells that reside in the trabecular bone region.