cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Public support for innovation and the openness of firms’ innovation activities

This study explores empirically the relationship between publicly funded schemes to support innovation and the “openness” of firms’ innovation practices. Using survey data from more than 5000 firms in 29 European countries, we find that support policies for innovation, both monetary and non-monetary, are related to an increase in the degree of openness of individual firms, both in terms of the number of external partners with whom they collaborate and the number of open innovation activities they perform. However, the relationship between support and openness seems to be negatively moderated by the existence of previous innovative activity within the firm. Public support has more impact on less innovative firms and less influence when the firm is already innovative, which could potentially indicate the existence of crowding-out effects. Additionally, our results suggest that non-financial support is more strongly linked to openness than financial support. For policy makers facing salient budgetary constraints, this implies that institutions and government policies could potentially play a more important role than money in fostering open innovation. This article contributes to the open innovation literature by tapping into the underexplored question of the role of public policies and has crucial implications for academics and policy makers.
Delivery Outcomes After Acute Migraine Treatment in Pregnancy (I5.003)

Objective: To describe therapies employed and subsequent birth outcomes in pregnant patients presenting to the hospital setting with an acute severe migraine attack earlier in the same gestation. Background: Experiencing acute severe migraine attacks during pregnancy may indicate particularly severe and active disease. Data regarding delivery outcomes in this population is lacking. Methods: We reviewed pregnancy and delivery records from a database of consecutive inpatient neurology consultations for acute headache in pregnant women over a 5 year period. Results: We identified 90 pregnant women with acute migraine. The mean age was 29.3 (±6.3) years. Nearly half had migraine with aura (40.7[percnt]), 12.8[percnt] had chronic migraine, and 31.4[percnt] presented in status migrainosus. Most patients (62.2[percnt]) were treated with a combination of oral and intravenous therapies, including oral acetaminophen (75.6[percnt]), intravenous metoclopramide and diphenhydramine (both 54.4[percnt]). Complication rates included 54.4[percnt] for at least one adverse outcome, 28.2[percnt] for preterm delivery, 20.5[percnt] for preeclampsia, 30.8[percnt] for cesarean delivery, and 19.2[percnt] for low birthweight. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that migraine with aura was associated with a lower rate of adverse pooled outcomes (OR 0.28, 95[percnt] CI 0.09-0.86), but chronic migraine (OR 1.59, 95[percnt] CI 0.29-8.78) and status migrainosus (OR 0.66, 95[percnt] CI 0.22-2.02) were not associated with adverse pooled outcomes. Age at or above 35 years was independently associated with adverse outcomes (OR 7.37, 95[percnt] CI 1.97-30.4). Conclusions: Pregnant women seeking acute migraine treatment were exposed to a variety of medications, and experienced a higher rate of preterm delivery, preeclampsia and low birthweight but a lower rate of cesarean delivery than the general population. More than half of patients experienced some type of adverse birth outcome, suggesting that pregnancies in such patients should be considered high risk. Disclosure: Dr. Robbins has received personal compensation for activities with Medlink and Prova Education. Dr. Grossman has nothing to disclose. Dr. Govindappagari has nothing to disclose. Dr. Dayal has nothing to disclose.
Noise model of sense wire for large liquid argon time projection chambers: Theory and experiment

Large Liquid Argon (LAr) Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) are becoming very attractive for long baseline neutrino and proton decay experiments because of their imaging capabilities and their excellent energy resolution. In the design of large LTPCs, with wire lengths of several meters (∼5m, and up to 10–20m for proposed multi-kiloton detectors), the noise generated by the resistance of the wire needs to be taken into account. The wire cannot be modeled simply as a capacitance connected to the preamplifier: its resistance, coupled capacitively to adjacent wires constitutes a distributed RC diffusive line, which injects a noise current into the preamplifier. It will be shown that for most practical cases the noise source can be modeled as an equivalent noise generator corresponding to a resistance of R wire /3, in series to an impedance equal to the wire capacitance. This simple models allows the use the familiar formulas for the noise analysis of capacitive sources. The wire resistance noise for a typical 5m long, 150μm stainless steel wire (3mm wire spacing, and 3mm wire planes separation) increases the total noise by about 20% at 1μs shaping time, and becomes dominant for wire lengths >10m. It can be reduced by plating the stainless steel wire with high electrical conductivity metals.
Computerized Instruction in Translation Strategies for Students in Upper Elementary and Middle School Grades With Persisting Learning Disabilities in Written Language

Students in grades 5 to 9 (ages 10 to 14; 6 girls, 27 boys) who had persisting specific learning disabilities in transcription (handwriting and spelling) completed three kinds of composition tasks requiring translation (thought to written language) on iPads using alternating transcription modes (stylus or keyboard) across every three lessons: personal narratives (6 lessons) and written summaries about read source material (integrated reading-writing) and heard source material (integrated listening-writing) (12 lessons). Before composing summaries, students clicked sequentially one at a time onto translation strategies, which they read and heard through earphones, and could click on again as needed during summary writing: (a) Level I composing of the very next sentence, and (b) Level II composing of a higher-level discourse structure. ANOVAs showed that Level I strategies were used significantly more often than Level II strategies; but the main effect for transcription mode was not significant. Written summaries of read source material had more errors in main ideas and factual details than heard source materials, but not more irrelevant statements. Applications of results are discussed for using computers for writing instruction, not just accommodations, for students with persisting transcription disabilities. Individual subscriptions: http://www.sagamorejournals.com/ldmj Library and institutional subscriptions: email Terri Vickers or call 1-800-327-5557
Social justice advocacy among doctoral students in professional psychology programs

This study examined the relationships among multicultural competency, task-oriented coping, spirituality, political involvement, and experiences of discrimination on students’ engagement in social justice advocacy in a sample of 412 clinical, counseling, and school psychology doctoral students. Specifically, this study examined the mediating role of political involvement and task-oriented coping between the predictor variables and social justice advocacy. The results showed that the relationship between experiencing discrimination and social justice advocacy was only present when participants reported more political involvement and more task-oriented coping. The same was true for the relationship between spirituality and social justice advocacy; this relationship was only present when going through task-oriented coping. Further while there was a relationship between students’ multicultural knowledge and social justice advocacy, it was partly accounted for by political involvement. Similarly, the relations...
Health insurance and the supply of entrepreneurs: new evidence from the affordable care act

Is the difficulty of purchasing health insurance as an individual or small business a major barrier to entrepreneurship in the USA? I answer this question by taking advantage of the natural experiment provided by the Affordable Care Act’s dependent coverage mandate, which allowed many 19–25 year olds to acquire health insurance independently of their employment. Using a difference-in-difference strategy, I find that the dependent coverage mandate did not increase self-employment among young adults overall, but increased self-employment among disabled young adults by 19–23%.
On Cybersecurity Loafing and Cybercomplacency

As we begin to publish more articles in the area of cybersecurity, a case in point being the fine set of security papers presented in this particular issue as well as the upcoming special issue on Advances in Behavioral Cybersecurity Research which is currently in the review phase, it comes to mind that there is an emerging rubric of interest to the research community involved in security. That rubric concerns itself with the increasingly odd and inexplicable degree of comfort that computer users appear to have while operating in an increasingly threat-rich online environment. In my own work, I have noticed over time that users are blissfully unconcerned about malware threats (Poston et al., 2005; Stafford, 2005; Stafford and Poston, 2010; Stafford and Urbaczewski, 2004). This often takes the avenue of "it can't happen to me," or, "that's just not likely," but the fact is, since I first started noticing this odd nonchalance it seems like it is only getting worse, generally speaking. Mind you, a computer user who has been exploited and suffered harm from it will be vigilant to the end of his or her days, but for those who have scraped by, "no worries," is the order of the day, it seems to me.This is problematic because the exploits that are abroad in the online world these days are a whole order of magnitude more harmful than those that were around when I first started studying the matter a decade ago. I would not have commented on the matter, having long since chalked it up to the oddities of civilian computing, so to speak, but an odd pattern I encountered when engaging in a research study with trained corporate users brought the matter back to the fore recently. I have been collecting neurocogntive data on user response to security threats, and while my primary interest was to see if skin conductance or pupillary dilation varied during exposure to computer threat scenarios, I noticed an odd pattern that commanded my attention and actually derailed my study for a while as I dug in to examine it.
Conclusions: Looking Back at a Holocaust study abroad program

The concept of haunting has been an exceptionally rewarding framework for illuminating the kinds of encounters my group of students and I have experienced over the years at sites that are witness to what Jameson so eloquently termed the “hurts of history.’’ “Haunting’’ has given us a language to apprehend and interpret our mental, emotional, and visceral experiences and to appreciate the transformative effect of those experiences—the very meaning of feeling haunted means that our encounters will stay with us long after the program’s ending.
The Sleep Hygiene Inventory for Pediatrics: Development and Validation of a New Measure of Sleep in a Sample of Children and Adolescents With Chronic Headache

Sleep plays a pivotal role in children and adolescents with headache. Although several sleep measures exist, no developed measures target the sleep issues common in pediatric patients with headache. The Sleep Hygiene Inventory for Pediatrics (SHIP) was developed for clinical purposes to fulfill this need. The aim of this study was to validate the SHIP for potential research applications in a sample of 1078 children and adolescents (7-17 years) with a primary headache diagnosis. Measure validation included assessments of internal consistency, construct validity, and criterion validity. The SHIP demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.84). The SHIP differentiated well between participants for whom sleep was and was not a clinical concern ( P < .001; d =1.65), and was positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and disability. These analyses suggest that the SHIP is a psychometrically strong and valid assessment of sleep habits in pediatric patients with headache.
Measured and simulated Cf(sf)252 prompt neutron-photon competition

Neutrons and photons are characteristically emitted during the nuclear fission process when a deformed, neutron-rich nucleus divides into two fragments that then deexcite. During deexcitation, neutrons are emitted first, followed by photons; this process gives rise to correlated emissions. Few data exist on event-by-event neutron-photon correlation. In this work, $^{252}\mathrm{Cf}(\mathrm{s}\mathrm{f})$ neutron and photon correlations were measured with an array of 45 liquid organic scintillation detectors and a fission chamber. The measured correlations are compared with MCPNX-PoliMi simulations using the built-in model and two event-by-event fission models, CGMF and FREYA, which predict correlations in prompt emissions from fission. Experimental results suggest weak neutron-photon competition during fragment deexcitation.
Exploring a Big Data Approach to Building a List Frame for Urban Agriculture: A Pilot Study in the City of Baltimore

The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has the responsibility of quantifying the nation’s agricultural production. Historically, it has focused on large production agriculture. With interest and activity increasing in urban areas, NASS has begun exploring how to better quantify urban agriculture. This segment of agriculture is particularly challenging to enumerate because the agricultural holdings tend to be small, diverse, widely dispersed, and more transient than the predominantly large farms in rural areas. In collaboration with the Multi-Agency Collaboration Environment (MACE), a new approach to list building was explored in a pilot study conducted in the City of Baltimore, Maryland. Using a big data approach, areas of potential agricultural activity were identified by gathering information (state and local permits, Facebook and twitter feeds, interest groups, etc.) via the web. A sample was drawn from the list, and an in-person survey was conducted to assess whether or not the identified areas had agricultural activity. The results of the pilot study are presented. Lessons learned from the study and next steps are discussed.
One dimensional acceleration waves in inhomogeneous elastic non-conductors

In this paper, it is shown that the amplitude of an acceleration wave propagating in an inhomogeneous elastic non-conductor of heat obeys the well-known Bernoulli equation, and that knowing its local isentropic elastic properties is sufficient to predict the behavior of the amplitude. A specific application of the general results to the case when the material is at rest in a non-homogeneous reference configuration is also considered; it is shown that the specific behavior of the amplitude for this case can be quite different, depending on the properties of the material in this configuration.
How has the state-of-the-art for quantification of landscape pattern advanced in the twenty-first century?

Landscape ecology was founded on the idea that there is a reciprocal relationship between spatial pattern and ecological processes. I provide a retrospective look at how the state-of-the-art of landscape pattern analysis has changed since 1998. My objective is to show how pattern analysis techniques have evolved and identify some of the key lessons learned. The state-of-the-art in 1998 was derived from information theory, fractal geometry, percolation theory, hierarchy theory and graph theory, relying heavily on the island-patch conceptual model using categorical maps, although point-data analysis methods were actively being explored. We have gradually winnowed down the list of fundamental components of spatial pattern, and have clarified the appropriate and inappropriate use of landscape metrics for research and application. We have learned to let the objectives choose the metric, guided by the scale and nature of the ecological process of interest. The use of alternatives to the binary patch model (such as gradient analysis) shows great promise to advance landscape ecological knowledge. The patch paradigm is often of limited usefulness, and other ways to represent the pattern of landscape properties may reveal deeper insights. The field continues to advance as illustrated by papers in this special issue.
Parameter estimation for complex thermal-fluid flows using approximate Bayesian computation

Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) is used to estimate unknown physical parameters in complex thermal-fluid flows.
Can school-based physical activity programs and policies decrease screen-time usage among youth?

Screen time (ST), which has become increasingly prevalent among youth, includes the use of multiple electronic or media devices, such as televisions, computers, tablets, smartphones and hand-held g...
Screening and Behavioral Counseling Interventions to Reduce Unhealthy Alcohol Use in Adolescents and Adults: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Importance Excessive alcohol use is one of the most common causes of premature mortality in the United States. From 2006 to 2010, an estimated 88 000 alcohol-attributable deaths occurred annually in the United States, caused by both acute conditions (eg, injuries from motor vehicle collisions) and chronic conditions (eg, alcoholic liver disease). Alcohol use during pregnancy is also one of the major preventable causes of birth defects and developmental disabilities. Objective To update the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) 2013 recommendation on screening for unhealthy alcohol use in primary care settings. Evidence Review The USPSTF commissioned a review of the evidence on the effectiveness of screening to reduce unhealthy alcohol use (defined as a spectrum of behaviors, from risky drinking to alcohol use disorder, that result in increased risk for health consequences) morbidity, mortality, or risky behaviors and to improve health, social, or legal outcomes; the accuracy of various screening approaches; the effectiveness of counseling interventions to reduce unhealthy alcohol use, morbidity, mortality, or risky behaviors and to improve health, social, or legal outcomes; and the harms of screening and behavioral counseling interventions. Findings The net benefit of screening and brief behavioral counseling interventions for unhealthy alcohol use in adults, including pregnant women, is moderate. The evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening and brief behavioral counseling interventions for unhealthy alcohol use in adolescents. Conclusions and Recommendation The USPSTF recommends screening for unhealthy alcohol use in primary care settings in adults 18 years or older, including pregnant women, and providing persons engaged in risky or hazardous drinking with brief behavioral counseling interventions to reduce unhealthy alcohol use. (B recommendation) The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening and brief behavioral counseling interventions for alcohol use in primary care settings in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. (I statement)
Optimum Full Information, Unlimited Complexity, Invariant, and Minimax Clock Skew and Offset Estimators for IEEE 1588

This paper addresses the problem of clock skew and offset estimation (CSOE) for the IEEE 1588 precision time protocol. Built on the classical two-way message exchange scheme, IEEE 1588 is a prominent synchronization protocol for packet switched networks. Due to the presence of random queuing delays in a packet switched network, the joint recovery of clock skew and offset from the received packet timestamps can be viewed as a statistical estimation problem. Recently, assuming perfect clock skew information, minimax optimum clock offset estimators were developed for IEEE 1588. Building on this work, we first develop joint optimum invariant clock skew and offset estimators for IEEE 1588 for known queuing delay statistics and unlimited computational complexity. We then show that the developed estimators are minimax optimum, i.e., these estimators minimize the maximum skew normalized mean square estimation error over all possible values of the unknown parameters. Minimax optimum estimators that utilize information from past timestamps to improve accuracy are also introduced. The developed optimum estimators provide useful fundamental limits for evaluating the performance of CSOE schemes. These performance limits can aid system designers to develop algorithms with the desired computational complexity that achieve performance close to the performance of the optimum estimators. If a designer finds an approach with a complexity they find acceptable and which provides performance close to the optimum performance, they can use it and know they have near optimum performance. This is precisely the approach used in communications when comparing to capacity.
Integrated modelling of the life cycle and aeroecology of wind-borne pests in temporally-variable spatially-heterogeneous environment

Abstract Integrating population ecology and aeroecology is important for understanding dispersal dynamics of pest insects that depend on aerial habitats. Sugarcane aphid (Melanaphis sacchari) is an economic pest of sorghum in Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America and recently invaded North America, affecting over 90% of the continent’s sorghum production. Long-distance, wind-aided dispersal together with the ability to overwinter in the southernmost sorghum-producing areas appear responsible for their geographic spread in North America. We developed a spatially-explicit, individual-based, stochastic model that integrates the life cycle and aeroecology of sugarcane aphids to forecast regional infestations of sorghum fields. We parameterized and calibrated the model to represent environmental conditions and sorghum phenologies of the southern to central Great Plains of the USA where sorghum is cultivated. We validated the model by comparing simulated spatial-temporal patterns of aphid infestations to georeferenced field data on infestations collected as part of an extensive field project. We assessed potential usefulness of the model by analysing regional patterns of aphid infestations on sorghum simulated under climatic conditions recorded in the southern to central Great Plains in 2017. On a regional scale, the simulated northward advance of aphid infestations generally followed the seasonal development of sorghum, with the main invasion front moving northward from southern to central Texas, then northwest towards the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma (northernmost and westernmost regions, respectively, of these states), and then northward again into central and western Kansas. Within this general regional trend, the stochastic nature of simulated infestations resulted in wide variation within each region with regard to time lags between the appearance of sorghum and initial infestation, which led to wide variation in infestation levels. The geographical distribution of simulated aphid infestation probabilities approximately mirrored the proportion of land cover in sorghum production, with a prominent infestation “hot spot” covering west-central Kansas and the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma. Models capable of simulating both local population dynamics as well as long-range, multi-generational dispersal of wind-borne pests show promise as a component of adaptive areawide pest management programs.
Inhibition of p70 ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) by PF-4708671 decreased infarct size in early cerebral ischemia-reperfusion with decreased BBB permeability.

Abstract It is not clear whether inhibition of p70 ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) is neuroprotective in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. Decreasing blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption has been associated with a better neuronal outcome in cerebral ischemia. We hypothesized that inhibition of S6K1 would decrease BBB disruption and infarct size in the early stage of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was performed in rats under isoflurane anesthesia with controlled ventilation. 75 mg/kg of PF-4708671, an S6K1 inhibitor, was administered intraperitoneally 15 min after MCAO. After 1 h of MCAO and 2 h of reperfusion, the transfer coefficient (Ki) of 14C-α-aminoisobutyric acid and the volume of 3H-dextran distribution were determined to assess the degree of BBB disruption. At the same time point, phosphorylated Rictor (pT1135) and the infarct size were measured to evaluate S6K1 activity. In the PF-4708671 treated rats, the Ki of the ischemic-reperfused cortex was lower than the untreated rats (−22%, P Our data demonstrate that PF-4708671 decreased the size of the cortical infarct in the ischemic-reperfused cortex with a decrease in BBB disruption suggesting that inhibition of S6K1 may induce neuronal survival in early cerebral ischemia-reperfusion and that a decrease of BBB disruption could be one of the contributing factors.
Suburban Villages: Conceptualizing Urban Fringes in a Global Context. The Case of Wangzhai

Early settlements, or “Suburban Villages,” are organized along the Wenruitang water network, a millenary old canal system which structured the territory around Wenzhou. The extension of the urban boundaries from the late 1980’s onward included the rural villages along the Wenruitang in a form of diffused urbanism. Those villages became linked to create an Urban Archipelago, deﬁning an indigenous kind of suburbs. At present, the sevillages are threatened by the constant mutating character of this suburb: the agricultural land preservation policy will preserve the diffuse urban form but puts the burden on the already built areas, i.e. the suburban villages, as the only place of redevelopment, and real estate speculation. Ourresearchprojectaimstodeﬁnethismutatingterritoryandfocusparticularlyonthe relation between the Wenruitang water system and the settlements, within this new suburban situation. Our goal is to show the patterns of its architecture and urbanism in order to propose either a preservation and rehabilitation plan. OurﬁrstcasestudyisthevillageofWangzhaiinWenzhouinZhejiangProvince.Located on one branch of the Wenruitang water network, Wangzhai village is both typical and speciﬁc. As part of these Suburban Villages network, it is typical with its relation to the river, its spontaneous urban development, and its modern vernacular architecture heritage. However it is located within the boundaries of the Sino-American Wenzhou-Kean University, and is part of the planned Kean Town. The objective of our research is to examine the condition of the village in order to propose conceptual tools that might be used for design strategies.
Exploring the Relationship Between Preservice Teachers’ Conceptions of Problem Solving and Their Problem-Solving Performances

Despite the importance of teachers’ conceptions of and competency in problem solving, limited attention is given to this area in the current literature. We examined 96 preservice elementary teachers’ problem-solving conceptions and performances by having them define and create metaphors for problem solving and then investigated the relationships between their conceptions and problem-solving performances. We found that a large majority defined problem solving as a means to a solution and created end-product metaphors and that their conceptions of problem solving were related to their performances. This study contributes to the current literature on problem solving and the knowledge base of teacher education.
Graphene oxide modified, clinker-free cementitious paste with principally alkali-activated fly ash

Abstract This work reports the development of a clinker-free cementitious paste with principally alkali-activated class C coal fly ash (PAFA) as the binder and with graphene oxide (GO) as an admixture, cured under ambient conditions. With desirable strength, short setting time and slight volume expansion, this PAFA shows great potential to be used in cementitious materials for rapid repair or renewal. This laboratory study started from a statistical design of experiments to investigate the influence of six constituent materials (waterglass, lime, recycled glass powder, triisopropanolamine, cement kiln dust, and an encapsulating agent F500) on the compressive strength of hardened pastes at 7 days and 28 days, respectively. The mix design showing the best mechanical strengths features the mass ratios of fly ash: waterglass: lime: triisopropanolamine: sodium sulfate: GO equal to 100:6:3.6:1.2:1:0.02, water to dry binder of 0.24, and F500 to fly ash of 0.0375. This “target” sample and its control (with the same mix design but without GO) were selected for further investigation. The compression strength, setting time, workability, water absorption, and volume change of these pastes were tested to clarify the effect of GO on the macro properties of PAFA. The microscale investigations including scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction shed light on the mechanistic role of GO. The Ca, Si, Al contents and the Ca/Si, Al/Si, Ca/(Al + Si) mole ratios, obtained from energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, were statistically compared to elucidate the hydration mechanisms of this PAFA binder.
MULTI-LEVEL INTERACTIONS OF GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE SECTORS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

In the process of economic development of a large number of countries that have succeeded in their modernization and industrialization, the national government has played a substantial role in leading and guiding the development of the private sectors. The interactions among the national governments, state governments and the private economic sectors can be cast in a dynamic hierarchical decision making framework. In this paper, we formulate the national government and private sector interactions in the Stackelberg leader-follower dynamic game framework. This formulation is based on a specific process of economic development expounded by K. Ohkawa and known as Phase Theory. In the first part, we develop a differential game approach to Phase theory along with performance functions to be optimized. In the second part, we present the vector (sector) augmentation process in which the roles of government and private sectors are clearly interactive and selective given the limited financial resources available to the society. The sector augmentation process is an evolutionary process leading the national socio-economic developmental stage into a higher, more advanced steady state level from which a new decision-making situation evolves.
Chapter 3 – DNA Quantitation

Publisher Summary The primary purpose of DNA quantitation in forensic casework is to determine the appropriate amount of DNA template to include in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of short tandem repeat loci to avoid off-scale data and associated artifacts. Determination of the amount of DNA in a sample is essential for most PCR-based assays because a narrow concentration range works best with multiplex short tandem repeat (STR) typing. If the amount of DNA in a sample is outside of the target range for creating a “just right” DNA profile, then the DNA amount is adjusted prior to putting it into the PCR reaction. The process of achieving a DNA concentration that fits the optimal window for analysis is called normalization. This involves diluting the sample down to the desired range or concentrating it by removing excess fluid. Evaluation of human DNA quantity in a sample is used to screen for samples that are sent forward through the DNA testing process. When having to wade through a large number of samples, a sample screening process based on the amount of human DNA present is very helpful and cost-effective. DNA quantitation that is performed well saves time during the data review process, as data signal is on-scale.
Metabolism of Amino Acids in the Brain and Their Roles in Regulating Food Intake.

Amino acids (AAs) and their metabolites play an important role in neurological health and function. They are not only the building blocks of protein but are also neurotransmitters. In the brain, glutamate and aspartate are the major excitatory neurotransmitters, whereas γ-aminobutyrate (GABA, a metabolite of glutamate) and glycine are the major inhibitory neurotransmitters. Nitric oxide (NO, a metabolite of arginine), H2S (a metabolite of cysteine), serotonin (a metabolite of tryptophan) and histamine (a metabolite of histidine), as well as dopamine and norepinephrine (metabolites of tyrosine) are neurotransmitters to modulate synaptic plasticity, neuronal activity, learning, motor control, motivational behavior, emotion, and executive function. Concentrations of glutamine (a precursor of glutamate and aspartate), branched-chain AAs (precursors of glutamate, glutamine and aspartate), L-serine (a precursor of glycine and D-serine), methionine and phenylalanine in plasma are capable of affecting neurotransmission through the syntheses of glutamate, aspartate, and glycine, as well as the competitive transport of tryptophan and tyrosine across from the blood-brain barrier. Adequate consumption of AAs is crucial to maintain their concentrations and the production of neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. Thus, the content and balance of AAs in diets have a profound impact on food intake by animals. Knowledge of AA transport and metabolism in the brain is beneficial for improving the health and well-being of humans and animals.
Solid phase synthesis of ω-aspartic thioacid containing peptides

Abstract The Fmoc-based solid phase synthesis of unprotected ω-aspartic thioacid containing peptides is demonstrated. The method involves the novel use of a silyl ester as a carboxylate surrogate for mild peptide bond formation in the presence of a reactive ω-aspartyl thioester. The resulting peptide thioacids may be used in N-glycoligation and other thioacid-mediated conjugation reactions.
Measuring positive and negative body talk in men and women: The development and validation of the Body Talk Scale.

Abstract Research suggests that positive and negative body talk are important factors in people’s body image, however, the instruments designed to measure body talk are generally designed for use with a specific gender and primarily measure negative body talk. To address the shortcomings in the existing measures, the Body Talk Scale (BTS) was designed to measure both positive and negative body talk in men and women. The current study examines the development and psychometric properties of this new scale in two samples of adults, both including men and women. Study 1 focused on the development and examined the factor structure of the original scale items. Study 2 confirmed the factor structure and examined the concurrent validity, incremental validity, test-retest reliability of the scale, and also gender differences. The results indicated that the BTS is a 14-item scale that contains three subscales (Negative Fat Talk, Negative Muscle Talk, and Positive Body Talk) and demonstrates good concurrent validity, incremental validity, and test-retest reliability. Gender comparisons on all three subscales indicated that men engage in more positive body talk than women. The findings demonstrate that the BTS is a useful measure of positive and negative body talk in both men and women.
Machine Learning Enhances the Performance of Bioreceptor-Free Biosensors.

Since their inception, biosensors have frequently employed simple regression models to calculate analyte composition based on the biosensor’s signal magnitude. Traditionally, bioreceptors provide excellent sensitivity and specificity to the biosensor. Increasingly, however, bioreceptor-free biosensors have been developed for a wide range of applications. Without a bioreceptor, maintaining strong specificity and a low limit of detection have become the major challenge. Machine learning (ML) has been introduced to improve the performance of these biosensors, effectively replacing the bioreceptor with modeling to gain specificity. Here, we present how ML has been used to enhance the performance of these bioreceptor-free biosensors. Particularly, we discuss how ML has been used for imaging, Enose and Etongue, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) biosensors. Notably, principal component analysis (PCA) combined with support vector machine (SVM) and various artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms have shown outstanding performance in a variety of tasks. We anticipate that ML will continue to improve the performance of bioreceptor-free biosensors, especially with the prospects of sharing trained models and cloud computing for mobile computation. To facilitate this, the biosensing community would benefit from increased contributions to open-access data repositories for biosensor data.
Another influenza season in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flu season is upon us at the ominous milestone of more than 722,000 US deaths from COVID-19.
Increased Disparities in Patients Diagnosed with Metastatic Lung Cancer Following Lung CT Screening in the United States

Abstract Objectives We sought to determine if implementation of low dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for lung cancer in the United States had led to changes in patients being diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer over time. Materials Methods The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database was utilized to determine the proportion of lung cancers diagnosed as stage I-III and stage IV from 2009-2018. Changes in lung cancer stage distribution were compared in the overall population and by race. Results From 2009 to 2018, the proportion of stage I-III lung cancers increased from 52% (51.3%-53.2%) in 2009 to 56% (54.0%-55.8%) in 2018 (p Conclusion Since the implementation of LDCT screening, the proportion of early-stage lung cancers increased in the general population. These changes in stage distribution were not present in black patients. Micro Abstract The SEER database was utilized to assess the impact of CT screening on lung cancer stage distribution from 2009-2018. The percentage of patients diagnosed with metastatic disease decreased overall, but there were no significant changes for black patients. These results associate CT screening to changes in lung cancer stage distribution, but potential racial disparities exist.
On multi-index fixed charge bi-criterion transportation problem

In this paper, we propose an algorithm for solving a multi-index fixed charge bi-criterion transportation problem and present a method for finding the optimum trade-off pair among efficient cost–time trade-off pairs. The proposed algorithm minimizes variable and fixed costs simultaneously to yield an optimal basic feasible solution. The results of the computational experiments suggests that our algorithm is better than the one proposed by Ahuja and Arora (Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 32(5) 739-746, 2001). We also provide an algorithm to obtain an initial basic feasible solution of the multi-index transportation problem that may be used as a better initial solution for other existing procedures to enhance convergence to the optimal solution.
El envejecimiento de la población, las transferencias intergeneracionales y el crecimiento económico: América Latina en el contexto mundial

En este articulo se abordan algunas de las consecuencias economicas de la transicion demografica en cinco paises de America Latina que forman parte del proyecto sobre cuentas nacionales de transferencias. En este proyecto, se considera de manera integral y congruente el conjunto de transferencias intergeneracionales publicas y privadas que caracterizan a la economia generacional, lo que permite realizar comparaciones entre regiones y paises. En este documento se examina la forma en que los modelos de transferencias intergeneracionales interactuan con los cambios demograficos que tienen lugar durante la transicion demografica, prestando especial atencion a la fase de envejecimiento de la poblacion.
Weight-based volume of injection influences cranial to caudal spread of local anesthetic solution in ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane blocks in canine cadavers.

Objective To determine if the volume of injected local anesthetic solution affects cranial to caudal spread when performing ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks in dogs. Study Design Prospective experimental study. Animals Adult Beagle cadavers (n = 20) Methods Bilateral TAP blocks using ultrasound guidance was performed in 20 Beagle cadavers (mean ± SD weight, 9.3 ± 1.4 kg) using a 1:1 solution of methylene blue/bupivacaine injected at volumes of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 mL/kg. Cadavers were dissected to determine injectate spread within the transversus abdominis fascial plane. Results The transversus abdominis fascial plane was adequately identified by ultrasonography, injected, and dissected in 38 beagle hemi-abdominal walls; injectate was not identified in 2 hemi-abdominal walls. Dermatomal spread (number of ventral nerve roots saturated by injected solution) was volume dependent (P = .026, Kruskal Wallis): 2.9 ± 0.74 nerve roots for 0.25 mL/kg; 3.4 ± 1.1 for 0.5 mL/kg; 4.0 ± 0.67 for 0.75 mL/kg; and 4.2 ± 1.2 for 1 mL/kg. Conclusion In Beagle cadavers, the volume of injected local anesthetic solution significantly affects cranial to caudal spread within the TAP during ultrasound-guided TAP blocks. The volume of local anesthetic injected could potentially be used to augment the spread of analgesic coverage for a given surgical procedure in dogs.
Meal timing during alternate day fasting: effects on body weight and coronary heart disease risk in obese adults (47.5)

Alternate day fasting (ADF), consisting of a feed day (24-h ad libitum food intake) alternated with a fast day (25% energy intake at lunchtime), results in moderate weight loss (3-4 kg) in 8 weeks. It has been speculated that moving the fast day meal to dinnertime, or dividing the meal into smaller meals, may improve adherence and weight loss. Accordingly, this study compared the effects of three ADF protocols with different fast day meal times on body weight and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Obese subjects (n = 45) were randomized to 1 of 3 groups for 8 weeks: 1) ADF-L: fast day meal as lunch, 2) ADF-D: fast day meal as dinner, or 3) ADF-SM: fast day meal as small meals throughout the day. Body weight decreased (P < 0.05) to a greater extent in the ADF-D (4.6 ± 0.6 kg) and ADF-SM (4.9 ± 0.6 kg) groups, compared to the ADF-L (3.3 ± 0.6 kg) group. Fat mass and visceral fat mass also decreased (P < 0.05) to a greater extent by ADF-D (3.1 ± 0.3 kg; 0.2 ± 0 kg) and ADF-SM (3.3 ± 0.4 kg; 0.2 ± 0 kg), vers...
Automated Classification of Resolved Galaxies

The knowledge that galaxies, then undifferentiated from galactic nebulae, had different forms preceded the era of astronomical photography. Now morphological types establish a fundamental descriptive vocabulary for the study of galaxies and galactic systems (Hubble 1936, de Vaucouleurs 1959, Sandage 1975).
Laws of Licensing: U.S. Computer Information Licensing Under the Common Law, the Uniform Commercial Code, and the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act

License agreements govern most transfers of electronic information that is protected by intellectual property law. This paper will describe some of the distinguishing legal characteristics of digital information licenses. Then the application to licenses of U.S. state common law of contracts and Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Article 2 in the 1980s and 1990s will be explored, focusing on issues respecting which these sources of law seemed to not address adequately the needs of licensing parties. The history of UCITA, the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act, will be examined as an attempt to fashion a uniform statute customized to address the unique traits of license agreements. The paper will evaluate how well UCITA addresses licensing issues that are not adequately resolved by the UCC or the common law. Next, UCITA and Revised UCC Articles 1 and 2 will be compared. Finally, the future prospects for U.S. licensing law will be assessed.
Volume Measurement of Large Material Stack Based on the RBFNN Interpolation

This paper presents a quantitative method of measuring the volume of material stack.The material stack is divided into many little rectangular columns,then the material stacks volume will be got by calculating each rectangular columns volume.At the same time,a measurement system is designed to achieve the automatic measurement, three-dimensional reconstruction, and volume measurement.
Branch libraries and technology: Impact of a new main library

Purpose – To explore the interactions between branch libraries and a new main library, in the area of technology equipment and services.Design/methodology/approach – Following an introduction which highlights the major elements in place at UNLV Libraries for networking and equipment, each branch situation is described and evaluated.Findings – The advantages of UNLV Libraries' philosophical approach to consistent patron access at all points of service are found to be substantial, and include regular equipment and software upgrades, as well as systems expertise. The major disadvantage proves to be flexibility in approaching patron needs.Practical implications – Provides a philosophical basis and concrete examples of branch efforts to provide adequate technology and services to their patrons.Originality/value – Useful to branch librarians making a case for enhanced resources, or discussing possible configurations of responsibility regarding technology equipment and services.
Comparison of optical spectra and computer-simulated structure of rare-earth-doped fluoroberyllate glasses

Abstract The atomic structure at rare earth sites in fluoroberyllate glasses is simulated using Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics techniques. Both simple BeF 2 glass and fluoroberyllate glasses with alkali and alkaline earth modifiers are treated. Changes in glass composition affect the local geometry and coordination at the rare earth. To correlate these structural changes with the inhomogeneously broadened linewidths and intesities observed in optical spectra, the Stark splittings at each simulated site due to second-order terms in the crystal-field potential are calculated using a point-charge model. Structural variations and their changes with composition are also analyzed in terms of a principal axis system of the local charge distribution. The predicted site-to-site variations in the rare-earth energy levels agree with the range and distribution of energy level splittings observed in laser-induced fluorescence line-narrowed and broadband optical spectra of Eu 3+ and Nd 3+ . The origin of the residual inhomogeneous broadening in nonresonant fluorescence line-narrowing experiments caused by accidental coincidences of excitation levels is also evident from the predicted energy levels.
Rhetoric of Atrocities: The Place of Horrific Human Rights Abuses in Presidential Persuasion Efforts

An analysis of presidential rhetoric in the post-Cold War era finds that in building the case for imminent war, presidents turn to narrative descriptions of specific atrocities, namely rape, torture, and victimization of children. By the same token, presidents wishing to avoid American involvement in war use abstract terms and statistical information concerning human rights crises, but refrain from detailing personalized stories of abuse. This study expands on the theory of savagery as a necessary component in enemy construction and on the literature concerning the changing rhetorical landscape of the post-Cold War era. The analysis finds the rhetoric of atrocities employed and avoided, in similar fashion, by three presidents and across several different settings. The implications are discussed in the article.