cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ELECTROKINETICS AND CELL PHYSIOLOGY. II. RELATIONSHIP OF SURFACE CHARGE TO ONSET OF BACTERIAL COMPETENCE FOR GENETIC TRANSFORMATION

Jensen, Roy A. (The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston) and Felix L. Haas. Electrokinetics and cell physiology. II. Relationship of surface charge to onset of bacterial competence for genetic transformation. J. Bacteriol. 86:79-86. 1963.-A reliable cell fractionation scheme, which is sensitive to the electrokinetic properties of Bacillus subtilis cells, has been described in detail. Recipient cell populations, characterized by a wide range of competency for transformation to independence of nutritional markers, were subjected to electrokinetic fractionation. Results indicated that (i) physiological competency is directly related to the electrical charge on the cell surface, (ii) newly competent cells carry a maximal negative charge, (iii) the newly competent cell appears with spontaneous abruptness, (iv) a kinetic flow of competent cells from the highly charged fractions to the lower charged fractions indicates the progressive loss of the surface charge maintained by a competent cell, and (v), by token of the latter statement, cells competent to undergo transformation do so within a range of surface-charge values.
Long-term Effect of Temperature and Triadimefon on Proliferation of Uncinula necator: Implications for Fungicide Resistance and Disease Risk Assessment.

ABSTRACT Triadimefon has been used in California to control Uncinula necator, causal agent of grape powdery mildew, since 1982. Instances of unsatisfactory control have occurred mainly in the cooler coastal areas of California. The effect of temperature and application of triadimefon was investigated over a 53-day-period on two U. necator isolates, sensitive and resistant to triadimefon. At 15°C, 25°C, or temperatures fluctuating between 15 and 25°C, in absence of triadimefon, the isolates continued to produce high numbers of conidia for the entire duration of the experiment. Sporulation declined at daily maximum temperatures of 32°C for 6 h, 36°C for 3 h, and 40°C for 1 h, but was detectable when the experiment was terminated. At these temperature regimes, sporulation of the triadimefon-treated sensitive isolate ceased after 23 days. When treated with triadimefon, sporulation of the resistant isolate was comparable to that of the water-treated control. At daily maximum temperatures of 32°C for 11 h, 36°C...
Composition dependence of coercive force of some crystallized amorphous alloys

Amorphous ribbons of many compositions have been crystallized and the resulting permanent magnet properties explored. P and C gave much higher H c than B in Fe-Ni-base metallic glasses. When the Fe/Ni ratio is varied, H c drops precipitously when α-Fe appears. Rapid electrical pulse annealing generally gives higher H c than isothermal annealing. The highest coercive forces obtained were 16.7 kOe in a rare-earth alloy, 3.2 kOe in an alloy containing no rare earth, and 420 Oe in an alloy containing neither cobalt nor rare earth. In many alloys the remanence-to-saturation ratio is much greater than 0.5.
AFRICANA TELFORDI N. SP. (NEMATODA: HETERAKIDAE) FROM THE LIZARD, ENYALIOIDES HETEROLEPSIS (SAURIA: IGUANIDAE) FROM PANAMA

Africana telfordi n. sp. (Nematoda: Heterakidae) from the large intestine of the lizard Enyalioides heterolepsis collected in Panama is described and illustrated. Africana telfordi n. sp. represents the seventh species assigned to the genus and the second from the Neotropical Realm. It is distinguished from the other neotropical species, A. chabaudi, by the size and shape of the spicules. The spicules of A. telfordi are robust, analate, and 366–458 μm in length; those of A. chabaudi are narrow, alate, and 644–869 μm in length.
Optimization of a Vehicle Restraint System Using a Genetic Algorithm

In an attempt to make vehicle restraint systems more effective in protecting occupants, many advanced safety technologies have been introduced. These advanced technologies are mostly adaptive technologies. The ability of a restraint system to adapt itself to crash parameters like crash speed and type, occupant size, and belt-usage status, offers possible enhancements in occupant protection. Designing a restraint system boils down to the determination of the design variables of either the restraint technologies or vehicle interiors. A restraint system of adaptive technologies involves much more design variables than a restraint system containing only load-limited belts and dual stage inflators, possibly posing a challenge to safety engineers. In this paper, a genetic algorithm (GA) tailored for restraint system optimization will be presented. Two restraint systems, one for the driver side and one for the passenger side, containing a variety of advanced safety technologies will be used as examples to demonstrate the feasibility of this new tool in optimizing advanced restraint systems. The efficiency of this optimization tool and its application to evaluating the net benefit of adaptive technologies will be discussed at the end.
On the comparison of state- and transition-based analysis of biological relevance in gene co-expression networks

Traditional correlation network analysis typically involves creating a network using gene expression data and then identifying biologically relevant clusters from that network by enrichment with Gene Ontology or pathway information. When one wants to examine these networks in a dynamic way - such as between controls versus treatment or over time - a “snapshot” approach is taken by comparing network structures at each time point. The biological relevance of these structures are then reported and compared. In this research, we examine the same “snapshot” networks but focus on the enrichment of changes in structure to determine if these results give any more insight into the mechanisms behind observed phenotypes. Our main hypothesis is that more information, particularly related to potential dynamic changes, can be obtained through transition-based analysis of biological networks. To test this hypothesis, we compare gene expression data from the mouse hippocampus at three different time points: young, middle-aged, and aged, and compare the traditional state-based approach to the dynamic transition-based enrichment approach. In this study we use a clustering approach (SPICi) designed specifically for clustering of large biological networks. The results of this study verify an inconsistency between traditional and dynamic structure identification approaches through biological enrichment. These results highlight an intriguing issue for those performing, critiquing, and using network based approaches in their research - that a black box or workflow type of approach typically used in network based research can be supplemented with a transitionbased approach to support movement from in silico to in vivo experimentation of target genes.
閒情的吃，雅致的嚐－明清江南的介類水產與飲食生活

This paper investigates the role and culture of shellfish in the dietary culture of people living south of the Yangtze during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is divided into two parts. In the first part, shellfish products from the Yangtze were classified and their roles and characteristics were discussed in terms of the cooking style and food tasting culture. When the cooking style changes, the traditional dining mode of a regular three meals will progressively head towards dining with randomness, sophistication and freedom; this in fact relates to the dining development from the ”routine” to the ”non-routine”. Secondly, the food tasting culture represents the interaction between these foods and consumers. When food departs from the ”routine” dining mode, it represents the diversification of emotional interactions among people or groups. In the second part, specific shellfish products are used as examples to discuss the spread of food concepts, which not only relies on recipes or words of mouth, but also on gentry culture which may influence people's view on food. For example, the comment on scallops by the great scholar Su Dongpo in the northern Song dynasty has continuously influenced our perspectives of this particular food, and this is discussed in a separate section.
Physical activity and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer defined by hormone receptor status and histology: A large prospective cohort study with 18 years of follow up

1002 Background: Physical activity is a modifiable breast cancer risk factor, perhaps mediating risk reduction through regulation of estrogen metabolism. Evidence regarding effect of physical activ...
Inhibitory Performance Predicting Drinking Behaviours Among Young Adults.

AIMS: While inhibition has been studied extensively in correlation to alcohol abuse within the adult population, it has been studied less so in relation to the alcohol consumption habits of young adults. Accordingly, this is the first study with the objective of identifying which subcomponent(s) of inhibitory performance, behaviourally measured by the withholding of a pre-potent response, the cancellation of a pre-potent response and interference inhibition will best predict binge drinking habits among young adults. METHODS: Forty-nine collegiate adults (41 females) with a mean age of 21.92 ± 1.34 years, performed three cognitive batteries assessing inhibition: Stop Signal task (SST), Go/No-Go task (GNG) and Simon task. Participants completed two biweekly alcohol logs, 2 and 4 weeks following inhibitory assessment. RESULTS: Regression analysis revealed that interference inhibition (Simon task) and/or withholding inhibition (GNG) contributed to the prediction of total intoxication days and total hangover days. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that specific subcomponents of response inhibition, and not others, are more suitable for predicting alcohol consumption habits.© The Author 2016. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Language: en
Photographs and Descriptions of Cup-Fungi—XXXIII. A New Boudiera

areolata was misleading, since the spores are echinulate rather than areolate. Little seems to have been known of this genus until the writer in 1904 collected in abundance a species in Iowa which is similar if not identical with the European Boudiera areolata. This was erroneously described as a Sphaerosoma owing to the fact that Boudiera areolata had been misinterpreted and misrepresented in the records which were at that time available. Not until 1914, through the examination of an authentic specimen, was the writer able to determine the true characters of the genus Boudiera. When this was done it was found that Sphaerosoma echinulatum of the writer was only another form of Boudiera, so closely resembling the type species that it is even doubtful if the two are distinct, but since there are certain gross characters which appear to differ the two species have been retained in our recent monograph of the operculate cup-fungi. Recently the writer has received from Dr. Leva B. Walker of Nebraska a beautiful specimen which is unquestionably a Boudiera. While the general characters leave no question as to its generic identity, its specific characters differ greatly from the other two described species. The apothecia of Boudiera areolata attain a diameter of 5-8 mm. and were dark-brown in color, while the present species from Nebraska is scarcely a mm. in diameter and pure white. Both are characterized by the strongly protruding asci and paraphyses which give to the convex subhemispherical hymenium a much roughened appearance. Apothecia of the Nebraska mate-
Electrokinetic change in human erythrocytes during adsorption and elution of PR8 influenza virus.

ConclusionsThe electrophoretic mobility of human type O erythrocytes was found to decrease from 1.32 to 0.5-0.6 μ/sec./v./cm in the presence of 0.311 to 16.9 μg/ml of a highly purified preparation of the PR8 strain of influenza virus.Adsorption and elution of the virus, and agglutination of the erythrocytes was found to be concurrent with the decrease in electrophoretic mobility of the erythrocytes.The time of intimate contact of virus with cells and the pattern of decrease of electrophoretic mobility are not only interdependent but also dependent upon the concentration of added virus.At the optimal ratio of virus to erythrocytes, as determined by the mobility and titration curves, it has been calculated that only 1/80 of the erythrocytic surface is covered by virus particles and that this value corresponds to about 298 PR8 virus particles to one erythrocyte.
The Use of Statistical Mechanics for Hydroxyl Ion Transport in an Alkaline Anion-Exchange Membrane

A statistical mechanics model based on the time-dependent Liouville equation is applied to the diffusion of hydroxyl ions in an alkaline anion exchange membrane. The original model developed for Nafion was modified to facilitate an effective numerical implementation. The model results showed a significant dependence of the diffusion on the ion size (i.e., the outer electron distribution), but for likely ion sizes the diffusion coefficient was found not to be significantly different from the nominal value in water. The specific numerical implementation was computationally competitive with molecular dynamics implementations, but presents considerable mathematical difficulties requiring approximations to obtain solutions.
Multistatic microwave imaging with arrays of planar cavities

The authors present a multistatic imaging system at microwave frequencies based on arrays of planar cavity sub-apertures, or panels. The cavity imager consists of sets of transmit and receive panels, loaded with radiating irises distributed over the sub-apertures in an aperiodic pattern. This frequency-diverse aperture produces distinct radiation patterns as a function of frequency that encode scene information onto a set of measurements; images are subsequently reconstructed using computational imaging approaches. Similar to previously reported computational imaging systems, the cavity-based imager presents a simple system architecture, minimising the number and expense of components required in traditional microwave imaging systems. The cavity imager builds on previous frequency-diverse approaches, such as the recently reported metamaterial and air-filled cavity systems, by utilising frequency-diverse panels for both the transmit and receive sub-apertures of the imaging system. Though the panel-to-panel architecture has greater sensitivity to calibration error, this implementation nevertheless increases mode diversity and, in the context of a computational imaging system, results in improved image reconstructions.
Record of Green Lighting Demonstration Item in Shougang Group

Green lighting item is one of the measures of implementing energy c onservation actions. The item is done in Shougang group. Through the means of bi nding bids, result assess, tack service popularize high efficient power source a nd lamp appliance and save power energy , and clip peak load of the electric gri d, then conserve power founds. The green lighting item is put into total reform items in Shougang group, it receives high attention and specific implement and t he effect is obvious. That has great meaning for the energy conservation.
Application of Drinking Water Quality Index Method to Drinking Water Quality Evaluation for Shengzhou City

[Objective]To evaluate drinking water quality in Shengzhou, and provide improvement measures to ensure local drinking water safety.[Methods]The data of 41 drinking water samples during 2011 were retrieved randomly from the water quality monitoring system in selected urban and rural water treatment plants. The data were evaluated using drinking water quality index(DWQI) and five-color classification method.[Results]Of all selected samples, 29.73% were graded as excellent(green), 21.62% were good(blue), 10.81% were poor(yellow), 35.14% were worse(red), and 2.70% were worst(black).Higher water quality was found in the samples from urban water treatment plants, followed by town and village water treatment plants.[Conclusion]The drinking water quality in Shengzhou was not satisfied. Related supervision and management should be enhanced by administrative agencies. The water quality index and five-color classification methods reflect water quality directly,which is convenient for water quality information disclosure and public participation.
Orthopedic Checklist for Neonates and Infants

A careful musculoskeletal survey should be an integral part of the pediatric examination at birth and should be repeated in its entirety at visits during the first year; the few minutes thus spent will often make possible earlier and more effective correction or amelioration of congenital orthopedic defects. A guide is presented for the development of a personal technique of systematic review.
Installation Tobacco Control Programs in the U.S. Military

Tobacco use prevalence is unacceptably high in the U.S. military, and the Department of Defense and service branches have implemented tobacco control policies and cessation programs. To explore aspects of programs regarded as exemplary by their services, we visited four installations, nominated by their service's health promotion leaders, and conducted interviews, observations, and focus groups. Installations included Naval Hospital Guam, Tripler Army Medical Center, MacDill Air Force Base, and the Naval Hospital at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. The tobacco control managers (TCMs) at the programs studied were all civilian employees, highly motivated and enthusiastic, and had remained in their positions for approximately a decade. Other commonalities included support from command, a "culture" of health, and location in warm climates. Programs varied in their involvement in establishing designated tobacco use areas, and length and requirement of attending cessation classes; however, no evaluation of cessation programs is currently underway. TCMs should be more engaged in policy discussions for the larger installations they serve. A strong policy framework and command support for TCMs will be necessary to achieve the goal of a tobacco-free military.
Contagion in Stress: An Infectious Disease Model for Posttraumatic Stress in Children

Posttraumatic stress responses involve the development of characteristic symptoms of reexperiencing, arousal, and avoidance following exposure to a traumatic event. This article uses an infectious disease model to describe exposure and transmission of posttraumatic stress responses, individual susceptibility and resilience, onset of symptoms, and prevention and control.
Does preoperative magnetic resonance imaging beneficially alter surgical management of invasive lobular carcinoma

The role of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer remains controversial. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of preoperative breast MRI on patients with biopsy-proven invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) initially deemed eligible for breast conserving therapy. We analyzed a prospective cohort study of patients with biopsy-proven ILC that consented to undergo preoperative diagnostic MRI at our institution. Data analysis of 20 patients accrued from January 2010 through January 2011 was performed. Outcome measures included discovery of occult lesions, need for additional biopsies, change in surgical management, and need for surgical reexcision. MRI found an additional cancer in 40 per cent of patients and increased extent of disease in one patient. MRI led to eight biopsies, for a pathologically confirmed true positive rate of 82 per cent [95% confidence interval (CI) 62-101%] and only two unnecessary biopsies. Preoperative MRI beneficially altered surgical management in 42 per cent of patients (95% CI 19-65%) without leading to unnecessary surgery, and only one patient required reexcision for positive margins (5.8%, CI -5.8-17.4%). In conclusion, preoperative MRI in patients with ILC can detect additional disease that was missed by conventional workup, allowing for better preoperative planning and more appropriate oncologic resection.
The determination of source properties by the linear inversion of seismograms

A method has been developed allowing the direct inversion of seismograms to obtain an estimate of the seismic source, as characterized by its equivalent force moment tensor. With reasonable assumptions the problem can be shown to be linear in both the frequency and time domains and least-squares methods are used to estimate the source mechanism. In the synthetic tests that have been run, several possible uses of the method have been investigated. With a satisfactory station distribution the source mechanism can be recovered using complete seismograms from three component stations or several P arrivals on vertical components. The method is useful in distinguishing multiple events including explosions. The errors of the fits are determined in the procedure and yield information such as the bandwidth of useful data in the frequency domain and error estimates for fault-plane solutions in the time domain fits.
Comparison of CVD diamond to other substrate materials for thermal management

Numerical simulations were conducted using finite element analysis to compare the thermal efficiencies of four substrate materials-diamond, silicon, gallium arsenide and alumina. The maximum power that can be dissipated by conduction through the substrate, while maintaining a safe operating temperature in a device back-side bonded to the substrate, is determined. Two different power inputs-uniformly distributed over the entire die surface, and centered on 5% of the die area-are considered. For each power input, two different substrate cooling mechanisms-through the back side, and through an edge-are considered. Results indicate that, for cases where the substrate is cooled through the bottom and where power is concentrated over a portion of the die surface, the lateral thermal resistance of the die (and not the substrate) controls the maximum power that can be dissipated. For cases where the substrate is cooled through an edge and where power is applied uniformly over the die surface, the substrate's lateral thermal resistance controls the maximum power that can be dissipated. The role of the solder layer in thermal management becomes important when high conductivity substrates and thin dice are used, or when voids are present.
Target Localization using Microwave Time Reversal Mirror in Reflection Mode

Time-reversal (TR) focusing is based on the fact that when a wave solution is reversed in time and back propagated, it focuses back at the source. TR techniques using microwave measurements have proved to be promising for radar detection and defect imaging in nondestructive evaluation of dielectric samples. This paper presents a TR technique for target detection and localization applications using far-field microwave measurements in reflection mode. Simulation results investigate the feasibility and robustness of this approach and determine the limits of this technique. Experimental results based on reflection mode measurements validate the approach for the detection of source and closely spaced multiple dielectric targets.
Fracture tolerance of the small female elbow joint in compression: the effect of load angle relative to the long axis of the forearm.

The purpose of this study was to develop a fracture tolerance for the elbow joint, or proximal ends of the ulna and radius, relative to the fracture risk under side-impact airbag loading. Forty experiments were performed on the elbow joints of small female cadavers. The energy source, a pneumatic impactor, was configured to apply compressive loads that match the onset rate, peak force, and momentum transfer of previously conducted side-impact airbag tests with small female subjects. Three initial orientations of the impact load angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the forearm were selected based on analysis of side-impact airbag tests with the instrumented dummy upper extremity. These included loading directions that are 0 degrees , 20 degrees , and 30 degrees superior of the longitudinal axis of the forearm. Post-test necropsy revealed that 11 of the 40 tests resulted in chondral, osteochondral, or comminuted fractures of the proximal radial head or the distal trochlear notch. Using the fracture outcome as the binary variable, a generalized estimating equations statistical analysis showed a significant correlation between elbow load angle (p < 0.01) and risk of fracture, as well as peak elbow force (p = 0.04) and risk of fracture. Using data that were mass scaled to the 5(th) percentile female, the analysis produced a multivariate fracture risk function that predicts a 50% risk of elbow fracture at a compressive elbow load of 1780 N and load angle of 30 degrees superior to the longitudinal axis of the forearm (p < 0.01). It is anticipated that this tolerance will be used to reduce the risk of elbow fractures from side airbag deployment.
Grid flexibility: The quiet revolution

Abstract The concept of flexibility describes the capability of the power system to maintain balance between generation and load under uncertainty. While the grid has historically incorporated flexibility-specific resources such as pumped hydro to complement nuclear generators, modern trends and the increased deployment of variable energy resources (VERs) are increasing the need for a transparent market value of flexibility. A review of analyses, docket filings, tariffs, and business practice manuals from the past several years finds substantial flexibility-related activity. These activities are categorized as market and financial structures; incorporation of new operations, and technology; and legal or procedural reforms. The cumulative outcome of these incremental changes will be a major transformation to power systems that can rapidly adapt to new needs, technologies, and conditions.
Patient and physician views of shared decision making in cancer.

Context Engaging patients in shared decision making involves patient knowledge of treatment options and physician elicitation of patient preferences. Objective Our aim was to explore patient and physician perceptions of shared decision making in clinical encounters for cancer care. Design Patients and physicians were asked open-ended questions regarding their perceptions of shared decision making throughout their cancer care. Transcripts of interviews were coded and analysed for shared decision-making themes. Setting and participants At an academic medical centre, 20 cancer patients with a range of cancer diagnoses, stages of cancer and time from diagnosis, and eight physicians involved in cancer care were individually interviewed. Discussion and conclusions Most physicians reported providing patients with written information. However, most patients reported that written information was too detailed and felt that the physicians did not assess the level of information they wished to receive. Most patients wanted to play an active role in the treatment decision, but also wanted the physician's recommendation, such as what their physician would choose for him/herself or a family member in a similar situation. While physicians stated that they incorporated patient autonomy in decision making, most provided data without making treatment recommendations in the format preferred by most patients. We identified several communication gaps in cancer care. While patients want to be involved in the decision-making process, they also want physicians to provide evidence-based recommendations in the context of their individual preferences. However, physicians often are reluctant to provide a recommendation that will bias the patient.
Sense of Community on Twitter and Instagram: Exploring the Roles of Motives and Parasocial Relationships

Abstract Although research has explored the ways in which people form virtual communities to converse about media figures, television shows, and similar topics, little research has examined the link between virtual communities and the parasocial relationships (PSRs) that are often the focus of these conversations and users' experiences in those virtual communities. We examined sense of community (SOC) on Twitter and Instagram as a function of users' motives for use and users' PSR on the sites. In addition to examining the relative importance of different motives for using Twitter and Instagram, we predicted that PSR would mediate the association between motives for use and SOC. Results of an online survey revealed that Instagram users (n = 276) reported stronger social interaction motives than did Twitter users (n = 223). Social interaction and expressive information sharing motives were directly positively associated with SOC for users of both sites. Instagram users also exhibited indirect effects of exp...
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and Other Sleep Disturbances in Non-Alzheimer Dementias

The study aimed to review recent updates of our understanding of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and other sleep disorders in non-Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementias. Numerous recent discoveries have provided insight into the role of RBD and sleep in patients with non-AD dementias. Imaging modalities such as DaTscan and cerebral blood flow may be useful for monitoring phenoconversion in idiopathic RBD patients to Parkinson’s disease (PD) or dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Patients with isolated REM sleep without atonia have non-motor signs of neurodegenerative disease. Colon mucosal biopsies in iRBD patients have shown presence of α-synuclein aggregates. Recent genetic models of RBD and neuroimaging have furthered evidence for the locus subcoeruleus/sublateral dorsal nucleus as the center for the generation and maintenance of REM muscle atonia. Circadian rhythm disturbances likely play a large role in nighttime insomnia, daytime sleepiness, autonomic symptoms, motor variations, and hallucinations in PD and DLB. Early onset stridor in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) portends a worse prognosis than late onset stridor, and treatment of stridor is associated with survival. Our ability to predict phenoconversion in idiopathic RBD is improving and will be highly important as “high risk” phenoconverters are identified for enrollment in neuroprotective clinical trials. Treatments of RBD improve but do not fully eliminate DEB; therefore, the risk for sleep-related injury remains a concern even among seemingly well-treated patients. Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) secondary to neuropathology, sedating medications, sleep disordered breathing (SDB), restless legs syndrome (RLS), and circadian rhythm alterations are common in the non-AD dementias, leading to significant caregiver burden and worsening of cognition. Addressing primary sleep disorders is the mainstay of treatment for EDS. RLS is a frequent co-morbidity in non-AD dementias. Initial management of RLS includes ensuring serum a ferritin level of >75 μg/L and therapy with gabapentin encarbil (which is less likely to cause augmentation than dopamine agonists). All MSA patients should be evaluated for the presence of nocturnal stridor, which should be treated if present. Therapies targeting the circadian system are often an underutilized therapeutic avenue in the management of sleep, motor, autonomic, and psychiatric symptoms in PD and DLB patients.
US LI-RADS: ultrasound liver imaging reporting and data system for screening and surveillance of hepatocellular carcinoma

Ultrasound is the most widely used imaging tool for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening and surveillance. Until now, this method has lacked standardized guidelines for interpretation, reporting, and management recommendations [1–5]. To address this need, the American College of Radiology (ACR) has developed the Ultrasound Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (US LI-RADS) algorithm. The proposed algorithm has two components: detection scores and visualization scores. The detection score guides management and has three categories: US-1 Negative, US-2 Subthreshold, and US-3 Positive. The visualization score informs the expected sensitivity of the ultrasound examination and also has three categories: Visualization A: No or minimal limitations; Visualization B: Moderate limitations; and Visualization C: Severe limitations. Standardization in ultrasound utilization, reporting, and management in high-risk individuals has the capacity to improve communication with patients and referring physicians, unify screening and surveillance algorithms, impact outcomes, and supply quantitative data for future research.
Optimization of a wide bandgap based generation system

Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors can be used at high switching frequency and have a high breakdown voltage and high junction temperature rating which make them appealing for use in power conversion. This paper sets forth a rigorous multi-objective optimization based design paradigm for a DC generation system. Using this paradigm, the loss versus mass trade-off (i.e. Pareto-optimal front) of the generation system is explored as a function of semiconductor type. The method co-designs the machine and converter. The optimization results show that the application of Silicon Carbide (SiC) can achieve a 30% mass savings at the same loss level relative to Silicon (Si) for a 10 kW application.
Stochastic downscaling of precipitation in complex orography: a simple method to reproduce a realistic fine-scale climatology

Abstract. Stochastic rainfall downscaling methods usually do not take into account orographic effects or local precipitation features at spatial scales finer than those resolved by the large-scale input field. For this reason they may be less reliable in areas with complex topography or with sub-grid surface heterogeneities. Here we test a simple method to introduce realistic fine-scale precipitation patterns into the downscaled fields, with the objective of producing downscaled data more suitable for climatological and hydrological applications as well as for extreme event studies. The proposed method relies on the availability of a reference fine-scale precipitation climatology from which corrective weights for the downscaled fields are derived. We demonstrate the method by applying it to the Rainfall Filtered Autoregressive Model (RainFARM) stochastic rainfall downscaling algorithm. The modified RainFARM method is tested focusing on an area of complex topography encompassing the Swiss Alps, first, in a “perfect-model experiment” in which high-resolution (4 km) simulations performed with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional model are aggregated to a coarser resolution (64 km) and then downscaled back to 4 km and compared with the original data. Second, the modified RainFARM is applied to the E-OBS gridded precipitation data (0.25 ∘ spatial resolution) over Switzerland, where high-quality gridded precipitation climatologies and accurate in situ observations are available for comparison with the downscaled data for the period 1981–2010. The results of the perfect-model experiment confirm a clear improvement in the description of the precipitation distribution when the RainFARM stochastic downscaling is applied, either with or without the implemented orographic adjustment. When we separately analyze grid points with precipitation climatology higher or lower than the median calculated over the neighboring grid points, we find that the probability density function (PDF) of the real precipitation is better reproduced using the modified RainFARM rather than the standard RainFARM method. In fact, the modified method successfully assigns more precipitation to areas where precipitation is on average more abundant according to a reference long-term climatology. The results of the E-OBS downscaling show that the modified RainFARM introduces improvements in the representation of precipitation amplitudes. While for low-precipitation areas the downscaled and the observed PDFs are in good agreement, for high-precipitation areas residual differences persist, mainly related to known E-OBS deficiencies in properly representing the correct range of precipitation values in the Alpine region. The downscaling method discussed is not intended to correct the bias which may be present in the coarse-scale data, so possible biases should be adjusted before applying the downscaling procedure.
Making Things Right When Reproductive Medicine Goes Wrong: Reply to Robert Rabin, Carol Sanger, and Gregory Keating

Why does U.S. law turn a blind eye when OB/GYN doctors foist unwanted procreation? Or when fertility clinics deny parenthood to those desperate to form a family? Or when sperm banks disrupt plans for offspring with particular genetic traits? This is a reply to three critiques of my essay on Reproductive Negligence, 117 Colum. L. Rev. 149. (2017), https://ssrn.com/abstract=2758208. Professors Robert Rabin, Carol Sanger, and Gregory Keating ask: Are these injuries too slight, squishy, or subjective to compensate? Are my proposed remedies doomed by the moral politics of abortion? Didn't fertility patients whose frozen sperm or eggs got destroyed already have low chances of conceiving? Can they really be said to have "lost" a child they never had? And can’t they still adopt anyway? Just like someone who's made pregnant against her will can still end it? Besides, aren’t children blessings? And don’t parents come to love the one they have? These are among the questions that I answer here by reference to recent cases involving botched birth control, dropped embryos, and donor mix-ups.
Household Financial Assets Inequity and Health Disparities Among Young Adults: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health.

Introduction Research has established a strong relationship between financial resources and health outcomes. Yet, little is known about the effects of assets disparities on health outcomes, especially during the critical period when adolescents transition to adults. Methods: Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 10,861), this study investigated the relationships between three household total assets value groups (low, moderate, and high assets) and three net worth groups (negative, neutral, and positive) on young adults' general health, obese, and depression. Results Both assets and debts were related to young adults' health status, young adults with more assets and positive net worth have higher probability to report a better level of both general health and depression. Young adult's obesity was found to be associated with net worth but not with assets. Conclusions and implications Our work connects health promotion with poverty alleviation to address the challenge of health disparity. A better understanding of different forms of financial resources (e.g., income, assets, and debt) and their dynamic relationships with health outcomes will contribute to developing effective asset-based interventions for promoting health status. Particularly, current policy and practice should consider the importance of resolving and clearing debt.
A Novel Method for Generating Sub-Transform Limited Picosecond Nd: YAG Laser Pulses

Picosecond Nd:YAG pulses have been traditionally generated by mode-locking. For high power pulses, passive mode- locking with a saturable dye solution is usually employed. However, being. a statistical process, this method is plagued with fluctuations in both the pulse train reproducibility and the delay time in the pulse formation. We propose a method to generate these picosecond pulses using a scheme which has been proven to be successful for the CO2 laser.
Rights to Health Care: Created, Not Discovered

As Tom Beauchamp acknowledges, in many philosophical disputes arguments can be suggestive even if they are not conclusive [1]. The result is that one must often rely on fair negotiations to shape the character of public policy rather than on some method for discovering what public policy should be. Still, suggestive arguments can guide negotiations even where they cannot determine conclusively what the results should be. The more this is so, the more rights to health care are created rather than discovered. In this fashion, Beauchamp introduces one of the major questions regarding justice in health care: is justice to be understood through a process for fashioning rights to health care or through a body of defended doctrines which establish a pattern of proper health care distributions?
Education (Higher) and Gender

This article sketches the relative position of men and women in higher education. Three distinct aspects of the educational system are examined: access, college experiences, and post-collegiate outcomes. Women fare relatively well in the area of access, less so in terms of the college experience, and are particularly disadvantaged with respect to the outcomes of schooling. The discussion focuses on the United States, but includes comparative data as well.
Convergence in Distribution on the Real Line

In this chapter, we introduce a concept of convergence for sequences of distributions on ℝ and ℝ. This ‘convergence in distribution’ gives us a rigorous way to express the idea that two distributions are close to each other. For instance, we show in an example that a Poisson distribution can be approximated arbitrarily closely by binomial distributions. An important result, the Continuity Theorem, gives a criterion for the convergence of a sequence of distributions in terms of the corresponding sequence of characteristic functions. There are several other useful criteria as well, which are collected together in a result known as the Portmanteau Theorem. Although the most important applications of convergence in distribution will be found in later chapters, some are included here, including an introduction to the theory of ‘extreme values’, a discussion of the effects that ‘scaling’ and ‘centering’ have on sequences of distributions, and characterizations of moment generating functions and characteristic functions.
Genome-Wide Control of Population Structure and Relatedness in Genetic Association Studies via Linear Mixed Models with Orthogonally Partitioned Structure

Linear mixed models (LMMs) have become the standard approach for genetic association testing in the presence of sample structure. However, the performance of LMMs has primarily been evaluated in relatively homogeneous populations of European ancestry, despite many of the recent genetic association studies including samples from worldwide populations with diverse ancestries. In this paper, we demonstrate that existing LMM methods can have systematic miscalibration of association test statistics genome-wide in samples with heterogenous ancestry, resulting in both increased type-I error rates and a loss of power. Furthermore, we show that this miscalibration arises due to varying allele frequency differences across the genome among populations. To overcome this problem, we developed LMM-OPS, an LMM approach which orthogonally partitions diverse genetic structure into two components: distant population structure and recent genetic relatedness. In simulation studies with real and simulated genotype data, we demonstrate that LMM-OPS is appropriately calibrated in the presence of ancestry heterogeneity and outperforms existing LMM approaches, including EMMAX, GCTA, and GEMMA. We conduct a GWAS of white blood cell (WBC) count in an admixed sample of 3551 Hispanic/Latino American women from the Women9s Health Initiative SNP Health Association Resource where LMM-OPS detects genome-wide significant associations with corresponding p-values that are one or more orders of magnitude smaller than those from competing LMM methods. We also identify a genome-wide significant association with regulatory variant rs2814778 in the DARC gene on chromosome 1, which generalizes to Hispanic/Latino Americans a previous association with reduced WBC count identified in African Americans.
Employing H.264 MGS Video to Optimize Video Playback Over Passive Optical Networks

The H.264/AVC medium grain scalable (MGS) video standard is utilized to optimize video playback on passive optical networks (PONs). Video traffic delay is the primary object of this optimization, though this technique's impacts on other network performance metrics such as data traffic delay and video traffic delay variance (jitter) are also investigated. Video playback is improved by employing an adaptive algorithm which progressively drops scalable video layers as network utilization increases. The performance impact of the algorithm's three parameters is investigated in detail, and the results of the optimized algorithm are compared to baseline results for reference.
Rosuvastatin attenuates bioprosthetic heart valve calcification.

Abstract Objective There are pathophysiologic similarities between calcification and atherosclerosis because both are the product of an active inflammatory process. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of statin treatment on calcification in commercially available bioprosthetic heart valves. Methods Twenty Sprague–Dawley rats were fed a high-fat diet to induce hypercholesterolemia during 4 weeks. They were randomly divided into 2 groups according to statin intake (control, n = 10: high-fat diet/statin; n = 10: high-fat diet with statin). Four commercially available tissue valve (Magna Perimount, Carpentier-Edwards, Irvine, Calif; Hancock, Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minn; Mitroflow, LivaNova, London, England; and Trifecta, St Jude Medical, St Paul, Minn) cusp samples (total 320) were implanted in rat dorsal subcutis at 4 weeks. After implantation, rosuvastatin was administered daily to the statin group. The cusps were explanted at 12 weeks, and calcium levels were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Western blotting, histologic, and immunohistochemical analyses were conducted to identify the anticalcification mechanism of the statin. Results The mean calcium level in the control group was significantly higher than in the statin group (P Conclusions Statin treatment significantly attenuated bioprosthetic heart valve calcification associated with decreasing the levels of interleukin-6 and bone morphogenetic protein 2. Thus, statin treatment might be helpful for the longevity of bioprosthetic heart valves.
Risk factors, clinical outcomes, and natural history of uveal melanoma: a single-institution analysis.

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults. We describe the characteristics of UM patients at a tertiary referral center in the Mid-Southern United States, and explore associations and predictors of outcomes. This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with UM seen at West Cancer Center, from 07/2006 to 08/2017. Clinical characteristics and their relationship to outcomes (time-to-death and metastasis) were explored using Cox regression analysis. We identified 208 patients, 51% males, 97% Caucasians, 80% were symptomatic, with a median follow-up of 2.34 years, IQR (1.01–3.03), of which 19.2% died during follow-up. Metastases were diagnosed in 19% (4 older patients had metastases at diagnosis), 53% of those by surveillance. Without considering metastases as a time-varying covariate, age (HR = 1.06/year, CI 1.0–1.1; p < 0.001), headaches (HR = 5.7, CI 1.6–20.5; p = 0.03), and tumor stage (T) were significant covariates for time-to-death. Tumor stages T3 versus T1 (HR = 6.4; CI 1.5–27.7; p = 0.01) and T4 versus T1 (HR = 5.98; CI 1.3–27.8; p = 0.02) were associated with worse outcomes. When considering metastases as a time-varying covariate (HR = 35.8, CI 17–75.2; p < 0.001), only age remains in the model (HR = 1.04/year; p < 0.001). However, tumor stage (p < 0.001), headaches (p = 0.008), and age (p < 0.001) are associated with time-to-metastasis. One in five patients developed metastasis which was the most influential factor on mortality. Predictors of mortality were metastasis, age, tumor stage, and headache as a reported symptom. Surveillance successfully diagnosed metastatic disease in most patients. Most patients had symptoms preceding their UM diagnosis highlighting an opportunity for earlier recognition of UM.