cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Global Financial Stability Index

We develop a monthly Global Financial Stability Index (GFSX) that incorporates the global stock market outlook, momentum, and overall risk. Refining the financial stability concept presents challenges because of the many different approaches researchers have pursued, as well as the availability of periodic data. The stock market is the nervous system for the overall economy that anticipates key issues with a precision of some months to the future, especially pitfalls in the financial system, so we use time series data of 23 countries to form global financial market portfolios and create a measure of risk adjusted financial stability (risk adjusted stationary probability for a good state) that predicts future stability. The intuition behind our GFSX model is that we view financial stability as the likelihood that the financial market will operate in a steady state that reflects global risk and momentum. We also develop regional financial stability indexes, including Europe and Asia, and we examine the cross sectional sensitivity of industry sectors to the GFSX. Our results show that the regional financial stability indexes are highly correlated with GFSX, furthermore, our GFSX provides information that existing indexes do not (such as VIX). We also demonstrate that there is significant variation in conditional GFSX sensitivity across some sectors: specifically, sectors Toys, Recreation, Smoke Tobacco Products, and Mines Non-Metallic are positively sensitive to financial stability; while sectors Soda, Candy, Coal, and Gold and Precious Metals are industries that are negatively sensitive to financial stability.
Dopant Modulated Li Insertion in Si for Battery Anodes: Theory and Experiment

We examine the effects of p-type and n-type dopants on the lithiation of crystalline Si as related to Li-ion batteries. In situ Raman spectroscopy and electrochemistry are used to investigate two crystallographic faces, (100) and (111), for boron (B) and phosphorus (P) dopants, to monitor the insertion of Li and the associated transition to amorphous Si. Density functional theory calculations are used to investigate the lithiation of doped and undoped crystalline Si bulk and surface models. The experimental and computational results suggest that lithiation voltages are different for P-doped and B-doped Si. The B-doped surfaces are found to insert Li at higher voltages than P- and undoped surfaces but result in less Li insertion. These results provide an understanding of the effects on dopants on the lithiation of silicon which may ultimately aid in the development of alternate anode materials for Li-ion batteries.
Thiobacillus denitrificans as an obligate chemolithotroph

1. 14C-acetate uptake by T. denitrificans required both an oxidizable inorganic substrate and bicarbonate. The extent of uptake was directly proportional to the amount of inorganic substrate oxidized. Autotrophically-grown Thiobacillus A2, in contrast, oxidized and assimilated 14C-acetate in the absence of bicarbonate and thiosulfate. 2. The uptake of 14C-acetate by anaerobically-grown T. denitrificans was supported by the oxidation of thiosulfate with nitrate, nitrite, nitrous oxide, or oxygen. Tetrathionate or sulfur also supported acetate uptake. Aerobically-grown cells oxidized thiosulfate, and assimilated 14C-acetate, with oxygen but not nitrate. 3. Oxaloacetate replaced bicarbonate for 14C-acetate uptake by T. denitrificans oxidizing thiosulfate with nitrate. Other organic compounds did not replace bicarbonate and also were not oxidized by T. denitrificans. 4. T. denitrificans, in contrast to autotrophically-grown Thiobacillus A 2, lacked α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase and had low specific activities of fumarate hydratase, succinate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, and NADH dehydrogenase. 5. NADH oxidase activity was detected by manometry in extracts of Thiobacillus A 2 with either oxygen or nitrate as the terminal electron acceptor. Extracts of T. denitrificans oxidized thiosulfate, with added AMP and reduced glutathione, or sulfite with nitrate and nitrogen was evolved: nitrogen was not evolved from nitrate with NADH as substrate. 6. Cells of Thiobacillus A 2 grown on thiosulfate and acetate had lower specific activities of carboxydismutase and sulfite oxidase than cells grown autotrophically. Addition of acetate to the growth medium did not significantly repress carboxydismutase or APS reductase in T. denitrificans.
Small-molecule inhibitors of the MDM2-p53 protein-protein interaction (MDM2 Inhibitors) in clinical trials for cancer treatment.

Design of small-molecule inhibitors (MDM2 inhibitors) to block the MDM2–p53 protein–protein interaction has been pursued as a new cancer therapeutic strategy. In recent years, potent, selective, and efficacious MDM2 inhibitors have been successfully obtained and seven such compounds have been advanced into early phase clinical trials for the treatment of human cancers. Here, we review the design, synthesis, properties, preclinical, and clinical studies of these clinical-stage MDM2 inhibitors.
Endocrine Complications of Cancer Therapy

Endocrinopathy after therapeutic irradiation represents a treatable late effect of successful cancer therapy and highlights the importance of careful follow-up for adults and children. The endocrine effects of irradiation have been extensively studied and demonstrate the systemic manifestations of late effects after localized or large volume irradiation, the differential sensitivity of functional subunits of the hypothalamus and other critical endocrine organs to radiation dose, the low-dose radiation effects in normal tissues, and the benefit of newer radiation methods and modalities.
Comparison of human menopausal gonadotropin, clomiphene citrate, and combined human menopausal gonadotropin-clomiphene citrate stimulation protocols for in vitro fertilization

Human menopausal gonadotropins (hMG) and clomiphene citrate (CC), either alone or in combination, are frequently used for in vitro fertilization (IVF) in an attempt to maximize the number of oocytes recovered and the number of embryos transferred. However, direct comparison of the relative efficacy of these protocols in the same institution has been limited. To evaluate this question, the authors examined the outcome of 304 consecutive women attempting IVF. One hundred eighty-one women received hMG, 42 received CC, and 81 received combination hMG/CC. The percentages of women undergoing laparoscopy were not different among the groups (69%, 71%, and 74%, respectively), nor were the rates of oocyte recovery (94%, 100%, and 100%). However, the percentage of women achieving oocyte fertilization (77%, 83%, and 93%) and embryo transfer (73%, 83%, and 90%) were significantly greater among those who had received hMG/CC stimulation. A comparison of hMG/CC with hMG and CC cycles revealed a statistically significant increase in the total number of developing follicles (4.5 +/- 0.3, 3.3 +/- 0.2, and 3.1 +/- 0.3, respectively; P = 0.0137), total oocytes recovered (4.1 +/- 0.3, 3.2 +/- 0.2, and 2.5 +/- 0.2; P = 0.0011), and embryos transferred (2.2 +/- 0.2, 1.4 +/- 0.2, and 1.4 +/- 0.2; P = 0.0013). However, there was no significant difference in the occurrence of ongoing pregnancies. Thus, in terms of the per-patient number of follicles, oocytes, and embryo transfers, combined hMG/CC stimulation appears to be superior to either hMG or CC alone. However, to date the combined regimen has not improved pregnancy rates.
Insulin stimulated MCF7 breast cancer cells: Proteome dataset.

The proteome data provided in this article were acquired from MCF7 breast cancer cells stimulated with insulin, and were generated by using a 2D-SCX (strong cation exchange)/RPLC (reversed phase liquid chromatography) separation protocol followed by tandem mass spectrometry (MS) detection. To facilitate data re-processing by more advanced search engines and the extraction of additional information from already existing files, both raw and processed data are provided. The sample preparation, data acquisition and processing protocols are described in detail. The raw data relate to work published in “Proteome profile of the MCF7 cancer cell line: a mass spectrometric evaluation” (Sarvaiya et al., 2006) [1] and are made available through the PRIDE (PRoteomics IDEntifications)/ProteomeXchange public repository with identifier PRIDE: PXD004051 (“2016 update of the PRIDE database and tools” (Vizcaino et al., 2016) [2]).
Analytical methods for detection of Zika virus

Due to the recent outbreak of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in several regions, rapid, and accurate methods to diagnose Zika infection are in demand, particularly in regions that are on the frontline of a ZIKV outbreak. In this paper, three diagnostic methods for ZIKV are considered. Viral isolation is the gold standard for detection; this approach can involve incubation of cell cultures. Serological identification is based on the interactions between viral antigens and immunoglobulin G or immunoglobulin M antibodies; cross-reactivity with other types of flaviviruses can cause reduced specificity with this approach. Molecular confirmation, such as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR), involves reverse transcription of RNA and amplification of DNA. Quantitative analysis based on real-time RT–PCR can be undertaken by comparing fluorescence measurements against previously developed standards. A recently developed programmable paper-based detection approach can provide low-cost and rapid analysis. These viral identification and viral genetic analysis approaches play crucial roles in understanding the transmission of ZIKV.
Calcium Oxalate Hydrates. Dissolution, Transformation and Crystallization Studies

Many calcium oxalate renal stones consist of an inner core of monohydrate (COM) with an outer surface layer of the thermodynamically less stable dihydrate (COD)1. The kinetic relationships between the hydrates may, therefore, be of considerable importance since these phases may form either directly or via a transformation process in the continuously changing urine environment. In vivo, the process of formation and dissolution of kidney stones is complicated by the presence of uncharacterized natural inhibitors and promoters which may markedly influence the nature of the hydrate phase which precipitates. Thus it has been shown that natural urine constituents selectively control the rate of nucleation and crystallization of the calcium oxalates2.
Analysis of National Rates, Cost, and Sources of Cost Variation in Adult Spinal Deformity.

BACKGROUND Several studies suggest significant variation in cost for spine surgery, but there has been little research in this area for spinal deformity. OBJECTIVE To determine the utilization, cost, and factors contributing to cost for spinal deformity surgery. METHODS The cohort comprised 55 599 adults who underwent spinal deformity fusion in the 2001 to 2013 National Inpatient Sample database. Patient variables included age, gender, insurance, median income of zip code, county population, severity of illness, mortality risk, number of comorbidities, length of stay, elective vs nonelective case. Hospital variables included bed size, wage index, hospital type (rural, urban nonteaching, urban teaching), and geographical region. The outcome was total hospital cost for deformity surgery. Statistics included univariate and multivariate regression analyses. RESULTS The number of spinal deformity cases increased from 1803 in 2001 (rate: 4.16 per 100 000 adults) to 6728 in 2013 (rate: 13.9 per 100 000). Utilization of interbody fusion devices increased steadily during this time period, while bone morphogenic protein usage peaked in 2010 and declined thereafter. The mean inflation-adjusted case cost rose from $32 671 to $43 433 over the same time period. Multivariate analyses showed the following patient factors were associated with cost: age, race, insurance, severity of illness, length of stay, and elective admission (P < .01). Hospitals in the western United States and those with higher wage indices or smaller bed sizes were significantly more expensive (P < .05). CONCLUSION The rate of adult spinal deformity surgery and the mean case cost increased from 2001 to 2013, exceeding the rate of inflation. Both patient and hospital factors are important contributors to cost variation for spinal deformity surgery.
The Principal Data Set

This chapter describes the authors’ principal data set (PDS) for the study. This data set, which comprises 212 cyphering books, each of which was prepared between 1701 and 1861, is the largest single collection of cyphering books in the nation. In Chapter 5, questions associated with where and when the cyphering books were prepared, and by whom, are considered in the light of the author’s analyses of their PDS. It is noted that the number of students preparing cyphering books fell sharply between 1840 and 1861, and the question is raised: Why did that happen?
Let’s Talk About Sex: Integrating Sex Positivity in Counseling Psychology Practice:

Counseling psychologists should take an active approach in broaching issues of sex and sexuality, given that clients may hesitate to initiate such conversations due to their discomfort or fears abo...
A New Societal Self-Defense Theory of Punishment—The Rights-Protection Theory

In this paper, I propose a new self-defense theory of punishment, the rights-protection theory. By appealing to the interest theory of right, I show that what we call “the right of self-defense” is actually composed of the right(s) to protect our basic rights. The right of self-defense is not a single, self-standing right but a group of derivative rights justified by their contribution to the protection of the core, basic rights. Thus, these rights of self-defense are both justified and constrained by the basic rights they are supposed to protect. I then explain how this theory responds to a common objection. Opponents argue that, to exercise the right of self-defense, some threat must be present. However, in the context of punishment, the threat has already taken effect or is already gone. Thus, the right of self-defense becomes irrelevant when we punish an offender. I show that this objection is based on an implausibly narrow conception of self-defense. A reasonable conception would allow us to exercise our right of self-defense when there is a present definite threat, a future definite threat, or a potential threat. Thus, we may still exercise our right of self-defense in the context of punishment.
Effects of lexicon size on solving bananagrams

In this paper, we investigate the problem of playing Bananagrams with a computer player. Bananagrams is a fast-paced board game where players compete to place and rearrange their letter tiles as quickly as possible. Despite being superficially similar Scrabble, Bananagrams is not nearly as well studied. We seek to address this knowledge gap by designing a simple program that plays Bananagrams by itself. In this paper, we investigate the effects of lexicon size on the ability of the program to play Bananagrams. We found that using a larger lexicon was slower but increased the win rate.
Chaperone - Runtime System for Instrumenting Applications via Partial Binary Translation

We propose Chaperone, a new runtime system which implements an innovative binary-level instrumentation technique that bounds performance degradation of around 14% on average of the total applications execution time, hence it can be used by users in production deployments. Our technique is called Partial Binary Translation. It consists of translating the entire code image and inserting required instrumenting stubs in the translated code at loadtime, and at runtime, differently from normal instrumentation, switching the execution dynamically between original and instrumented code. Using this technology we demonstrate two different use cases of the Chaperone system. The first is a runtime memory checker that detects memory accesses outside the legally allocated heap memory bounds. The second is a dynamic performance tuning of OpenMP applications by automatically setting the optimal number of active OpenMP threads and affinitizing them to the available cores. In both cases we measured low overhead of Chaperone. Moreover, Chaperone shows minimal performance degradation for the Memory Checker and improved performance for OpenMP based applications.
Sexual Differentiation of Behavior in Nonhuman Primates

Sexually dimorphic behavior in nonhuman primates reflects behavioral predispositions organized by prenatal androgens. The rhesus monkey has been the primary primate model for understanding the hormonal organization of sexually dimorphic behavior. Historically, high prenatal androgen doses were administered to females to investigate the masculinizing and defeminizing effects of androgens. Such treatments masculinized juvenile and adult copulatory behavior and defeminized female-typical sexual initiation to adult estrogen treatment. Testosterone, and the nonaromatizable androgen 5α-dihydrotestosterone, produced similar effects suggesting that estrogenic metabolites of androgens are not critical for masculinization and defeminization in rhesus monkeys. Long duration androgen treatments masculinized both behavior and genitalia suggesting that socializing responses to the females' male-like appearance may have produced the behavioral changes. Treatments limited to 35 days, early or late in gestation, differentially affected behavioral and genital masculinization demonstrating direct organizing actions of prenatal androgens. Recent studies exposed fetal females to smaller doses of androgens or blocked endogenous androgen action using the anti-androgen flutamide. Low-dose androgen treatment significantly masculinized infant vocalizations, but produced no behavioral defeminization. Females receiving flutamide late in gestation showed masculinized infant vocalizations and defeminized interest in infants. Both late androgen and flutamide treatment hypermasculinized some male juvenile behaviors. Early flutamide treatment blocked full male genital masculinization, but did not alter their juvenile or adult behavior. The role of neuroendocrine feedback mechanisms in the effects of flutamide is discussed. Sexually differentiated behavior ultimately reflects both hormonally organized behavioral predispositions and the social experience that converts these predispositions into behavior.
Time-Dependent Simulation of Flames in Hydrogen-Oxygen-Nitrogen Mixtures

This paper describes a one-dimensional, time-dependent, Lagrangian model developed to study the initiation, propagation and quenching of laminar flames. The model incorporates a number of new approaches and algorithms which have now been tested by comparisons to less complex or analytic solutions and by comparisons to experimental data. These new elements include: ADINC [1] an implicit, Lagrangian method for solving the convective parts of the conservation equations; DFLUX [2,3] a variable accuracy algorithm for determining diffusion fluxes without having to invert matrices; SPLIT and MERGE, routines for dividing or merging computational cells as specified by external criteria; VSAIM, a vectorized version of the ordinary differential equation solver, CHEMEQ [4,5]; and a new method for treating an open boundary in an implicit, Lagrangian calculation. An asymptotic coupling method, used in conjunction with timestep splitting to couple the various processes, allows the use of entirely different algorithms for the physical processes represented by different mathematical forms.
Kinds of Observers and Types of Distinctions

Who or what is an observer? An observer is anyone or anything to whom or which something matters and makes a difference. Observers need not be persons, though one can attribute observations to them, as in authorship and reputation (Luhmann 1997: 69). But an immune system is an observer as well, for example, since it distinguishes between harmless and harmful invaders of an organism. This distinction is the only one that matters to an immune system. It makes no other distinctions, and so cannot register anything that falls outside of the difference harmful/harmless. When it can draw this distinction no more, the immune system collapses and the organism dies. Organizations are observers as well; they continually gather observations about themselves and aggregate them into standard indices of performance. Organizations observe themselves and the other organizations in their niche, comparing themselves to each other, and ranking themselves into a stratified order.
Angiogenesis and Anti-angiogenic Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, takes place through a variety of different physiologic and unique pathologic processes in tumor tissue. While the control mechanisms of some of these processes are not yet understood, as in the case of de novo vessel formation or intussusceptive angiogenesis, a closer examination of the process of sprouting angiogenesis highlights the complexity of the molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis. Through both positive regulation with proteins such as vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and NOTCH and negative regulation with other signals such as thrombospondin, endostatin, and angiostatin, the endothelial cells of an existing vessel can reorganize into new functional luminal architecture. As our comprehension of the regulatory machinery has improved, so has the desire to create anti-angiogenic therapies using targeted monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and other novel targeted small molecular inhibitors directed at interrupting these regulatory signals. Drugs directed against vascular endothelial growth factors in particular (e.g., bevacizumab or sunitinib) have been studied as antineoplastic agents either alone or in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy or other targeted agents. A unique toxicity profile has been seen with anti-angiogenics that may include events such as bleeding, hypertension, and proteinuria. The interest in targeting angiogenesis continues, and more clinical trials are underway with new targets and evolving strategies.
Infants Born to Mothers with Clinical Chorioamnionitis: A Cross-Sectional Survey on the Use of Early-Onset Sepsis Risk Calculator and Prolonged Use of Antibiotics.

Objective To evaluate variations in practice for the management of neonates born to mothers with clinical chorioamnionitis. Methods This was a prospective cross-sectional survey consisting of 10 multiple choice questionnaires distributed to 2,900 members of the Perinatal Section of American Academy of Pediatrics. Variations in responses were assessed and compared between the various groups. Results A total of 682 members (23.5%) completed the survey; 169 (24.8%) indicated that they use the neonatal early-onset sepsis (EOS) risk calculator for the management of neonates born to mothers with clinical chorioamnionitis. More respondents from the western region of United States and level III units are using the EOS risk calculator compared with the south and level II units. Approximately 44% of the respondents indicated that they will not stop antibiotics at 48 to 72 hours in asymptomatic neonates born to mothers with chorioamnionitis with negative blood culture if the complete blood count (CBC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are abnormal. Conclusion A large number of practitioners are using the neonatal EOS risk calculator for neonates born to mothers with chorioamnionitis. Despite a clear guideline from the Committee on Fetus and Newborn, almost 44% will treat healthy-appearing neonates born to mothers with chorioamnionitis with a prolonged course of antibiotics solely for abnormal CBC or CRP.
The influence of habitat and adults on the spatial distribution of juvenile corals

Population distributions are affected by a variety of spatial processes, including dispersal, intraspecific dynamics and habitat selection. Within reef‐building coral communities, these processes are especially important during the earliest life stages when reproduction provides mobility among sessile organisms and populations experience the greatest mortality bottlenecks both before and immediately after settlement. Here, we used large‐area imaging to create photomosaics that allowed us to identify and map the location of 4681 juvenile (1–5 cm diameter) and 25 902 adult (>5 cm diameter) coral colonies from eight 100‐m² plots across the forereef of Palmyra Atoll. Using metrics of density, percent cover and the relative location of each colony within each plot, we examined abundance and spatial relationships between juvenile and adult coral taxa. Within coral taxa, juvenile density was generally positively related to the numerical density and percent cover of adults. Nearest neighbor analyses showed aggregation of juveniles near adults of the same taxon for two of the focal taxa (Pocillopora and Fungiids), while all other taxa showed random spatial patterning relative to adults. Three taxa had clustered distributions of juveniles overall. Additionally, we found that on a colony level, juveniles for five of nine focal taxa (accounting for >98% of all identified juveniles) associated with a specific habitat type, with four of those five taxa favoring unconsolidated (e.g. rubble) over consolidated substrata. The general lack of clustering in juvenile corals contrasts with consistent clustering patterns seen in adult corals, suggesting that adult spatial patterns are largely driven by processes occurring after maturity such as partial colony mortality, including fission and fragmentation. The association of many taxa with unconsolidated habitat also suggests that corals may play an important role in colonizing natural rubble patches that could contribute to reef stabilization over time.
Altered nuclear transfer: a way forward for embryonic stem cell research.

The present conflict over the moral status of the human embryo reflects deep differences in our basic convictions and is unlikely to be resolved through deliberation or debate. While there are currently no federally legislated constraints on the use of private funds for this research, there is a consensus opinion in the scientific community that without NIH support for newly created embryonic stem cell lines, progress in this important realm of research will be severely constrained. A May, 2005, report by the President’s Council on Bioethics, “Alternative Sources of Pluripotent Stem Cells,” outlines several proposals for obtaining pluripotent stem cells without the destruction of human embryos. One of these methods, Altered Nuclear Transfer, proposes to use the technology of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), but with a preemptive genetic or epigenetic alteration that precludes the integrated and coordinated organization essential for natural embryogenesis. Drawing on insights from systems biology, the distinction between totipotency (capacity to form a whole organism) and pluripotency (capacity to form all the cell types) is explored. The implications of this distinction are used to discuss the moral arguments for the inviolability of nascent human life and the moral standing of entities with only partial and unorganized developmental potential. A way forward is proposed that may open positive a venues of advance in both stem cell research and a broader arena of research in developmental biology.
In Vivo Visualization of Moving Synaptic Cargo Complexes within Drosophila Larval Segmental Axons

Identifying moving synaptic vesicle complexes and isolating specific proteins present within such complexes in vivo is challenging. Here we detail a protocol that we have developed that is designed to simultaneously visualize the axonal transport of two fluorescently tagged synaptic vesicle proteins in living Drosophila larval segmental nerves in real time. Using a beam-splitter and split view software, larvae expressing GFP-tagged Synaptobrevin (Syb) and mRFP-tagged Rab4-GTPase or YFP-tagged Amyloid Precursor protein (APP) and mRFP-tagged Rab4-GTPase are imaged simultaneously using separate wavelengths. Merged kymographs from the two wavelengths are evaluated for colocalization analysis. Vesicle velocity analysis can also be done. Such analysis enables us to visualize the motility behaviors of two synaptic proteins present on a single vesicle complex and identify candidate proteins moving on synaptic vesicles in vivo, under physiological conditions.
Matlab-Vissim Interface for online optimization of Green Time splits.

VISSIM is a widely used microscopic traffic simulator, which not only provides a graphical user interface to simulate simple static controls (pre-timed or fixed-time) but also offers flexibility to dynamically control simulation through versatile programming languages (C++ and Java etc.). However, to implement various traffic control techniques, integration of computational tools may save lots of effort and time as compared to standard programming platforms. MATLAB falls in the category of a widely used computational tool and also fulfills the primary requirements to control VISSIM simulation dynamically. Therefore, this study proposes and develops a direct interface between MATLAB and VISSIM to extensively harness the computational power of MATLAB. The significance of developed interface is demonstrated on a practical scenario, by conducting an online optimization of green time splits on a study network.
Complementary Measurements of Residual Stresses Before and After Base Plate Removal in an Intricate Additively-Manufactured Stainless-Steel Valve Housing

Abstract Residual stress measurements using neutron diffraction and the contour method were performed on a valve housing made from 316 L stainless steel powder with intricate three-dimensional internal features using laser powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing. The measurements captured the evolution of the residual stress fields from a state where the valve housing was attached to the base plate to a state where the housing was cut free from the base plate. Making use of this cut, thus making it a non-destructive measurement in this application, the contour method mapped the residual stress component normal to the cut plane (this stress field is completely relieved by cutting) over the whole cut plane, as well as the change in all stresses in the entire housing due to the cut. The non-destructive nature of the neutron diffraction measurements enabled measurements of residual stress at various points in the build prior to cutting and again after cutting. Good agreement was observed between the two measurement techniques, which showed large, tensile build-direction residual stresses in the outer regions of the housing. The contour results showed large changes in multiple stress components upon removal of the build from the base plate in two distinct regions: near the plane where the build was cut free from the base plate and near the internal features that act as stress concentrators. These observations should be useful in understanding the driving mechanisms for builds cracking near the base plate and to identify regions of concern for structural integrity. Neutron diffraction measurements were also used to show the shear stresses near the base plate were significantly lower than normal stresses, an important assumption for the contour method because of the asymmetric cut.
Uretero-Iliac artery fistula: a rare cause of haematuria

A woman in her mid-forties with a history of cervical cancer requiring chemoradiation presented with bilateral ureteral strictures secondary to radiation therapy. The ureteral obstruction was initially relieved with bilateral percutaneous nephrostomy tubes, and subsequently, bilateral ureteral stents. Over the course of 8 months, she presented with multiple episodes of severe gross haematuria. This persisted even after stent removal and conversion back to percutaneous nephrostomy tubes. The initial evaluation, done with concern for an uretero-iliac artery fistula, which included bilateral retrograde pyelograms and CT angiography was non-diagnostic. Given continued haematuria, repeat endoscopic evaluation was undertaken; on retrograde pyelogram, brisk contrast was seen to pass into the arterial system, consistent with a left ureteroarterial fistula. The patient underwent endovascular iliac artery stent placement. Subsequently, the patient underwent resection of the iliac artery with endovascular graft in situ, left distal ureterectomy with proximal ureteral ligation following femoral-to-femoral bypass. This allowed for complete resolution of the patient's gross haematuria episodes.
CRISPR_Cas systems for fungal research

Abstract Genome-editing CRISPR-Cas systems, using Cas9 and Cas12a endonucleases, have improved our ability to precisely edit genomes and control gene expression. We summarize here the knowledge gained from using CRISPR-Cas9 and CRISPR-Cas12a in fungal research. Also discussed are strategies developed for limiting the occurrences of off-target mutations caused by CRISPR-Cas genome editing.
Telemedicine for Burn Care: The Commonsense Telemedicine

The use of telemedicine for burn care seems simply intuitive. Burn assessment has a highly visual component, providers with burn expertise are highly concentrated, and technological capability is expanding. No other surgical discipline would seem more amenable to the use of telemedicine than modern burn care. Through telemedicine, burn surgeons should be able to make a relatively accurate assessment of burn size and depth and help guide decisions regarding referral to a burn center and utilization of costly transport resources. Surgeons can also assist remotely with the acute phase of burn critical care management. The postoperative management of major burns and the chronic wound management of less serious, nonoperative burns also can have a highly efficient telemedicine component. In this chapter we will concentrate on the current status of telemedicine in burn management.
Can Solar Energy Fuel Pollinator Conservation

As the expansion of solar power spreads through much of the United States, members of the solar industry are working to change how solar energy facilities are designed and presented to the public. This includes the addition of habitat to conserve pollinators. We highlight and discuss ongoing efforts to couple solar energy production with pollinator conservation, noting recent legal definitions of these practices. We summarize key studies from the field of ecology, bee conservation, and our experience working with members of the solar industry (e.g., contribution to legislation defining solar pollinator habitat). Several recently published studies that employed similar practices to those proposed for solar developments reveal features that should be replicated and encouraged by the industry. These results suggest the addition of native, perennial flowering vegetation will promote wild bee conservation and more sustainable honey beekeeping. Going forward, there is a need for oversight and future research to avoid the misapplication of this promising but as of yet untested practice of coupling solar energy production with pollinator-friendly habitat. We conclude with best practices for the implementation of these additions to realize conservation and agricultural benefits.
Clinical ReviewsThe watermelon stomach: clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment

The watermelon stomach syndrome is an increasingly recognized cause of persistent acute or occult gastrointestinal bleeding, typically in elderly women. This disorder often presents with severe iron deficiency anemia, and a variety of associated conditions including autoimmune disease, cirrhosis, achlorhydria, and hypochlorhydria. Diagnosis is made by the characteristic endoscopic appearance of visible linear watermelon-like vascular stripes in the antrum. Histology confirms the vascular nature of this disorder, showing dilated and thrombosed capillaries in the lamina propria, associated with reactive fibromuscular hyperplasia. The optimum treatment of choice is not known. Several treatment options, including surgical antrectomy, and endoscopic photocoagulation with Nd:Yag laser, heater probe therapy, and bipolar electrocautery, have yielded excellent results. Pharmacological agents have also been used to treat selected numbers of patients, most of which comprise a small number of case reports.
Biologically Inspired Self Selective Routing with Preferred Path Selection

This paper presents a biologically inspired routing protocol called Self Selective Routing with preferred path selection (SSRP). Its operation resembles the behavior of a biological ant that finds a food source by following the strongest pheromone scent left by scout ants at each fork of a path. Likewise, at each hop of a multi-hop path, a packet using the Self Selective Routing (SSR) protocol moves to the node with the shortest hop distance to the destination. Each intermediate node on a route to the destination uses a transmission back-off delay to select a path to follow for each packet of a flow. Neither an ant nor a packet knows in advance the route that each will follow as it is decided at each step. Therefore, when a route becomes severed by a failure, they can dynamically and locally adjust their routing to traverse the shortest surviving path. Preferred path selection reduces transmission delay by essentially removing back-off delay for the node that carried the previous packet of the same flow. The results reported here for both simulation and execution of a MicaZ mote implementation, show that this is an efficient and fault-tolerant protocol with small transmission delay, high reliability and high delivery rate.
Changes in DXA and quantitative CT measures of musculoskeletal outcomes following pediatric renal transplantation.

This prospective study evaluated changes in dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) whole body bone mineral content (WB-BMC) and spine areal bone mineral density (spine-BMD), and tibia quantitative computed tomography (QCT) trabecular and cortical volumetric BMD and cortical area in 56 children over 12 months following renal transplantation. At transplant, spine-BMD Z-scores were greater in younger recipients (<13 years), versus 898 reference participants (p < 0.001). In multivariate models, greater decreases in spine-BMD Z-scores were associated with greater glucocorticoid dose (p < 0.001) and declines in parathyroid hormone levels (p = 0.008). Changes in DXA spine-BMD and QCT trabecular BMD were correlated (r = 0.47, p < 0.01). At 12 months, spine-BMD Z-scores remained elevated in younger recipients, but did not differ in older recipients (≥13) and reference participants. Baseline WB-BMC Z-scores were significantly lower than reference participants (p = 0.02). Greater glucocorticoid doses were associated with declines in WB-BMC Z-scores (p < 0.001) while greater linear growth was associated with gains in WB-BMC Z-scores (p = 0.01). Changes in WB-BMC Z-scores were associated with changes in tibia cortical area Z-scores (r = 0.52, p < 0.001), but not changes in cortical BMD Z-scores. Despite resolution of muscle deficits, WB-BMC Z-scores at 12 months remained significantly reduced. These data suggest that spine and WB DXA provides insight into trabecular and cortical outcomes following pediatric renal transplantation.
Ice cloud depolarization for nadir and off-nadir CALIPSO measurements

[1] Currently approaching its sixth year in space, the CALIPSO satellite collects lidar linear depolarization ratios δ from 0.532 μm laser backscatter, an indicator of particle phase, shape, and orientation. We examine one-yearδaverages for day and night periods when the lidar was pointing close to the nadir (0.3°) and off-nadir (3.0°), in terms of geographic location and zonal height averages. For the first time, also given is the dependency ofδon temperature versus latitude for ice clouds. The analysis involves all ice clouds with a cloud top temperature of <−40°C, which include mainly cirrus and altostratus, as well as some polar stratospheric clouds identified by CALIPSO. We find significant differences from ∼−10° to −30°C between the nadir and off-nadir data, consistent with the effects of horizontally oriented plate crystals: overall the off-nadirδ are increased by ∼0.05 globally. Strong dependencies of δ also occur with latitude and height. Day minus night δ differ by 0.02–0.03. The global average day plus night δfor nadir and off-nadir data are 0.318 and 0.365, respectively. As expected from ground-based studies,δ increase steadily with decreasing temperature, which is particularly apparent in the nadir data because of oriented plate effects. These findings have implications for the modeling of radiative transfer through ice clouds.
InteractiveGiotto: An Algorithm for Interactive Orthogonal Graph Drawing

We present InteractiveGiotto, an interactive algorithm for orthogonal graph drawing based on the network flow approach to bend minimization.
A comparison of two computer-automated Semen analysis instruments for the evaluation of sperm motion characteristics in the stallion

Two commercially available computer-automate semen analysis instruments (CellSoft Automated Semen Analyzer and HTM-2000 Motion Analyzer) were compared for their ability to report similar results based on the analysis of pre-recorded video tapes of extended, motile stallion semen. The determinations of the percentage of motile cells by these instruments were more similar than the comparisons between subjective estimates and either instrument. However, mean values obtained from the same sample may still differ by as much as 30 percentage units between instruments. Instruments varied with regard to the determinations of mean sperm curvilinear velocity and sperm concentration, but mean sperm linearity determinations were similar between the instruments. We concluded that the determinations of sperm motion characteristics by subjective estimation, CellSoft Automated Semen Analyzer, and HTM-2000 Motility Analyzer are often dissimilar, making direct comparisons of results difficult.
Relationship Between Epidemiologic Risk Factors and Clinicopathologic Findings in the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

The risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is said to be enhanced by factors such as prematurity, low birth weight, and perinatal distress. The significance of risk factors for SIDS research was questioned because the majority of SIDS victims seem to lack them. Therefore, postmortem records of 1144 infants who died suddenly and unexpectedly in King County, Washington, over a 25-year period were studied. Deaths were classified as "explained" if a cause was apparent, "classic" SIDS if the history and autopsy were unrevealing or, where the diagnosis of SIDS was doubtful, as "probable" or "possible" SIDS. The infants' birth certificates were compared with those of 3647 infants born during a similar period. Seventy-nine deaths (7%) were explained. The 1065 previously certified as SIDS were reclassified classic SIDS (82%), probable SIDS (13%), and possible SIDS (5%). Low birth weight, small size for gestational age, prematurity, and low 5-minute Apgar scores each form a "continuum"; the possible-SIDS group had the highest proportion of such infants, followed by the probable- and classic-SIDS groups, which exhibit extensive overlap with the control population. A 5-minute Apgar score of less than 7 and delayed postnatal growth rate are not risk factors for classic SIDS. Risk factors are more prevalent in SIDS infants where the diagnosis may be doubtful. The great majority of SIDS victims possess fewer risk factors. To avoid the bias of confounding variables, SIDS research should focus on as "pure" a SIDS population as is possible.
Understanding residential segregation in American cities: Interpreting the evidence

A re-examination of the literature on the factors which influence residential segregation in American cities emphasizes the complexity of the factors involved in generating patterns of separation in urban areas and the necessity of considering more than any single factor in order to understand those patterns. In addition, recent on-going research on residential transition, white flight, and the demographics of school attendance area change further emphasizes the declining importance of public and overt private discrimination. Although private discrimination has not been eliminated from society, it cannot be relied on as a total and unambiguous explanation for the patterns that we observe within metropolitan areas.
Linear Programming and Two‐Person Zero‐Sum Games

The equivalence between linear programming (LP) and two-person zero-sum games (also commonly referred to as matrix games) was established when the minimax theorem in game theory proved to be equivalent to the duality concept in LP. The equivalence is discussed as follows: Given a general matrix game, the associated primal-dual LP problems will be formulated, and, conversely, given an LP problem with a minimization objective function, a skew-symmetric payoff matrix of the equivalent symmetric game will be constructed. In either case, once the solutions to the equivalent problem are found, it is a simple task to retrieve the solutions to the original problem. Examples are provided to illustrate the transformation procedures, and different types of constraints for the given LP problem are also considered (normal, standard and mixed). Keywords: linear programming; duality; two-person zero-sum games; matrix games; symmetric games; minimax theorem
Fundamental Aspects of Atomic Photoionization with High-Brightness Light Sources

The construction of numerous new synchrotron light sources worldwide is providing the means to study atomic and molecular photoionization processes at a level of detail that is unparalleled in even the recent past. Correspondingly, in theory, the availability of supercomputers and, perhaps more important, relatively inexpensive computer workstations. has permitted theoretical calculations to tackle more complex processes than ever before. In short, these technical developments are creating an unprecedented amount of data to be analyzed and understood.
Eigenvalue completions by affine varieties

In this paper we provide new necessary and sufficient conditions for a general class of eigenvalue completion problems.
Physiological time-series analysis: What does regularity quantify?

Approximate entropy (ApEn) is a recently developed statistic quantifying regularity and complexity that appears to have potential application to a wide variety of physiological and clinical time-series data. The focus here is to provide a better understanding of ApEn to facilitate its proper utilization, application, and interpretation. After giving the formal mathematical description of ApEn, we provide a multistep description of the algorithm as applied to two contrasting clinical heart rate data sets. We discuss algorithm implementation and interpretation and introduce a general mathematical hypothesis of the dynamics of a wide class of diseases, indicating the utility of ApEn to test this hypothesis. We indicate the relationship of ApEn to variability measures, the Fourier spectrum, and algorithms motivated by study of chaotic dynamics. We discuss further mathematical properties of ApEn, including the choice of input parameters, statistical issues, and modeling considerations, and we conclude with a section on caveats to ensure correct ApEn utilization.