cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Overview Of Consumer Perceptions And Acceptance As Well As Barriers And Potential Of Electronic Personal Health Records

Healthcare industry leaders, government agencies and the general public are beginning to see the value that Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems bring through increased quality, reduced medical error rates, and improved care coordination. One subset of the EHR, known as the electronic personal health record (PHR), is gaining in popularity. Before PHRs will be widely adopted, many barriers to their use must be overcome. These include the costs to the developer, host, and patient. Patient access to electronic resources is a concern. Interoperability is another problem. It is not practical for physicians to convert different data formats so that different PHRs may be adopted. Finally, privacy and security concerns also impact EHR adoption. Patients want assurance that their data is secure and not used for marketing purposes. Despite these barriers, there is high consumer interest in PHR products. In future, it is expected that PHR programs will be certified, security and privacy will be enforced by legislation, and standards for interoperability will be developed. PHR will also incorporate additional decision support aids and may become part of a social network that promotes peer support for positive behavior change. This paper will provide an overview of all these issues pertaining to PHR.
Basil Rathbone: Writing a Major Result

This chapter discusses how to claim a major result: how to write it up, and how to release it to the world. Some analogies are drawn from classic Sherlock Holmes stories and films.
An RF/microwave microfluidic sensor for miniaturized dielectric spectroscopy based on sensor transmission characteristics

This paper reports an RF/microwave microfluidic sensor for miniaturized dielectric spectroscopy. The sensor is designed to interface with CMOS-integrated electronics that provides the sensor with an excitation signal at RF/microwave frequencies and simultaneously measures its transmission characteristics in the voltage domain to extract the complex dielectric permittivity, e, of the material-under-test (MUT). The sensor is based on a three-dimensional (3D), parallel-plate, capacitive structure with a floating electrode that is integrated into a microfluidic channel with 9μL-sample volume. Requiring only an S2i measurement, dielectric readings by the sensor in a frequency range of 14MHz to 6.5GHz show an excellent agreement with bulk-solution reference measurements conducted with an Agilent 85070E dielectric probe. Using mixtures of 2.5% ethanol in de-ionized (DI) water and 10% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) in DI water as two different MUTs, the rms error is < 0.5% for both the real and imaginary parts of permittivity over the full frequency range after a 7-point sensor calibration procedure.
Forum Selection Agreements in the Federal Courts After Carnival Cruise: A Proposal for Congressional Reform

After decades of hostility to exclusive forum selection agreements (i.e., agreements that require parties to litigate only in a particular court), the Supreme Court embraced them in 1973 in The Bremen v. Zapata Offshore Co. The Bremen, however, involved two sophisticated business entities of roughly equal bargaining power. It was unclear, however, whether The Bremen's rationale extended beyond such contracts to consumer agreements. In Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, decided in 1992, the Supreme Court extended The Bremen to this context. The Court thus enforced an exclusive forum selection clause printed on the back of a cruise line ticket and required a plaintiff to bring suit in Florida even though she was a resident in the State of Washington and was injured while the defendant's boat was sailing from Los Angeles. The Court reasoned that the benefits of lower costs to the cruise line in being able to funnel all litigation to a particular court would ultimately be passed on to the consumers of such cruises. The article argues, however, that consumers are at an informational disadvantage in such agreements and that it is cost-prohibitive for them in small transactions to estimate the burden placed on them by such a clause. The article thus proposes a comprehensive statutory scheme that would allow for enforcement of such clauses only in transactions exceeding $50,000.
Expression Profiles of miRNA Subsets Distinguish Human Colorectal Carcinoma and Normal Colonic Mucosa

Expression Profiles of miRNA Subsets Distinguish Human Colorectal Carcinoma and Normal Colonic Mucosa
Assembly of the 30S Ribosomal Subunit

Protein synthesis involves nearly a third of the total molecules in a typical bacterial cell. Within the cell, protein synthesis is performed by the ribosomes, and research over several decades has investigated ribosomal formation, structure, and function. This review provides an overview of the current understanding of the assembly of the Escherichia coli 30S ribosomal subunit. The E. coli 30S subunit contains one rRNA molecule (16S) and 21 ribosomal proteins (r-proteins; S1 to S21). The formation of functional subunits can occur as a self-assembly process in vitro; i.e., all the information required for the formation of active ribosomes resides in the primary sequences of the r-proteins and rRNAs. In vitro reconstitution of functional 30S subunits is carried out by using a mixture of TP30, individually purified natural or recombinant r-proteins, and natural 16S rRNA. Chemical probing and primer extension analysis have been used extensively to monitor changes in the reactivities of nucleotides in 16S rRNA during the in vitro reconstitution of 30S subunits. The potential roles for r-proteins in 30S subunit assembly were determined by omitting single proteins in reconstitution experiments. The RNPs resulting from single protein omissions were examined in terms of their composition and function to determine the roles of the absent proteins. Recent developments in understanding the structure of the 30S subunit have led to speculation about roles for some of the r-proteins in assembly. The crystal structures of the 30S subunit ( 1 , 2 ) and the 70S ribosome ( 3 ) reveal details of the r-protein and rRNA interactions.
Imminant polynomials of graphs

The imminant polynomials of the adjacency matrices of graphs are defined. The imminant polynomials of several graphs [linear graphs (Ln), cyclic graphs (Cn) and complete graphs (Kn)] are obtained. It is shown that the characteristic polynomials and permanent polynomials become special cases of imminant polynomials. The connection between the Schur-functions and imminant polynomials is outlined.
p-Xylene Formation by Dehydrative Aromatization of a Diels–Alder Product in Lewis and Brønsted Acidic Zeolites

Diels–Alder cycloaddition with furans as dienes and subsequent dehydrative aromatization are potentially valuable processes for sustainable conversion of biomass-derived furans to aromatics. We have performed electronic structure calculations to investigate the catalytic activity of HY and of alkali-exchanged Y zeolites in connection with the conversion of 2,5-dimethylfuran and ethylene to p-xylene. We have used two active site settings: an active site cluster model on which we have carried out density functional theory calculations and a mechanically embedded active site cluster model on which we have performed hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations with the ONIOM scheme. Even though Lewis catalyzed Diels–Alder cycloaddition has received considerable attention over the years, we show that confinement and charge transfer in zeolite catalysts play a significant role in catalysis. Both HY and alkali-Y can catalyze the aromatization of the cycloadduct through dehydration but HY is found to...
Hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone in hypertension

A double-blind study of hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone, alone and in combination, was conducted in 49 patients with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension after a 4-wk placebo washout period. In the whole group mean arterial blood pressure fell to levels of less than or equal to 107 mm Hg or declined by more than 15 mm Hg in 78% of the patients after twelve weeks of treatment. Sixty-nine percent of patients receiving hydrochlorothiazide alone developed serum potassium levels lower than 3.5 mEq/L; serum potassium levels were above 5.5 mEq/L in 2 patients (5.5%) receiving spironolactone 400 mg/day. Uric acid levels rose in all patients, more in those on hydrochlorothiazide, but clinical gout did not develop in any subject. Hydrochlorothiazide, spironolactone, and the combination of the two are effective antihypertensives. Spironolactone in doses of 200 and 400 mg/day was associated with side effects but did not induce a greater antihypertensive effect than doses of 100 mg/day. Our data suggest that when hydrochlorothiazide is associated with potassium loss, when gout or elevated uric acid levels are of concern, or when carbohydrate tolerance is abnormal, supplementation or replacement with spironolactone (up to 100 mg/day) may be useful in controlling blood pressure while reducing side effects.
Watching What and How Politicians Discuss Various Topics: A Large-Scale Video Analytics UI

Accurately gauging the political atmosphere is especially difficult in this day and age, as individuals have access to a constantly growing collection of written and audiovisual news sources. This is especially true with regards to the U.S. presidential election, as there are numerous candidates, countless stories, and opinion articles discussing the merits of each particular candidate. It is therefore challenging for people to make an accurate assessment of what each candidate represents and how they would act if they were elected into office. To address this problem, we present a large-scale dataset comprised of videos of politicians speaking organized by the topics they are speaking about, and a user interface for exploring this interesting dataset. Our interface links people and events to relevant pieces of audiovisual media, and presents the desired information in a meaningful and intuitive manner. Our approach is unique by direct linking to actual speaking by politicians about specific topics, rather than links to textual quotes only. We describe the larger underlying infrastructure, a novel automated system that crawls thousands of internet news sources and 100 television news channels daily, and automatically discovers entities and indexes the content into events and topics. We examine how our user interface provides helpful and unique insights to its users, and give an example of the type of large scale trend analysis that can be performed with our system. Our online demo can be accessed at: http://www.ee.columbia.edu/dvmm/PoliticialSpeakerDemo
An Environmental History of Latin America: Nature's Conquests

And still the horses had not sated their thirst, to the frightening astonishment of the Indian women; and they said to the Spaniards, “in truth, our lords, if these animals eat so much as they drink, there is not enough in all of our lands that can sustain them.” Columbus and his colleagues, I have suggested, did not discover a new world in America; they happened upon another old world. The discoverers did, however, consummate an abrupt, forced marriage between two hemispheres that after decades of gestation and a prolonged, difficult labor gave birth to something new. A wide variety of peoples hailing from three major landmasses – Eurasia, Africa, and America – melded to form cultures that were racially and culturally distinct from anything that had come before. Of this crucible was born Latin American civilization, a cultural hybrid. The Eurasian and African arrivals, however, carried more than cultural baggage; they also impregnated America's landscapes with new plants, animals, seeds, and germs, making of the Americas something of an ecological amalgam. The Old World's biological baggage, much of it stowaway, muscled in and grafted itself on to the lives and landscapes of America's existing ecological foundations. By the hundredth anniversary of this complicated union, the title “New World” finally made an apt description of both the cultural and natural consequences of the penetration of one hemisphere by another.
Foreign Agricultural Land Acquisition and the Visibility of Water Resource Impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa

The many headlines focusing on 'land grabbing' have distracted attention from the role that access to water plays in underpinning the projected productivity of foreign direct investment in acquisition of agricultural land in developing countries. This paper identifies questions that arise about the explicit and implicit water requirements for irrigation in agricultural projects on land that is subject to such foreign investment deals. It focuses particularly on land acquisition in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where, for savanna ecosystems that cover some two thirds of the region, rainfall uncertainty is the principal constraint to increased agricultural productivity. The paper argues that, even where land acquisition deals do not specify irrigation, choice of location and/or crop type indicates this is invariably an implicit requirement of projects. It is arguable that private investment in water infrastructure (e.g. for water storage) could provide wider benefits to neighbouring small-scale producers, thus reducing the risk inherent in much of African agriculture. However, it is also possible that foreign investment may compete with existing water use, and some land deals have included provisions for priority access to water in cases of scarcity. Empirical studies are used to identify the mechanisms through which large-scale land investments influence water availability for smaller-scale land users. The paper concludes that, although effects on water resources may constitute one of the main impacts of land deals, this is likely to be obscured by the lack of transparency over water requirements of agricultural projects and the invisibility of much existing local agricultural water management to government planning agencies.
MYB, CD117 and SOX-10 expression in cutaneous adnexal tumors

Background Elevated MYB expression has been documented in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), cylindroma, and spiradenoma, but the specificity of this finding is unknown. CD117 and SOX-10 expression also occurs in some cutaneous adnexal tumors. This study assesses MYB, CD117, and SOX-10 expression in cutaneous adnexal tumors. Methods Retrospective analysis of 184 benign adnexal tumors (140 eccrine/apocrine, 40 follicular, and 10 sebaceous), and 30 malignant adnexal tumors was performed with MYB, SOX-10, and CD117 immunostaining. Results In the benign adnexal tumors, 16% (23/140) significantly expressed MYB. MYB expression was limited to cylindromas and to a lesser extent, spiradenomas in the benign cohort. Elevated MYB expression was detected in mucinous carcinoma, endocrine mucin-producing sweat gland carcinoma, and 1/4 cases of extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) in the malignant cohort. CD117 and SOX-10 had similar overall positivity rates in benign apocrine and eccrine tumors (45% and 68% respectively), and were generally negative in other benign and malignant adnexal tumors. Conclusion Expression of MYB appears limited to a small number of cutaneous adnexal tumors, including cylindromas, spiradenomas, ACCs, mucinous carcinoma, endocrine mucin-producing sweat gland carcinoma, and some cases of EMPD.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have multisystem disease and thus an increased risk for multiple perioperative complications, including wound infection, renal insufficiency, cardiovascular events, and pulmonary embolus. There is a two to sevenfold higher mortality rate for SLE patients undergoing both nonelective and elective hip and knee surgery compared to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and controls independent of major medical comorbidities. Additional studies have demonstrated that patients with SLE had a higher prevalence of preoperative coexisting medical conditions and postoperative major complications as well as short-term perioperative outcomes.
Physics-based hybrid method for multiscale transport in porous media

Despite advancements in the development of multiscale models for flow and reactive transport in porous media, the accurate, efficient and physics-based coupling of multiple scales in hybrid models remains a major theoretical and computational challenge. Improving the predictivity of macroscale predictions by means of multiscale algorithms relative to classical at-scale models is the primary motivation for the development of multiscale simulators. Yet, very few are the quantitative studies that explicitly address the predictive capability of multiscale coupling algorithms as it is still generally not possible to have a priori estimates of the errors that are present when complex flow processes are modeled. We develop a nonintrusive pore-/continuum-scale hybrid model whose coupling error is bounded by the upscaling error, i.e. we build a predictive tightly coupled multiscale scheme. This is accomplished by slightly enlarging the subdomain where continuum-scale equations are locally invalid and analytically defining physics-based coupling conditions at the interfaces separating the two computational sub-domains, while enforcing state variable and flux continuity. The proposed multiscale coupling approach retains the advantages of domain decomposition approaches, including the use of existing solvers for each subdomain, while it gains flexibility in the choice of the numerical discretization method and maintains the coupling errors bounded by the upscaling error. We implement the coupling in finite volumes and test the proposed method by modeling flow and transport through a reactive channel and past an array of heterogeneously reactive cylinders.
Noninvasive glucose measurements in skin using mid-IR quantum cascade laser spectroscopy

A mobile sensor using a quantum cascade laser and integrating sphere has been implemented to detect glucose noninvasively in human skin. Principal component analysis of the backscattered spectra closely matched the known glucose absorption spectrum.
In-Memory Computing with Spintronic Devices

In-Memory computing has drawn many attentions as a promising solution to reduce massive power hungry data traffic between computing and memory units, leading to significant improvement of entire system performance and energy efficiency. Emerging spintronic device based non-volatile memory is becoming a next-generation universal memory candidate due to its non-volatility, zero leakage power in un-accessed bit-cell, high integration density, excellent endurance and compatibility with CMOS fabrication technology. In this paper, we present that different spintronic devices based memory, including spin-orbit torque magnetic random access memory (SOT-MRAM), domain wall motion memory, magnetic racetrack memory, could be leveraged to implement logic functions within memory without add-on logic circuits. As a case study, we employ Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm to elucidate the efficiency of such in-memory computing based on spintronic memory.
Effects of a Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet Intervention on Serum Uric Acid in African Americans With Hypertension.

Objective To examine whether partial replacement of a diet typical of the average American diet with Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-related foods in the home environment lowers the serum uric acid (UA) level in individuals with hypertension. Methods We conducted an ancillary study of a randomized trial of African American adults with controlled hypertension from an urban clinic. Participants were assigned to either a control group or an intervention (DASH-Plus) group. DASH-Plus participants received coach-directed dietary advice, assistance with purchasing DASH-related foods ($30/week), and home delivery of food via a community supermarket. Participants in the control group received a DASH diet brochure and a debit card account ($30/week) to purchase foods. Serum UA levels were measured at baseline and after 8 weeks. Results Of the original 123 randomized participants, 117 had available serum UA measurements. Seventy percent of the participants were women, the mean ± SD age was 59 ± 9.5 years, and the mean ± SD serum UA level was 6.4 ± 1.7 mg/dl. The DASH-Plus diet did not reduce serum UA levels compared with the control diet (difference in difference -0.01 mg/dl [95% confidence interval -0.39, 0.38]). However, there was a significant trend toward a greater reduction in the serum UA level in participants with higher baseline serum UA levels (P for trend = 0.008). Baseline changes in the serum UA level were inversely associated with changes in systolic blood pressure (P = 0.002), diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.001), and urinary sodium excretion (P = 0.05). Conclusion Overall, in African American individuals, partial replacement of a typical diet with DASH foods did not lower serum UA levels compared with a control diet. However, there was a significant trend toward a greater reduction in serum UA levels in subjects with higher baseline serum UA levels. Furthermore, changes in serum UA levels were associated with known correlates, suggesting heterogeneity of effects in the treatment and control arms. Future pragmatic studies of consumption of the DASH diet to lower serum UA levels should optimize replacement strategies and enroll individuals with hyperuricemia or gout.
The Governance of Death

The living will and the health-care agent together govern one’s death. As death becomes more complex, the governance structure also undergoes change. First, the agent plays a relatively more active role. Second, the governance draws in physicians, nurses, and ethicists. Death becomes increasingly a compromise between “my wish” and “their wish.” I don’t see anything wrong with that.
Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Insurance Coverage in Medicaid Expansion and Non-Expansion States

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to achieve nearly universal health insurance coverage in the United States through a combination of insurance market reforms, mandates, subsidies, health insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansions, most of which took effect in 2014. This paper estimates the causal effects of the ACA on health insurance coverage using data from the American Community Survey. We utilize difference-in-difference-in-differences models that exploit cross-sectional variation in the intensity of treatment arising from state participation in the Medicaid expansion and local area pre-ACA uninsured rates. This strategy allows us to identify the effects of the ACA in both Medicaid expansion and non-expansion states. Our preferred specification suggests that, at the average pre-treatment uninsured rate, the full ACA increased the proportion of residents with insurance by 5.9 percentage points compared to 3.0 percentage points in states that did not expand Medicaid. Private insurance expansions from the ACA were due to increases in both employer-provided and non-group coverage. The coverage gains from the full ACA were largest for those with incomes below the Medicaid eligibility threshold, non-whites, young adults, and unmarried individuals. We find some evidence that the Medicaid expansion partially crowded out private coverage among low-income individuals.
Hydroa Vacciniforme-Like Lymphoproliferative Disorder

Hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoproliferative disorder is a unique EBV-positive condition with NK- or T-cell phenotype. This rare entity affects children and usually presents with ulcerated necrotic lesions on sun-exposed skin. Angiocentrism and necrosis are usually present.
Nieuw onderzoek naar duurzame spoedzorg

Het netwerk voor acute zorg – waaronder de spoedeisende hulp (SEH), huisartsenposten (HAP) en de ambulancedienst – bemerkt de laatste jaren een sterke toename in drukte. Om de spoedzorg in de toekomst toegankelijk te houden is samenwerking het sleutelwoord. Dit nieuwe onderzoek levert een bijdrage aan het akkoord ‘zorg op de juiste plek’.
International Civic Engagement to Promote Peace

This paper will share lessons learned from four years of teaching the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) program. YSEALI brings the best and brightest 18 to 25 years old leaders from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) for training in civic engagement. The goals of this US Department of State-supported academic fellowship are to build trust between ASEAN countries and the US, peace within and between ASEAN countries, and active engagement in promoting democracy by ASEAN citizens. This paper explores lessons about comparative civic engagement, conflict resolution paradigms applicable in different contexts, and designing teaching materials that are flexible and appropriate in culturally, politically and religiously diverse settings.
Round Spermatid Injection

From a fertility perspective, men with azoospermia represent a challenging patient population. When no mature spermatozoa are obtained during a testicular sperm extraction, patients are often left with limited options, such as adoption or the use of donor sperm. However, it has been reported that round spermatids can be successfully injected into human oocytes and used as an alternative to mature spermatozoa. This technique is known as round spermatid injection (ROSI). Despite the limitations of ROSI and diminished clinical success rates, the use of round spermatids for fertilization may have potential as a treatment modality for men with azoospermia.
Multifocal transcranial stimulation in chronic ischemic stroke: A phase 1/2a randomized trial.

Abstract Background and Purpose Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may promote recovery of motor function after stroke by inducing functional reorganization of cortical circuits. The objective of this study was to examine whether multifocal cortical stimulation using a new wearable transcranial rotating permanent magnet stimulator (TRPMS) can promote recovery of motor function after stroke by inducing functional reorganization of cortical circuits. Methods Thirty 30 patients with chronic ischemic stroke and stable unilateral weakness were enrolled in a Phase 1/2a randomized double-blind sham-controlled clinical trial to evaluate safety and preliminary efficacy. Bilateral hemispheric stimulation was administered for 20 sessions 40 min each over 4 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was the change in functional MRI BOLD activation immediately after end of treatment. Secondary efficacy endpoints were clinical scales of motor function, including the Fugl-Meyer motor arm score, ARAT, grip strength, pinch strength, gait velocity, and NIHSS. Results TRPMS treatment was well-tolerated with no device-related adverse effects. Active treatment produced a significantly greater increase in the number of active voxels on fMRI than sham treatment (median +48.5 vs -30, p = 0.038). The median active voxel number after active treatment was 8.8-fold greater than after sham (227.5 vs 26, p = 0.016). Although the statistical power was inadequate to establish clinical endpoint benefits, numerical improvements were demonstrated in 5 of 6 clinical scales of motor function. The treatment effects persisted over a 3-month duration of follow-up. Conclusions Multifocal bilateral TRPMS was safe and showed significant fMRI changes suggestive of functional reorganization of cortical circuits in patients with chronic ischemic stroke. A larger randomized clinical trial is warranted to verify recovery of motor function.
Vagueness and the Construction of Criminal Statutes -- Balancing Acts

This article expounds a framework for analyzing issues of vagueness and statutory construction in criminal cases. If ambiguity in a criminal statute raises concern regarding either of the main policies served by the vagueness doctrine, providing fair notice and limiting arbitrary and discriminatory law enforcement, vagueness analysis proceeds to a balancing of considerations: the need for the statutory ambiguity in order to achieve a significant legislative goal, weighed against the chilling effect of the ambiguity on protected or desirable conduct. This balancing inevitably involves evaluating legislative goals and guaranteed rights. Thus in order to conduct vagueness analysis, courts must discriminate among legislation and among rights, though their warrant to do either is questionable. The framework used for vagueness claims is also serviceable in analyzing construction issues. As with vagueness, if a statutory interpretation argued by the prosecution raises the potential for lack of fair notice or for arbitrary and discriminatory law enforcement, courts deploy a balancing test, again arraying the necessity of the construction to further a significant legislative goal against the impact of the construction on protected or desirable conduct. Here also, courts must engage in an evaluation of statutes and rights that seems inconsistent with the standard conception of the proper role of the judiciary. The article identifies the courts' use of balancing to resolve questions of vagueness and statutory construction first in significant opinions of the last generation and then in a broader selection of decisions of more recent vintage.
Development of biodegradable occluders in device closure treatment for congenital heart defects

室间隔缺损、房间隔缺损和动脉导管未闭等心脏间隔类缺损是最常见的先天性心脏病，传统治疗方法为外科开胸手术。自上世纪90年代以来，应用封堵器经皮介入治疗间隔类缺损在国内外广泛开展起来，近中期随访效果良好。2007年国内学者在国内外率先开展经胸微创封堵治疗膜周部室间隔缺损并取得成功，短时间内在国内外迅速推广开来。目前临床上使用的封堵器均为以镍钛合金丝为主体支架、内衬阻流膜而成。越来越多的随访资料显示，有些患者的中远期并发症与植入的金属封堵器密切相关。自本世纪初，心血管病医学专家和材料学专家开始转向应用生物可降解材料制作心脏间隔类缺损封堵器方面的研究。本文就近10余年来生物可降解心脏间隔类缺损封堵器的研究进展和未来方向进行综述。
Dream enactment behavior-a real nightmare: a review of post-traumatic stress disorder, REM sleep behavior disorder, and trauma-associated sleep disorder

Dream enactment behavior is a phenomenon demonstrated in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, as well as with a more recently described conditio...
Social Media Self-Regulation and the Rise of Vaccine Misinformation

This essay examines the main characteristics and shortcomings of mainstream social media responses to vaccine misinformation and disinformation. Parts I and II contextualize the recent expansion of vaccine information and disinformation in the online environment. Part III provides a survey and taxonomy of ongoing responses to vaccine misinformation adopted by mainstream social media. It further notes the limitations of current self-regulatory modes and illustrates these limitations by presenting a short case study on Facebook—the largest social media vehicle for vaccine-specific misinformation, currently estimated to harbor approximately half of the social media accounts linked to vaccine misinformation. Part IV examines potential ways to improve stringency of ongoing modes of self-regulation of vaccine misinformation, as well as the creation of cooperative monitoring and mutual assistance networks dedicated to addressing issues specific to the field of vaccine misinformation.
Integer Carrier Frequency Offset Estimation in OFDM with Zadoff-Chu Sequences

Millimeter-wave spectra combined with the goal of supporting high velocity communications such as high speed trains and low earth orbit non-terrestrial networks increase the need for a robust method to address severe Doppler effects. To date, most cellular applications require management of a link where the effective Doppler is less than a subcarrier spacing; however, with emerging applications we can expect to see far larger distortion. To address this, we present a Zadoff-Chu sequence-based approach to overcome the ambiguity associated with estimating very high levels of integer Doppler. This algorithm enables certain niche applications of 5G and affords flexibility when choosing waveform subcarrier spacing.
A 340-nA-Quiescent 80-mA-Load 0.02-fs-FOM Active-Capacitor-Based Low-Dropout Regulator in Standard 0.18- μ m CMOS

This letter presents a new low-dropout regulator (LDO) architecture based on an active capacitor. The active capacitor located at the LDO output helps reduce both output variation and settling time under load step changes without using any passive capacitor. A transient-enhanced control loop is also established to further improve the transient performances and significantly lower the quiescent current. Implemented in a standard 180-nm CMOS process, the proposed LDO only consumes a no-load quiescent current of 340 nA to support a maximum load of 80 mA. With only a 3-pF compensation capacitor, the proposed LDO is stable over a wide range of the capacitive load from 0 to 600 pF. The proposed LDO also demonstrates a fast transient response to a 79.9-mA/100-ns load step with the settling time of 110 ns and a voltage droop of 120 mV. Compared to the prior art, this work achieves the best transient FOM of 0.02 fs.
A Theoretical Approach to Vision Stimulation

While many state, local and private organizations advocate the use of “vision stimulation” to help the visually impaired person, little if any scientific evidence is available that directly support...
The Personal Food Systems of Pre-Season NCAA Division 1 High-Contact, Low-Contact, and Non-Contact College Athletes.

Previous research indicates that dietary habits may differ between athletes of different sports. In this cross-sectional study, we hypothesize meal frequency, food choices, and food preferences will significantly differ between contact types. The participants were athletes (n = 92; men: n = 57, body fat percent (BF%): 14.8 ± 8.4%, body mass index (BMI): 25.5 ± 5.5 kg·m−2; women: n = 36, BF%: 26.7 ± 7.3%, BMI: 22.3 ± 2.7 kg·m−2) from high-contact (HCS), low-contact (LCS), and non-contact (NCS) sports. Meal frequency, food preference, and food choice questionnaires assessed factors influencing dietary habits. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measured lean body mass, fat mass, and body fat. A GLM multivariate analysis was used with significance accepted at p < 0.05. Significant body composition differences were observed between genders (p < 0.001) and among sports (p < 0.001). Dinner (83.7%), lunch (67.4%), and breakfast (55.4%) were the most frequently eaten meals, followed by evening snack (17.8%), afternoon snack (15.2%), and morning snack (8.7%). Greater preferences for starches were observed for HCS (p = 0.04; η2 = 0.07) and for a greater preference for vegetables was found for NCS (p = 0.02; η2 = 0.09). Significant differences also existed in the importance of health (p = 0.04; η2 = 0.07), weight control (p = 0.05; η2 = 0.11), natural content (p = 0.04; η2 = 0.07), and price (p = 0.04; η2 = 0.07). These results support our hypothesis that food choices and food preferences differ between contact types. This may help sports dieticians create more individualized nutrition programs.
Aspects of High-Field Transport in Semiconductor Heterolayers and Semiconductor Devices

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the new developments in the general area of high-field transport, and is also intended to provide a bridge in the information gap between scientists working on device modeling and others working on the basic physics of hot electrons. The most important elements of transport have been reviewed and some simple applications to devices, such as, diffusion, space-charge-limited current, etc., have been shown. Special emphasis has been put on transport in heterolayers and at interfaces. The chapter explores the band structure on electronic transport at high energies. The problem areas are specifically addressed in the chapter. The review also compares III-V compounds, especially GaAs to silicon, and an attempt is made to assess the advantages and disadvantages of device operation from a theoretical viewpoint. It is shown that with respect to speed and variability due to boundary conditions, lattice-matched heterojunctions and III-V compounds are far superior to silicon. The chapter presents the future generations of III-V compound devices that may compare to silicon like small aircraft to long freight trains. The chapter presents an account of transport parameters at interfaces. The transport processes themselves are treated in the chapter.
Connectionist approach to artificial vision

The previous chapter dealt with models of vision that relied on algorithms, data structure and formulae to imitate human behavior. The models presented in this chapter take a totally different approach. The designers of these models seek to ‘reverse engineer the competition’ (Hillis, 1985), i.e. to imitate human capabilities by reproducing the biological structure of the human vision system and brain. In Chapter 4, artificial neural networks for pattern recognition and vision were discussed, finishing with the neocognitron and HAVNET networks which were specifically designed for visual pattern recognition. In this chapter, three biologically based connectionist models of the human vision system will be presented, each of which employs neural networks as component parts.
The Effect of Comprehensive Society of Thoracic Surgeons Quality Improvement on Outcomes and Failure to Rescue

Background The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) quality benchmarks guide clinical outcome improvement in cardiac surgery. Failure to rescue (FTR) from postoperative morbidity is a proposed metric of program quality. We examined the effect of a quality improvement initiative guided by STS quality measures on outcomes and FTR. Methods Prospectively collected STS data on 3,065 consecutive patients who underwent nonemergency cardiac operations at a single institution from January 1, 2010, to January 31, 2014, were retrospectively analyzed. On January 1, 2012, the quality improvement initiative was implemented. Clinical outcomes and FTR rates were compared between operations performed before (group A) and after (group B) implementation. Results STS predicted preoperative mortality and composite of mortality plus morbidity were similar in group A and group B (2.9% ± 3.7% vs 3.1% ± 4.0%, p = 0.21; 17.8% ± 12.1% vs 18.3% ± 12.4%, p = 0.24, respectively). However, the observed mortality and composite mortality plus morbidity were lower in group B vs group A (31 of 1,576 [2.0%] vs 46 of 1,489 [3.1%], p = 0.05; 168 of 1,576 [10.7%] vs 301 of 1,489 [20.2%], p = 0.0001, respectively). Despite clinical outcome improvement, no differences in FTR rates were observed across all seven major morbidity indicators in group A vs B (35 of 290 [12.1%] vs 19 of 156 [12.1%], p = 1.00, respectively). The finding of similarity in the FTR rate remained consistent during procedural subgroup analysis for isolated coronary artery bypass grafting in group A vs B (22 of 174 [12.6%] vs 9 of 77 [11.7%], p = 1.00, respectively). Conclusions Implementation of quality improvement initiatives significantly improves outcomes without affecting FTR rates. Further study is needed to determine if FTR provides additive value to quality assessment over existing STS metrics.
Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook

Even when available elsewhere, information on these 50 English-language authors is sparse; the in-depth treatment here includes biography, description of major works and themes, summary of critical reception, and an exhaustive bibliography of works by and about each author. Both academic and public libraries will want to accept this invitation to another world. Library Journal
Nutrition of Myxococcus xanthus FBa and Some of Its Auxotrophic Mutants

A defined medium containing 15 amino acids plus salts was used to study the nutrition of Myxococcus xanthus FBa. The amino acids phenylalanine, leucine, isoleucine, valine, and methionine were essential for growth, whereas glycine, proline, asparagine, alanine, lysine, and threonine stimulated growth. An unusual pattern of requirement was found in the aromatic amino acids. Phenylalanine was essential and served as the precursor of tyrosine. Growth in the absence of tryptophan was adaptive, with cells reaching a growth rate equal to that of controls after a lag of about a week. 14C-labeled ribose and glucose were not appreciably metabolized. Auxotrophs requiring purines and pyrimidines were isolated and were used to study the fate of externally supplied nucleic acid derivatives. Appropriate mutants could satisfy their requirements with free bases, nucleosides, and nucleotides, and could hydrolyze nucleic acids and use the products. However, studies using 14C-ribose-labeled uridine (isolated from a Salmonella typhimurium pyrimidine auxotroph) showed that externally supplied nucleic acid derivatives were incorporated almost solely into the nucleic acids of the myxobacters, with little used either for energy-yielding oxidations or other cell anabolism.
Light, velocity, and Hα variations in the pulsating red giant V CVn

W e have analyzed the visual light variations of the pulsating red giant, V CVn (M4M6me, Joy and Merrill 1937), monitored by the A.A.V.S.O. since the mid I920's [Figure I]. Although similar to the more luminous long-period Mira variables, V CVn was classified as a semi-regular variable because of its relatively short 192 day period and great cycle-to-cycle variation. The light variations may not be as irregular as they appear. A Fourier transform (Horne and Baliunas lg86) of all the data indicates a strong 102 day period plus a weaker 187.5 day secondary period, possibly a low order, non-radial pulsation. Fourier transforms of 15 year intervals reveal different secondary periods which are always close to but shorter than the primary period [Table 1]. The secondary period definitely exists. It does not result from small phase changes in the 192 day pulsation because a 192-day sine wave fits the light curve well over all 50 years. Filtering (Home and Baliunas 1986) demonstrates that the secondary period is not an alias of the 192 day period. The secondary period is also not an artifact of a long ~5 year period such as those previously seen in the light curves of other semi-regular variables (Glasby 1969). Such a long period cannot produce the observed cycle-to-cycle variation in the phases of the extra "humps" in the light curve of V CVn.
Improved generalization using robust cost functions

The authors present several strategies for improving the overall generalization obtained by the normal backpropagation algorithm when there are errors such as noise and/or irrelevant inputs in the training set. When the training set is noisy and small, certain inputs or patterns are wrong. Backpropagation and least squares can generate bad curves because they attempt to find curves that fit both the patterns that have errors in them and those that do not. These curves are usually far from being representative of the true population. The idea of generalization is to find the curve that best fits the true underlying population and not the training set. These strategies include using several robust cost functions that eliminate the effect the errors have over the training process. >
Application of SOA-based Business Process Management in Outage Management System

As the progress of information technology, more and more information systems are adopted into distribution network operation, supervision and management. However, all these information systems define different data structures, and are developed independently by different technologies and vendors. At the same time, the increasing amount and varieties of distribution equipments have made the troubleshooting of distribution network more difficult and time-consuming, as a result, an Outage Management System (OMS) needs to be developed imminently. In this article, the author recommends using IEC 61970/61968 standards and SOA to implement information integration among different distribution network systems, and proposes a Business Process Management (BPM) method to implement Outage Management System. With the solution raised in this article, the interoperability and collaboration among existing information systems could be greatly enhanced, the development of OMS system could be remarkably accelerated, the outage transaction could be simplified and the outage time could be shortened significantly.
Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Destitution Law, Race, and Human Security

A powerful new wave of alienating land from those who live on it is sweeping the global commons, and discourses such as “Emerging Economies” and “Brazil, Russia, India, China” are the ideological m...
SA-4-1BBL/MPL as a novel immune adjuvant platform to combat cancer

Practical experience with cancer vaccines combined with accumulated knowledge of the complex interactions between cancer and immune system rationalize the combinatorial use of immune adjuvants for better efficacy. We recently described a novel adjuvant system based on the costimulatory SA-4-1BBL and TLR4 agonist MPL that has desired therapeutic and safety profiles.
“Automatic” Output Stability and the Exchange Arrangement: A Multi-Country Analysis

The dependence of national output variances on the structural and stochastic features of world markets and on the global exchange arrangement is depicted in a multi-country model of income and exchange rate determination. The set of Pareto optimal exchange arrangements is displayed. Examples are presented to illustrate the empirical determinants of an optimal arrangement, the situations under which currency blocs are Pareto optimal, and the distributional conflicts which often arise in an asymmetric world.
Nonparametric Estimation of Conditional Distribution Functions and Rank-Tracking Probabilities With Longitudinal Data

We study in this article two weighted kernel smoothing methods for nonparametric estimation of conditional distribution functions and their functionals with longitudinal data. As an important functional of the conditional distributions, we propose a novel statistical quantity, the rank-tracking probability, to quantitatively measure the ability of tracking a subject's health status at any two time points in a longitudinal study. Our methods can be applied to a wide range of scientific objectives, such as evaluating the temporal trends of the conditional distributions and estimating the conditional probabilities, conditional quantiles, and other rank-based quantities that may not be obtained with the commonly used conditional mean-based regression methods. Asymptotic properties of the proposed kernel smoothing estimators are developed through the asymptotic expressions of their biases, variances, and mean squared errors. Finite sample properties of these kernel estimators are investigated and compared thro...
Heartbeat detection from a hydraulic bed sensor using a clustering approach

Encouraged by previous performance of a hydraulic bed sensor, this work presents a new hydraulic transducer configuration which improves the system's ability to capture a heartbeat signal from four subjects with different body weight and height, gender, age and cardiac history. It also proposes a new approach for detecting the occurrence of heartbeats from ballistocardiogram (BCG) signals through the use of the k-means clustering algorithm, based on finding the location of the J-peaks. Preliminary testing showed that the new transducer arrangement was able to capture the occurrence of heartbeats for all the participants, and the clustering approach achieved correct heartbeat detection ranging from 98.6 to 100% for three of them. Some considerations are discussed regarding adjustments that can be done in order to increase the correct detection of heartbeats for the participant whose percentage of correct detection ranged from 71.0 to 92.5%.
Optimum and suboptimum methods for permuting a matrix into bordered triangular form

Abstract In this paper we consider the problem of permuting a large sparse n×n matrix into an optimum bordered triangular form using nonsymmetric permutations. By making use of the degree switching operations in the digraph of the matrix and minimum essential set of the digraph we present a formal solution to the problem. Next we present an algorithm for finding a minimal essential set for a strongly connected digraph using the structural properties of the digraph. We also present an algorithm for permuting a n×n matrix into a near optimum bordered triangular form by making use of output set assignment concepts. Examples are given to illustrate our algorithms.