cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Atmospheric entry profiles from the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity

Abstract Accelerometer measurements made by Spirit and Opportunity during their entries through the martian atmosphere are reported. Vertical profiles of atmospheric density, pressure, and temperature with sub-km vertical resolution were obtained using these data between 10 and 100 km. Spirit's temperature profile is ∼ 10 K warmer than Opportunity's between 20 and 80 km. Unlike all other martian entry profiles, Spirit's temperature profile does not contain any large amplitude, long wavelength oscillations and is nearly isothermal below 30 km. Opportunity's temperature profile contains a strong inversion between 8 and 12 km. A moderate dust storm, which occurred on Mars shortly before these two atmospheric entries, may account for some of the differences between the two profiles. The poorly known angle of attack and unknown wind velocity may cause the temperature profiles to contain errors of tens of Kelvin at 10 km, but these errors would be an order of magnitude smaller above 30 km. On broad scales, the two profiles are consistent with Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) pressure/temperature profiles. Differences exist on smaller scales, particularly associated with the near-isothermal portion of Spirit's profile and the temperature inversion in Opportunity's profile.
Radioactive Nuclear Waste

Radioactive nuclear waste includes a large number of radioactive elements. Behavior of these elements is unstable and unpredictable because the elements can change form and properties during their decay process. In order to control this type of waste effectively, the interaction mechanism(s) between radioactivity and the environment must be understood, especially with the soil-rock-water system. In this paper three major types of radioactive elements—namely uranium, radium, and radon gas—are discussed because they are closely related to environmental geotechnology. It focuses on the spent-fuel assemblies produced from nuclear power plants and random gas seeping from ground soil. Several new interaction mechanisms between nuclear elements and the environment are proposed and explained. Remedial action on waste controlling techniques are suggested and discussed.
Duration in the digital economy

We examine the drivers of Internet firm survival using a multi-method survival analysis. Based on previous literature on business failure and recent IS research on e-commerce business models, we test the impact of sector-, firm- and e-commerce-specific factors on an Internet firm duration after its IPO. We first provide a descriptive analysis of Internet firm survival using non-parametric survival analysis, which indicates the existence of differences in exit timing for different e-commerce firms. We next explore the relative strengths of the explanatory factors in predicting different outcomes using semi-parametric survival analyses. Our results suggest that the impact of the sector-, firm- and e-commerce-specific factors are different for different outcomes such as bankruptcy, merger and acquisition. A favorable capital market, reflected in a high IPO entry rate, and the selling of digital goods can enhance an Internet firm's chances of survival. One limitation of our research is the generalizability of the results since the Internet sector is still in its early stage of development and we only include publicly-traded Internet firms in our data analysis. In addition, results from our semi-parametric analyses might not apply to publicly-traded B2B firms, which are not included since there were no observations of bankruptcies, mergers and acquisitions.
Modifiable Patient Characteristics and Racial Disparities in Evaluation Completion and Living Donor Transplant

Summary BackgroundandobjectivesToreduceracialdisparitiesintransplant,modifiablepatientcharacteristicsassociated with completion of transplant evaluation and receipt of living donor kidney transplant must be identified. Design, setting, participants, & measurements From 2004 to 2007, 695 black and white patients were surveyed about15less-modifiableand10more-modifiablecharacteristicsatevaluationonset;whethertheyhadcompleted evaluation within 1 year and received living donor kidney transplants by 2010 was determined. Logistic regression and competing risks time-to-event analysis were conducted to determine the variables that predicted evaluation completion and living donor kidney transplant receipt. Results Not adjusting for covariates, blacks were less likely than whites to complete evaluation (26.2% versus 51.8%, P,0.001) and receive living donor kidney transplants (8.7% versus 21.9%, P,0.001). More-modifiable variables associated with completing evaluation included more willing to be on the waiting list (odds ratio=3.4, 95% confidence interval=2.1, 5.7), more willing to pursue living donor kidney transplant (odds ratio=2.7, 95% confidence interval=1.8, 4.0), having access to more transplant education resources (odds ratio=2.2, 95% confidence interval=1.5, 3.2), and having greater transplant knowledge (odds ratio=1.8, 95% confidence interval=1.2, 2.7). Patients who started evaluation more willing to pursue living donor kidney transplant (hazard ratio=4.3, 95% confidence interval=2.7, 6.8) and having greater transplant knowledge (hazard ratio=1.2, 95% confidence interval=1.1, 1.3) were more likely to receive living donor kidney transplants. Conclusions Because patients who began transplant evaluation with greater transplant knowledge and motivation were ultimately more successful at receiving transplants years later, behavioral and educational interventions may be very successful strategies to reduce or overcome racial disparities in transplant. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 8: ccc–ccc, 2013. doi: 10.2215/CJN.08880812
Histoplasma acquisition of calcium and expression of CBP1 during intracellular parasitism

A highly adapted parasite of macrophages, the yeast phase of Histoplasma capsulatum, survives and proliferates within phagolysosomes, while the mycelial phase exists only as a saprophyte in the soil. We have shown previously that these two phases of Histoplasma differ in their calcium requirements for growth and in the production of a released calcium-binding protein (CBP). Cloning and sequencing the CBP1 gene revealed two introns, a putative signal peptide and potential calcium-binding sites. We also evaluated CBP1 expression by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) of yeasts grown in broth culture and within two host cell types, a macrophage-like cell line and respiratory epithelial cells. H. capsulatum yeasts expressed CBP1 in all of these settings. Splenocytes from mice immunized with H. capsulatum yeasts responded to purified CBP in proliferation assays, providing evidence for the production of CBP during the infection of mammalian hosts. In addition, after H. capsulatum yeasts were subjected to a calcium-free shock, exogenously added CBP allowed yeasts to incorporate more calcium than yeasts incubated without added CBP. These results suggest that CBP may function to provide yeasts with calcium when they are in a low-calcium environment, such as the phagolysosomal compartment within macrophages.
Collective Coordinates and Linear Modes of the Double-Sine-Gordon Kink

We present a complete Hamiltonian treatment of a kink with an internal degree of freedom, namely the double-sine-Gordon (DSG) kink. In this formalism we assign two canonical coordinates and their associated momenta to describe the motion of the center of mass of the DSG kink and the relative motion of its two sub-kinks. We show that the canonical coordinate representing the separation of the two sub-kinks describes a nonlinear oscillatory degree of freedom. We have also used the method of supersymmetry to obtain, for the first time,the complete set of eigenfunctions of small oscillations about the 4π DSG kink. This analysis was motivated by the need for an accurate expression of the shape mode in the Hamiltonian formalism.
Enhancing trial integrity by protecting the independence of data monitoring committees in clinical trials.

Data monitoring committees (DMCs) have important roles in safeguarding patient interests and enhancing trial integrity and credibility. To effectively fulfill their responsibilities, DMCs should be independent of study sponsors, study investigators, and caregivers managing study participants. Unfortunately, in real-world settings where DMCs are in place, there are some practices that threaten to diminish the level of independence of these committees. To address this, some important approaches should be considered: A DMC charter should outline the roles and responsibilities of the DMC without appearing to be a legal contract; the meetings of the DMC should be led by its chair, ideally with a meeting format that ensures independence from the investigators and sponsor; the DMC and those having leadership roles in the monitoring process should have adequate training and experience; procedures should be in place to enable the DMC to have access to interim safety and efficacy data that are accurate, current, an...
Social Movements and Organization Theory and Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America -

Social Movements and Organization Theory. Edited by Gerald F. Davis, Doug McAdam, Richard Scott, and Mayer N. Zald. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 452p. 36.99 paper.Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America. By Frances Fox Piven. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. 200p. $21.95.These two books, both important additions to the social movement literature, represent two traditions at theoretical odds. Frances Fox Piven's new book is an authoritative, updated restatement of Piven and Richard Cloward's classic thesis that it is not lasting organization but fleeting and overwhelming mass disruption—literally, “the mob” in her new work—that is the only source of progressive reform in American politics. Meanwhile, the focus of Gerald Davis et al.'s new book is squarely in the organization-centered tradition of social movement scholarship. And yet, while the books are quite different, Doug McAdam and Piven (with Cloward) were all pioneer scholars of the role of political opportunity on movement emergence and outcomes. These two books are testimony to how far research on social movements has come in the past 35 years.
New Developments in Statistical Computing

Authors, producers, or distributors wishing to have such materials announced or reviewed are invited to submit information according to the guidelines, published in the November 1976 issue of The American Statistician. Information on committee reports, new program packages or updates, sources for further information, and new products should be submitted to Associate Editor William J. Kennedy, Department of Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010. Four copies of the information should be provided. Articles on statistical computing should be sent to the Editor. The description of a program or package in this department should not be construed as an endorsement of it by the American Statistical Association or its committees, nor is any warranty implied about the validity of the program.
GaN Heterostructure Barrier Diodes Exploiting Polarization-Induced $\delta$ -Doping

A GaN-based heterostructure barrier diode (HBD) similar to GaAs planar-doped barrier diodes is demonstrated. Instead of doping with impurities, the polarization-induced sheet charge at the III-nitride heterojunction behaves as an effective $\delta$ -doping. An AlGaN/GaN heterostructure is used for the demonstration. The rectifying characteristics of the polarization-induced GaN HBDs can be tuned by controlling the graded AlGaN thickness and composition. Such polarization-engineered HBDs can find applications in high-voltage and high-frequency electronics.
Optical properties of a new inorganic liquid crystal

We measured the optical properties of a new inorganic liquid crystal material. By changing the synthesization process AlFe colloidal rods approximately 200-400 nm in length and ellipsoidal platelets 2000-5000 nm in diameter can be created. In this paper we show that the optical properties of this new material change with its exposure to an external magnetic field making it particularly suitable for medical diagnostic applications.
Onset of glassy dynamics in a two-dimensional electron system in silicon.

The fluctuations of conductivity $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ with time have been studied in a two-dimensional electron system in low-mobility Si inversion layers. The noise power spectrum is $\ensuremath{\sim}{1/f}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ with $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ exhibiting a sharp jump at an electron density ${n}_{s}{\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}n}_{g}$. A huge increase in the relative variance of $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ is observed as ${n}_{s}$ is reduced below ${n}_{g}$, reflecting a dramatic slowing down of the electron dynamics. This is attributed to the freezing of the electron glass. The data strongly suggest that glassy dynamics persists in the metallic phase.
The Value Added Properties Of Local Historical Preservation Districts

This paper explains what is meant by having real property or entire districts designated as historically significant. The economic and social significance of such a designation is explored. The role of a local historic preservation commission is addressed. It is shown that such an organization enhances the benefits of a historical designation by eliminating informational asymmetries. A simple economic model is developed demonstrating the valuation changes arising from the benefits of the historical designation. Difference in difference models along with hedonic regression models are explained. Empirical results from these models are surveyed. The topic of sustainability and how it increases social value is also approached.
Recrystallization and Grain Growth in Accumulative Roll-Bonded Metal Composites

We examine recrystallization and grain growth during processing of accumulative roll-bonded (ARB) Cu-Nb and Zr-Nb composites. Throughout the ARB process, from initial millimeter thick layers down to nanometer thick layers, the mechanism for recrystallization and grain growth is the motion of high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs). However, the driving forces for these phenomena change as the densities of different types of defects evolve during the process. The creation and redistribution of dislocations, grain boundaries, and phase boundaries has significant effects on recrystallization and grain growth and, thus, on microstructural evolution. Both Cu-Nb and Zr-Nb exhibit a distinct transition in recrystallization and growth behavior at around 500-nm average layer thicknesses. For the thicker layered materials, the microstructure evolution during recrystallization and growth is determined by the density and distribution of dislocations and HAGBs. For layers less than 500 nm, the layers are largely one-grain thick and the grains are nearly dislocation free; coarsening of grains within layers at the nanoscale is due to reduction in phase boundary energy.
SecureWear: A Framework for Securing Mobile Social Networks

With the rising popularity of social networks, people have started accessing social networking sites from anywhere, any time, and from a variety of devices. Exploiting this ubiquity, the social networking data of an individual can be coupled with her geographical location to build different context aware applications. However, the existing infrastructure to share this personalized data forces users to compromise their privacy. In this paper, we present a secure framework, which allows interaction of social network information with location-based services, without compromising user privacy and security. Through exchanging an encrypted nonce ID (EID) associated with a verified user location, our framework allows location-based services to query its vicinity for relevant information without disclosing user identity. We further argue that, this kind of framework should be adopted as a common security framework for mobile-social interaction to meet privacy requirements.
On Rummel's Omnipresent Theory

Rummel asserts that his postulated relationship between nonfreedom and international conflict can be found in the Azar data set as well as his own data set, even though he finds severe fault with Azar's methods of conflict scaling. Evaluation of Rummel's arguments indicates that he does not understand the nature of the Azar data set construction and misinterprets multiple regression and Kendall's Tau B results. Extensive re-analysis further demonstrates a lack of relationship between nonfreedom and conflict in the Azar data set.
Some Sociological Aspects of Land-Use Policy

rate. A uniform rate should prevail throughout the United States. It should be sufficient to produce the necessary reserves for adequate benefit rates to the jobless in eveiy State and for a uniform duration which will fulfill and realize the underlying purpose of the entire plan. These considerations are now diverted or impeded by the rating schemes which are antagonistic to and inconsistent with the real functions of unemployment insurance. It is not the purpose of this discussion to go into any detail on the other phases of the problem for an improved unemployment insurance system and how such a system should be combined with and coordinated with the other programs in the Social Security Law. Once the rating schemes are eliminated the entire atmosphere will clear. This step will permit the consideration of the problems presented free from the distracting influence as to what bearing a proposed change may have in cutting down the amount of tax rate savings. A bill is now pending in Congress which, if enacted, will set up a single social insurance program for the entire nation. It will abolish the "merit or experience rating" systems. It will liberalize and expand not only unemployment inance but also old age and survivors insurance and also the public aid assistance programs included in the Social Security Law. We refer to the WagnerMurray-Dingell Bill also known as the Social Security Amendments of 1945. It deserves full and careful consideration from all those who claim to be sincerely interested in social security, its liberalization and extension. Without going into a discussion at this time as to the merits of the many other important improvements which it will bring about, its enactment would eliminate the various rating schemes and that in and of itself would be an important victory towards the realization of a real unemployment insurance system.
Transmembrane potentials of cultured mouse dentinal pulp cells.

SummaryIt has been possible to grow-in tissue culture viable cells from tooth germs of young mice. Three cell types have been determined based on morphological and electrophysiological characteristics. The mouse odontoblast grown in tissue culture possesses a membrane potential which is considerably greater than that of the fibroblast and is in the range reported for smooth muscle and glandular cells. At present it is not possible to state if the physiological role of the odontoblast is sensory, glandular, or both.
Analysis on the ALT examination results of the employees working in food and public places of Miyun County

[Objective] To understand the situation of unqualified ALT of employees working in food and public places in Miyun County.[Methods]The examination results of the unqualified alanine transaminase(ALT) of the employees working in food and public health place from 2006 to 2011 in Miyun county were analyzed.Ultraviolet lactic acid enzymatic dehydrogenation was adopted to detect ALT,and then ELISA was used to reexamine the samples whose ALT40 for HAV and HEV.[Results] From 2006-2011,a total of 136 913 employees working in food and public places received health examination,with total abnormal rate of 3.1%.The abnormal rate of ALT increased from 1.86% in 2006 to 3.91% in 2009 with annual upward tendency,and downward tendency in 2010 and 2011.The detection rate of hepatitis A,hepatitis E among people with ALT40 U/L was between 0.1%-0.5%.The further analysis of employees who received physical examination in 2010 and 2011 showed the positive rate of the ALT(≤20 years) was getting lower from the low-age group to the high-age group,from 4.13% to 2.98%.Unqualified ones concentrated in 21-40 years age group which occupied 67.1% of total abnormal number of cases.ALT abnormal rate of male was much higher than that of female,with significant difference(χ2=767.262,P0.01).[Conclusion]The ALT abnormal rate is significantly different between employees with genders and different age groups.There is a low proportion caused by HAV and HEV while the large proportion of unqualified in ALT is caused by some non-specific factors.
Progress in Space Mutation Breeding of Plant

The characteristics of mutant traits,mechanisms and biological effect of the mutation induced by space factors,as well as the space mutation breeding of plants were summarized in this paper.The problems and the prospects of space mutagenesis breeding were discussed.
Lack of CD45 antigen on blast cells in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia is associated with chromosomal hyperdiploidy and other favorable prognostic features

The leukocyte common antigen (CD45) was detected on the surface of leukemic cells in 217 (87%) of 249 cases of newly diagnosed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). All 55 cases of T-lineage ALL, compared with 159 of 191 B-lineage cases, expressed the CD45 antigen (P = .0005). The frequency of CD45 expression did not differ between cases of early pre-B (CD19+, cytoplasmic mu-) and pre-B (CD19+, cytoplasmic mu+) ALL. Cases of ALL lacking CD45 had significantly lower leukocyte counts (P = .002) and serum lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) levels (P = .007) and were more likely to have leukemic cell hyperdiploidy greater than 50 (P less than .0001) or a DNA index greater than 1.15 (P less than .0001), as compared with cases positive for the antigen. Of the 130 patients whose follow-up duration was sufficient for analysis of event-free survival, the 53 with the highest levels of CD45 expression (greater than or equal to 90%) were the most likely to have an adverse event on intensive multiagent chemotherapy. Patients without detectable CD45 had a negligible risk of failure. This study suggests a relationship between the expression of the CD45 antigen on leukemic lymphoblasts and other biologic factors that influence prognosis in ALL.
P09.43 Sexually tramsmitted infection screening and follow-up in a high-risk urban obstetric clinic

Introduction The objective of this study was to determine the screening rate and prevalence of Chlamydia (CT), gonorrhoea (GC), Treponema pallidum (TP), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B (HBV) infections among our presumed high-risk obstetric population. We also report treatment and follow-up of patients and their partners. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of 1000 obstetrics patients seen between 2008 and 2014 at our clinic. 854 met criteria for inclusion in the study; included were patients who received most or all prenatal care at our clinic. Demographic data were collected to understand risk factor prevalence in this population. Test results, patients, partner management and follow-up data were extracted from electronic medical records. All descriptive analyses were done using STATA. Results The mean age of patients was 29.2 ± 7.5 (range 14–48). Twenty seven percent reported a prior history of STI, 90% were screened for CT and GC at least once, 98.9% for TP, 97.8% for HBV and 84% for HIV. Prevalence of CT, GC, CT&GC, HBV, TP and HIV were 3.7%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.2%, 0.1% and 1%, respectively. All patients with positive screening were treated and 97% of them had a subsequent test of cure. Only 18.2% of partners were reportedly treated. Thirty nine percent of partners were untreated and management unknown for 42.4% of partners. Conclusion Compared to national screening rates, our centre holds very high screening rates but is still not yet optimal. Our HIV screening rate was lowest compared to the other infections. Pregnancy presents a unique opportunity for screening so continuing counselling is indispensable to educate expecting mothers who decline screening on the importance of STIs testing. To address the lack of partners’ screening, providing prescription for both patients and their partners should be implemented. Disclosure of interest statement No funding. No pharmaceutical grants were received in the development of this study.
Infant with Respiratory Distress

Subxiphoid chest ultrasonography is performed in an infant with respiratory distress. See video below to review. Video. Click here to view the video. Of the following chest radiographs shown on the next page, the most likely chest radiograph in this infant is: 1. 2. 3. 4. Correct Response: Radiograph C. The focused subxiphoid chest ultrasonogram of this infant was obtained in the transverse plane to assess for diaphragmatic movement. The video shows decreased excursion of the left hemidiaphragm during both inspiration and expiration (still image shown in the Figure). The right hemidiaphragm has normal movements. There is no evidence of a pleural effusion or extrapleural air. These ultrasonographic findings are most consistent with a left diaphragmatic paresis. Figure. Still image of subxiphoid chest ultrasonography in a neonate with respiratory distress. The left diaphragm remains flaccid throughout the breathing cycle. Radiograph C is the most likely chest radiograph of the infant in the video. This image shows an elevated left hemidiaphragm, corresponding to a unilateral left diaphragmatic paresis. The lateral decubitus view in Radiograph A shows a left pleural effusion that layers out when the infant …
Origins of Cerebral Palsy

The causes of cerebral palsy were determined in a prospective study of 43,437 full term children from data collected in the Collaborative Perinatal Study of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD, and published from the Department of Pathology and Center for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, M.S.
Resveratrol reduces the frequency of radiation-induced chromosome aberrations in mouse bone marrow cells

A158 The purpose of this study was to investigate if resveratrol (trans-3,5,4’-trihydroxystilbene) could reduce the frequency of radiation-induced chromosome aberrations in mouse bone marrow cells. Resveratrol has previously been shown to possess antioxidant properties, contribute to cell cycle arrest, and induce apoptosis in damaged cells. We evaluated the ability of resveratrol to reduce the frequency of chromosome aberrations in bone marrow of 10 week old, male CBA/CaJ mice. Mice were divided into groups of 10 mice each for the following treatments: 1) no treatment (NoTx), 2) resveratrol only (RES), 3) radiation only (RAD), 4) resveratrol initiated before radiation (RES>RAD), and 5) radiation prior to resveratrol initiation (RAD>RES). All irradiated mice received one 3-Gy dose of whole body gamma-radiation. The RES>RAD group received resveratrol (100 mg/kg) daily via gavage for three days prior to radiation exposure, with the third resveratrol dose administered 30 minutes before irradiation. Resveratrol administration continued mixed in the drinking water at a daily dose of 100 mg/kg. Bone marrow was collected at one and 30 days post-irradiation. For mice in the RAD>RES group, resveratrol (100 mg/kg) was administered either a) as a single gavage dose two hours after radiation exposure, b) initiated by gavage two hours post-irradiation and continued in the drinking water, or c) started two days after radiation in the drinking water. Bone marrow was collected at one, seven, and 30 days post-irradiation. For each time point, collected bone marrow was processed for cytogenetic analyses. Giemsa stained slides were blinded and 25 metaphase cells from each mouse were scored for chromosome aberrations. Initiation of resveratrol either before or after whole body irradiation had a significant impact on the number of chromosome aberrations observed at all time points. Mean total chromosome aberration frequencies were found to vary by treatment group and time point. When resveratrol was given pre-irradiation (RES>RAD), the Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA p-value for the comparison of the four treatment groups was RAD vs. RAD groups, and RES>RAD vs. RES groups. Initiation of resveratrol post-irradiation (RAD>RES) also resulted in significant (p 0.05) and only borderline more beneficial than continued resveratrol started two hours post-irradiation (p≈0.05) at 30 days; however, resveratrol initiated pre-irradiation was more effective (p
Design of remote control of home appliances via Bluetooth and Android smart phones

With everyone being on the move in a fast-paced world, technologies have been increasing rapidly. This work is regarding a student-designed project allowing users to be able to control multiple appliances remotely from a single mobile device. This project involves the use of Bluetooth communication and the Arduino Uno Rev 3 Microcontroller. The whole idea is to design an app on an Android cell phone to control home appliance remotely such as lights and fans using AC power. Although there are commercially available products on the market that implement the control of multiple applications with a single device, this project is a teaching point for students to build their own communication networks, create Android phone apps, and practice electrical operation of circuits.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in cystic fibrosis: how should it be managed?

Purpose of reviewMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains prevalent in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). As chronic infection is often associated with worse pulmonary outcomes, the organism is concerning to CF providers and patients. This review describes current epidemiology, our
Worry amplifies theory-of-mind reasoning for negatively valenced social stimuli in generalized anxiety disorder.

Abstract Background Theory-of-mind (ToM) is the ability to accurately infer others’ thoughts and feelings. In generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), cognitive and emotion regulation theories allude to the plausibility that ToM is conditional on the degree of individuals’ state worry, a hallmark symptom. GAD and state worry may interact to predict ToM constructs. However, no experiments have directly tested such interactional hypotheses, and used ToM as a framework to advance understanding of social cognition in GAD. This study therefore aimed to address this gap. Methods 171 participants (69 GAD, 102 Controls) were randomly assigned to either a Worry or Relaxation induction and completed well-validated ToM decoding (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test) and reasoning (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition) tasks. Results GAD status significantly interacted with state worry to predict accuracy of overall reasoning, cognitive-reasoning, positive-reasoning, and negative-reasoning ToM. Worry, as opposed to relaxation, led sufferers of GAD to display more accurate overall reasoning and cognitive-reasoning ToM than controls, especially for negative signals. Participants with GAD who worried, but not relaxed, were also significantly better than the norm at interpreting negative signals. These findings remained after controlling for gender, executive function, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms. For other ToM abilities, mean scores of persons with and without GAD who either worried or relaxed were normative. Limitations The ToM reasoning measure lacked self-reference, and these preliminary findings warrant replication. Conclusions Theoretical implications, such as the state worry-contingent nature of ToM in GAD, and clinical implications are discussed.
Diversity-Enhanced Recommendation Interface and Evaluation

The beyond accuracy user experience of using recommender system is drawing more and more attention. For example, the system interface has been shown to associate positively with overall levels of user satisfaction. However, little is known about how the interfaces can constitute the user experience and the social interactions. In this paper, I plan to propose a visual diversity-enhanced interface that supports the user to inspect and control the multi-relevance recommendations. The goal is to let the users explore the different relevance prospects of recommended items in parallel and to stress their diversity. Two preliminary user studies with real-life tasks were conducted to compare the visual interface to a standard ranked list interface. The users» subjective evaluations show significant improvement in many metrics. I further show that the users explored a diverse set of recommended items while experiencing an increase in overall user satisfaction. A user-centered evaluation was used to reveal the mediating effects between the subjective and objective conceptual components. The future plans are discussed to extend the current findings.
Public Affairs and Healthcare Administration: Crosscutting Competencies and Multiple Accreditation Challenges for Academic Programs

This paper examines four of the major accrediting bodies to identify commonalities in core elements for curriculum design and competency development. Some are detailed and specific; others focus on...
Preference-driven Interactive Ranking System for Personalized Decision Support

Manually constructing rankings is a tedious ad-hoc process, requiring extensive user effort to evaluate data attribute importance, and often leading to undesirable results. Meanwhile, sophisticated learning-to-rank algorithms are able to leverage large amounts of data to generate high quality rankings automatically. In this work we present RanKit, a novel technology that brings the power of automatic learning-to-rank to the public. RanKit serves as a personal recommender system for building rankings from partial user knowledge in the form of item preferences. A user-friendly rank building interface provides rich input modes for preference specification. Visual feedback on the quality of the learned ranking model is given in real time, empowering the user to guide the underlying learn-to-rank algorithm. Users are actively involved with every step of the rank generation process, developing trust in the model and producing personalized rankings suitable for real-world decision making. In this demonstration, the audience works directly with the RanKit system on public domain datasets ranging from college rankings and economic indicators to movies and sports.
When Good Brands Do Bad: The Sequel: An Abstract

This research explores the concept of endorser transgressions and its effects on the endorsed brands. Further exploring the meaning transfer model, which suggests that the positive traits of endorsers are transferred unto the consumer goods which they endorse, we explore whether the opposite principle holds true; do the negative traits associated with a transgressing endorser transfer unto the brands they endorse.
Advanced Fracture Mechanics and Structural Integrity

Advanced Fracture Mechanics and Structural Integrity is organized to cover quantitative descriptions of crack growth and fracture phenomena. The mechanics of fracture are explained, emphasizing elastic-plastic and time-dependent fracture mechanics. Applications are presented, using examples from power generation, aerospace, marine, and chemical industries, with focus on predicting the remaining life of structural components and advanced testing metods for structural materials. Numerous examples and end-of-chapter problems are provided, along with references to encourage further study.The book is written for use in an advanced graduate course on fracture mechanics or structural integrity.
Precise Attack Synthesis for Smart Contracts.

Smart contracts are programs running on top of blockchain platforms. They interact with each other through well-defined interfaces to perform financial transactions in a distributed system with no trusted third parties. But these interfaces also provide a favorable setting for attackers, who can exploit security vulnerabilities in smart contracts to achieve financial gain. This paper presents SmartScopy, a system for automatic synthesis of adversarial contracts that identify and exploit vulnerabilities in a victim smart contract. Our tool explores the space of \emph{attack programs} based on the Application Binary Interface (ABI) specification of a victim smart contract in the Ethereum ecosystem. To make the synthesis tractable, we introduce \emph{summary-based symbolic evaluation}, which significantly reduces the number of instructions that our synthesizer needs to evaluate symbolically, without compromising the precision of the vulnerability query. Building on the summary-based symbolic evaluation, SmartScopy further introduces a novel approach for partitioning the synthesis search space for parallel exploration, as well as a lightweight deduction technique that can prune infeasible candidates earlier. We encoded common vulnerabilities of smart contracts in our query language, and evaluated SmartScopy on the entire data set from etherscan with $>$25K smart contracts. Our experiments demonstrate the benefits of summary-based symbolic evaluation and show that SmartScopy outperforms two state-of-the-art smart contracts analyzers, Oyente and Contractfuzz, in terms of running time, precision, and soundness. Furthermore, running on recent popular smart contracts, SmartScopy uncovers 20 vulnerable smart contracts that contain the recent BatchOverflow vulnerability and cannot be precisely detected by existing tools.
The 112-Year Odyssey of Pertussis and Pertussis Vaccines-Mistakes Made and Implications for the Future.

Effective diphtheria, tetanus toxoids, whole-cell pertussis (DTwP) vaccines became available in the 1930s, and they were put into routine use in the United States in the 1940s. Their use reduced the average rate of reported pertussis cases from 157 in 100 000 in the prevaccine era to 3000 in DTwP vaccines), linked-epitope suppression occurs. Because of linked-epitope suppression, all children who were primed by DTaP vaccines will be more susceptible to pertussis throughout their lifetimes, and there is no easy way to decrease this increased lifetime susceptibility.
Comprehensive optimized configuration of regional small hydropower and new energy system

Abstract In the region with rich wind, solar and water resources, making full use of the coincidence of space and time to build complementary system can effectively make up the shortage of independent power system. Aiming at the complementary energy system of wind energy, photovoltaic, small hydropower and energy storage, this paper analyzes the complementary properties of wind/PV/hydropower/storage and proposes evaluate indicator, then puts forward the optimal capacity configuration method of new energy and energy storage system considering power supply reliability, finally carries out quantitative evaluation of complementary characteristics for the actual area, and verifies the feasibility of the proposed method.
YouTube Videos as a Source of Palliative Care Education: A Review

Abstract Background: The lack of consumer knowledge and misconception of services could impede requests for and acceptance of palliative care. YouTube has been widely used for health information di...
On the possibility of Bose-Einstein condensation in lower dimensions in the thermodynamic limit

Standard arguments state that Bose Einstein condensation (BEC) cannot occur in dimensions lower than three in the thermodynamic limit as the expressions for the number of bosons in the excited states are unbounded. These arguments imply that the number density is infinite, which is an extraordinary condition. As an alternative to this pedagogy, we explore the use of regularization techniques to show that the number density of bosons in the excited state is finite in two and one dimensions at low temperatures, making it possible to have a BEC transition in the thermodynamic limit. We suggest creating a two-dimensional optical traps of increasing sizes to test this hypothesis as the thermodynamic limit is approached.
Detection of Large Structural Variants Causing Inherited Retinal Diseases.

Current application of next-generation sequencing (NGS) leads to detection of the underlying disease-causing gene and mutation or mutations in from 60% to 85% of patients with inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), depending on the methods used, disease type, and population tested. In a cohort of 320 families with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP), we have detected the mutation in 82% of cases using a variety of methods, leaving more than 50 families with “elusive” disease genotypes. All of the remaining families have been screened for mutations in known IRD genes using retinal-targeted-capture NGS, and most have been tested by whole-exome NGS. Linkage mapping has been conducted in several large families. In one of these families, with DNA samples from ten affected family members and six unaffected, linking members, we observed substantial maximum two-point LOD scores for linkage to both chromosomes 2 and 4. Subsequent 10X Genomics Chromium™ sequencing, which facilitates linked-read, phase-known chromosomal analysis, revealed a balanced translocation of the q terminus arms of chromosomes 2 and 4 involving 35 Mb and 73 Mb of 2 and 4, respectively. The balanced translocation is present in all affected family members and absent from all unaffected individuals. Family histories suggest multiple miscarriages are associated with the translocation. The breakpoint on chromosome 4 is within or 5′ to the LRAT gene, whereas the chromosome 2 break is in a gene-poor region. We conclude that the balanced translocation is the cause of adRP in this family, which may lead to dysregulation of the LRAT gene. Since multiple miscarriages are a hallmark of balanced translocations, this possibility should be considered in evaluating family histories. Further, large structural variants, which are not easily detected by conventional sequencing methods, may account for a significant fraction of the remaining unsolved families.
SOIL VARIATION ON NORTH AND SOUTH SLOPE CATENAS ON A KAME IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN

Soils from two catenas on north-and south-facing slopes of a kame were analyzed to determine the effect of lithology, topography, and microclimate on profile development. In loess on the north-facing slope, where microclimate favored CaCO3 dissolution and clay translocation, pedogenesis was rapid and an A-E-Bt-C profile developed. In contrast, an A-Bt-C profile developed on the south-facing slope. In gravel where limestone/dolostone dissolution was slow, A-C profiles were found and CaCO3 was depleted to a ≤ 25-cm depth, 20± cm less than reported for similar Michigan soils. Slopewash and runoff are inferred to have caused silt accumulations and greater infiltration at the base of ≥ 20° slopes, resulting in a thicker solum in foot-and toe-slope positions, whereas on slopes of ≤ 7° infiltration and interflow are the dominant processes, resulting in a thicker solum on the transportational midslope. The differences in soil profile development are attributed to sediment facies changes at 25- to 50-cm depth and ...
Complement associated microvascular injury and thrombosis in the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19 infection: A report of five cases.

Acute respiratory failure and a systemic coagulopathy are critical aspects of the morbidity and mortality characterizing infection with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome-associated coronavirus-2, the etiologic agent of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We examined skin and lung tissues from 5 patients with severe COVID-19 characterized by respiratory failure (n= 5) and purpuric skin rash (n = 3). COVID-19 pneumonitis was predominantly a pauci-inflammatory septal capillary injury with significant septal capillary mural and luminal fibrin deposition and permeation of the interalveolar septa by neutrophils. No viral cytopathic changes were observed and the diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) with hyaline membranes, inflammation, and type II pneumocyte hyperplasia, hallmarks of classic acute respiratory distress syndrome, were not prominent. These pulmonary findings were accompanied by significant deposits of terminal complement components C5b-9 (membrane attack complex), C4d, and mannose binding lectin (MBL)-associated serine protease (MASP)2, in the microvasculature, consistent with sustained, systemic activation of the complement pathways. The purpuric skin lesions similarly showed a pauci-inflammatory thrombogenic vasculopathy, with deposition of C5b-9 and C4d in both grossly involved and normally-appearing skin. In addition, there was co-localization of COVID-19 spike glycoproteins with C4d and C5b-9 in the interalveolar septa and the cutaneous microvasculature of 2 cases examined. In conclusion, at least a subset of sustained, severe COVID-19 may define a type of catastrophic microvascular injury syndrome mediated by activation of complement pathways and an associated procoagulant state. It provides a foundation for further exploration of the pathophysiologic importance of complement in COVID-19, and could suggest targets for specific intervention.
Sovereign debt and the length of economic depressions

Abstract We analyze the duration of economic depressions to see if there is an association with consecutive years of high public-debt-to-GDP ratios. We find that there is a positive, non-linear association between the sovereign debt ratio and the length of depressions. Inflation is negatively and linearly correlated with depression duration. These associations are robust to the inclusion of controls for development, but we do detect cross-country heterogeneity in the probability of exit. An analysis of causality finds little evidence that high levels of sovereign debt cause depressions to be longer. Rather, it appears that longer depressions elicit higher debt relative to GDP. Public deleveraging during a depression is not likely, therefore, to help bring it to an end.
The Costs and Benefits of Retirement Policies at U.S. Audit Firms

The mandatory retirement age within U.S. Big 4 audit firms ranges from 55 to 62, which has attracted controversy and legal scrutiny. The potential costs of an earlier retirement age include the loss of established networks, experience, and expertise. However, studies in non-U.S. jurisdictions conclude that partners nearing retirement disengage from their work, which manifests in lower audit quality. Using intensive hand-collected data on the age of 3,148 U.S. audit partners, we provide the first evidence of the costs and benefits of mandatory retirement policies at U.S. audit firms. We find that audit quality does not vary, but that fees are significantly higher for U.S. partners approaching retirement. These findings suggest that U.S. mandatory retirement policies are forcing out experienced revenue earners that are producing audit quality equivalent to younger partners. Additional analysis reveal that partner retirements are mechanisms to promote and grow the client portfolios of younger and female audit partners, and therefore increase partner diversity. Our additional analysis of non-U.S. audit partners leading audits of U.S. listed companies shows that partners approaching retirement are associated with lower audit quality across certain measures. This suggests that the audit quality of older U.S. partners is superior to their non-U.S. counterparts.