cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Empirical Analysis and Time Distribution of Deviant Homicides in Houston: A Time Series Observational Study

During the late 1970’s and throughout the 1980’s the United States economy was struggling. When the oil crisis in 1973 began, the economy in Houston was severely affected. During the period 1973-1985 homicides in the state of Texas rose from 1506 to 2132, an increase of 41 percent (US Department of Justice, 2008), however, there was decline in murder rates nationally from 19,640 in 1973 to 18,980 in 1985, a decrease of five percent (US Department of Justice, 2008). This research will examine what motivates members of the Houston community to inflict violence upon their neighbors. The age and race of the victims will be considered as reasoning for homicidal acts, and compared to the age and race of the suspects. The victim/offender relationship will be looked at in attempt to determine if more homicides are committed upon strangers or acquaintances. This study was able to determine when the crime peaked, resulting in suggestions for future studies. However, while we did not find the correlation, this research was not at all a loss. We were able to determine when the crime peaked, resulting in suggestions for future studies.
System management research via behavior characterization

Since system management is very much environment and application dependent, past system management research has dealt mainly with solving problems of specific systems. As a result, the research results obtained often can not be reused or extended to different environment and applications. To remedy such shortcomings, we propose to study the behavior of system management techniques in generic environments and applications. Based on the abstract representations of the process, operating environment and application, a rapid prototype or testbed can then be constructed to represent the system operating environment and its application. System management techniques are categorized into classes according to their similarity. The behavior of these classes of techniques can then be determined on the prototype or testbed. Examples are given to illustrate the process of the proposed methodology. >
Knowing English is Not Enough! Cultivating Academic Literacies Among High School Newcomers

Secondary school teachers face remarkable challenges when they are asked to incorporate language objectives because the traditional approach to the education of English Language Learners (ELL) separates English language development from content instruction. The underlying assumption is that English language proficiency is a prerequisite for subject matter learning. Research shows this is a misconception. The qualitative research project described in this article investigated how a high school social studies teacher integrated language and content and how the newcomer students were able to demonstrate their understandings. Findings showed that the practice of historical inquiry through primary sources and document-based questions assisted students in developing English, academic vocabulary, and academic concepts in the learning of American history. In the spring of 2010, when the teacher deviated fromthe state's official curriculumthrough the use of digitized primary sources, notions of agency, empathy, and moral judgment played a significant role in the students' writings and use of historical reasoning. However, despite the use of historical inquiry and digitized primary sources, when there was tighter adherence to teaching the mandated curriculum in spring 2012, student expression and development of historical agency, empathy, and moral judgment was diminished or absent.
Culturally Responsive Social Skill Instruction for Latino Male Students.

Cross-cultural friendships and peer interactions are important skills for Latino students to become socially adjusted in U.S. schools. Culturally responsive social skill instruction allows educator...
Age determinations for glacial Lake Agassiz shorelines west of Fargo, North Dakota, USA

Understanding the evolution of Lake Agassiz is vital to developing a comprehensive late Quaternary history of central North America. Although many of the geomorphic features of the lake are well kn...
The Suction Feeding Mechanism in Sunfishes (Lepomis): An Experimental Analysis

The process of prey capture by inertial suction was studied in three species of sunfishes ( Lepomis auritus, L. macrochirus , and L. gibbosus ) by the simultaneous recording of buccal and opercular cavity pressures in order to test current hydrodynamic models of feeding in fishes. Synchronous high-speed films permitted the correlation of kinematic patterns of jaw bone movement with specific pressure waveforms. Opercular cavity pressures averaged onefifth buccal pressures and pressure magnitude was correlated with prey type. Peak buccal and opercular pressures were −650 cm H 2 O and −150 cm H 2 O respectively; peak rate of pressure change was −100 cm H 2 O/ms. Buccal pressure magnitude varied inversely with degree of predator satiation. Opercular pressure waveforms have an initial positive phase followed by a prolonged negative phase and then a final positive phase. The initial positive pressure may be absent during slow strikes at worms. Buccal pressure waveforms show considerable variability. The modal waveform consists of a sharp negative pressure pulse followed by a positive phase and finally by another pressure reduction. Delayed opercular abduction relative to mouth cavity compression correlates with the presence of a positive buccal phase. The second buccal negative pressure is the result of rapid mouth closing causing a pressure reduction (water hammer effect) as water flow continues posteriorly. These data indicate that (1) the buccal and opercular cavities are functionally separated by a gill curtain of high resistance, (2) that inertial effects of water are important in the description of the suction feeding process, (3) that a reverse flow of water (opercular to buccal cavity) may occur during the early phase of mouth opening prior to establishment of a buccal to opercular flow regime, and (4) current models of respiratory pressure and flow pattern cannot be applied to feeding. Current hydrodynamic models of suction feeding in fishes are re-evaluated in the light of this analysis.
The Inheritance and Linkage Relations of a New Recessive Spotting in the House Mouse.

Page 371, line 5, for "numbers of young" read "numbers of F2 young." Page 379, line 2, for " HrHr " read " Hrhr
Organizational Storytelling: Metaphors for Relational Power and Identity Struggles

Storytelling is a familiar media entertainment strategy and is becoming better understood as a device for informing employees about their organizational cultures. Using narrative analysis, participant observation, and historical analysis, this case study explores how one television producer used storytelling to entertain television viewers and maintain control within her production organization. The script, especially of one episode, functioned as a communication device that reflected the producer’s view of the organization’s dynamics, expressed the organization’s belief system, and served as an internal storyteller. Superimposing the story-as-an-internalcontrol device over the story-as-audience-entertainment device illuminated underlying issues about organizational relationships and power distribution.
Grantsmanship: Necessary but Not Sufficient Strategies for Success

You must always remember that you are the Principal Investigator (PI) whose name will appear on the proposal. The proposal therefore reflects your best judgment about what makes a scientifically valid research application. While you can solicit advice from your research team, other members of your department or university, and Program Officers, you are ultimately responsible for the proposal that is submitted. Do not submit a research grant based on the advice of anyone, if you do not think that it reflects the best scientific decision.
Door-to-Balloon Time as a Process Metric for Treatment of ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Time to “Tap Out”?∗

Door-to-balloon time (DBT) has been a standard process metric in the treatment of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) [(1)][1]. As a result of national and state efforts, the improved efficiency and organization of PPCI centers have
Ka-Band Monolithic GaAs Balanced Mixers

Monolithic integrated circuits have been developed on semi-insulating GaAs substrates for millimeter-wave balanced mixers. The GaAs chip is used as a suspended stripline in a cross-bar mixer circuit. A double sideband noise figure of 4.5 dB has been achieved with a monolithic GaAs balanced mixer filter chip over a 30- to 32-GHz frequency range. A monolithic GaAs balanced mixer chip has also been optimized and combined with a hybrid MIC IF preamplifier in a planar package with significant improvement in RF bandwidth and reduction in chip size. A double sideband noise figure of less than 6 dB has been achieved over a 31- to 39-GHz frequency range with a GaAs chip size of only 0.5 × 0.43 in. This includes the contribution of a 1.5-dB noise figure due to IF preamplifier (5-500 MHz).
Impact of azacytidine induction chemotherapies on post-transplant outcomes in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes

7032 Background: With the advent of azacytidines for treatment of MDS, disease remissions are achievable; however the disease nearly always relapses. In contrast, allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can be curative. Whereas cytotoxic induction chemotherapy in patients with MDS provides no clear benefit after HCT, the effects of azacytidine therapy prior to HCT are unknown. Methods: To address this question, we analyzed post-transplant outcomes in 43 MDS patients, 9 who received an azacytidine before transplant and 34 who did not. Although patients in both groups were equivalent in time to transplant, performance status, and transfusion dependence, patients who received an azacytidine were older (61 vs 48, p < 0.01), more immunosuppressed at HCT (absolute lymphocyte count 815 vs 1339, p = 0.04), and less likely to receive myeloablative conditioning (38% vs 78%, p = 0.03). Azacytidine patients were marginally more likely to have higher disease burden at HCT (WPSS 4 vs 3, p = 0.08) and more l...
Mathematical Programming Approaches for Multi-Vehicle Motion Planning: Linear, Nonlinear, and Mixed Integer Programming

Real world Multi-Vehicle Motion Planning (MVMP) problems require the optimization of suitable performance measures under an array of complex and challenging constraints involving kinematics, dynamics, collision avoidance, and communication connectivity. The general MVMP problem is thus formulated as a Mathematical Programming (Optimization) problem. This book presents a Mathematical Programming (MP) framework that captures the salient features of the general MVMP problem. To demonstrate the use of MP for the formulation and solution of MVMP problems, it examines in detail four representative works and summarizes several other related ones. Following this conceptual discussion, it provides a step-by-step demonstration of how to formulate, solve, and experimentally validate an MP problem that represents a MVMP. Finally, it discusses the advantages, technical challenges, and limitations of this framework. As solution algorithms and their implementations in solvers continue to develop, it is anticipated that MP solution techniques will be applied to an increasing number of MVMP problems. The framework, formulations, and experimental approach presented here may serve as a guide for future MVMP research
Hybrid Sensor-Camera Monitoring for Damage Detection: Case Study of a Real Bridge

AbstractThis article presents the real-world implementation of a novel monitoring system in which video images and conventional sensor network data are simultaneously analyzed to detect possible damage on a movable bridge. The monitoring system was designed to detect such problems at the onset of damage. A video stream of traffic is processed to detect and classify vehicles to determine the vehicle load and location, while strain measurements are simultaneously collected at various critical locations on the bridge for both normal and damage conditions. A series of unit influence lines can then be extracted for all of the scenarios using the image and sensor data. Because large data sets result from continuous monitoring, the system also includes a statistical outlier-detection algorithm. The proposed methodology was successfully used to detect and locate common damage scenarios on a real-world bascule bridge.
Benefits and risk of oral contraceptives. A reassessment.

It is essential that obstetricians-gynecologists are familiar with state-or-the-art on the risks versus benefits of oral contraceptive (OC) use. In the mid-1970s numerous studies reported a link between OCs and venous thromboembolic disease stroke and myocardial infarction. However reductions in the dosages of estrogen and progestin in currently prescribed OCs have resulted in the elimination of cardiovascular risk in healthy nonsmoking OC users. The nature of the effect of OCs on lipid and lipoprotein levels and changes in carbohydrate metabolism and the hemostatic system remains unresolved. Studies of a possible link between OCs and endometrial and ovarian cancer consistently have indicated a protective effect while the impact of OCs on breast cancer risk remains controversial. In recent years greater awareness has developed of the potential benefits of OC use including (in addition to effective prevention of pregnancy) a decrease in benign breast tumors and ovarian cysts protection against some forms of pelvic inflammatory disease and numerous menstrual disorders an ability to increase bone mass and reductions in ectopic pregnancy toxic shock syndrome and thyroid disease. In addition newer OCs containing progestins with little or no androgenic activity may improve the lipid profile and lower some womens risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
Aqueous Epoxide Ring-Opening Polymerization (AEROP): Green Synthesis of Polyglycidol with Ultralow Branching

A green synthesis method for the preparation of polyglycidol in buffer with a high degree of control is presented. Polymerizations were conducted in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) of varying pH 3.8, 6.0, and 8.0 and deionized water at temperatures of 60, 80, and 100 °C. Taking advantage of the catalytic reactivity between water and glycidol afforded a novel green polymerization technique for the facile synthesis of polyglycidol systems with semibranched architectures with a degree of branching (DB) of 0.24, which situates the polymers between purely linear (DB = 0) and hyperbranched (DB = 0.56–0.63) systems. This method sidesteps the strenuous polymerization conditions required for most polyglycidol structures and provides well-controlled and reproducible species with a high degree of linearity and narrow polydispersities of 1.1–1.2 via the first green and nonexothermic synthesis of polyglycidol.
Rhetoric Revisited: Political Legitimation and the Cold War

Based on their respective social systems, both the United States and the Soviet Union defined and then sustained the cold war through an ideological division of the world. Although some effort has been made to account for this division, it is generally treated either apart from or incidental to the policy processes which led to the antagonisms of the postwar era. A partial exception is found in approaches which treat the cold war "in terms of a spiral of misconception" (Jervis, 1968: 454-455) based on the concept of the "mirror image" (White, 1965; Bronfenbrenner, 1961, 1964; Eckhardt and White, 1967). But these essentially social psychological approaches have in tuLrn been charged with ignoring important institutional factors which also contributed to the mutual misperception associated with the cold war (Gamson and Modigliani, 1971: 110). This paper examines political legitimation as one institutional factor which helps to account both for the structural characteristics of mutual misperception in foreign policy and for the
Different Loci of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming vs. Word-Picture Matching Tasks.

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category impairs performance relative to when stimuli come from different semantic categories (i.e., semantic interference). Despite similar semantic interference phenomena in both picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, the locus of interference has been attributed to different levels of the language system – lexical in naming and semantic in word-picture matching. Although both tasks involve access to shared semantic representations, the extent to which interference originates and/or has its locus at a shared level remains unclear, as these effects are often investigated in isolation. We manipulated semantic context in cyclical picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, and tested whether factors tapping semantic-level (generalization of interference to novel category items) and lexical-level processes (interactions with lexical frequency) affected the magnitude of interference, while also assessing whether interference occurs at a shared processing level(s) (transfer of interference across tasks). We found that semantic interference in naming was sensitive to both semantic- and lexical-level processes (i.e., larger interference for novel vs. old and low- vs. high-frequency stimuli), consistent with a semantically mediated lexical locus. Interference in word-picture matching exhibited stable interference for old and novel stimuli and did not interact lexical frequency. Further, interference transferred from word-picture matching to naming. Together, these experiments provide evidence to suggest that semantic interference in both tasks originates at a shared processing stage (presumably at the semantic level), but that it exerts its effect at different loci when naming pictures vs. matching words to pictures.
Analysis on Current Situation of Preschool Teachers' Awareness & Behavior about Hand-foot-mouth Disease in Chengdu

OBJECTIVE To investigate the cognition and behavior characteristics of preschool teachers about hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD),and provide references for the designing effective health education policies of prevention for HFMD.METHODS Random cluster sampling was used to select 283 teachers of infants from 15 kindergartens.Studying the level of knowledge and behavior characteristics of them.RESULTS The scores of awareness of HFMD of teachers were between 5 to 12 points(the total score is 12points),and the average is(8.65±1.40) points.Age,education background and area play a different role in teachers' knowledge and behavior.Most of teachers paid more attention to the preschool personal health.If children appeared symptoms of HFMD,they could send them to the hospital immediately.CONCLUSION Knowledge of preschool teachers in Chengdu is limited,thus it is necessary for medical professionals to take more diversified ways of health education according to the practical situation to improve the cognitive level of children' s parents about HFMD,correct their high-risk behavior and reduce the risk of children suffering from HFMD gradually.
The Way to the Musical Self

Hanser explores the musical identity that can become embodied through the journey, perhaps when it is least expected. Brad’s music is composed with notes that correspond to his white blood cell counts, accumulated over the years that he has journeyed with cancer. Darcie places her epilepsy in a positive light, when an EEG graph is superimposed on a musical staff, in order to create patterns of musical phrases. Music therapists help companions find their musical selves and identities, while confronting the challenges of their conditions. Songwriting, lyric substitution, and clinical improvisation round out a series of strategies to explore a parallel musical journey.
Measurement of Crack Speed

In addition to the ability to apply a well-characterized, reproducible loading on the cracks, it is necessary to use diagnostic methods for observing the response of the cracks to the applied loading. Exposition of the methods of measuring crack speeds is described in the chapter. One distinguishing feature of dynamic problems in fracture is the necessity for time-resolved observations and measurements of the fracture event. Cracks may grow in solids at speeds comparable to the characteristic wave speeds, typically in the range of about 500-1500 m/s for most common materials. Therefore, a host of methods—some real time and others based on “post-mortem” observations—have been developed to extract the time variation of the crack position. While most of the experimental investigations have relied on the use of a high-speed camera to determine the crack speed, a few other techniques have also been used. The major source of concern in all of the methods of speed determination is in the spatial and temporal averaging that arises in the measurement scheme that influences the accuracy of the measurements.
Risk Factors for Low Back Pain and Spine Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Soldiers.

Introduction Musculoskeletal low back pain (LBP) is commonly treated symptomatically, with practice guidelines advocating reserving surgery for cases that fail conservative care. This study examined medical comorbidities and demographic variables as risk factors for chronic/recurrent LBP, spinal surgery, and time to surgery. Methods A 2015 retrospective cohort study was conducted in U.S. Army soldiers (N=1,092,420) from 2002 to 2011. Soldiers with medical encounters for LBP were identified using ICD-9 codes. Surgical treatment for LBP was identified according to Current Procedural Terminology codes. Comorbid medical conditions (psychological disorders, sleep disorders, tobacco use, alcohol use, obesity) and demographic variables were examined as risk factors for chronic/recurrent LBP within 1 year of the incident encounter, surgery for LBP, and time to surgery. Results Of 383,586 patients with incident LBP, 104,169 (27%) were treated for chronic/recurrent LBP and 7,446 (1.9%) had surgery. Comorbid variables showed increased risk of chronic/recurrent LBP ranging from 26% to 52%. Tobacco use increased risk for surgery by 33% (risk ratio, 1.33; 95% CI=1.24, 1.44). Comorbid variables showed 10%-42% shorter time to surgery (psychological disorders, time ratio [TR]=0.90, 95% CI=0.83, 0.98; sleep disorders, TR=0.68, 95% CI=0.60, 0.78; obesity, TR=0.88, 95% CI=0.79, 0.98; tobacco use, TR=0.58, 95% CI=0.54, 0.63; alcohol use, TR=0.85, 95% CI=0.70, 1.05). Women showed 20% increased risk of chronic/recurrent LBP than men but 42% less risk of surgery. Conclusions In the presence of comorbidities associated with mental health, sleep, obesity, tobacco use, and alcohol use, LBP shows increased risk of becoming chronic/recurrent and faster time to surgery.
Hypocalcemia during Autologous Stem Cell Transplant with Concurrent Biphosphonate Use in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is one of the treatment options which has been shown to enhance remission rate and survival in patients with multiple myeloma. Biphosphonates are used in conjunction with standard therapy and can ameliorate and prevent bony complications, i.e. bone pain, hypercalcemia or fracture, via direct inhibition of osteoclasts and possible anti-tumor effects on malignant plasma cells. With more frequent use of biphosphonates, there are increasing reports of noticeable adverse effects such as osteonecrosis of the mandible, renal failure and hypocalcemia. In this study we report three patients with multiple myeloma who received autologous HSCT accompanied with monthly administration of bisphosphonates and developed significant hypocalcemia post HSCT. All three patients had normal serum calcium levels at diagnosis and prior to transplant. The maximum drop in serum calcium was noted four to ten days post HSCT, and corrected by five to 13 days post HSCT. All three patients received biphosphonates eight to 20 days prior to the episode of hypocalcemia. All patients noted resolution of hypocalcemia with oral and intravenous calcium supplementation over three to ten days. Two patients required ongoing oral calcium supplementation for approximately one month after resolution of hypocalcemia. Multiple potential mechanisms can be postulated for the hypocalcemia in these patients undergoing HSCT such as chronic nutritional deficiency, GI losses, renal losses, vitamin D deficiency in addition to bisphosphonate use. Potentially melphalan, IV fluids, and furosemide may also play roles. Osteoclasts, bone marrow stromal cells and myeloma cells all can modulate calcium levels directly or indirectly through cytokine production. Future laboratory and clinical studies will focus on biochemical marker of complication and attention is needed while using bisphosphonates during autologous HSCT in myeloma patients.
Measurement of the D0 and D+ lifetimes.

We have used a high-resolution drift chamber in the Mark II detector at the SLAC e+e- storage ring PEP to measure the lifetimes of the D0 and D+ mesons produced in e+e- annihilations at 29 GeV. Based on a sample of 74 decays for the D0 mesons and 23 decays for the D+ mesons, the lifetimes are found to be &=(4.7-0.8+0.9) 0.5×10-13 sec and &=(8.9-2.7+3.8) 1.3×10-13 sec. This leads to a ratio of lifetimes &=1.9-0.7 0.3+0.9.. AE © 1986 The American Physical Society.
Intermittent hypoxia training blunts cerebrocortical presenilin 1 overexpression and amyloid-β accumulation in ethanol-withdrawn rats.

Abrupt cessation of chronic alcohol consumption triggers signaling cascades that harm vulnerable brain regions and produce neurobehavioral deficits. We have demonstrated that a program of intermitt...
UATÚ JÚPÚ: A HISTORY OF THE INDIGENOUS RIO DOCE

This essay examines the long history of resistance by Je speaking indigenous peoples who have inhabited the basins of the Doce River and its many tributaries. It provides an overview from the colonial era to the present, examining the disparate perceptions and uses that Portuguese and Je-speaking indigenous peoples have applied to river systems in Brazil. For native communities, the Doce is a source of both spiritual and material sustenance. Portuguese explorers, settlers, and miners viewed rivers as potential transportation and sources of gold and gems. This mutually conflictive history contributes to our understanding of why and how access to rivers has mattered historically and continues to matter in the wake of the Fundao Dam breach in Mariana, Minas Gerais, in 2015.
A Hot Bot: Testing Effect of Temperature on Feelings of Closeness When Interacting With a Chatbot

This study examined the effect of touching a warm or cold surface while interacting with a chatbot to see if temperature contributes to feelings of closeness with the artificial conversational agent. Our two-group experiment (N= 44) found no differences between hot and cold conditions in people's liking of the chatbot, but found a main effect of existing favorable attitudes toward chatbots.
Basic-level Concepts and the Assessment of Subject Relevance: Are They Really Relevant?

Studies of user-generated tagging vocabularies have suggested a preference for basic- level terms in tagging vocabularies (e.g., Golder and Huberman, 2006; Munk and Mork, 2007). A high proportion of basic-level terms has also been observed in systems of knowledge organization (Green, 2006). This study addresses the relevance of basic-level terms in knowledge representation and organization systems from the perspective of theories of relevance assessment proposed by Saracevic (1975, 2007a, 2007b) and Hjorland (2010) and argues that domain knowledge and expertise, which are thought to be central in the assessment of relevance, may be based on the subordinate level of conceptualization rather than the basic or superordinate levels seemingly favored in representational systems.
A Refined Count of Coxeter Element Reflection Factorizations

For well-generated complex reflection groups, Chapuy and Stump gave a simple product for a generating function counting reflection factorizations of a Coxeter element by their length. This is refined here to record the number of reflections used from each orbit of hyperplanes. The proof is case-by-case via the classification of well-generated groups. It implies a new expression for the Coxeter number, expressed via data coming from a hyperplane orbit; a case-free proof of this due to J. Michel is included.
Trends and Patterns of Geographic Variation in Mortality From Substance Use Disorders and Intentional Injuries Among US Counties, 1980-2014

Importance Substance use disorders, including alcohol use disorders and drug use disorders, and intentional injuries, including self-harm and interpersonal violence, are important causes of early death and disability in the United States. Objective To estimate age-standardized mortality rates by county from alcohol use disorders, drug use disorders, self-harm, and interpersonal violence in the United States. Design and Setting Validated small-area estimation models were applied to deidentified death records from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and population counts from the US Census Bureau, NCHS, and the Human Mortality Database to estimate county-level mortality rates from 1980 to 2014 for alcohol use disorders, drug use disorders, self-harm, and interpersonal violence. Exposures County of residence. Main Outcomes and Measures Age-standardized mortality rates by US county (N = 3110), year, sex, and cause. Results Between 1980 and 2014, there were 2 848 768 deaths due to substance use disorders and intentional injuries recorded in the United States. Mortality rates from alcohol use disorders (n = 256 432), drug use disorders (n = 542 501), self-harm (n = 1 289 086), and interpersonal violence (n = 760 749) varied widely among counties. Mortality rates decreased for alcohol use disorders, self-harm, and interpersonal violence at the national level between 1980 and 2014; however, over the same period, the percentage of counties in which mortality rates increased for these causes was 65.4% for alcohol use disorders, 74.6% for self-harm, and 6.6% for interpersonal violence. Mortality rates from drug use disorders increased nationally and in every county between 1980 and 2014, but the relative increase varied from 8.2% to 8369.7%. Relative and absolute geographic inequalities in mortality, as measured by comparing the 90th and 10th percentile among counties, decreased for alcohol use disorders and interpersonal violence but increased substantially for drug use disorders and self-harm between 1980 and 2014. Conclusions and Relevance Mortality due to alcohol use disorders, drug use disorders, self-harm, and interpersonal violence varied widely among US counties, both in terms of levels of mortality and trends. These estimates may be useful to inform efforts to target prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to improve health and reduce inequalities.
Pediatric en bloc kidney transplantation from very small (≤10 kg) donation after circulatory death (versus brain death) donors: Single-center matched-pair analysis of 130 transplants

En bloc kidney transplants (EBK) from very small pediatric donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors are infrequent because of the perception that DCD adversely impacts outcomes. We retrospectively studied 130 EBKs from donors ≤10 kg (65 consecutive DCD vs 65 donation after brain death [DBD] transplants; pair-matched for donor weight and terminal creatinine, and for preservation time). For DCD vs DBD, median donor weight was 5.0 vs 5.0 kg; median recipient age was 57 vs 48 years (P = .006). Graft losses from thrombosis (DCD, 5%; DBD, 7%) or primary nonfunction (DCD, 3%; DBD, 0%) were similar in both groups (P = .7). Delayed graft function rate was higher for DCD (25%) vs DBD (14%) (P = .2). Graft survival (death-censored) for DCD vs DBD at 5 years was 87% vs 91% (P = .3). Median estimated GFR (mL/min per 1.73 m2 ) was significantly lower for DCD recipients at 1 and 3 months; at 6 years it remained stable at 100 (DCD) and 99 (DBD). DCD impacted early posttransplant graft function, but did not appear to impart added risk for graft loss and long-term function. Very small (≤10 kg) DCD EBK donors should be considered as an option to augment the deceased kidney donor pool; larger studies with longer follow-up must confirm these findings.
An intelligent system on knowledge generation and communication about flooding

Abstract Communities are at risk from extreme events and natural disasters that can lead to dangerous situations for residents. Improving resilience by helping people learn how to better prepare for, recover from, and adapt to disasters is critical to reduce the impacts of these extreme events. This project presents an intelligent system, Flood AI, designed to improve societal preparedness for flooding by providing a knowledge engine that uses voice recognition, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing based on a generalized ontology for disasters with a primary focus on flooding. The knowledge engine uses flood ontology to connect user input to relevant knowledge discovery channels on flooding by developing a data acquisition and processing framework using environmental observations, forecast models, and knowledge bases. The framework’s communication channels include web-based systems, agent-based chatbots, smartphone applications, automated web workflows, and smart home devices, opening the knowledge discovery for flooding to many unique use cases.
Code-Division Multiple Access

In code-division multiple access (CDMA) satellite systems, uplink stations are identified by uniquely separable address codes embedded within the carrier waveform. Each uplink station uses the entire satellite bandwidth and transmits through the satellite whenever desired, with all active stations superimposing their waveforms on the downlink. Thus, no frequency or time separation is required. Carrier separation is achieved at an earth station by identifying the carrier with the proper address. These addresses are usually in the form of periodic binary sequences that either modulate the carrier directly or change the frequency state of the carrier. Address identification is accomplished by carrier correlation operations. CDMA carrier crosstalk occurs only in the inability to correlate out the undesired addresses while properly synchronizing to the correct address for decoding. As in TDMA, CDMA carriers have the use of the entire satellite bandwidth for their total activity period, and CDMA has the advantage that no controlled uplink transmission time is required, and no uniformity over station bit rates is imposed. However, system performance depends quite heavily on the ability to recognize addresses, which often becomes difficult if the number of stations in the system is large.
Genetic divergence among sympatric populations of three species of oyster drills (Urosalpinx) in Cedar Key, Florida

Three gastropod species of the genus Urosalpinx inhabit intertidal and subtidal regions of the southeastern United States. Urosalpinx cinerea (Say, 1822) is native to the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to northeast Florida, while Urosalpinx perrugata (Conrad, 1846) and Urosalpinx tampaensis (Conrad, 1846) are largely restricted to the Gulf of Mexico. The morphological similarity of U. cinerea and U. perrugata is so striking that they have been suggested to be subspecies. We used a combination of molecular and morphological methods to examine divergence among populations of these three nominal species in a newly discovered area of sympatry: Cedar Key, Florida. Significant shell morphological differences were detected among the three species, but overlapping ranges prevented unambiguous discrimination of U. cinerea and U. perrugata. A survey of gene frequencies at nine allozyme-encoding loci in the three Cedar Key populations (together with two allopatric controls) revealed multiple fixed differences between the species, confirming their reproductive isolation. Interspecific mtDNA sequence divergence was extensive (10.3%-17.3%), but well within the range of previously reported congeneric divergences. A neighbor-joining phylogeny grouped U. cinerea with U. perrugata, while U. tampaensis was found to be slightly more divergent. We suggest that the Florida peninsula may have served as a barrier to gene flow, promoting the allopatric speciation of U. cinerea and U. perrugata sometime after the divergence of U. tampaensis.
Amending anaerobic bioreactors with pyrogenic carbonaceous materials: the influence of material properties on methane generation

Amending anaerobic digesters with pyrogenic carbonaceous materials (PCMs) has been suggested to improve methane (CH4) production by enabling electron conduction between fermenters and methanogens. This enhancement has been attributed to the electrical conductivity of some PCMs. Properties other than conductivity have received little attention, leaving uncertain the primary drivers of the observed improvements. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to relate the electrical conductivity, adsorptive behavior, pH effects, and surface properties of PCMs to CH4 production rates and CH4 recoveries in swine wastewater-fed, short-term anaerobic batch reactors. Three types of PCM particles [graphite, biochar, and activated carbon (AC)] in two size ranges and three particle loadings were tested and compared to non-conductive glass particles and no-particle controls. Graphite amendments resulted in higher CH4 production rates and CH4 recoveries than the no-particle controls and showed improvements with increased particle loadings. The impact of biochar and AC amendments depended on particle sizes and loadings, with granule amendments generally exceeding or matching the controls. Powdered biochar and AC amendments substantially decreased the performance. Material conductivity was a poor predictor of CH4 production rates, and bulk solution pH changes due to particle amendments could not explain reactor performance discrepancies. Adsorption was a critical material property controlling the fate of wastewater chemical oxygen demand (COD). Powdered biochar and AC, which adsorbed more COD than graphite and glass, resulted in lower COD to CH4 conversion. These results indicate that PCM properties other than conductivity, such as adsorption, can strongly impact short-term bioreactor performance. These properties should be taken into consideration when selecting and optimizing PCMs for biological-based technologies.
Drought and Fire in the Western USA: Is Climate Attribution Enough?

I sought to review the contributions of recent literature and prior foundational papers to our understanding of drought and fire. In this review, I summarize recent literature on drought and fire in the western USA and discuss research directions that may increase the utility of that body of work for twenty-first century application. I then describe gaps in the synthetic knowledge of drought-driven fire in managed ecosystems and use concepts from use-inspired research to describe potentially useful extensions of current work. Fire responses to climate, and specifically various kinds of drought, are clear, but vary widely with fuel responses to surplus water and drought at different timescales. Ecological and physical factors interact with human management and ignitions to create fire regime and landscape trajectories that challenge prediction. The mechanisms by which the climate system affects regional droughts and how they translate to fire in the western USA need more attention to accelerate both forecasting and adaptation. However, projections of future fire activity under climate change will require integrated advances on both fronts to achieve decision-relevant modeling. Concepts from transdisciplinary research and coupled human-natural systems can help frame strategic work to address fire in a changing world.
An American-European Road Not Taken, or Opportunity Lost? Areitos, Pictographs, and History: Poetics and Politics

From late fifteenth- to late sixteenth-century Europe, travellers and intellectuals from Iberia, Italy, France, and England (at least) were dazzled by the so-called areitos of the Caribbean and mai...
Sleep: The Balm of Hurt Minds

Summary Two new studies use Drosophila to unravel the role of sleep in clearance of damaged neural processes.
Splintered Hinterlands: Public Anthropology, Environmental Advocacy, and Indigenous Sovereignty

This research analyzes the roles of action ethnobiology and public anthropology in “ecological distribution conflicts”—disputes over the benefits and burdens of natural resources—in policy-oriented research and advocacy. It considers the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) international campaigns to protect “frontier landscapes” of the Western hemisphere. Specifically, I examine case studies in Chilean Patagonia and the boreal forest region in the Canadian Northeast. Despite geographical, historical, and cultural differences, NRDC's campaigns in these two regions involved a shared focus on developing advocacy strategies that draw on biocultural knowledge to advance stronger environmental protections. NRDC and its local partners used ethnoecology as an environmental tactic to protect rivers from proposed large hydroelectric dam projects in Chile, and drew upon ethnozoology to preserve caribou threatened by industrial logging in Canada. To consider the synergies and tensions of environmental advocacy and Indigenous sovereignty in these two instances, I analyze partnerships between environmental activists, lawyers, and scientists on the one hand, and Indigenous leaders and local residents on the other. Taking a public anthropological approach, this comparative research sheds light on the role of action ethnobiology as a condition of possibility for advocacy to enhance environmental sustainability and Indigenous sovereignty across the Americas.
Research Platform and Long-term Performance Assessment of High Voltage SF6 Gas Insulated Bushing

Research on accelerated aging test for high voltage SF6 gas insulated bushing, and its long-term performance assessment, the performance indexes of high voltage SF6 gas insulated bushing can be evaluated. Insulation performance and influence factor under the condition of higher operating parameter are important to ensure the operation reliability of high voltage bushing. In this paper, full operating simulation platform of high voltage bushing is set up, and the skin effect of the high voltage AC bushing center rod is analyzed, the distribution law of the E-field under working condition is carried out. The design and trial production of compression ratio bushing have been carried out. The hardware facilities of the compression ratio bushing aging test platform are set up. The dielectric properties, physical and mechanical properties of the rubber paper composite material used for the bushing are analyzed. Calculation, measurement, analysis and study of aging characteristics of the bushing are carried out. Research shows that the internal heat source of the high pressure SF6 gas insulated bushing mainly consists of two parts: skin effect heating of the central conductor and the heating of the core of the bushing. The E-field strength in the double-layer composite dielectric is related not only to the relative permittivity but also to distribution of E-field intensity in the composite dielectric. The performance test of high voltage bushing can reflect the aging characteristics of actual bushing to some certain extent.
New material platform for superconducting transmon qubits with coherence times exceeding 0.3 milliseconds.

The superconducting transmon qubit is a leading platform for quantum computing and quantum science. Building large, useful quantum systems based on transmon qubits will require significant improvements in qubit relaxation and coherence times, which are orders of magnitude shorter than limits imposed by bulk properties of the constituent materials. This indicates that relaxation likely originates from uncontrolled surfaces, interfaces, and contaminants. Previous efforts to improve qubit lifetimes have focused primarily on designs that minimize contributions from surfaces. However, significant improvements in the lifetime of two-dimensional transmon qubits have remained elusive for several years. Here, we fabricate two-dimensional transmon qubits that have both lifetimes and coherence times with dynamical decoupling exceeding 0.3 milliseconds by replacing niobium with tantalum in the device. We have observed increased lifetimes for seventeen devices, indicating that these material improvements are robust, paving the way for higher gate fidelities in multi-qubit processors. Quantum computers based on superconducting transmon qubits are limited by single qubit lifetimes and coherence times, which are orders of magnitude shorter than limits imposed by bulk material properties. Here, the authors fabricate two-dimensional transmon qubits with both lifetimes and coherence times longer than 0.3 milliseconds by replacing niobium with tantalum in the device.
Use of Social Network Analysis to Identify Popular Opinion Leaders for a Youth-Led Sexual Violence Prevention Initiative:

In the current article, we describe an innovative sexual violence (SV) prevention initiative that used social network analysis to identify youth and adult popular opinion leaders who were subsequently trained in best practices in SV prevention (e.g., bystander intervention) at a kickoff event (i.e., camp) of the initiative. We provide information on recruitment strategies, participation rates and how those rates varied by some demographic factors, reasons for nonattendance, the initial impact of the camp, and lessons learned. Despite challenges with youth and adult engagement, this innovative approach has the potential to transform the way we approach SV prevention among youth.
Integrated Voltage Regulator Efficiency Improvement using Coaxial Magnetic Composite Core Inductors

The package integrated inductors employed by Intel's Fully Integrated Voltage Regulator (FIVR) have had to scale in tandem with the circuits they power. This reduction in available volume has resulted in degraded inductor quality factor and reduced conversion efficiency. In this work, a novel coaxial magnetic composite core inductor, called Coax MIL, is described. Coax MIL dramatically improves inductor performance and quality factor. This improvement in inductor metrics translates to reduced ripple current and enhanced efficiency.
Bioethics Theory-Building for Public Health.

I whole-heartedly endorse Ismaili M'hmandi’s (2021) efforts to move away from the narrowest of liberal justificatory grounds for public health policy. I worry, however, that the liberal perfectioni...
Combining SPC and EPC in a Hybrid Industry

Integration of statistical process control (SPC) and engineering process control (EPC) is finding wide recognition and is successfully used in continuous process industries. However, application of this technique to parts or hybrid industries involving ..