cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
MLStar: Machine Learning in Energy Profile Estimation of Android Apps

Improving the energy efficiency of smartphones is critical for increasing the utility that they provide to the users. With most mobile operating systems, users are responsible for managing their phone's battery efficiency by utilizing the various settings provided by the operating system, as well as selecting energy-efficient apps. However, current app marketplaces do not provide users with information about app energy efficiency, which makes it challenging for the user to make informed decision when selecting an app. This paper presents a novel machine learning approach to estimate app energy efficiency by utilizing textual information available in the Google Play store such as an app's description, user reviews, as well as system permissions. Our detailed analysis of the resulting system shows that hardware permissions, app description, and user reviews correlate well with energy efficiency ratings. We evaluate five models that represent popular classes of machine learning algorithms in their ability to predict energy efficiency ratings. Finally, we compare our approach to gold truth ratings obtained by the actual energy profiling of the app, demonstrating that the proposed system is able to estimate an app's energy efficiency within less than 1 point on the 1-5 scale provided by the profiler, without requiring any kind of profiling.
Pathobiology of Cervical Radiculopathy and Myelopathy

Symptomatic cervical spine pathology commonly presents with findings of radiculopathy and/or myelopathy. The underlying pathobiologic mechanism for radiculopathy and myelopathy is often multifactorial. Radiculopathy is the motor and/or sensory manifestation of neurologic dysfunction in the distribution of a given cervical nerve root. This can be due to static mechanical or dynamic compression of the nerve or secondary to biochemical factors. There are characteristic clinical symptoms and exam findings in cervical radiculopathy that correspond to specific cervical nerve roots. Myelopathy is the involvement of upper motor neuron and sensory impairment and can include long ascending and descending spinal tracts as well as multiple spinal root levels. Myelopathy can also be secondary to static mechanical or dynamic compression of the nerve. Additionally, vascular ischemia and stretch and shear forces have been implicated in myelopathy. The characteristic clinical presentation is often defined by loss of coordination, sensory dysfunction, hyperreflexia, and in severe cases weakness and bowel or bladder incontinence.
Heat-Related Illness in Children in an Era of Extreme Temperatures.

1. Courtney W. Mangus, MD* 2. Therese L. Canares, MD* 1. *Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD * Abbreviations: AMS: : altered mental status CNS: : central nervous system CTM: : critical thermal maximum HRI: : heat-related illness WBGT: : wet bulb globe temperature 1. It is important for clinicians to understand the increasing incidence of heat-related illnesses and their implications on children. 2. Clinicians should be able to recognize the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke. 3. Clinicians should learn how to implement rapid cooling in the treatment of heat stroke. After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Distinguish between heat exhaustion and heat stroke. 2. Recognize risks and behaviors associated with heat-related illness. 3. Effectively diagnose and treat heat stroke. 4. Identify effective prevention strategies for both exertional and nonexertional heat stroke. A 12-year-old obese football player finishes his second 2-hour practice on a hot August day. His temperature is 105°F (40.6°C), and he is agitated and confused. His family calls you, his general pediatrician, seeking guidance. What advice do you give? A bystander discovers a 23-month-old infant in the back seat of a minivan on a warm day. She is flushed, fussy, and has vomited. The baby is brought to your community emergency department for further management. What are your next steps? As the planet gets warmer, the incidence of heat-related illness (HRI) and injury is increasing. (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) Among those suffering HRI, children compose almost half (47.6%) of this population. (1) In the pediatric population, the most common forms of heat-related pathology occur in exercising adolescents and in children left unattended in vehicles or excessively warm environments. Pediatricians must effectively counsel caregivers in recognizing the dangers related to heat exposure and preventing dehydration and HRI. When prevention fails, prompt recognition and treatment of HRI become paramount. Heat-related illness refers to a clinical spectrum of disorders resulting …
Uncertain Formal Concept Analysis for the Analyze of a Course Satisfaction Questionnaire

The Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) is a method of data analysis often used in data mining. This method proposes to build a collection of formal concepts from a set of objects and their properties. These formal concepts can be ordered to provide a concept lattice. Several researches have demonstrated a link between the possibility theory and the formal concept analysis. Thus, it is possible to take into account the uncertainties of the properties by using the possibility theory before propagating them during the computation of the formal concepts. We propose in this paper an experimentation of the uncertain formal concept analysis for the extraction of knowledge in a satisfaction questionnaire for a course of professionalization in bachelor. Some questions can be open questions where the answers provided by students are given freely. For this purpose, we perform a text mining processing in order to categorize and classify the answers. During this processing, uncertainties can appear. In this research, we will handle these uncertainties by using the uncertain formal concept analysis. Then, we will extract the uncertain formal concepts from the concept lattice by using queries and represent the reduced lattice concepts with a visualization tool.
Medical Student Wellness in Wisconsin: Current Trends and Future Directions.

INTRODUCTION The goal of this study is to describe the state of mental health of Wisconsin medical students. METHODS Online wellness surveys were distributed to students at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH) and Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) during the 2016-2017 school year. RESULTS Of UWSMPH respondents, 40.0% and 12.5% reported experiencing depression/other mood changes and suicidal ideation during medical school, respectively. Twelve percent of MCW respondents screened positive for depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, and 7.8% reported experiencing suicidal ideation in the last 2 weeks. DISCUSSION Similar to results shown worldwide, Wisconsin medical students experience diminished mental health relative to nonmedical peers. Changes in medical education are needed to improve student mental well-being.
Trust Thy Neighbour? Interpersonal Trust in Twelve Ethnically Diverse European Neighbourhoods

European cities have been receiving growing inflows of international migrants and facing important challenges related to increased ethnic diversity. This has generated an interest in examining the effects of immigration-driven ethnic diversity on social capital, community cohesion, and social trust. In this chapter, I use data from a common cross-national questionnaire to uncover what individual elements are associated with differences in the levels of trust in neighbours displayed by the immigrant and native residents of twelve multi-ethnic neighbourhoods, located in four European cities. Using several regression models to predict two indicators of trust (reliability and helpfulness), I found that the respondent’s migration background is the single most influential individual-level predictor of differences in trust among neighbours. Overall, immigrants display lower levels of interpersonal trust in neighbours than natives across all neighbourhoods. Religiosity is also a variable of interest, since it was found to be positively associated with trusting that neighbours are helpful. Finally, and despite the previous (and other) differences, the residents of these neighbourhoods overall expressed high levels of trust in their neighbours. This does not follow along previous works arguing about the negative effects of ethnic diversity on trust, social capital, and social cohesion.
Cognitive and Psychosocial Development in Young Children with Brain Tumors: Observations from a Clinical Sample.

Survivors of pediatric brain tumor (BT) are known to be at risk for developing cognitive and psychosocial late effects. Young age at treatment (≤6 years) is typically considered to put patients at increased risk. However, there is limited research specifically exploring functioning in these young patients. Cognitive and psychosocial data were retrospectively abstracted from medical charts for 79 young patients (54.4% male) treated for BT with a variety of treatment modalities (e.g., surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy). Children were clinically assessed at 4.52 years of age (range = 1.48–5.98) and most were off-therapy (74.4%). Mean performances on developmental (68.3 ± 10.02), cognitive (88.09 ± 18.38), and pre-academic (86.84 ± 19.75) measures were all below average. Parent report of adaptive functioning was also below average (82.10 ± 16.21), but psychosocial functioning was generally within normal limits. Most patients had impaired functioning (scores <10th percentile) in at least one domain assessed. Exploratory analyses revealed that many patients (27.3–60.6%) exhibited a significant discrepancy between domains of cognitive functioning (e.g., verbal and spatial). Young children treated for BT experienced high rates of impairment in cognitive, pre-academic, and adaptive domains. Future work is needed to focus on serial longitudinal assessment of these young patients, as well as dedicated intervention and prevention efforts.
Hyponatremia is associated with more severe biliary disease

Background Sodium level is an important clinical predictor of complex biliary disease. Hyponatremia has been observed in conjunction with biliary disease, however the nature of this association remains unclear. Aim To investigate the association between serum sodium and severe biliary disease. Methods Of 920 patients with gallstone disease treated at the SFVA Hospital from 1989-2019 were studied. We conducted multivariate analyses of correlation between sodium level and biliary disease severity, the presence/location of biliary bacteria, and other factors. Minimum sodium level pre-intervention was collected. Gallstones, bile, and blood (as relevant) were cultured. Illness severity was characterized: (1) None (no infectious manifestations); (2) Systemic inflammatory response syndrome; (3) Severe illness (gangrenous cholecystitis, cholangitis, necrotizing pancreatitis); and (4) Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (bacteremia, hypotension, organ failure). Comorbidity was defined using the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Results Decreased sodium level significantly correlated with worsening illness severity, ascending bacterial infection, gangrenous changes, elevated CCI score, increasing age, male sex, and glucose. On multivariate analysis, all factors, except age, gender and glucose, independently correlated with sodium level and factors were additive. Conclusion This unique study is the first to explore, with such granularity, the relationship between biliary disease and sodium. No prior studies have examined specific culture and clinical data. It illustrates an inverse, independent correlation between illness severity and sodium. Culture data demonstrate that sodium decreases as infection ascends from gallstone colonization to bactibilia to bacteremia. Patient comorbidity and gangrenous changes also independently correlate with sodium on multivariate analysis. Sodium level is an important clinical indicator of disease severity for patients with biliary disease.
Photodetachment of O - 2

The cross section for photodetachment of ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ has been measured for the range of photon energies 0.5 to 3.0 ev. No onset energy is discovered in this range but analysis of the data gives an extrapolated threshold at 0.15\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05 ev. The curve is found to rise gradually with increasing slope, reaching a value of 2.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}18}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ at 3.0 ev photon energy. Comparison of the data with the predictions of threshold law theory and the results of previous experiments results in an interpretation in terms of assumed potential curves for ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}^{\ensuremath{-}}$.
Neuroimaging Correlates of Emotional Response-Inhibition Discriminate Between Young Depressed Adults With and Without Sub-threshold Bipolar Symptoms

Background: A significant number of subjects with major depression (MDD) exhibit subthreshold mania symptoms (MDD+). This study investigated, for the first time, using emotional inhibition tasks, whether the neurobiology of MDD+ subjects is more akin to bipolar disorder depression (BDD) or to MDD subjects without any subthreshold bipolar symptoms (MDD-). Method: This study included 118 medication-free young adult subjects (16 - 30 yrs.): 20 BDD, 28 MDD+, 41 MDD-, and 29 HC subjects. Participants underwent fMRI during emotional and non-emotional Go/No-go tasks during which they responded for Go stimuli and inhibited response for happy, fear, emotional (happy + fear) and non-emotional (gender) faces No-go stimuli. Linear mixed effects (LME) analysis for group effects and Gaussian Process Classifier (GPC) analyses was conducted. RESULTS: MDD- group compared to both the BDD and MDD+ groups, exhibited significantly lower activation in parietal, temporal and frontal regions (cluster-wise corrected p
Primary Care Physician Factors Associated with Inbox Message Volume.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to better understand the relationship between panel size, full-time status, and estimated socioeconomic status of a patient panel with types and number of primary care clinician inbox messages. Methods: The study used data from the Epic Signal database to examine inbox volume and types of messages for 86 primary care clinicians at 19 primary care sites. We measured correlations and performed multiple regression analysis to understand the relationship between inbox volume and types of messages and 3 factors: panel size, full-time status, and estimated socioeconomic status of patient panels. Results: The study found positive correlation between the number of messages and panel size, full-time status, and estimated socioeconomic status of patient panels. The number of patient portal messages generated from patient panels with higher socioeconomic status accounted for the positive correlation in total inbox messages and that factor. Discussion: These findings contribute to our understanding of primary care workload, specifically as it relates to panel size, full-time status, and patient panel socioeconomic status. Increase in clinical time or panel size needs to come with trained team members or additional time to address inbox messages.
Learning FIR Filter Coefficients from Data for Speech-Music Separation

An Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter is a widely used digital filter technology whose impulse response has a finite duration. An FIR filter is usually favored for many reasons such as easy to design, easy to implement on a variety of system architectures. An FIR filter can be easily designed with a linear phase response and its output is more predictable since it doesn't have feedback components. There are both engineer and mathematical methods for designing an FIR filter so that machine learning doesn't play an important role in the FIR filter design. In this paper, we present an alternative to traditional filter design methods to direct learn the FIR filter coefficients from input data with machine learning algorithm. With the proposed algorithm, we can easily design an FIR filter from the input data mixed with designed all spectrum noise signal. To show the capability of this algorithm, an example application of suppressing background music from speech or vice versa is demonstrated in this paper. Despite that the music and speech have a lot of overlap in their spectrum, the filter designed by our algorithm can successfully suppress music or speech in a mixture of music and speech signals.
A Geologically Based Indoor-Radon Potential Map of Kentucky

We combined 71,930 short-term (median duration 4 days) home radon test results with 1:24,000-scale bedrock geologic map coverage of Kentucky to produce a statewide geologically based indoor-radon potential map. The test results were positively skewed with a mean of 266 Bq/m3, median of 122 Bq/m3, and 75th percentile of 289 Bq/m3. We identified 106 formations with ≥10 test results. Analysis of results from 20 predominantly monolithologic formations showed indoor-radon concentrations to be positively skewed on a formation-by-formation basis, with a proportional relationship between sample means and standard deviations. Limestone (median 170 Bq/m3) and dolostone (median 130 Bq/m3) tended to have higher indoor-radon concentrations than siltstones and sandstones (median 67 Bq/m3) or unlithified surficial deposits (median 63 Bq/m3). Individual shales had median values ranging from 67 to 189 Bq/m3; the median value for all shale values was 85 Bq/m3. Percentages of values falling above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) action level of 148 Bq/m3 were sandstone and siltstone: 24%, unlithified clastic: 21%, dolostone: 46%, limestone: 55%, and shale: 34%. Mississippian limestones, Ordovician limestones, and Devonian black shales had the highest indoor-radon potential values in Kentucky. Indoor-radon test mean values for the selected formations were also weakly, but statistically significantly, correlated with mean aeroradiometric uranium concentrations. To produce a map useful to nonspecialists, we classified each of the 106 formations into five radon-geologic classes on the basis of their 75th percentile radon concentrations. The statewide map is freely available through an interactive internet map service.
The ca. 1638 Waterman Site, Marshfield, Massachusetts: The Anatomy of a Pilgrim House

The excavation and reconstruction of the ca. 1638 Waterman site is providing the first comprehensive and detailed look at the architecture and household material culture of an early period Pilgrim house in Plymouth Colony. The small vernacular house was of earth-fast, post-in-ground, and palisaded-wall construction, and burned down in a catastrophic fire after only a short period of occupation. The archaeological features, artifact patterns, and historical documents are integrated with 17th-century anthropomorphic architectural metaphors to reconstruct the house’s architecture and the various domestic activities that occurred within and around the house, including foodways, expressions of gender roles, environmental adaptation, and English and Native American cultural exchange.
Targeting Cystic Fibrosis: A review from Pathogenesis to Innovative Clinical Strategies

Cystic fibrosis is a hereditary disease caused by mutation in cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, which controls CFTR proteins. Many are or have been threatened by this rare but life-threating disease, therefore, more attention should be paid to better solve this public health issue. Here we provide a thorough review about cystic fibrosis in the aspects of disease pathogenesis, clinical manifestation as well as clinical therapeutics to achieve a deeper understanding of this disease. Among the demand of innovative clinical strategies, appearance of the combination drug trikafta is a promising sign of better dealing with cystic fibrosis.
An Experimental Test of the Robustness and the Power of Forward Induction

Existing experimental studies tested the forward induction (FI) prediction, an equilibrium selection criterion, in a battle-of-the-sexes game and found limited support due to a confounding focal point. The focal point arises from an asymmetrically offered outside option in the first stage of the game. The robustness of FI to different first-stage asymmetries, however, is still unknown. To investigate this issue, the paper sheds light on the interplay of FI and (i) payoff asymmetries and (ii) endogenously generated asymmetries (in a game that is initially fully symmetric). The results from a laboratory experiment confirm the robustness and power of the FI prediction. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The influence of wing transverse vibrations on dynamic parameters of an aircraft

The paper presents numerical analysis of airplane parameters of motion during wing transverse vibrations of an average commercial airplane. The mathematical model of the airplane motion including a system of twelve ordinary differential equations was employed. Using available publications and M28 "Bryza" airplane geometrical and mass relationships, a computer code evaluating parameters of the motion was developed. In order to take the wing transverse vibrations under consideration, the way of wing displacements in the aircraft-fixed system of coordinates was elaborated as well as vibration amplitude and frequency were assumed. The analysis covered two cases of wing transverse vibrations: bending of both wing halves in phase and in counter-phase. On the basis of the obtained results, some conclusions referring the airplane dynamic properties during wing vibrations were formulated.
Towards Next Generation Web Information Retrieval

Today search engines have become one of the most critical applications on the Web, driving many important online businesses that connect people to information. As the Web continues to grow its size with a variety of new data and penetrate into every aspect of people’s life, the need for developing a more intelligent search engine is increasing. In this talk, we will briefly review the current status of search engines, and then present some of our recent works on building next generation web search technologies. Specifically, we will talk about how to extract data records from web pages using vision-based approach, and introduce new research opportunities in exploring the complementary properties between the surface Web and the deep Web to mutually facilitate the processes of web information extraction and deep web crawling. We will also present a search prototype that data-mines deep web structure to enable one-stop search of multiple online web databases.
Time Course of Synthesis and Assembly of Influenza Virus Proteins

The synthesis of viral polypeptides was analyzed in BHK-21-F cells infected with the WSN strain of influenza virus at various times in the growth cycle. The relative amounts of polypeptides P, HA, NP, and NS did not change markedly between early and late times in the growth cycle; however, there was a progressive increase in the relative amount of the M polypeptide at later time points. In cell fractionation experiments, the patterns of newly synthesized polypeptides associated with various cytoplasmic fractions remained similar throughout the growth cycle except for an increase in polypeptide M in all fractions late in the growth cycle. The HA polypeptide was chased out of cytoplasmic membranes completely 6 h after synthesis, whereas the M polypeptide was not chased effectively from such membranes. Marked differences were found in the incorporation into mature virions of polypeptides synthesized at different times in the growth cycle. Polypeptides P and NP synthesized at early times were incorporated preferentially, whereas M was synthesized and incorporated predominantly late in the growth cycle. The fact that the rates of incorporation of polypeptides into virions differed significantly from their rates of synthesis indicates that different polypeptides were assembled into virions by distinct pathways.
Normal forms for two-inputs nonlinear control systems

We study the feedback group action on two-inputs nonlinear control systems. We follow an approach proposed by Kang and Krener which consists of analyzing the system and the feedback group step by step. We construct a normal form which generalizes that obtained in the single-input case. We also give homogeneous m-invariants of the action of the group of homogeneous transformations on the homogeneous systems of the same degree. We illustrate our results by analyzing the normal form and invariants of homogeneous systems of degree two.
Discourses of Power, the Dialectics of Understanding, the Power of Literacy.

The study of literacy has recently been made a major focus of attention in socio-, psycho-, and anthropological linguistics. Our understanding of how literacy affects both consciousness and social relations is still enormously vague, though sociolinguists have greatly expanded our knowledge of the nature, forms, and uses of a variety of literacies. They cannot, however, answer the question: Why do particular modes of literacy correlate with particular modes of social organization, cultural form, and political and economic developments? In order to answer this question one must examine the constitution of meanings along with the simultaneous constitution of social relations. They are clearly in a dialectical relationship, at least in some forms of discourse, as is demonstrated through an analysis of a narrative elicited from a highly creative Mexican-American child. But the specifics of that dialectic need to be examined—on both interpersonal and institutional levels—before we can say we are thinking about...
A Filter for Removing Sidelobe Artifacts in Bragg Scattering Layer (BSL) Analysis for S-Band Radar

AbstractThe local environment during the joint Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) Investigation Experiment (AMIE)–Cooperative Indian Ocean Experiment on Intraseasonal Variability in Year 2011 (CINDY2011)–Dynamics of the MJO (DYNAMO) field experiments caused frequent occurrences of sidelobe artifacts in the NCAR S-Pol radar dataset. Although generally low in radar reflectivity factor value (less than 5 dBZ), this contamination still proved problematic for Bragg scattering layer (BSL) analysis, generating numerous false BSL edge detections. In this paper, a statistical filtering technique is developed that effectively removes these false BSL edge detections, utilizing a new version of BSL analysis based on range–height indicator (RHI) data instead of plan position indicator data.
Effect of back-contact copper concentration on CdTe cell operation

CdTe solar cells were fabricated with five different concentrations of copper, including zero, used in back-contact formation. Room-temperature J-V curves showed progressive deterioration in fill factor with reduced copper. J/sub SC/ and QE were similar for all Cu-levels. Capacitance measurement suggested enhanced intermixing at the back contact with copper present. Photocurrent mapping was much less uniform for reduced-Cu cells. Elevated-temperature stress induced very little change in J-V when sufficient Cu was used in the contact.
The Role of Superoxide Anion in the Autoxidation of Epinephrine and a Simple Assay for Superoxide Dismutase

The rate of autoxidation of epinephrine and the sensitivity of this autoxidation to inhibition by superoxide dismutase were both augmented, as the pH was raised from 7.8 → 10.2. O2-, generated by the xanthine oxidase reaction, caused the oxidation of epinephrine to adrenochrome and the yield of adrenochrome produced per O2- introduced, increased with increasing pH in the range 7.8 → 10.2 and also increased with increasing concentration of epinephrine. These results, in conjunction with complexities in the kinetics of adrenochrome accumulation, lead to the proposal that the autoxidation of epinephrine proceeds by at least two distinct pathways, only one of which is a free radical chain reaction involving O2- and hence inhibitable by superoxide dismutase. This chain reaction accounted for a progressively greater fraction of the total oxidation as the pH was raised. The ability of superoxide dismutase to inhibit the autoxidation of epinephrine at pH 10.2 has been used as the basis of a convenient and sensitive assay for this enzyme.
Generating and sustaining backward linkages between maquiladoras and local suppliers in Northern Mexico

Abstract Despite 25 years of growth, Mexico's in-bond assembly, or maquila , operations use very little material inputs that are made in Mexico. Mexican content is less than 2% of value added and those coming from the northern border region are even more miniscule. Some of the reasons for the paucity of local sourcing are reviewed with particular emphasis on corporate and plant purchasing arrangements. Mexican policies designed to support national suppliers are reviewed and the authors offer suggestions that stress the need for a regional focus that concentrates on fostering local technological capacities. The study relies in part on surveys of plant managers and corporate purchasing officers.
On Generators for Complex Bordism Modules

In [2] the authors constructed examples of finite complexes X for which it is impossible to choose the generators of the complex bordism module, f2,V(X), over the coefficient ring, f2v,, so that their dimensions do not exceed that ofX. A natural problem suggested by these examples, and often raised to the authors at lectures, is to give an a priori estimate of the highest dimension a generator can occur in, that is, in the language of [2] to find the smallest integer k such that
Key Components of A Theory–Guided HIV Prevention Outreach Model: Pre–Outreach Preparation, Community Assessment, and a Network of Key Informants

Although outreach frequently is used to provide community-based HIV prevention services to members of underserved populations, researchers may not be familiar with the specific components of and factors influencing outreach and how systematic community outreach methods can be used to recruit participants for research purposes. This article describes key components of a theory and PRECEDE-based outreach model developed and used as part of a broader study examining the feasibility of enhancing access to STD clinical services for sexually transmitted diseases in order to reduce HIV incidence. We present a three-part outreach model and describe lessons learned from implementing it. Factors that improved access to key informants who could facilitate participant recruitment during the outreach process included sustained project visibility in the community, outreach worker affiliation with trusted community-based organizations, and development of a reliable network of key informants. This model enabled a systematic approach to reaching community members and documenting the steps taken to do so.
Antithrombotic therapy in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia: guidelines translated for the clinician

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a clinicopathologic syndrome initiated by heparin exposure and characterized by thrombocytopenia and paradoxical thrombophilia. HIT is mediated by the formation of antibodies against the platelet factor 4/heparin complex, which leads to platelet activation, thrombin generation, and potentially fatal thrombotic sequelae. The clinical presentation of HIT is variable and can be easily overlooked. Although a number of functional and antigen-based immunoassays have been developed to detect the presence of HIT antibodies, initial diagnosis is often based on recognition of thrombocytopenia in the appropriate clinical context and later confirmed with immunologic testing. Given the serious clinical consequences of HIT, immediate cessation of heparin products and administration of non-heparin anticoagulants are crucial components of treatment. We provide a review of the clinical syndrome and practical summary of treatment recommendations from the most recent 2012 American College of Chest Physicians evidence-based guidelines for the treatment and prevention of HIT.
A C0 finite element method for an inverse problem

A C^0 finite element method is presented for an inverse problem in which the coefficient in the differential operator is to be determined from the measurement of the solution of a boundary value problem. The unknown in the inverse problem is approximated by a minimizer of a cost function that includes both the output error and equation error. Error estimates in a weighted H^-^1 norm and L^2 are given. Numerical examples are presented to show features of the method.
A Tale of Two Metals

A recent study by Thomas O'Halloran and his group at Northwestern University (Avarez et al. Sciencexpress, www.scienceexpress.org, 26 November 2009) has provided insights into how tetrathiomolybdate inhibits copper-trafficking proteins through metal cluster formation. The broader context of the work provides an attractive explanation of the long recognized but poorly understood antagonistic effects of Mo and Cu in living organisms.
The Solvency II Process: Overview and Critical Analysis

As early as the 1970s, European Union (EU) member countries implemented rules to coordinate insurance markets and regulation. However, with the more recent movement toward a general single EU market, financial services regulation has taken on new meaning and priority. Solvency I regulations went into effect for member nations by January 2004. The creation of risk-based capital standards, the main focus of Solvency II, now appears likely sometime after 2007. The purpose of the discussion presented here is to outline the specifics of Solvency II as they currently stand and suggest important areas of future research.
Ethnic Unmixing and Civil War

Chaim Kaufmann's “Possible and Impossible Solutions to Ethnic Civil Wars” 1 makes the strongest case available that the best cure for ethnic war is viable territorial defense through partition or s...
Polysialic acid as an antigen for monoclonal antibody HIgM12 to treat multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative disorders

CNS regeneration is a desirable goal for diseases of brain and spinal cord. Current therapeutic strategies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) aim to eliminate detrimental effects of the immune system, so far without reversing disability or affecting long-term prognosis in patients. Approachable molecular targets that stimulate CNS repair are not part of the clinical praxis or have not been identified yet. The purpose of this study was to identify the molecular target of the human monoclonal antibody HIgM12. HIgM12 reverses motor deficits in chronically demyelinated mice, a model of MS. Here, we identified polysialic acid (PSA) attached to the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) as the antigen for HIgM12 by using different NCAM knockout strains and through PSA removal from the NCAM protein core. Antibody binding to CNS tissue and primary cells, antibody-mediated cell adhesion, and neurite outgrowth on HIgM12-coated nitrocellulose was detected only in the presence of PSA as assessed by western blotting, immunoprecipitation, immunocytochemistry, and histochemistry. We conclude that HIgM12 mediates its in vivo and in vitro effects through binding to PSA and has the potential to be an effective therapy for MS and neurodegenerative diseases. The human antibody HIgM12 stimulates neurite outgrowth in vitro and promotes function in chronically demyelinated mice, a model of multiple sclerosis. The cellular antigen for HIgM12 was undetermined. Here, we identified polysialic acid attached to NCAM (neural cell adhesion molecule) as the cellular target for HIgM12. This includes glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive mouse astrocytes (GFAP, red; HIgM12, green; DAPI, blue) among other cell types of the central nervous system. These findings indicate a new strategy for the treatment of neuro-motor disorders including multiple sclerosis.
Dietary supplementation with a combination of α-lipoic acid, acetyl-l-carnitine, glycerophosphocoline, docosahexaenoic acid, and phosphatidylserine reduces oxidative damage to murine brain and improves cognitive performance

Alzheimer disease has a complex etiology composed of nutritional and genetic risk factors and predispositions. Moreover, genetic risk factors for cognitive decline may remain latent pending age-related decline in nutrition, suggesting the potential importance of early nutritional intervention, including preventative approaches. We hypothesized that a combination of multiple nutritional additives may be able to provide neuroprotection. We demonstrate herein that dietary supplementation with a mixture of ALA, ALCAR, GPC, DHA, and PS reduced reactive oxygen species in normal mice by 57% and prevented the increase in reactive oxygen species normally observed in mice lacking murine ApoE when maintained on a vitamin-free, iron-enriched, oxidative-challenge diet. We further demonstrate that supplementation with these agents prevented the marked cognitive decline otherwise observed in normal mice maintained on this challenge diet. These findings add to the growing body of research indicating that key dietary supplementation may delay the progression of age-related cognitive decline.
Impact of strained-Si PMOS transistors on SRAM soft error rates

For advanced deep sub-micron technology nodes, the use of strained-Si is fast becoming the norm. The experimental Soft Error Rate (SER) of 40 nm technology triple-well SRAMs that incorporate strained-Si PMOS transistors are compared with the SER for 90 nm, 65 nm and 45 nm triple-well bulk CMOS SRAMs fabricated without strain. Results indicate that the total SER decreases by approximately 50% with strain. Most importantly, however, the Multiple-Cell Upset (MCU) Rate decreases significantly. The factors that result in improved SER for strained SRAMs are investigated.
The zero-bin and mode factorization in quantum field theory

We study a Lagrangian formalism that avoids double counting in effective field theories where distinct fields are used to describe different infrared momentum regions for the same particle. The formalism leads to extra subtractions in certain diagrams and to a new way of thinking about factorization of modes in quantum field theory. In nonrelativistic field theories, the subtractions remove unphysical pinch singularities in box-type diagrams, and give a derivation of the known pullup mechanism between soft and ultrasoft fields which is required by the renormalization group evolution. In a field theory for energetic particles, the soft-collinear effective theory (SCET), the subtractions allow the theory to be defined with different infrared and ultraviolet regulators, remove double counting between soft, ultrasoft, and collinear modes, and give results which reproduce the infrared divergences of the full theory. Our analysis shows that convolution divergences in factorization formulas occur due to an overlap of momentum regions. We propose a method that avoids this double counting, which helps to resolve a long-standing puzzle with singularities in collinear factorization in QCD. The analysis gives evidence for a factorization in rapidity space in exclusive decays.
The Age of Reform: A Defense of Richard Hofstadter Fifty Years On

When we attend academic history conferences, it has become common to hold sessions honoring important books of the moment. This makes considerable sense, as authors get to engage with thoughtful critics in a process that, we hope, advances the discipline.What, then, might be the point of holding a session in honor of a book published long ago—indeed, one as ancient as fifty years old? The minimalist reason might be that we are historians, and so we naturally look to the past for interest and inspiration. That would make sense, except that historians, ironically more than scholars in related disciplines, tend to cannibalize their predecessors. Sociologists, of course, still actively engage Weber, Durkheim and Marx, and even—looking to the American midcentury— Richard Hofstadter's Columbia University colleagues, C. Wright Mills and Robert Merton.
A Lexicographic Nelder-Mead simulation optimization method to solve multi-criteria problems

Simulation optimization is an approach that is used to solve problems involving stochastic components. This paper presents a Lexicographic Nelder-Mead (LNM) based simulation optimization (LNM-SO) method to solve multi-criteria simulation optimization problems. The method is designed to be relatively easy-to-implement and be applicable to a wide range of problem domains. To effectively evaluate the overall performance of this method, a Time-Quality Estimator (TQE) was developed to evaluate the performance of LNM-SO in terms of both quality of solution and computational speed. Computational results of five different test problems showed that the method was highly effective.
An N of 1: A Political Scientist in Operation Iraqi Freedom

A bunker is an odd place to reconsider a course syllabus, especially during a mortar attack in the middle of the night. Teaching the historical case study method in introductory courses in international relations, I often told students that we need history in IR, since our theories do not lend themselves to laboratory testing. In the future, I'll drop that comment. Since February 2003, I have been serving on active duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom, mostly in the Sunni Triangle. Wartime service has proved to be something of a laboratory for me and has caused me to reevaluate some of the received wisdom of international relations. War has validated some things we teach, but it has also rendered problematic some conclusions I held perhaps too comfortably. I have been trained by the military to see war with a soldier's eye; it has been a strange experience to see it instead through the eyes of a political scientist. Service in Iraq has provided me the opportunity to consider the academic study of politics and war in real time. The author wishes to thank Dan Caldwell, Deborah Larson, Alan Rozzi, James Q. Wilson, the editors of Perspectives on Politics , anonymous reviewers, and the men and women in uniform lost during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Early changes in cerebellar physiology accompany motor dysfunction in the polyglutamine disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 3

The relationship between cerebellar dysfunction, motor symptoms, and neuronal loss in the inherited ataxias, including the polyglutamine disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), remains poorly understood. We demonstrate that before neurodegeneration, Purkinje neurons in a mouse model of SCA3 exhibit increased intrinsic excitability resulting in depolarization block and the loss of the ability to sustain spontaneous repetitive firing. These alterations in intrinsic firing are associated with increased inactivation of voltage-activated potassium currents. Administration of an activator of calcium-activated potassium channels, SKA-31, partially corrects abnormal Purkinje cell firing and improves motor function in SCA3 mice. Finally, expression of the disease protein, ataxin-3, in transfected cells increases the inactivation of Kv3.1 channels and shifts the activation of Kv1.2 channels to more depolarized potentials. Our results suggest that in SCA3, early Purkinje neuron dysfunction is associated with altered physiology of voltage-activated potassium channels. We further suggest that the observed changes in Purkinje neuron physiology contribute to disease pathogenesis, underlie at least some motor symptoms, and represent a promising therapeutic target in SCA3.
Regional landslide-hazard assessment for Seattle, Washington, USA

Landslides are a widespread, frequent, and costly hazard in Seattle and the Puget Sound area of Washington State, USA. Shallow earth slides triggered by heavy rainfall are the most common type of landslide in the area; many transform into debris flows and cause significant property damage or disrupt transportation. Large rotational and translational slides, though less common, also cause serious property damage. The hundreds of landslides that occurred during the winters of 1995–96 and 1996–97 stimulated renewed interest by Puget Sound communities in identifying landslide-prone areas and taking actions to reduce future landslide losses. Informal partnerships between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the City of Seattle, and private consultants are focusing on the problem of identifying and mapping areas of landslide hazard as well as characterizing temporal aspects of the hazard. We have developed GIS-based methods to map the probability of landslide occurrence as well as empirical rainfall thresholds and physically based methods to forecast times of landslide occurrence. Our methods for mapping landslide hazard zones began with field studies and physically based models to assess relative slope stability, including the effects of material properties, seasonal groundwater levels, and rainfall infiltration. We have analyzed the correlation between historic landslide occurrence and relative slope stability to map the degree of landslide hazard. The City of Seattle is using results of the USGS studies in storm preparedness planning for emergency access and response, planning for development or redevelopment of hillsides, and municipal facility planning and prioritization. Methods we have developed could be applied elsewhere to suit local needs and available data.
Isolation and primary culture of viable multicellular endothelial isolates from hard corals.

Conditions for the primary culture of branching scleractinian coral (Acropora micropthalma and Pocillopora damicornis) cells were established with a calcium-free seawater cell dissociation method. Cells were isolated and cultured in supplemented Dulbecco's modified Eagle media with heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum, antibiotics, and sterile seawater. Among the isolated cell types, large (60-100 microm) multicellular endothelial isolates (MEIs) were seen in high numbers. These isolates were observed to continually spin for up to 300 h without media change. The following parameters were optimized: media, serum, light, trace elements, and growth factor supplements. Rotations per minute were calculated to determine MEI motility in relation to size. Finally, analyses of external and internal structures were conducted with scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and fluorescence microscopy. Additional coral species, Montipora digitata, Stylophora pistillata, Seriatopora hystrix and Porites sp. were also cultured to determine the applicability of isolation techniques. The relatively long survival time of MEIs in primary culture makes them ideal candidates for in vitro studies examining coral disease processes (e.g., mode of infection and intracellular effects of disease-causing agents) as well as aspects of general coral growth and health (e.g., trace element requirements and transfer of products between host cell and zooxanthellae).
Cholesterol Particle Growth and Dissolution Rates in Aqueous Media

As part of the program on the transport, deposition, and dissolution of cholesterol in aqueous media, the growth and dissolution rates and the nucleation behavior of this compound in saline have been investigated. The Coulter counter was used in these studies to follow the particle size distribution changes of cholesterol suspensions with time. A comparison of the results with theory showed that the growth and dissolution rates were close to being diffusion controlled, despite the low rates (10 to 20 hours to grow to about 2- μ diameter or to dissolve a 2- μ diameter particle). Experiments at the higher supersaturation levels showed that a metastable phase preferentially nucleates, grows out rapidly, then redissolves as the more stable phase nucleates more slowly and grows out.
iPads, droids, and bugs: Infection prevention for mobile handheld devices at the point of care

Health care providers are increasingly using wireless media tablets, such as the Apple iPad, especially in the hospital setting. In the absence of specific tablet disinfection guidelines the authors applied what is known about the contamination of other nonmedical mobile communication devices to create a "common sense" bundle to guide wireless media tablet infection prevention practices.