cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Mexican and U.S. Economies After Twenty Years of NAFTA

Abstract:Contrary to the promises of the leaders who promoted it, NAFTA did not make Mexico converge to the Uunited Sstates in per capita income, nor did it solve Mexico’s employment problems or stem the flow of migration. NAFTA did foster greater U.S.-Mexican integration and helped transform Mexico into a major exporter of manufactured goods. The benefits for the Mexican economy were attenuated, however, by heavy dependence on imported intermediate inputs in export production, as well as by Chinese competition in the U.S. market and domestically. The long-run increase in manufacturing employment in Mexico (about 400,000 jobs) was small and disappointing, while U.S. manufacturing employment plummeted by 5 million—but more because of Chinese imports than imports from Mexico. In both Mexico and the Uunited States, real wages have stagnated while productivity has continued to increase, leading to higher profit shares and a tendency toward greater inequality.
Maintenance of mating cell integrity requires the adhesin Fig2p.

Fungal adhesins represent a large family of serine/threonine-rich secreted glycoproteins. Adhesins have been shown to play roles in heterotypic and homotypic cell-cell adhesion processes, morphogenetic pathways and invasive/pseudohyphal growth, frequently in response to differentiation cues. Here we address the role of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mating-specific adhesin Fig2p. Cells lacking FIG2 possess a variety of mating defects that relate to processes involving the cell wall, including morphogenetic defects, cell fusion defects, and alterations in agglutination activities. We found that mating-specific morphogenetic defects caused by the absence of FIG2 are suppressible by increased external osmolarity and that, during mating, fig2Δ cells display reduced viability relative to wild-type cells. These defects result from alterations in signaling activated by the mating and cell integrity pathways. Finally, we show that fig2Δ zygotes also have defects in zygotic spindle positioning that are osmoremedial, whereas the requirements for FIG2 in normal cell-cell agglutination and cell fusion during mating are insensitive to changes in the extracellular osmotic environment. We conclude that FIG2 performs distinct functions in the mating cell wall that are separable with respect to their ability to be suppressed by changes in external osmolarity and that a fundamental role of FIG2 in mating cells is the maintenance of cell integrity.
W-band monolithic mixer using InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT

A W-band monolithic mixer is designed and fabricated using InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT technology. The advantages of this material system compared with AlGaAs/GaAs are: (i) larger conduction band discontinuity (0.5 eV versus 0.24 eV for AlGaAs/GaAs) and therefore better carrier confinement, (ii) higher low-field mobility, and (iii) higher peak velocity. The combination of these features results in a better performance and operation capability in the submillimeter wave range. The design procedure and the circuit performance are described. A very low LO (local oscillator) power requirement is demonstrated with 13.5-dB conversion loss and only -6 dBm LO drive at 95 GHz. >
Games and Learning and Society (GLS) Conference 3.0

Purpose – To share information about this third annual conference on Games, Learning and Society. Increasingly popular and growing in interests among educators and industry leaders who together are trying to develop gaming products that promote learning.Design/methodology/approach – Conference report.Originality/valve – Lots of developments and continued growth in the industry and greater interest among educators and academics about the increased value of games for learning.
Optical detection of nanoparticles by mode splitting in whispering-gallery-mode microcavities

Optical microcavities with high quality factors (Q factor) and small mode volumes have shown their potentials in various sensing applications. Here we experimentally demonstrate the real-time detection of single nanoparticles down to 30 nm in radius, using an ultra-high-Q microtoroid on a silicon chip. Mode splitting phenomenon of WGMs caused by their strong interactions with a single nanoparticle is utilized as the sensing signal. Frequency and linewidth information of the split modes is used to accurately derive the size of the particle detected. Theoretical calculations and finite element simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results. The mode splitting technique provides a self-reference scheme that is more immune to noise than the techniques based on the detection of changes of a single mode.
Friction compensation using adaptive nonlinear control with persistent excitation

Nonlinear dynamics and modelling uncertainties of a frictional force can cause instability in an adaptive friction compensation scheme. We propose an adaptive nonlinear controller where the persistent excitation in the desired trajectory enables stability of the closed-loop system when the friction force effects are due to static, Coulomb and viscous components, as well as for the inertia and Stribeck effects. The controller is shown to be robust to uncertainties due to frictional lag and frictional memory. Stable adaptation for the nonlinearly-occurring Stribeck parameter is achieved by exploiting convexity/concavity properties. An analytical framework is given to explain the effectiveness of dither in friction control problems.
A High-Density Magnetoresistive Biosensor Array with Drift-Compensation Mechanism

A DNA microarray of 1008 magnetoresistive sensors employing multidivided array structures for detecting either tow concentration or large-scale gene information is integrated with a 0.25mum BiCMOS chip. The input-referred noise is below 55nV/radicHz. Ionic solution interferences and drifts during biological reaction are removed by applying an in-plane AC magnetic field with two DC field states. Parallel readout is realized by combining FDM with TDM.
Estimation of the speed of moving source from time delay estimate

This work studies the situation in which a signal emitted by a moving source was received by an array of sensors. The particular cases of interest are those in which the time delay between sensors can be approximated by a linear function. The procedure for estimating linear time delay functions is discussed. Based on the time delay estimate, a procedure for estimating the speed of the moving source is proposed. Simulations are carried out; the results show that the procedure gives an unbiased estimate of the speed; and the estimates are asymptotically normal distributed.
Serum enzyme studies of a hydrocephalic syndrome of newborn calves.

SummaryThe serum enzyme levels were studied in 4 calves which exhibited a hydrocephalic syndrome (encephalo-ophthalmomyopathy(10)). More than a 30-fold elevation of serum glutamic oxaloacetic and glutamic pyruvic transaminases, lactic and malic dehydrogenases, and aldolase was found compared with sera from normal calves of similar age. The elevated serum enzymes, not previously reported for calves with the hydrocephalic syndrome, were believed to be due to extensive and progressive muscular dystrophy observed in these calves.
Comparative studies of all-optical vs. electrical vs. hybrid switches in datacom and in telecom networks

This paper compares all-optical, electrical, and hybrid switches in the context of datacenter networks and telecommunication networks. Latency and throughput simulations indicate the advantages of hybrid switches over optical and electrical switches.
T-cell-directed cancer vaccines: the melanoma model.

Significant advances in the understanding of the molecular basis for tumour/host interactions in humans have occurred in the last decade through studying patients with metastatic melanoma. This disease is characterised by its tendency to be modulated by immunologic factors. Furthermore, immunologic manipulation of the host with various systemic agents, in particular IL-2, frequently affects this natural phenomenon and can lead to complete rejection of cancer. By studying the cellular immunology occurring in patients undergoing immunotherapy, several tumour antigens (TA) and their epitopes recognised by human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) have been identified. Most of these TA are non-mutated molecules expressed by the majority of melanoma in vivo and most melanoma cell lines. In addition, unique minimal epitopic sequences play an immunodominant role in the context of specific HLA class I alleles. Since melanoma lesions from different patients often share expressi...
Management of early stage breast cancer: Interventions and their effectiveness

Early stage breast cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for women worldwide. Therefore, effective management of this disease is of critical importance. A variety of risk factors for this disease have been identified, including genetic mutations which confer susceptibility to breast cancer. Despite knowledge of these risk factors, no effective prevention strategy for breast cancer has yet been developed although there are several prevention trials currently underway.
Two Simple Rules for Improving the Accuracy of Empiric Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Urinary Tract Infections

The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) uropathogens is making the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) more challenging. We sought to evaluate the accuracy of empiric therapy for MDR UTIs and the utility of prior culture data in improving the accuracy of the therapy chosen. The electronic health records from three U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities were retrospectively reviewed for the treatments used for MDR UTIs over 4 years. An MDR UTI was defined as an infection caused by a uropathogen resistant to three or more classes of drugs and identified by a clinician to require therapy. Previous data on culture results, antimicrobial use, and outcomes were captured from records from inpatient and outpatient settings. Among 126 patient episodes of MDR UTIs, the choices of empiric therapy against the index pathogen were accurate in 66 (52%) episodes. For the 95 patient episodes for which prior microbiologic data were available, when empiric therapy was concordant with the prior microbiologic data, the rate of accuracy of the treatment against the uropathogen improved from 32% to 76% (odds ratio, 6.9; 95% confidence interval, 2.7 to 17.1; P < 0.001). Genitourinary tract (GU)-directed agents (nitrofurantoin or sulfa agents) were equally as likely as broad-spectrum agents to be accurate (P = 0.3). Choosing an agent concordant with previous microbiologic data significantly increased the chance of accuracy of therapy for MDR UTIs, even if the previous uropathogen was a different species. Also, GU-directed or broad-spectrum therapy choices were equally likely to be accurate. The accuracy of empiric therapy could be improved by the use of these simple rules.
An overview of micromachining for optical communications

There have been increasing interest in applying micromachining technologies to optical and optoelectronic systems. Despite the rapid advances of optoelectronic materials, optomechanical systems and mechanical actuation are still indispensable components in many optical systems such as those for switching and packaging applications. The marriage of micro-optics and micromachining technologies has created a new family of optomechanical devices that cannot be realized by conventional technologies, and has opened up many new opportunities. We review the state-of-the-art of the optical MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical-system) technologies around the world, and report on the recent progress of the free-space microoptical bench (FSMOB) project at UCLA.
Prevalence, prey preference and predatory potential of Paederus fuscipes Curtis and Ophionea sp. in rice.

Field-cum-laboratory studies were carried out on the prevalence, prey preference and predatory potential of staphylinid beetle, Paederus fuscipes Curtis, and carabid beetle, Ophionea sp ., in rice. The predatory beetle population was significantly higher in rabi compared to that of kharif season and P. fuscipes population was higher than that of Ophionea sp.in both the seasons. Within the season, both the beetles were significantly more abundant at reproductive stage compared to vegetative stage. The two predators preferred brown planthopper and white backed planthopper nymphs to other prey species tested. The predatory potential was 9.5 BPH nymphs and 1 WBPH nymphs per day for P. fuscipes, and 10.2 BPH nymphs and 9 WBPH nymphs per day for Ophionea sp.
Extracting drug-enzyme relation from literature as evidence for drug drug interaction

Information about drug–drug interactions (DDIs) is crucial for computational applications such as pharmacovigilance and drug repurposing. However, existing sources of DDIs have the problems of low coverage, low accuracy and low agreement. One common type of DDIs is related to the mechanism of drug metabolism: a DDI relation may be caused by different interactions (e.g., substrate, inhibit) between drugs and enzymes in the drug metabolism process. Thus, information from drug enzyme interactions (DEIs) serves as important supportive evidence for DDIs. Further, potential DDIs present implicitly could be detected by inference and reasoning based on DEIs. In this article, we propose a hybrid approach to combining machine learning algorithm with trigger words and syntactic patterns, for DEI relation extraction from biomedical literature. The extracted DEI relations are used for reasoning to infer potential DDI relations, based on a defined drug-enzyme ontology incorporating biological knowledge. Evaluation results demonstrate that the performance of DEI relation extraction is promising, with an F-measure of 84.97 % on the in vivo dataset and 65.58 % on the in vitro dataset. Further, the inferred DDIs achieved a precision of 83.19 % on the in vivo dataset and 70.94 % on the in vitro dataset, respectively. A further examination showed that the overlaps between our inferred DDIs and those present in DrugBank were 42.02 % on the in vivo dataset and 19.23 % on the in vitro dataset, respectively. This paper proposed an effective approach to extract DEI relations from biomedical literature. Potential DDIs not present in existing knowledge bases were then inferred based on the extracted DEIs, demonstrating the capability of the proposed approach to detect DDIs with scientific evidence for pharmacovigilance and drug repurposing applications.
Mitotic indices of human bone marrow cells. I. Number and cytologic distribution of mitoses.

1. The diurnal variation of mitotic index of human bone marrow has been studied. A diurnal variation has not been demonstrated but remains subject for further study. 2. Data on the distribution of hone marrow mitoses on cell lines and maturation stages are presented. From this and the gross mitotic index of the bone marrow, the mitotic indices of various cell types are computed.
Diffraction Contrast Image Analysis on the Facet Defects of the Laser Diodes Caused by ECR Cleaning Process

Cross-sectional and plan-view TEM techniques were used to study the ion beam passivation of 980 nm laser pump diodes. It is found that under certain operation conditions, the ECR cleaning process produces crystal defects in the facets region of the diodes. By TEM diffraction contrast image analysis, the crystal defects are determined as Frank dislocation loops at the {111} planes of the GaAs crystal. The details of the TEM analysis procedures are described in the paper. In order to obtain high quality passivation of the diodes, the parameters of the ECR cleaning process have to be optimized to eliminate the induced defects.
A Chaotic Model of Power Concentration in the International System

Many previous studies have pointed to the presence of cyclic patterns in the distribution and concentration of international power. I test this theory and find that the evolution of systemic power concentration since 1494 is not cyclic, but is chaotic. This implies that, although there are no strict cycles, the evolution of power concentration is influenced by structural constraints. An underlying order in the transfer of power results in a patterned, although not a determinate, evolution over time. An exploratory model in the chaotic domain is developed by combining a few common assumptions from the power literature. This model results in some interesting implications, such as the finding that multipolarity, bipolarity, and hegemony can all be stable configurations under certain conditions.
SEX RATIO OF RUMEX HASTATULUS: THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND CERTATION.

Mechanisms of sex determination in dioecious seed plants are such that female and male progeny in a population are expected in approximately equal proportions (Lloyd, 1973). However, deviations from equality are known for many species (Lewis, 1942; Godley, 1964, 1976; Lloyd, 1973, 1974). Several prezygotic and postzygotic mechanisms may produce unequal sex ratios. Meiotic drive (Sandler and Novitski, 1957; Hamilton, 1967) and differential mortality or competitive ability of gametophytes carrying predominantly maleor female-determining genes are mechanisms whereby sex ratios are biased at the time of fertilization. Differential growth or mortality of sporophytes and sexual phenotype plasticity are mechanisms that can influence sex ratio after fertilization. Correns (1928) showed that the sex ratios of Silene alba and Rumex acetosa progenies could be manipulated by controlling the amount of pollen experienced by female partners. This phenomenon, termed certation, was explained by Correns as resulting from the differential growth of pollen tubes carrying femaleand male-determining gametes. Under low pollen densities, the sex ratio was near equality or slightly male-biased while at high pollen densities, the sex ratio was greatly female-biased. Evidently, pollen tubes carrying female-determining gametes reach the egg sooner than pollen
291 JORNALEROS: A POPULATION PREDISPOSED TO INJURY?

Jornaleros (day laborers), those seeking temporary employment in an informal or established hiring site, are an expanding segment of the US labor force. However, while they frequently work in hazardous jobs, little is known about the nature of this work force, the extent of injury they may experience, or factors associated with injuries. Previous literature suggests that immigrant workers have a higher risk of work-related injury. We conducted a cross-sectional study to examine characteristics of day laborers and factors that may be correlated with their work-related injury. Using the National Day Labor Survey (NDLS), we analyzed data from 2,660 day laborers in 361 hiring sites across 166 cities nationwide. Preliminary results of the survey indicate that the majority of day laborers are male (98.5%), Latino (93%), and immigrants with limited education. Data from the survey also showed that a lower degree of English speaking ability, English reading ability, and low amount of safety training received are associated with 34.6%, 52.8%, and 69.8% increase in work-related injury respectively. Educational outreach efforts focused on basic English instruction and workplace safety training may benefit day laborers through lower work-related injuries. In addition, stronger enforcement of existing legislation and policy regarding workplace safety training should be enforced by agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and may benefit day laborers.
Histopathologic Findings in the Areas of Orange Pigment Overlying Choroidal Melanomas

Purpose Orange pigment is an important sign of malignancy in melanocytic tumors. There is a question as to whether the pigment accumulation is inside of macrophages or retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. We investigated which cells are involved with this color alteration.
The glycogenoses and other inherited disorders of carbohydrate metabolism.

Clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and inheritance patterns of disorders of glycogen, galactose, and fructose metabolism are detailed.
Expanding the Role of School Psychologists to Support Early Career Teachers: A Mixed-Method Study

Abstract School psychologists have training and expertise in consultation and evidence-based interventions that position them well to support early career teachers (ECTs). The current study involved iterative development and pilot testing of an intervention to help ECTs become more effective in classroom management and engaging learners, as well as more connected to colleagues. The intervention included group seminars, professional learning communities, and coaching. The sample included 15 ECTs and 57 school personnel in three high-poverty, urban schools. Feasibility and initial promise of the intervention were examined using a mixed-method design, which yielded promising trends in ECTs' effectiveness and connectedness. ECTs described facilitators to effectiveness and connectedness associated with the intervention and barriers associated with the structural realities of schools and gaps in their training. ECTs described effectiveness as neither static nor global and perceived meaningful progress, leveragi...
Religious Affects: Animality, Evolution, and Power

In a piece for Harper’s Magazine, former chronic dieter Sallie Tisdale reflected: “After a time, the number on the scale became my totem; more important than my experience—it was layered, metaphori...
3DGates: An Instruction-Level Energy Analysis and Optimization of 3D Printers

As the next-generation manufacturing driven force, 3D printing technology is having a transformative effect on various industrial domains and has been widely applied in a broad spectrum of applications. It also progresses towards other versatile fields with portable battery-powered 3D printers working on a limited energy budget. While reducing manufacturing energy is an essential challenge in industrial sustainability and national economics, this growing trend motivates us to explore the energy consumption of the 3D printer for the purpose of energy efficiency. To this end, we perform an in-depth analysis of energy consumption in commercial, off-the-shelf 3D printers from an instruction-level perspective. We build an instruction-level energy model and an energy profiler to analyze the energy cost during the fabrication process. From the insights obtained by the energy profiler, we propose and implement a cross-layer energy optimization solution, called 3DGates, which spans the instruction-set, the compiler and the firmware. We evaluate 3DGates over 338 benchmarks on a 3D printer and achieve an overall energy reduction of 25%.
Designing a New Entry Point into Isoprenoid Metabolism by Exploiting Fructose-6-Phosphate Aldolase Side Reactivity of Escherichia coli.

The 2C-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway in Escherichia coli has been highlighted for its potential to provide access to myriad isoprenoid chemicals of industrial and therapeutic relevance and discover antibiotic targets to treat microbial human pathogens. Here, we describe a metabolic engineering strategy for the de novo construction of a biosynthetic pathway that produces 1-dexoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate (DXP), the precursor metabolite of the MEP pathway, from the simple and renewable starting materials d-arabinose and hydroxyacetone. Unlike most metabolic engineering efforts in which cell metabolism is reprogrammed with enzymes that are highly specific to their desired reaction, we highlight the promiscuous activity of the native E. coli fructose-6-phosphate aldolase as central to the metabolic rerouting of carbon to DXP. We use mass spectrometric isotopomer analysis of intracellular metabolites to show that the engineered pathway is able to support in vivo DXP biosynthesis in E. coli. The e...
Figure 1: A Review of the “Instagram for Doctors”

Users of Instagram will recognize why so many news articles about this app use the comparison from this article’s title (1). Figure 1 is an iPhone and Android OS app platform for sharing and discus...
Efficient Object Detection Using Embedded Binarized Neural Networks

Memory performance is a key bottleneck for deep learning systems. Binarization of both activations and weights is one promising approach that can best scale to realize the highest energy efficient system using the lowest possible precision. In this paper, we utilize and analyze the binarized neural network in doing human detection on infrared images. Our results show comparable algorithmic performance of binarized versus 32bit floating-point networks, with the added benefit of greatly simplified computation and reduced memory overhead. In addition, we present a system architecture designed specifically for computation using binary representation that achieves at least 4? speedup and the energy is improved by three orders of magnitude over GPU.
Solar Charging Batteries: Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities

Summary Energy for a sustainable future motivates today's R&D, enabling technologies such as smart consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and smart grids. These technologies demand the use of batteries. Sunlight, an abundant clean source of energy, can alleviate the energy limits of batteries, while batteries can address photovoltaic intermittency. This perspective paper focuses on advancing concepts in PV-battery system design while providing critical discussion, review, and prospect. Reports on discrete and integrated PV-battery designs are discussed. Three key technical challenges, namely energy density, efficiency, and stability, toward further advancement of integrated PV-battery systems are discussed. We present a perspective on opportunities and future directions, highlighting key strategies on developing such PV-battery systems. Key focus should be on the development of innovative designs that incorporates high-capacity, efficient, and stable materials, emphasizing the demonstration of practical viability of such integrated PV-battery systems.
Resolving spatio-temporal uncertainty in rare resource acquisition: smell the shell

Complex environments present substantial spatio-temporal uncertainty in where and when rare ecological resources become available. How animals navigate this uncertainty to turn the seemingly unpredictable into the predictable is a fundamental question in evolutionary ecology. Here we use subtidal hermit crabs (Pagurus acadianus) as a model system to experimentally test in the field how animals resolve spatio-temporal uncertainty in resource availability. Quadrat sampling within the subtidal zone revealed that hermit crabs face an extreme ecological challenge, based on the rarity of empty shells across space and time. We show how this spatio-temporal uncertainty is ultimately resolved using long-distance chemical cues, which are associated with non-destructive shell predation on living gastropods, the original source of shells. By experimentally releasing cues that simulated the chemical by-products of predation, we reveal that certain flesh cues provide fine-grained information about the precise spatial and temporal window of new shell availability. These cues were most attractive to individuals with the greatest existing resource needs, and in the absence of this information individuals were highly constrained in their ability to discover newly available resources. Broadly, these experiments reveal that exploiting simple cues from heterospecific predators can provide a solution to the general ecological challenge of finding resources that are rare in space and time.
Haiku, Spiritual Exercises, and Bioethics

Pierre Hadot has discussed the deep connections between ancient Western philosophy and spiritual exercises. The author appreciates these connections, but he explains why he explored a different path. He began to write haiku as a form of spiritual practice. He wanted to use these short verses to become more mindful, present, and responsive – in his life and in his work in bioethics. After comparing traditional haiku and modern haiku, the author gives some examples from classical sources. Then he considers how reading and writing haiku might help bioethics to focus less on deliberation and choice, and more on attention and perception. Haiku might help bioethics to attend to the contexts, life conditions, and lifeworlds that shape and situate people’s lives. These short poems might even illuminate some of the backgrounds and existential grounds of ethical life. At the end, the author presents some haiku that he wrote about modern life, young children, older adults, illness, medicine, and death.
Raciolinguistic chronotopes and the education of Latinx students: Resistance and anxiety in a bilingual school

Abstract A major assumption of critical applied linguistics has been that changing the language attitudes of individual teachers will lead to the development of more linguistically responsive classrooms. Yet, despite decades of such efforts, linguistically responsive classrooms remain the exception rather than the norm. As an explanation for this lack of progress, we propose a raciolinguistic chronotope perspective that brings attention to the broader socio-historical processes that shape the institutional listening subject position teachers inhabit in relation to their students. We apply this raciolinguistic chronotope perspective to classroom interactions collected as part of a multi-year ethnographic study of a bilingual charter school. We end with implications of this raciolinguistic chronotope perspective for re-conceptualizing interventions focused on developing linguistically responsive classrooms.
Healing and Psychotherapy: The Pentecostal Tradition

This paper explores the practice of healing in the Pentecostal movement. The practice of healing has a long tradition in Pentecostal practice. The meaning of divine healing and what could be components of a theology of healing are examined. It is important for pastoral counselors, pastors, and chaplains to be aware of the importance of divine healing for Pentecostal clients.
Combined lateral condyle mass and olecranon fractures: A proposed treatment algorithm and surgical technique

Combined lateral condyle mass and olecranon fractures are infrequently seen. These cases are easily missed, and only 12 previous cases are detailed in the English medical literature. The decision for surgical fixation usually depends on the amount of displacement of the individual fractures. However, the optimal surgical approach or technique for open reduction and internal fixation has not been agreed upon. We present three original case reports and analyse them together with all other known cases in the English literature. We discuss how to avoid missing these combined fractures and propose a treatment algorithm based on the different permutations of the fracture displacement. Our detailed surgical approach (using a posterior 'olecranon osteotomy' approach) is also described.
Five New Species of Xiphydriid Woodwasps (Hymenoptera: Xiphydriidae) from Taiwan, with New Records and a Key to Species

Five species of Xiphydriidae are described from Taiwan: Indoxiphyia prima Smith, n. sp., Hyperxiphia nantou Smith, n. sp., H. nigrans Smith, n. sp., H. sculpturata Smith, n. sp., and H. triangulris Smith, n. sp. The genus Indoxiphia Maa is newly recorded from Taiwan. A key is given for the Xiphidriidae known from the island and several new Taiwan records are given for Dryxiphia punctatissimaMaa 1949. Eleven species in six genera are now known for Taiwan.
The Berkeley Puppet Interview for Child Assessment.

The Berkeley Puppet Interview (BPI), building on a rich tradition of using puppets in clinical settings, was developed to address the absence of standardized methodologies appropriate for measuring young children's perceptions of themselves and their interpersonal environments. BPI, two identical hand puppets make opposing statements about themselves and then ask children to describe themselves. The majority of young children interviewed with the BPI respond verbally, either by describing themselves or by indicating which puppet is most like them. The BPI has provided a strong challenge to the suggestion that 4- to 8-year-old children cannot provide valuable information about themselves. Substantial research indicates that the BPI is a reliable and valid measure of children's perceptions of themselves and of relationships that they both observe and in which they participate. Clinically, the BPI has also served as a useful assessment tool as well as a resource to support therapeutic processes with young children.
Low-powered wearable motion detecting system using static electric fields

Recently, the commercial market has seen an increase in the availability of smart wearable Internet of things (IoT) devices (wearables) including such items as: smart shoes, smart watches, wrist bands, and pendants. Many of these devices are part of the human-in-the-loop cyber-physical systems. In this research, the authors have designed and developed an embedded sensory IoT system with a low-power Bluetooth communication module to collect body single node voltage using a smartphone. Their approach for sensing the user's movement builds on work in the electric field sensing. Experimentation and verification have been conducted on a group of test subjects with different test scenarios including remaining at rest, walking, jumping, running, hand waving, eating, and bending over. They designed and developed their sensor to detect body motion data, and then used their algorithm to analyse the collected data. This study introduces the use of signal processing techniques for sensor data analytics to detect human body motion. The system can detect activity with a high degree of accuracy (∼ 87%).
Banking on burden reduction: how the global financial crisis shaped the political economy of banking regulation

The Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act (EGRPRA) of 1996 requires the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council—an interagency council composed of US banking regulators—to conduct decennial retrospective reviews of existing banking regulations, with an emphasis on reducing regulatory burden. EGRPRA reviews provide a lens to study the political economy of banking regulation before and after the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007–2009. Through comparative case studies of EGRPRA reviews in 2007 and 2017, this article documents how ex post impact assessment of banking regulation and stakeholder participation in banking regulatory processes have changed over the last 10 years. Using within-case process tracing and content analysis of an original dataset of government documents and public input, this article analyzes the extent to which changes in review processes, participation, and outcomes can be attributed to the policy shock of the GFC and/or shifting political, regulatory, and/or market contexts. The results suggest that government–market interactions have changed considerably since the GFC and that regulatory politics explain many of these changes. While retrospective review and stakeholder participation therein may enable more effective and legitimate regulations and rulemaking processes, much work remains to realize these potential benefits in banking regulation.
Disruption of normal patterns of FOXF1 expression in a lethal disorder of lung development.

Background Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of the pulmonary veins (ACDMPV) is a lethal disorder of lung development. ACDMPV is associated with haploinsufficiency of the transcription factor FOXF1, which plays an important role in the development of the lung and intestine. CNVs upstream of the FOXF1 gene have also been associated with an ACDMPV phenotype, but mechanism(s) by which these deletions disrupt lung development are not well understood. The objective of our study is to gain insights into the mechanisms by which CNVs contribute to an ACDMPV phenotype. Methods We analysed primary lung tissue from an infant with classic clinical and histological findings of ACDMPV and harboured a 340 kb deletion on chromosome 16q24.1 located 250 kb upstream of FOXF1. Results In RNA generated from paraffin-fixed lung sections, our patient had lower expression of FOXF1 than age-matched controls. He also had an abnormal pattern of FOXF1 protein expression, with a dramatic loss of FOXF1 expression in the lung. To gain insights into the mechanisms underlying these changes, we assessed the epigenetic landscape using chromatin immunoprecipitation, which demonstrated loss of histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27Ac), an epigenetic mark of active enhancers, in the region of the deletion. Conclusions Together, these data suggest that the deletion disrupts an enhancer responsible for directing FOXF1 expression in the developing lung and provide novel insights into the mechanisms underlying a fatal developmental lung disorder.
Advances in Carbon Nanotube Technologies: From Transistors to a RISC-V Microprocessor

Carbon nanotube (CNT) field-effect transistors (CNFETs) promise to improve the energy efficiency of very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) systems. However, multiple challenges have prevented VLSI CNFET circuits from being realized, including inherent nano-scale material defects, robust processing for yielding complementary CNFETs (i.e., CNT CMOS: including both PMOS and NMOS CNFETs), and major CNT variations. In this talk, we summarize techniques that we have recently developed to overcome these outstanding challenges, enabling VLSI CNFET circuits to be experimentally realized today using standard VLSI processing and design flows. Leveraging these techniques, we demonstrate the most complex CNFET circuits and systems to-date, including a three-dimensional (3D) imaging system comprising CNFETs fabricated directly on top of a silicon imager, CNT CMOS analog and mixed-signal circuits, 1 kilobit CNFET static random-access memory (SRAM) memory arrays, and a 16-bit RISC-V microprocessor built entirely out of CNFETs.
6 – Mercury emissions reduction

Mercury in fossil fuels and refined petroleum products are discussed. Mercury emissions from U.S. fossil fuel-fired power plants totaled 61 short tons in 2010 and were emitted in three forms – elemental, oxidized, and condensed on ash particles. The characteristics of these mercury types and issues surrounding their generation and control are presented. The distribution of mercury emissions by type of fossil fuel, combustion technology, and air pollution control device combination is discussed in this chapter. Mercury chemistry in the environment is reviewed. Control technologies for capturing mercury are discussed.
6 – Sexual Differentiation of the Brain

Publisher Summary There are clear sex differences in the neural control of endocrine function and in a wide variety of reproductive and nonreproductive behavioral patterns of most vertebrate species. It is generally believed that these differences in brain function are the result of gonadal hormonal environment during a specific period of central nervous system (CNS) development. The gonadal hormones exert an inductive or organizational influence on the developing brain that results in the differentiation of a broad spectrum of neural functions congruent with the genetic sex. This phenomenon is termed sexual differentiation of the brain. This chapter discusses sexual dimorphism of brain structure, the biological role of α-fetoprotein, possible importance of estrogen per se, and steroid-responsive neuritic outgrowth. It discusses the way hormones might change growth patterns and neuronal circuits. Many studies on the ontogeny of neural circuits throughout the CNS have shown morphogenetic and temporal importance of the afferent fiber input to the dendritic differentiation and synaptic organization of target neurons. Dendritic development often appears to be induced by and partially dependent on its afferent axonal input.
Progression of retinopathy and incidence of cardiovascular disease: findings from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study

Purpose Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients often develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) and retinopathy. The purpose of this study was to assess the association between progression of retinopathy and concurrent incidence of CVD events in participants with CKD. Design We assessed 1051 out of 1936 participants in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study that were invited to have fundus photographs obtained at two timepoints separated by 3.5 years, on average. Methods Using standard protocols, presence and severity of retinopathy (diabetic, hypertensive or other) and vessel diameter calibre were assessed at a retinal image reading centre by trained graders masked to study participants’ information. Participants with a self-reported history of CVD were excluded. Incident CVD events were physician adjudicated using medical records and standardised criteria. Kidney function and proteinuria measurements along with CVD risk factors were obtained at study visits. Results Worsening of retinopathy by two or more steps in the EDTRS retinopathy grading scale was observed in 9.8% of participants, and was associated with increased risk of incidence of any CVD in analysis adjusting for other CVD and CKD risk factors (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.25 to 5.22, p Conclusion Progression of retinopathy is associated with higher incidence of CVD events, and retinal-vascular pathology may be indicative of macrovascular disease even after adjustment for kidney diseases and CVD risk factors. Assessment of retinal morphology may provide important information when assessing CVD in patients with CKD.
Comparison of recharge from drywells and infiltration basins: A modeling study.

Abstract Drywells (DWs) and infiltration basins (IBs) are widely used as managed aquifer recharge (MAR) devices to capture stormwater runoff and recharge groundwater. However, no published research has compared the performance of these two engineered systems under shared conditions. Numerical experiments were conducted on an idealized 2D‐axisymmetric domain using the HYDRUS (2D/3D) software to systematically study the performance of a circular IB design (diameter and area) and partially penetrating DW (38 m length with water table > 60 m). The effects of subsurface heterogeneity on infiltration, recharge, and storage from the DW and IB under constant head conditions were investigated. The mean cumulative infiltration (μI) and recharge (μR) volumes increased, and the arrival time of recharge decreased with the IB area. Values of μI were higher for a 70 m diameter IB than an DW, whereas the value of μR was higher for a DW after 1-year of a constant head simulation under selected subsurface heterogeneity conditions. A comparison between mean μI, μR, and mean vadose zone storage (μS) values for all DW and IB stochastic simulations (70 for each MAR scenario) under steady-state conditions demonstrated that five DWs can replace a 70 m diameter IB to achieve significantly higher infiltration and recharge over 20 years of operation. Additional numerical experiments were conducted to study the influence of a shallow clay layer by considering an IB, DW, and a DW integrated into an IB. The presence of such a low permeable layer delayed groundwater recharge from an IB. In contrast, a DW can penetrate tight clay layers and release water below them and facilitate rapid infiltration and recharge. The potential benefits of a DW compared to an IB include a smaller footprint, the potential for pre-treatments to remove contaminants, less evaporation, less mobilization of in-situ contaminants, and potentially lower maintenance costs. Besides, this study demonstrates that combining both IB and DW helps to get the best out of both MAR techniques.
What's New in Spine Surgery.

### Total Disc Replacement Adjacent segment disease and adjacent segment degeneration following total disc replacement at 1 or 2 levels in the cervical spine were assessed in a Level-II systematic review and a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and cohort studies. Adjacent segment disease occurred at a rate of 0.2% at 1 to 2 years after disc replacement, but adjacent segment degeneration was more common, at a rate of 5.1%. At a follow-up of longer than 2 years, these rates increased to 2.6% for adjacent segment disease and 16.6% for adjacent segment degeneration. Rates were slightly higher for patients who had undergone 2-level disc arthroplasty, although this increase did not reach significance1. In a separate Level-I study of 2-level total disc replacement as part of the Mobi-C Investigational Device Exemption randomized controlled trial, 4-year results were reported for 202 patients who underwent a total disc replacement compared with 89 patients who underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. The patients who underwent total disc replacement had better patient-reported outcome measure results, with no difference in neurological improvement, return to work, or major complication rates. There was higher patient satisfaction and a lower subsequent surgical procedure rate in the total disc replacement group2. It should be noted that, although the rate of reoperation was potentially biased by the investigating surgeons’ decision to perform revisions (treatment and detection bias), the reported rate of adjacent segment disease was also higher than that reported in other studies and warrants further comparisons. A Level-I cost-effectiveness analysis compared 2-level cervical total disc replacement and anterior cervical discectomy and arthrodesis, revealing similar results. At 2 years, the total disc replacement group had a mean gain of 1.58 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) compared with 1.50 QALYs for the anterior cervical discectomy and arthrodesis group. Although there was a $2,139 increase …
What pre-service teacher technology integration conceals and reveals: “Colorblind” technology in schools

Abstract Teacher education often under-theorizes race. The field of teacher education and technology integration is also complicit in assuming a race-neutral space into which technologies are integrated. This paper explores what pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) technology integration reveals about racialized assumptions. The research applies theoretical frameworks from teacher preparation, Whiteness and Critical Race studies, and technology integration. This study points toward a relationship between PST development, beliefs about technology, and an intersection with race awareness. The PSTs made assumptions about learning deficits, appropriate behaviors, and classroom environment, based on Whiteness, which impacted how they integrated technology. These findings complexify current educational technology narratives of technology integration which emphasize the relationship between teacher beliefs about knowledge acquisition and technology integration, but often divorce those beliefs from assumptions about race. Implications for practice include the need to confront white supremacy concealed within the technologies and pedagogies that teacher educators choose in the classroom.