cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multi-layer unsupervised learning in a spiking convolutional neural network

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) have advantages over traditional, non-spiking networks with respect to biorealism, potential for low-power hardware implementations, and theoretical computing power. However, in practice, spiking networks with multi-layer learning have proven difficult to train. This paper explores a novel, bio-inspired spiking convolutional neural network (CNN) that is trained in a greedy, layer-wise fashion. The spiking CNN consists of a convolutional/pooling layer followed by a feature discovery layer, both of which undergo bio-inspired learning. Kernels for the convolutional layer are trained using a sparse, spiking auto-encoder representing primary visual features. The feature discovery layer uses a probabilistic spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) learning rule. This layer represents complex visual features using WTA-thresholded, leaky, integrate-and-fire (LIF) neurons. The new model is evaluated on the MNIST digit dataset using clean and noisy images. Intermediate results show that the convolutional layer is stack-admissible, enabling it to support a multi-layer learning architecture. The recognition performance for clean images is above 98%. This performance is accounted for by the independent and informative visual features extracted in a hierarchy of convolutional and feature discovery layers. The performance loss for recognizing the noisy images is in the range 0.1% to 8.5%. This level of performance loss indicates that the network is robust to additive noise.
Anthropogenic Impacts on Mortality and Population Viability of the Monarch Butterfly

Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are familiar herbivores of milkweeds of the genus Asclepias, and most monarchs migrate each year to locate these host plants across North American ecosystems now dominated by agriculture. Eastern migrants overwinter in high-elevation forests in Mexico, and western monarchs overwinter in trees on the coast of California. Both populations face three primary threats to their viability: (a) loss of milkweed resources for larvae due to genetically modified crops, pesticides, and fertilizers; (b) loss of nectar resources from flowering plants; and (c) degraded overwintering forest habitats due to commercially motivated deforestation and other economic activities. Secondary threats to population viability include (d) climate change effects on milkweed host plants and the dynamics of breeding, overwintering, and migration; (e) the influence of invasive plants and natural enemies; (f) habitat fragmentation and coalescence that promote homogeneous, species-depleted landscapes;...
Inconsistency in the Definition of Urinary Tract Infection after Intravesical Botulinum Toxin A Injection: A Systematic Review

Purpose: To more accurately examine the rate of urinary tract infection following onabotulinumtoxinA injection of the bladder we systematically reviewed the literature for definitions of urinary tract infection in studies of onabotulinumtoxinA injections. We assessed the studies for consistency with guideline statements defining urinary tract infections.Materials and Methods: We systematically reviewed the literature by querying MEDLINE® and Embase®. We included original studies on adult patients with idiopathic overactive bladder and/or neurogenic detrusor overactivity who underwent cystoscopy with onabotulinumtoxinA injection and in whom urinary tract infection was a reported outcome.Results: We identified 299 publications, of which 50 met study inclusion criteria. In 27 studies (54%) urinary tract infection diagnostic criteria were defined with a total of 10 definitions among these studies. None of the overactive bladder studies used a definition which met the EAU (European Association of Urology) crit...
Bone Microarchitecture, Biomechanical Properties, and Advanced Glycation End-Products in the Proximal Femur of Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

Skeletal fragility is a major complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), but there is a poor understanding of mechanisms underlying T2D skeletal fragility. The increased fracture risk has been suggested to result from deteriorated bone microarchitecture or poor bone quality due to accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). We conducted a clinical study to determine whether: 1) bone microarchitecture, AGEs, and bone biomechanical properties are altered in T2D bone, 2) bone AGEs are related to bone biomechanical properties, and 3) serum AGE levels reflect those in bone. To do so, we collected serum and proximal femur specimens from T2D (n = 20) and non-diabetic (n = 33) subjects undergoing total hip replacement surgery. A section from the femoral neck was imaged by microcomputed tomography (microCT), tested by cyclic reference point indentation, and quantified for AGE content. A trabecular core taken from the femoral head was imaged by microCT and subjected to uniaxial unconfined compression tests. T2D subjects had greater HbA1c (+23%, p ≤ 0.0001), but no difference in cortical tissue mineral density, cortical porosity, or trabecular microarchitecture compared to non-diabetics. Cyclic reference point indentation revealed that creep indentation distance (+18%, p ≤ 0.05) and indentation distance increase (+20%, p ≤ 0.05) were greater in cortical bone from T2D than in non-diabetics, but no other indentation variables differed. Trabecular bone mechanical properties were similar in both groups, except for yield stress, which tended to be lower in T2D than in non-diabetics. Neither serum pentosidine nor serum total AGEs were different between groups. Cortical, but not trabecular, bone AGEs tended to be higher in T2D subjects (21%, p = 0.09). Serum AGEs and pentosidine were positively correlated with cortical and trabecular bone AGEs. Our study presents new data on biomechanical properties and AGEs in adults with T2D, which are needed to better understand mechanisms contributing to diabetic skeletal fragility.
Mississippi college students’ attitudes, willingness to intervene and legal knowledge toward sexual assault

Sexual assault on college campuses has been a longstanding problem in the USA. Unfortunately, relatively little has been done to look at the characteristics of these attacks and how they might rela...
A Coupled System for Investigating the Physics of Wave-Ice Interactions

AbstractA coupled model system has been developed to investigate the physics of wave attenuation and ice edge retreat in the marginal ice zone (MIZ) at small scales [O(m)]. A phase-dependent finite...
Antisense therapies for cancer: Bridging the pharmacogenomic divide

By contrast to other therapeutic approaches, the druggable universe is not limited with antisense technology as these inhibitors can be rationally designed based on sequence information alone. Recent clinical data have demonstrated proof of mechanism and clinical benefit for antisense drugs in many disease areas including cancer. Together with recent advances in antisense chemistry these findings suggest that this technology is now poised to emerge as a key therapeutic modality to bridge the ever growing pharmacogenomic divide in cancer drug discovery.
Trends in Contraceptive Use Among Catholics in the United States: 1988-1995

been a rapId decline in the use of natural methods of family planning; a sharp rise and slow decline in the use of oral contraceptives and, in the past ten years, a major reliance on surgical sterilization for contraception. Information from these national surveys has provided useful information for contraceptive providers, policy makers, and religious groups. The method of avoiding and achieving pregnancy that is promoted and encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church is natural family planning. Since natural methods are the only methods sanctioned by the Catholic Church, an assumption could be made that contraceptive practices among Roman Catholics in the United States would substantially differ from contraceptive use by the general population. The purpose of this article is to describe the use of contraceptives by Roman Catholic women between 1988 and 1995 and to compare contraceptive use by Catholics with national trends. Information on trends in contraceptive use among Catholic women is of interest to Catholic health care providers and policy makers, natural
Evolution, Interaction, and Intrinsic Properties of Dislocations in Intermetallics: Anisotropic 3D Dislocation Dynamics Approach

The generation, motion, and interaction of dislocations play key roles during the plastic deformation process of crystalline solids. 3D Dislocation Dynamics has been employed as a mesoscale simulation algorithm to investigate the collective and cooperative behavior of dislocations. Most current research on 3D Dislocation Dynamics is based on the solutions available in the framework of classical isotropic elasticity. However, due to some degree of elastic anisotropy in almost all crystalline solids, it is very necessary to extend 3D Dislocation Dynamics into anisotropic elasticity. In this study, first, the details of efficient and accurate incorporation of the fully anisotropic elasticity into 3D discrete Dislocation Dynamics by numerically evaluating the derivatives of Green's functions are described. Then the intrinsic properties of perfect dislocations, including their stability, their core properties and disassociation characteristics, in newly discovered rare earth-based intermetallics and in conventional intermetallics are investigated, within the framework of fully anisotropic elasticity supplemented with the atomistic information obtained from the ab initio calculations. Moreover, the evolution and interaction of dislocations in these intermetallics as well as the role of solute segregation are presented by utilizing fully anisotropic 3D dislocation dynamics. The results from this work clearly indicate the role and the importance ofmore » elastic anisotropy on the evolution of dislocation microstructures, the overall ductility and the hardening behavior in these systems.« less
Clonal Saplings of Trembling Aspen Do Not Coordinate Defense Induction

Induction of plant chemical defenses in response to insect feeding may be localized to the site of damage or expressed systemically, mediated by signal transduction throughout the plant. Such systemic induction processes have been widely investigated in plants with single stems, but rarely in clonal plants comprised of multiple ramets with vascular connections. For a clonal tree species such as trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx), integration of induced defense within clones could be adaptive, as clones are spatially extensive and susceptible to outbreak herbivores. We used pairs of aspen saplings with shared roots, replicated from three genotypes, to determine whether defense-induction signals are communicated within clones. One ramet in each pair was subjected to a damage treatment (feeding by Lymantria dispar, followed by mechanical damage), and subsequent changes in leaf defensive chemistry were measured in both ramets. Responses to damage varied by defense type: condensed tannins (CTs) increased in damaged ramets but not in connected undamaged ramets, whereas salicinoid phenolic glycosides (SPGs) were not induced in any ramets. Genotypes varied in their levels of CTs, but not in their levels of SPGs, and responded similarly to damage treatment. These results suggest that, even with both vascular and volatile information available, young aspen ramets do not induce defenses based on signals or metabolites from other ramets. Thus, unlike other clonal plant species, aspen do not appear to coordinate defense induction within clones. Lack of coordinated early induction in aspen may be related to the function of CTs in tolerance, rather than resistance.
Uncertainty and Risk at the Catastrophe Threshold

The planetary defense enterprise is justified by a cost/benefit analysis comparing long-term average losses from unmitigated NEO impacts to the expense of preventing them. Probabilistic risk assessment is used because the risk is dominated by NEOs that have not yet been discovered and are on unknown trajectories. The number of lives saved has historically quantified the benefit side, but there is no unambiguous means to compare this quantity to the monetary cost of planetary defense. Nevertheless, it is a useful metric for intercomparison of various risk-reduction strategies. There is a power-law distribution of NEO sizes, and the consequences are a strong function of size with a presumed threshold for global catastrophe. Therefore, the most cost-effective means for reducing risk has been to focus first on surveys designed to discover asteroids large enough to exceed the catastrophe threshold. The possibility of a NEO-caused global catastrophe has nearly been eliminated, reducing the overall assessed risk by an order of magnitude so far. Eliminating the remaining risk will be more difficult and the returned benefit will be smaller. Barring the discovery of an asteroid on a collision course, at some point the planetary defense cost will no longer be justified by the marginal benefit.
Divergent Changes in Plasma AGEs and sRAGE Isoforms Following an Overnight Fast in T1DM

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) promote the development of diabetic complications through activation of their receptor (RAGE). Isoforms of soluble RAGE (sRAGE) sequester AGEs and protect against RAGE-mediated diabetic complications. We investigated the effect of an overnight fast on circulating metabolic substrates, hormones, AGEs, and sRAGE isoforms in 26 individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1DM). Blood was collected from 26 young (18–30 years) T1DM patients on insulin pumps before and after an overnight fast. Circulating AGEs were measured via LC-MS/MS and sRAGE isoforms were analyzed via ELISA. Glucose, insulin, glucagon, and eGFRcystatin-c decreased while cortisol increased following the overnight fast (p < 0.05). AGEs (CML, CEL, 3DG-H, MG-H1, and G-H1) decreased (21–58%, p < 0.0001) while total sRAGE, cleaved RAGE (cRAGE), and endogenous secretory RAGE (esRAGE) increased (22–24%, p < 0.0001) following the overnight fast. The changes in sRAGE isoforms were inversely related to MG-H1 (rho = −0.493 to −0.589, p < 0.05) and the change in esRAGE was inversely related to the change in G-H1 (rho = −0.474, p < 0.05). Multiple regression analyses revealed a 1 pg/mL increase in total sRAGE, cRAGE, or esRAGE independently predicted a 0.42–0.52 nmol/L decrease in MG-H1. Short-term energy restriction via an overnight fast resulted in increased sRAGE isoforms and may be protective against AGE accumulation.
Repeatability of texture features derived from magnetic resonance and computed tomography imaging and use in predictive models for non-small cell lung cancer outcome.

Purpose: To evaluate the repeatability of MRI and CT derived texture features and to investigate the feasibility of use in predictive single and multi-modality models for radiotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer.&#13; Methods: Fifty-nine texture features were extracted from unfiltered and wavelet filtered images. Repeatability of test-retest features from helical 4D CT scans, true fast MRI with steady state precession (TRUFISP), and volumetric interpolation breath-hold examination (VIBE) was determined by the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). A workflow was developed to predict overall survival at 12, 18, and 24 months and tumour response at end of treatment for tumour features, and normal muscle tissue features as a control. Texture features were reduced to repeatable and stable features before clustering. Cluster representative feature selection was performed by univariate or medoid analysis before model selection. P-values were corrected for false discovery rate.&#13; Results: Repeatable (CCC ≥ 0.9) features were found for both tumour and normal muscle tissue: CT: 54.4% for tumour and 78.5% for normal tissue, TRUFISP: 64.4% for tumour and 67.8% for normal tissue, and VIBE: 52.6% for tumour and 72.9% for normal muscle tissue. Muscle tissue control analysis found 7 significant models with 6 of 7 models utilizing the univariate representative feature selection technique. Tumour analysis revealed 12 significant models for overall survival and none for tumour response at end of treatment. The accuracy of significant single modality was about the same for MR and CT. Multi-modality tumour models had comparable performance to single modality models.&#13; Conclusion: MR derived texture features may add value to predictive models and should be investigated in a larger cohort. Control analysis demonstrated that the medoid representative feature selection method may result in more robust models.&#13;
Clinical management of intermittent fasting in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Intermittent fasting is increasing in popularity as a means of losing weight and controlling chronic illness. Patients with diabetes mellitus, both types 1 and 2, comprise about 10% of the population in the United States and would likely be attracted to follow one of the many methods of intermittent fasting. Studies on the safety and benefits of intermittent fasting with diabetes are very limited though, and health recommendations unfortunately today arise primarily from weight loss gurus and animal studies. Medical guidelines on how to manage therapeutic intermittent fasting in patients with diabetes are non-existent. The evidence to build such a clinical guideline for people with a diabetes diagnosis is almost non-existent, with just one randomized trial and several case reports. This article provides an overview of the available knowledge and a review of the very limited pertinent literature on the effects of intermittent fasting among people with diabetes. It also evaluates the known safety and efficacy issues surrounding treatments for diabetes in the fasting state. Based on those limited data and a knowledge of best practices, this paper proposes expert-based guidelines on how to manage a patient with either type 1 or 2 diabetes who is interested in intermittent fasting. The safety of each relevant pharmaceutical treatment during a fasting period is considered. When done under the supervision of the patient’s healthcare provider, and with appropriate personal glucose monitoring, intermittent fasting can be safely undertaken in patients with diabetes.
Learning Bandwidth Expansion Using Perceptually-motivated Loss

We introduce a perceptually motivated approach to bandwidth expansion for speech. Our method pairs a new 3-way split variant of the FFTNet neural vocoder structure with a perceptual loss function, combining objectives from both the time and frequency domains. Mean opinion score tests show that it outperforms baseline methods from both domains, even for extreme bandwidth expansion.
Microtubule Assembly from Single Flared Protofilaments—Forget the Cozy Corner?

Abstract A paradigm shift for models of MT assembly is suggested by a recent cryo-electron microscopy study of microtubules (MTs). Previous assembly models have been based on the two-dimensional lattice of the MT wall, where incoming subunits can add with longitudinal and lateral bonds. The new study of McIntosh et al. concludes that the growing ends of MTs separate into flared single protofilaments. This means that incoming subunits must add onto the end of single protofilaments, forming only a longitudinal bond. How can growth of single-stranded protofilaments exhibit cooperative assembly with a critical concentration? An answer is suggested by FtsZ, the bacterial tubulin homolog, which assembles into single-stranded protofilaments. Cooperative assembly of FtsZ is thought to be based on conformational changes that switch the longitudinal bond from low to high affinity when the subunit is incorporated in a protofilament. This novel mechanism may also apply to tubulin assembly and could be the primary mechanism for assembly onto single flared protofilaments.
An Unusual Cyanide Bridging Lanthanide-Transition Metal Complex that Contains the One-Dimensional Cationic Array {[(DMF)(16)Yb(6)(m(6)-O)(m(3)-OH)(8)(m-NC)Pd(m-CN)(CN)(2)](6+)}(infinity).

A new type of lanthanide-Group(10) transition metal mixed ligand complex is produced in the redox reaction of YbCl2 with K2[Pd(CN)4]·H2O in DMF. This complex consists of a cationic, chainlike array...
In Situ Measurement of the Excited State Dynamics of Evolving Materials Systems

Single-shot transient absorption and linear absorption measure excited state dynamics and electronic structure in situ during the formation of a pseudoisocyanine film. A model used to fit the absorption spectra reveals the evolving aggregate structure.
Extending conceptualizations of identity threat: The effect of identity threat(s) on the self

Identity threat has received much attention within the management literature. Despite recent theoretical advancements, we know little about how identity threat affects the self and how identity thr...
Am I Floating or Not? : Sensitivity to Eye Height Manipulations in HMD-based Immersive Virtual Environments

Eye height manipulations have previously been found to affect judgments of object size and egocentric distance in both real and immersive virtual environments. In this short paper we report the results of an experiment that explores people’s sensitivity to various offsets of their eye height in VR using a forced-choice task in a wide variety of different architectural models. Our goal is to better understand the range of eye height manipulations that can be surreptitiously employed under different environmental conditions. We exposed each of 10 standing participants to a total of 121 randomly-ordered trials, spanning 11 different eye height offsets between –80cm to +80cm, in 11 different highly detailed virtual indoor environments, and asked them to report whether they felt that their (invisible) feet were floating above or sunken below the virtual floor. We fit psychometric functions to the pooled data and to the data from each virtual environment and each participant individually. In the pooled data, we found a point-of-subjective-equality (PSE) very close to zero (–3.8cm), and 25% and 75% detection thresholds of –16.1cm and +8.6cm respectively, for an uncertainty interval of 24.7cm. We also observed some interesting variations in the results between individual rooms, which we discuss in more detail in the paper. Our findings can help to inform VR developers about users’ sensitivity to incorrect eye height placement, to elucidate the potential impact of various features of interior spaces on people’s tolerance of eye height manipulations, and to inform future work seeking to employ eye height manipulations to mitigate distance underestimation in VR.
Next Steps: Adaptation and Use of an Established Organizational Model in Training Principals.

Today's school principals are confronted with increasing and often conflicting demands for effective and accountable performance. Many of those demands center on essentially impersonal managerial t...
Instances of Worst-Case Scenario Based Analysis Pushback by the FCC

The FCC frequently uses worst-case scenario analysis as the basis for its decisions. However, there are instances where the FCC pushes back on these worst-case scenarios. In these instances, the FCC bases its decision on the practical realities of a situation and adopts a final decision that balances a range of factors implicated in the situation. This pushback occurred in a variety of contexts including dismissing concerns about out-of-band emissions in an advanced wireless services rule change, balancing daytime-only AM radio station post-sunset power limits with interference concerns, adopting a procedure for setting a separation distance that reflects practical interference concerns, developing realistic restrictions for UHF noise figure requirements, dismissing interference concerns around the use of ancillary terrestrial services by mobile satellite service providers, considering a waivers request by ultrawideband service providers, and refusing to act on unrealistic interference scenarios when considering whether to approve new satellite services. Two factors were present in each of these decisions. First, the worst-case scenario was implausible because it required several unlikely events to occur simultaneously. Second, if the worst-case scenario dictated the decision, the FCC would be required to adopt a conservative approach that overvalued one factor relative to other important factors in the decision mix. Where the FCC rejected worst-case driven decision-making, it adopted a final decision that balanced a range of pertinent factors.
Thoracic endovascular aortic repair with true-false-true lumen deployment

Abstract Endovascular treatment of aortic dissection may be complicated by challenges to navigating the true lumen. In this report, we describe treatment of a type B dissection after open type A repair with aneurysmal degeneration, a short-segment occluded true lumen, and a distal re-entry tear near the celiac artery origin. Endovascular septal fenestration and subsequent thoracic endovascular aortic repair were used to bypass the short-segment midthoracic aortic occlusion, successfully excluding the thoracic aortic aneurysm. The patient was discharged without complications, and follow-up imaging demonstrated favorable aortic remodeling. The case demonstrates feasibility of an endovascular bypass of an intervening short-segment occluded true lumen using a thoracic endovascular aortic repair with true-false-true lumen deployment.
Pediatric recurrent fever and autoinflammation from the perspective of an allergist/immunologist.

Autoinflammatory diseases are monogenic and polygenic disorders due to dysregulation of the innate immune system. The inherited conditions have been clustered with primary immunodeficiencies in the latest practice parameters; however, these diseases have unique clinical presentations, genetics, and available therapies. Given the presentation of fevers, rashes, and mucosal symptoms observed in many of these syndromes, patients are likely to present to an allergist/immunologist. Although there has been attention in the literature to diagnosis and treatment of rare, genetically defined autoinflammatory disorders, physicians are challenged by increasing numbers of patients with intermittent or periodic fevers who face unnecessary morbidities due to a lack of a diagnosis. The broad differential of diseases presenting with fever includes autoinflammatory syndromes, infections associated with immunodeficiency and/or allergies complicated by infection, and less commonly, autoimmune disorders or malignancy. To address this challenge, we review the history of the medical approach to fever, current diagnostic paradigms, and controversies in management. We describe the spectrum of disorders referred to a recurrent fever disorders clinic established in an Allergy/Immunology division at a tertiary pediatric care center. Finally, we provide practical recommendations including historical features and initial laboratory investigations that can help clinicians appropriately manage these patients.
Identification of Somatic Mutations in CLCN2 in Aldosterone-Producing Adenomas

Somatic mutations driving aldosterone production have been identified in approximately 90% of aldosterone-producing adenomas (APAs) using an aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) immunohistochemistry (IHC)-guided DNA sequencing approach. In the present study, using CYP11B2-guided whole-exome sequencing (WES) and targeted amplicon sequencing, we detected 2 somatic variants in CLCN2 in 2 APAs that were negative for currently known aldosterone-driver mutations. The CLCN2 gene encodes the voltage-gated chloride channel ClC-2. CLCN2 germline variants have previously been shown to cause familial hyperaldosteronism type II. Somatic mutations in CLCN2 were identified in 2 of 115 APAs, resulting in a prevalence of 1.74%. One of the CLCN2 somatic mutations (c.G71A,p.G24D) was identical to a previously described germline variant causing early-onset PA, but was present only as a somatic mutation. The second CLCN2 mutation, which affects the same region of the gene, has not been reported previously (c.64-2_74del). These findings prove that WES of CYP11B2-guided mutation-negative APAs can help determine rarer genetic causes of sporadic PA.
Preliminary study of the stability of dexamethasone when added to commercial veterinary ear cleaners over a 90 day period

BACKGROUND Topical corticosteroids are commonly used in the management of allergic otitis externa to diminish inflammation. A common strategy is to make compounded solutions of dexamethasone in ear cleaner. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to determine the stability of dexamethasone when added to four commercial ear cleaners (ec): designated ecA, ecB, ecC and ecD. METHODS AND MATERIALS Two concentrations (0.1 and 0.25 mg/mL) of dexamethasone were formulated for each cleaner solution from a 2 mg/mL solution and stored in the original manufacturers' bottles at two temperatures: room (22 ˚C) and refrigerated (4 ˚C). Samples were evaluated in triplicate, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry at 10 time points over 90 days. The mean and standard deviation were calculated for each time point. RESULTS A solution was considered stable if the dexamethasone value remained >90% of the target concentration. All dexamethasone solution values were stable to 90 days, except two solutions for ecA; the 0.25 mg/mL dexamethasone concentration was only stable to 14 (4 ˚C) and 21 days (22 ˚C). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE These results provide preliminary evidence in support of pharmaceutical stability data for dexamethasone when included in the above compounded solutions at the noted concentrations and temperatures.
Modeling diamond semiconductor transistors for millimeter wave power amplifier design

High power radio frequency (RF) transfer-doped diamond field effect transistors (FETs) are being fabricated at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). To implement these into radar systems we have a parallel effort to extract accurate compact models from their measured DC and RF data. At this early stage we are using the commercially available Angelov model and will discuss fitting the model parameters and how their parameter values differ from GaN and GaAs FETs. Results indicate good model prediction of measured results in some cases. Also, model extraction can indicate areas of the device that needs greater attention for improved performance such as the access region resistance. Furthermore, in the saturation region of operation these transistors exhibit a hole saturation velocity of 5 × 106 cm/s obtained from extracted model parameters.
Empirische Studien zu Satire und Alltagskommunikation: Ergebnisse

Im Folgenden werden nun die empirischen Ergebnisse beider Studien referiert und dargestellt, wie sich die Alltagskommunikation rund um satirische Medieninhalten unter Bedingungen der Mediatisierung und Digitalisierung gestaltet. Besonderes Augenmerk gilt dabei den Kontexten dieser Alltagskommunikation, den Konstellationen, in denen sie stattfindet, sowie den Funktionen, die die an der Kommunikation beteiligten Menschen dieser zuweisen bzw. die sie fur sie erfullt. Hierzu werden zunachst einige wenige Vorbemerkungen referiert, die helfen sollen, die Ergebnisse einzuordnen und den Interpretationsrahmen fur die nachfolgenden Kernergebnisse aufzuspannen.
Prevalence Trend and Disparities in Rheumatoid Arthritis among US Adults, 2005-2018

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) trends among US adults and disparities in RA patients in recent years have not been well described. We aimed to examine the trend of RA prevalence and disparities among US adults. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of the years 2005–2018 were analyzed to examine the self-reported RA prevalence trend. Age-adjusted RA prevalence stratified by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES), as well as associated linear trends, were calculated for both genders. The multivariable adjustment was used to evaluate the association between race, SES, and RA. During 2005–2018, there was no significant linear trend in the age-adjusted self-reported RA prevalence among men and women, but significant differences among people from different races, educational levels, and family poverty income ratio (PIR) groups were observed. The RA rate difference was significant for both genders and between Non-Hispanic Caucasians and Non-Hispanic African Americans (both p-value ≤ 0.001). Both men and women with a higher educational level and a higher PIR had a lower age-adjusted RA rate. Age-adjusted RA prevalence fluctuated for both men and women during 2005–2018. Non-Hispanic African Americans and people with low SES had significantly higher age-adjusted RA prevalence and RA risk.
Disaster Medicine and Pandemic Response: A Novel Curriculum to Improve Understanding of Complex Care Delivery During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background Despite a 2009 recommendation from the AMA that disaster medicine and public health response training should be implemented in medical schools, anywhere from 31% to 47% of medical education programs lack a formalized disaster medicine curriculum. A need for disaster medicine response training for University of Alabama medical students in an appropriately socially distanced format was identified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Our emergency medicine faculty in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency Center for Disaster Preparedness (FEMA CDP) created and implemented a novel virtual disaster medicine and pandemic response course for third year medical students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The course was administered via a teleconferencing platform (Zoom, Zoom Video Communications, Inc.) in the spring of 2020 to greater than 130 medical students. Results Using pre and post course surveys, we assessed a change in student confidence levels for their ability to explain topics covered in the course and their understanding of a chosen disaster. The students reported an average increase of 2.183 on a 5-point scale, with a score of 5 representing "completely confident" and a score of 1 representing "not at all confident". This course established the feasibility of a virtual instructor led training (VILT) format for disaster medicine education and provided a template for the delivery of over 300 courses to more than 4,000 first responders and medical professionals through the FEMA CDP. Conclusions Through collaboration with the FEMA CDP, our UAB faculty were able to successfully deliver a novel virtual disaster preparedness and response course. The course resulted in subjective improvement of students' content understanding while also establishing the feasibility and effectiveness of a VILT format that could be readily applied to future courses in undergraduate medical education and beyond.
Lines in the Sand(bar): Collective Perspectives and Shifting Temporalities in Char... The No Man's Island

The tasks of documenting and narrating stories of climate change and border environments have become increasingly urgent in recent years, and discussions around effective approaches to environmental storytelling have intensified accordingly. The film Char… The No Man’s Island (2012), directed by Sourav Sarangi, is a noteworthy example of a work that seeks to represent one such unstable environment that exists on the border between India and Bangladesh and to explore the daily lives of the beings who inhabit it. Although the documentary has a specific regional focus, its scope is far from limited, as the film examines various dimensions of life in this border environment as well as the historical and political factors that have led to the current realities of the space and the communities established there. In this paper, I examine how Sarangi’s inclusion of a multitude of distinct human and non-human perspectives throughout the film signals a move towards a form of environmental storytelling grounded in the notion of a collective, wherein narrative agency is distributed amongst multiple entities rather than invested in a single individual. Moreover, the paper argues that the usage of these various perspectives also enables Char to depict alternate temporalities and experiences of time which contrast heavily with ideas of linear time and progress and invites audiences to consider the multifaceted temporal and spatial realities of life in a precarious border environment.
Suppression and Rebound of Pallidal Beta Power: Observation Using a Chronic Sensing DBS Device.

Pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an increasingly used therapy for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Here, we study the effect of DBS on pallidal oscillatory activity as well as on symptom severity in an individual with PD implanted with a new pulse generator (Medtronic Percept system) which facilitates chronic recording of local field potentials (LFP) through implanted DBS lead. Pallidal LFPs were recorded while delivering stimulation in a monopolar configuration using stepwise increments (0.5mA, every 20 seconds). At each stimulation amplitude, the power spectral density (PSD) was computed, and beta power (13-30Hz) was calculated and correlated with the degree of bradykinesia. Pallidal beta power was reduced when therapeutic stimulation was delivered. Beta power correlated to the severity of bradykinesia. Worsening of parkinsonism when excessive stimulation was applied was associated with a rebound in the beta band power. These preliminary results suggest that pallidal beta power might be used as an objective marker of the disease state in PD. The use of brain sensing from implanted neural interfaces may in the future facilitate clinical programming. Detection of rebound could help to optimize benefits and minimize worsening from overstimulation.
Deformation and Tensile Cyclic Fatigue of Plasma-Sprayed ZrO2-8wt% Y2O3 Thermal Barrier Coatings

Deformation (constitutive relations) of free-standing, thick thermal barrier coatings of sprayed ZrO2-8Wt% Y2O3 was determined at ambient temperature in both pure tension and pure compression using cylindrical bar test specimens. The material exhibited both significant nonlinearity and hysteresis in its load-strain curves, The load-strain relations in four-point uniaxial flexure were determined from tension and compression sides and were compared with individual pure tension and compression constitutive data. Effect of sintering on deformation behavior was significant, resulting in a dramatic change in constitutive relation. Cyclic fatigue testing of the coating material in tension-tension at room temperature showed an insignificant susceptibility to fatigue, similar to the slow crack growth behavior of the material in flexure in 800 C air.
The hu-PBL-SCID mouse model. Long-term human serologic evolution associated with the xenogeneic transfer of human peripheral blood leukocytes into SCID mice.

Abstract We present a 2-year serologic analysis of severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) mice populated with human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL, hu-PBL-SCID mice). After 10–20 × 106 PBL transfer, human IgG serum levels generally increased in the SCID mouse recipient for 2 months, and thereafter decreased without returning to zero for at least 2 years. Great variability existed between different hu-PBL-SCID mice with regard to Ig serum levels even when derived from the same donor's PBL aliquot. The ratio of IgM to IgG serum levels was lower in hu-PBL-SCID mice than in the donors. The half-life of human IgG in the SCID mouse is shorter than in the human (8 days vs 23 days), suggesting a much higher production of IgG than expected from serum levels. The majority of hu-PBL-SCID mouse sera analyzed by high resolution electrophoresis had a smear appearance suggestive of diverse human Ig, generally with superimposed multiple faint mIg. Few mice developed strong human mIg, associated with lymphoproliferative diseases. In the hu-PBL-SCID mouse model, the transfer of cells from donors making antibody with defined specificity against TT and nuclear antigen resulted in the appearance of these antibodies in only a minority of the recipients.
Nonstationary Input Processes

Nonstationary input processes are utilized in simulation to model time-varying patterns of events. The focus of this article is on modeling and simulating nonstationary arrival processes. In particular, we discuss nonparametric, parametric, and semiparmetric methods for modeling and simulating nonhomogeneous Poisson processes. In addition, we present methods for modeling and simulating nonstationary non-Poisson arrival processes. Keywords: modeling and simulation; Poisson process; semiparametric method; mean-value function
Automated feature extraction for supervised learning

Feature extraction has traditionally been a manual process and something of an art. Methods derived from statistics and linear systems theory have been proposed, but by general consensus effective feature extraction remains a difficult problem. Recently W. Tackett (1993) showed that genetic programming (GP) can be effective in automatically constructing features for identifying potential targets in digital images with high accuracy. From a basis set of simple arithmetic functions, he was able to construct numerical features that outperformed manually-constructed features when used as inputs to several classifiers, including a binary-tree classifier and a multi-layer perceptron trained by back-propagation. Seeking a more generic feature-construction procedure, we developed a GP-based algorithm to extract features in a variety of domains and for most classification methods, including decision trees, feed-forward neural networks, and Bayesian classifiers. We have tested the technique with success by extracting features for three different types of problems: Boolean functions with binary features, a NASA telemetry problem with multiple classes and real-valued time-series inputs, and a wine variety classification problem with real-valued features from the UCI Machine Learning repository. We formally define the feature-construction method and show in some detail how it applies to specific classification problems. >
quantro: a data-driven approach to guide the choice of an appropriate normalization method

Normalization is an essential step in the analysis of high-throughput data. Multi-sample global normalization methods, such as quantile normalization, have been successfully used to remove technical variation. However, these methods rely on the assumption that observed global changes across samples are due to unwanted technical variability. Applying global normalization methods has the potential to remove biologically driven variation. Currently, it is up to the subject matter experts to determine if the stated assumptions are appropriate. Here, we propose a data-driven alternative. We demonstrate the utility of our method (quantro) through examples and simulations. A software implementation is available from http://www.bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/quantro.html.
Gallium arsenide phosphide grown by close-spaced vapor transport from mixed powder sources for low-cost III–V photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical devices

We report the heteroepitaxial growth of variable composition n-GaAs1−xPx directly on GaAs substrates via close-spaced vapor transport using mixed GaAs–GaP powder sources. GaAs1−xPx films showed an average 10% reduction in atomic concentration of phosphorous from the source material, and ten GaAs0.7P0.3 films were grown with reproducible composition from a single source pellet. Non-aqueous photoelectrochemical measurements were used to assess electronic quality, with the best short-circuit photocurrent of 6.7 mA cm−2 and open-circuit photovoltage of 0.915 V for n-GaAs0.7P0.3 with a carrier concentration of 2 × 1017 cm−3. The best Hall electron mobility for this composition was 1570 cm2 V−1 s−1. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy of GaAs0.7P0.3 shows single-crystal structure with few defects. We conclude that CSVT is a promising route to the growth of ternary III–V materials like GaAs1−xPx for low-cost high-efficiency tandem photoelectrochemical or photovoltaic devices.
Effect of Dynamic Contact Angle on Single/Successive Droplet Impingement

Successive droplet impingement onto a solid surface is numerically investigated using a CFD multiphase flow model (VOF method). The main focus of this study is to better understand the hydrodynamics of the non-splash impingement process, particularly the effect of a dynamic contact angle and fluid properties along with the interaction between successive droplets while they are impinging onto a solid surface. The pre-impact droplet conditions are prescribed based on a spherical droplet diameter, velocity, and inter-droplet spacing. The molecular kinetic theory is used to model the dynamic contact angle as a function of a contact line velocity. The numerical scheme is validated against experiment results. In the impact spreading and receding processes, results are analyzed to determine the nondimensional deformation characteristics of both single and successive droplet impingements with the variation of fluid properties such as surface tension and dynamic viscosity. These characteristics include spreading ratio, spreading velocity, and a dynamic contact angle. The inclusion of a dynamic contact angle is shown to have a major effect on droplet spreading. In successive droplet impingement, the second drop causes a surge of spreading velocity and contact angle with an associate complex recirculating flow near the contact line after it initially impacts the preceding droplet when it is in an advancing condition. This interaction is less dramatic when the first drop is receding or stationary. The surface tension has the most effect on the maximum spreading radius in both single and successive droplet impingements. In contrast to this, the viscosity directly affects the damping of the spreading-receding process.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Evolution of a stratified rotating shear layer with horizontal shear. Part I. Linear stability

Linear stability analysis is used to investigate instability mechanisms for a horizontally oriented hyperbolic tangent mixing layer with uniform stable stratification and coordinate system rotation about the vertical axis. The important parameters governing inviscid dynamics are maximum shear , buoyancy frequency , angular velocity of rotation and characteristic shear thickness . Growth rates associated with the most unstable modes are explored as a function of stratification strength and rotation strength . In the case of strong stratification, growth rates exhibit self-similarity of the form . In the case of rapid rotation we also observe self-similar scaling of growth rates with respect to the vertical wavenumber and rotation rate. The unstratified cases show dependence while the strongly stratified cases show dependence where represents the difference between the angular velocity of rotation and least stable anticyclonic angular velocity, . Stratification was found to stabilize the inertial instability for weak anticyclonic rotation rates. Near the zero absolute vorticity state, stratification and rotation couple in a destabilizing manner increasing the range of unstable vertical wavenumbers associated with barotropic instability. In the case of rapid rotation, stratification prevents the stabilization of low , high modes that occurs in a homogeneous fluid. The structure of certain unstable eigenmodes and the coupling between horizontal vorticity and density fluctuations are explored to explain how buoyancy stabilizes or destabilizes inertial and barotropic modes.