cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Carbonic Anhydrase Regulate Endometrial Gland Development in the Neonatal Uterus

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are zinc metalloenyzmes that catalyze the reversible conversion of carbon dioxide to carbonic acid and are involved in respiration, calcification, acid-base balance, and formation of fluids. Transcriptional profiling of the developing neonatal mouse uterus detected expression of Car1, Car2, Car11, and Car13 between Postnatal Days (PNDs) 3 and 18. In the neonatal mouse uterus, Car2 and Car11 mRNAs were predominantly localized in endometrial epithelial and stromal cells, respectively, whereas Car13 mRNA was detected in both epithelia and stroma. CAR2 protein was detected primarily in the endometrial epithelia and from PND 3 to PND 18 in the uteri of neonatal mice. To determine whether CA regulated uterine development, neonatal mice were treated s.c. with acetazolamide, a CA inhibitor, from PND 3 to PND 18. Treatment with acetazolamide decreased CA activity in the uterus and the number of endometrial glands without apparent effects on differentiation of the stroma or myometrium. In the neonatal sheep uterus, CA2 mRNA was initially expressed at birth (PND 0) in the endometrial luminal epithelium and was predominantly expressed in the developing glandular epithelium from PND 7 to PND 56. These results support the hypothesis that CA has a functional role in endometrial gland development during postnatal uterine morphogenesis.
The Fountain of Honour: Directing the Spray

Pearce argues that honours do not deserve the earnest linguistic toil of the virtuous PAC. Starting with the peers, he observes that when William the Conqueror/Bastard distributed land stolen with violence to his armed band, it was the simple loot from which ancient chivalry, honour and nobility flows. Such lords developed under the more civilised early Whigs, like Walpole, into rent for sending steady support from owned boroughs into the Commons. Witness Bubb Dodington and his three and a half seats in Weymouth, made a Viscount in the name of one of its suburbs. Harold Macmillan would sack a minister with the wheedling consolation ‘A Little something to wear under your tie’. By inventing the Life Peerage, he helped the slow subversion of elected government by creating unelected, often powerful ministers with no relationship to country or people, candid nominees of the National Leader. The one virtue of the post-Macmillan upper house lies in the disloyal, which is say minimally or not all party-attached people of talent reliably voting against ministerial requirements. As for the insignia of all honours, their bars, discs and ribbons are kept on cards in Palace drawers like so much paste jewellery.
All digital duty-cycle correction circuit design and its applications in high-performance DRAM

Duty-cycle distortion (DCD) becomes a pressing concern as the data rate in high-performance DRAM interfaces exceeds multi-gigahertz range. In order to preserve or even improve the clock duty cycle on-die across process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) corners, a duty-cycle correction (DCC) circuit is generally desired. This paper investigates a variety of DCC circuits based on different implementations. Two applications using DCC circuits are presented in detail: 1) a digital DCC for high-speed data capture, and 2) an all-digital DCC for production DDR3 DRAMs. Pros and cons for the different approaches are compared based on the simulated and silicon data.
A Sequential Procedure to Determine the Number of Breaks in Trend with an Integrated or Stationary Noise Component

Perron and Yabu (2009a) consider the problem of testing for a break occurring at an unknown date in the trend function of a univariate time series when the noise component can be either stationary or integrated. This article extends their work by proposing a sequential test that allows one to test the null hypothesis of, say, l breaks versus the alternative hypothesis of (l + 1) breaks. The test enables consistent estimation of the number of breaks. In both stationary and integrated cases, it is shown that asymptotic critical values can be obtained from the relevant quantiles of the limit distribution of the test for a single break. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that the procedure works well in finite samples.
The Duke University Talent Identification Program

The Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) holds the distinguished position of being the first ‘transplant’ of the Center for Talented Youth (CTY) regional talent search model developed by Professor Julian Stanley at Johns Hopkins University. Duke TIP was established in 1980, one year after CTY officially began. This article describes the history of Duke TIP and the evolution of its talent searches and various formats of its educational programming models as well as the complementary role that research has played at Duke TIP. The success of Duke TIP stands as a truly remarkable tribute to Julian Stanley and to the robustness of the talent search model that he created at Johns Hopkins University. Although the specific types of programs and initiatives may have taken different forms at Duke TIP, the underlying philosophy and commitment to identify and further the development of gifted and talented youth remains steadfast.
Adaptive Anonymity via b-Matching

The adaptive anonymity problem is formalized where each individual shares their data along with an integer value to indicate their personal level of desired privacy. This problem leads to a generalization of k-anonymity to the b-matching setting. Novel algorithms and theory are provided to implement this type of anonymity. The relaxation achieves better utility, admits theoretical privacy guarantees that are as strong, and, most importantly, accommodates a variable level of anonymity for each individual. Empirical results confirm improved utility on benchmark and social data-sets.
SELF-EMPLOYMENT AND THE 50+ POPULATION

This research study has three primary objectives: (1) to describe overall self-employment trends in the U.S. population and among those age 50 and over; (2) to examine the characteristics of middle-age and older self-employed persons and compare them with their wage and salary counterparts; and (3) to estimate models of employment transitions to identify determinants of who becomes self-employed in later life. This study was undertaken because of the general lack of research on self-employment among workers age 50 and over. Sources for the data include the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). These sources provide information on self-employment trends for the 50 plus group, the characteristics of older self-employed workers, and the factors associated with the transition to self-employment at older ages. Findings indicate that one-third of older self-employed workers made the transition to self-employment at or after age 50. Findings also show that although the overall trend in self-employment rates has declined in the past decade, the fact that self-employment rates rise at older ages and that the population is aging suggests that demographics alone may halt or reverse the trend. (JSD)
Prediction of changes in self-stigma among veterans participating in partial psychiatric hospitalization: The role of disability status and military cohort.

Objective Interventions addressing internalized stigma are a new area of research, and it is important to identify the types of clientele who derive benefit from existing interventions. Method Information was provided by 235 veterans attending a partial psychiatric hospitalization program, regarding their levels of internalized stigma on admission and discharge from a 3-week program that included interventions targeting internalized stigma. Results Upon discharge, veterans receiving disability benefits demonstrated less reduction in internalized stigma than those not receiving disability benefits. Time of service moderated the relationship between disability status and change in internalized stigma, such that veterans serving in the more recent Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) cohort who received disability benefits had a more difficult time resolving internalized stigma. Further analyses suggested that OEF/OIF/OND cohort veterans receiving disability benefits have more difficulty developing effective stigma resistance, and more difficulty resolving stigma-related alienation, than other veterans. Conclusions and implications for practice Based on this research, particular attention should be devoted to internalized stigma among OEF/OIF/OND veterans.
Potentials and Limitations of Stock Enhancement in Marine Recreational Fisheries Systems: An Integrative Review of Florida's Red Drum Enhancement

In this study, an integrative review of the potential for stock enhancement is conducted to support desirable management outcomes in marine recreational fisheries, focusing on the Florida, USA, red drum fishery as a case study. Here, stock enhancement is implicitly seen as a way of simultaneously achieving both ecological objectives of sustained wild fish populations and socioeconomic objectives of high fishing effort and/or catch rates. However, the review suggests that a fundamental tradeoff remains between these objectives in the short-term because stocking of hatchery fish is likely to result in at least partial displacement of wild fish through biological interactions as well as increased fishing pressure. Contrary to the perception of enhancement as a “quick fix,” successful use of the approach in the marine recreational fishery is likely to require sophisticated stock management and some adaptation in governance. In developing the enhancement, it will be necessary to address uncertainty in key attr...
Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance: The WHONET Program

Genes expressing resistance to each antimicrobial agent emerged after each agent became widely used. More than a hundred such genes now spread selectively through global networks of populations of bacteria in humans or animals treated with those agents. Information to monitor and manage this spread exists in the susceptibility test results of tens of thousands of laboratories around the world. The comparability of those results is uncertain, however, and their storage in paper files or in computer files with diverse codes and formats has made them inaccessible for analysis. The WHONET program puts each laboratory's data into a common code and file format at that laboratory, either by serving as or by translating from its own computer reporting system. It then enables each medical center to analyze its files in ways that help it monitor and manage resistance locally and to merge them with files of other centers for collaborative national or global surveillance of resistance.
Inverse spectral problems for collections of leading principal submatrices of tridiagonal matrices

Abstract Which assignments from 2 n − 1 arbitrary, distinct real numbers as eigenvalues of designated leading principal submatrices permit a real symmetric tridiagonal matrix? We raise this question, motivated both by known results and recent work on multiplicities and interlacing equalities in symmetric matrices whose graph is a given tree. Known results are reviewed, a general conjecture is given, and several new partial results are proved.
Getting the attention of underrepresented minority community college students to consider engineering as a career

In order to have more students in engineering and computer science, we need more students interested in these fields. Many community college (CC) students believe that engineering is boring and has little to do with their lives, but also admit that they know very little about engineering. Our research question is: How can we best get the attention of CC students in order for them to get engineering and computer science on their radar screen to consider as a career? In particular, we are asking if a different approach is needed for underrepresented minority students than majority students. A survey was given to 72 students (21 minority) students at one non-metropolitan CC and 159 (112 minority) students at another. In this paper, we will compare the beliefs about engineering and computer science by ethnicity within each college and across the two CCs. Results show that a higher percentage of non-minority students at the first school are interested in engineering and computer science as a career (63%) than minority students (52%) and at the second school, a higher percentage of minority students (45%) than non-minority students (35%) are interested in engineering or computer science, even if about 20% of each group admit that they really don't understand what engineering is all about. The minority students appear to be more interested in working with robotics and are more likely to believe that engineering and computer science have nothing to do with their life than do non-minority students.
Can An Algebraic Diagnostic Test be Used to Predict Final Grades in an Introductory Statistics Class

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics at California State University Sacramento has been using the Intermediate Algebra Diagnostic (IAD) test as a proxy tool to screen students intending to enroll in an introductory statistics course (Stat 1). However, the use of an algebraic test as a diagnostic tool for a statistics course has been questioned by some faculty members and students at this university. The regression models used in this study (simple linear regression, hierarchical linear regression, and logistic regression) show that higher IAD scores are related to higher final grades in Stat 1, even after adjusting for different instructors. Inferences were also made in this study to predict a passing grade and passing rates in Stat 1 based on the bounds of the confidence and prediction intervals obtained for the IAD scores with these models.
Unruly Edges: Mushrooms as Companion Species

Human nature is an interspecies relationship. In this essay, Haraway's concept of companion species takes us beyond familiar companions to the rich ecological diversity without which humans cannot survive. Following fungi, we forage in the last ten thousand years of human disturbance history with feminist multispecies company. Cereals domesticate humans. Plantations give us the subspecies we call race. The home cordons off inter- and intra-species love. But mushroom collecting brings us somewhere else—to the unruly edges and seams of imperial space, where we cannot ignore the interspecies interdependencies that give us life on earth. There are big stories to tell here, and they should not be left to the human triumphalists who control the field. This essay opens a door to multispecies landscapes as protagonists for histories of the world.
The dynamic reference frame of rivers and apparent transience in incision rates

Incision rates derived from river terraces are commonly used to infer rock uplift rates; however, an apparent dependence of incision rate on measured time interval may confound directly relating incision to uplift. The time-dependent incision rates are a Sadler effect that have been argued to result from a stochastic distribution of hiatal intervals in river incision, potentially reducing the utility of incision records for interpreting unsteadiness in tectonic processes. Here we show that time-dependent incision rates can arise from a simple systematic bias in the distance measurement used to calculate incision rate, and thus stochastic causes are not required. We present a conceptual model that describes the dynamic history of streambed elevation over cycles of terrace formation, illustrating that measured incision rate is time dependent because the stream channel reference frame is not fixed with respect to the geoid. Because it is challenging to reconstruct the full elevation history for a river channel, most researchers use the modern streambed elevation as a reference datum, but we demonstrate that doing so imposes a bias that manifests as an apparent dependence of rate on measured time interval. Fortunately, correction of this bias is straightforward, and allows river incision data to be used in studies of tectonic or climatic unsteadiness.
Learning from maps and diagrams

This review of learning from maps and diagrams consists of two sections. The first section presents a theoretical framework for learning from maps and diagrams. The case is made that the symbol systems of maps and diagrams are sufficiently similar for them to be considered together. The theoretical framework is built around what is known of pre-attentive and top-down psychological processes. It accounts for the way people discriminate between symbols used in maps and diagrams and how they group them into clusters. The second section comprises a review of psychological and instructional research. This research provides support for a number of hypotheses arising from the theoretical framework. Many of these are based on the notion that maps and diagrams communicate a considerable amount of information by the way in which components are placed relative to each other and to the frame surrounding them. Evidence that configuration and discrimination are fundamental to learning from maps and diagrams is summarized in 10 concluding points.
Audre's daughter: Black lesbian steganography in Dee Rees' Pariah and Audre Lorde's Zami: A New Spelling of My Name

ABSTRACTThis article argues that African-American director Dee Rees' critically acclaimed debut Pariah (2011) is a rewriting of lesbian poet-activist Audre Lorde's iconic “bio-mythography” Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982). The article examines how Rees' work creatively and subtly re-envisions Lorde's Zami by way of deeply rooted and often cleverly camouflaged patterns, resonances, and contrasts. Shared topics include naming, mother–daughter bonds, the role of clothing in identity formation, domestic abuse, queer time, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender legacy discourse construction. What emerges between the visual and written texts is a hidden language of connection—what may be termed Black lesbian steganography—which proves thought-provoking to viewers and readers alike.
From Caterpillars to Chemistry

I remember v-e-r-y slowly putting my hand through the fence into my neighbor’s yard to capture my first black female tiger swallowtail; no net available. I was nine. It was awesome! I still have the specimen with its sewing pin through the thorax (thankfully not the abdomen, as I was pretty inept in those days) and a label the size of a business card. Those were the early days of excitement and fascination as I learned about butterflies and other insects.
Investigation of Tourist Diarrhea Induced by Dining Together at Farmer Household

[Objective] To investigate the main characteristics and impact factors of a community infection of diarrhea which took place at a farmer household dinner party in the city suburb,and provide evidence for control strategies development.[Methods] Hygienic investigation on the spot and laboratory examination were conducted to this incidence.[Results] Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli(ETEC) was confirmed to be the factor that induced tourist diarrhea for the reason of community dinner environment pollution caused by intestinal tract bacteria.58 had dinner,28 were infected,the attack rate was 48.2%;6 stool samples were detected,4 were ETEC,but pathogens were not detected in raw food material and drinking water samples.[Conclusion]The current health conditions of farmer household were generally poor,the health department should grope a set of health management style to cancel the potential danger of food safety,according to the environment characteristics of farmer household,
Modelling intentional behavior generation

Two problems of modelling intentions are identified: representing intentional and non-International (mechanical) actions in a single model consistently, and implementing a control structure that accounts for how intentional actions are initiated. These two problems stem from a common source: the interaction of intentional and nonintentional actions. We review a simulation model of cognitive and motivational processes based on a production system architecture that includes both types of actions. We then describe a meta system addition to the simulation model composed of nonintentional actions.
Targeting Child Labor in Debt Bondage

Despite recent multilateral efforts to single out child labor in debt bondage as one of the worst forms of child labor, several important questions have yet to be addressed: How pervasive is the phenomenon? Are there systematic correlations between the incidence of children in debt bondage and the economic, legislative, and financial development indicators of the economy? How does an understanding of these correlates affect the way national and international policy measures aimed at targeting this form of child labor are perceived? This article addresses each of these questions. The empirical findings suggest strong correlation between the likelihood of the incidence of child labor in debt bondage with the stage of development of an economy, the stage of financial development, and enforcement of core labor rights. Building on this evidence, the article presents a theoretical model that highlights the drawbacks and merits of a number of policies aimed at putting checks on child labor in debt bondage.
Qol-16Health-Related Quality Of Life (HrqoL) In A Phase Ii Trial Of Hypofractionated Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (Hypo-Imrt) With Temozolomide (Tmz) And Bevacizumab (Bev) For Patients With Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Multiforme (Gbm)

BACKGROUND: The initial results of this phase II clinical trial revealed a six-month progression-free survival of 90%, median PFS of 15.9 months and median overall survival of 16.3 months. We report here HRQoL that was assessed as a correlative study. METHODS: HRQoL was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionnaire core-30 (QLQ-C30) and the EORTC brain cancer module (QLQ-BN20). Questionnaires were administered at baseline, completion of RT, 1 month post-RT, and every 3 months thereafter. Changes from baseline were calculated for each specific scale. A ≥ 10 point change in any scale from the mean baseline score was deemed significant. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients were treated on trial. HRQoL data was available for 28 patients (11 women; median age: 57 years [range, 31-72]; median KPS 80%). Compliance with assessments at baseline, completion of RT, 1 month post-RT, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months was 100, 96, 100, 86, 84, 52, and 30% respectively. Compared to baseline scores, there was no significant change in global health status, physical functioning, role functioning, emotional functioning, cognitive functioning or social functioning. No significant change was noted in nausea, pain, dyspnea, appetite, constipation, diarrhea, future uncertainty, visual disorder, communication deficit, headache, seizure, drowsiness or bladder control scores. Significant improvement was noted in financial, insomnia and fatigue scales. Significant worsening was noted in motor dysfunction, itchy skin, hair loss and weakness of legs. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with hypo-IMRT combined with TMZ and BEV did not negatively impact overall HRQoL.
From Altruists to Workers: What Claims Should Healthy Participants in Phase I Trials Have Against Trial Employers?

Phase I trials, which test the safety and toxicity of an investigational agent, are a vital stage of drug development. Many of these trials enroll healthy participants and recent data suggest that some of the healthy participants treat phase I research participation as a form of work. This chapter examines three facets of the shift from research participation as a form of altruism to research participation as a form of work. First, I set out three features of trial participation that support labeling healthy participants’ enrollment in phase I research as a form of work. Second, I ask: is phase I research participation similar to risky occupations such as firefighting or coal mining, or is phase I research participation similar to non-risky, low-wage occupations such as janitorial work? To answer this question, I draw upon original data from a systematic review of 475 phase I trials with healthy participants that measures the risk level of the trials. Third, once I have found the appropriate “occupational bucket” for phase I work, I briefly examine the implications for contested questions within research ethics, such as the information persons need prior to consent, rights of withdrawal and compensation for injury, and efforts to increase the transparency of trial results. I argue that conceiving of phase I research as a form of work can bolster the rights of research participants in some of these areas and that bioethicists ought to be less wary of this shift in research participants’ roles.
Bergson and Merleau-Ponty on Experience and Science

The identity of philosophy has always been intimately associated with that of science. We can think of philosophy’s premodern period as the time, before the scientific revolution, when it was identical with science, when philosophy was simply the enterprise of understanding the world in all its aspects. How did the scientific revolution destroy this identity? By showing that there was at least one domain — namely, knowledge of the material world — where philosophy’s methods of rational insight and logical argument were not adequate. Here, it was gradually discovered (and, of course, anticipations of the discovery can be traced back to the very beginnings of Greek inquiry) that the empirical method of testing conjectures by observing whether their consequences were true was far superior. No doubt philosophy, considered simply as our search for ultimate truth or wisdom, could be regarded as employing this method. Then what the modern world has come to know as science would still be part of philosophy. But this is the mere contingency of words. The determining historical fact was that philosophy came to be identified with employments of reason other than the empirical, prediction-driven procedures of science. The future of philosophy, in the wake of these procedures, depended on the value of these other employments of reason.
Experience With a Multidisciplinary, Team-Taught Smart Grid Cyber Infrastructure Course

Electric power systems are going through a major upgrade with the integration of advanced technologies to enable the smarter electric grid (SEG). The SEG will use information and communications technology to have enhanced controllability and will become more interactive. This ongoing change also necessitates educating professionals and future generation of engineers to manage evolving complexity of the electric grid. This paper presents experiences in the design and teaching of a unique multidisciplinary team-taught course on smart grid cyber infrastructure to provide a new generation of engineers with a solid foundation of smart grid concepts and their associated challenges. This paper identifies the course topics covered, learning objectives, and assessment activities for the class as well as lessons learned based on course evaluations obtained from multiple offerings. All of the course material is available in public domain and can be easily adopted at another educational institution.
SystemML: declarative machine learning on spark

The rising need for custom machine learning (ML) algorithms and the growing data sizes that require the exploitation of distributed, data-parallel frameworks such as MapReduce or Spark, pose significant productivity challenges to data scientists. Apache SystemML addresses these challenges through declarative ML by (1) increasing the productivity of data scientists as they are able to express custom algorithms in a familiar domain-specific language covering linear algebra primitives and statistical functions, and (2) transparently running these ML algorithms on distributed, data-parallel frameworks by applying cost-based compilation techniques to generate efficient, low-level execution plans with in-memory single-node and large-scale distributed operations. This paper describes SystemML on Apache Spark, end to end, including insights into various optimizer and runtime techniques as well as performance characteristics. We also share lessons learned from porting SystemML to Spark and declarative ML in general. Finally, SystemML is open-source, which allows the database community to leverage it as a testbed for further research.
Primary Care Management of Skin Abscesses Guided by Ultrasound

Abstract Background Primary care providers often manage skin abscesses in the outpatient setting. Estimating the size and depth of an abscess, and distinguishing abscess from cellulitis by clinical examination can be challenging due to surrounding firm tissue induration. Definitive treatment of abscess requires incision and drainage, and the approach chosen may be altered by abscess size, depth, and surrounding neurovascular structures. Methods For 31 consecutive patients seen in the primary care outpatient clinic, we prospectively compared the estimated size of skin abscesses by clinical examination with that determined by ultrasound. Prior to incision and drainage, a limited point-of-care ultrasound examination was performed and the abscess dimensions were measured, the depth was determined, and adjacent vascular structures were noted. Based on ultrasound findings, physicians reported whether the decision to perform the procedure or the techniques used to perform the procedure were altered by the scan. Results The clinical examination was inaccurate for size estimation by >0.5 cm in 16 of 31 patients (52%). Ultrasound examination changed the physician decision of whether or not incision and drainage should be performed in 7 patients (23%) and altered the technique/approach in an additional 10 patients (32%); thus, management was changed in 55% of cases. Physician confidence in performing the procedure was improved in 16 cases (52%). Conclusion Outpatient procedural management of skin abscesses by primary care physicians was altered in more than half the cases by performing point-of-care ultrasound prior to incision and drainage.
Does “low risk” muscle invasive bladder cancer actually exist?

308 Background: Despite level one evidence demonstrating improved survival with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), studies suggest that many eligible patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) never receive it prior to radical cystectomy (RC). Our objective was to determine if the absence of known pre-operative risk factors can indeed stratify for low risk of extravesical disease with RC alone. Methods: We identified consecutive NAC-naive patients with clinical stage cT2N0M0 urothelial type bladder cancer treated with RC at our center. cT2 patients with either hydronephrosis, transurethral resection (TUR) specimens containing lymphovascular invasion (LVI), or mixed variant histology were grouped as high risk. Clinicopathologic and survival outcomes were compared to cT2 patients without these adverse features, who were grouped as low risk. Results: Of 251 cT2 patients, 119 (47.4%) were high risk [LVI=31, hydronephrosis=69, mixed histology=54; ≥2 risk factors=70]. High and low risk cohorts did not dif...
Identifying Synergies in Multilevel Interventions.

Social ecological models of health often describe multiple levels of influence that interact to influence health. However, it is still common for interventions to target only one or two of these levels, perhaps owing in part to a lack of guidance on how to design multilevel interventions to achieve optimal impact. The convergence strategy emphasizes that interventions at different levels mutually reinforce each other by changing patterns of interaction among two or more intervention audiences; this strategy is one approach for combining interventions at different levels to produce synergistic effects. We used semistructured interviews with 65 representatives in a cross-site national initiative that enhanced health and outcomes for patients with diabetes to examine whether the convergence strategy was a useful conceptual model for multilevel interventions. Using a framework analysis approach to analyze qualitative interview data, we found three synergistic themes that match the convergence strategy and sup...
Evaluating Solvent Effects at the Aqueous/Pt(111) Interface.

Liquid-metal interfaces occur in a number of surface processes, and it is fundamentally important to accurately model these interfaces. We have systematically determined how the presence of water affects several processes using density functional theory with implicit solvation models. We modeled adsorption of 41 common adsorbates, as well as four catalytic reactions in both vacuum and water over the Pt(111) surface. Our results show that adsorption energies for some species can change significantly in the presence of water (up to 0.44 eV). We further show that solvation effects may be explained and predicted by analyzing simple chemical descriptors such as dipole moment and adsorbate charge. We also report models from artificial neural networks using several potential descriptors, including gas-phase solvation energy, adsorbate charge, dipole moment, and surface area. When water was present reaction energies changed by up to 0.23 eV, although it appeared that water solvent negligibly affected several elementary reaction steps. Our results show that hydrogen bonding can be important for a number of reactions, which are largely absent in the implicit solvation models. Furthermore we also modeled other solvents besides water and found that when a solvent has low dielectric constant, then small solvation effects occurred. Our work provides guidelines on when solvation effects may be important for surface chemistry, and also provides valuable insights on modeling such effects.
A Randomized Controlled Trial for Abdominal Binder Use after Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Surgery

STUDY OBJECTIVE To compare postoperative pain in patients using an abdominal binder with a control group after laparoendoscopic single-site (LESS) surgery. DESIGN A randomized controlled trial (Canadian Task Force classification level 1). SETTING An academic gynecologic surgeon's practice. PATIENTS Private patients undergoing surgery performed by a fellowship-trained minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon between April 2016 and April 2017. INTERVENTIONS Ninety total patients were selected for this study, with 60 randomized to receive an abdominal binder after surgery and 30 patients randomized to the control group without a binder. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Using a 10-point verbal analog scale, patients recorded pain levels for 3 weeks postoperatively on a variety of measures, including overall and incisional pain. They recorded results on postoperative days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 14, and 21. On average, the association between time and the overall pain score did not differ with binder use (p = .37). The overall pain decreases significantly over time (p < .001). After adjusting for time, the overall pain score differed significantly by binder status (p = .04). Those without a binder reported an average pain score that was 1.13 (standard deviation = 0.55) points higher than those with a binder across the first week. CONCLUSION The results suggest that abdominal binder use after LESS surgery may be beneficial in reducing postoperative pain in the first week. Results from this study can provide feasibility data for future studies.
Amelia Earhart and the Nikumaroro Bones: A 1941 Analysis versus Modern Quantitative Techniques

The unknown fate of Amelia Earhart continues to fascinate. One of the most tantalizing clues involves skeletal remains found on Nikumaroro Island in 1940. Some have summarily dismissed these bones as the remains of Amelia Earhart because they were assessed as male by Dr. D. W. Hoodless, principal of the Central Medical School, Fiji, in 1940. The most recent such dismissal is that of Cross and Wright (2015), who argue that Hoodless’s methods were sound and therefore his sex estimate was likely correct. This paper addresses two issues: (1) it evaluates Hoodless’s methods and Cross and Wright’s support of them, and (2) it compares the Nikumaroro bones with what we can learn about Amelia Earhart’s bone lengths. When Hoodless conducted his analysis, forensic osteology was not yet a well-developed discipline. Evaluating his methods with reference to modern data and methods suggests that they were inadequate to his task; this is particularly the case with his sexing method. Therefore his sex assessment of the Nikumaroro bones cannot be assumed to be correct. To address the question of whether the Nikumaroro bones match estimates of Amelia Earhart’s bone lengths, I compare Earhart’s bone lengths with the Nikumaroro bones using Mahalanobis distance. This analysis reveals that Earhart is more similar to the Nikumaroro bones than 99% of individuals in a large reference sample. This strongly supports the conclusion that the Nikumaroro bones belonged to Amelia Earhart. KEYWORDS: forensic anthropology, Amelia Earhart, human identification, multivariate
Revamping the broken electronic medical record in academic dermatology in the United States: An “Epic” endeavor

Many Healthcare institutions face continued challenges related to electronic medical record use (EMR). Within this viewpoint article, we seek to share with our dermatology colleagues our institutional experience on the creation of standardized dermatology records. In our experience, key elements are needed to implement a standardized record, including faculty buy-in, reconciliation with dictation, selection of a leader, and design of the standardized record template. Creation of a standardized record should not only account for the clinic but also patient handouts and support staff templates. We have obtained preliminary evidence that the use of an EMR template not only reduces the cost of dictation but also improves documentation. In addition, we have not seen evidence of over documentation. However, more studies are needed to understanding how a standardized EMR impacts billing, coding, teaching and overall, patient care.
Volatility Martingale Difference Divergence Matrix and Its Application to Dimension Reduction for Multivariate Volatility

In this article, we propose the so-called volatility martingale difference divergence matrix (VMDDM) to quantify the conditional variance dependence of a random vector Y∈Rp given X∈Rq, building on ...
The Limited LIability Partnership Amendments to the Uniform Partnership Act (1994)

Since 1990, dissatisfaction with corporate tax and business laws, and Subchapter S tax restrictions, has fueled an unprecedented explosion of state laws. Those laws provide business owners important options to form partnership organizations combining corporate-styled limited liability with partnership tax characteristics. Every state has adopted a limited liability company (LLC) act. Every state but Vermont and Wyoming has adopted a limited liability partnership (LLP) act providing some form of liability shield to the partners of a general partnership electing to have one. Those LLC and LLP acts, however, are far from uniform. The LLC acts are a confusing and inconsistent amalgam of corporate, general, and limited partnership law. The LLP acts generally amend the Uniform Partnership Act of 1914 (UPA), rather than the Uniform Partnership Act (1994) (UPA 1994), and vary widely in liability shield adoption procedures and the scope and durability of the shield. LLCs and LLPs are relatively new business forms. With time, practitioners will become more comfortable with their advantages and particularities. These forms also will become more prevalent as other laws recognize their structure. For example, only recently has the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released rules which automatically classify LLCs and LLPs formed after January 1, 1997 as partnerships. These rules eliminate a lingering concern that these entities could be considered associations taxable as corporations for federal tax purposes. Adding to the growing body of law, the IRS also has released rules to determine when LLC and LLP business owners may avoid self-employment taxes on their distributive share of income, and how they may select a tax matters agent to represent the business entity in a tax audit. In an important effort to provide more uniformity, in 1996 the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws adopted the Uniform Limited Liability Partnership Amendments (ULLPA) to the UPA 1994. By extending elective corporate-styled limited liability into the UPA 1994, the ULLPA followed the approach of the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (ULLCA). Both the ULLPA and the ULLCA provide business owners the opportunity to obtain both corporate-styled liability and partnership tax status where profits are passed through the entity, and taxed only once, at the owner's level. For all purposes other than the specially created partner liability shield, an LLP is a general partnership. Therefore, a discussion of the ULLPA's main features can be organized readily around the principal UPA 1994 amendment areas: elective creation and annual report provisions; partner liability shield provisions; and provisions to recognize LLPs formed under foreign law.
Implementation of Deep Deterministic Policy Gradients for Controlling Dynamic Bipedal Walking.

A control system for bipedal walking in the sagittal plane was developed in simulation. The biped model was built based on anthropometric data for a 1.8 m tall male of average build. At the core of the controller is a deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) neural network that was trained in GAZEBO, a physics simulator, to predict the ideal foot placement to maintain stable walking despite external disturbances. The complexity of the DDPG network was decreased through carefully selected state variables and a distributed control system. Additional controllers for the hip joints during their stance phases and the ankle joint during toe-off phase help to stabilize the biped during walking. The simulated biped can walk at a steady pace of approximately 1 m/s, and during locomotion it can maintain stability with a 30 kg·m/s impulse applied forward on the torso or a 40 kg·m/s impulse applied rearward. It also maintains stable walking with a 10 kg backpack or a 25 kg front pack. The controller was trained on a 1.8 m tall model, but also stabilizes models 1.4–2.3 m tall with no changes.
Sclerochronological Basis for Growth Band Counting: A Reliable Technique for Life-span Determination of Crassostrea virginica from the Mid-Atlantic United States

Abstract Widely used sclerochronological methods for biologically aging fossilized oysters, such as δ18O and Mg/Ca analyses, are costly, time-consuming, and not always practical for population-level analyses. A method that relies on visible morphological features, such as growth bands, to determine the lifespan of Crassostrea virginica would provide a cost-efficient and reliable alternative. Previous studies have assessed whether counting growth bands can be used to biologically age C. virginica from the southeastern U.S. but have produced conflicting results. For this study, we conducted subseasonal sclerochronological analyses on Pleistocene C. virginica from the mid-Atlantic U.S. to determine whether growth band counting could be used to reliably measure oyster lifespan. A highly significant correlation exists between δ18O peaks and major (annual) grey growth bands in these oysters. Major grey and white growth bands differ significantly with respect to δ18O values. These data suggest that, for C. virginica from the Pleistocene of the mid-Atlantic U.S., major grey growth bands are accreted during the colder months of the year and can be used as annual markers to biologically age specimens. The results presented here differ from previous studies that reported no link between growth bands and δ18O values, possibly because the latter focused on lower latitude regions with different seasonal temperature regimes and sampled only the early stages of growth, which contain morphological features that could be confused with major growth bands. While growth band counting of oysters shows promise as a method for biologically aging oysters that experience high seasonal temperature variability, future studies are needed to assess its applicability over a broader geographic range.
ARE ICD SHOCKS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED MORTALITY IN LVAD PATIENTS

Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shocks are associated with increased mortality in heart failure patients. The purpose of this study was to analyze ICD shocks and ventricular arrhythmias (VA) in continuous-flow LVAD (CF-LVAD) patients and their effects on clinical outcomes including
Surgical Approach to the Older Ulcerative Colitis Patient

The choice between proctocolectomy with end ileostomy or protocolectomy with ileal pouchanal anastomosis (IPAA) can be difficult for older patients with ulcerative colitis. Studies show that IPAA can be safely performed in older patients with well-managed comorbidities, adequate anal sphincter function and the ability to understand and manage their pouch function. Older patients with IPAA are at higher risk of dehydration than younger patients and may have more frequent stools and increased rates of incontinence but are generally satisfied with their pouch function and quality of life.
From 'Use' to 'Choose': Scaffolding CT Curricula and Exploring Student Choices while Programming (Practical Report)

As computing skills become necessary for 21st-century students, infused computational thinking (CT) lessons must be created for core courses to truly provide computing education for all. This will bring challenges as students will have widely varying experience and programming ability. Additionally, STEM teachers might have little experience teaching CT and instructing using unfamiliar technology might create discomfort. We present a design pattern for infused CT assignments that scaffold students and teachers into block-based programming environments. Beginning with existing code, students and teachers work together 'Using' and comprehending code before 'Modifying' it together to fix their programs. The activity ends with students 'Choosing' their own extensions from a pre-set list. We present a comparison of two implementations of a simulation activity, one ending with student choosing how to extend their models and one having all students create the same option. Through triangulating data from classroom observations, student feedback, teacher interviews, and programming interaction logs, we present support for student and teacher preference of the 'Student-Choice' model. We end with recommended strategies for developing curricula that follow our design model.
Changing trends in cesarean section

Abstract There have been considerable changes in obstetric practice in the past 5 years, with corresponding changes in the application of cesarean section to obstetric complications. In this paper, 4,003 cesarean sections done in a public hospital during four time periods dating back to 1948 are compared, and the changing applications of section are discussed. Breech presentation, fetal distress, and dystocia have contributed substantially to the increasing use of abdominal delivery.