cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A 700Mbit/s CMOS capacitive feedback front-end amplifier with automatic gain control for broadband optical wireless links

Optical wireless (OW) communication links are emerging as a promising broadband wireless access technology. This paper presents a transimpedance-limiting amplifier (TIA-LA) analog front-end to overcome challenges faced by high-speed optical wireless links requiring wide field-of-view (FOV), high dynamic range imaging receivers for signal acquisition/tracking. The front-end amplifier presented consists of a transimpedance amplifier combined with a limiting amplifier and, for the first time, employs a self-biased automatic gain control (AGC) circuit within a capacitive feedback configuration TIA. The front-end is designed for integration with wide FOV detectors with associated capacitance up to 5pF and its performance is insensitive (within 10%) to an order of magnitude variation in input capacitance. The self-biased AGC allows 40 dB dynamic range in received optical power to accommodate varying link ranges and different OW system configurations. The TIA-LA achieves a maximum total gain of 66 dBOmega, -3 dB bandwidth of 540 MHz at 5pF detector capacitance, and variable TIA gain from 53 dBOmega to 42 dBOmega without instability. The expected sensitivity of this optical receiver front-end is -20.1 dBm at a BER of 10-12 and total power dissipation of 209 mW from dual 3.3 V and 1.8 V supply voltages in a 0.5 um CMOS process.
Robust multivariate interval strictly positive functions

Strictly positive (SP) (strictly positive real (SPR)) rational functions form foundations in network realizability theory. Study of boundary implications for the SP (SPR) property of interval rational functions is therefore meaningful. It is proved that the SP (SPR) property of a set of complex (real) N-variable interval rational functions can be implied by the SP (SPR) of its specific 16(2") (16(2/sup n-1/)) extreme members. It is also proved that the positive rational (PR) property of a set of complex univariate interval rational functions can be guaranteed by the PR of its certain 32 extreme members. >
HOW RELIABLE ARE OUR ASSESSMENT DATA?: A Comparison of the Reliability of Data Produced in Graded and Un-Graded Conditions

Motivating students to perform well on assessment tests is difficult when students know the results have no academic consequence. The present study evaluates the influence of assessment context (graded vs. non-graded) on the reliability of an assessment measure. Results indicate the graded condition produces higher reliability (r= .71) than the non-graded condition (r = .29), which leads to unacceptably low reliability. Moreover, the graded condition produces significantly higher scores (M = 64%), than the non-graded condition (M = 43%). Only students in the graded condition (41%) obtained passing scores of 70% or above.
Mitochondrial Ion Channels

In work spanning more than a century, mitochondria have been recognized for their multifunctional roles in metabolism, energy transduction, ion transport, inheritance, signaling, and cell death. Foremost among these tasks is the continuous production of ATP through oxidative phosphorylation, which requires a large electrochemical driving force for protons across the mitochondrial inner membrane. This process requires a membrane with relatively low permeability to ions to minimize energy dissipation. However, a wealth of evidence now indicates that both selective and nonselective ion channels are present in the mitochondrial inner membrane, along with several known channels on the outer membrane. Some of these channels are active under physiological conditions, and others may be activated under pathophysiological conditions to act as the major determinants of cell life and death. This review summarizes research on mitochondrial ion channels and efforts to identify their molecular correlates. Except in a few cases, our understanding of the structure of mitochondrial ion channels is limited, indicating the need for focused discovery in this area.
The use of EMLA cream to decrease venipuncture pain in children

Venipuncture is one of the most painful medical procedures for a child, and it is one of the most frequently performed. This literature synthesis reviews evidence for the use of eutectic mixture of local anesthetics (EMLA) cream to reduce the pain children experience during venipuncture. EMLA cream was compared with placebo, iontophoresis, and amethocaine cream and was found to be an effective local anesthetic for pediatric venipuncture pain during both intravenous cannulation and phlebotomy.
Nature As Ecology: Toward a More Constructive Ecocriticism

Cheryll Glotfelty's essay collection The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology was published in 1996, eighteen years after William Rueckert coined the term “ecocriticism,” and yet Glotfelty's main goal, through three hundred ninety-one pages and twenty-five essays, was still to answer the question “what is ecocriticism?”. Many of the essays included in the Reader are in direct conversation – if not outright argument – with one another and even today – sixteen years later still – “what is ecocriticism?” is a question with no easy answer. This is as it should be. As a discipline that is connected to literary theory by the dual bridges of culture and science – a culture that is becoming increasingly aware of its culpability in worldwide environmental destruction through the work of science – ecocriticism would be worse than useless if it was unable to reinvent itself in the face of this growing environmental awareness. It continues – appropriately – to adapt, not unlike the ecosystems that it discusses. But how does one define the parameters of a critical discourse that can't agree on its own tenets? I suggest that instead of searching for a definition of ecocriticism in the answers it provides, we look instead at the questions it asks. There are many, for certain, but a few stand out: the Big Questions that are the most repeated and that can often be glimpsed lurking behind many smaller inquiries. By enumerating these Big Questions and synthesizing some of the most important responses to them, I create an outline – a skeleton, if you will – upon which the muscles of ecocriticism can be seen to work. Extrapolating from this model, then, I critique the thesis of Timothy Morton's book Ecology Without Nature and through that critique suggest a constructive revision of Morton's idea of “ecology without nature,” a conceptual mode of responsible, ecological living that I label “nature as ecology.” Ultimately, this essay is both a critique of the current state of ecocritical discourse and an argument for a new, more constructive direction.
Determine Absolute Soccer Ball Location in Broadcast Video Using SYBA Descriptor

This paper presents research work on the detection, tracking, and localization of the soccer ball in a broadcast soccer video and maps the ball locations to the global coordinate system of the soccer field. Because of the lack of reference points in these frames, the calculation of the global coordinates of the ball remains a very challenging task. This paper proposes to use an object-based algorithm and Kalman filter to detect and track the ball in such videos. Once the ball is located, frames are registered to static soccer field, and the absolute ball location is found in the field. The existing feature matching algorithms do not work well for frame registration, especially when involving lighting variations and large camera pan-tile-zoom change. To overcome this challenge, a new feature descriptor and matching algorithm that is robust to these deformations is developed and presented in this paper. Experimental results show the proposed algorithm is very effective and accurate.
Allelic Expression of the Mouse Ren-1 Genes in the Anterior Prostate (Coagulating Gland)

Renin is an aspartyl protease involved in blood pressure homeostasis and electrolyte balance. Inbred strains of mice have either one of two alleles fixed at the Rell-l locus on chromosome 1, Ren-1 c or Ren-1 d. Ren-1 d is found in association with a tightly linked duplicated locus, Ren-2. While RNA derived from both Ren-1 alleles and Ren-2 are detected at equivalent levels in the kidney, locus- and allele-specific expression differences are observed in several extra-renal tissues.
Non volatile memory evolution and revolution

For over 40 years, the evolution of Non Volatile Memories has been mostly based on the floating gate MOS transistor. We have successfully succeeded in scaling this wonderful device below 20nm but we are now approaching the limit. It is time for disruptive innovations, either integrating the same basic device in a vertical structure or moving to totally different device concepts. This paper analyzes the different alternatives in relation to their areas of application.
A Plant Surface Oxidation Product of Endosulfan

Endosulfan, commonly known as Thiodan®, has been used extensively for the control of various insects.
Thermal Stability of Cobalt Disilicide for Self-Aligned Silicide Applications

The thermal stability of COSi 2 for thermal budgets suitable for a self-aligned P+ gate MOSFET process using rapid thermal processing was studied. The substrate underlying the suicide has a major impact on suicide degradation. Suicides formed on as-deposited amorphous silicon films and on single crystal Si were found to be stable at least up to 1000°C, whereas suicides formed on as-deposited polysilicon (i.e. conventional polycide) began to degrade at annealing temperatures greater than 800°C. BF 2 -implant dosages of 1×10 15 cm -2 to 2×10 16 cm -2 at 20keV in the suicide were found to affect the conventional polycide significantly. With higher implant dosages, the degradation of the conventional polycide is retarded for a 900°C anneal. However, for thermally stable suicides i.e., suicides formed on as-deposited amorphous Si and on single crystal Si, a high dose 2×10 16 cm -2 implant increases the sheet resistance slightly from 1.4 Ω/square to 1.6 Ω/square for suicides on as-deposited amorphous Si substrate, and from 1.3 Ω/square to 1.6 Ω/square for suicides on single crystal substrates. A model which involves spheroidization of the suicide, silicon incursion, and indiffusion of Co into polysilicon is proposed to explain the degradation behavior.
Ten Sites, 10 Years, 10 Lessons: Scale-up of Routine HIV Testing at Community Health Centers in the Bronx, New York.

Objective.In response to the current CDC recommendations for routine HIV testing in clinical settings, the Adolescent AIDS Program at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, developed the Advise, Consent, Test, Support routine HIV testing model (ACTS) in 2003. ACTS was piloted in 10 community health centers operated by Montefiore because they serve populations most at risk for HIV/AIDS.Methods.ACTS streamlined and codified the counseling and testing process, provided a routine HIV testing practice change plan, and provided training and communication materials that promoted routine HIV testing. To determine program success, we measured the number of patients seen at the clinics, the number of HIV test-eligible patients (those aged 13–64 years and not pregnant), the number and percent of patients receiving HIV testing, HIV test results, and the number of patients linked to care.Results.HIV testing in the 10 sites increased nearly threefold during the pilot period (2003–2007), from 3,944 of 49,125 ...
Macrophages and other nonspecific defenses: role in modulating resistance against herpes simplex virus.

Nonspecific host resistance is provided by effector cell systems, including the mononuclear phagocytes, i.e., circulating monocytes, and tissue macrophages (MOs), natural killer (NK) cells, and polymorphonuclear granulocytes (PMNs). These cells, together with cytokines, play various roles at different stages in the pathogenesis of HSV infection (Morahan et al. 1985; Mogensen 1979). Immunomodulation of nonspecific resistance is one useful approach to control HSV infection (Morahan and Murasko 1989). It has been effective in reducing mortality against HSV infections in immunosuppressed animals (Morahan and Pinto 1991) and may be especially useful in combination with chemotherapy (Connell et al. 1985).
Suppressing the spin relaxation of electrons in silicon

Uniaxial compressive strain along the [001] direction strongly suppresses the spin relaxation in silicon. When the strain level is large enough so that electrons are redistributed only in the two valleys along the strain axis, the dominant scattering mechanisms are quenched and electrons mainly experience intra-axis scattering processes (intravalley or intervalley scattering within valleys on the same crystal axis). We first derive the spin-flip matrix elements due to intra-axis electron scattering off impurities, and then provide a comprehensive model of the spin relaxation time due to all possible interactions of conduction-band electrons with impurities and phonons. We predict a nearly three orders of magnitude improvement in the spin relaxation time of $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{19}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{\text{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ antimony-doped silicon (Si:Sb) at low temperatures.
Vienna's path to sustainable transport

ABSTRACTVienna, Austria reduced the car share of trips by a third between 1993 and 2014: from 40% to 27%. The key to Vienna's success has been a coordinated package of mutually reinforcing transport and land-use policies that have made car use slower, less convenient, and more costly, while improving conditions for walking, cycling, and public transport. During 32 in-person interviews in Vienna in May 2015, a wide range of politicians, transport planners, and academics almost unanimously identified the expansion of the U-Bahn (metro) and parking management as the most important policies accounting for the reduction in car mode share since 1993. Implementation of sustainable transport policies in Vienna has been a long-term, multi-staged process requiring compromises, political deals, and coalition-building among political parties and groups of stakeholders. This consensual approach to policy development has been time-consuming. Vienna has not been the first city to introduce any particular policy, but it ...
The Risk of Radiation-Induced Tumors or Malignant Transformation After Single-Fraction Intracranial Radiosurgery: Results Based on a 25-Year Experience.

Purpose To determine the risk of radiation-induced tumors or malignant transformation after single-fraction intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Methods and Materials We performed a retrospective review of 1837 patients who received single-fraction SRS for arteriovenous malformation or benign tumor (meningioma, vestibular schwannoma, pituitary adenoma, glomus tumor) at a single center between 1990 and 2009. Patients were excluded if they refused research authorization (n=31), had a genetic predisposition to tumor development (n=84), received prior or concurrent radiation therapy (n=79), or had less than 5 years of imaging follow-up after SRS (n=501). The median imaging follow-up period for the remaining 1142 patients was 9.0 years (range, 5-24.9 years). Results No radiation-induced tumors were identified in 11,264 patient-years of follow-up after SRS. The risk of a radiation-induced tumor developing after SRS was 0.0% at 5 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.0%-0.4%), 0.0% at 10 years (95% CI, 0.0%-0.9%), and 0.0% at 15 years (95% CI, 0.0%-2.8%). Malignant transformation occurred in 7 of 316 meningioma patients (2.2%) and 1 of 358 vestibular schwannoma patients (0.3%) at a median of 4.9 years (range, 2.8-13.8 years) after SRS. No cases of malignant transformation were noted in patients with pituitary adenomas (n=188) or glomus tumors (n=47). The 5-, 10-, and 15-year risk of malignant transformation was 0.5% (95% CI, 0.0%-0.9%), 0.8% (95% CI, 0.0%-1.8%), and 2.4% (95% CI, 0.0%-5.5%), respectively. Patients who underwent prior resection (hazard ratio, 14.56; 95% CI, 1.79-118.33; P =.01) and who had meningioma pathology (hazard ratio, 11.72; 95% CI, 1.44-96.15; P =.02) were at increased risk of malignant transformation. Conclusions The risk of radiation-induced tumors or malignant transformation after SRS is very low and should not be used as a justification for choosing alternative treatment approaches (surgical resection, observation) over SRS for appropriate patients.
Chemical Composition and Antifungal Effects of Vitex agnus-castus L. and Myrtus communis L. Plants

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of essential plant oils from Vitex agnus-castus L. (VAC) and Myrtus communis L. against the plant pathogens, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici (Sacc.) W.C. Synder & H.N. Hans, Rhizoctonia solani J.G. Kuhn., Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary and Verticillium dahliae Kleb., and to determine the chemical composition of the compounds in these essential oils. GC/MS analysis was identified 25 different compounds in VAC essential oil, while the main compounds were determined as Eucalyptol (17.75%), β-Caryophyllene (13.21%) and Spathulenol (10.41%). On the other hand, the essential oil of M. communis, consisted of 16 different compounds which were Eucalyptol (49.15%), Myrtenol (19.49%) and α-Pinene (8.38%) being its main compounds. An assessment of antifungal activity was performed under in vitro conditions. Plant pathogens were inoculated onto Petri dishes (60 mm) containing PDA medium (10 mL/Petri-1), and plant essential oils were applied at concentrations of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 5 and 10 (μL/Petri-1) into the 5 mm diameter wells opened on the Petri dish surface. After that, the Petri dishes incubated at 22±2 °C. The results of this study, the essential oil of M. communis, at a dose of 10 μL/ Petri, inhibited the 100% mycelium growth of V. dahliae, S. sclerotiorum and R. solani. The highest dose of VAC essential oil was also 100% inhibited V. dahliae and S. sclerotiorum. The LC50 and LC90 values of M. communis and VAC essential oil calculated for V. dahliae, FORL, S. sclerotiorum and R. solani. This plant extracts were shown by in vitro conditions to be potential antifungal agents.
Natural Organohalogen Compounds

Over the past decade, marine natural products chemists have demonstrated that marine organisms produce a wide variety of halogenated natural products. The halogenated natural products range in size from simple halomethanes to relatively large and complex toxins. The principal sources of halogenated natural products are marine bacteria, marine algae and sponges, with smaller contributions from other marine invertebrates.
What is history? What is literature?

Ivan Jablonka seeks something other than a mere combination of history, social science, and literature. He would like history, itself understood as a social science, to be a literature of the real world. He is also interested in literature informed not only by the results but, more important, by the forms of reasoning and inquiry of history and related social sciences (notably anthropology and sociology). Jablonka's own positioning within the Annales seems obvious, notably in his stress on cognition, problem-oriented research, and the status of history as a social science. But the attention and research devoted in the work of scholars in and around the Annales to the relations among history, literature, and fiction have not been pronounced, and in this context Jablonka inflects the understanding of history in relatively underdeveloped directions. Despite possible disagreements one may have over specific issues, Jablonka's thought-provoking book raises very important questions, opens many significant avenues of inquiry, and seeks a desirable interaction between historical and literary approaches.
Antiplatelet Therapy in Cerebrovascular Disorders

Stroke is a preventable public health problem, with widespread effects. Antithrombotic medications are the mainstay of both primary and secondary stroke prevention. This chapter discusses the role of antiplatelet medications such as aspirin, clopidogrel, and dipyridamole in the acute treatment, primary prevention, and secondary prevention of stroke. For acute treatment, the current recommendations are early treatment with aspirin alone for acute ischemic stroke patients who are not receiving thrombolysis. For primary prevention, the recommendations do not generally recommend any antiplatelet unless the patient has atrial fibrillation, in which case anticoagulation is favored. For secondary prevention, the current data favors the use of an antiplatelet agent, either aspirin, clopidogrel, or the combination aspirin-dipyridamole. There is ongoing research into the role of combination aspirin plus clopidogrel, as this may be beneficial in certain subgroups of non-cardioembolic stroke patients. There is also ongoing research on novel antiplatelet agents, with the aim of decreasing recurrent stroke rates as well as bleeding events. This chapter provides a summary of current evidence and recommendations and addresses future possibilities for antiplatelet treatment for ischemic stroke.
Basis adaptive sample efficient polynomial chaos (BASE-PC)

Abstract For a large class of orthogonal basis functions, there has been a recent identification of expansion methods for computing accurate, stable approximations of a quantity of interest. This paper presents, within the context of uncertainty quantification, a practical implementation using basis adaptation, and coherence motivated sampling, which under assumptions has satisfying guarantees. This implementation is referred to as Basis Adaptive Sample Efficient Polynomial Chaos (BASE-PC). A key component of this is the use of anisotropic polynomial order which admits evolving global bases for approximation in an efficient manner, leading to consistently stable approximation for a practical class of smooth functionals. This fully adaptive, non-intrusive method, requires no a priori information of the solution, and has satisfying theoretical guarantees of recovery. A key contribution to stability is the use of a presented correction sampling for coherence-optimal sampling in order to improve stability and accuracy within the adaptive basis scheme. Theoretically, the method may dramatically reduce the impact of dimensionality in function approximation, and numerically the method is demonstrated to perform well on problems with dimension up to 1000.
Ethical issues in sport psychology

The field of sport psychology is dynamic and growing. To continue building credibility with the public and allied professionals, effective and ethical practice is crucial. Advances in technology have allowed sport psychology professionals to consult with athletes from a distance, but practitioners must be mindful of their competency to use technology, confidentiality concerns, and the suitability of technology for their clients. Movement toward defining competency and clarifying issues of title usage are additional areas in which the field is gaining momentum. Recent attention has also been drawn to the topics of professional development and cultural competency. With the unique settings in which applied sport psychology practice takes place, attention to multiple relationships is another key ethical issue.
Conclusion to Women and Indigenous Therapy Special Issue: Final Thoughts from the Editors

The goal of this special issue was to provide a space for voices speaking on indigenous healing as practiced by and for women around the globe. In the articles, the authors utilized feminist libera...
The Short-term Effects of a Cyberbullying Prevention Intervention for Parents of Middle School Students.

This study experimentally evaluated the short-term effects of the Arizona Attorney General’s cybersafety promotion presentation, a key component of which is cyberbullying prevention. Fifty-one parents of children attending a middle school in the southwestern United States participated in the study. Results reveal parents who viewed the presentation believed their children to be more susceptible to cyberbullying, and indicated that they were more likely to talk to their children about saving evidence, not retaliating, and telling an adult compared to parents who had not viewed the presentation. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Stepwise linear regression modeling of the point spread functions of a multi-pinhole SPECT camera for I-123 datscan imaging

We investigate PSF modeling strategies for clinical I-123 DaTscan imaging on a dual-headed mixed collimator SPECT system consisting of fan and multi-pinhole (MPH) collimators on separate heads. The MPH component of this system proposed provides high-resolution imaging of activity in the structures of interest: the putamen, caudate and substantia nigra (SN), which lie in the central interior portion of the brain. In many multi-pinhole (MPH) SPECT imaging systems, improvement in image quality has been demonstrated with accurate modeling of the system point spread function (PSF) within reconstruction. To facilitate faster reconstruction and smaller memory overhead, simple PSF models are preferred such as a Gaussian. In many geometries a Gaussian model is reasonably accurate for the PSF. However, for different pinhole aperture shapes such as square or rectangular, and angled pinhole aperture planes, the measured PSF including all physical effects such as penetration and depth of interaction can have substantial non-Gaussian components. In this work, we illustrate with examples from our MPH collimator how stepwise regression analysis can be used to develop a generalized but parsimonious model for complex PSFs without a-priori knowledge of the exact analytical form of the PSF.
Stochastic differential games and inverse optimal control and stopper policies

In this paper, we consider a two-player stochastic differential game problem over an infinite time horizon where the players invoke controller and stopper strategies on a nonlinear stochastic differential game problem driven by Brownian motion. The optimal strategies for the two players are given explicitly by exploiting connections between stochastic Lyapunov stability theory and stochastic Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs theory.
Condiment Herbs and Spices

As commonly used, the term “herb” is not restricted to the botanical definition. Herbs are widely recognized as a broad class of plants, generally associated with growth in the temperate zone, that are useful for flavor, aromatic, dye, or medicinal purposes. The Chinese and other cultures have used herbs medicinally for thousands of years, and the practice continues. Savory herbs have aromatic properties and are utilized principally as flavoring agents.
Catalytic conversion of Kraft lignin to bio-multilayer graphene materials under different atmospheres

Kraft lignin was catalytic graphitized by iron at 1000 °C in argon, hydrogen, CO2, methane, and natural gas atmospheres, respectively. The effect of atmospheric agent types on product distribution (gas, liquid, and solid carbon yields) was analyzed. The solid products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Experimental results have shown that the degree of graphitization of Kraft lignin depends not only on the highest temperature, but also the type of ambient gas phase during heat treatment. Methane and natural gas in the ambient gas phase seem to accelerate the formation of multilayer graphene materials with a range of 2–30 layers, and hydrogen and carbon dioxide have an etching effect on solid carbon species during the catalytic graphitization process, while multilayer graphene-encapsulated iron nanoparticles were the main products in the case of argon.
Transient Magnetothermal Neuronal Silencing using the Chloride Channel Anoctamin1 (TMEM16A)

The importance of specific neurons to a network’s function is best studied by precisely timed, reversible silencing of these neurons. Previously, we showed that alternating magnetic field mediated heating of magnetic nanoparticles bound to neurons expressing temperature-sensitive cation channels TRPV1, stimulates these neurons to fire and affects animal behavior in vivo (Munshi et al., 2017). Here, we demonstrate how to apply magnetic nanoparticle mediated heating to silence target neurons. Rat hippocampal neuron cultures are transfected to express the temperature gated chloride Anoctamin1 (TMEM16A) channels. Within seconds the heating of the membrane opens the Anoctamin1 (TMEM16A) channels, suppressing action potential firing. Five seconds of magnetic field application leads to about 12 seconds of silencing, with a latency of about 2 seconds and an average suppression ratio of more than 80%. The method provides a promising avenue for tether free, remote, transient neuronal silencing in vivo for both scientific and therapeutic applications.
Community Prevention Handbook on Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment: Evidence-Based Practices

Substance abuse is, and has always been, an indisputable fact of life. People -- especially young people -- abuse various legal and illegal substances for any number of reasons: to intensify feelings, to achieve deeper consciousness, to escape reality, to self-medicate.
Clinical evaluation of the rocker bottom crutch.

One hundred fifty hospitalized patients referred to a physical therapy department for crutch walking instruction were evaluated in a randomized, controlled crossover study with "rocker bottom" and conventional axillary crutches. A large training effect was observed with each crutch, but no significant differences (all P greater than .05) of gait speed, stride length, heart rate, stability, or feeling of security were noted between the groups. Thus, rocker bottom crutches, despite potential stability and energy conservation benefits, were found to be no more effective than conventional axillary crutches in this hospital setting.
Content learning analysis using the moment-by-moment learning detector

In recent years, it has become clear that educational data mining methods can play a positive role in refining the content of intelligent tutoring systems. In particular, efforts to determine which content is more and less effective at promoting learning can help improve tutoring systems by identifying ineffective content and cycling it out of the system. Analysis of the learning value of content can also help teachers and system designers create better content by taking notice of what has and has not worked in the past. Past work has looked solely at student response data in doing this type of analysis; we extend this work by instead utilizing the moment-by-moment learning model, P(J). This model uses parameters learned from Bayesian Knowledge Tracing as well as other features extracted from log data to compute the probability that a student learned a skill at a specific problem step. By averaging P(J) values for a particular item across students, and comparing items using statistical testing with post-hoc controls, we can investigate which items typically produce more and less learning. We use this analysis to evaluate items within twenty problem sets completed by students using the ASSISTments Platform, and show how item learning results can be obtained and interpreted from this analysis.
CS-32 SLE-YPLL (years of potential life lost) as a measure of relative burden of premature mortality

Background Disease burden is the impact of a health problem on a given area, which can be used to prioritize actions in health, assess performance of healthcare and disease management, identify high-risk populations, and set research priorities. Disease burden can be measured using a variety of indicators such as mortality, morbidity or financial cost. For SLE, despite a relatively good 10 year survival (95%, vs 97% in controls), its mortality rate remains high relative to general population mortality rate as shown in our analysis of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)’s mortality database comprising of 62,843 SLE deaths. However, mortality rates may not adequately measure SLE burden, because among those who died, a fifth of patients died before reaching 40 years of age. Premature mortality, a measure of burden first proposed in 1940s to address the inadequacy of mortality in measuring the burden of tuberculosis, is an important way to quantify disease burden. In constructing a measure of premature death, an arbitrary limit to life is chosen, and the calculation of the difference between an age at death and this arbitrary limit is defined as the life lost as a result of that death. To assess the relative burden of SLE, we measured the years of potential life lost (YPLL) for SLE relative to CDC’s top 15 leading causes of death. Methods This is a population-based study. Death counts were obtained from the CDC-WONDER database. Number of deaths were tabulated for top 15 CDC’s leading causes-of-death and SLE. To calculate YPLL, each decedent’s age at death from a specific disease was subtracted from a predetermined age of 75 years. The years of potential life lost were then added together to yield the total YPLL. Results 28 411 female SLE deaths were recorded during 2000–2015. The ranking of SLE deaths relative to the CDC’s official leading-causes-of-death ranklist in females showed that SLE is within the top 15 leading causes-of-death in reproductive age women (15–44 years) and tenth among women ages 15–24 years. We calculated YPLL for SLE relative to the CDC’s official 15 leading causes-of-death in women ages 15–44 and 15–24. YPLL for SLE ranked 14th in women ages 15–44, and 8th in women ages 15–24, above diabetes mellitus, HIV disease, septicemia, chronic lower respiratory disease, anemias, nephritis, and cerebrovascular disease. Conclusions SLE is among the leading cause of YPLL in young women, underscoring SLE as an important public health issue.
Boltzmann-Fokker-Planck formalism for dark-matter--baryon scattering

Linear-cosmology observables, such as the cosmic microwave background (CMB), or the large-scale distribution of matter, have long been used as clean probes of dark matter (DM) interactions with baryons. It is standard to model the DM as an ideal fluid with a thermal Maxwell-Boltzmann (MB) velocity distribution, in order to compute the heat and momentum-exchange rates relevant to these probes. This approximation only applies in the limit where DM self-interactions are frequent enough to efficiently redistribute DM velocities. It does not accurately describe weakly self-interacting particles, the velocity distribution of which unavoidably departs from MB once they decouple from baryons. This article lays out a new formalism required to accurately model DM-baryon scattering, even when DM self-interactions are negligible. The ideal fluid equations are replaced by the collisional Boltzmann equation for the DM phase-space distribution. The collision operator is approximated by a Fokker-Planck operator, constructed to recover the exact momentum- and heat-exchange rates and allowing for an efficient numerical implementation. Numerical solutions to the background evolution are presented and show that the MB approximation can overestimate the heat-exchange rate by factors of approximately 2--3, especially for light DM particles. A Boltzmann-Fokker-Planck hierarchy for perturbations is derived. This new formalism allows one to explore a wider range of DM models and will be especially relevant for upcoming ultrahigh-sensitivity cosmic microwave background probes.
Contactless Liquid Interface Measurement based on a Hollow Coaxial Cable Resonator

Abstract This paper reports a contactless liquid interface sensor based on a microwave Fabry-Perot resonator. A hollow coaxial cable is employed as the sensing platform, in which air serves as the dielectric layer. By shorting the inner and outer conductors of the hollow coaxial cable, two reflectors with high reflectivity (>70%) are created to form a microwave Fabry-Perot resonator. An open groove is engineered on the resonator allowing the electromagnetic wave to interact with the medium outside the cavity. When a container, filled with different layers of liquids, is placed near the groove edge of the sensor, the leaked electromagnetic wave will interact with the liquids inside the container. By correlating the relative permittivity of the liquid mixture to the resonant frequency of the Fabry-Perot resonator, the interface between different liquids can be unambiguously determined. In the demonstration experiment, the water-oil interface and oil-ethanol interface were measured. Meanwhile, the sensor could also be employed to measure the relative permittivity of different liquids in a non-contact fashion. The presented sensor offers a robust, cost-effective, and real-time configuration for contactless liquid interface detection, which has potential applications in the oil and chemical industries.
The Impact of Cardiac-induced Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms on Cardiovascular Outcomes: Design and Rationale of the Prospective Observational Reactions to Acute Care and Hospitalizations (ReACH) Study

Aims: As many as 1 in 8 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the ACS, and ACS-induced PTSD may increase secondary cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, prior studies have been small and underpowered to test plausible behavioral or biological mechanisms of the hypothesized PTSD-secondary CVD risk association. In this paper, we describe the design and methods of a large prospective observational cohort study to estimate the prognostic significance of ACS-induced PTSD, mechanisms for its association with CVD risk, and emergency department (ED) factors that may increase PTSD risk, in a cohort of patients evaluated for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the ED of a large, urban academic medical center. Methods: The Reactions to Acute Care and Hospitalization (ReACH) study follows 1,741 racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse patients initially presenting to the ED with ACS symptoms. Psychosocial factors are assessed at baseline. Medication adherence is monitored by electronic pill bottle (eCAP). Participants are contacted by phone at 1-, 6-, and 12-months post-hospitalization to assess PTSD symptoms, hospital readmission, and recurrent CVD events/mortality (proactively searched and confirmed by medical records). Conclusion: This study will provide the most accurate estimates to date of PTSD’s association with recurrent CVD events and mortality and will test whether medication adherence mediates that association. Further, it will provide estimates of the contribution of ED and hospital factors to PTSD risk in ACS patients. If our hypotheses are supported, we will have identified PTSD as a novel target for secondary risk reduction.
Relationships between metals and hyporheic invertebrate community structure in a river recovering from metals contamination

Biota and chemistry from hyporheic samplers were used to describe environmental changes, after treatment of mine drainage, in the shallow hyporheic zone in the upper Arkansas River, Colorado, U.S.A. Samples were collected (1992–1997) from above and below the mine drainage source, and further downstream where a historically cleaner tributary enters the system. Hyporheic metal concentrations were high during spring runoff at the impacted site even after initiation of treatment, but declined after several years. Correspondence analysis and increased invertebrate taxa richness suggested that hyporheic macroinvertebrates were recovering at the previously impacted site. Differences in substrate between sites and high water flows in 1995 also appeared to affect hyporheic communities. High taxa richness and abundance, taxa unique from those found at the surface, and high concentrations of metals found in the shallow hyporheic zone suggests that sampling this zone is important for monitoring recovery of polluted streams.
Functional screening of genes from a halophyte wild rice relative Porteresia coarctata in Arabidopsis model identifies candidate genes involved in salt tolerance

Abstract High soil salinity is one of the most important environmental stressors, and is an increasing concern under the alarmingly global climate uncertainties. Salinity affects the growth and productivity of food crops, including rice, and ultimately threatens global food security and sustainability. Conventional breeding efforts to develop salt tolerant rice varieties utilizing its primary gene pool have resulted in limited success due to the mutligenic inheritance of salt tolerance traits. On the other hand, Porteresia coarctata, the only halophyte wild rice, offers tremendous opportunities to improve salt tolerance in rice. However, reports on the characterization of its rich genetic resources are scanty. The present study was undertaken to functionally identify salt responsive genes of P. coarctata in Arabidopsis model using a cDNA overexpression (COX) strategy. COX-mediated hunting of transgenic Arabidopsis expressing a cDNA library of P. coarctata under control of a maize ubiquitin promoter identified 12 candidates that were involved in salt tolerance for seed germination, and seedling and reproductive growth. Of these, four genes coding for a metallothionein, a ribosomal protein, a photosystem II 10 kDa protein, and a ferredoxin:thioredoxin reductase conferred enhanced salt tolerance phenotypes, such as better root and shoot growth, and tissue tolerance by maintaining higher relative water content, membrane stability and protecting cells from reactive oxygen species. These genes could be ideal candidates for improving salt tolerance in rice; however, further studies are needed to ascertain their direct functional relevance in salt tolerance mechanisms.
Hemingway’s Francis Macomber in “God’s Country”

In 1925−26, C. G. Jung’s Bugishu Psychological Expedition journeyed through Kenya, the setting of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.” Although the two authors went to Africa for vastly different reasons,Jung’s insights into the personal and collective unconscious, along with the discoveries he made while there, provide a lens through which to complement previous Freudian and Lacanian studies of the story. Francis, a puer aeternus andintroverted thinker, overcomes his initial mother complex by doing shadow work with his hunting guide, Robert Wilson. As the story progresses, Francis makes the unconscious more conscious through dreaming and then connects with thearchaic/primordial man buried deeply below his modern civilized persona. The essay thus resolves two long-standing critical cruxes: the title character makes genuine psychological progress; and his wife, whether she shoots at the buffalo orat him, targets primordial masculine strength.
Nominal versus variable approaches for understanding group differences

What produces and sustains inequality in socioeconomic position and integration across immigrant groups? Luthra, Soehl and Waldinger engage with this core sociological question in their book “Origi...
Donald Trump meets Carl Schmitt

By revisiting late-Weimar debates between Carl Schmitt and two left-wing critics, Otto Kirchheimer and Franz L Neumann, we can shed light on the surprising alliance of populist politics with key te...
Initial experiences of US neurologists in practice during the COVID-19 pandemic via survey.

Background The current coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused widespread disease and death. Rapid increases in patient volumes have exposed weaknesses in healthcare systems and challenged our ability to provide optimal patient care and adequate safety measures to healthcare workers (HCWs). Objective To test the hypothesis that US neurologists were experiencing significant challenges with lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), rapid changes in practice and varying institutional protocols, we conducted this survey study. Methods A 36-item survey was distributed to neurologists around the US through various media platforms. Results Over a one-week period, 567 responses were received. Of these, 56% practiced in academia. A total of 87% had access to PPE with 45% being asked to reuse PPE due to shortages. The pandemic caused rapid changes in practice, most notably a shift towards providing care by teleneurology, although a third experienced challenges in transitioning to this model. Wide variations were noted both in testing and in the guidance provided for the exposed, sick or vulnerable HCWs. Notably, 59% of respondents felt that their practices were doing what they could, although 56% did not feel safe taking care of patients. Conclusions Results from our survey demonstrate significant variability in preparedness and responsiveness to the COVID-19 pandemic in neurology, impacted by region, health care setting and practice model. Practice guidelines from professional societies and other national entities are needed to improve protection for physicians and their patients, promote recommended practice changes during a pandemic, and optimize future preparedness for public health emergencies.
Production and study of axis circling electron beams for gyrotrons

Production and analysis by two different techniques of axis circling beams will be discussed. The effect of field gradients on spatial spread of electrons including space charge effects will be given.
A narrative review of non-pharmacological management of SARS-CoV-2 respiratory failure: A call for an evidence based approach

A novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) belonging to genus beta-coronavirus has been associated with an acute respiratory disease termed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As of September 3, 2020, SARS-CoV-2 had caused 867,219 fatalities in 188 nations across the globe. Rapid progression to bronchopneumonia manifesting with severe hypoxemia and eventual evolution into acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) necessitating mechanical ventilation is the hallmark of this disease. The novel nature of COVID-19 pneumonia and the high morbidity and mortality associated with the same has vexed the critical care community. A cultural shift away from evidence-based medicine, and the impetus to attempt newer unproven therapies like awake proning, interleukin receptor 6 antagonists, inhaled nitric oxide, empiric anticoagulation etc. over modalities that have been tested over the decades is slowly gaining ground. The suggestions to delay intubations and liberalize tidal volumes have polarized the medical field like never before. The lack of consistency in management practices and establishing practices based on anecdotes and experiences can lead to devastating outcomes in the patients affected by this deadly virus. In this narrative review, we attempt to re-emphasize the need for an evidence-based approach to the management of COVID-19 related ARDS and review treatment strategies that have been established after rigorous trials and have stood the test of time.
The Tragic Fall of Better Angels: Nationalism, Neoliberalism, and the Failure of Responsibility in American Conservativism:

American political conservatism is distinct from its counterparts in Europe and elsewhere in the world. American conservatives have long staked their claims on devotion to limited government and fr...