cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Relationships between biodiversity and biological control in agroecosystems: Current status and future challenges

Agricultural systems around the world are faced with the challenge of providing for the demands of a growing human population. To meet this demand, agricultural systems have intensified to produce more crops per unit area at the expense of greater inputs. Agricultural intensification, while yielding more crops, generally has detrimental impacts on biodiversity. However, intensified agricultural systems often have fewer pests than more ‘‘environmentally-friendly’’ systems, which is believed to be primarily due to extensive pesticide use on intensive farms. In turn, to be competitive, less-intensive agricultural systems must rely on biological control of pests. Biological pest control is a complex ecosystem service that is generally positively associated with biodiversity of natural enemy guilds. Yet, we still have a limited understanding of the relationships between biodiversity and biological control in agroecosystems, and the mechanisms underlying these relationships. Here, we review the effects of agricultural intensification on the diversity of natural enemy communities attacking arthropod pests and weeds. We next discuss how biodiversity of these communities impacts pest control, and the mechanisms underlying these effects. We focus in particular on novel conceptual issues such as relationships between richness, evenness, abundance, and pest control. Moreover, we discuss novel experimental approaches that can be used to explore the relationships between biodiversity and biological control in agroecosystems. In particular, we highlight new experimental frontiers regarding evenness, realistic manipulations of biodiversity, and functional and genetic diversity. Management shifts that aim to conserve diversity while suppressing both insect and weed pests will help growers to face future challenges. Moreover, a greater understanding of the interactions between diversity components, and the mechanisms underlying biodiversity effects, would improve efforts to strengthen biological control in agroecosystems.
Animal movement constraints improve resource selection inference in the presence of telemetry error

Multiple factors complicate the analysis of animal telemetry location data. Recent advancements address issues such as temporal autocorrelation and telemetry measurement error, but additional challenges remain. Difficulties introduced by complicated error structures or barriers to animal movement can weaken inference. We propose an approach for obtaining resource selection inference from animal location data that accounts for complicated error structures, movement constraints, and temporally autocorrelated observations. We specify a model for telemetry data observed with error conditional on unobserved true locations that reflects prior knowledge about constraints in the animal movement process. The observed telemetry data are modeled using a flexible distribution that accommodates extreme errors and complicated error structures. Although constraints to movement are often viewed as a nuisance, we use constraints to simultaneously estimate and account for telemetry error. We apply the model to simulated data, showing that it outperforms common ad hoc approaches used when confronted with measurement error and movement constraints. We then apply our framework to an Argos satellite telemetry data set on harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Gulf of Alaska, a species that is constrained to move within the marine environment and adjacent coastlines.
Ultralow sidelobe-level integrated acoustooptic tunable filters using tapered-gap surface acoustic wave directional couplers

We propose a new weighted-coupling scheme using tapered-gap surface acoustic wave directional couplers for realization of ultralow sidelobe-level integrated acoustooptic tunable filters (IAOTF's). Appropriate design analysis has been carried out for 30-mm-long filters operating at an optical wavelength of 1.55 /spl mu/m in an X-cut Y-propagating LiNbO/sub 3/ substrate. New synthesized weighting functions have been used for the improvement of sidelobe level suppression over existing single-stage filters by as much as 27 dB. The -20 dB mainlobe width of the resulting IAOTF's varies from 2.7 to 3.9 nm only for the worst sidelobe levels ranging from -30.6 to -44.7 dB, respectively. It has also been shown that further suppression of sidelobe levels by 3-9 dB is possible if the filter is underdriven at 80% mode-conversion efficiency. >
Dyadic Goal Appraisal During Treatment for Infertility: How Do Different Perspectives Relate to Partners' Adjustment?

Infertility often is a dyadic stressor that constitutes blockage of a major life goal. This study's primary aims were to examine heterosexual partners' goal appraisals during treatment for infertility and to test whether the direct effects of and interactions between partners' goal-related perceptions were associated with each partner's adjustment. Women (n = 37) receiving fertility treatment and their male partners (n = 37) completed measures of goal appraisal and psychological adjustment. Partners did not differ on ratings of the importance of the goal of parenthood, but women indicated lower perceived chance of becoming pregnant and higher perceived goal blockage than their partners. Goal appraisals were moderately correlated between partners and uncorrelated with the number of treatment procedures undergone by the couple. Women reported greater depressive symptoms, more infertility-specific thought intrusion, and lower positive states of mind than their partners. Women's appraisal of greater likelihood of becoming pregnant was psychologically protective, but greater perceived likelihood of becoming pregnant reported by their partners was associated with women's negative psychological adjustment. Examining the associations between couples' goal appraisals and psychological adjustment may aid in developing targeted interventions to promote psychological adjustment to infertility. The small sample may have prevented identifying interactions between partners' goal assessment measures.
The Vorlage of Shem-Tob's ‘Hebrew Matthew’

Responding to assertions and evidence in a 1997 New Testament Studies article by R. F. Shedinger (and to George Howard, the editor of the text in question), this article demonstrates with fourteen textual examples and circumstantial evidence (Isaac Velasquez's Arabic gospel translation) that the Hebrew Matthew contained in Shem-Tob's Even Bohan (1) is part of the western harmonized gospel tradition, (2) is especially, often uniquely, related to the traditions which lie behind the Middle Dutch Liege Harmony, and (3) is translated from a medieval Latin Vorlage. In no way is it (pace Shedinger) related to 45 or (pace Howard) pre-Johannine.
Study of restricted diffusion in porous catalysts by NMR

The diffusion of 1,3,5 tri-tert-butylbenzene (TTB) into cylindrical γ-alumina extrudates of varying micropore diameter and macropore volume has been studied by NMR spectroscopy. The proton NMR signal of the methyl proton of TTB in the micropores of the alumina extrudate was found to be well resolved and shifted upfield relative to that in the bulk liquid by 0.55 ppm. The area under the shifted peak is proportional to the liquid concentration of TTB in the micropores. The change in the intensity of this peak as a function of time and measurements of the amount of TTB absorbed on the surface alumina at equilibrium were used to calculate the effective diffusivity of TTB in each extrudate. Measured values of the effective diffusivity are in reasonable agreement with predictions using correlations in the literature. These observations suggest a new method for measuring the liquid-phase effective diffusivity in porous materials.
Physiological Correlates of Perceptual Learning in Monkey V1 and V2

Performance in visual discrimination tasks improves with practice. Although the psychophysical parameters of these improvements have suggested the involvement of early areas in visual cortex, there...
Time to pump iron: iron-deficiency-signaling mechanisms of higher plants

Iron is an essential nutrient for plants, yet it often limits plant growth. On the contrary, overaccumulation of iron within plant cells leads to oxidative stress. As a consequence, iron-uptake systems are carefully regulated to ensure that iron homeostasis is maintained. In response to iron limitation, plants induce expression of sets of activities that function at the root-soil interface to solubilize iron and subsequently transfer it across the plasma membrane of root cells. Recent advances have revealed key players in the signaling pathways that function to induce these iron-uptake responses. Transcription factors belonging to the basic helix-loop-helix, ABI3/VP1(B3), and NAC families appear to function either directly or indirectly in the upregulation of iron deficiency responses.
Reasons for Noncompletion of Advance Directives in a Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

BACKGROUND The Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 mandates that hospitals reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid inform each patient about the patient's right to a natural death. OBJECTIVE To describe and explore implementation of the Patient Self-Determination Act in a critical care setting. The goal was to assess patients' understanding of advance directives. METHODS In a semistructured cross-sectional study, all eligible patients 18 years or older admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, were assessed. Each patient was asked the standard question required by the Patient Self-Determination Act-Do you have an advance directive?-and 3 open-ended questions to ascertain the patient's understanding of advance directives. RESULTS The sample consisted of 505 patients with a mean age of 61.9 years (SD, 14.8), 37.8% (n = 191) were women, and 68.5% (n = 346) were white. Most patients (64.4%; n = 325) did not have an advance directive before admission to the unit. Of the patients who initially declined the opportunity to complete an advance directive (n = 213), 33.8% (n = 72) said they did not understand the question when initially asked and therefore just said no. CONCLUSIONS Current practice meets the requirement of the Patient Self-Determination Act for documentation of patients' right to a natural death. However, simply asking Do you have an advance directive? does not elicit an accurate reflection of a patient's understanding of advance directives.
The Cinema of Control: On Diabetic Excess and Illness in Film

While not rare, films that represent diabetes must work around the disease's banal invisibility, and images of diabetics in film are especially susceptible to metaphor and exaggeration. This essay is the first to outline a diabetic filmography, discussing medical and cinematic strategies for visualizing the disease as well as how the illness informs family plots and heroic characters in horror films. Doing so, it participates in a larger discussion of the manner in which film images of ill or disabled groups sustain notions of "normalcy" by both representing and denying otherness.
Chapter 11 – Transportation

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the importance of a reliable transportation in successful running of an industrial plant. It is inescapable that without transportation there can be no mass production. All manufacturing operations require the inbound movement of raw or semi-finished materials and the outbound movement of the finished product to the market. Multi-firm integration efforts to produce goods at lower inventory costs are changing transportation patterns, controls, and costs. Firms that implement new market response and operating strategies are now more dependent upon transportation facilities. Freight traffic deregulation has provided many opportunities for shippers to improve service and reduce costs. However, deregulation statements are ambiguous and, therefore, require substantial study to determine whether the tariffs are correct. Traffic routing systems can be used to optimize routings of internal trucking activity. This approach to routing has become more important as greater and greater emphasis is given to just-in-time and quick-response systems. Decisions on routing, valuation, cargo position, insurance, custom processing, fees, foreign land, and air routing, etc., may be subjective cost decisions which are based on political or economic factors not normally subject to auditing. Consultants have developed services to review these decisions and make corrective suggestions with respect to future activities.
Advances in computing

We are starting to see a fundamental transformation in how we interact with computers and what we can do with them. Consumerization of IT and the popularity of mobile devices have further changed the internet landscape. These trends and technological advances in natural user interface, mobile internet, and cloud computing will drive the next wave of innovation and growth for Asia and the world. Dr. Zhang will show us compelling demos and discuss how these technologies can help us take on more complex challenges and drive innovation.
Relevance of pathologic classifications and diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia to clinical trials and clinical practice.

Many new insights into the diagnosis, pathogenesis, clinical manifestation, treatment and prognosis of patients with AML reflect the heterogeneity of the disease. The initial descriptions of the various subtypes of AML, established by the FAB classification, were based on morphology and cytochemical stains. Although morphology remains the foundation for the diagnosis, additional diagnostic studies including immunophenotyping, cytogenetic evaluation, and molecular geneticstudies have become critical, and in some specific cases, mandatory, complementary tools. Several specific subtypes of AML are now treated with directed or targeted therapy. Acute promyelocytic leukemia is currently the only example of a subtype of AML to which specific therapy targeted to a molecular genetic abnormality is available and this subtype now is highly curable. Future studies will address newly identified prognostic factors and gene mutations such as FLT3, 115–122 Wilm’s tumor (WTI), 123,124 and CEBPA125 which will enable the further pathologic classification of patients with AML. Finally, microarray analysis will likely identify genes critically involved in the pathogenesis of specific pathologic subtypes.125
Welcome to the Journal of Amateur Sport

We hope you enjoy the second issue of the Journal of Amateur Sport (JAS)! We are quite excited by the wide-range of articles in the issue and believe there is “something” for everyone in the pages that follow. In the coming months, we will release our first special issue guest edited by Drs. Kyle Bunds and Joshua Newman. Please keep an eye out for the release of that issue in early 2016 and the third standard issue of JAS in the spring of 2016. Thanks a ton for reading and I hope you find value in the excellent articles that comprise this issue.
Kinetics of Hydrogen Radical Reactions with Toluene Including Chemical Activation Theory Employing System-Specific Quantum RRK Theory Calibrated by Variational Transition State Theory.

Pressure-dependent reactions are ubiquitous in combustion and atmospheric chemistry. We employ a new calibration procedure for quantum Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel (QRRK) unimolecular rate theory within a chemical activation mechanism to calculate the pressure-falloff effect of a radical association with an aromatic ring. The new theoretical framework is applied to the reaction of H with toluene, which is a prototypical reaction in the combustion chemistry of aromatic hydrocarbons present in most fuels. Both the hydrogen abstraction reactions and the hydrogen addition reactions are calculated. Our system-specific (SS) QRRK approach is adjusted with SS parameters to agree with multistructural canonical variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunneling (MS-CVT/SCT) at the high-pressure limit. The new method avoids the need for the usual empirical estimations of the QRRK parameters, and it eliminates the need for variational transition state theory calculations as a function of energy, although i...
Isotropic and anisotropic velocity model building for subsalt seismic imaging

Basin simulators have been used previously for deriving subsalt velocity models with the use of a correlation to relate effective stress to velocity. We build on this, and the work of others, to use physical models to relate porosity to velocity for migrating seismic data. This process yields a physically realizable isotropic velocity model that is consistent with the geologic model and matches the tomographic velocity model above salt and in regions where the tomographic velocity estimate is accurate. We then use a geomechanical simulator to model the stress distribution in and around allochthonous salt where material properties between salt and sediment change. Our stress model is the basis for an anisotropic velocity model using Murnaghan's theory for finite elastic deformation. This formulation, with bounds placed on the elastic coefficients, leads to significant imaging improvements adjacent to salt.
Recognizing Dignity Young Black Men Growing Up in an Era of Surveillance

An enduring finding is that marginalized young men of color aggressively seek “respect,” or masculine status. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at an all-boys public high school, the author found t...
Flight Testing of an ADS-B-based Miniature 4D Sense and Avoid System for Small UAS

The University of North Dakota has been actively developing enabling airborne sense and avoid (SAA) technologies under a series of projects funded by the Department of Defense, and has selected the Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) transceiver as one of its central components for cooperative aircraft mid-air collision avoidance. The system integrates a 4D (i.e., latitude, longitude, altitude, and time) SAA algorithm dependent on UAS dynamic performance factors. This paper presents the results of implementation and flight testing of a miniaturized collision avoidance system using ADS-B derived information. The flight test results that took place onboard a small UAS in the summer of 2010 demonstrate that a complex airborne SAA system utilizing an ADS-B transceiver can be integrated into a small UAS vehicle to improve safety and eventually allow integration of UAS vehicles into the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS).
Goldwater’s left hand: Post-raciality and the roots of the post-racial racist state

Post-racial discourse rests on the allegation of a particular undoing to which we must urgently attend. There is almost nothing empirically credible about this pseudo-historical narrative structure, yet as a (growing) field of knowledge production, the post-racial discursive regime is no less formidable and far-ranging. Perhaps most importantly, it has attempted to reconstitute (and has undeniably already altered) some of the operative truth assumptions of racial discourse writ large: as a teleological marking, post-racialism minimally posits that the long modern era’s reliance on various iterations of racial power/violence—from modalities of human classification to strategies of mass geographic containment and social liquidation—has yielded to other forms of social ordering, which are no longer centrally premised on this particular form of human differentiation and brutal hierarchy.
Fine Chemicals Synthesis by Heterogeneous Asymmetric Catalysis

The application of heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis to fine chemicals synthesis is discussed. The asymmetric synthesis of naproxen, a non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug, using a novel, heterogeneous, chiral catalyst is used as an example to illustrate the feasibility to industrial application.
CITREOVIRIDIN IN STANDING CORN INFESTED BY EUPENICILLIUM OCHROSALMONEUM

4. Chacko, R. J., and J. D. Rogers. 1981. Cultural characteristics of some species of Xylaria. Mycologia 73: 415-428. 5. Ellis, J. B., and B. M. Everhart. 1888. Synopsis ofthe North American species of Hypoxylon and Nummularia. J. Mycol. 4: 38-44. 6. Fergus, C. L. 1973. Peridoxylon petersii on oak in Pennsylvania. Mycologia 65: 1199-1200. 7. Harrold, C. E. 1950. Studies in the genus Eremascus. I. The rediscovery of Eremascus albus Eidam, and some new observations concerning its life history and cytology. Ann. Bot. (London) 14: 127-148.
Design of Speed-sensorless Vector Control System with Fuzzy PID

A speed-sensorless vector control system was established based on the fundamental equations of a vector control of induction motor.Rotor-speedestimation used the theory of model referencing adaptive control(MRAC).In order to improve the performance of the vector control system,three fuzzy PID controllers were presented and designed to control speed,torque and magnetic linkage respectively in the indirect vector control system.Simulation result showed that this way has a good control performance.
The Importance of Development: Early and Middle Childhood

Childhood—roughly the time from birth to age 18 years—is a highly dynamic period characterized as much by change as by continuity. This dynamism can present a significant challenge to pediatric illness management above and beyond the challenges faced by adults with chronic illness. Managing a chronic illness in a child is often a moving target—once one aspect of managing the disease seems to have stabilized, another facet emerges. Adjusting family management to the child’s development level is therefore critically important. If healthcare providers are to be able to provide truly effective guidance, it is crucial for them to understand the ways in which families adapt to and manage a child’s chronic illness over the course of development. In this chapter we discuss family management of illness in the preadolescent years, when management falls primarily or even exclusively on the parent, reviewing some of the common developmental trends and their implications for chronic illness management.
Citizenship and Civil Society: Citizen-Selves in Restricted and Generalized Exchange

What citizens do politically is not just a matter of their social and economic circumstance, it is also a matter of the particular outlooks they have about politics and the specific values they may seek to express. Geraint Parry, George Moyer, and Neil Day (1992, p. 172) A continuing source of resistance to the use of exchange models in sociological theory is that they seem to reduce all forms of social relationship to market models of contract, when clearly the specific and calculated character of market exchanges marks them out as rather distinctive. At the same time exchange in a more general sense is a very useful tool in social analysis: in any relationship (from love to hate) something is given and something is taken. We can make progress by defining the field of exchange generally and by then locating different types of exchanges more precisely within that field. Colin Crouch (1990, p. 69) Having discussed rights and obligations, it is clear that they are related to each other in some way. Often these and other social relationships are seen in terms of pure self-interest and individualism (e.g., rational choice and social exchange theories). At other times, rights and especially obligations may be cast in terms of altruism and caring (e.g., normative, communitarian, and many feminist theories). The use of multifaceted exchange models combined with Weber's theory of social action can help us move away from viewing these relationships as being one or the other (i.e., constant and dichotomous) and conceptualize rights and obligations in terms of a more complex relationship (i.e., variable and continuous).
Transcriptional profiling of the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) pretreatment in blood from probiotics-treated dairy cows.

Probiotic supplements are beneficial for animal health and rumen function; and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from gram negative bacteria have been associated with inflammatory diseases. In this study the transcriptional profile in whole blood collected from probiotics-treated cows was investigated in response to stimulation with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in vitro. Microarray experiment was performed between LPS-treated and control samples using the Agilent one-color bovine v2 bovine (v2) 4x44K array slides. Global gene expression analysis identified 13,658 differentially expressed genes (fold change cutoff ≥ 2, P < 0.05), 3816 upregulated genes and 9842 downregulated genes in blood in response to LPS. Treatment with LPS resulted in increased expression of TLR4 (Fold change (FC) = 3.16) and transcription factor NFkB (FC = 5.4) and decreased the expression of genes including TLR1 (FC = − 2.54), TLR3 (FC = − 2.43), TLR10 (FC = − 3.88), NOD2 (FC = − 2.4), NOD1 (FC = − 2.45) and pro-inflammatory cytokine IL1B (− 3.27). The regulation of the genes involved in inflammation signaling pathway suggests that probiotics may stimulate the innate immune response of animal against parasitic and bacterial infections. We have provided a detailed description of the experimental design, microarray experiment and normalization and analysis of data which have been deposited into NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO): {"type":"entrez-geo","attrs":{"text":"GSE75240","term_id":"75240"}}GSE75240.
Diabetes Knowledge Among Adults with Serious Mental Illness and Comorbid Diabetes Mellitus

This study examined the association between psychiatric symptoms and diabetes knowledge (DK) among 90 adults with serious mental illness (SMI) and type 2 diabetes. The relationship between DK and glucose control (i.e., A1C) was also examined. In a hierarchical linear regression, greater negative symptom severity and lower cognitive functioning both predicted lower DK, though cognitive functioning superseded negative symptom severity when analyzed simultaneously. A Pearson correlation showed no significant relationship between DK and A1C. Although symptom severity and cognitive functioning are both related to DK among this population, cognitive functioning maybe particularly important.
Agreement between patient-reported symptoms and their documentation in the medical record

Physical symptoms account for half of all outpatient visits in the US1 and are commonly not diagnosed2. The verbal characterization of the symptoms conveyed by the patient, and recorded by care providers is central to the practice of clinical medicine, and increasing importance is attached to patient-centered clinical care3. With the increasing adoption of the electronic medical record, free text of the clinical history can now be subjected to automated analysis in ways which are impossible or uneconomic with paper based records4-6. A common, costly7 example of a symptomatic condition in which history taking is central to management is chronic stable angina pectoris8, the number one cause of death in the entire Western World9. In addition to its mortality burden, angina is associated with serious morbidity such as myocardial infarction and heart failure. Optimal methods of identifying stable angina patients remain unclear; many patients with typical symptoms are not diagnosed as angina10 and age, sex, and ethnicity may influence physician’s recommendations for diagnostic testing such as coronary angiography and the resulting ICD codes11-14. Our preliminary findings indicate that Natural Language Processing (NLP) of the free text of the EMR identifies patients with chronic angina pectoris15 and heart failure15 that were missed by traditional diagnostic coding approaches. NLP is a range of computational techniques aimed at extracting useful information from unstructured text. In the context of the EMR, NLP offers a promising method to automate the collection of a richer set of information for quality improvement and safety that would otherwise require manual chart abstraction. Early identification of patients at risk for myocardial infarction is critical to its prevention and improved prognosis16-18 and is possible using patient-reportable information19. Since the diagnosis of angina pectoris relies on the presentation of the symptoms that is conveyed by the patient to the physician20, the ambiguous nature of verbal communication as well as the nature of coronary artery disease presenting itself differently in patients of different race and gender can make the diagnosis challenging. These challenges can lead to inconsistency and incompleteness in both the diagnosis and the information recorded in the EMR21. Currently, the nature of the processes that lead to the creation of the EMR is poorly understood; however, prior research indicates that these processes have critical implications for clinical care and may have a significant impact on patient outcomes. The primary objective of the current study is to determine if there is disagreement between patient-reported symptoms of chest pain, dyspnea and cough and the documentation of these symptoms by care providers in the EMR. While in this study we focus on heart disease, which constitutes one of the top national health care priority areas22, our findings have significant implications for any condition whose diagnosis and treatment relies on verbal presentation of symptoms.
How to manage stress: Lessons from an intracellular pathogen.

Many studies aimed at advancing our understanding of the mechanisms that promote survival of bacterial pathogens focus on deciphering the means by which these well-adapted microbes manipulate host ...
The Double-Edged Sword: Guanxi and Science Ethics in Academic Physics in the People’s Republic of China

As China continues to open up to the transnational circulation of labor, ideas, technology and capital under globalization, we must wonder: will Chinese society’s more cosmopolitan and transnationa...
Automating SDN Composition: A Database Perspective

To keep up with the complexity of SDN management, it is generally agreed that modular development of the controller software plays a key role. However, forming a correct modular composition is still a challenging task. An operator needs to understand the module internals and to manually wire inter-module interactions that often depend on the underlying packets. In contrast, this poster presents a novel database approach towards automatic, packet-agnostic composition out of black-box modules.
Work and nonwork satisfaction, intention to leave and turnover of mental health administrators.

This article has discussed job satisfaction, nonwork satisfaction, intention to leave community and organization, and turnover. The turnover rate for mental health administrators has been determined and all 314 administrators sampled will be longitudinally followed. This will aid in understanding not only turnover but also the career paths of these managers.
Fabricating multi-material nanofabrics using rotary jet spinning

Multi-material nanofiber composites have recently attracted attention, as they introduce new opportunities for regulating mechanical, electrical, and biological properties. Here we present a novel manufacturing method for multimaterial composite nanofabrics. Using infrared spectroscopy and tensile testing, we compare the mechanical and structural properties of multi-material fabrics and single fiber blends. We find that multi-material nylon/polyurethane fabrics are tougher than their pure components, and that mechanical properties of composite nanofabrics can be tuned by varying the polymer ratio and composition. The capability of this system to fabricate nanotextiles using orthogonal solvents is also demonstrated.
Review: Des Fitzgerald, Tracing Autism; Uncertainty, Ambiguity, and the Affective Labor of Neuroscience

Book Reivew of Tracing Autism; Uncertainty, Ambiguity, and the Affective Labor of Neuroscience by Des Fitzgerald
Disruption prediction investigations using Machine Learning tools on DIII-D and Alcator C-Mod

Using data-driven methodology, we exploit the time series of relevant plasma parameters for a large set of disrupted and non-disrupted discharges to develop a classification algorithm for detecting disruptive phases in shots that eventually disrupt. Comparing the same methodology on different devices is crucial in order to have information on the portability of the developed algorithm and the possible extrapolation to ITER. Therefore, we use data from two very different tokamaks, DIII-D and Alcator C-Mod. We focus on a subset of disruption predictors, most of which are dimensionless and/or machine-independent parameters, coming from both plasma diagnostics and equilibrium reconstructions, such as the normalized plasma internal inductance l i and the n = 1 mode amplitude normalized to the toroidal magnetic field. Using such dimensionless indicators facilitates a more direct comparison between DIII-D and C-Mod. We then choose a shallow Machine Learning technique, called Random Forests, to explore the databases available for the two devices. We show results from the classification task, where we introduce a time dependency through the definition of class labels on the basis of the elapsed time before the disruption (i.e. 'far from a disruption' and 'close to a disruption'). The performances of the different Random Forest classifiers are discussed in terms of several metrics, by showing the number of successfully detected samples, as well as the misclassifications. The overall model accuracies are above 97% when identifying a 'far from disruption' and a 'disruptive' phase for disrupted discharges. Nevertheless, the Forests are intrinsically different in their capability of predicting a disruptive behavior, with C-Mod predictions comparable to random guesses. Indeed, we show that C-Mod recall index, i.e. the sensitivity to a disruptive behavior, is as low as 0.47, while DIII-D recall is ~0.72. The portability of the developed algorithm is also tested across the two devices, by using DIII-D data for training the forests and C-Mod for testing and vice versa.
Arturo Rosenblueth and Wiener’s Work in Physiology

The year 1933, that witnessed the untimely death of R. E. A. C. Paley, also saw Wiener’s introduction to Dr. Arturo Rosenblueth, a Mexican physiologist, of Hungarian descent, trained at the Sorbonne and working with Dr. Walter Cannon of the Harvard Medical School. Wiener became a regular participant in an interdisciplinary seminar on scientific method which Rosenblueth was conducting at the school, the “Philosophy of Science Club”. The role of this seminar in the genesis of cybernetics and in Wiener’s life can hardly be exaggerated. The seminar ended in 1944 when Rosenblueth left for Mexico to become the Head of the Department of Physiology of the new National Institute of Cardiology. But Rosenblueth’s contacts with Wiener lasted much longer, and he was to become one of Wiener’s closest collaborators, and also one with whom Wiener had the warmest relationship. Wiener’s description of Rosenblueth reads: He had not started as a scientist but as a musician, and had earned his living for some time by playing classical piano music in a Mexico City restaurant. Arturo is also a first-rate chess player and a superb bridge player, so good that in neither of these games does he allow me to play with him He is a great enthusiast for the climate and arts of his native land… He is a hard worker, and he makes the greatest demands on the sincerity and industry of those about him, demands which are only exceeded by those he makes upon himself. [56g, p. 278]
Extraction of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) in Natural Waters for Isotopic Analyses

Publisher Summary This chapter provides a guide for selecting an appropriate technique for dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) extraction for isotopic analysis. The main focus is on extraction techniques routinely used for DIC isotopic analyses. DIC consists of CO 2(aq) , H 2 CO 3 , HCO 3 − , and CO 3 2− . Its concentration in natural waters is governed by the interaction of various carbon species. In terms of the extraction procedure, ease of sampling and reliability or reproducibility of the DIC extraction procedure is paramount. The vacutainer gas evolution technique is versatile, requires less technical sophistication and provides accurate DIC concentration. The precipitation and gas evolution techniques provide accurate determinations of the 13 C of DIC. Accurate determinations of DIC concentration are possible with the precipitation and gas evolution technique. These techniques are less attractive due to the elaborate procedure and precautions needed to obtain accurate results. In addition, the large volumes of water sample used in current techniques make it less attractive for analyses involving smaller volumes of water extracted from sediment cores. The main advantage of the techniques is that sufficient CO 2 can be produced for both conventional and AMS 14- C determinations.
Design for fatigue crack growth resistance in aluminum alloys

Abstract: The chapter discusses integration of fundamental knowledge of materials science with fracture mechanics to aid in the optimization of existing aluminum alloys and the development of new alloys for improved fatigue and fatigue crack growth (FCG) resistance in structural applications. The chapter also addresses the importance of experimental, analytical and computational tools for accurate fatigue life predictions and design of fatigue critical structural components. Specifically, issues related to small crack growth and residual stress effects, critical parameters controlling FCG, FCG mechanisms at the microstructure scale of various cast and wrought aluminum alloys, and design considerations will be reviewed and discussed.
Individual risk prediction using data beyond the medical clinic.

[See related article at [www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.170914][2]][2] KEY POINTS At their cores, the disciplines of public health and clinical medicine are both based on decisions. A rational approach to decision-making relies on weighing the predicted benefits and risks of one alternative
What Is Academic Plagiarism

This chapter defends a fourfold heuristic for determining when academic plagiarism has occurred. Drawing from contemporary literature on research integrity, I propose that academic plagiarism has been committed when there is: (1) a non-trivial appropriation of words, images, or formulas, (2) with inadequate credit, (3) that generates an appearance of original authorship, (4) in a discrete item belonging to the scholarly record. This approach is sufficiently general to include a wide range of text manipulations, and yet it is sufficiently narrow to express to the particularities of plagiarism in the context of published research findings. In defending this heuristic, I argue that intent is not required for academic plagiarism, and I propose that academic plagiarism should be treated as a strict-liability offense. The presence or absence of a guilty mind or mens rea is irrelevant to the need to correct the scholarly record when publications themselves are deficient. Intent may be an important element to be considered by institutions that have the role of investigating and punishing wrongdoers for scientific misconduct, but intent should be considered immaterial by members of the research community who have the privilege and responsibility of maintaining the reliability of publications for the world of learning. Too often the role of correcting the scholarly record is conflated with the role of investigating and issuing punishments for research misconduct, but the two are quite different. The chapter also considers the topic of duplicate or redundant publication (often called “self-plagiarism”), and it distinguishes academic plagiarism from copyright violation.
Comparison of three oral contrast preparations for magnetic resonance enterography in pediatric patients with known or suspected Crohn disease: a prospective randomized trial.

Oral contrast preparation is fundamental to ensuring diagnostic examination quality for magnetic resonance enterography (MRE), yet little is known about the relative palatability and tolerability of various oral contrast agents in pediatric patients with known or suspected inflammatory bowel disease. We prospectively compared three MRE oral preparations in pediatric patients with known or suspected Crohn disease with respect to patient-reported tolerability and radiologist-determined small-bowel distension and opacification. Seventy-five pediatric patients (mean age 14.8 years, 55% female) with known or suspected Crohn disease referred for MRE were randomized to an oral preparation with a sugar alcohol-based flavored beverage (Breeza), polyethylene glycol preparation (MiraLAX), or low-concentration barium sulfate suspension (VoLumen). Patients were instructed to consume oral contrast agent (using a weight-based protocol) beginning 60 min prior to MRE imaging. Following MRE, patients completed a questionnaire regarding their oral preparation solution including: taste (1–5 scale), feeling of well-being (1–5 scale) and willingness to consume again (yes/no). Two radiologists reviewed all MRE exams and rated exams for global features (active disease, overall small-bowel distention [1–4 scale]) and features specific to individual small-bowel segments (extent of distention, maximal luminal diameter, opacification, and susceptibility artifact). Statistical methods included one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey honest difference and Fisher exact tests. The overall rate of completion of the entire prescribed contrast volume was 53% (40/75), with a significantly higher rate of completion for MiraLAX than for VoLumen (70% vs. 30%, P=0.007). Crossover to a different preparation occurred in nine patients (12%) and was significantly more frequent when the initial preparation was VoLumen versus MiraLAX (29% vs. 0%, P=0.005). Mean subjective taste ratings for both MiraLAX (3.4, P<0.0001) and Breeza (2.8, P=0.006) were superior to those of VoLumen (1.9), which persisted in the subset of patients with MRE evidence of active Crohn disease. Patients who consumed MiraLAX were more likely to be willing to drink it again compared to those consuming VoLumen (82% vs. 46%, P=0.009). Overall small-bowel distention and bowel-segment-specific metrics (distention, maximal diameter, opacification and susceptibility) did not significantly differ among groups. In pediatric patients with known or suspected Crohn disease, MiraLAX and Breeza were rated as more palatable than VoLumen, and all three preparations achieved a similar degree of small-bowel distension and opacification on MRE. Imaging centers performing MRE should stock multiple oral contrast preparations because a sizable proportion of children require more than one agent to ingest the requisite oral contrast volume.
Attribute substitution and stereotypes about the online Arab public sphere: Predictors of concerns about Internet surveillance in five Arab countries:

This study examined concerns about Internet surveillance among Internet users in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Lebanon, Qatar, and the UAE (N = 4160). Despite common stereotypes about how variables like g...
“If you stop playing you get old”: investigating reflections of play in older adults

Research shows various benefits of play in terms of children’s development. However, very little investigation has explored play from a lifespan perspective, linking early play experiences to older...
Perceived access to resources and young children's fairness judgments.

Abstract This study examined how young children’s (N = 101, Mage = 4.14 years, SD = 0.57) perceptions of their families’ access to resources affect their views on others’ use and distribution of familiar items. Using a simple measure involving stickers, children identified their families as either lower, higher, or in the middle in access to resources. Then, children evaluated a scenario in which an individual took crayons from one person and gave them to another in order to establish equality. Children who saw themselves as higher in access to resources determined that this was “not okay” (ownership took priority). By contrast, children who saw themselves as lower in access to resources or in the middle did not consistently prioritize equality or ownership. Thus, not only did young children think about how much or how little their families had, but these perceptions also played a role in their reasoning about the fair treatment of others.
Medication Use for the Risk Reduction of Primary Breast Cancer in Women: Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force

Importance Medications to reduce risk of breast cancer are effective for women at increased risk but also cause adverse effects. Objective To update the 2013 US Preventive Services Task Force systematic review on medications to reduce risk of primary (first diagnosis) invasive breast cancer in women. Data Sources Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Database of Systematic Reviews, EMBASE, and MEDLINE (January 1, 2013, to February 1, 2019); manual review of reference lists. Study Selection Discriminatory accuracy studies of breast cancer risk assessment methods; randomized clinical trials of tamoxifen, raloxifene, and aromatase inhibitors for primary breast cancer prevention; studies of medication adverse effects. Data Extraction and Synthesis Investigators abstracted data on methods, participant characteristics, eligibility criteria, outcome ascertainment, and follow-up. Results of individual trials were combined by using a profile likelihood random-effects model. Main Outcomes and Measures Probability of breast cancer in individuals (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]); incidence of breast cancer, fractures, thromboembolic events, coronary heart disease events, stroke, endometrial cancer, and cataracts; and mortality. Results A total of 46 studies (82 articles [>5 million participants]) were included. Eighteen risk assessment methods in 25 studies reported low accuracy in predicting the probability of breast cancer in individuals (AUC, 0.55-0.65). In placebo-controlled trials, tamoxifen (risk ratio [RR], 0.69 [95% CI, 0.59-0.84]; 4 trials [n = 28 421]), raloxifene (RR, 0.44 [95% CI, 0.24-0.80]; 2 trials [n = 17 806]), and the aromatase inhibitors exemestane and anastrozole (RR, 0.45 [95% CI, 0.26-0.70]; 2 trials [n = 8424]) were associated with a lower incidence of invasive breast cancer. Risk for invasive breast cancer was higher for raloxifene than tamoxifen in 1 trial after long-term follow-up (RR, 1.24 [95% CI, 1.05-1.47]; n = 19 747). Raloxifene was associated with lower risk for vertebral fractures (RR, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.53-0.73]; 2 trials [n = 16 929]) and tamoxifen was associated with lower risk for nonvertebral fractures (RR, 0.66 [95% CI, 0.45-0.98]; 1 trial [n = 13 388]) compared with placebo. Tamoxifen and raloxifene were associated with increased thromboembolic events compared with placebo; tamoxifen was associated with more events than raloxifene. Tamoxifen was associated with higher risk of endometrial cancer and cataracts compared with placebo. Symptomatic effects (eg, vasomotor, musculoskeletal) varied by medication. Conclusions and Relevance Tamoxifen, raloxifene, and aromatase inhibitors were associated with lower risk of primary invasive breast cancer in women but also were associated with adverse effects that differed between medications. Risk stratification methods to identify patients with increased breast cancer risk demonstrated low accuracy.
Stem Cells for Improving the Treatment of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Treatment options for neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism are currently limited. Antipsychotics used to treat schizophrenia are not effective for all patients, do not target all symptoms of the disease, and have serious adverse side effects. There are currently no FDA-approved drugs to treat the core symptoms of autism. In an effort to develop new and more effective treatment strategies, stem cell technologies have been used to reprogram adult somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, which can be differentiated into neuronal cells and even three-dimensional brain organoids. This new technology has the potential to elucidate the complex mechanisms that underlie neurodevelopmental disorders, offer more relevant platforms for drug discovery and personalized medicine, and may even be used to treat the disease.