cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Epilepsy in the African.

Idiopathic epilepsy is the most frequent form of epilepsy seen in the African in Mashonaland. Syphilis, hypertension and uraemia are uncommon causes, but cysticercosis is not rare. A family history of epilepsy is uncommonly given.
O23.1 Decreases in hiv prevalence in patients attending an inner-city emergency department over a decade correlate with trends in hcv but not hsv-2

Background The Johns Hopkins Hospital Emergency Department ((JHHED) has served as an observational window on the HIV-epidemic. We previously reported that HIV prevalence decreased among patients attending JHHED from 11.4% in 2003 to 5.6% in 2013 and incidence decreased from 0.99% in 2003 to 0.16%. This study sought to examine the potential contribution of changes in sexual and parenteral risk behaviour during this period by examining trends in HSV-2 and HCV infection in this population. Methods Identity unlinked-serosurveys were conducted in the adult JHHED in 2003, 2007, and 2013. Excess sera collected from 10,274 patients were tested for HSV-2 and HCV antibodies by the Focus HerpeSelect and Genedia HCV 3.0 ELISA. Results HSV-2 seroprevalence was 55.3% in 2003, 54.4% in 2007, and 50.0% in 2013 (p-trend = 0.296) and there were no significant changes when stratified by age group. HSV-2 seroprevalence among HIV positives also remained stable at 79.8% in 2003, 79.6% in 2007, and 78.3% in 2013 (p-trend = 0.660). In contrast, HCV seroprevalence declined steadily from 22.0% in 2003 to 13.8% in 2013. This was also consistent with a decrease in HCV seroprevalence among HIV positives: 59.6% in 2003, 53.6% in 2007, and 48.1% in 2013 (p-trend = 0.011). Black men had the highest change in HIV prevalence from 20.0% in 2003 to 9.9% in 2013, which correlated with changes in HCV seroprevalence in black men from 36.7% in 2003 to 22.1% in 2013. HSV-2 seroprevalence in black men remained stable between 2003 (53.3%) and 2013 (50.6%). Conclusions The decline of HIV prevalence and incidence in the JHHED population is not likely attributable to changes in sexual behaviour since HSV-2 age-based prevalence remained unchanged over 10 year period. Rather the declines in HIV may be due to reductions in parental transmission with the observed parallel declines in HCV prevalence. Disclosure of interest statement The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
The Next Step Forward Is to Take a Step Back.

Understanding the causes of diabetes is at the heart of most diabetes research. The field of causal inference has made dramatic advances in methodology that allows for causal inference from observational and not experimental data (1). One such methodological advancement is the use of genetic markers as instrumental variables, or so-called Mendelian randomization (MR) (2). MR relies on the laws governing genetic inheritance to gain insights into a modifiable risk factor’s causal effect on a disease through the use of genotype to address potential confounding or reverse causation. Three crucial assumptions are required for traditional MR analyses (3). They are that 1 ) the genetic markers must be associated with the risk factor, 2 ) the genetic markers are independent of factors that may confound the risk factor and disease, and 3 ) the genetic marker is independent of the disease conditional upon the risk factor and confounding factors. In this issue of Diabetes , Corbin et al. (4) use MR to explore the causal relationship between BMI and type 2 diabetes (T2D). A composite instrument was developed from 97 genetic variants identified in previous genome-wide association studies. Gene–BMI and gene–T2D associations taken from two independent samples were combined using three estimating approaches. Traditional MR analyses require assumptions, as specified in Fig. 1 A , …
Identifying Evidence-Based Educational Practices: Which Research Designs Provide Findings that Can Influence Social Change?

We conducted this conceptual study to determine if the Institute of Education Sciences/National Science Foundation pipeline of evidence guidelines could be applied as a protocol that researchers could follow in establishing evidence of effective instructional practices. To do this, we compared these guidelines, new drug development process, and our own research on major methodological designs and found that they show remarkable consistency in the process by which types of studies intended to answer different research questions build a body of evidence for practice, whether that practice is in the instructional environment or health care environment. However, none of the protocols offers a constellation of studies at each stage that would be essential for movement to the next stage or the indicators of quality for each type of study. The goal of this effort is to develop consensus in the educational research community about a pipeline of evidence protocol that provides educators with confidence that the instructional practices they employ have a high likelihood of success and will enable a positive impact on the student’s learning and, in the broader context, the student’s ability to contribute to society.
Right-Turn-on-Red Flow Profile Impactson Urban Street Capacity Analysis

The Highway Capacity Manual 2010 (HCM 2010) contains computational procedures for evaluating traffic operational efficiency of urban street segments. These procedures have been implemented within several commercial software packages and are likely used by thousands of engineers and planners across the United States. The procedures for urban street capacity analysis contain no logic for handling right turns on red (RTORs) or for handling special cases of RTORs such as shielded and free right turns. A new proposed RTOR modeling framework is described for urban streets in the HCM 2010. When significant upstream RTOR flows exist, the proposed logic is designed to generate more realistic flow profiles. Three types of experimental results are presented: they demonstrate the improved modeling accuracy of the proposed logic. First, it is shown that macroscopic flow profile shapes are now more visually sensible because they now illustrate RTOR flows moving at the appropriate times. Second, macroscopic flow profile...
Electrochemically Controlled Release of Ions from Polymers of Ions from Polymers

This work has been motivated by an interest in the application of organic chemistry and electrochemistry to biomedical science. It has grown from studies performed at Colorado State University and now the University of Minnesota on chemically modified electrodes. Following our initial discovery that electrode surfaces could be covalently modified, we turned some eleven years ago to modification of electrodes with polymers.1 This approach, which generally involves coating a metal or semiconductor electrode with a thin polymer film, has proven widely interesting to electrochemists.2 They have studied a variety of electrochemical phenomena which result when redox polymers are coated on electrodes. Applications to catalysis, solar energy conversion and sensors (among others) have been explored. Our interest over the past several years has been in using these polymer coated electrodes as devices to bind and release organic compounds, especially compounds of biomedical importance.
The HEXACO personality traits, cultural intelligence, and international student adjustment ☆

Abstract Cross-cultural adjustment is a challenge faced by sojourner groups around the world. Although associations between the Big Five personality traits and cross-cultural adjustment are well established, less is known about the six-factor HEXACO model of personality and adjustment. Moreover, recent research has considered whether individual differences in cultural intelligence (CQ) might supplant personality traits for predicting adjustment. The present study examined the HEXACO personality traits and four facets of CQ as predictors of cross-cultural adjustment for a sample of 355 international students attending university in the United States. A series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that several facets of CQ predicted incremental variance in students' cross-cultural adjustment over and above the HEXACO traits across all dimensions of adjustment. Conversely, several HEXACO traits predicted incremental variance in students' interaction and school-related adjustment over and above CQ. Cognitive CQ and motivational CQ demonstrated consistent criterion-related validities for predicting all facets of adjustment. Additionally, Extraversion was related to interaction adjustment, and Conscientiousness was related to school-related adjustment over and above students' standing on the facets of CQ. Rather than considering cultural intelligence and personality traits as in conflict, researchers should consider these characteristics as complementary yet distinct predictors of cross-cultural adjustment.
Fusing Search Results from Possible Alternative Queries

Data fusion has been shown to be a simple and effective way to improve retrieval results. Most existing data fusion methods combine ranked lists from different retrieval functions for a single given query—but in most real search settings, the diversity of retrieval functions required to achieve good fusion performance is not available. This paper presents a method for data fusion based on combining ranked lists from different queries that users could have entered for their information need, keeping the retrieval function fixed. We argue that if we can obtain a set of "possible queries" for an information need, we can achieve high effectiveness by fusing the rankings over the possible queries. In order to demonstrate effectiveness, we present experimental results on 5 different datasets covering tasks such as ad-hoc search, novelty and diversity search, and search in the presence of implicit user feedback. Our results show strong performances for our method, it is competitive with state-of-the-art methods on the same datasets, and in some cases outperforms them.
Parameter Estimation of a PEM Fuel Cell

Abstract All mathematical models contain parameters that must be determined so that the model can represent the behavior of the system accurately. In this work, the parameter estimation problem is cast in a nonlinear programming framework with SQP as the solution technique to solve the resulting constrained optimization problem. The approach is demonstrated on a proton-exchange-membrane fuel cell in two instances, when state variable information is available and in the more realistic case when only input-output data are measured.
Cost-effectiveness of intraoperative nerve monitoring in avoidance of bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy.

Background Intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) provides dynamic neural information and is recommended for high-risk thyroid surgery. In this analysis, the cost-effectiveness of IONM in preventing bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury was investigated. Methods A Markov chain model was constructed based on IONM use. The base-case patient was defined as a 40-year-old woman presenting with a 4·1-cm left-sided papillary thyroid cancer who developed RLN injury with loss of monitoring signal during planned bilateral thyroidectomy. It was hypothesized that, if the surgeon had used IONM, the RLN injury would have been detected and the operation would have been concluded as a thyroid lobectomy to avoid the risk of contralateral RLN injury. Cost in US dollars was converted to euros; probabilities and utility scores were identified from the literature and government resources. Length of follow-up was set as 20 years, and willingness-to-pay (WTP) as €38 000 (US $50 000) per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Results At the end of year 20, the not using IONM strategy accrued €163 995·40 (US $215 783·43) and an effectiveness of 14·15 QALYs, whereas use of the IONM strategy accrued €170 283·68 (US $224 057·48) and an effectiveness of 14·33 QALYs. The incremental cost–effectiveness ratio, comparing use versus no use of IONM, was €35 285·26 (US $46 427·97) per QALY, which is below the proposed WTP, indicating that IONM is the preferred and cost-effective management plan. A Monte Carlo simulation test that considered variability of the main study factors in a hypothetical sample of 10 000 patients showed IONM to be the preferred strategy in 85·8 per cent of the population. Conclusion Use of IONM is cost-effective in patients undergoing bilateral thyroid surgery.
Subdural recordings from an awake human brain for measuring current intensity during transcranial direct current stimulation

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an emerging method, used for non-invasively stimulating the brain in normal healthy subjects and in patients with neurological disorders. However, the pattern of the spatial distribution of the current intensity induced by tDCS is poorly understood. In this study, we directly measured the spatial characteristics of the current intensity induced by tDCS using an intracranial strip electrode array implanted over the motor cortex in patients with Parkinson's disease undergoing deep brain stimulation lead placement surgery. We used a bilateral stimulation configuration for the tDCS electrode placement and measured the amount of electric current passing through the contacts along the implanted strip electrode contacts. Our results showed significant changes of the current flow induced by the tDCS in some of the contacts during stimulation with respect to baseline activities. These results may provide vital information regarding the biophysical effects of tDCS stimulation and might be potentially useful for developing more effective stimulation strategies.
Possible Relation of Auditory Nerve Adaptation to Slow Improvement in Level Discrimination with Increasing Duration

ABSTRACT This paper examines how stimulus duration affects level discrimination (also called intensity discrimination) in a burst-comparison paradigm. First, the sensitivity, d', for a fixed level increment is measured as a function of burst duration. Results for three normal listeners are consistent with previous measurements of difference limens, ΔLDLs (−201og[(p+ΔpDL)/p], where p is sound pressure). They show that d' increases as a power function of duration up to a maximum duration of about 1 s. The exponent (i.e., the rate of increase) is about 0.3. This exponent is much less than that of 0.5 predicted by a signal-detection model using multiple observations of a stationary stochastic process. However, it can be predicted from auditory-nerve data, if adaptation is taken into account. In an attempt to reduce the effect of adaptation, ΔLDLs for trains of four and 16 10-ms tone bursts were measured as a function of interburst interval. Results for four normal listeners show that the ΔLDLs improve only slightly faster with increasing burst count than with increasing duration of a single burst. Although adaptation may play a role in explaining the effect of duration on level discrimination, effects of memory decay probably negated the advantage that should result from reducing adaptation.
Meta-analysis of treatment outcomes of posterior circulation non-saccular aneurysms by flow diverters

Introduction Non-saccular aneurysms of the posterior circulation are uncommon but highly dangerous lesions. Flow diverter stents have been demonstrated to be effective treatments of various anterior circulation aneurysms, particularly large and giant proximal internal carotid artery aneurysms. However, evidence regarding the treatment of non-saccular posterior circulation aneurysms with flow diverters is lacking. Methods A systematic literature review of the English language literature since 2007 was conducted using PubMed, MEDLINE, and Embase. Keywords and MeSH terms included flow diversion, flow diverter, pipeline, surpass, intracranial aneurysm, vertebrobasilar, and non-saccular. Case reports were excluded. Angiographic and clinical outcomes were pooled using a random effects meta-analysis. Results 13 retrospective non-comparative studies reporting 129 patients and 131 aneurysm treatments were included. The average number of flow diverters per aneurysm was 4.33. Immediate complete or near complete occlusion of the aneurysm occurred in 25% (95% CI 1% to 60%), and long term occlusion in 52% (29–76%). Periprocedural stroke occurred in 23% of cases. Good long term neurologic outcome (modified Rankin Scale score ≤2) was achieved in 51% (95% CI 31% to 71%). Overall mortality was 21% (95% CI 7% to 38%) and morbidity was 26% (12%–42%). Retreatment was required in 5% (95% CI 0% to 14%). Good neurologic outcome rate was higher in vertebral artery aneurysms (83%) than other locations (18–33%). Conclusions Flow diversion is a feasible and efficacious treatment for non-saccular aneurysms in the posterior circulation. However, the intervention carries a significant risk of periprocedural stroke, and is still associated with high overall mortality. Further studies are needed to identify significant treatment risk factors and optimize patient selection.
Introduction: The “Catholic Vote” in the USA

This chapter describes the evolution of the Catholic vote in the USA, with a special emphasis on the shift from solid Democratic to becoming the true “swing vote”. Although many analyses point out that the Catholic vote—about 22% of the national vote—generally reflects the overall popular vote in the USA, the 2016 election is distinctive in recent history in that Catholics went substantially against the national vote. Donald J. Trump won a majority of Catholic voters, whereas Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote. The analysis here explains what made the 2016 election different than recent election cycles for Catholic voters.
Mortality, Biodemography of

Biodemography is the study of the senescent process that occurs with aging. It focuses on the length of life, the length of healthy life, the limits to the lifespan, and the plasticity of the process.
Satisfaction and Sustainability

The Computer Society’s role in the advancement of computing is increasingly important in all areas of our lives. By promoting efficiencies, accessibility, environmental responsibility, innovations, and safety, CS members and volunteers continuously contribute to a bright global future. Also, the CS faces a number of serious challenges, and looks to members to help us implement changes and pave the way for a strong future.
Dialysis Access Steal Syndrome: The Severity Criteria Diagnosis with Arterial Doppler Examinations:

Patients with dialysis access steal phenomenon can present with pain, paresthesia, ulceration, and tissue loss of the digits. Some degree of steal is common, up to 80% of patients with a radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula have mild, asymptomatic arterial steal documented by a decreased digital blood pressure. Critical ischemia of the upper extremity is a rare condition compared with ischemia of the lower extremities. High-flow arteriovenous fistulas have a greater risk of steal than normal flow arteriovenous fistulas; however, combined with arteriosclerotic disease they may also lead to ischemia. There are several strategies to prevent arterial steal following hemodialysis access that should be used; preoperative testing to identify proximal arterial lesions, upper extremity vein mapping and sizing, Allen's test (radial artery patency), end-to-side arteriovenous anastomosis to decrease steal and distal venous hypertension, selective venous arterialization at the elbow with ligation of deep perforation br...
The Memorable Travel Experience and Its Reminiscence Functions

This research intends to augment the current literature on travel experience by examining the relationships between memorable travel experience and its reminiscence functions. It deploys a mixed me...
An empiric analysis of 5 counter measures against surgical site infections following spine surgery-a pragmatic approach and review of the literature.

Abstract BACKGROUND CONTEXT Surgical site infections (SSI) following spine surgery are debilitating complications to patients and costly to the healthcare system. PURPOSE Review the impact and cost effectiveness of 5 SSI prevention interventions on SSI rates in an orthopedic spine surgery practice at a major quaternary healthcare system over a 10-year period. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective observational study. PATIENT SAMPLE All of the surgical patients of the 5 spine surgeons in our department over a 10-year period were included in this study. OUTCOME MEASURES SSI rates per year, standardized infection ratios (SIR) for laminectomies and fusions during the most recent 3-year period, year of implementation, and frequency of use of the different interventions, cost of the techniques. METHODS The SSI prevention techniques described in this paper include application of intrawound vancomycin powder, wound irrigation with dilute betadine solution, preoperative chlorhexidine gluconate scrubs, preoperative screening with nasal swabbing, and decolonization of S. aureus, and perioperative antibiotic administration. Our institution's infection prevention and control data were analyzed for the yearly SSI rates for the orthopedic spine surgery department from 2006 to 2016. In addition, our orthopedic spine surgeons were polled to determine with what frequency and duration they have been using the different SSI prevention interventions. RESULTS SSI rates decreased from almost 6% per year the first year of observation to less than 2% per year in the final 6 years of this study. A SIR of less than 1.0 for each year was observed for laminectomies and fusions for the period from 2013 to 2016. All surgeons polled at our institution uniformly used perioperative antibiotics, Hibiclens scrub, and the nasal swab protocol since the implementation of these techniques. Some variability existed in the frequency and duration of betadine irrigation and application of vancomycin powder. A cost analysis demonstrated these methods to be nominal compared with the cost of treating a single SSI. CONCLUSIONS It is possible to reduce SSI rates in spine surgery with easy, safe, and cost-effective protocols, when implemented in a standardized manner.
Fokker—Planck Models of Multispecies Plasmas in Uniform Magnetic Fields

In this section we consider the collisional kinetic equations as derived in the paper of Rosenbluth et al (1957). We cast these velocity space equations in a form suitable for numerical solution and also consider additional terms representing time-varying forces, sources, and losses. We consider boundary conditions for a full velocity space and a loss cone domain in velocity space.
High-End analytics and data mining for sustainable competitive advantage

In the rapidly changing business environment, with global competition and maturing markets, competitive advantage is extremely important. Furthermore, in most industries product differentiation is no longer a decisive edge over competition. Thus, there is fierce competition to find, grow and keep loyal and profitable customers, optimize processes, adapt quickly to rapidly changing environments, and discover actionable knowledge quickly as those are the only way to grow business and profitability. Transforming a product-centric organization into a customer-centric one to achieve the above objectives is another critical step. This talk will present vision, strategy, emerging technologies and analytics using which businesses can hope to obtain sustainable competitive advantage. The talk will also provide a synergistic perspective on strategy, organizational transformation, and technology enabled relationship management. Steps and strategies involved in a successful deployment of operational and analytical infrastructure along with a landscape of key business intelligence technologies will be presented. The talk will present many examples from targeted marketing, modern marketing and briefly discuss the future of marketing.
An Overview of Vertebrate Phylogeny

The first question in vertebrate biology is the basic one: who are the vertebrates and where did they come from. So we begin this book with a survey of vertebrate phylogeny, a complex history constructed by generations of naturalists, systematic biologists and paleontologists on the basis of the fauna surrounding us and the fossil record (Table 1.1).
Evaluating the total costs of cancer. The Northwestern University Costs of Cancer Program.

The Northwestern University Costs of Cancer Program consists of a series of pilot studies that address the costs of cancer care. The program is designed to serve as a template in preparation for undertaking a large-scale study of a nationally representative sample of cancer patients--i.e., in preparation for a cancer costs and services utilization study in the future. In this article, we outline the theoretical framework associated with a study of cancer costs and summarize findings from our ongoing pilot studies in this area.
Discussion of Beritashvili’s Paper

F. J. Cann, Institute for Mind, Drugs and Behavior, Department of Pharmacology, Loyola University Medical Center: I want particularly to comment with regard to the conclusions of Prof. Beritashvili on the poor conditioning of amphibia as compared to fish, and on the lack of long term memory in amphibia, as some of our own work is not necessarily in agreement with these conclusions, and as it is useful to review also the pertinent work of other investigators. It is also important to point out some of the possible reasons for this disagreement.
Arterial Wall Properties in Men and Women: Hemodynamic Analysis and Clinical Implications

The properties of arterial walls are dictated by their underlying structure, which is responsible for the adequate perfusion of conduit branching arteries and their vascular beds. Beginning with the mechanobiology of arteries in terms of their composition and individual contributions to overall viscoelastic behavior in men and women, pressure–flow relations are analyzed and noted in terms of sex differences. Hemodynamic function in terms of indices of vascular stiffness—such as pressure–strain elastic modulus, pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, and cardio–ankle vascular index—are evaluated. They all showed differences between the sexes, and these differences also were shown among people of different cultures. Recent studies also showed, in heart failure patients, a comparatively greater increase in peripheral resistance and a greater decreased arterial compliance in women. Wave separation into forward and reflected waves allows elucidation of mechanical and drug-treated similarities and differences in induced hypertension. This may provide insight into treatment strategy in terms of improving mechanobiology and designing drug therapy for the sexes. Finally, modeling studies are useful in identifying how arterial compliance and its pressure dependence can be better used in differentiating aging- and hypertension-induced changes that differentially affect the sexes.
Singing the Blues: Reflections on African American Men, the Emergence of Melancholic Selves, and the Search for Transformational Objects

This article examines the texts of four African American men—Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, and Ta-Nehisi Coates—arguing that each text reflects, in part, the emergence of a melancholic self. This melancholic self arises as a result of internalizing the ubiquitous negative projections that come from social, political, economic, and cultural institutions or disciplinary regimes and the attending narratives that support, foster, and enforce racist beliefs (e.g., White superiority, Black inferiority). The internalization of negative projections, I contend, means that some Black children struggle to discover a positive sense of self in the public realm, and it is this ongoing encounter that gives rise to a melancholic faith wherein the child can expect not fidelity, trust, and hope vis-a-vis the public realm but rather betrayal, distrust, and futility vis-a-vis the possibility of the world ever presenting to him a positive self. In these texts, each man also identifies a moment in his early life when he became conscious of racist projections and the accompanying humiliations, as well as of the presence and power of his melancholic self. At the same time, this awareness, which is the first step in redemptive resistance, initiates a search for a transformational “object” that will liberate him from being in bondage to the melancholic self and its accompanying racial logic and faith, which, in turn, transforms his agency.
The effects of referees on the final score in football

This paper examines whether there exists favouritism by individual referees in favour of the home team in Argentina’s first division football (soccer) league. We study 936 matches between 2008 and 2010, and run both ordinary least squares (OLS) and two-stage least squares (2-SLS) specifications. Using goal differential between the home and away teams as the dependent variable, we find that individual referees have a statistically significant effect on the score of the game, even after controlling for referee actions such as yellow and red cards, penalties awarded, and other factors such as team quality, crowd size, and crowd composition. Crowd size and composition do not seem to affect the outcome of the game.
Does widowhood affect cognitive function among Chinese older adults

There is growing evidence from Western countries that widowhood may affect cognitive health in later life. However, little is known about whether widowhood is associated with cognitive health in Eastern Asian countries such as China and what factors may explain the association between widowhood and cognitive health. We add to this line of research by investigating the effect of widowhood on 2-year change in cognitive function among Chinese adults ages 55 and older from 2011 to 2013, using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Cognitive function was measured by episodic memory and mental intactness (i.e., attention and time orientation). Our results showed that Chinese older adults who were continually widowed at both waves had significantly lower episodic memory scores at Wave 2 than their continually married counterparts, controlling for episodic memory at Wave 1, age, gender, education, and other sociodemographic variables. This suggests that the continually widowed experienced greater decline in episodic memory than the continually married over the 2-year period. After further controlling for economic resources, health, and social engagement, the difference in memory decline between the continually widowed and the continually married barely changed. The effect of widowhood on memory decline was similar for men and women. However, the continually widowed were not significantly different from the continually married in the decline of mental intactness. In addition, newly widowed adults were not significantly different from the continually married in the change of episodic memory and mental intactness. We conclude that staying widowed for 2 years or more may be an independent risk factor for episodic memory decline in China. More research is needed to investigate the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying the association between widowhood and memory decline.
Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test performance validity indices in a VA Polytrauma sample.

Objective: Performance validity assessment is a crucial component of any neuropsychological evaluation, particularly in settings where potential exaggeration of complaints and deficits is heightene...
Vibrationally resolved photoelectron spectrum of ZnBr

Abstract Determination of the vibrational frequency of the ZnBr radical has been elusive, having previously been reported as 220 cm−1 and 318 cm−1 by different investigators. Recently, Burton and Ziurys reported a rotational spectrum of ZnBr from which they were able to estimate a harmonic frequency of 284 cm−1 and an anharmonicity of 1.0 cm−1. In this communication, we report a direct measurement of the vibrational spacing of ZnBr by anion photoelectron spectroscopy of ZnBr−. We determine the neutral vibrational frequency to be 280 ± 5 cm−1 (ωexe = 1.5 ± 0.5 cm−1) and the anion vibrational frequency to be 120 ± 10 cm−1. In addition, we measure the electron affinity of the neutral radical to be 2.45 ± 0.06 eV, and determine that the bond dissociation energy of the anion is lower than that of the neutral by 0.91 ± 0.06 eV.
Electrophysiology of touch sensitive neurons in a mollusc

1. The somata of first-order tactile sensory neurons in the surf clam are located in the central nervous system. 2. Some of these neurons show extensive bilateral branching, and the cell bodies may be multipolar structures. 3. The peripheral receptive fields of the tactile sensory neurons can be either limited to a unique region or may consist of several discrete regions on either side of the animal. 4. Central interaction amoung the different sensory neurons occurs and seems to include a weak electrical coupling as well as inhibitory feedback. In some cases the latter is sufficiently strong to prevent the invasion of a cell body by an orthodromic impulse.
Electrically Tunable Microwave Absorber Based on Discrete Plasma-Shells

This paper presents the feasibility of deploying a large-scale tunable absorber based on discrete plasma-shells. The proposed conductor-backed absorber is realized by integrating ceramic gas-encapsulating chambers (plasma-shells) and a closely coupled lossy resonant layer that also serves as a biasing electrode to sustain the plasma. Two topologies comprising lossy inductive or capacitive layers are investigated to realize tunable microwave absorbers. The plasma is sustained by a sinusoidal radio frequency (RF) voltage source coupled directly through the walls of the plasma-shells. These active frequency-selective absorbers are analyzed using a transmission line approach to provide the working principle and its frequency tuning capability. By varying the voltage of the sustainer, the plasma can be modeled as a lossy, variable, frequency-dependent inductor, providing a dynamic tuning response of the absorption spectral band. A prototype plasma-tuned absorber is fabricated and measured in a free space environment to validate the concept. A good agreement between the equivalent circuit model, full-wave electromagnetic simulation, and the measurement results is obtained.
Engineering Tumor-Targeting Nanoparticles as Vehicles for Precision Nanomedicine

As a nascent and emerging field that holds great potential for precision oncology, nanotechnology has been envisioned to improve drug delivery and imaging capabilities through precise and efficient tumor targeting, safely sparing healthy normal tissue. In the clinic, nanoparticle formulations such as the first-generation Abraxane® in breast cancer, Doxil® for sarcoma, and Onivyde® for metastatic pancreatic cancer, have shown advancement in drug delivery while improving safety profiles. However, effective accumulation of nanoparticles at the tumor site is sub-optimal due to biological barriers that must be overcome. Nanoparticle delivery and retention can be altered through systematic design considerations in order to enhance passive accumulation or active targeting to the tumor site. In tumor niches where passive targeting is possible, modifications in the size and charge of nanoparticles play a role in their tissue accumulation. For niches in which active targeting is required, precision oncology research has identified targetable biomarkers, with which nanoparticle design can be altered through bioconjugation using antibodies, peptides, or small molecule agonists and antagonists. This review is structured to provide a better understanding of nanoparticle engineering design principles with emphasis on overcoming tumor-specific biological barriers.
Effect Of Shear Stress On Microgilia (BV2) Single Cell In A Microfluidic Platform-3D Modeling Under Fluid Flow Stimulation

A 3D numerical model is developed to analyze the force distribution over a single BV2 cell, when the cell is under biomechanical stress within a microfluidic platform. The simulation can predict the shear stress and deformation, respectively, over the cell surface and nucleus under hydrodynamic forces. The two main factors for cellular deformation-pressure and viscous forces were studies. It is found that, in the front-half of the cell facing the flow, pressure forces are greater than the viscous forces. Finally, the cellular deformation and shear stress changes are studied at two conditions; when the BV2 cell is completely- and partly- attached to the substrate. It is observed that the shear stress over the cell increases, when the contact of the cell with the substrate decreases.
Layered two-dimensional selenides and tellurides grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract Due to their extraordinary optical and electronic character at low-dimensionality, two-dimensional (2D) layered selenides and tellurides are an actively-pursued area both in fundamental research and in applications. Recently non-equilibrium growth of 2D layered materials using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has attracted widespread attention in the scientific community for realizing highly scaled technologies involving both novel device structures and new physics. Here we summarized our recent work on MBE growth of 2D layered selenides and tellurides, as well as their heterostructures, along with their characterization. This chapter also points out a number of challenges lying ahead in this field, and provides our viewpoint on what the future holds for MBE-grown 2D layered selenides and tellurides.
Breast Reconstruction Using the Muscle Sparing Lattisimus Dorsi Flap with Alloplastic Devices

The subscapular artery system is the reconstructive warehouse of the back. The thoracodorsal artery, a branch of the subscapular artery, provides pedicled flaps with a wide range of applications, including breast reconstruction [1], upper extremity and trunk reconstruction [2], and physiologic lymphedema operations. With microvascular anastomosis, it can provide a myocutaneous free flap [4] or a chimeric flap for bony and cutaneous defects [5]
Topological adhesion. I. Rapid and strong topohesives

Abstract Topological adhesion, or topohesion for brevity, links two polymer networks, to be called adherends, even when the adherend networks carry no functional groups for chemical coupling. Uncrosslinked polymers, called stitch polymers, are spread between the two adherends. In response to a trigger, the stitch polymers form a stitch network in topological entanglement with both adherend networks. It is commonly believed that topohesion always takes a long time, but this is a misconceived myth. In principle, two adherends topohere strongly even when the stitch network entangles with each adherend network by a single polymer mesh size. The shallowness of this requirement dictates that topohesion is rate-limited by the gelation of the stitch network, not by the diffusion of the stitch polymers into the adherend networks. We illustrate this concept using two pieces of polyacrylamide hydrogels as adherends, an aqueous solution of cellulose as stitch polymers, and a change in the pH in the cellulose solution as a trigger. By varying the thickness of the cellulose solution, the time to topohere is tunable from seconds to hours. For a solution of thickness of 50 microns adhesion energy of 50 Jm−2 is attained in 60 s. These experimental findings dispel the myth, and shed light on the times to topohere reported in the literature. The art and science of topohesion provide fertile grounds for fundamental discovery and practical invention to enable unusual applications.
Dynamics and control of a thermally self-sustaining energy storage system using integrated solid oxide cells for an islanded building

Abstract A solid oxide cell-based energy system is proposed for a solar-powered stand-alone building. The system is comprised of a 5 kWel solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), a 9.5 kWel solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC), and the required balance of plant. The SOFC supplies: 1- building demand in the absence of sufficient solar power, 2- heat for SOEC in endothermic and standby modes. Thermal integration of SOFC and SOEC is implemented through a network of heat exchangers, combined with set of control algorithms. Two control strategies were implemented to actuate the SOFC in response to endothermic heat demands of SOEC by manipulating: 1- electric power, 2- fuel utilization. The results of dynamic simulation of system for two scenarios (sunny day and cloudy day) showed successful compliance of temperature constraints with both methods. Manipulation of fuel utilization, however, resulted in better system performance in terms of efficiency and H2 balance.
Properties of Mine Tailings for Static Liquefaction Assessment

Static liquefaction has been associated with numerous recent failures of tailings storage facilities (TSFs) around the world (e.g., the 2019 Brumadinho failure). These failures lead to devastating ...
Preparing Patients with Early Stage Prostate Cancer to Participate in Clinical Appointments Using a Shared Decision Making Training Video.

BackgroundRates of shared decision making (SDM) are relatively low in early stage prostate cancer decisions, as patients’ values are not well integrated into a preference-sensitive treatment decisi...
CVLT-3 response bias as an indicator of performance validity in a litigating population.

This study examined the efficacy of CVLT-3 response bias (i.e., parametric and nonparametric response bias) indices in differentiating between a clinical sample with traumatic brain injury and a litigating sample with poor performance validity. Participants included 106 individuals, divided into two groups: clinical group with TBI (n = 56) and a litigating group who demonstrated inadequate performance validity (n = 50), as measured by failure on at least two performance validity tests. Archival CVLT-II data was rescored utilizing the CVLT-3 scoring and normative data. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic discriminability of the two response bias indices. Both parametric and nonparametric bias indices showed acceptable levels of diagnostic discrimination: AUC = .791 for parametric response bias and AUC = .753 for nonparametric response bias. Parametric response bias' discrimination was statistically superior to the nonparametric responses bias' discrimination. The CVLT-3 response bias score demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity when differentiating between individuals in a clinical sample with TBI and individuals in litigation who demonstrated inadequate performance validity.
An Equilibrium Model of Informed Trading and Portfolio Rebalancing

A key intuition of standard rational expectations models is that private information about future payoffs can by itself not generate trading. Trading is only possible if there is an additional motive for trading such as for example liquidity trading. In this paper I show how this misleading intuition results from an assumption that all of these models have in common: investors have negative exponential (CARA) utility functions. I develop a rational expectations equilibrium where uninformed investors are willing to trade with informed investors even though they know that they trade with someone who possesses superior information.
Experimental investigations of floating-gate circuits for /spl Delta/ - /spl Sigma/ modulators

In this paper we present our initial experimental measurements oil floating-gate structures in /spl Delta/-/spl Sigma/ Analog-to-Digital converters. We used floating-gate structures configured as e-pots as part of the modulator loop to provide convenient, and accurate programmable on-chip reference voltages. We use these e-pot outputs as tunable 1-bit DAC coefficients, which could be coupled with the ability to vary integrator gains. This approach is the first application of programmable floating-gate circuits towards /spl Delta/-/spl Sigma/ modulators. We see tunable coefficients allowing a designer to realize within limit suitable noise shaping functions, and achieve higher SNR. This approach results in a design of a /spl Delta/-/spl Sigma/ ADC that is relatively tolerant to fabrication mismatches. As a result, this approach may improve loop stability and dynamic range of an ADC, particularly for higher order modulators. Finally, using multiple programmable coefficients for several on-chip A DCs results in immense benefits when building multi-channel, higher order modulators. We have fabricated a single loop 1-bit /spl Delta/-/spl Sigma/ modulator that is scalable to 8th order, to test these hypotheses. Experimental measurements were obtained from ICs fabricated in 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS process available through MOSIS. We use 16 e-pots in the ADC to implement the reference voltages for an 8th order modulator The e-pots are implemented as a regular array structure. The chip operates from a single 5 V supply.
GaN FET based CubeSat Electrical Power System

This paper deals with the development of high efficiency, compact and flexible Electrical Power System (EPS) for a Cube Satellite (CubeSat). The EPS is responsible for harnessing power from solar panels, battery charging and multi-domain voltage output regulation within the CubeSat. This work builds upon the results and learnings obtained from an EPS which uses Silicon MOSFETs. The hardware and software aspects of the development of such photovoltaic battery based power management systems are examined. The introduction of digital controller provides flexibility and intelligence but also introduces controller design challenges with simultaneous execution of multiple control loops. The EPS behaves like a standalone photo-voltaic battery charging system that harnesses solar energy to charge the battery banks. This entails the development of maximum power point tracking techniques as well as battery charging methods such as constant-current/constant-voltage charging. A dual loop control methodology with output current control is implemented to regulate the output current when charging the battery. This new EPS uses GaN FETs with an aim to increase efficiency and have all the functionalities of its silicon counterpart in smaller dimensions.
The Real Effects of Stock Market Mispricing at the Aggregate: Theory and Empirical Evidence

In this paper we investigate whether stock market overpricing leads to aggregate (real) inefficiencies. We first investigate a standard dynamic contracting model of investment subject to financing constraints. We show that stock market mispricing will have two robust effects on welfare: on the one hand it will distort investment decisions and lead to inefficiencies. On the other hand it will alleviate underinvestment problems and allow some efficient projects to be undertaken. We then turn to the data and investigate which of the two effects dominates at the aggregate. By using proxies for investor sentiment within a vector autoregression (VAR) we find that positive shocks to sentiment boost (real) investment while reducing aggregate profits over the long run, all else equal. We interpret this as evidence that mispricing causes more inefficiencies than it corrects.
Inhibition of Aflatoxin Production and Tentative Identification of an Aflatoxin Intermediate “Versiconal Acetate” from Treatment with Dichlorvos

In general, aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus was greatly reduced in vitro in the presence of the insecticide dichlorvos. Reduction in yield of the toxins was accompanied by the apperance of a previously unidentified orange pigment. Spectral analyses of the pigment and of its methylated and acetylated derivatives indicated the compound to be versiconal acetate (IV). The data suggest that IV is an intermediate in the metabolic cycle that may terminate in the production of aflatoxin or of the versicolorins, or both. Dichlorvos apparently inhibits biosynthesis of the difurano ring structure common to the aflatoxins and the versicolorins.