cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spin modulation and electrochemical behavior of a five-coordinate cobalt(III) salen complex

AbstractWe report the synthesis of a Co(III) complex with the five-coordinate salen-type ligand (N,N′-bis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzyliden)-1,7-diamino-4-methyl-4-azaheptane). This complex is stable in air with a trigonal bipyramidal geometry and we show spectroscopically and computationally that a high-spin triplet ground state is preferred. This spin state is readily modulated by introduction of an exogenous ligand (pyridine, acetonitrile) to yield a six-coordinate complex with low-spin ground state. The five-coordinate complex exhibits solvent- and ligand-dependent electrochemical behavior in solution for the CoII/III transition and undergoes a one-electron ligand oxidation to generate a phenoxyl radical species that is relatively stable in the absence of oxygen. We show that this phenoxyl radical species is a Class I mixed-valence compound that can undergo photoinduced inner-sphere charge transfer with the neighboring phenoxide. This process is mediated by the Co(III) center which acts as a bridg...
Making fraudulent transfer law more predictable

The methods that bankruptcy courts have traditionally used to adjudicate fraudulent transfer claims have at times led to inconsistent, unpredictable, and inadvertently biased outcomes. However, recent legal and financial innovations may aid bankruptcy courts in assessing fraudulent transfer claims in large business bankruptcies. These innovations have the potential to diminish the importance of experts, increase consistency and predictability in fraudulent transfer law, de-bias and simplify judicial decision-making, and reduce the cost of capital for ex-ante value-creating leveraging transactions while deterring imprudent excess leverage. Specifically, this chapter discusses the shift by bankruptcy courts toward market-implied probabilities of default and the growing sophistication of courts in applying these methods for purposes of solvency analysis. This new market-centered paradigm — coupled with recent innovations in the financial markets and finance theory — can enable fraudulent transfer law to more effectively achieve its historical policy objectives.Although this chapter focuses on fraudulent transfer law, its potential applications are much broader. Market-implied probabilities of default can assist courts in deciding any controversy that requires a judicial determination of corporate solvency, whether the controversy pertains to fraudulent transfer, preference, or corporate directors’ duties. Market-implied probabilities of default can be calculated from any debt instrument that is traded in a liquid and reasonably informed market and for which a yield to maturity can be calculated, whether the instrument is a credit default swap, a corporate bond, or a bank loan. The applications are diverse and the ramifications are potentially vast.This is a draft chapter that has been accepted for publication by Edward Elgar Publishing in the forthcoming Corporate Bankruptcy Handbook edited by Barry Adler due to be published in 2016.
Enhanced UV upconversion emission using plasmonic nanocavities

Strongly enhanced upconversion emission is experimentally demonstrated from an ensemble of β-NaYF 4 :Gd3+/Yb3+/Tm3+ @NaLuF 4 core-shell nanoparticles trapped in judiciously designed plasmonic nanocavities. Using cross-shape silver nanocavities, 170-fold enhancement is obtained at UV band around 345 nm.
Looking Back Ahead: When Status Conflicts Explode

The campaign of contentious performances in abolitionism heightened the conflict between competing rhetorics of slavery and hence drove forward the problematization of American slavery. Heterodoxic status imaginaries of race and gender promoted by the abolitionists were especially provocative and productive of pathos. Instigating moral panic among some southerners and stirring their overreactionary countermobilization was abolitionist status claimsmaking with regard to race, gender, region, as well as with regard to the status of slaveowners, the enslaved, and northern advocates of antislavery. Such contentious performances of race and gender by abolitionist protest rhetoric precipitated, mediated, and amplified the national conflict over slavery. The chapter sketches out how the moral emotions mattered historically for the long-term success of abolitionism in accomplishing the actual abolition of slavery.
Do hyperplastoid cell lines "differentiate themselves to death"?

Hayflick and Moorhead (1) clearly differentiated between two classes of mammalian cell lines: 1) Those typified by HeLa are apparently immortal and may serve as models for the study of neoplastic cell proliferation; we refer to them as “neoplastoid” 2) Those typified by WI-38 and by human skin fibroblast cultures eventually cease replicating and may be useful as models for the study of hyperplastic cellular proliferation or wound healing; consequently, we refer to them as “hyperplastoid.” Martin and Sprague (2) have recently tabulated some 21 parameters which have been claimed to differentiate between these two classes of cell lines. In mass cultures, the replicative life-span is currently among the most unambiguous differential parameters. Individual clones of either type of culture may cease proliferating, however, and it is this phenomenon which we refer to as “clonal senescence.” In the case of human diploid somatic cells, it is probable that some thousands of such clones have been followed in many different laboratories and to the best of our knowledge, all of them eventually stop growing, unless they are induced to undergo malignant transformation. Curiously, much less is known about the replicative life histories of individual clones and sub-clones of neoplastoid cells, even though they are comparatively easy to clone.
The interplay among locus of control, sub-clinical psychotic symptoms and psychological well-being in whites and ethnic minorities

An external locus of control has largely been associated with worse psychological well-being. In general, patients with schizophrenia demonstrate a more external locus of control compared to non-psychiatric populations. Prior research in schizophrenia also suggests that the relationship between greater psychotic symptoms and decreased psychological well-being is stronger for individuals who endorse a more external locus of control. This relationship has not been tested in a non-clinical population. In an ethnically diverse sample of 420 participants, this study found, in line with hypotheses, that a more external locus of control was negatively associated with psychological well-being. While sub-clinical psychotic symptoms were negatively associated with psychological well-being, locus of control did not moderate the overall relationship between sub-clinical psychosis and psychological well-being as expected. Secondary analyses examined the relationships between sub-clinical psychotic symptoms, locus of control and psychological well-being by ethnicity and suggested that ethnicity moderated the relationship between an external locus of control and decreased well-being. In other words, for minorities there was a relationship between greater external locus of control and decreased well-being, but not for Whites.
World Health Organization: Overhaul or Dismantle?

The authors reflect on whether the World Health Organization (WHO) can be reformed or if it needs to be dismantled as of 2016, and it mentions the history of United Nations agencies, the WHO's global public health leadership role, and the challenges that the WHO faces in relation to the World Bank, private foundations, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, & Malaria financing organization. WHO-related bureaucracy and organization inertia are assessed.
Optical encoding and multiplexing of PET coincidence events

We have developed a method of optically encoding position, energy, and arrival time of annihilation photon interactions in PET detectors with fast optical pulse (130 ps FWHM) trains, and demonstrated it in a two-channel coincidence setup. Two LSO-SiPM detector channels were optically encoded and multiplexed down to one optical fiber readout channel, and custom software was used to decode coincidences in the resulting pulse trains and calculate coincidence timing resolution. Timing resolution of ~168 ps FWHM was achieved using pulse height discrimination, indicating that optical encoding introduces little timing jitter, and showing promise for use in time-of-flight (ToF) PET imaging. We have demonstrated what is essentially two-channel optically multiplexed coincidence detection with only a single digitizer. This technique has the potential to eliminate the need for coincidence processing electronics for every detector channel, thereby reducing the complexity of high-resolution PET scanners with thousands of readout channels. It could eventually replace bulky electronic multiplexing and readout schemes with only a few optical fibers.
Pre-clinical and clinical studies on Hirulog: a potent and specific direct thrombin inhibitor.

Despite the use of heparin and aspirin, acute thrombotic events are frequent complications in a broad range of clinical settings including following surgery, during acute episodes of unstable angina, and during both mechanical and pharmacologic revascularization therapies. New antithrombotic drugs are required to interrupt thrombus formation in those clinical indications where heparin, aspirin, or their combination are of limited or insufficient benefit. The enzyme thrombin has emerged as a key target for the development of more effective antithrombotic drugs. Our studies have addressed the following questions: 1) Is direct antithrombin therapy more effective than heparin in prevention of thrombosis in animal models? 2) What is the basis for the improved actions of direct antithrombins? 3) Can a direct antithrombin be administered to humans at levels required to obtain optimal effects? Is it well-tolerated?
The Impacts of Service Provider Name, Ethnicity, and Menu Information on Perceived Authenticity and Behaviors

Tangible cues are critical indicators of customer perceptions of authenticity and behavioral intentions. Few studies examine multiple dimensions of authenticity, the influence of language in servic...
Readability of Healthcare Literature for Gastroparesis and Evaluation of Medical Terminology in Reading Difficulty

Background: Gastroparesis is a chronic condition that can be further enhanced with patient understanding. Patients’ education resources on the Internet have become increasingly important in improving healthcare literacy. We evaluated the readability of online resources for gastroparesis and the influence by medical terminology. Methods: Google searches were performed for “gastroparesis”, “gastroparesis patient education material” and “gastroparesis patient information”. Following, all medical terminology was determined if included on Taber’s Medical Dictionary 22nd Edition. The medical terminology was replaced independently with “help” and “helping”. Web resources were analyzed with the Readability Studio Professional Edition (Oleander Solutions, Vandalia, OH) using 10 different readability scales. Results: The average of the 26 patient education resources was 12.7 ± 1.8 grade levels. The edited “help” group had 6.6 ± 1.0 and “helping” group had 10.4 ± 2.1 reading levels. In comparing the three groups, the “help” and “helping” groups had significantly lower readability levels (P < 0.001). The “help” group was significantly less than the “helping” group (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The web resources for gastroparesis were higher than the recommended reading level by the American Medical Association. Medical terminology was shown to be the cause for this elevated readability level with all, but four resources within the recommended grade levels following word replacement. Gastroenterol Res. 2017;10(1):1-5 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/gr746w
Laboratory and Field Studies of Gas-Aerosol Reactions

In this paper research that pertains to reactions between gases and aerosol particles in the atmosphere is discussed. The paper is divided into two sections. In the first section methods that have been used to investigate the significance of secondary aerosol formation by liquid phase reactions in the atmosphere are outlined. This discussion emphasizes the evidence for liquid phase chemical reactions in non-cloud aerosol systems. It is shown that there is some data which suggest that liquid phase chemical reactions of dissolved gases (e.g., sulfur dioxide) may occur in non-cloud aerosol systems.
China’s New Normal: Challenges to Old Politics of Economic Reforms

In contrast to the theory of “reform without losers,” the rapid economic development in China has resulted in some serious negative side-effects, such as environmental crisis, local government debts, official corruption, and growing inequality. In dealing with these negative side-effects, the fifth generation of Chinese leaders has tried to take new measures since 2012 to combat governance deficiency and promote governance innovation simultaneously – a “New Normal” in China’s development in the years to come. To understand China’s “New Normal” and related policy changes, this article examines three leading theories of Chinese politics and seeks wisdom of generations while attempts to build a political theory of transition of China.
Spatiotemporal signal classification via principal components of reservoir states

Reservoir computing is a recently introduced machine learning paradigm that has been shown to be well-suited for the processing of spatiotemporal data. Rather than training the network node connections and weights via backpropagation in traditional recurrent neural networks, reservoirs instead have fixed connections and weights among the 'hidden layer' nodes, and traditionally only the weights to the output layer of neurons are trained using linear regression. We claim that for signal classification tasks one may forgo the weight training step entirely and instead use a simple supervised clustering method based upon principal components of reservoir states. The proposed method is mathematically analyzed and explored through numerical experiments on real-world data. The examples demonstrate that the proposed may outperform the traditional trained output weight approach in terms of classification accuracy.
New therapeutic directions for advanced pancreatic cancer: cell cycle inhibitors, stromal modifiers and conjugated therapies.

Introduction: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a devastating malignancy with an extremely poor prognosis. These tumors progress rapidly and somewhat silently with few specific symptoms and are relative...
Clinical manifestations of esophagitis.

Most patients with esophagitis have substernal discomfort or pain, swallow with difficulty, or experience pain while swallowing. Although the causes can vary from lye ingestion to moniliasis, most esophagitis probably occurs when acid peptic juice refluxes. Esophagoscopy, radiographic studies, manometry and biopsy all have their place in diagnosis, but perhaps biopsy should be used more often.
X-Platform phishing: Abusing trust for targeted attacks short paper

The goal of anti-phishing techniques is to reduce the delivery rate of phishemails, and anti-phishing training aims to decrease the phishing click-through rates. This paper presents the X-Platform Phishing Attack, a deceptive phishing attack with an alarmingly high delivery and click-through rates, and highlights a subclass of phishing attacks that existing anti-phishing methods do not seem to be able to address. The main characteristic of this attack is that an attacker is able to embed a malicious link within a legitimate message generated by service providers (e.g., Github, Google, Amazon) and sends it using their infrastructure to his targets. This technique results in the bypassing of existing anti-phishing filters because it utilizes reputable service providers to generate seemingly legitimate emails. This also makes it highly likely for the targets of the attack to click on the phishing link as the email id of a legitimate provider is being used. An X-Platform Phishing attack can use email-based messaging and notification mechanisms such as friend requests, membership invitations, status updates, and customizable gift cards to embed and deliver phishing links to their targets. We have tested the delivery and click-through rates of this attack experimentally, based on a customized phishing email tunneled through GitHub’s pull-request mechanism. We observed that 100% of X-Platform Phishing emails passed the anti-phishing systems and were delivered to the inbox of the target subjects. All of the participants clicked on phishing messages, and in some cases, forwarded the message to other project collaborators who also clicked on the phishing links.
Are Outcomes After Meniscal Repair Age Dependent? A Systematic Review

Purpose To determine if the failure rate and functional outcome after arthroscopic meniscus suture repair are age dependent. Methods A systematic review was conducted using a computerized search of the electronic databases MEDLINE and ScienceDirect in adherence with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Extracted data from each included study were recorded on a standardized form. Studies were included if they (1) were English-language studies in peer-reviewed journals, (2) used a distinct age cut-off to evaluate outcome of meniscal surgery for those above and below the specified cut-off, and (3) used meniscal repairs using suture based technique with inside-out, outside-in, or all-inside techniques. Review papers, case reports, technique papers, non–English language publications, abstracts, and data on meniscal repairs using meniscal screws, arrows, or darts were excluded. Results 15 of 305 identified articles met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. There were 1,141 menisci treated in 1,063 patients. Seven and 8 studies met the inclusion/exclusion criteria for analysis for the age thresholds of 25 years and 30 years, respectively, demonstrating no difference in failure rates relative to age threshold. Four of 6 studies that met analysis criteria found no difference in failure rates above or below an age threshold of 35 years. No significant difference in failure in patients younger than 40 than patients older than 40 was found for 4 of the 5 studies in that arm of the review. Conclusions Analysis of the composite data in this systematic review reveals that no significant difference exists when evaluating meniscal repair failure rate as a function of age above or below the given age thresholds. Level of Evidence Level IV, systematic review of level III and IV studies.
Emerging investigator series: determination of biphasic core–shell droplet properties using aerosol optical tweezers

We present a new algorithm for the analysis of whispering gallery modes (WGMs) found in the cavity enhanced Raman spectra retrieved from optically tweezed droplets. Our algorithm improves the computational scaling when analyzing core-shell droplets (i.e. phase-separated or biphasic droplets) in the aerosol optical tweezers (AOT), making it computationally practical to analyze spectra collected at a few Hz over hours-long experiments. This enables the determination of the size and refractive index of both the core and shell phases with high accuracy, at 0.5 Hz time resolution. Phase-separated core-shell droplets are common morphologies in a wide variety of biophysical, colloidal, and aerosolized chemical systems, and have recently become a major focus in understanding the atmospheric chemistry of particulate matter. Our new approach reduces the number of parameters directly searched for, decreasing computational demands. We assess the accuracy of the diameters and refractive indices retrieved from a homogeneous or core-shell droplet. We demonstrate the performance of the new algorithm using experimental data from a droplet of aqueous glycerol coated by squalane. We demonstrate that a shell formation causes adjacent WGMs to split from each other in their wavenumber position through the addition of a secondary organic aerosol shell around a NaCl(aq) droplet. Our new algorithm paves the way for more in-depth physiochemical experiments into liquid-liquid phase separation and their consequences for interfacial chemistry-a topic with growing experimental needs for understanding the dynamics and chemistry of atmospheric aerosol particles, and in biochemical systems.
Tumor Suppressor Functions of TGFβ1 in T Cells

Transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) is an important pleiotropic immunoregulatory cytokine, which is involved in several cellular processes, such as inhibition of T-cell activation, proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, cytokine production, and effector function. In contrast to its inhibitory effects on naive T cells, it is also involved in stimulation of suppressor/regulatory T-cell expansion and function. In order to achieve so many diverse effects TGFβ utilizes distinct signaling mechanisms in the same cell type. Mouse models with genetic ablation of functional TGFβ signaling mediators have revealed several interesting mechanisms that play an important role in T-cell homeostasis, Treg-cell function, and tumorigenesis. TGFβ1 primarily functions to prevent abnormal T-cell activation through modulation of a Ca2+-calcineurin signaling pathway in a SMAD3/4-independent manner. Additionally, in Treg cells TGFβ1 mediates its effects through a SMAD signaling cascade in a unique manner. TGFβ1 plays duel roles in tumor development and progression.
Seeing the Forest for the Trees! Conservation and Activism Through Socioscientific Issues

There is a divide between what students are being taught within the classroom and what they experience in the real world (National Research Council 1996, 2009). Schooling is necessary insufficient enough to support lifelong science literacy, emphasizing the necessity of alternative learning environments and approaches for learning about science (Falk and Heimlich 2009; Falk et al. 2007). In England and Switzerland, educators are beginning to bring controversial environmental topics into the science classroom that afford students the opportunity to discuss issues-based science (SSI), connecting what they are learning to real world issues such as nuclear power and rainforest deforestation (Rickinson and Lundholm 2008). When students engage with these issues they might also take a larger role within conservation.
Globalization and Social Justice in Higher Education

Globalization is dramatically affecting higher education throughout the world; most notably, capitalist-oriented neoliberal globalization is threatening the social-good purpose of higher education. However, globalization also offers higher education institutions tools to counter neoliberal educational policies and advance social justice aims on local and international levels. This article describes various conceptions of globalization, and discusses the impact neoliberal globalization is having on higher education. Further, this article suggests that higher education institutions can engage in globalization from below – by using the mechanisms of globalization, such as global economic connections and technology – to promote social equity within and beyond higher education.
Explicit Building Block Multiobjective Evolutionary Computation: Methods and Applications

This dissertation presents principles, techniques, and performance of evolutionary computation optimization methods, Concentration is on concepts, design formulation, and prescription for multiobjective problem solving and explicit building block (BB) multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs). Current state-of-the-art explicit BB MOEAs are addressed in the innovative design, execution, and testing of a new multiobjective explicit BB MOEA. Evolutionary computation concepts examined are algorithm convergence, population diversity and sizing, genotype and phenotype partitioning, archiving, BB concepts, parallel evolutionary algorithm (EA) models, robustness, visualization of evolutionary process, and performance in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. The main result of this research is the development of a more robust algorithm where MOEA concepts are implicitly employed. Testing shows that the new MOEA can be more effective and efficient than previous state-of-the-art explicit BB MOEAs for selected test suite multiobjective problems (MOPs) and Untied States Air Force applications. Additional contributions include the extension of explicit BB definitions to clarify the meanings for good single and multiobjective BBs. A new visualization technique is developed for viewing genotype, phenotype, and the evolutionary process in finding Pareto front vectors while tracking the size of the BBs. The visualization technique is the result of a BB (solution) tracing mechanism integrated in the new MOEA to enable a researcher to determine the required BB sizes and assign an approximation epistasis level for solving a particular problem. The culmination of this research is explicit BB state-of-the-art MOEA technology based on the MOEA design, BB classifier type assessment, solution evolution visualization, and insight into MOEA test metric validation and usage as applied to the following: test suite, deception, bioinformatics, unmanned vehicle flight pattern, and digital symbol set design MOPS.
Bridging Hubbard model physics and quantum Hall physics in trilayer graphene / h − BN moiré superlattice

ABC-stacked trilayer graphene aligned with a boron nitride substrate is a fascinating correlated electron system with gate-tunable bandwidth and band topology. This paper derives an explicit lattice extended Hubbard model for the topologically trivial side. This provides a solid framework for future studies of this system. An interesting outcome is the identification of a novel physical mechanism for ferromagnetism in a Mott insulator. The paper also highlights the remarkable opportunities presented by this system for fundamental studies of the electronic Mott transition through feasible transport experiments.
Dynamic assessment of dual-frequency microbubble-mediated sonothrombolysis in vitro

Optimizing the use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for recanalization of occluded blood vessels is an actively researched area. This yields an alternative therapy to the use of thrombolytic drugs in the treatment of ischemic stroke. HIFU treatment, used in conjunction with microbubbles (MBs) in the fluid stream, serves to augment the dissipation of the blood clot. In this study, using an in vitro approach, we implement a flow system to simulate the dynamic dispersion of blood clots using single-frequency focused ultrasound (SFFU) and dual-frequency focused ultrasound (DFFU). The effects of permutations of acoustic power and driving frequency (SFFU vs. DFFU) on the rate of disintegration and site-specific lytic action are quantified under the influence of fluid akin to that in a blood vessel, for specific microbubble concentrations. It is found that dual-frequency excitation in general produces a faster rate of clot dissipation in comparison to single-frequency excitation, and this observation is corroborated by cavitation signal detection. Our observations indicate that accelerated thrombolysis may be realized by the inertial cavitation threshold of DFFU being lower than that of SFFU. Furthermore, the thrombolytic effect with variance in microbubble concentration is studied for a fixed acoustic power. The efficacy of DFFU is not found to vary appreciably with an increase in microbubble concentration from 108 MBs/ml to 109 MBs/ml, possibly due to acoustic shadowing induced at increased concentrations.
Not all who ponder count costs: Arithmetic reflection predicts utilitarian tendencies, but logical reflection predicts both deontological and utilitarian tendencies

Abstract Conventional sacrificial moral dilemmas propose directly causing some harm to prevent greater harm. Theory suggests that accepting such actions (consistent with utilitarian philosophy) involves more reflective reasoning than rejecting such actions (consistent with deontological philosophy). However, past findings do not always replicate, confound different kinds of reflection, and employ conventional sacrificial dilemmas that treat utilitarian and deontological considerations as opposite. In two studies, we examined whether past findings would replicate when employing process dissociation to assess deontological and utilitarian inclinations independently. Findings suggested two categorically different impacts of reflection: measures of arithmetic reflection, such as the Cognitive Reflection Test, predicted only utilitarian, not deontological, response tendencies. However, measures of logical reflection, such as performance on logical syllogisms, positively predicted both utilitarian and deontological tendencies. These studies replicate some findings, clarify others, and reveal opportunity for additional nuance in dual process theorist’s claims about the link between reflection and dilemma judgments.
Generalized Deletion Propagation on Counting Conjunctive Query Answers

We investigate the computational complexity of minimizing the source side-effect in order to remove a given number of tuples from the output of a conjunctive query. In particular, given a multi-relational database $D$, a conjunctive query $Q$, and a positive integer $k$ as input, the goal is to find a minimum subset of input tuples to remove from D that would eliminate at least $k$ output tuples from $Q(D)$. This problem generalizes the well-studied deletion propagation problem in databases. In addition, it encapsulates the notion of intervention for aggregate queries used in data analysis with applications to explaining interesting observations on the output. We show a dichotomy in the complexity of this problem for the class of full conjunctive queries without self-joins by giving a characterization on the structure of $Q$ that makes the problem either polynomial-time solvable or NP-hard. Our proof of this dichotomy result already gives an exact algorithm in the easy cases; we complement this by giving an approximation algorithm for the hard cases of the problem.
Nanopolaritonic second-order topological insulator based on graphene plasmons

Ultrastrong confinement, long lifetime, and gate-tunability of graphene plasmon polaritons (GPPs) motivate wide-ranging efforts to develop GPP-based active nanophotonic platforms. Incorporation of topological phenomena into such platforms will ensure their robustness as well as enrich their capabilities as promising test beds of strong light–matter interactions. A recently reported approach suggests an experimentally viable platform for topological graphene plasmonics by introducing nanopatterned gates—metagates. We propose a metagate-tuned GPP platform emulating a second-order topological crystalline insulator. The metagate imprints its crystalline symmetry onto graphene by modulating its chemical potential via field-effect gating. Depending on the gate geometry and applied voltage, the resulting two-dimensional crystal supports either one-dimensional chiral edge states or zero-dimensional midgap corner states. The proposed approach to achieving the hierarchy of nontrivial topological invariants at all dimensions lower than the dimension of the host material paves the way to utilizing higher-order topological effects for on-chip and ultracompact nanophotonic waveguides and cavities.
Partnering With Barbershops and Salons to Engage Vulnerable Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This manuscript conveys the story of the health and economic challenges faced by a coalition of barbershops and salons in West Philadelphia. It is grounded in city and national data that illustrate the widening racial and class disparities during coronavirus disease 2019. Ultimately, it is a story of resilience that outlines a budding partnership between barbershop and salon owners, their community, and medical providers.
Scale-free behavioral dynamics directly linked with scale-free cortical dynamics

Abstract Naturally occurring body movements and collective neural activity both exhibit complex dynamics, often with scale-free, fractal spatiotemporal structure, thought to confer functional benefits to the organism. Despite their similarities, scale-free brain activity and scale-free behavior have been studied separately, without a unified explanation. Here we show that scale-free dynamics of behavior and certain subsets of cortical neurons are one-to-one related. Surprisingly, the scale-free neural subsets exhibit stochastic winner-take-all competition with other neural subsets, inconsistent with prevailing theory of scale-free neural systems. We develop a computational model which accounts for known cell-type-specific circuit structure and explains our findings. Our results establish neural underpinnings of scale-free behavior and clear behavioral relevance of scale-free neural activity, which was previously thought to represent background noise in cerebral cortex. One-Sentence Summary Winner-take-all competition among cortical neurons underpins shared fractal spatiotemporal dynamics of behavior and brain.
Lung function in children: a simple guide to performing and interpreting spirometry

Abstract Spirometry is the measurement of the volume and flow of air during expiration and inspiration. It is non-invasive and inexpensive and probably under-used in children. Whilst remaining a relatively simple test, it gives valuable information that can be used in the diagnosis and monitoring of respiratory conditions. Adequate spirometry requires good patient engagement, effort and technique. With practice, robust spirometry data can be collected in preschool children as young as 4 years of age. Increasing availability of portable spirometry equipment means that good quality data can be collected in a variety of clinical locations outside the lung function laboratory - even in the patient's own home. There are, however, a number of important considerations in both the performance and interpretation of spirometry. This review considers the equipment required, the basic techniques required and the essentials of interpretation of spirometry data.
Stop Electronic Amplification of Lies

American democracy is in trouble. According to Freedom House, “the United States’ aggregate Freedom in the World score has declined by 11 points,” from 94 to 83, between 2010 and 2020. The Economist downgraded the United States from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy” in 2016. Leading scholars who have studied democratic decay in other countries warn that “the guardrails of American democracy are weakening.” Several factors have contributed to the erosion of democratic norms and institutions in the United States. The electronic amplification of lies and misinformation is one such factor. The term “electronic amplification,” as used here, refers to a variety of technologies—including radio, broadcast television, cable television, social media, blogs and podcasts—that enable speakers to deliver their messages to large audiences almost instantaneously. This essay builds on the work of other scholars who have explained how electronic amplification of lies and misinformation is eroding the quality of democratic governance in the United States and elsewhere. Instead of diagnosing the problem, my goal here is to sketch the outlines of a possible legislative solution. The legislative proposal developed here is intentionally provocative. I do not pretend to have all the answers, but I do want to stimulate a conversation that I think is vitally important for the future of American democracy. The final section of this essay addresses potential First Amendment objections to the proposed legislative solution.
Predicting In-hospital Mortality Using D-Dimer in COVID-19 Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with coagulopathy, and D-dimer levels have been used to predict disease severity. However, the role of D-dimer in predicting mortality in COVID-19 patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) remains incompletely characterized. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Optum® de-identified COVID-19 Electronic Health Record dataset. Patients were included if they were 18 or older, had been hospitalized within 7 days of confirmed COVID-19 positivity from March 1, 2020 to November 30, 2020. We determined the optimal threshold of D-dimer to predict in-hospital mortality and compared risks of in-hospital mortality between patients with D-dimer levels below and above the cutoff. Risk ratios (RRs) were estimated adjusting for baseline characteristics and clinical variables. Results: Among 15,250 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 positivity, 285 presented with AIS at admission (2%). Patients with AIS were older [70 (60-79) vs. 64 (52-75), p < 0.001] and had greater D-dimer levels at admission [1.42 (0.76-3.96) vs. 0.94 (0.55-1.81) μg/ml FEU, p < 0.001]. Peak D-dimer level was a good predictor of in-hospital mortality among all patients [c-statistic 0.774 (95% CI 0.764-0.784)] and among patients with AIS [c-statistic 0.751 (95% CI 0.691-0.810)]. Among AIS patients, the optimum cutoff was identified at 5.15 μg/ml FEU with 73% sensitivity and 69% specificity. Elevated peak D-dimer level above this cut-off was associated with almost 3 times increased mortality [adjusted RR 2.89 (95% CI 1.87-4.47), p < 0.001]. Conclusions: COVID-19 patients with AIS present with greater D-dimer levels. Thresholds for outcomes prognostication should be higher in this population.
Application of a machine learning based algorithm to online optimization of the nonlinear beam dynamics of the Argonne Advanced Photon Source

A machine learning-based optimization algorithm, the multigeneration Gaussian process optimizer, is used to optimize the nonlinear beam dynamics of the Advanced Photon Source storage ring. The dynamic aperture (DA) and the local momentum aperture (LMA) are first optimized separately with sextupole knobs. Solutions found with these optimizations are used to seed the initial population of seeds in two-objective optimizations that simultaneously optimize the DA and LMA, which lead to a distribution of solutions with different DA and LMA performances, from which a setting suitable for operation can be selected.
Dermatitis in Sun-Exposed Areas in a 4-year-old Boy.

1. Madison K. Kavanaugh, BS* 2. David Morris, MD*,† 1. *Wright State University, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, OH 2. †Dayton Children’s Hospital, Dayton, OH A 4-year-old boy presents to a pediatric allergy/immunology clinic with a chronic history of a diffuse, pruritic rash. The rash predominates on the arms, legs, back, and face. The rash worsens in the warm months and with exposure to plant life. The worst episodes of dermatitis occurred after stacking wood and after a hiking trip. Notably, the patient’s history is inconsistent with photodermatitis as a “day at the beach” fails to trigger the dermatitis. Past treatments for his rash include topical steroids, antihistamine therapy, and oral prednisolone. The mother reports the rash improves with topical steroids and prednisolone. The patient does not use lotions or other products on his skin, but his mother says they use “natural” soaps. The patient has 2 dogs in the house year-round and is exposed to secondhand smoke. Allergen skin prick testing at 2 years of age was positive for grass pollen allergy. Physical examination reveals a dry, erythematous papular rash on the sun-exposed areas of the fingers, arms, legs, back, and face (Figs 1 and 2). Non-sun-exposed areas are spared. The remainder of the physical examination is noncontributory. Figure 1. Erythematous, excoriated, rash with overlying white scale on the palms and fingers. Figure 2. Fine papular, sandpaper-like rash on the dorsal forearm. The patient’s past medical history is significant for atopic dermatitis (AD) and angioedema. He has no previous hospitalizations and his immunizations are up-to-date. His current medications include triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% ointment and diphenhydramine. The patient has also used occasional bursts of prednisolone for flare-ups. His family history includes allergic rhinitis and asthma in his father and an unknown immunodeficiency in his paternal grandmother. The differential diagnosis for the rash includes AD, irritant/allergic contact dermatitis, and photodermatitis. Given the seasonality of symptoms, lack of rash after sun-exposure alone, and worsening upon contact with foliage, …
Uncontrolled Networks, Continued

This chapter continues the themes of Chapter 6, concentrating on several canonical classes of problems. Section 1 deals with some models that arise in scheduling and inventory management in manufacturing. The reflection process arises from inventory shortages and not from processor idle time, and new issues arise concerning its computation in the more sophisticated examples. When there are several sources of demands on the various inventories and each source has a different ratio of inventory needs, the simple way of dealing with the reflection term of Theorem 6.1.1 is no longer adequate. Under appropriate modifications of the conditions, one can compute the reflection directions. But the general problem is still open and the discussion illustrates how apparently small changes in the model can have significant effects on the weak-sense limit. Similar issues arise in communications systems, where a single buffer resource is shared by users with different needs. In the shared -buffer problem of Section 2, the state space is a triangle, and complications in the computation of the reflection direction can also arise.
Chapter 32: Magnetic Resonance Probes of Drug Binding.

Publisher Summary This report reviews recent applications of magnetic resonance in the field of drug binding. The chapter illustrates that after last pharmacological and biochemical applications of n.m.r. review, paramagnetic ion probes of enzyme function, and n.m.r. studies of RNAase complexes and DNA–histone complexes have also come under limelight. The fact that synaptic vesicles and chromaffin granules contain both neurotransmitter and ATP in high concentration suggests that these complexes may be relevant to neurotransmitter storage. Serotonin forms a high molecular weight micellar complex with ATP at a stoichiometry nearer 2.0–2.5:1, and also forms aqueous complexes with pyrimidine nucleotides. The micellar complex that is of possible physiological significance in serotonin storage vesicles in platelets and brain shows substantial upfield chemical shifts in the aromatic protons of serotonin and in H-2 on the purine ring of ATP. Complexes between epinephrine and sonicated vesicles of several lipids have been studied to assess possible lipophilic interactions between the hormone and phospholipids at the membrane receptor site. Chemical shifts in these complexes are vanishingly small. The intermolecular nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) has been used to demonstrate specific intermolecular associations in hormone storage complexes. This effect is observed as an intensity change of a resonance in one molecule when a closely neighboring nucleus in a different molecule is saturated. Potentially the most significant application of magnetic resonance to pharmacology is the direct observation of signals from receptor-bound drugs. The e.s.r. spectrum of spin-labeled morphine bound to isolated rat synaptosomes has been reported. This compound does not cross the blood-brain barrier, but it retains some opiate activity when injected intracerebrally.
Improving storage with stackable extensions

Storage is a central part of computing. Driven by exponentially increasing content generation rate and a widening performance gap between memory and secondary storage, researchers are in the perennial quest to push for further innovation. This has resulted in novel ways to "squeeze" more capacity and performance out of current and emerging storage technology. Adding intelligence and leveraging new types of storage devices has opened the door to a whole new class of optimizations to save cost, improve performance, and reduce energy consumption. In this dissertation, we first develop, analyze, and evaluate three storage extensions. Our first extension tracks application access patterns and writes data in the way individual applications most commonly access it to benefit from the sequential throughput of disks. Our second extension uses a lower power flash device as a cache to save energy and turn off the disk during idle periods. Our third extension is designed to leverage the characteristics of both disks and solid state devices by placing data in the most appropriate device to improve performance and save power. In developing these systems, we learned that extending the storage stack is a complex process. Implementing new ideas incurs a prolonged and cumbersome development process and requires developers to have advanced knowledge of the entire system to ensure that extensions accomplish their goal without compromising data recoverability. Futhermore, storage administrators are often reluctant to deploy specific storage extensions without understanding how they interact with other extensions and if the extension ultimately achieves the intended goal. We address these challenges by using a combination of approaches. First, we simplify the storage extension development process with system-level infrastructure that implements core functionality commonly needed for storage extension development. Second, we develop a formal theory to assist administrators deploy storage extensions while guaranteeing that the given high level goals are satisfied. There are, however, some cases for which our theory is inconclusive. For such scenarios we present an experimental methodology that allows administrators to pick an extension that performs best for a given workload. Our evaluation demostrates the benefits of both the infrastructure and the formal theory.
Neuropharmacological Mechanisms of Nerve Agent-induced Seizure and Neuropathology

This paper proposes a three phase "model" of the neuropharmacological processes responsible for the seizures and neuropathology produced by nerve agent intoxication. Initiation and early expression of the seizures are cholinergic phenomenon; anticholinergics readily terminate seizures at this stage and no neuropathology is evident. However, if not checked, a transition phase occurs during which the neuronal excitation of the seizure per se perturbs other neurotransmitter systems: excitatory amino acid (EAA) levels increase reinforcing the seizure activity; control with anticholinergics becomes less effective; mild neuropathology is occasionally observed. With prolonged epileptiform activity the seizure enters a predominantly non-cholinergic phase: it becomes refractory to some anticholinergics; benzodiazepines and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists remain effective as anticonvulsants, but require anticholinergic co-administration; mild neuropathology is evident in multiple brain regions. Excessive influx of calcium due to repeated seizure-induced depolarization and prolonged stimulation of NMDA receptors is proposed as the ultimate cause of neuropathology. The model and data indicate that rapid and aggressive management of seizures is essential to prevent neuropathology from nerve agent exposure.
Spatial and temporal patterns in erosion from forest roads

Erosion from forest roads is an important contribution to the sediment budget of many forested basins, particularly over short time scales. Sediment production from 74 road segments was measured over three years to examine how road slope, segment length, cutslope height, and soil texture affect sediment production and how these relationships change with time. In the first year, differences in sediment production between plots could be explained by differences in sediment transport capacity of the plots. With time, differences between plots of different slope, length, cutslope height, and soil were reduced as all plots produced less and less sediment. Recovery was rapid with around 70% recovery between by the second year and 90% recovery by the third year.