cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Three Hard Choices

Since this chapter is going to evaluate a number of historical political decisions, it is worth making a few preliminary remarks about what may and what may not be expected from such an evaluation. This historian, according to Hugh Trevor-Roper,1 can only present, not solve moral dilemmas. It would certainly be presumptuous to flaunt an “obvious” moral answer to these dilemmas, with the benefit of hindsight, as though the people involved at the time had no perception of the moral as well as the prudential issues, and the complexity of the interaction between them. But it would be equally wrong to claim that we should make no moral judgement at all about the political decisions of the past. We have argued in this book that moral concerns are germane to current decisions in international relations. The relevant differences between the present and the past in this context are that we can judge with more accuracy what the consequences of past decisions were, and at the same time we are less sure of what the climate was in which these decisions were made. We are, therefore, in one way in a better position to make a judgement, and in another way in a worse one.
What You See Is What You Get: Real-Time CMR to Guide Endomyocardial Biopsy

The role of endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) for the evaluation of cardiomyopathy and monitoring for cardiac transplant rejection has evolved over the past 40 years. EMB is typically done with fluoroscopic guidance and femoral or jugular venous access for sampling the right ventricle (RV) endocardium.
Innovation and culture of team work

编者按： 作者认为，中国旨在激励创新的改革举措究竟能否取得成功，最关键的决定性因素还在于是否能够在科学机构中建立团队合作文化氛围的新机制。在与项目、升职和奖励的评估制度直接相关的改革中，不应只重视研究人员的个人成就，还应该充分肯定科学家对团队工作所做的贡献。 说起科学创新，人们脑海中往往会浮现这样一个画面：一名科学家独自坐在实验桌前，取得了突破性发现。不过，基础科学和应用科学中的许多突破其实都有赖于有效的团队合作。高能粒子物理学领域的一些重大发现便是最好的例证，因为有数以百计的科学家对研究工作中各紧密联系的部分做出了突破性贡献。另一方面，大多数科学家都是在个人追求和职业目标的驱动下进行工作的，参与团队工作却不担当领导角色，则似乎不如独自取得成就那么有吸引力——尽管个人的成就或许没有那么意义重大。中国和世界各地的许多科学领域之所以广泛存在科研工作碎片化和重复化的现象，主要原因就在于此。 最近，政府领导人呼吁加强中国科学的创新能力，也是因为他们清楚地认识到，中国科学体制需要进行重大改革。“深化科技体制机制改革”则似乎是加强创新能力的先决条件。中国国务院总理李克强在2015年3月5日的讲话中专门提到了众多改革领域，其中“……改革项目、升职和奖励的评估制度，加强知识产权保护……”尤为突出。实际上过去也出现过类似改革工作，所以这些内容并不新鲜。那么，这次又会有何不同？ 为了最大限度地实现科学家的个人创新潜能，以及为创新型企业提供一系列激励措施，我们明显需要创建相关的基础架构。然而，在我看来，目前的改革究竟能否取得成功，最关键的决定性因素还在于是否能够在科学机构中建立团队合作文化氛围的新机制。这也的确与项目、升职和奖励的评估制度改革直接相关。我们不应只重视研究人员的个人成就，还应该充分肯定科学家对团队工作所做的贡献。对青年科学家研究成果的终身制评估——一些重要的研究型大学正开始采用这种做法——应该既重视个人成就，也重视团队贡献。类似地，知识产权的保护，也应该考虑所有参与者，而不仅是首席研究员。科研机构和新闻媒体应避免过分赞颂首席科学家的成就，也应该肯定科研成果背后其他工作人员的贡献。 在中国几乎完全与世隔绝的半个世纪以前，上海的一群生物化学家在生物科学领域取得了两项重大突破——首次人工合成具有生物活性的牛胰岛素和酵母丙氨酸转移核糖核酸——两项都足以获得诺贝尔奖。这是许多科学家共同工作的结果，要把它归功于其中某三名科学家几乎不可能。正是在中国当时团队合作文化的激励下，这些科学家才能取得这些成就，而目前许多中国研究机构都需要重新营造这种文化氛围。 个人主义是接受西方教育的科学家的核心价值观。在这种价值观的引导下，个人的科学兴趣和个人成就所带来的荣誉就成了他们进行科学研究的主要动力。这一点与中国传统文化截然不同：在中国传统文化中，受过教育的知识分子追求的是“格物致知”和“诚意正心”，而这些个人追求的最终目的则是“修身齐家治国平天下”。2014年，中国国家主席习近平在对北京大学师生发表讲话时提出，中国的社会主义应该继承这种中国传统价值体系，即国家、社会和个人的价值应该融为一个密切联系的整体。这正是当今世界所需要的，也是我们的科研机构努力的目标。 为何西方世界的科技进步没能解决西方社会许多急需解决的问题，更不用说去解决发展中国家特有的问题？我认为，解决这些问题需要大量科学家在从事个人创造性研究的同时致力于团队合作。或许，中国科学界能对世界所做的最有价值的贡献，不仅是在西方科技成果的基础上增加更多科技创新成果，而且是把中国传统的团队合作文化引入国际科学界，将共同目标置于个人成就之上，来解决世界上的急迫问题。
Black Power in Philadelphia: Selective Patronage and the Effectiveness of Direct Action Protest:

Black Power during the 1960s is a shift in direct action protest with its aim at procuring power (economic, political, educational, etc.). The manifestation of Black Power in Philadelphia in the la...
Extracellular Matrix Bioscaffolds as Immunomodulatory Biomaterials

Suppression of the recipient immune response is a common component of tissue and organ transplantation strategies and has also been used as a method of mitigating the inflammatory and scar tissue response to many biomaterials. It is now recognized, however, that long-term functional tissue replacement not only benefits from an intact host immune response but also depends upon such a response. The present article reviews the limitations associated with the traditionally held view of avoiding the immune response, the ability of acellular biologic scaffold materials to modulate the host immune response and promote a functional tissue replacement outcome, and current strategies within the fields of tissue engineering and biomaterials to develop immune-responsive and immunoregulatory biomaterials.
Remaining Useful Life Prediction for Airborne Fuel Pump Based on AR and Particle Filter

In order to predict the remaining life of high reliability and long life airborne fuel pump, a fusion approach based on adaptive regression (AR) and particle filter (PF) is put forward. Firstly, the basic principles of adaptive regression algorithm and particle filter algorithm are introduced. Then, a fusion framework based on statistical prediction and data driven prediction is proposed. Secondly, taking into account the relationship between outlet pressure and performance degradation of airborne fuel pump, an AR model is used to establish the life degradation model of the airborne fuel pump. Finally, the RUL prediction of airborne fuel pump is realized by the fusion particle filter algorithm. The experimental results illustrate that compared to traditional regression approach, the proposed approach not only can effectively predict the life of airborne fuel pump, but also has the uncertainty expression of the prediction result.
Stochastic MPC for cloud-aided suspension control

We propose a cloud-aided scheme for electronically controlled suspensions. The cloud hosts a position-dependent road model estimated from car measurements, which is used on the vehicle to parametrize a stochastic model predictive controller (MPC). Suspension control faces an inherent trade-off between passenger comfort, road holding and suspension limits, and finding meaningful tuning can be a struggle with basic control techniques; uncertainty on the road conditions and actuators saturations further complicate the picture. We show how a stochastic MPC can meaningfully handle these compromises, and how a cloud-aided update of the road model helps to maximize performance.
Primary Prevention of Clostridium difficile-Associated Diarrhea: Current Controversies and Future Tools.

Clostridium difficile (CD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Over the last decade, researchers have begun to reassess the traditional infection prevention model for this infection. Data suggesting a greater role for asymptomatic shedders has increased our understanding of current vertical prevention techniques and is forcing researchers to look more at new processes and technologies to decrease disease incidence. This review addresses current controversies in infection prevention for CD such as contact precautions, hand hygiene, environmental disinfection and diagnostic testing. The review also summarizes recent literature on promising new techniques like CD screening of asymptomatic carriers, supplemental environmental cleaning technologies, vaccines and the manipulation of the intestinal microbiome.
Vuillard Chez Natanson: The Luncheon, Misia’s Hair, and Edouard’s Cantaloupe

Misia Natanson’s hair plays a leading role in Edouard Vuillard's The Luncheon of about 1895 [ Figure 1]. Though we do not see her face, we know the identity of the woman in the left foreground who ...
Path-based function embeddings

Identifying relationships among program elements, such as functions, is useful for program understanding, debugging, and analysis. We present func2vec, an algorithm that uses static traces to embed functions in a vector space such that related functions are close together, even if they are semantically and syntactically dissimilar. We present applications of func2vec that aid program comprehension.
An electron‐microscopy study of the A15 Nb3Ge substrate interface

Electron microscopy has been used to study very thin Nb‐Ge films sputtered‐deposited onto copper substrates. Micrographs and selected‐area electron‐diffraction patterns reveal an interface region between the substrate and the first A15 Nb3Ge to form. This interface consists of microcrystalline Nb‐N‐O and a two‐phase region consisting of Nb‐N‐O grains and an unidentifiable tetragonal Nb‐Ge phase. The A15 Nb3Ge grains which form later in the growth of the film exhibit the same grain size and shape as the Nb‐N‐O grains. From the results a model for the role of the interface in the initial formation of A15 Nb3Ge is proposed.
Minds, Bodies, and Machines

One of the most significant results to be derived from studies of this kind concerns the central role of logic in formalizing and understanding different schemes for representing knowledge. Although there are those, such as Minsky, who dispute the suitability of logic for this purpose, their positions tend to derive such plausibility as they possess from focusing upon an extremely limited conception of the logical domain. The field of logic is not restricted to sentential logic, predicate logic, or even enhanced versions of predicate logic, but derives its character from the study of logical form, where “logical form” encompasses every formal property of any semiotic domain that might possibly be theoretically relevant to its semantical and pragmatical properties. [Cf., for example, Prior (1967a) and (1967b), but especially Cargile (1984).] The specific subjects that happen to be pursued by specific students of logic at specific times no doubt reflect matters of current and continuing interest, but the field itself has enduring significance for that of artificial intelligence.
Effect of Vitamin D Metabolites on Bone Resorption in Tissue Culture

This chapter describes the effect of vitamin D metabolites on bone resorption in tissue culture. Many of the phenomena that have been observed using PTH in organ culture can be produced with 25–HCC. Both agents can induce prolonged resorptive response after brief application, a phenomenon that is termed as induction. Using either agent, a parallel inhibition of induction has been demonstrated by decreasing the calcium concentration in the medium during induction, by adding inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis, including actinomycin D, mithramycin, camptothecin and cycloheximide during induction and by treating the bones with glucocorticoids before and during induction. These results indicate that the coupling of excitation to response in induction is calcium-dependent and involves a transcriptional effect on bone cells. PTH and 25-HCC appear to differ from a group of stimulators of bone resorption that do not induce and usually produce their effects less rapidly; these include vitamin A, prostaglandins, and AMP. In the search for therapeutic agents, vitamin D metabolites that selectively stimulate bone resorption would be useful in the treatment of hypoparathyroidism, while metabolites that enhance the intestinal absorption of calcium but do not stimulate bone resorption or that block the effects of active metabolites and of PTH on bone could be useful in the treatment of osteoporosis, renal osteodystrophy, and other disorders where resorption is increased.
Turbulent Flow in a Circular Tube With Arbitrary Internal Heat Sources and Wall Heat Transfer

An analysis has been carried out to determine the heattransfer characteristics for turbulent flow of a heat generating fluid in a circular tube with wall heat transfer. The internal heat generation is uniform over the tube cross section, but may vary longitudinally in an arbitrary manner. The wall heat transfer may also vary in an arbitrary way in the longitudinal direction. T he analysis applies along the entire length of the tube, that is, in thermal entrance as well as fully developed regions. The fluid is assumed to have a fully developed turbulent velocity profile throughout the length of the pipe. Numerical results are presented for fluids with Prandtl numbers ranging from 0.7 to 100 for Reynolds numbers from 50,000 to 500,000. The extension of the results to include radial heat source variations is indicated. (auth)
A toolbox for the optimal design of run-of-river hydropower plants

Abstract Hydroelectric power is a relatively cheap, reliable, sustainable, and renewable source of energy that can be generated without toxic waste and considerably lower emissions of greenhouse gases than fossil fuel energy plants. Conventional hydroelectric plants produce energy by the controlled release of dammed reservoir water to one or more turbines via a penstock. The kinetic energy of the falling water produces a rotational motion of the turbine shaft and this mechanical energy is converted into electricity via a power generator. Dam-based plants are among the largest and most flexible power producing facilities in the world, yet their construction and operation is costly and can damage and disrupt upstream and downstream ecosystems and have catastrophic effects on downriver settlements and infrastructure. Run-of-the-river (RoR) hydroelectric stations are an attractive and environmentally friendly alternative to dam-based facilities. These plants divert water from a flowing river to a turbine and do not require the formation of a reservoir. Despite their minimal impact on the surrounding environment and communities, the potential of RoR plants has not been fully explored and exploited. For example, in the United States it is estimated that RoR plants could annually produce 60 , 000 MW, or about 13% of the total electricity consumption in 2016. Here, we introduce a numerical model, called HYdroPowER or HYPER, which uses a daily time step to simulate the technical performance, energy production, maintenance and operational costs, and economic profit of a RoR plant in response to a suite of different design and construction variables and record of river flows. The model is coded in MATLAB and includes a built-in evolutionary algorithm that enables the user to maximize the RoR plant's power production or net economic profit by optimizing (among others) the penstock diameter, and the type (Kaplan, Francis, Pelton and Crossflow) design flow, and configuration (single/parallel) of the turbine system. Unlike other published models, this module of HYPER carefully considers each turbine's design flow, admissible suction head, specific and rotational speed in evaluating the technical performance, cost and economic profit of a RoR plant. Two case studies illustrate the power and practical applicability of HYPER. Some of their results confirm earlier literature findings, that (I) the optimum capacity and design flow of a RoR plant is controlled by the river's flow duration curve, (II) a highly variable turbine inflow compromises energy production, and (III) a side-by-side dual turbine system enhances considerably the range of workable flows, operational flexibility and energy production of a RoR plant. HYPER includes a GUI and is available upon request from the authors.
Uncertainty of hydrologic processes caused by bias-corrected CMIP5 climate change projections with alternative historical data sources

Abstract Uncertainty in simulating hydrologic response to future climate is generally assumed to result from the combined uncertainties of the General Circulation Model (GCM), representative concentration pathway (RCP), downscaling method, and hydrologic model used. However, another source of uncertainty, the observed climate data source used to statistically downscale and bias-correct GCM projections, has largely been overlooked. This study assessed the shifts, variability, and uncertainty in streamflow simulation from three downscaling data sources (NCDC land-based weather stations, NEXRAD spatial grid, and PRISM spatial grid) relative to those introduced by six GCMs and three RCPs in west-central Kansas, U.S. Streamflow simulated by the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrologic model was found to be more sensitive to future precipitation than to maximum and minimum temperatures. The greatest uncertainty in simulated streamflow was associated with selection of the GCM. Uncertainty in simulated streamflow associated with the observed bias-correction data source (NCDC, PRISM, NEXRAD) was greater than with RCPs and was primarily related to uncertainty in precipitation. This study highlighted the importance of recognizing uncertainty from bias-correction data sources in representing future climate scenarios in hydrologic simulations.
Advantages of quantum mechanics on phase space

Quantum mechanics formulated in terms of (wave) functions over phase space is shown to have numerous advantages over the standard approach. These advantages arise in the contexts of discussion of the theoretical framework and of descriptions of laboratory experiments.
Primary and Secondary Red Bed Magnetization Constrained by Fluvial Intraclasts

Author(s): Swanson-Hysell, NL; Fairchild, LM; Slotznick, SP | Abstract: The magnetization of hematite-bearing sedimentary rocks provides critical records of geomagnetic reversals and paleogeography. However, the timing of hematite remanent magnetization acquisition is typically difficult to constrain. While detrital hematite in sediment can lead to a primary depositional remanent magnetization, alteration of minerals through interaction with oxygen can lead to the postdepositional formation of hematite. In this study, we use exceptionally preserved fluvial sediments within the 1.1-billion-year-old Freda Formation to gain insight into the timing of hematite remanence acquisition and its magnetic properties. This deposit contains siltstone intraclasts that were eroded from a coexisting lithofacies and redeposited within channel sandstone. Thermal demagnetization, petrography, and rock magnetic experiments on these clasts reveal two generations of hematite. One population of hematite demagnetized at the highest unblocking temperatures and records directions that rotated along with the clasts. This component is a primary detrital remanent magnetization. The other component is removed at lower unblocking temperatures and has a consistent direction throughout the intraclasts. This component is held by finer-grained hematite that grew and acquired a chemical remanent magnetization following deposition resulting in a population that includes superparamagnetic nanoparticles in addition to remanence-carrying grains. The data support the interpretation that magnetizations of hematite-bearing sedimentary rocks held by g400-nm grains that unblock close to the Neel temperature are more likely to record magnetization from the time of deposition. This primary magnetization can be successfully isolated from cooccurring authigenic hematite through high-resolution thermal demagnetization.
Differentiation and expansion of endothelial cells requires pre-optimization of KDR+ expression kinetics

Abstract Human endothelial cells (ECs) are important tools in research and development of new therapies in the fields of angiogenesis, vasculogenesis, engineering organoids and multicellular tissues, drug discovery, and disease modeling. Efficient and robust induction of ECs from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) serve as a renewable and indefinite cell sources. However, individual lines of embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are distinct and can often respond very differently to the same microenvironmental cues. Therefore, we set out to develop a differentiation methodology specifically designed for robustness across multiple human iPSC lines. In general, the key soluble signals remain consistent across cell lines, but because the differentiation and proliferation kinetics can differ slightly in hESC and iPSC cell lines, the time point for KDR+ cell sorting must be pre-determined for each cell line. This three-stage induction method uses three different chemically defined medium formulations and generates highly purified populations of actively proliferating and functional VE-cadherin+ ECs within 30 days.
Total Autologous Fascia Lata Anterior and Apical Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repair: A New Technique and Initial Experience.

Abstract Objective To address renewed interest in nonmesh transvaginal Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) repair since the FDA reclassification of transvaginal mesh, our goal was to develop a transvaginal sacrospinous fixation for anterior and apical POP using only autologous fascia lata. We report our experience in 33 patients. Methods Autologous Anterior and Apical Pelvic Organ Prolapse (AAA-POP) repair utilizes a 4 × 14 cm piece of fascia lata harvested through a 3-4-inch upper thigh incision. The graft is reconfigured to provide apical fixation to the sacrospinous ligaments and distal fixation to the obturator fascia. Patients were followed by history, SEAPI scores, POP-Q scores, and Visual Analogue Pain Score. Treatment success was defined as absence of symptomatic anterior or apical POP. Results Thirty-three patients (mean age 63, mean follow-up 12 months) underwent AAA-POP. Treatment was successful in 31 patients (94%), and 2 failures were due to uterine prolapse. Mean harvest site Visual Analog Pain score was 0.27. Five and 7 patients developed nonbothersome thigh bulges and wound paresthesias, respectively. All 4 harvest-site seromas resolved, with 2 requiring simple aspiration. Eleven patients developed urinary retention, 10 (91%) of them after concurrent pubovaginal sling. All resolved after sling loosening (6 patients) or sling lysis (4 patients). Conclusion AAA-POP is an efficacious treatment for patients desiring nonmesh POP repair. Postoperative harvest site issues are minor and typically resolve with expectant management. Patients should be counseled about the potential risk of failure with a uterine-sparing approach and the risk of urinary retention with concurrent pubovaginal sling.
Reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin method for compressible flows in arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation

We present a high-order accurate reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin (rDG) method in arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation, for solving two-dimensional compressible flows on moving and deforming domains with unstructured curved meshes. The Taylor basis functions in use are defined on the time-dependent domain, on which also the integration and computations are performed. A third order ESDIRK3 scheme is employed for the temporal integration. The Geometric Conservation Law (GCL) is satisfied by modifying the grid velocity terms on the right-hand side of the discretized equations at Gauss quadrature points. To avoid excessive distortion and invalid elements near the moving boundary, we use the radial basis function (RBF) interpolation method for propagating the mesh motion of the boundary nodes to the interior of the mesh. Several numerical examples are performed to verify the designed spatial and temporal orders of accuracy, and to demonstrate the ability of handling moving boundary problems of the rDG-ALE method.
Subcortical Atrophy and Motor Outcomes in Pallidal Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson Disease

Background Appropriate patient selection is critical for successful deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson disease (PD). Subcortical atrophy is a possible determinant of postoperative DBS outcomes in patients with idiopathic PD, but it has not been well evaluated for DBS of the globus pallidus interna (GPi). We investigated perioperative subcortical atrophy measures in patients with PD and their relationship to postoperative motor response in bilateral GPi-targeted DBS. Methods A retrospective cohort study examined correlations among indices of subcortical volumetry, disease duration, and age with postoperative outcomes at 6 months (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III motor score quotient, levodopa equivalent daily dosing, and 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire mobility subscore). Subcortical volumetry was assessed by bicaudate ratio, Evans index, and third ventricular width on perioperative imaging. Linear regression models established correlations between preoperative variables and postoperative outcomes. Results Data from 34 patients with PD who were treated with GPi-targeted DBS were evaluated. Age was found to exhibit statistically significant positive correlations with all 3 measures of subcortical atrophy (P ≤ 0.002). None of the measures correlated with disease duration. Only Evans index and third ventricular width correlated with preoperative medication response (P 0.05). Conclusions Perioperative age and subcortical atrophy as measured in this study correlated with motor responsiveness at 6 months postoperatively among patients receiving bilateral GPi-targeted DBS stimulation for PD.
A Systematic Approach for Internal Entropy Boosting in Delay-based RO PUF on an FPGA

Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) use process variation, random and unpredictable errors introduced during chip manufacturing, to create a silicon fingerprint for each IC. In this paper, we describe two new implementations of the ring oscillator (RO) PUF, a parallel and a serial scheme. The two schemes are tested on Xilinx Spartan 7 FPGAs with an 8-bit input challenge and an 8-bit output response. Our designs have the advantage of taking up less area with no decrease in performance metrics of reliability, randomness, and uniqueness. Our serial scheme uses a linear feedback shift register and scrambler to generate more than one output bit using the same set of ring oscillators for the same input challenge. Our parallel scheme shows a higher speed and more randomness. We argue that our serial scheme can be designed to be just as random, reliable, and unique as a parallel scheme while using less hardware.
New taxonomic and faunistic data to species of the genus Laena Dejean from Turkey (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Lagriinae), with descriptions of two new species.

New taxonomic and faunistic data to species of the genus Laena Dejean, 1821 (subfamily Lagriinae) from Turkey are given. Some of the species occur also in adjacent Greece, Bulgaria, as well as in Cyprus, Near East and the Caucasus. Very probably not yet all synonyms of the Turkish species might be recognised herein. New species: L. assingi sp. nov. from southern Turkey, L. bozdagica sp. nov. from the Izmir region. New synonyms: Laena ferruginea Kuster, 1846 (L. clivinoides Baudi di Selve, 1876 n. syn., L. constricta Iablokoff-Khnzoryan, 1957 n. syn., L. liliputana Kaszab, 1968 n. syn.). New record for Turkey: L. quadricollis Weise, 1878; new record for Greece (Chios, Lesbos, Samos): L. kraatzi Weise, 1878; new record for Cyprus: L. glabriuscula Sahlberg, 1909. Erroneous records for Turkey: L. apfelbecki Schuster, 1915, L. hopffgarteni Weise, 1878, L. kaufmanni Reitter, 1881.
EUS 2008 Working Group document: evaluation of EUS-guided drainage of pelvic-fluid collections (with video).

Pelvic-fluid collections or abscesses often present a clinical challenge because of their location: surrounded by the bony pelvis, bladder, bowel, uterus, vagina, prostrate, rectum, and other neurovascular structures. These collections may occur as a common complication of surgery and medical diseases. An anastomotic leak after large-bowel resection, particularly low anterior resection, is the most common surgical cause and may occur in 0.5% to 30% of cases. 1-4 Diverticulitis, ischemic colitis, Crohn's disease, appendicitis, and sexually transmitted diseases are other etiologies. 5 Because US often fails to detect deep or multifocal collections, the best diagnostic modality for patients suspected to have pelvic-fluid collections is a CT of the abdomen and pelvis. 5 The CT findings, in combination with the patient's clinical status, determine the most appropriate mode of treatment. This section of the EUS 2008 Working Group Proceedings evaluates the current evidence and potential role of EUS in the management of patients with pelvic-fluid collections that encompasses abscesses.
A triangular gift box and problem solving

In this note we discuss how a modular triangular origami gift box can be made with six rectangular sheets of printing paper. We also derive a formula for the volume of the box based on high school ...
Dermoscopy of acquired pigmentary disorders: a comprehensive review

Dermoscopy has traditionally been used for the diagnosis of neoplasms and more recently in the evaluation of inflammatory conditions. Recent observational studies have suggested a role for dermoscopy in identifying and differentiating acquired pigmentary disorders. This comprehensive review will summarize the growing literature on the use of dermoscopy for pigmentary disorders. A literature review was performed on PubMed dating from inception to October 2020. The following pigmentary disorders were included in this study: melasma, solar lentigines, poikiloderma of Civatte, exogenous ochronosis, lichen planus pigmentosus, erythromelanosis follicularis faciei et colli, pigmented contact dermatitis, Riehl's melanosis, postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, erythema dyschromicum perstans, ashy dermatosis, confluent and reticulated papillomatosis, acanthosis nigricans, pityriasis versicolor, tinea versicolor, idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis, and vitiligo. Search terms used included each pigmentary disorder along with the terms "dermoscopy" or "dermatoscopy." Relevant case reports and case series were included. Many pigmentary disorders have unique and distinguishable features on dermoscopy. Given that these disorders can be clinically challenging for clinicians and emotionally distressing for patients, dermoscopy provides an additional, useful tool in the evaluation and assessment process.
Performance of reservation-based carpooling services under detour and waiting time restrictions

Abstract This paper examines many-to-many carpooling services with advance reservations, and constraints on waits and detours. An analytic model yields approximate formulas for the percent of requests matched, the expected vehicle-distance driven, and the passenger-distance traveled in some idealized scenarios. Simulations of these scenarios validate the formulas. In the most favorable cases carpooling reduces the vehicle-kilometers driven by all users by a few percent. The paper also shows how the formulas can be used by service providers to optimize offerings, and by city governments to design regulatory policies that will perform as intended. A simple example illustrates the ideas.
Assessing the Impact of the Lead/Lag Times on the Project Duration Estimates in Highway Construction

The literature mentions multiple factors that can affect the accuracy of estimating the project duration in highway construction, such as weather, location, and soil conditions. However, there are other factors that have not been explored, yet they can have significant impact on the accuracy of the project time estimate. Recently, TxDOT raised a concern regarding the importance of the proper estimating of the lead/lag times in project schedules. These lead/lag times are often determined based on the engineer’s experience. However, inaccurate estimates of the lead/lag time can result in unrealistic project durations. In order to investigate this claim, the study utilizes four time sensitivity measures (TSM), namely the Criticality Index (CI), Significance Index (SI), Cruciality Index (CRI), and the Schedule Sensitivity Index (SSI) to statistically analyze and draw conclusions regarding the impact of the lead/lag time estimates on the total duration in highway projects. An Excel-based scheduling software was developed with Monte Carlo simulation capabilities to calculate these TSM. The results from this paper show that the variability of some lead/lag times can significantly impact the accuracy of the estimated total project duration. It was concluded that the current practices used for estimating the lead/lag times are insufficient. As such, it is recommended to utilize more robust methods, such as the time sensitivity measures, to accurately estimate the lead/lad times in the projects scheduled.
Stare Decisis in Cognitive Error

For hundreds of years, the practice of stare decisis -a court’s adherence to prior decisions in similar cases -has guided the common law. However, recent behavioral evidence suggests that stare decisis, far from enacting society’s “true preferences” with regard to law and policy, may reflect -and exacerbate -our cognitive biases. The data show that humans are subconsciously primed (among other things) to prefer the status quo, to overvalue existing defaults, to follow others’ decisions, and to stick to the well-worn path. We have strong motives to justify existing legal, political, and social systems; to come up with simple explanations for observed phenomena; and to construct coherent narratives for the world around us. Taken together, these and other characteristics suggest that we value precedent not because it is desirable but merely because it exists. Three case studies -analyzing federal district court cases, U.S. Supreme Court cases, and development of American policy on torture -suggest that the theory of stare decisis as a heuristic has substantial explanatory power. In its strongest form, this hypothesis challenges the foundation of common law systems.
Interactions: A Study of Office Reference Statistics

Objective – The purpose of this study was to analyze the data from a reference statistics-gathering mechanism at Colorado State University (CSU) Libraries. It aimed primarily to better understand patron behaviours, particularly in an academic library with no reference desk. Methods – The researchers examined data from 2007 to 2010 of College Liaison Librarians’ consultations with patrons. Data were analyzed by various criteria, including patron type, contact method, and time spent with the patron. The information was examined in the aggregate, meaning all librarians combined, and then specifically from the Liberal Arts and Business subject areas. Results – The researchers found that the number of librarian reference consultations is substantial. Referrals to librarians from CSU’s Morgan Library’s one public service desk have declined over time. The researchers also found that graduate students are the primary patrons and email is the preferred contact method overall. Conclusion – The researchers found that interactions with patrons in librarians’ offices – either in person or virtually – remain substantial even without a traditional reference desk. The data suggest that librarians’ efforts at marketing themselves to departments, colleges, and patrons have been successful. This study will be of value to reference, subject specialist, and public service librarians, and library administrators as they consider ways to quantify their work, not only for administrative purposes, but in order to follow trends and provide services and staffing accordingly.
Role Conflict and Ambiguity : Do They Predict Burnout Among Mental Health Service Providers?

This study explores the relationship between role conflict and role ambiguity, and burnout of mental health service providers. The study used a sample of 259 mental health service providers who completed a questionnaire that included several measures: role conflict and ambiguity scales, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, social support scales and an involvement scale. Results showed that role conflict and role ambiguity had statistically significant correlations with several of the burnout dimensions. The author discusses the potential implications for increasing workers' quality of work life.
LDSD supersonic Flight Dynamics Test 1: Post-flight reconstruction

The Low Density Supersonic Decelerator project's first Supersonic Flight Dynamics Test (SFDT) occurred on June 28, 2014, off the west coast of Kauai, Hawaii, over the Pacific Ocean. The test vehicle traveled to speeds above Mach 4 and to an altitude of over 200,000 feet. This flight, although classified as a test architecture shake-out flight, tested two technologies: a robotic class Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator and a Supersonic Disksail Parachute. The reconstruction team was tasked with collecting all relevant pre-flight and flight data to accurately reconstruct the trajectory and technology performance during the science phase of the flight. Furthermore, the reconstruction team has been involved with reconstructing and exploring all aerodynamic and test vehicle properties that affected the entire flight phase. This reconstruction provided insight into the technology performance, which is a key deliverable for the LDSD project, as well as provided insight into lessons learned for subsequent SFDT flights, in the fields of data recovery, reconstruction, and pre-flight trajectory simulations.
A generalized dimensionality discrepancy measure for dimensionality assessment in multidimensional item response theory

A generalized dimensionality discrepancy measure is introduced to facilitate a critique of dimensionality assumptions in multidimensional item response models. Connections between dimensionality and local independence motivate the development of the discrepancy measure from a conditional covariance theory perspective. A simulation study and a real-data analysis demonstrate the utility of the discrepancy measure's application at multiple levels of analysis in a posterior predictive model checking framework.
An Intellectual History of Cannibalism – By Cătălin Avramescu

In this important work, the author deals with the European obsession with anthropophagy/cannibalism and the manner in which leading European thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, Bacon, Hume, Montaigne, ...
Detecting Parser Errors Using Web-based Semantic Filters

NLP systems for tasks such as question answering and information extraction typically rely on statistical parsers. But the efficacy of such parsers can be surprisingly low, particularly for sentences drawn from heterogeneous corpora such as the Web. We have observed that incorrect parses often result in wildly implausible semantic interpretations of sentences, which can be detected automatically using semantic information obtained from the Web. Based on this observation, we introduce Web-based semantic filtering---a novel, domain-independent method for automatically detecting and discarding incorrect parses. We measure the effectiveness of our filtering system, called Woodward, on two test collections. On a set of TREC questions, it reduces error by 67%. On a set of more complex Penn Treebank sentences, the reduction in error rate was 20%.
The Euclidean algorithm and the degree of the Gauss map

This paper examines the computation of the topological degree of the Gauss map, defined by polynomials in the plane, via the Euclidean algorithm.
Atraumatic Fetal Cervical Spinal Cord Injury and Cruciate Paralysis

Abstract Background: Congenital cervical spinal cord injury usually is attributed to intrapartum mechanical trauma. Case: A fetal cervical spinal cord hemorrhage presented as congenital isolated upper extremity (“cruciate”) paralysis and muscle atrophy after an atraumatic delivery. Timely neonatal diagnosis and surgery resulted in complete recovery. Conclusion: Paralysis may result from atraumatic spinal cord injuries occurring in the antepartum period.
Malignancy in HIV/AIDs: a single hospital experience.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Our hospital serves an area with a significant number of patients seropositive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Intravenous drug abuse and heterosexual exposure are by far the predominant risk factors for HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Seven percent of these patients develop malignancies. Our aim was to study the types of tumor, their distribution, and to evaluate the patients' outcome. METHODS: Of 3,578 patients with HIV infection or AIDS treated between 1993 and 1998, 245 had 1 or more malignancies. Information was collected on age, sex, race, predisposing risk factors for AIDS, malignancies, symptoms at presentation, the time of the onset of AIDS, CD4 cell counts, pathology findings, and mortality. RESULTS: Although aspects of our patients resembled those of previously studied groups of patients with AIDS, there also were ways in which our patients differed from those other groups. Of our patients, 21. 6% had non-AIDS-defining (NAD) invasive malignancies. This was considerably higher than the rate in most studies. Twenty-seven patients with such malignancies died during the study. Forty-two other patients had pre-invasive cancers. Among patients having AIDS-defining (AD) malignancies, 55.9% died, a fact that was related to patients' low CD4 cell counts and late presentation. Our 97 patients with Kaposi sarcoma included 22 women, a relatively high number that may be related to the fact that most of our patients were intravenous drug abusers or had become infected by heterosexual transmission of HIV. CONCLUSIONS: AIDS is associated with a high risk of malignancy and an unusual spectrum of tumors. Patients with invasive tumors have advanced disease at the time of initial presentation. Those with AD tumors have a worse prognosis than patients with NAD tumors. The impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy on both AD and NAD tumors needs to be further evaluated.
A radical diophantine equation

Abstract All solutions in positive integers x, y z of the diophantine equation x 1 m + y 1 n = z 1 r are determined, where m, n, r are given positive integers. The proof makes use of a simple criterion for the irreducibility of the polynomial xn − a over the rationals, where a is a positive rational.
Horseback riding: impact on sexual dysfunction and lower urinary tract symptoms in men and women.

Objectives To determine whether subjects engaged in horseback riding are more likely to be affected by sexual dysfunction and lower urinary tract symptoms than those engaged in sports with less perineal impact. Material and Methods Surveys evaluating the presence of and the risk factors for sexual dysfunction and urinary symptoms were distributed among members of equestrian clubs, swimming clubs, and individual horseback riders and swimmers. About 327 surveys were distributed by hand at horse shows and swimming pools. A total of 2000 surveys were sent by direct mail to random members of 1 national equestrian organization and 1 national swimming organization. We also evaluated bicycle habits as a possible confounding factor. Results There was no significant association between horseback riding and lower urinary tract symptoms ( P = .1759) and sexual dysfunction ( P = .1793) in males. The same applies to the association of horseback riding and lower urinary tract symptoms ( P = .5036) and sexual dysfunction ( P > .05) in females, although there was a trend toward a protective association between horseback riding and stress incontinence ( P = .0567). Years of bicycling ( P = .04) and hardness of the bicycle seat ( P = .02) were associated with an increased prevalence for lower urinary tract symptoms in women. Conclusions Regular participation in horseback riding is not significantly associated with increased prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms or sexual dysfunction, although it may be associated with decreased prevalence of stress urinary incontinence. Bicycle riding may be associated with higher prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms in women.
A laser study of the motion of particles suspended in a slow viscous shear flow

Abstract Theoretical and experimental techniques are developed which show the feasibility of using a laser to study the statistics pertaining to the orientation of small axisymmetric particles with fore-aft symmetry suspended in a slow viscous shear flow. The Rayleigh-Gans theory of light scattering is used to calculate the angular intensity distribution of light scattered from both a single particle and a collection of particles. A form factor which accounts for the size, shape, and orientation effects is calculated for the actual bi-concave disk geometry of the red blood cell, and theoretical results are given for the scattering from a single cell with a discrete orientation and also for a collection of cells with random orientations. The influence of the motion of blood cells on their light scattering properties is considered in detail. The statistics of their orientation is determined from the equations of their motion based on the theory of Jeffery. Integral relations are established which relate the distribution of particle orbit constants to the angular intensity distribution. Theoretical light scattering curves are given for several distributions of orbit constants of interest. Experiments are performed which verify the applicability of the Rayleigh-Gans theory to dilute suspensions of erythrocytes. Light scattered from suspensions sheared in a cylindrical Couette flow apparatus shows a progressive decrease in scattering at small angles compared to the random suspension. Light scattering data indicates an equilibrium orientation of the blood cells occurs with the axis of revolution of the blood cell parallel to the vorticity vector of the undisturbed flow field. This orientation corresponds to a maximum rate of energy dissipation. The relaxation time for this equilibrium configuration is found to be inversely proportional to the square of the rate of shear.
An improved self-consistent phonon approximation including four-phonon processes

An improved self-consistent phonon theory (ISC) including three- and four-phonon processes has been used to calculate the zero-pressure lattice parameters and the zero-pressure thermal expansion for Kr. The results indicate that, however limited ISC theory with three-phonon processes may be, trying to supplement this theory with higher-order phonon terms will make the convergence of the theory less satisfactory. In the light of our results we discuss earlier related work as well as a paper by Van Doren and Henkel.
Bud4 mediates the cell-type-specific assembly of the axial landmark in budding yeast

Cell polarization occurs along a single axis that is generally determined by a spatial cue. Cells of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae select a site for polarized growth in a specific pattern depending on cell type. Haploid a and α cells bud in the axial budding pattern, which depends on a transient marker and requires proteins Bud3, Bud4, Axl1 and Axl2. Here, we report that Bud4 functions as a platform that mediates the ordered assembly of the axial landmark at the division site during M and early G1 phase. Whereas Bud4 associates with Bud3 in all cell types and in the absence of Axl1 or Axl2, Bud4 interacts with Axl1 and Axl2 mainly in haploid cells and only in the presence of all other components of the landmark. Bud4 can bind to GTP or GDP, and a GTP-binding-defective Bud4 fails to interact with Axl1 in vitro. The same bud4 mutation leads to mis-localization of Axl1 and disrupts the axial budding pattern, indicating that GTP binding to Bud4 is important for its role in bud-site selection. We also show the cell-type-specific association of the axial landmark with Bud5, a GDP/GTP exchange factor for Rsr1. Despite their expression in all cell types, Bud4 and Axl2 associate with Bud5 specifically in haploid cells and in the presence of Axl1, whose expression is limited to a and α cells. Together, our findings suggest that Bud4 plays a critical role in the assembly of the axial landmark and its link to the Rsr1 GTPase module.
Chronotropic effect in rats heart caused by pulsed ultrasound

This study investigated the dependence of an increasing/decreasing sequence of pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) on the chronotropic effect via the application of 3.5-MHz pulsed ultrasound (US) on the rat heart. The experiments were divided into three 3-month-old female rat groups (n = 4 ea): control, PRF increase and PRF decrease. Rats were exposed to transthoracic ultrasonic pulses at ~0.50% of duty factor at 2.0-MPa peak rarefactional pressure amplitude. For the PRF increase group, the PRF started lower than that of the rat’s heart rate and was increased sequentially in 1-Hz steps every 5 s (i.e., 4, 5, and 6 Hz) for a total duration of 15 s. For the PRF decrease group, the PRF started greater than that of the rat’s heart rate and was decreased sequentially in 1-Hz steps every 5 s (i.e., 6, 5, and 4 Hz). For the PRF decrease and control groups, the ultrasound application resulted in a significant negative chronotropic effect (~11%) after ultrasound exposure. However, for the PRF increase group, a significant but less decrease of the heart rate (~3%) was observed after ultrasound exposure. The ultrasound application caused a negative chronotropic effect after US exposure for increase/decrease US group. [Support: NIH Grant R37EB002641.]