cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Flavonoid-Rich Cocoa Consumption Affects Multiple Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Meta-Analysis of Short-Term Studies

A growing body of evidence suggests that the consumption of foods rich in polyphenolic compounds, particularly cocoa, may have cardioprotective effects. No review, however, has yet examined the effect of flavonoid-rich cocoa (FRC) on all major cardiovascular risk factors or has examined potential dose-response relationships for these effects. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials was performed to evaluate the effect of FRC on cardiovascular risk factors and to assess a dose-response relationship. Inclusion and exclusion criteria as well as dependent and independent variables were determined a priori. Data were collected for: blood pressure, pulse, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, TG, BMI, C-reactive protein, flow-mediated vascular dilation (FMD), fasting glucose, fasting insulin, serum isoprostane, and insulin sensitivity/resistance indices. Twenty-four papers, with 1106 participants, met the criteria for final analysis. In response to FRC consumption, systolic blood pressure decreased by 1.63 mm Hg (P = 0.033), LDL cholesterol decreased by 0.077 mmol/L (P = 0.038), and HDL cholesterol increased by 0.046 mmol/L (P = 0.037), whereas total cholesterol, TG, and C-reactive protein remained the same. Moreover, insulin resistance decreased (HOMAIR: ‐0.94 points; P , 0.001), whereas FMD increased (1.53%; P , 0.001). A nonlinear dose-response relationship was found between FRC and FMD (P = 0.004), with maximum effect observed at a flavonoid dose of 500 mg/d; a similar relationship may exist with HDL cholesterol levels (P = 0.06). FRC consumption significantly improves blood pressure, insulin resistance, lipid profiles, and FMD. These short-term benefits warrant larger long-term investigations into the cardioprotective role of FRC. J. Nutr. doi: 10.3945/jn.111.145482.
Promotion of Noise-Induced Cochlear Injury by Toluene and Ethylbenzene in the Rat

Ethylbenzene + toluene are known individually to have ototoxic potential at high exposure levels and with prolonged exposure times generally of 4-16 weeks. Both ethylbenzene + toluene are minor constituents of JP-8 jet fuel; this fuel has recently been determined to promote susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss. Therefore, the current study evaluates the ototoxic potential of combined exposure to ethylbenzene + toluene exposure in a ratio calculated from the average found in three laboratories. Rats received ethylbenzene + toluene by inhalation and half of them were subjected simultaneously to an octave band of noise (OBN) of 93-95 dB. Another group received only the noise exposure which was designed to produce a small, but permanent auditory impairment while an unexposed control group was also included. In two separate experiments, exposures occurred either repeatedly on 5 successive days for 1 week or for 5 days on 2 successive weeks to 4000 mg/m(3) total hydrocarbons for 6 h based upon initial pilot studies. The concentration of toluene was 400 ppm and the concentration of ethylbenzene was 660 ppm. Impairments in auditory function were assessed using distortion product otoacoustic emissions and compound action potential testing. Following completion of these tests, the organs of Corti were dissected to permit evaluation of hair cell loss. The uptake and elimination of the solvents was assessed by harvesting key organs at two time points following ethylbenzene + toluene exposure from additional rats not used for auditory testing. Similarly, glutathione (GSH) levels were measured in light of suggestions that oxidative stress might result from solvent-noise exposures. Ethylbenzene + toluene exposure by itself at 4000 mg/m(3) for 6 h did not impair cochlear function or yield a loss of hair cells. However, when combined with a 93-dB OBN exposure combined solvent + noise did yield a loss in auditory function and a clear potentiation of outer hair cell death that exceeded the loss produced by noise alone. No evidence was found for a loss in total GSH in lung, liver, or brain as a consequence of ethylbenzene + toluene exposure.
Scheduling real-time transactions

Issues associated with transaction scheduling and concurrency control in real-time database systems are addressed. A message-based approach to prototyping study of distributed real-time database systems is introduced, and a prototyping software implemented for a series of experiments is presented. As a specific example of real-time transaction scheduling, a priority-based scheduling algorithm is discussed, together with a performance study using the prototyping environment. The results obtained suggest that priority ceiling protocol might be appropriate for real-time transaction scheduling since it is very stable over the wide range of transaction sizes, and, compared with the two-phase locking protocol, it reduces the number of deadline-missing transactions. >
Comparisons Across Three Race/Ethnic Groups in Rural Retirement Counties

This chapter examines similarities and differences in the retirement migration process for Blacks, Whites and Hispanics. Using a national-level net migration file, I compare and contrast the types of nonmetropolitan counties with high positive net migration for these three groups. Overall, destination counties tend to be quite different for these groups, with relatively few overlaps. Counties with high net migration rates for Whites are more likely to be amenity-rich counties focusing on recreational activities, whereas both Black and Hispanic high net migration gain counties are often in the respective areas of long-term settlement for each group. Other major county factors investigated include the extent to which high elderly migration gain is associated with gain for the younger population, and measures of location with respect to metropolitan areas, and socioeconomic status. An important variable for all three groups turned out to be the presence of recreational activities in the county. Because we are necessarily dealing here with the properties of areas, inferences about individuals must be made very cautiously. In the discussion section, I consider post-2000 trends.
The Directional Influence Of Music Backgrounds In Television Advertising

Advertisers frequently incorporate music backgrounds in television commercials as a means of improving ad effectiveness. This paper examines the relationship of alternative music backgrounds on brand attitude formation. Brand attitudes were more favorable when emotive cues deviated from neutral presentations in circumstances of high involvement and when emotive cues were positive in situations of low involvement. Implications for advertising practice as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.
SCALE OF VALUES VIOLATES SINGULARISM

There is at the very least a tension between the two basic building blocs of Austrian economics. The doctrine of singularism maintains that is inevitably and necessarily between two and only two things: that which is chosen, and the next best alternative, which is set aside. However, implicit in the concept of the scale of values is the claim that choice can take place over many, many alternatives. If one of these has to be jettisoned, and we argue that one must be, then we vote for the latter.
Amidation of triglycerides by amino alcohols and their impact on plant oil-derived polymers

Amidation of plant oils with amino alcohols was methodologically examined. Twenty one amino alcohols, varying in alcohol substitutions, linkers and amino substitutions, were respectively reacted with high oleic soybean oil. The structural factors of amino alcohols controlled their reactivity in amidation. While most of them resulted in quantitative conversion of triglycerides, steric hindrance on secondary amines resulted in much lower yields. Subsequent synthesis and radical polymerization of (meth)acrylates led to polymers with a distinct dependence essentially originating from the amino alcohols. Depending on the backbone and amide structures in the side chain, these polymers exhibited wide glass transition temperatures with a difference of more than 100 °C, ranging from viscoelastic materials to thermoplastics. A proof-of-concept hydrogenation of unsaturated double bonds was carried out, providing an approach to precisely controlling the thermal and mechanical properties of plant oil-derived polymers.
An Auto-Reconfigurable $2\times/4\times $ AC-DC Regulator for Wirelessly Powered Biomedical Implants With 28% Link Efficiency Enhancement

This brief presents an auto-reconfigurable load-dependable ac-dc regulator for wirelessly powered biomedical implants. In wireless power transmission, the peak link efficiency that typically limits the overall system efficiency only occurs at a certain nominal load for a given link design. The proposed reconfigurable ac-dc regulator can automatically switch between doubler and quadrupler rectifier topologies to provide dynamic input impedance matching to the link as the average load current of the regulator varies during system operation, thereby maintaining high-link efficiency over a wide load range. A low-power load modulation signal generator is also developed for closed-loop wireless power control. Implemented in a standard 0.35- $\mu \text{m}$ CMOS process, the proposed rectifier and ac-dc regulator achieve peak power conversion efficiencies of 92.7% and 88.5%, respectively, while operating at 1 MHz. The proposed autoreconfiguration capability of the regulator further provides the link efficiency enhancement of 28% across the wide load power range from 1 to 20 mW.
Parasitism and Survival among Rangeland Grasshoppers in Response to Suppression of Robber Fly (Diptera: Asilidae) Predators

Robber flies were manually removed from 0.28- or 0.55-ha circular field plots four or five times a week for 6 weeks in order to reduce predation upon dipterous parasites of grasshoppers. Three species that prey upon Diptera, Efferia bicaudata (Hine), E. staminea (Williston), and Mallophorina guildiana (Williston), constituted 94% of the robber fly population. Although removal plots always become partially (mean, 61%)repopulated through recruitment or immigration, the incidence of parasitism among grasshoppers significantly increased from an average of 2 to 3% in untreated plots to 5.5 to 6.5% in removal plots. During one season, the enhancement of parasitism was associated with a significant 12-day reduction in average longevity of grasshoppers (i.e., from 40 days to only 28 days). During a second season, however, average grasshopper longevity in all plots was only 15 days, and the potential effects of increased parasitism were not realized.
Divalent metal cation speciation and binding to surface-bound oligonucleotide single strands studied by second harmonic generation.

The binding of Sr(II), Ca(II), Mg(II), Ba(II), Mn(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) to silica/water interfaces functionalized with A 15 T 6 oligonucleotides was quantified at pH 7 and 10 mM NaCl using the Eisenthal χ (3) technique. The binding free energies range from -31.1(6) kj/mol for Ba(II) to -33.8(4) kJ/mol for Ca(II). The ion densities were found to range from 2(1) ions/strand for Zn(II) to 11(1) ions/strand for Cd(II). Additionally, we quantified Mg(II) binding in the presence of varying background electrolyte concentrations which showed that the binding free energies changed in a linear fashion from -39.3(8) to -27(1) kJ/mol over the electrolyte concentration range of 1-80 mM, respectively. An adsorption free energy versus interfacial potential analysis allowed us to elucidate the speciation of the bound Mg(II) ions and to identify three possible binding pathways. Our findings suggest that Mg(II) binds as a fully hydrated divalent cation, most likely displacing DNA-bound Na ions. These measurements will serve as a benchmark for computer simulations of divalent metal cation/DNA interactions for geochemical and biosensing applications.
Fostering a new model of multigenerational learning: Older adult perspectives, community partners, and higher education

ABSTRACTIntergenerational service-learning initiatives are an increasingly common educational practice designed to engage college students and older adults with one another. The growth of the baby boomer population and a growing interest in lifelong learning opportunities among older adults have the potential to create new models of multigenerational education within colleges and universities. The purpose of this study is to describe the multigenerational interaction and educational interests of older adults who reside in a medium-sized independent and assisted living setting. Results from a survey completed by elders (n = 128) and two focus groups (n = 17) indicate a strong interest in multigenerational-learning with college students. A majority of elders preferred on-site programming (as opposed to attending sessions on a college campus), time-limited faculty-led lectures around topics related to history, arts, computers, and literature. These findings are of great importance for institutions of higher ...
Low-level Augmentation of Trichogramma pretiosum and Naturally Occurring Trichogramma spp. Parasitism of Heliothis spp. in Cotton in Louisiana

Three low-level releases of Trichogramma pretiosum (Riley), two at 12,500 and one at 37,500 per ha, at 7-day intervals, did not increase early season Heliothis spp. egg parasitism over that in untreated fields at Natchitoches, La., in 1978. Peak parasitism levels were 59.3 and 40.6% in control and release fields, respectively, but declined before peak egg deposition. Peak natural levels of Trichogramma spp. parasitism in the first Heliothis spp. egg generation in cotton in 1979 at Bossier City and St. Joseph, La., were 89 and 62%, respectively.
Wintering Sandhill Crane exposure to wind energy development in the central and southern Great Plains, USA

ABSTRACT Numerous wind energy projects have been constructed in the central and southern Great Plains, USA, the main wintering area for midcontinental Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis). In an initial assessment of the potential risks of wind towers to cranes, we estimated spatial overlap, investigated potential avoidance behavior, and determined the habitat associations of cranes. We used data from cranes marked with platform transmitting terminals (PTTs) with and without global positioning system (GPS) capabilities. We estimated the wintering distributions of PTT-marked cranes prior to the construction of wind towers, which we compared with current tower locations. Based on this analysis, we found 7% spatial overlap between the distributions of cranes and towers. When we looked at individually marked cranes, we found that 52% would have occurred within 10 km of a tower at some point during winter. Using data from cranes marked after tower construction, we found a potential indication of avoidance behavio...
Extended Magnetohydrodynamic Plasma Jets With External Magnetic Fields

In this paper, collimated plasma jets form from Joule heating and ablation of a radial foil (Al 15- $\mu \text{m}$ -thin disk) using a pulsed power generator (Cornell Beam Research Accelerator) with 1-MA peak current and 100-ns rise time. Plasma dynamics of the jet are diagnosed with and without an applied uniform external magnetic field ( $\sim 1$ -T axial $B_{z}$ produced from a pulsed Helmholtz coil) and under a change of current polarity, which corresponds to current moving either radially inward or outward from the foil’s central axis. Experimental results are compared with predictions made by numerical simulations (Plasma as an Extended-MHD Relaxation System using an Efficient Upwind Scheme). The influence of the Hall effect on the jet development is observed under opposite current polarities.
APPLICATION PROSPECT IN USING OF EXCESS HEAT OF HEAT-ENGINE PLANTS

Supply heat and aquiculture are the effective and conventional ways of using of excess heat.And it has momentous significance that excess heat is used to desalt of drainage in mine.It has advangtages of appropriately using excess heat,good economic performance and releasing contradiction of lack of fresh water.It has broad application prospect.
Effects of Site-specific Nitrogen Management on Grain Yield and Physiological Characters of Super Hybrid Rice

In order to explore the optimum nutrient management method of two-line super hybrid rice,this experiment was conducted with super hybrid rice"Y-Liangyou 1"to compare the effects of different nitrogen management on yield and physiology of super hybrid rice.Experimental results were as follows:1)The grain yield of super hybrid rice under site-specific nitrogen management(SSNM)increased by35.7% and 11.9% compared to no N-application treatment and FFP,respectively.And the AENof super hybrid rice was increased by 150.0% under SSNM than FFP.2)Chlorophyll content,leaf nitrogen content and SOD of SSNM treatment were higher than FFP by 9.6%,9.3% and 7.9% respectively.Conclusion:SSNM treatment significantly enhanced the root activity, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate during grain filling stage,and improved the soluble sugar content,soluble protein content,nitrate reductase activity and superoxide dismutase activity of flag leaf at flowering.Then the yield was consequently enhanced.
Identification of a 155 kDa Fraction that Possesses Neuropathy Target Esterase Activity

Neuropathy target esterase (NTE) is a protein that hydrolyses phenyl valerate in the presence of paraoxon, but is inhibited by mipafox. Many consider it the putative site of action for organophosphorus compounds that cause organophosphate induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN). Williams and Johnson (1981) suggested that NTE was a 155 kDa protein. Thomas et al. (1993) used 3-(9’-mercaptononylthio)-1, 1, 1-trifluoropropan-2-one (MNTFP) bound to sepharose to obtain evidence that this protein was responsible for NTE activity. Recently, Glyn et al. (1994) isolated a 155 kDa peptide with a biotinylated saligenin phosphate analog. To date, no one has isolated the active enzyme.
Decreasing the critical value of hemoglobin required for physician notification reduces the rate of blood transfusions

Red blood cell transfusions have been cited as one of the most overused therapeutic interventions in the USA. Excessively aggressive transfusion practices may be driven by mandatory physician notification of critical hemoglobin values that do not generally require transfusion. We examined the effect of decreasing the critical value of hemoglobin from 8 to 7 g/dL at our institution. Along with this change, mandatory provider notification for readings between 7 and 8 g/dL was rescinded. Transfusion rates were compared retrospectively during paired 5-month periods for patients presenting in three key hemoglobin ranges (6.00-6.99, 7.00-7.99, and 8.00-8.99 g/dL). A change in transfusion practices was hypothesized in the 7-8 g/dL range, which was no longer labeled critical and for which mandated physician calls were rescinded. Transfusion rates showed a statistically significant 8% decrease (P≤0.0001) during the 5-month period post change in our transfusion practices. This decrease in the 7.00-7.99 g/dL range was significantly greater than the 2% decrease observed in either the 6-6.99 g/dL (P=0.0017) or 8-8.99 g/dL (P≤0.0001) range. Cost savings of up to $700,000/year were extrapolated from our results showing 491 fewer units of red blood cells transfused during the 5-month post change. These cost savings do not take into account the additional impact of complications associated with blood transfusions.
Cerebrospinal Fluid Cyclic Nucleotide Alterations in Traumatic Coma

Cyclic AMP [(cAMP) cyclic adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate] was initially discovered by Sutherland and Rall31 in 1958. Further investigations have led to the concept that cAMP may be involved as the intracellular mediator of the actions of other hormones and of various putative synaptic transmitters. According to this concept, first messengers, the hormones or transmitters themselves, move from their cells of origin and induce the synthesis of cAMP in their target cells. Thereby, cAMP, by activating an appropriate sequence of enzymes, can evoke the specific response of a target cell to the hormone.33 During the course of research on cAMP, a second cyclic nucleotide, cyclic guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cGMP), was discovered1 and is now thought to act as a second messenger for the actions of various neurotransmitters, including acetylcholine.
Organic Matter Decomposition

Decomposition refers to a suite of processes by which organic matter is transformed into physically and/or chemically different components. At the macromolecular scale recognizable pieces of plant material may be fragmented into smaller parts that might be suitable for consumption or transport by water. At the molecular scale organic forms of elements (such as carbon in a carbohydrate) are oxidized to inorganic forms such as CO 2 . The process by which a material decomposes is important because pathways such as leaching of soluble organic compounds or release of fine particles of organic matter may be used as a carbon and energy source by other organisms or transported to other systems. Rates of decomposition vary widely and are affected by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The initial biochemical composition is usually a major influence and for example plant materials with higher concentrations of nitrogen or phosphorous and lower amounts of lignin or cellulose will decompose faster than other types of plant litter. The location where decomposition is occurring is also significant and usually decay takes place more quickly in warm, wet and nutrient-rich places. Decomposition plays a key role in returning elements to simpler inorganic forms and the response of decomposition to climate change can have a large feed-back effect on CO 2 levels in the atmosphere.
Using orthographic neighborhood size manipulations to investigate memory deficits in aging memory

In three previous studies, manipulations of orthographic neighborhood size and orienting task were used to differentiate between item-specific and relational processing in young adults (aged 18–35) in standard recognition tasks. The current study attempts to investigate memory deficits in older adults (aged 65+) using similar manipulations. Experiment 1 manipulated orthographic neighborhood size within an item recognition task. Young adults demonstrated a standard mirror effect, showing more accurate performance for low-N words. No such effect was found in older adults, possibly indicating a deficit in item-specific processing. Experiment 2 included an orienting task during study to emphasize a specific type of processing. While younger adults’ performance was influenced by orienting task, older adults showed consistently better performance for High-N words. These results suggest that older adults show a deficit in item-specific processing, relying more on relational processing regardless of task.
Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptors as a Potential Target in the Developments of Antidepressant Drugs

Depression is a highly prevalent form of mental illness that is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Because stressful life events frequently trigger its symptoms, depression is often characterized as a stress-related disorder, and chronic exposure to stress has been hypothesized to lead to long-term alterations of the physiological systems thought to mediate the stress response. Understanding the biological changes resulting from chronic stress is important because these long-term modifications may underlie the symptoms of depression. The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system has long been considered to be one of the body’s major regulators of the stress response. Two genes encoding distinct G-protein-coupled CRF receptors have been identified: the CRF1 receptor and CRF2 receptor. Endogenous ligands for these receptors, including CRF, urocortin 1, urocortin 2, and urocortin 3, display different binding affinities for the two CRF-receptor subtypes, as well as distinct behavioral profiles in animal models of depression and anxiety. These findings have led to the hypothesis that CRF1 and CRF2 receptors may play distinct roles in the regulation of stress-related behavior, with the CRF1 receptor underlying the activational components of the stress response and the CRF2 receptor acting as a compensatory coping mechanism. The present chapter will review the role of CRF-related ligands and CRF receptors in depression and proposes targeting the CRF system as a potential pharmacotherapy for depressive disorders.
Bulk Viscosity of Interacting Hadrons

Abstract We show that first approximations to the bulk viscosity η v are expressible in terms of factors that depend on the sound speed v s , the enthalpy, and the interaction (elastic and inelastic) cross section. The explicit dependence of η v on the factor ( 1 3 − v s 2 ) is demonstrated in the Chapman-Enskog approximation as well as the variational and relaxation time approaches. The interesting feature of bulk viscosity is that the dominant contributions at a given temperature arise from particles which are neither extremely nonrelativistic nor extremely relativistic. Numerical results for a model binary mixture are reported.
Questioning Reality, Questioning Science: Teaching Students in the Food and Agricultural Sciences about Epistemological, Ethical, and Empirical Controversies

The effective application of food science depends on social constraints, yet the training for food scientists does not adequately consider the contested social context under which food is processed, packaged, and prepared. We recently co-taught a new course (“Arguing about food”) intended to introduce students to critical perspectives on the epistemological, ethical, and empirical assumptions that characterize contemporary food controversies. Through a series of guest lectures, readings, and discussions, students engaged with contrasting views on data quality, food ethics, nutrition, safety, governance, and the scientific enterprise as a whole. A key feature of the course was that we did not seek to defend any particular position. Rather, we examined how different values could lead reasonable people to take different views on scientific issues. Course requirements included a pass/fail quiz, a series of written reading responses, a group project devoted to a case study, and active attendance and participation. The students were engaged and challenged by the material, and at the end of the semester, reported that the course had also been useful and informative to them as young professionals embarking upon careers in the food and agricultural sciences.
On‐Chip Microsupercapacitors Based on Coordination Polymer Frameworks for Alternating Current Line‐Filtering

AC line-filtering on-chip micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) based on coordination polymer frameworks were fabricated by a facile layer-by-layer method. The reported on-chip MSCs showed a low impedance phase angle of -73° at 120 Hz and a high power density of up to 1323 W cm-3 with a low relaxation time constant of 0.27 ms.
Characterization of Nickel Assisted Growth of Boron Nanostructures

Boron nanostructures were synthesized by the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism using nickel as a catalyst. Two types of catalyst deposition methods were used: thermal evaporation and solution dispersion of Ni nanopowder. Also, the effect of synthesis temperature on the shapes of the nanostrucrure formed is reported here. The nanostructures were primarily characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Further qualitative analyses were done with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). For quantitative analyses Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) were used. These results confirmed that 1) high purity Ni assisted boron nanostructures grow by pyrolysis of diborane, and that 2) oxide assisted growth of the nanostructures did not take place as carbon and oxygen were present only as surface contamination. Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) patterns showed that the nanostructures were mainly crystalline. By decreasing the amount of nickel catalyst that is deposited by thermal evaporation the diameters of the nanowires were reduced. Also, the use of nickel nanopowder as catalyst instead of Ni film resulted in significant reduction in wire diameter. The diameter of the boron nanowires are about 36 nm. With nanowires other types of nanostructures were formed in either type of deposition. At the lower reaction temperature formation of nanosheets was observed.
Illum information

Shannon's mutual information measures the degree of mutual dependence between two random variables. Two related information functionals have also been developed in the literature: multiinformation, a multivariate extension of mutual information; and lautum information, the Csiszar conjugate of mutual information. In this work, we define illum information, the multivariate extension of lautum information and the Csiszar conjugate of multiinformation. We provide operational interpretations of this functional, including in the problem of independence testing of a set of random variables. Further, we also provide informational characterizations of illum information such as the data processing inequality and the chain rule for distributions on tree-structured graphical models. Finally, as illustrative examples, we compute the illum information for Ising models and Gauss-Markov random fields.
Considering effects of parasitic coupling to ground in a switching power amplifier

The future naval surface combatant will be an all-electric medium-voltage dc integrated power and energy system; capable of supporting future dynamic loads, such as electric weapons and sensors. This system will be different from typical terrestrial distribution systems in that current carrying conductors are in close proximity to the conductive ship hull structure, and there is no well-defined ‘earth’ ground. Since this system will contain a considerable amount of power electronic devices, adoption of this system will introduce harmonic content and undesirable effects, such as common-mode (ground) current through coupling of the power system and the ship's hull. Current research under the Electric Ship Research and Development Consortium aims at development of an analytical framework to characterize and simulate megawatt scale power electronic devices. The 5 MW power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) testbed at the Florida State University Center for Advanced Power Systems is used to interface actual power equipment, device(s) under test (DUT), to a real-time simulated environment through power amplifiers and/or actuators. To support future PHIL endeavors, it is necessary to better understand and mitigate impacts of high switching frequencies presented to the DUTs by the amplifiers of the testbed. This paper discusses the 5 MW PHIL testbed focusing on one of the amplifiers. Results from efforts for characterization and mitigation of effects from parasitic coupling to ground are presented.
A Meta-Analysis of Executive Functions in Frontal Cortex: Comparing Healthy and Neuropsychiatric Groups

Background: The neural architecture of executive functions remains a topic of considerable clinical and academic interest in the clinical neurosciences, given its strength as a transdiagnostic predictor of adaptive functioning with high heritability. In recent years, meta-analyses have shown a consistent relationship between prefrontal cortex size and executive functioning task performance in healthy adults and lesion patients, with increases in measures of cortical size (i.e., volume or thickness) associated with better executive functioning performance. There is a gap in meta-analytic literature assessing these relationships in neuropsychiatric populations, their effects relative to healthy controls, and differential contributions of brains regions and neuropsychological paradigms. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of published studies (k = 30) that assessed the relationship between executive functions and frontal regions in vivo (N = 1935) for both healthy (20 samples) and neuropsychiatric (21 samples) adults. Random effects modeling was used to calculate mean effect sizes and CIs. Results: Larger volumes and thickness were associated with better executive functioning in both healthy (r = .35, 95% CI = .29 - .39) and neuropsychiatric populations (r = .47, 95% CI = .40 - .51), with the effect size for neuropsychiatric populations being significantly larger compared to healthy controls. While there was variability between tasks, there were no significant differences in effect size between neuropsychological paradigms or brain region classification. Conclusions: These results indicate the relationship between healthy adult performance on neuropsychological testing is less associated with cortical size compared to neuropsychiatric adults.
Differential Aptitude Test Scores and Vocational Training Program Choice

Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) scores of 2,622 students who were tested in the 8th, 9th, or 10th grades and who later entered a Minnesota area vocational-technical school were analyzed to determi...
Bert N. La Du, a Summary of His Career to 1998

Bert La Du, M.D., Ph.D. was honored for his life’s work in research at the 6th International Meeting on Cholinesterases, 20-24 March 1998, in San Diego, CA.
Visual scanning behavior during distracted walking in healthy young adults.

Abstract Background An epidemic of pedestrian accidents when walking while texting suggests that people are less aware of their surroundings during distracted walking, and highlights the importance of visual scanning for pedestrian safety. Quantitative examination of visual scanning during distracted walking is still lacking. Research question Is visual scanning behavior altered by distracted walking in healthy young adults? Methods We compared visual scanning behavior in 20 young adults during usual (single-task) walking, walking while performing a letter-fluency task, and walking while texting. Visual scanning behavior was measured by fixation count and dwell time percentage in specific areas of interest. Dual-task effects on gait speed, letter fluency, texting speed and accuracy, and situational awareness were also examined. Result Visual scanning behavior differed between the three walking conditions. During dual-task letter fluency, participants had significantly more non-walking path fixations than either of the other two conditions (i.e., more frequent, broader visual scanning). Conversely, during dual-task texting, gaze was focused predominantly on the phone, with little visual scanning of the walking path and surrounding environment. When walking without texting or talking, gaze was directed equally to far walking path and surrounding environment. Significance Texting while walking is associated with a considerable reduction in overt visual attention to the walking path and surrounding areas. Whether this translates to reduced conscious awareness of environmental stimuli remains unclear. Performing a verbal task while walking was associated with more frequent, wider visual scanning behavior, which may be specific to the nature of the verbal task in this study.
The Influence of Simulation Experiences on New Nurses' Clinical Judgment

Abstract Background The increasing incorporation of high-fidelity simulation (HFS) in nursing education warrants further exploration of the contribution of HFS to subsequent development of nurses' clinical judgment. Method A thematic analysis was performed of in-depth audio-taped interview data from 20 registered nurses with one to three years of work experience. Results HFS provided students opportunities to think and act in the nursing role and thus supported their ongoing development of clinical judgment. HFS contributed to enhanced learning in clinical settings. Conclusion The intersection of didactic instruction, clinical experience, and HFS experience is complex. HFS may provide valuable experiences for nursing students.
Self-configuring event detection in electricity monitoring for human-building interaction

Abstract Monitoring the temporal changes in the operational states of appliances is a key step in inferring the dynamics of operations in smart homes. This information could be leveraged in a variety of energy management applications including energy breakdown of individual loads, inferring the occupancy patterns, and associating the energy use to occupants’ activities. The operational states of appliances could be identified through detecting and classifying the events on power time-series. Despite the advancements in the field of event detection, they often require in-situ configuration of model parameters to achieve a higher level of performance according to each new context. In order to address such limitation, in this paper, we have proposed a self-configuring event detection framework for detecting the changes in operational states of appliances. The framework seeks to autonomously learn the contextual characteristics of the loads from the environment and adapt the event detection parameters. The proposed unsupervised framework couples an automated clustering for identifying the recurring motifs, which are representations of the appliances’ transient power draw signatures in a given environment and a proximity-based motif matching for detecting the events. The framework was evaluated on EMBED dataset, a publicly available fully labeled electricity disaggregation dataset, collected from three apartments with different categories of the appliances. The evaluations demonstrate that the proposed event detection framework outperforms the conventional event detection in detecting the operational states of different classes of loads across different environments. The proposed framework could also facilitate human-building interactions in training smart home applications by populating motifs to infer the operations of appliances and activities of occupants.
Utilitarianism and Policing in the United States

Jeremy Bentham, the father of modern utilitarianism, ranks among the most influential nineteenth century philosophers. Michael Quinn’s (2019) essay, “Bentham on Preventive Policing”, is a reminder ...
Distinct neuronal subtypes of the lateral habenula differentially target ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons

The lateral habenula (LHb) is an epithalamic brain structure critical for processing and adapting to negative action outcomes. However, despite the importance of LHb to behavior and the clear anatomical and molecular diversity of LHb neurons, the neuron types of the habenula remain unknown. Here we use high-throughput single-cell transcriptional profiling, monosynaptic retrograde tracing, and multiplexed FISH to characterize the cells of the mouse habenula. We find 5 subtypes of neurons in the medial habenula (MHb) that are organized into anatomical subregions. In the LHb we describe 4 neuronal subtypes and show that they differentially target dopaminergic and GABAergic cells in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). These data provide a valuable resource for future study of habenular function and dysfunction and demonstrate neuronal subtype specificity in the LHb-VTA circuit.
Coupled electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and cerebrospinal fluid oscillations in human sleep

Sleep is essential for both cognition and maintenance of healthy brain function. Slow waves in neural activity contribute to memory consolidation, whereas cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) clears metabolic waste products from the brain. Whether these two processes are related is not known. We used accelerated neuroimaging to measure physiological and neural dynamics in the human brain. We discovered a coherent pattern of oscillating electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and CSF dynamics that appears during non-rapid eye movement sleep. Neural slow waves are followed by hemodynamic oscillations, which in turn are coupled to CSF flow. These results demonstrate that the sleeping brain exhibits waves of CSF flow on a macroscopic scale, and these CSF dynamics are interlinked with neural and hemodynamic rhythms.
Preoperative Risk Factor Optimization Lowers Hospital Length of Stay and Postoperative Emergency Department Visits in Primary Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Patients.

Abstract Background The evaluation and management of outcomes risk has become an essential element of a modern total joint replacement program. Our multidisciplinary team designed an evidence-based tool to address modifiable risk factors for adverse outcomes after primary hip and knee arthroplasty surgery. Methods Our protocols were designed to identify, intervene, and mitigate risk through evidence-based patient optimization. Nurse navigators screened patients preoperatively, identified and treated risk factors, and followed patients for 90 days postoperatively. We compared patients participating in our optimization program (N = 104) to both a historical cohort (N = 193) and a contemporary cohort (N = 166). Results Risk factor identification and optimization resulted in lower hospital length of stay (LOS) and postoperative emergency department (ED) visits. Patients in the optimization cohort had a statistically significant decrease in mean LOS as compared to both the historical cohort (2.55 vs 1.81 days, P Conclusion Optimization of patients before elective primary total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty reduced average LOS, ED visits, and drove telerehabilitation use. Our results add to the limited body of literature supporting this patient-centered approach.
The impact of R&D investment on mitigating supply chain disruptions: Empirical evidence from U.S. firms

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of a firm's R&D investment in mitigating supply chain disruptions. We use four categories of disruption risks in a supply chain: demand, process, supply, and environmental. Building upon dynamic capability theory, we examine the relationships among a firm's R&D investment, supply chain disruption risk drivers, supply chain performance, and firm performance, using data collected from manufacturing and service organizations in the U.S. Our findings show that a firm's R&D investment can be regarded as enhancing the firm's resilience capability. R&D investment significantly mitigates the effects of process disruption, supply disruption, and demand disruption on firm performance. R&D investment significantly mitigates the effects of process disruption and environmental disruption on supply chain performance. Our study provides one of the early empirical findings of the role of a firm's investment in innovation as a means of improving the firm's resilience to supply chain disruptions.
Finance and the Macro-Economy: The Politics of Regulatory Reform in Europe

This paper analyzes major changes in the regulation of the financial sector in Europe over the last three decades. Focusing on the pattern of change across five countries (Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), the paper identifies two major periods of regulatory change: first, the shift away from postwar patterns of credit regulation in the 1970s and 1980s, and second, the intensification of state supervisory powers and the introduction of new regulatory structures from the 1990s to the present. In both cases, the authors point to the way in which different models of financial sector regulation affect the political consequences of macro-economic policy for political elites as an explanation for choices that governments have made in the regulatory arena. More specifically, while regulatory change in the first period may be largely explained by the way in which different postwar models of credit regulation impinged upon a government's political ability to impose disinflation, choices in favor of different regulatory structures in the second period (single regulator in Britain and Germany versus multiple regulators in the other countries) can be related to differences in the area of pension reform. By focusing on the political implications that different modes of financial regulation can have for elected officials in the context of different macro-economic scenarios, the authors offer an explanation of regulatory change that differs from accounts which emphasize the primacy of financial market forces in driving such change.
Examining school dropout among rural youth in Honduras: Evidence from a mixed-methods longitudinal study

Abstract This study uses longitudinal mixed methods data to examine patterns of dropout among a cohort of 1305 Honduran rural youth from the time they were in 6th grade to the age of 20. Based on our analysis of household and student surveys and in-depth interviews, we find that dropout is a major problem, particularly during transition years and during the first year of upper secondary education. Dropout results from the accumulation of push and pull factors that lead students to question whether it is worthwhile to stay enrolled, as they lack opportunities to convert their schooling into valued outcomes.
On discrete priors and sparse minimax optimal predictive densities

We consider the problem of predictive density estimation under Kullback-Leibler loss in a high-dimensional Gaussian model with exact sparsity constraints on the location parameters. For non-asymptotic sparsity levels, the least favorable prior is discrete. Here, we study the first order asymptotic minimax risk of Bayes predictive density estimates where the proportion of non-zero coordinates converges to zero as dimension increases. Motivated by an optimal thresholding rule in Mukherjee and Johnstone (2015), we propose a discrete prior and show that its Bayes predictive density estimate is minimax optimal. This produces a nonsubjective discrete prior distribution that minimizes the maximum posterior predictive relative entropy regret. We discuss the decision theoretic implications and the structural differences between our proposed prior and its closest predecessor – the geometrically decaying discrete prior of Johnstone (1994a) that produced minimax optimal point estimators under quadratic loss. Through numerical experiments, we present non-asymptotic worst-case risk of our proposed estimator across different sparsity levels.
Optimal Policy for Dynamic Assortment Planning Under Multinomial Logit Models

We study the dynamic assortment planning problem, where for each arriving customer, the seller offers an assortment of substitutable products and the customer makes the purchase among offered produ...
Evaluation of High-Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation as a Rescue Strategy in Respiratory Failure

BACKGROUND: The use of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) is backed by sound physiologic rationale, but clinical data on the elective use of HFOV have been largely disappointing. Nonetheless, HFOV is still occasionally used as a rescue mode in patients with severe hypoxemia. The evidence that supports this practice is sparse. METHODS: This was a retrospective single-center analysis that involved subjects admitted to the medical ICU at Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. We included all adult patients (ages > 18 y) who received rescue HFOV between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2018, and analyzed their clinical outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 48 subjects were included in the analysis. The most common primary diagnosis was pneumonia (n = 33 [68.8%]), followed by aspiration (n = 6 [12.5%]) and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (n = 2 [4.2%]). Switching to HFOV improved oxygenation but also increased vasopressor requirements at 3 h. The mortality rate of the study population was 92% (44/48). CONCLUSIONS: Our study did not support utilization of HFOV as a “last-ditch” rescue measure in subjects with respiratory failure. The delayed timing of HFOV initiation and its detrimental hemodynamic effects are among the potential reasons for the high mortality rate.