cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamic neural network methods applied to on-vehicle idle speed control

The application of neural network techniques to the control of nonlinear dynamical systems has been the subject of substantial interest and research in recent years. In our own work, we have concentrated on extending the dynamic gradient formalism as established by Narendra and Parthasarathy (1990, 1991), and on employing it for applications in the control of nonlinear systems, with specific emphasis on automotive subsystems. The results we have reported to date, however, have been based exclusively upon simulation studies. In this paper, we establish that dynamic gradient training methods can be successfully used for synthesizing neural network controllers directly on instances of real systems. In particular we describe the application of dynamic gradient methods for training a time-lagged recurrent neural network feedback controller for the problem of engine idle speed control on an actual vehicle, discuss hardware and software issues, and provide representative experimental results.
Menopausal Hormone Therapy: Physician Awareness of Patient Attitudes

Abstract BACKGROUND: Physicians need to be aware of their patients' attitudes toward menopause when counseling women regarding hormone therapy, because menopausal attitudes may affect women's satisfaction with their decisions to use or not to use hormone therapy. Our objectives were to assess physician awareness of patient attitudes on issues surrounding the menopause and hormone therapy, and to determine the prevalence and correlates of hormone use. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey study was conducted in the primary care outpatient practices of an academic medical center. Surveys were simultaneously administered to female patients aged 50 to 70 years (n = 182) and their primary care physicians immediately after clinical encounters. The surveys contained questions from four established (five-point) attitudinal scales (autonomy, desire for information, philosophy of the menopause, barriers to use of hormone therapy), and questions addressing patients' degree of concern about developing various conditions. Physicians were asked to estimate their patients' attitudes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Physicians were generally aware of patients' desire for autonomy (3.2 versus 3.2, P = 1.0), but tended to underestimate patients' desire for information (3.7 versus 4.5, P = 0.0001) and patients' perceptions of barriers to using hormone therapy (3.2 versus 3.4, P = 0.0001). They also underestimated the extent to which patients view menopause as a medical problem (3.0 versus 3.2, P = 0.0001). Physicians overestimated patients' general concern about heart disease (scale difference 0.40, P = 0.0001) and breast cancer (difference 0.23, P = 0.02). Physicians were less aware of their patients' attitudes when they were male (versus female), interns/residents (versus faculty/fellows), and less knowledgeable about menopausal hormone therapy (versus more knowledgeable). The significant predictors of hormone use on multivariate analysis were past hysterectomy, urinary incontinence, alcohol intake, and possession of knowledge regarding hormone therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians incorrectly estimate some aspects of their patients' attitudes regarding menopause and hormone therapy, and certain physician characteristics may be associated with decreased awareness. To optimize hormone therapy counseling, physicians may need to increase their attention to patients' menopausal attitudes.
Evidence-based pathology: umbilical cord coiling.

Summary The generation of a pathology test result must be based on criteria that are proven to be acceptably reproducible and clinically relevant to be evidence-based. This review deconstructs the umbilical cord coiling index to illustrate how it can stray from being evidence-based. Publications related to umbilical cord coiling were retrieved and analysed with regard to how the umbilical coiling index was calculated, abnormal coiling was defined and reference ranges were constructed. Errors and other influences that can occur with the measurement of the length of the umbilical cord or of the number of coils can compromise the generation of the coiling index. Definitions of abnormal coiling are not consistent in the literature. Reference ranges defining hypocoiling or hypercoiling have not taken those potential errors or the possible effect of gestational age into account. Even the way numerical test results in anatomical pathology are generated, as illustrated by the umbilical coiling index, warrants a critical analysis into its evidence base to ensure that they are reproducible or free from errors.
Promise and Prospects The Case of the Alpha, Beta, Gamma Change Typology

Building on Tennis's comments, the authors identify various factors that must be considered in order to put the development and application of the alpha, beta, gamma change typology in perspective. In doing so, they argue that the change typology's birth and growth shows a strong similarity to that of "normal science." After commenting on the small number of investigators involved in research on the change typology and the limited set of outlets in which this research has been published, the authors address the question of what needs to be done to accelerate the advancement of the typology and its acceptance by consultants and practitioners.
Immunotherapy for breast cancer: is it feasible?

Immunotherapy invited leading experts in the field to share their thoughts on two key immunotherapeutic strategies in the field of breast cancer research, vaccines and checkpoint inhibitors. Interviewed by Ellen Clarke (Commissioning Editor, Future Science Group). Historically breast cancer has been considered immunologically silent. Patients have had limited access to the types of immunotherapy available to melanoma and lung cancer patients, but this could all be set to change as recent preclinical and clinical studies have highlighted the potential of immunotherapy for breast cancer. Breast cancer is now one of the major cancer types for which new immune-based treatments are being developed.
Beneficial Effects of Green Tea Catechins on Neurological Disorders

Green tea is natural dried leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. This “nonfermented” tea contains more catechins than black tea (oxidized green tea) or oolong tea (partially oxidized tea). The composition of tea leaves depends on a variety of factors, including climate, season, horticultural practices, and the type and age of the plant. Green and black teas contain polyphenols, alkaloids (caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine), flavonols (quercetin, kaempferol, and rutin), amino acids, carbohydrates, proteins, chlorophyll, volatile organic compounds that contribute to tea flavonoid, fluoride, aluminum, minerals, and trace elements (Fig. 5.1). Green tea contains gallic acid (GA), chlorogenic acid, and caffeic acid, and flavonols such as kaempferol, myricetin, and quercetin (USDA data base 2003; Wang and Ho 2009). In contrast, black tea mostly has the polymerized catechins such as theaflavins and thearubigins. Collectively, these studies indicate that green tea is the source of catechins—simple flavonoids whereas black tea is rich in theaflavins and thearubigins, which are generated during the process of oxidation (USDA data base 2003; Wang and Ho 2009). Four major theaflavins have been identified from black tea, including theaflavin, theaflavin-3-gallate, theaflavin-3′-gallate, and theaflavin-3,3′-digallate. Catechins are strong antioxidants that can quench reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as super oxide radical, singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radical, peroxyl radical, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and peroxynitrite (Feng 2006). Since ancient times, green tea has been considered by the traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine as a healthful beverage. Human studies indicate that green tea not only contributes to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer, but also induces antihypertensive effects by suppressing angiotensin I-converting enzyme, body weight control by suppressing the appetite, antibacterial, and antivirasic effects, solar ultraviolet protection, bone mineral density increase, antifibrotic effects, and neuroprotective effects. Green tea also decreases blood pressure (Henry and Stephens-Larson 1984) and blood sugar (Matsumoto et al. 1993). Lipid metabolism studies in animals, tissues, and cells have found that tea extract and catechins reduce triacylglycerol and total cholesterol concentrations (Nanjo et al. 1994; Chan et al. 1999), inhibit hepatic and body fat accumulation (Ishigaki et al. 1991), and stimulate thermogenesis (Dulloo et al. 2000). In addition, green tea boosts metabolism and improves immune function.
An unusual cause of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction: the importance of a new systolic murmur with a large pleural effusion.

Background: Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction due to systolic anterior motion of the initral valve occurs as a result of a dynamic interplay between the anatomy and mechanics of the heart. While systolic anterior motion and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction are well-recognized hallmarks of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, several other specific etiologies have been described with similar pathoplivsiology. Case Report: We present a unique case of a middle-aged woman who developed acute dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction due to systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve resulting from a large left-sided pleural effusion. Conclusions: Dynamic outflow tract obstruction should be considered among the potential causes of a new systolic murmur in patients with large pleural effusions in tlie absence of valvular heart disease.
Lowering urinary oxalate excretion to decrease calcium oxalate stone disease.

Dietary modifications should be considered as a first line approach in the treatment of idiopathic calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis. The amounts of oxalate and calcium consumed in the diet are significant factors in the development of the disease due to their impact on urinary oxalate excretion. There are a number of strategies that can be employed to reduce oxalate excretion. The consumption of oxalate-rich foods should be avoided and calcium intake adjusted to 1000–1200 mg/day. To encourage compliance it should be emphasized to patients that they be vigilant with this diet as a deviation in any meal or snack could potentially result in significant stone growth. The evidence underlying these two modifications is outlined and other strategies to reduce urinary oxalate excretion are reviewed.
Water - Quality Watchdogs? - A Political, Environmental, and Socioeconomic Analysis of Oyster Farming in Alabama

Once a common feature in Mobile Bay, oyster reefs and oyster harvest have seen a sharp decline. Overharvest, hurricanes, drought, dredging, and pollution have brought oyster populations in Mobile Bay and other oyster fisheries around the US to near collapse. Alabama responded to a poor 2008 harvest by creating stricter harvest policies and closed seasons, along with dive checks on reefs. The rules were meant to relieve the public reefs, but with degrading water quality and slumping species health oyster reefs were moved closer to the mouth of Mobile Bay in 2010. Evaluation of different strategic methods from six other states is done to compare superior and poor strategies for increasing environmental and social benefit. Use of private property rights, aquaculture, and simplifying permit processes were identified. Aquaculture in particular is examined. Oyster farming is not common in the Gulf of Mexico. Cost-benefit analysis of potential oyster aquaculture is done. No clear-cut permit exists for establishing an oyster farm in Alabama. Suggestions are put forth to aid politicians and industry in potential aquaculture permits.
A Multifaceted Mentoring Program for Junior Faculty in Academic Pediatrics

ABSTRACTProblem: The departure of physician-scientists from education and research into clinical practice is a growing challenge for the future of academic medicine. Junior faculty face competing demands for clinical productivity, teaching, research, and work–life integration, which can undermine confidence in the value of an academic career. Mentorship is important to foster career development and satisfaction in junior faculty. Intervention: The goals of this academic pediatrics department were to develop, implement, and evaluate a multifaceted pediatric mentoring program to promote retention and satisfaction of junior faculty. Program elements included one-on-one mentor–mentee meetings, didactic workshops, grant review assistance, and facilitated peer-group mentoring. Program effectiveness was assessed using annual surveys of mentees and structured mentee exit interviews, as well as retention data for assistant professors. Context: The mentees were instructors and assistant professors in the department...
Styling Synthetics: DuPont's Marketing of Fabrics and Fashions in Postwar America

Scholars have studied innovation from various perspectives, but few have considered the interaction between big business and the fashion marketplace. This study examines the efforts of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company to create and expand the American synthetic-fibers market after World War II. DuPont described this work as transforming the “relatively simple ‘art’ of selling fabric” into the “complicated ‘science’ of marketing.” This process involved developing in-house marketing expertise and reaching out to sources as disparate as American fabric designers, Parisian couturiers, Seventh Avenue manufacturers, southern textile giants, and mass-market retailers. To promote the “wonders” of synthetic fibers, DuPont relied on “fashion intermediaries” to determine what customers wanted and how its fibers could meet those needs. This study suggests that the mass-market success of DuPont's synthetic fibers owed as much to creative marketing, styling, and performance as it did to industrial research and organizational innovation.
Analysis of surveillance results and trends of mosquito density in Beijing from 2010 to 2012

Objective To evaluate the mosquito density in Beijing and analyze the trends of mosquito breeding in differentenvironments and to provide a scientific basis for urban mosquito control.MethodsThe adult mosquito density was monitoredusing carbon dioxide mosquito lamp and mosquito- oviposition trap, while the larval mosquito density was monitored by spoonmethod for large bodies of water and pipette method for small volumes of water(in containers).ResultsFrom 2010 to 2012, atotal of 37 603 adult mosquitoes were captured in Beijing, where Culex pipiens pallens was the dominant species, accounting for95.26% of all mosquitoes, followed by Aedes albopictus, accounting for 4.62%; the seasonal fluctuation curve showed that the peakof adult mosquito density appeared from July to August; the adult mosquito density was the highest in the park green lands,followed by residential areas, hospitals, and tourist attractions. The seasonal fluctuation curve for mosquito larvae showed that thepeak of larval mosquito density appeared from June to July for both large bodies of water and small volumes of water(incontainers); the positive rate of mosquito larvae was the highest in residential areas, followed by construction sites, sewers, andlarge bodies of water.ConclusionThe surveillance results of mosquito density and the trends of its seasonal fluctuation canprovide effective guidance for urban mosquito control; attention should also be paid to the breeding places and density changes ofmosquito larvae, and the association of mosquito density with mosquito- borne diseases should be analyzed, so as to provide ascientific basis for the prevention and control of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases in urban areas.
Deltaic coastal wetlands

Modern-day deltas exist in a wide variety of settings. Despite the various environmental contrasts, all actively prograding deltas have at least one common attribute: a river supplies clastic sediment to the coast and inner shelf more rapidly than it can be removed by marine processes. The most important processes controlling the geometry and landforms in deltas are climate, water and sediment discharge and its variability, river mouth processes, nearshore wave power, tides and tidal regime, nearshore currents, shelf slope, tectonics of the receiving basin, and receiving basin geometry.
Investigating the Relationship Between Professional Noticing and Specialized Content Knowledge

Professional noticing of children’s mathematical thinking as conceptualized by Jacobs et al. (J Res Math Educ 41(2):169–202, 2010) includes attention to and interpretation of children’s mathematical thinking, and deciding how to respond instructionally. In order to interpret a child’s mathematical thinking, a teacher draws on her or his mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) (Ball et al. in J Teach Educ 59(5):389–407, 2008). This research study focuses on the relationship between elementary preservice interns’ development of MKT and their engagement with professionally noticing their students’ mathematical thinking through analysis of their students’ work samples. An integrated professional noticing and MKT framework for simultaneous measurement is applied to the research study. Four preservice interns placed in a first-grade classroom participated in the study. A sequence of three professional learning tasks (PLTs) focused on the preservice interns’ analysis of their students’ multi-digit addition and subtraction work was developed. Results show specialized content knowledge (SCK), a subset of MKT, as an integral part of professional noticing. The results suggest that in situated contexts focused on developing SCK, preservice interns can increase their engagement with professionally noticing their students’ mathematical thinking.
Matching Games for Ad Hoc Networks with Wireless Energy Transfer

A wireless network of ${N}$ transmitting and ${M}$ receiving nodes is considered, where the goal is to communicate data from transmitters to the receiving side of the network. Nodes have energy suppliers that provide energy at a price for transmission or reception. Nodes wish to optimize their individual utilities rather than a network-wide utility. We consider one-to-one and one-to-many matching games where each transmitter can be matched with one or multiple receivers. In both cases, transmitters find the best rate for them and propose it to the receivers. We modify the well-known deferred acceptance algorithm to solve this game and improve network sum utility. We next consider wireless energy cooperation for the transmitters to make their proposals more desirable and compete with each other. Energy transfer introduces an additional energy cost at the transmitter and reduces the cost of the receiver and influences its decision. For the one-to-many matching games, we demonstrate that the available proposals at each transmitter can be reduced without loss of optimality. The results point to the observation that populating the network with additional nodes along with the possibility of energy transfer improves the rates for the entire network despite the selfish nature of the nodes.
It Takes a Village to Train a Scientist.

Training for a career as a scientist is a demanding process that requires guidance, critique, and motivation from many different sources. Even the most successful scientists have a village of mentors who help them continue to grow. At the start of my graduate training, I had the benefit of working with Sakthivel Sadayappan as he was establishing his first laboratory at Loyola University Chicago. As I was worrying about putting together my thesis committee, I was struck by Sakthi’s work assembling his own mentoring committee to support him as a young investigator. I remember wondering: at what stage does mentoring end? I have come to appreciate that thankfully it never truly does. Reflecting on my training through graduate school and my current postdoctoral fellowship, I recognize the indispensable contributions of a host of mentors who are willing to invest their time to help me succeed. Here, I want to share some of the roles played by these people and why they are invaluable to a developing scientist. One hard step in career development is choosing a PI to serve as your mentor. Realistically, it is unlikely that you will find a PI who perfectly meets all of your needs. That’s fine; finding additional mentors to …
CLINICAL OUTCOMES AND SAFETY OF TRANSCATHETER AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT WITH AND WITHOUT ROUTINE USE OF TRANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has been extensively used historically for Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) but focus is shifting from routine TEE to ‘as needed’ use. We evaluated patients who had TAVR procedure in our institution from Sep 2012 to Feb 2017. Decision for
Optimization of BEOL R&C monitoring macros for accurate representation of circuit performance

R (line resistance) and C (coupling capacitance) parameters are among the critical parameter list or even wafer acceptance criteria in volume production. Process engineers rely on R and C monitoring macros to tune processes to meet targets and control specs. However, the performance and capability of the R and C macros are much impacted by their own design. Therefore, properly designed R and C monitoring macros to represent genuine R and C performance in the product are critical. In this study, we show R and C monitoring macros were designed to make sure the same metal density is implemented at the underlying metal layer (CA/CB level) and on-layer. Furthermore, the desired pattern density is desired to be set as representative of the prime die at areas of interest (for example, SRAM, logic/analog devices or other active circuits). Therefore, resulting metal line profiles are consistent and corresponding RC plots represent the genuine RC performance.
Fathers’ Engagement in Their Sons’ Sexual and Reproductive Health

* Abbreviation: SRH — : sexual and reproductive health Despite ongoing efforts to promote sexual and reproductive health (SRH), teenagers continue to engage in risky sexual behaviors. Nearly 60% of high school seniors have had sex, yet only 54% of sexually active teenagers report using a condom during their most recent sexual encounter, down from 62% in 2005.1 Concurrently, rates of sexually transmitted diseases are rising dramatically among adolescents and are increasing at a faster rate among boys than girls.2 A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis revealed that over the past 4 years, gonorrhea diagnoses have increased by 67% and syphilis diagnoses have increased by 76%. Nearly 2.3 million new cases of Chlamydia , gonorrhea, and syphilis were diagnosed in 2017 alone, breaking the previous record set in 2016.3 Clearly, new approaches are needed to address these trends. The landscape of SRH is rapidly evolving; contraception options are changing, and the days of health class and textbooks are going by the wayside4 as teenagers increasingly turn to their cell phones and the Internet for information.5 As the culture of SRH changes, so must our tactics for sexual health education. … Address correspondence to Kate Lucey, MD, MS, Department of Pediatrics, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 225 East Chicago Ave, Box 152, Chicago, IL 60611. E-mail: klucey{at}luriechildrens.org
Motivations of Luxury Clothing Consumption in the U.S. vs. China

Current statistics on consumer expenditures show that Chinese consumption of luxury goods have increased dramatically in recent years, now accounting for more than one third of worldwide consumptio...
How Americans kept warm in the 19th century

In the eighteenth century, Americans burned a lot of wood to keep their homes warm. Everything from a log cabin to a brick house had an open fireplace with a chimney made of brick or stone. These o...
Transmission Electron Microscopy of Halide Perovskite Materials and Devices

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)-based techniques are uniquely suited for site-specific structural and analytical characterization of halide perovskites (HPs) at atomic, nanometer, and micrometer length scales. TEM-based studies hold the key to understanding the nature and functionality of these fascinating materials that are at the heart of emerging solar cells and (opto)electronic devices. While TEM-based techniques have made several groundbreaking discoveries that have resulted in astonishing advancements in the field of materials science in general over the past decades, their application to HPs has been relatively sparse. Here, we provide a perspective on TEM-based studies of HPs that have been conducted so far and project a vision for how these powerful characterization techniques can be brought to bear on research problems in the field of HPs. An outlook discussing important challenges and opportunities that lay ahead is also presented.
Triglycerides: Mendelian Randomization Studies Suggest Causal Role, but How to Treat in 2019?

Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG), defined by fasting levels at or exceeding 200 mg/dL, is characterized as a pro-inflammatory, pro-thrombotic, metabolic state associated with endothelial dysfunction, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Mendelian randomization studies now support a causal role for TG-rich lipoproteins in CVD risk enhancement. Yet, until recently, only post-hoc analyses from clinical trials suggested that treating HTG would translate into reduced CVD risk. The results of Reduction of Cardiovascular Events with Icosapent Ethyl–Intervention Trial demonstrated for the first time that patients with HTG and elevated CVD risk (i.e., pre-existing CVD or DM with additional risk factors) benefited after treatment with icosapent ethyl (IPE), a highly purified eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) taken 4 g daily. Ironically, the TG-lowering effect of IPE was relatively modest (20%), suggesting the interplay of other mechanisms beyond TG lowering that contributed to the robust benefits observed (25% relative risk reduction in the primary CVD endpoint). These mechanisms include downregulation of pro-inflammatory signaling pathways and restoration of endothelial dysfunction, cellular processes that are aggravated in HTG states. Consequently, high-risk patients with HTG should be considered for IPE therapy beyond traditional measures outlined in the 2018 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/Multi-Society Cholesterol Guidelines, pending the results of two ongoing clinical outcome trials, Statin Residual Risk Reduction with omega-3 carboxylic acids (Epanova®) in High Cardiovascular Risk Patients With Hypertriglyceridemia and Pemafibrate to Reduce Cardiovascular Outcomes by Reducing Triglycerides in Patients With Diabetes. Taken together, HTG reflects a highly atherogenic and pro-inflammatory state for which evidence-based therapy has now been demonstrated.
Type I and Type II Errors in Finance (Presentation Slides)

Full paper is available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3193697 Most papers in the financial literature control for Type I errors (false positive rate), while ignoring Type II errors (false negative rate). This is a mistake, because a low Type I error can only be achieved at the cost of a high Type II error. In this presentation we derive analytical expressions for both, after correcting for Non-Normality, Sample Length and Multiple Testing.
Knockdown of arylalkylamine N‐acetyltransferase‐like 2 in Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster produces fatty acid amides, and thus, provides a model to unravel the pathways for their biosynthesis. We previously demonstrated that arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase-like 2 (AANATL2) from D. melanogaster will catalyze the formation of long-chain N-acylserotonins and N-acyldopamines in vitro. Generating silencing RNA via the UAS/GAL4 bipartite approach for targeted gene expression effectively decreased the endogenous levels of the AANATL2 transcripts in D. melanogaster, as shown by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Consistent with these data, western blot analysis of the offspring of the AANATL2 knockdown flies using an anti-AANATL2 antibody revealed a significant reduction in the expression of the AANATL2 protein. Reduced expression of AANATL2 decreased the cellular levels of N-palmitoyldopamine (PALDA), providing strong evidence that AANATL2 is responsible for the biosynthesis of PALDA in vivo. This is the first time that the expression of an AANAT has been reduced in D. melanogaster to link one of these enzymes to the in vivo production of an N-acylarylalkylamide.
Ongoing Continuing Education and Formation of Faith Community Nurses

As noted in the Scope and Standards of Faith Community Nursing, faith community nurses are continuous learners participating in ongoing education, developing and maintaining competencies. This chapter will present resources available for today’s faith community nurse to more easily access ongoing education and assistance in the development of the faith community nurse role. Inherent in this content will be use of a virtual knowledge platform. The authors will share how this unique communication platform on “Yammer” came about and emerging outcomes from its use. Included in the chapter content is the development of faith community nursing “Position Statements” that give clarity to difficult practice issues and provide direction.
How Do Private Markets Address Smoking Externalities

We survey bars and restaurants in Genesee County, Michigan toexamine how, absent a smoking ban, different establishments accommodatesmokers and nonsmokers. We find evidence that smokers and nonsmokers aresystematically accommodated. The majority of establishments without barsvoluntarily ban smoking, and the majority of establishments with bars restrictsmoking to a separate room or to the bar area. This pattern of accommodation isconsistent with what the Coase Theorem would predict when dealing with theexternalities created by secondhand smoke. (D21, H75, I18)
Analytical dynamic modeling of Delta robot with experimental verification

In this paper, an explicit dynamic model of Delta robot is obtained analytically. The main contribution of this work is that, unlike existing prior work, the final dynamics model is given directly ...
Ethical Dilemmas in Covid-19 Medical Care: Is a Problematic Triage Protocol Better or Worse than No Protocol at All?

The anthrax mailings following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States led to fears that victims of bioterrorism could overwhelm hospitals. The federal government convened experts to de...
Compound-specific δ2H analysis highlights the relationship between direct assimilation and de novo synthesis of amino acids from food and water in a terrestrial mammalian omnivore

Hydrogen isotope (δ2H) analysis has been routinely used as an ecological tracer for animal movement and migration, yet a biochemical understanding of how animals incorporate this element in the synthesis of tissues is poorly resolved. Here, we apply a new analytical tool, amino acid (AA) δ2H analysis, in a controlled setting to trace the influence of drinking water and dietary macromolecules on the hydrogen in muscle tissue. We varied the δ2H of drinking water and the proportions of dietary protein and carbohydrates with distinct hydrogen and carbon isotope compositions fed to house mice among nine treatments. Our results show that hydrogen in the non-essential (AANESS) and essential (AAESS) AAs of mouse muscle is not readily exchanged with body water, but rather patterns among these compounds can be described through consideration of the major biochemical pathway(s) used by organisms to synthesize or route them from available sources. Dietary carbohydrates contributed more hydrogen than drinking water to the synthesis of AANESS in muscle. While neither drinking water nor dietary carbohydrates directly contributed to muscle AAESS, we did find that a minor but measurable proportion (10–30%) of the AAESS in muscle was synthesized by the gut microbiome using hydrogen and carbon from dietary carbohydrates. δ2H patterns among individual AAs in mice muscle are similar to those we previously reported for bacteria, which provides additional support that this approach may allow for the simultaneous analysis of different AAs that are more influenced by drinking water (AANESS) versus dietary (AAESS) sources of hydrogen.
No Justice, No Peace? Protest Participation for People with Criminal Legal Contact:

Previous research shows that people who have criminal legal (CL) contact are less likely to vote, but there is little information about whether or not CL contact influences protest participation. W...
Fundamental photoemission brightness limit from disorder induced heating

We determine the limit of the lowest achievable photoemitted electron temperature, and therefore the maximum achievable electron brightness, from unstructured photoemitting materials producing dense relativistic or nonrelativistic photoelectron beams. The limit is given by electron heating that occurs just after emission into vacuum, and is due to poorly screened Coulomb interactions equivalent to disorder induced heating seen in ultracold neutral plasmas. We first show that traditional analytic methods of Coulomb collisions fail for the calculation of this strongly coupled heating. Instead, we employ an N-body tree algorithm to compute the universal scaling of the disorder induced heating in fully contained bunches, and show it to agree well with a simple model utilizing the tabulated correlated energy of one component plasmas. We also present simulations for beams undergoing Coulomb explosion at the photoemitter, and demonstrate that both the temperature growth and subsequent cooling must be characterized by correlated effects, as well as correlation-frozen dynamics. In either case, the induced temperature is found to be of several meV for typical photoinjector beam densities, a significant fraction of the intrinsic beam temperature of the coldest semiconductor photocathodes. Thus, we expect disorder induced heating to become a major limiting factor in the next generation of photoemission sources delivering dense bunches and employing ultra-cold photoemitters.
Designing a Real-Time Integrated First Responder Health and Environmental Monitoring Dashboard

Between 2007 and 2016, there were 144,002 HAZMAT incidents on US highways, with damage totaling nearly $600 M. The top two incident types in the past three years involved flammable-combustible liquids and corrosive materials. In 2016, 38% of firefighter fatality was a result of sudden cardiac death, making it one of the two leading causes of death among firefighters. Heat-related illness is directly linked to adverse cardiovascular events [5], but when detected early, recovery is likely. We propose a new system called REaCH: Real-Time Emergency Communication System for HAZMAT Incidents. The REaCH system will include real-time health monitoring of first responders through wearable devices that capture individual health parameters and exposure to hazardous materials. Individual health data and HAZMAT exposure data will be transmitted to a dashboard that integrates all of the information for the Incident Commander to monitor. The Incident Commander can evaluate if individuals need to be removed from the scene when his/her health status is being compromised.
Materialidad pionera: Experimentación material en la arquitectura doméstica de A. Lawrence Kocher

This text studies 3 architectural experiments developed, independently or associated with Albert Frey, by the North American architect A. Lawrence Kocher during the 1930’s. These experiments were based on material innovation within the construction processes. The experiments were fostered by different industrial material producers to study the feasibility of the implementation of materials in the field of architecture: aluminum was tested in the Aluminum House, fabrics in the Canvas Weekend House, and Plywood in the House of Plywood. All of these buildings pioneered the idea of transforming the detached single-family house into a laboratory to experiment with materials produced by industries not traditionally associated with building technology. The later move by Albert Frey to the West Coast may have initiated a new chapter in material experimentation through the Californian residential architecture developed in the following decades.
Improving Pediatric Resident Safety Event Reporting Using Quality Improvement Methods.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Safety event reporting systems facilitate identification of system-level targets to improve patient safety. Resident physicians report few safety events despite their role as frontline providers and the frequent occurrence of events. The objective of this study is to increase the number of pediatric resident safety event submissions from METHODS: We conducted an iterative quality improvement process with 39 pediatric residents at a children’s hospital. Interventions focused on 4 key drivers: user-friendly event submission process, resident buy-in, nonpunitive safety culture, and data transparency. The primary outcome measure of number of pediatric resident event submissions was analyzed by using statistical process control. Balancing measures included time from submission to feedback, duplicate submissions, and nonevent submissions. As a control, the primary outcome measure was monitored for nonpediatric residents during the same period. RESULTS: The mean number of pediatric resident event submissions increased from 0.9 to 5.7 submissions per 14 days. Impactful interventions included a designated space in the resident workroom to list safety events to submit, monthly project updates, and an interresident competition. There were no duplicate submissions or nonevent submissions in the postintervention period. Time to feedback in the postintervention period had both upward and downward shifts, with >8 consecutive points above and below the baseline period’s centerline. The control group showed no sustained change in event submissions. CONCLUSIONS: Our improvement process was associated with significant increase in pediatric resident safety event submissions without an increase in the number of submissions categorized as duplicates or nonevents.
Sensorimotor Skill Communication: A Literature Review

A sensorimotor skill is a sequence of motions generated in response to external stimuli and aiming to accomplish a particular task. It can be communicated to reproduce the task in a distant environment with similar settings. In this work, we conceptualize a multi-modal sensorimotor skill communication system that incorporates modeling, simulation, and evaluation of the sensorimotor skill. The proposed sensorimotor skill communication system can be applied for learning a specific style of human sensorimotor skill and teaching the skill to distant learners, which can be implemented in a variety of applications such as Tele-consultation, Tele-diagnosis, Tele-treatment, Tele-monitoring, and Tele-support. To understand the processes behind the communication of sensorimotor skill we review the representation of a human sensorimotor system from the neurobiological perspective. Then we analyze the existing literature on sensorimotor skill communication systems and propose a taxonomy of currently available methods for sensorimotor skill modeling, simulation, and evaluation. Furthermore, we propose a benchmark for evaluating the quality of the sensorimotor skill communication system. We present a case study aiming to demonstrate modeling the dental sensorimotor skill of periodontal probing. Lastly, we discuss challenges and limitations and provide perspectives for future research in developing sensorimotor skill communication systems.
Improved Regret Bounds for Online Submodular Maximization.

In this paper, we consider an online optimization problem over $T$ rounds where at each step $t\in[T]$, the algorithm chooses an action $x_t$ from the fixed convex and compact domain set $\mathcal{K}$. A utility function $f_t(\cdot)$ is then revealed and the algorithm receives the payoff $f_t(x_t)$. This problem has been previously studied under the assumption that the utilities are adversarially chosen monotone DR-submodular functions and $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{T})$ regret bounds have been derived. We first characterize the class of strongly DR-submodular functions and then, we derive regret bounds for the following new online settings: $(1)$ $\{f_t\}_{t=1}^T$ are monotone strongly DR-submodular and chosen adversarially, $(2)$ $\{f_t\}_{t=1}^T$ are monotone submodular (while the average $\frac{1}{T}\sum_{t=1}^T f_t$ is strongly DR-submodular) and chosen by an adversary but they arrive in a uniformly random order, $(3)$ $\{f_t\}_{t=1}^T$ are drawn i.i.d. from some unknown distribution $f_t\sim \mathcal{D}$ where the expected function $f(\cdot)=\mathbb{E}_{f_t\sim\mathcal{D}}[f_t(\cdot)]$ is monotone DR-submodular. For $(1)$, we obtain the first logarithmic regret bounds. In terms of the second framework, we show that it is possible to obtain similar logarithmic bounds with high probability. Finally, for the i.i.d. model, we provide algorithms with $\tilde{\mathcal{O}}(\sqrt{T})$ stochastic regret bound, both in expectation and with high probability. Experimental results demonstrate that our algorithms outperform the previous techniques in the aforementioned three settings.
The Influence of Extent of Resection and Tumor Morphology on Facial Nerve Outcomes Following Vestibular Schwannoma Surgery.

OBJECTIVE To determine the influence extent of resection and tumor characteristics on facial nerve (FN) outcomes following microsurgical resection of vestibular schwannoma (VS). STUDY DESIGN Retrospective chart review. SETTING Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS Three hundred eighty-five patients who underwent VS microsurgical resection. INTERVENTIONS Microsurgical VS resection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES House-Brackmann (HB) scores postoperatively. Good FN function was defined as HB grade I and II and poor FN function was defined as HB grade III and VI. Gross total resection (GTR) versus subtotal resection (STR). Propensity-score matching was used in subset analysis to balance tumor volume between the surgical cohorts, followed by multivariable analysis. RESULTS Seventy-one patients (18%) underwent STR and 314 patients (82%) underwent GTR. Two hundred fourteen patients (63%) had good FN function at 2 to 3 weeks postoperatively, and 80% had good FN function at 1 year. In single predictor analysis, STR did not influence FN function at 2 to 3 weeks (p = 0.65). In propensity-score matched subset analysis (N = 178), patients with STR were less likely to have poor FN function at 2 to 3 weeks (p = 0.02) independent of tumor volume (p = 0.004), but there was no correlation between STR and FN function at 1 year (p = 0.09). Ventral extension of tumor relative to the internal auditory canal plane was associated with poor FN outcomes at 2 to 3 weeks (p = 0.0001) and 1-year postop (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS When accounting for tumor volume, STR is protective in immediate postoperative FN function compared to GTR. Ventral extension of the tumor is a clinical predictor of long-term FN outcomes.
Influence of geometry on columnar to equiaxed transition during electron beam powder bed fusion of IN718

Abstract Correlation between spot-melt scan parameters (linear spot-density aka areal energy density), build geometry, and solidification microstructure evolution (columnar vs equiaxed) in a powder bed fusion technology is investigated. It is shown that to maintain the equiaxed solidification microstructure evolution in electron beam powder bed additive manufacturing (AM), the areal energy density per layer needs to be scaled with respect to the 2D cross-sectional area of the layer being melted. Samples with two different cross-sectional areas (40 × 40 mm and 20 × 20 mm) have been fabricated with varying areal energy densities. For a given square cross-section (20 × 20 mm), increasing the areal energy density (4.8 MJ/sq.m to 14.7 MJ/sq.m) transitioned the solidification microstructure from columnar to equiaxed. The observed microstructure data (Electron Back Scattered Diffraction - EBSD) is quantified by calculating the principal component (PC) score using a spatial statistics methodology. The sample with equiaxed grains is found to have a low PC score while the sample with columnar grain had a high PC score. A semi-analytical model is used to simulate the heat transfer and the local solidification conditions as a function of processing parameters (linear spot-density). The result from the heat transfer model is correlated with previously quantified microstructure data. Space-Time analysis of the melt pattern is done and correlated with the observed microstructure. In addition, from the findings, appropriate parameters have been used to additively manufacture a turbine blade with site-specific or hybrid solidification microstructure (traditional fabrication possible via a patented method of localized cold working and heat treatment).
A review of ethnomedicinal uses of shea butter for dermatoses in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background Indigenous therapies, or traditional medicines, constitute a highly accessible and continuously growing health system in many parts of the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Shea butter, a fat produced from the kernels of the Shea tree, has historically been used as an indigenous therapy for dermatologic ailments in SSA. Characterizing traditional therapeutic applications for shea butter is important to inform the continued development of traditional medicine in SSA. Methods We conducted a literature review aimed at identifying all available publications on the use of shea butter to treat dermatoses within Sub-Saharan Africa and evaluating patterns of use. Results We found 24 dermatologic uses across 30 references. The most common study design was descriptive cross-sectional analysis (46.7%), often relying on the use of in-depth interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Eight SSA countries were represented and there were disparities in availability of information across SSA with the eastern and southern regions less likely to be represented. The most frequently investigated conditions were scabies, wound healing, and umbilical cord care. Shea butter was most commonly used in combination with other ingredients to produce a medical treatment with the most frequent adjuvant being Elaeis guineensis, African oil palm. Conclusions Broad use of traditional medicine to treat varied skin diseases throughout Sub-Saharan Africa warrants increased investigations into this field in order to further develop the capacity of traditional medicine as a source of healthcare. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Barriers and Facilitators to Behavior Change for Individuals with Severe Mental Illness who Received the Transdiagnostic Intervention for Sleep and Circadian Dysfunction in a Community Mental Health Setting.

The Transdiagnostic Intervention for Sleep and Circadian Dysfunction (TranS-C) was implemented in a community mental health center (CMHC) setting. The goal of TranS-C is to improve sleep and circadian dysfunction among people with severe mental illness. The present study uses the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to uncover barriers and facilitators to changing behaviors learned in TranS-C. Adults with severe mental illness who completed TranS-C (n = 14) were given a semi-structured interview based on the TDF. Interview transcripts were independently coded using inductive and deductive coding. The most commonly coded TDF domains were Behavior Regulation, Beliefs about Consequences, Knowledge and Beliefs about Capabilities. Action planning was the most discussed facilitator and compromising sleep health in favor of time spent with loved ones was the most discussed barrier. These findings suggest that TranS-C has promising strengths and raise important barriers that can be addressed in TranS-C to improve its fit within CMHCs.