cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alkali Metal Based Micro Combustion Using Graphene Micro-valve Trigger

Controllable combustion of alkali metals offers a pathway to high energy density, high power density scalable thermal systems. The volatile nature of these materials however, has limited their incorporation into useable devices. Recent findings in low trigger power MEMS one-shot valves offer a viable pathway forward for creating systems in which to exploit the unique properties of alkali metals as thermal energy sources. By miniaturizing and combining these fuels with such a valve, and incorporating them with a polymer substrate, a micro-packet of combustible metal can be created. Here we report such a device utilizing a graphene based micro-valve trigger and a rubidium metal fuel source to realize an arrayable micro-scale electrical to thermal energy amplification scheme. Using this approach we can react nanoliter droplets of rubidium with ambient air on demand, producing electrical to thermal energy gains of seventy five times. By arraying the fuel into discrete packets, we can also achieve temporal control of the fuel source, allowing for tailored peak and average power output.
Inter-Agency Learning in US Regulatory Policymaking

While a number of scholars have evaluated the strategies driving congressional decisions to delegate regulatory authority to administrative agencies, the literature has been largely restricted to evaluating the relationship between Congress and its administrative agent. I argue that this presents an incomplete picture of implementation given that it is typically carried out by multiple administrative actors that interact in multiple contexts and that share political principals. Such arrangements for overlapping jurisdiction and interagency organizations provide opportunities for agencies to learn from one another about the constraints of the political environment within which they are operating. This paper provides a preliminary examination of the extent to which administrative agencies can learn from other agencies the preferences of shared political principals and use that information to reshape their regulatory strategies. Using original data on Court of Appeals litigation directed at administrative agencies from the 93rd to the 113th Congress, as well as congressional delegation to administrative agencies within the text of the Statutes at Large, I provide preliminary evidence that when an agency observes a closely-linked agency facing legal constraints, it reshapes its own regulatory strategy so as to provoke less costly litigation. The results pave the way toward further, more in-depth examination of the spillover effects of bureaucratic punishment and the ways in which this inter-agency learning takes place over time.
On Thermodynamic Consistency of a Stochastic Constitutive Model for Glassy Polymers

A full understanding of the thermomechanical behavior of materials in the glassy state remains one of the outstanding challenges in condensed matter physics. A recently developed stochastic constitutive model (SCM) that explicitly acknowledges nanoscale dynamic heterogeneity has had success in describing a number of nonlinear mechanical and relaxation experiments. The model employs stochastic differential equations to describe evolution of the local thermodynamic variables of entropy and the stress tensor, where the magnitude of the fluctuations is itself a strong nonlinear function of these variables. Notwithstanding the successes of the model, there is a legitimate question whether the formulation is thermodynamically consistent because, unlike the SCM, the stochastic systems treated in the literature satisfy the fluctuation dissipation theorem and assume constant magnitude of fluctuations. We propose expression for the free energy that results in fulfilment of the H-theorem statement and develop the se...
Properties of Expectation

In Chapter 12, we examine informally the concept of mathematical expectation, interpret it as the mean value or as the center of the probability mass distribution, and calculate the expectations for several common distributions. In Chapter 13, we examine the Lebesgue integral and express the mathematical expectation E[X] as the Lebesgue integral ∫ X dP. In this chapter, we establish the resulting theory of mathematical expectation and demonstrate some of the ways that theory may be applied.
Rapid Sampling of Stochastic Displacements in Brownian Dynamics Simulations

We present a new method for sampling stochastic displacements in Brownian Dynamics (BD) simulations of colloidal scale particles. The method relies on a new formulation for Ewald summation of the Rotne-Prager-Yamakawa (RPY) tensor, which guarantees that the real-space and wave-space contributions to the tensor are independently symmetric and positive-definite for all possible particle configurations. Brownian displacements are drawn from a superposition of two independent samples: a wave-space (far-field or long-ranged) contribution, computed using techniques from fluctuating hydrodynamics and non-uniform fast Fourier transforms; and a real-space (near-field or short-ranged) correction, computed using a Krylov subspace method. The combined computational complexity of drawing these two independent samples scales linearly with the number of particles. The proposed method circumvents the super-linear scaling exhibited by all known iterative sampling methods applied directly to the RPY tensor that results from the power law growth of the condition number of tensor with the number of particles. For geometrically dense microstructures (fractal dimension equal three), the performance is independent of volume fraction, while for tenuous microstructures (fractal dimension less than three), such as gels and polymer solutions, the performance improves with decreasing volume fraction. This is in stark contrast with other related linear-scaling methods such as the force coupling method and the fluctuating immersed boundary method, for which performance degrades with decreasing volume fraction. Calculations for hard sphere dispersions and colloidal gels are illustrated and used to explore the role of microstructure on performance of the algorithm. In practice, the logarithmic part of the predicted scaling is not observed and the algorithm scales linearly for up to 4×106 particles, obtaining speed ups of over an order of magnitude over existing iterative methods, and making the cost of computing Brownian displacements comparable to the cost of computing deterministic displacements in BD simulations. A high-performance implementation employing non-uniform fast Fourier transforms implemented on graphics processing units and integrated with the software package HOOMD-blue is used for benchmarking.
Energy-based modeling in BioNetGen

Biochemical processes typically operate on molecular sites (domains, motifs, residues). In rule-based modeling languages such as BioNetGen (BNG), reactions driven by the same set of sites with the same rate law can be represented using a single reaction rule. This leads to compact model representations when sites behave independently, but not when a large number of sites interact cooperatively. Additionally, loops of reactions are constrained by detailed balance equations involving their rate constants, but these constraints have to be enforced manually when specifying rate laws for rules. Here, we introduce the energy-based BioNetGen specification (eBNG), in which models always satisfy detailed balance and cooperative interactions are compactly specified as free energy contributions. We demonstrate this approach using well-known models of molecular cooperativity, such as ligand-induced receptor dimerization and allosteric modulation.
Physical Therapy for Fecal Incontinence in Children with Pelvic Floor Dyssynergia.

Objectives To determine the efficacy of physical therapy (PT) for fecal incontinence in children with pelvic floor dyssynergia (PFD). Study design Retrospective chart review of children with PFD completing >1 PT session for fecal incontinence at a quaternary children's hospital. The frequency of fecal incontinence (primary outcome), constipation-related medication use, number of bowel movements (in those with 50% decrease in fecal incontinence frequency), fair (not worsening but Results Children included met the following primary outcomes: 27 (42.2%) excellent, 24 (37.5%) good, 11 (17.1%) fair, and 2 (3.1%) poor. Factors associated with an excellent or good outcome included improved PFM functioning and good (≥70% PT attendance) compliance. Children with a history of surgically corrected tethered spinal cord were more likely to have a fair outcome (P = .015). Use of constipation-related medications decreased (1.9 ± 0.7 vs 1.5 ± 0.9, P = .005). Weekly bowel movement frequency increased (1.6 ± 0.6 vs 6.4 ± 4.8, P Conclusions Pelvic floor PT is effective in the majority of children with fecal incontinence related to PFD. Factors associated with PT efficacy include improved PFM functioning, good compliance with PT, and history of tethered cord.
Non-linear elliptic equations on Riemannian manifolds with the Sobolev critical exponent

Given (M n ,g) a Riemannian compact manifold, without boundary of dimension n and a function q ∈ L∞ (M, ℝ), we study by variational methods the following class ofequations: $$\left\{{\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}{(-\Delta+q)u={u^{\frac{{n+2}}{{n-2}}}}}\\{u>0on{M^n}}\end{array}}\right.$$ Extending a method devised in [7] and [10], which enables to find solutions to such equations although the corresponding variational problem fails the Palais-Smale condition, we show that this method works also in this new case, where the back-ground metric is not flat. Our result provides, in particular, a new proof of the existence of a solution to the Yamabe conjecture in dimensions 3, 4, and 5. For the locally conformally flat case (n ≥ 6), this method also works as has been established elsewhere ([11]).
Efficient retrieval of information from hierarchical REST requests

REST requests are utilized by developers across many fields to access public data that they would not normally have access to. Typically, efficiency is not a concern when making a REST request to a server since only a handful are performed at once. With the increasing popularity of gaming, more and more web services have emerged that aim to present the data taken from these APIs. API Keys and other methods of authorization used are associated with an account that has a maximum number of requests that are allowed per a specific unit of time. The problem is that these databases are relational and result in multiple REST requests to traverse the hierarchical structure and retrieve the needed information, leading to a long runtime before the application is loaded. As a result, many of these web services have downtime at specific intervals, such as the release of a new patch, so that all necessary information can be retrieved, stored on a local server, and then presented to users. This paper presents a solution to increase the efficiency of retrieving data from a REST API such that a web service that presents this information may minimize its downtime.
Fundamentals of Dissection

Appropriate surgical technique requires a mastery of the basic skills of surgical dissection. This chapter provides a brief overview of considerations of lighting, positioning, and preoperative imaging as they relate to surgical dissection. It discusses basic aspects of dissection, such as the differences between sharp and blunt dissection techniques and their applications, as well as the use of proper traction and counter-traction during dissection. More advanced, instrumental methods of dissection, encompassing electrosurgery and water dissection, are reviewed. Approaches to dissection of more challenging tissue planes, including those of neoplastic and inflamed tissues, are explored as well. Finally, the chapter ends with a discussion of cognitive biases, how they can relate to surgical dissection, and the importance of a surgeon’s awareness of them.
Basis Properties, Exchange Properties and Embeddings in Idempotent-Free Semigroups

Two “basis properties” are considered for semigroups and associated algebras. These were introduced by the author to study inverse semigroups and groups, motivated by well-known properties of vector spaces. First these basis properties are studied in the abstract, from the point of view of exchange properties; then those semigroups with the “strong” basis property are determined for many classes of semigroups, including all regular and all periodic semigroups. The main method of proof is to eliminate undesirable types of semigroups by showing that each contains a certain special sub-semigroup, for instance the bicyclic semigroup. This prompts the study of analogs of a theorem of Andersen on embeddings of the bicyclic semigroup: such analogs are found for the semigroups A = 〈a,b|a2b = a〉 and C = 〈a,b|a2b = a,ab2 = b〉.
β-ADRENOCEPTOR SENSITIVITY FOLLOWING PSYCHOTROPIC DRUG TREATMENT

Chronic administration of antidepressants led to a decrease in the density of βAR in rat brain. In contrast, psychomotor stimulants induce an enhancement of βAR levels. Only desipramine, doxepin and amphetamine inhibited norepinephrine (NE) uptake. Although the level of NE may have an important role in controlling βAR density, this is not the only mechanism for the regulation of βAR concentration.
The scid mutation disrupts gene rearrangement at the rejoining of coding strands.

The gene rearrangement mechanism in lymphocytes is a highly ordered and regulated process, containing distinct stages and tissue specificity for most of the V(D)J rearrangement events. Several lines of evidence indicate that a common “recombinase” function mediates the rearrangement process for all the immunoglobulin (Ig) and T cell receptor (TCR) gene elements. Whereas significant progress has been acheived in the molecular mapping of the organization of the Ig and TCR gene families and the structure of rearrangement products, very little progress has been made in identifying the proteins important to the recombination pathway.
Bringing Casuistry and the Business Case Method Together

Building upon prior descriptions of casuistry, the author compares and contrasts casuistry and the business case method and then argues that synergies can be created when the two methods are used together in business practice.
Mass Spectrometry for Proteomics-Based Investigation Using the Zebrafish Vertebrate Model System

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is frequently being used to investigate the genetics of human diseases as well as resulting pathologies. Ease of both forward and reverse genetic manipulation along with conservation of vertebrate organ systems and disease causing genes has made this system a popular model. Many techniques have been developed to manipulate the genome of zebrafish producing mutants in a vast array of genes. While genetic manipulation of zebrafish has progressed, proteomics have been under-utilized. This review highlights studies that have already been performed using proteomic techniques and as well as our initial proteomic work comparing changes to the proteome between the ascl1a−/− and WT intestine.
The General Theory

The general theory of divisors, as it is developed in this first part, applies to algebraic extension fields of rings that are natural in the sense defined in the next article. The case of number theory in Part 2 is the case of the natural ring Z, and the case of algebraic curves in Part 3 is the case of the natural ring Q[x].
A GEOMETRICAL STUDY OF B-CELL STIMULATION AND HUMORAL IMMUNE RESPONSE

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a geometrical study of B-cell stimulation and humoral immune response. The immune response to the presence of a foreign substance, called an antigen, consists of many complex biochemical interactions involving several cell types. The response itself is usually divided into two parts: the humoral (antibody) response and the cell-mediated response. The chapter presents a model of the humoral response to a challenge of nonreplicating antigen. The humoral response varies between species and even individuals within a species. The response also depends on the particular antigen studied. The chapter presents a very flexible model that can easily be adopted to the species and antigen under study and modified as new information concerning the response is discovered. The form of the model also provides a possible tool for identifying some of the complex interactions, suggesting how they interact by studying the geometry of the entire interaction.
Universal Funder Responsibilities That Advance Social Value

Research funding organizations direct the allocation of limited resources across strategic priority areas in basic and applied science, and in so doing influence both the direction and the form tha...
What is the Effect of Tort Reform on African-American Access to Health Care?

This study examines the impact of tort reform on minority access to medical care. Past research has investigated tort reform, but this is the first study to consider minority healthcare access. I examine 261 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) from 1993-2000 to test the impact of non-economic damage caps on physician supply overall and in individual specialties (family, primary care, general, OB/GYN, pediatrics, and internal medicine). Results show that tort reform reduces the negative effect of minority presence on physician availability and enhances minority medical care access.
Protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a technology-assisted health coaching intervention for weight management in primary care: The GEM (goals for eating and moving) study.

Abstract Introduction Over one-third of American adults have obesity with increased risk of chronic disease. Primary care providers often do not counsel patients about weight management due to barriers such as lack of time and training. To address this problem, we developed a technology-assisted health coaching intervention called Goals for Eating and Moving (GEM) to facilitate obesity counseling within the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model of primary care. The objective of this paper is to describe the rationale and design of a cluster-randomized controlled trial to test the GEM intervention when compared to Enhanced Usual Care (EUC). Method We have randomized 19 PCMH teams from two NYC healthcare systems (VA New York Harbor Healthcare System and Montefiore Medical Group practices) to either the GEM intervention or EUC. Eligible participants are English and Spanish-speaking primary care patients (ages 18–69 years) with obesity or who are overweight with comorbidity (e.g., arthritis, sleep apnea, hypertension). The GEM intervention consists of a tablet-delivered goal setting tool, a health coaching visit and twelve telephone calls for patients, and provider counseling training. Patients in the EUC arm receive health education materials. The primary outcome is mean weight loss at 1 year. Secondary outcomes include changes in waist circumference, diet, and physical activity. We will also examine the impact of GEM on obesity-related provider counseling competency and attitudes. Conclusion If GEM is found to be efficacious, it could provide a structured approach for improving weight management for diverse primary care patient populations with elevated cardiovascular disease risk.
An 1800-year record of environmental change from the southern Adirondack Mountains, New York (USA)

We analyzed a sediment core from Piseco Lake, New York (USA), to infer late Holocene environmental conditions and look for evidence of prehistoric human activity in the region. We analyzed fossil pollen, charcoal, and geochemistry in sediments deposited over the last ~ 1800 years. The pollen record indicates the area was dominated primarily by Betula (birch), Pinus (pine), and Tsuga (hemlock). Picea (spruce) increased after ~ 1560 cal yr BP and eventually became a major component of the forest. A transition in the fire regime around Piseco Lake occurred after ~ 900 cal yr BP, perhaps associated with drier conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly, ca. 1000–600 BP. A fire ca. 580 cal yr BP, along with decline of Tsuga after ~ 520 cal yr BP, may reflect generally dry conditions of the Little Ice Age (600–150 BP). Climate change may have swamped any evidence for low-intensity, prehistoric human activity around Piseco Lake. The rise in Poaceae (grass) and Ambrosia (ragweed) pollen ~ 130 cal yr BP indicates European settlement in the area, and is followed by rapid decline of Tsuga and Pinus, most likely a consequence of logging. Since about 145 cal yr BP, increases in macroscopic charcoal concentrations and changes in sediment geochemistry indicate increased erosion and nutrient influx to Piseco Lake, likely related to anthropogenic activities.
129 Ovarian dynamics and gonadotropins during selection of the dominant follicle in postpartum lactating versus non-postpartum cycling mares

The mare, compared to other livestock, has the shortest interval from partum to the first ovulation. In monovulatory species, the follicle deviation process in a wave is characterised by the continued growth of the dominant follicle (DF) and regression of the subordinate follicle. Although follicle diameter deviation, a key event of follicle selection, has been investigated during the oestrous and menstrual cycles, the occurrence of this phenomenon before the first postpartum ovulation seems to be unclear in all species. This study aimed to compare the follicular dynamics and gonadotropin profiles around the follicle diameter deviation day in postpartum lactating (PP Lactating; n = 24) versus non-postpartum cycling (NPP Cycling; n = 15) mares. On the day of parturition, every PP Lactating mare was paired with an NPP Cycling mare, and ovarian follicles (>4 mm) were tracked daily by transrectal ultrasonography, and blood samples were collected. Data were analysed in the PP Lactating group according to the length of the partum-ovulation interval (POI; ≤22 and >22 days) and the postpartum interovulatory interval (PPIOI), and in the NPP Cycling group during two interovulatory intervals (1st and 2nd IOI). In addition, regardless of group, all four intervals were compared. We performed the FSH and LH assays using radioimmunoassay. Ovarian and hormonal parameters were analysed using ANOVA for sequential data. The day and diameter of the DF at the deviation (overall mean: 14.9 ± 2.5 days; 21.7 ± 0.4 mm, respectively) were not different (P > 0.05) between PP Lactating and NPP Cycling mares. However, when considering the length of POI, follicle deviation occurred 4.4 ± 0.8 days earlier (P 22 days. No difference was found between PP Lactating and NPP Cycling mares within and between groups for the intervals from deviation to maximum diameter of the DF (10.4 ± 0.4 days), for the intervals from deviation to ovulation (12.1 ± 0.5 days), or for the growth rates of the DF from deviation to maximum diameter (2.6 ± 0.1 mm per day). The growth rate of the DF from deviation to ovulation (2.4 ± 0.1 mm per day) did not differ between PP Lactating and NNP Cycling mares; however, this growth rate was lower (P < 0.03) in the POI, PPIOI, and 1st IOI compared with the 2nd IOI. The mean diameter of the DF around deviation (days −3 to 3; 22.5 ± 0.3 mm), and systemic FSH (days −4 to 4; 10.3 ± 0.2 ng mL−1) were not different between PP Lactating and NPP Cycling mares. Level of LH was lower (P < 0.0001) around deviation (days −4 to 4) in the PP Lactating (0.7 ± 0.0 ng mL−1) versus the NPP Cycling mares (1.8 ± 0.1 ng mL−1). Results demonstrated that a partum effect occurs only on the day of deviation in mares during the foal heat (POI ≤ 22 days) and that low levels of LH during both intervals in PP Lactating mares were not detrimental to prevent ovulation.
Self-Determination and Agency for All: Supporting Students with Severe Disabilities.

ABSTRACTSupporting agency can be complex and challenging, especially when teaching students with severe disabilities (i.e., students with intellectual disability, autism, and/or multiple disabiliti...
Discretely assembled walking machines

We introduce a discrete approach to robotic construction that enables the integration of structure, mechanism, and actuation and offers a promising route to on-demand robot fabrication. We demonstrate this with the assembly of two centimeter-scale electromechanical systems: a Discretely Assembled Walking Motor (DAWM) capable of producing large scale linear or rotary motion from five millimeter-scale part types as well as a Modular Tiny Locomoting Element (MOTILE) that can locomote on a variety of ferrous surfaces. The five part types each embody a limited capability including rigid (strut and node), flexural, magnetic, or coil. Through their arrangement in a three-dimensional lattice, we demonstrate the assembly of actuated mechanical degrees-of-freedom in useful small-scale machines. This work extends prior research in discrete material systems with the inclusion of flexural and actuation components. Actuation is accomplished with the use of voice coil actuator components that produce up to 42 mN of force and strokes of 2 mm. This performance compares well with other millimeter scale actuators and provides sufficient force to lift 28 connected nodes in our assembled lattice, or 7 other actuator components. DAWM is capable of stepping at rates of up to 35 Hz, resulting in velocities of up to 25 mm/s. Multiple DAWM systems can be stacked to add force and can be driven in-phase or out-of-phase to produce intermittent or continuous force, respectively. MOTILE can climb vertical surfaces at speeds of 2.46 body-lengths per second, representing the fastest vertical climbing robot in recently reported research. This approach to robot fabrication discretizes robotic systems at a much finer granularity than prior work in modular robotics and demonstrates the possibility of assembling useful small-scale machines from a limited set of standard part types.
Improvement of the operation for electromechanical system under non-permanent loading

On the basis of theoretical and practical studies of the multivariate electromechanical system, the scientific and technical problem of improving the control system of the electromechanical system during the influence of multi-vector perturbations on it is solved. The result of the research is the combination of equations in the system of differential equations with coefficients dependent on the fluctuations of the control object. In the theoretical part the mathematical model of the electromechanical system was synthesized, which made it possible to investigate ways of minimizing the angles of deviation and time intervals necessary to stabilize the movement of the electromechanical system, which made it possible indirectly to implement the signal associated with the stochastic nature of the moment of the control object fluctuation on coordinate plane. The method of parametric optimization of the mathematical model of the electromechanical system in the deviation angle function was also improved and investigated. Based on the determination of the structure and algorithms of work, the efficiency of the control system of the electromechanical system is increased in terms of reducing the time of stabilization of the control object.
Effect of disinfectant residual, pH, and temperature on microbial abundance in disinfected drinking water distribution systems

In piped drinking water distribution systems, microbial water quality depends on the quantities and types of microorganisms present as well as the physicochemical conditions that influence them. Accurately assessing microbial water quality in these systems is important to maintain water quality throughout distribution. Microbial water quality can be assessed directly, using measures of microbial abundance, and indirectly, by measuring pH, temperature, and disinfectant residual. In the United States, total coliform bacteria measurement is the only regulated parameter for microbial abundance, but because levels are required to be maintained below the quantification limit, this parameter provides little insight into the total microbial abundance. In this study, alternate measures of microbial abundance were assessed in six drinking water distribution systems with a wide range of free chlorine (<0.02 to 2.14 mg L−1 as Cl2) and total chlorine residuals (<0.02 to 2.9 mg L−1 as Cl2). Five measures of microbial abundance were compared for quantifiability and variability throughout distribution: total and intact cell counts, total and intracellular ATP concentrations, and heterotrophic plate counts. We found that: intracellular ATP and intact cell counts had significant and strong correlations with disinfectant concentration; these correlations were stronger in chlorinated systems compared to chloraminated systems; 97.6% of samples had a quantifiable intact cell counts, with only four samples below the intact cell count quantifiaction limit at the highest residual concentration in chlorinated drinking water distribution systems (1.5–2.0 mg L−1 as Cl2); and variance between technical replicates was lowest for total ATP followed by total and intact cell counts, as compared to heterotrophic plate counts and intracellular ATP. We also demonstrated that a generalized linear mixed model could be used to estimate the combined effect of common water quality parameters on intact cell counts in a chloraminated distribution system: total chlorine had the greatest inverse effect on intact cells with a greater positive effect of temperature at lower levels of total chlorine. We discuss the purpose and interpretation of typical microbial water quality parameters, such as heterotrophic plate count and disinfectant residual, and consider the future role of ATP and flow cytometry-based methods.
Stochastic stability analysis for Vehicular Networked Systems with State-dependent bursty fading channels: A self-triggered approach

Abstract Vehicular Networked Systems (VNS) are mobile ad hoc networks where vehicles exchange information over wireless communication networks to ensure safe and efficient operation. It is, however, challenging to ensure system safety and efficiency as the wireless channels in VNS are often subject to state-dependent deep fades where the data rate suffers a severe drop and changes as a function of vehicle states. Such couplings between vehicle states and channel states in VNS thereby invalidate the use of separation principle to design event-based control strategies. By adopting a state-dependent fading channel model, this paper presents a novel self-triggered scheme under which the VNS ensures efficient use of communication bandwidth while preserving stochastic stability. Under the proposed self-triggered scheme, this paper presents a novel source coding scheme that tracks vehicle’s states with performance guarantee in the presence of state-dependent fading channels. The efficacy and advantages of the proposed scheme over other event-based strategies are verified by a leader–follower example.
FLASH irradiation enhances the therapeutic index of abdominal radiotherapy for the treatment of ovarian cancer

Abstract Peritoneal metastases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in ovarian cancer. Despite current surgery, chemotherapy and targeted therapies, the majority of patients diagnosed with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer develop recurrent disease and overall survival rates remain poor. It is known that ovarian cancer is a radiosensitive tumor. Historically, total abdominal irradiation (TAI) was used as an effective postsurgical adjuvant therapy in the management of chemotherapy sensitive and resistant ovarian cancer. However, TAI fell out of favor due to high toxicity, particularly of the gastrointestinal tract. We have developed a preclinical irradiation platform that allows for total abdominal ultrahigh dose rate FLASH irradiation. We demonstrate that TAI-FLASH reduces radiation-induced intestinal injury in both healthy and tumor-bearing mice compared to conventional dose rate (CONV) irradiation. Single high dose TAI-FLASH reduced mortality from gastrointestinal syndrome, spared gut function and epithelial integrity, and decreased cell death in crypt base columnar cells. Importantly, FLASH and CONV irradiation had similar efficacy in the reduction of ovarian cancer peritoneal metastases. These findings suggest that FLASH irradiation may be an effective strategy to enhance the therapeutic index of radiotherapy for the treatment of metastatic ovarian cancer in women.
Are female business travelers willing to travel during COVID-19? An exploratory study

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the tourism industry. A successful recovery from the pandemic requires a clear understanding of the ‘new normal’, including tourists...
Multiscale Modeling of a Direct Nonoxidative Methane Dehydroaromatization Reactor with a Validated Model for Catalyst Deactivation

Due to the recent boom in shale gas production, aromatics production using direct nonoxidative methane dehydroaromatization (DHA) is being investigated extensively. However, due to rapid coke forma...
A Theory of Mutual Formation and Moral Hazard, With Evidence from the History of the Insurance Company

Nonprofit, mutually owned insurance and banking organizations have significant market shares in the insurance and banking industries. A first step in a systematic study of these financial mutuals is to examine the reasons for their formation. Doing so provides empirical support for the view that these mutuals arose as an efficient means of addressing contracting challenges caused by aggregate uncertainties and moral hazard. A formal model with this property is presented. We argue that informational asymmetries do more to explain the kinds of contracts offered by financial mutuals than do agency problems between owners, managers, and customers.
Multifunctional Conjugated Ligand Engineering for Stable and Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells

Surface passivation is an effective way to boost the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, a key challenge faced by most of the passivation strategies is reducing the interface charge recombination without imposing energy barriers to charge extraction. Here, a novel multifunctional semiconducting organic ammonium cationic interface modifier inserted between the light-harvesting perovskite film and the hole-transporting layer is reported. It is shown that the conjugated cations can directly extract holes from perovskite efficiently, and simultaneously reduce interface non-radiative recombination. Together with improved energy level alignment and the stabilized interface in the device, a triple-cation mixed-halide medium-bandgap PSC with an excellent power conversion efficiency of 22.06% (improved from 19.94%) and suppressed ion migration and halide phase segregation, which lead to a long-term operational stability, is demonstrated. This strategy provides a new practical method of interface engineering in PSCs toward improved efficiency and stability.
Benzodiazepine misuse and cigarette smoking status in US adults: Results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2015-2018.

Abstract Background Benzodiazepines are the third most commonly misused drugs in the U.S. population. There is a growing public health concern related to recent increases in benzodiazepine-related overdose deaths, emergency department visits, and treatment admissions. Although benzodiazepine misuse often occurs along with other drug use, little is known about the association between benzodiazepine and cigarette smoking. Methods We used a pooled dataset from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) for 2015–2018 (N = 171,766). We estimated a multivariable logistic regression model of past-year benzodiazepine misuse as a function of past-year tobacco use (cigarette smoking, other tobacco use), controlling for survey years, sociodemographics, past-year substance use, and psychiatric comorbidities. Results Among the analytic sample (N = 171,766), 2.1% (weighted; unweighted n = 4,942) reported they misused benzodiazepines in the past 12 months. In the multivariable logistic regression model, correlates of past-year benzodiazepine misuse were past-year cigarette smoking (aOR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.67, 2.06) and other tobacco use (e.g., cigars and smokeless tobacco) (aOR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.34), female (aOR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.04, 1.26), uninsured (aOR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.12, 1.42), past-year use of alcohol (aOR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.21, 1.80), cannabis (aOR = 2.76, 95% CI = 2.46, 3.10), and other drugs (aOR = 7.92, 95% CI = 7.08, 8.86), as well as, past-year distress (aOR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.61, 2.10), and depressive symptoms (aOR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.16, 1.51). Conclusion Nicotine is independently associated with benzodiazepine misuse, even after controlling for other drug use and psychiatric variables. Future studies examining potential mechanisms linking nicotine and benzodiazepine use are necessary.
The organization of individually mapped structural and functional semantic networks in aging adults

Language function in the brain, once thought to be highly localized, is now appreciated as relying on a connected but distributed network. The semantic system is of particular interest in the language domain because of its hypothesized integration of information across multiple cortical regions. Previous work in healthy individuals has focused on group-level functional connectivity (FC) analyses of the semantic system, which may obscure interindividual differences driving variance in performance. These studies also overlook the contributions of white matter networks to semantic function. Here, we identified semantic network nodes with a semantic decision fMRI task in 53 typically-aging adults, characterized network organization using structural connectivity (SC), and quantified the segregation and integration of the network using FC. Hub regions were identified in left inferior frontal gyrus. The individualized semantic network was composed of three interacting modules: 1) default-mode module characterized by bilateral medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate regions and also including right-hemisphere homotopes of language regions; 2) left frontal module extending dorsally from inferior frontal gyrus to pre-motor area; and 3) left temporoparietal module extending from temporal pole to inferior parietal lobule. FC within Module3 and integration of the entire network related to a semantic verbal fluency task, but not a matched phonological task. These results support and extend the tri-network semantic model (Xu et al., 2017) and the controlled semantic cognition model (Chiou et al., 2018) of semantic function.
Co-expression Patterns Explain how a Basic Transcriptional Role for MYC Modulates Wnt and MAPK Pathways in Colon and Lung Adenocarcinomas

Genome duplication begins at many epigenetically determined sites by pre-replication, pre-initiation, and replisome complexes; co-expression of their components must be optimally timed for S phase to occur. Oscillations of cyclin dependent kinases (Cdks) and regulator cyclins control cell cycling, many are pharmacological targets in cancer. This study examines gene expression relationships between drivers, cell cycle components, and a subset of proliferation genes in colon (COAD) and lung (LUAD) adenocarcinomas. Several known drivers of COAD and LUAD including APC, CTNNB1, KRAS, MYC, Braf, TP53, Rb1, and EGFR are also observed with focus on Wnt and MAPK signaling activation. Wnt signaling activation has relevance for immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, as it provides cancer cells with escape mechanisms. MYC and KRAS co-expressed directly with far fewer proliferation genes in LUAD than COAD, suggesting their expression is ectopic to S phase in lung tumors. APC indirectly co-expressed with the same factors in both COAD and LUAD, but was found co-expressed indirectly with MYC and mutated only in COAD. Other Wnt signaling components also co-expressed in low MYC context in COAD, had significantly higher mutation frequencies. These data suggest Wnt signaling activation to be the indirect result of decreased MYC availability in COAD, and ectopic overexpression of MYC in LUAD. Cyclins CCNH, CCNC, and CCNK, co-expressed with far fewer proliferation genes in LUAD. Conversely, Braf had direct co-expression with many proliferation factors in non EGFR activated LUAD. Proliferation in EGFR activated LUAD was completely deregulated with E2F(s) 4/5/6 expression, potentially explaining their low proliferative ability.
Modeling, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Potential Retinoid-X-Receptor (RXR) Selective Agonists: Analogs of 4-[1-(3,5,5,8,8-Pentamethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahyro-2-naphthyl)ethynyl]benzoic Acid (Bexarotene) and 6-(Ethyl(4-isobutoxy-3-isopropylphenyl)amino)nicotinic Acid (NEt-4IB)

Five novel analogs of 6-(ethyl)(4-isobutoxy-3-isopropylphenyl)amino)nicotinic acid—or NEt-4IB—in addition to seven novel analogs of 4-[1-(3,5,5,8,8-pentamethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-2-naphthyl)ethynyl]benzoic acid (bexarotene) were prepared and evaluated for selective retinoid-X-receptor (RXR) agonism alongside bexarotene (1), a FDA-approved drug for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Bexarotene treatment elicits side-effects by provoking or disrupting other RXR-dependent pathways. Analogs were assessed by the modeling of binding to RXR and then evaluated in a human cell-based RXR-RXR mammalian-2-hybrid (M2H) system as well as a RXRE-controlled transcriptional system. The analogs were also tested in KMT2A-MLLT3 leukemia cells and the EC50 and IC50 values were determined for these compounds. Moreover, the analogs were assessed for activation of LXR in an LXRE system as drivers of ApoE expression and subsequent use as potential therapeutics in neurodegenerative disorders, and the results revealed that these compounds exerted a range of differential LXR-RXR activation and selectivity. Furthermore, several of the novel analogs in this study exhibited reduced RARE cross-signaling, implying RXR selectivity. These results demonstrate that modification of partial agonists such as NEt-4IB and potent rexinoids such as bexarotene can lead to compounds with improved RXR selectivity, decreased cross-signaling of other RXR-dependent nuclear receptors, increased LXRE-heterodimer selectivity, and enhanced anti-proliferative potential in leukemia cell lines compared to therapeutics such as 1.
Implications of Hope

Both ultimate hopes and fundamental hope have certain implications. The implications of ultimate hope are cognitional, conative, and affective: they include beliefs, kinds of readiness or dispositions, and trust. The implications of fundamental hope also have to do with trust.
Spatial Representation and Updating: Evidence from Neuropsychological Investigations

How spatial information is represented and updated over time and over changes in the position of the stimulus and/or observer is considered in the context of a population of patients who have impairment in spatial perception. We present data both from our own research with patients suffering from hernispatial neglect as well as from studies in the literature. Taken together, these studies suggest that spatial information is coded in more than one spatial frame of reference simultaneously and that the choice of reference frame depends on the demands of the tasks. Once the stimulus is located, however, the patients are able to update the position of the stimulus dynamically when walking or when undergoing passive rotation. The insights obtained from this neuropsychological population provides converging evidence for the psychological and neural mechanisms which mediate spatial representation and dovetail well with existing single unit recording and functional imaging data.
Co-Channel Interference

For cellular radio systems the radio link performance is usually limited by interference rather than noise and, therefore, the probability of co-channel interference (CCI), is of primary concern. The definition of the probability of CCI depends on the the assumptions made about the radio receiver and propagation environment. At higher velocities, the radio receiver can usually average over the fast envelope variations by using coding and interleaving techniques. In this case, the transmission quality will be acceptable provided that the average received carrier-to-interference ratio, Λ, exceeds a receiver threshold Λth. The receiver threshold Λth is determined by the performance of the radio link in the presence of envelope fading. Once Λth has been determined, the variations in Λ due to path loss and shadowing will determine the probability of CCI. At lower velocities, the radio receiver cannot average over the fast envelope variations due to the delay constraints imposed by voice traffic. In this case, the transmission quality will be acceptable provided that the instantaneous received carrier-to-interference ratio, λ, exceeds another receiver threshold λth 1. Once λth has been specified, variations in λ due to path loss, shadowing, and envelope fading, will determine the probability of CCI.
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis in the Precision Era

Recent measurements of the primeval deuterium abundance and improved nuclear input to big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) precisely peg the baryon density, \( {\Omega_B}{h^2} = 0.0189\pm 0.0019 \). The uncertainty is due to that in the deuterium abundance and input nuclear data, in the ratio of about 2 to 1. The tight constraint sets the stage for a direct comparison with current and planned measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropics, and with it, a cosmological test at the level of 5%.
Screen time behaviours may interact with obesity genes, independent of physical activity, to influence adolescent BMI in an ethnically diverse cohort.

Summary Background There has been little investigation of gene-by-environment interactions related to sedentary behaviour, a risk factor for obesity defined as leisure screen time (ST; i.e. television, video and computer games). Objective To test the hypothesis that limiting ST use attenuates the genetic predisposition to increased body mass index (BMI), independent of physical activity. Design Using 7642 wave II participants of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, (Add Health; mean = 16.4 years, 52.6% female), we assessed the interaction of ST (h week−1) and 41 established obesity single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with age- and sex-specific BMI Z-scores in 4788 European–American (EA), 1612 African–American (AA) and 1242 Hispanic American (HA) adolescents. Results Nominally significant SNP*ST interaction were found for FLJ35779 in EA, GNPDA2 in AA and none in HA (EA: beta [SE] = 0.016[0.007]), AA: beta [SE] = 0.016[0.011]) per 7 h week−1 ST and one risk allele in relation to BMI Z-score. Conclusions While for two established BMI loci, we find evidence that high levels of ST exacerbate the influence of obesity susceptibility variants on body mass; overall, we do not find strong evidence for interactions between the majority of established obesity loci. However, future studies with larger sample sizes, or that may build on our current study and the growing published literature, are clearly warranted.