cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Anesthetized Kittens Used to Test for Staphylococcus Enterotoxin

The reaction of kittens to staphylococcal enterotoxin was described by Dolman, Wilson and Cockcroft,1 and confirmed by Kupchik2 and Minett.3 It was shown that kittens will vomit after intraperitoneal injection of heated staphylococcal filtrates that contain enterotoxin.We find that this test can be rendered more objective and more convenient by anesthetizing the kittens with sodium pentobarbital. The kittens are given a small meal; after 30 minutes they are injected intraperitoneally with sodium pentobarbital. The dosage is 30 mg per kg body weight, as a 5% aqueous solution. This produces light anesthesia, which lasts for several hours. The heated staphylococcal filtrates are injected intraperitoneally after the onset of anesthesia; then the kittens are laid out in a row and observed for vomiting. Only definite vomiting with expulsion of vomitus, between 20 and 90 minutes after injection of the filtrate is considered as positive.The kittens should be kept warm, and turned over every hour to avoid hypostat...
Three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of joints.

AbstractMagnetic resonance (MR) imaging is one of the most commonly used imaging modality for evaluating patients with joint pain. Musculoskeletal MR protocols at most institutions consist of 2-dimensional fast spin echo (FSE) sequences repeated in multiple planes. Three-dimensional sequences have a
Allogeneic Transplantation in First Remission Improves Outcomes Irrespective of FLT3-ITD Allelic Ratio in FLT3-ITD–Positive Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

Abstract The adverse prognosis of internal tandem duplication in the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 gene(s) (FLT3-ITD) in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) may depend on allelic burden. We compared postremission treatment with chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in 169 FLT3-ITDmut intermediate cytogenetic risk AML patients with allelic ratio evaluable at diagnosis who achieved first complete remission (CR1) with induction therapy. To minimize selection bias, the analysis was limited to patients who remained in CR1 for at least 4 months (median time to HSCT) after achieving CR1, and propensity score matching was implemented. Sensitivity analysis including patients who remained in CR1 for at least 3 months was applied as well. HSCT in CR1 was associated with longer relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS), with 3-year estimated rates of 18% and 24%, respectively (P
Stability, Predictive Validity, and Sensitivity of Mental and Motor Development Scales and Pre-School Cognitive Tests among Low-Income Children in Developing Countries

This paper documents the stability, predictive power, and sensitivity of mental and motor development scales and pre-school cognitive tests in the context of economically impoverished populations in low-income countries. Stability and predictive power comprise forecasting; stability includes repeated measures using the same test, whereas predictive power includes different tests. Sensitivity is the track record of the test in discriminating among groups of children exposed to different nutritional interventions. Psychometric data from three longitudinal studies of the assessment of the impact of early supplementary feeding on child development were used. Two studies were conducted in West Java, Indonesia, and the third study was carried out in El Oriente, Guatemala. Repeated measures allowed for the calculation of stability and predictive correlation coefficients. the mental development scales administered up to about 18 months had modest stability but no predictive power. This trend changed during the second year of life as the strength of the stability and predictive power increased. the pre-school tests were good predictors of a child's enrollment and school achievement. the findings on infant scales and pre-school tests agree with what has been reported in other populations in industrialized countries. There is no reason to believe that the developmental risk of the subjects that were assessed in each of the three target studies strengthens the psychometric attributes that were evaluated.
Conducting Three-Level Longitudinal Analyses

Researchers in the field of early adolescence interested in quantifying the environmental influences on a response variable of interest over time would use cluster sampling (i.e., obtaining repeated measures from students nested within classrooms and/or schools) to obtain the needed sample size. The resulting longitudinal data would be nested at three levels (e.g., repeated measures [Level 1], collected across participants [Level 2], and nested within different schools [Level 3]). A previous publication addressed statistical analysis issues specific to cross-sectional three-level data analytic designs. This article expands upon the previous cross-sectional three-level publication to address topics specific to longitudinal three-level data analyses efforts. Although all analysis examples are demonstrated using SAS, the equivalent SPSS and Mplus syntax scripts, as well as the generated example data and additional supplemental materials, are available online.
Osteoporosis in rheumatoid arthritis and corticosteroid induced osteoporosis.

SUMMARY The capacity of the patient and his bones to accept surgical interference decreases with the age of the patient, the duration of the disease, and the use of corticosteroid treatment. Whereas bone healing following fracture is not severely impaired by the adrenal corticosteroid therapy, bone remodeling may be severely disturbed, and the bones of rheumatoid patients requiring any new metal or plastic prosthetic device would take longer to adapt and consolidate than would those of the normal or osteoarthritic patient.
Chronic pain and its management in primary care.

Background. Chronic pain is commonly encountered in primary care, but it can be difficult to manage. Methods. The purpose of this article was to review the definition of chronic pain, general guidelines of management, pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment, the role of pain clinics, and rehabilitation goals. Conclusions. Effective management of chronic pain is usually achieved by an interdisciplinary team, with involvement of both patients and their families, and integrates pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment with needed surgical interventions, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation.
L2 Learners and the Apparent Problem of Morphology: Evidence from L2 Japanese

A long- standing observation within second language acquisition (SLA) research is that target language (TL) morphology presents problems for non-native speakers. Second-language (L2) classrooms, textbooks and teachers often devote a significant amount of time, attention and energy to instruction in these domains, and yet L2 learners often show evidence of protracted optionality with respect to L2 morphology (see e.g. Lardiere 2009; Slabakova 2008; White 2003 for discussion and evidence). There are at least two possible reasons for this: learners receive insufficient input or exposure to target language morphology, or they lack the ability to represent the features that govern morphology in their interlanguage grammars. Much of the research that has investigated the acquisition and representation of L2 morphology has focused on the second possibility, and has investigated the type of morphology found in European languages, such as gender (see e.g. Hawkins and Chan 1997; Lardiere 1998; Tsimpli and Dimitrakopoulou 2007; White et al. 2004). The study in this chapter investigates the acquisition of Japanese case morphology, which is a different type of acquisition problem than those explored in previous studies.
Adoption of Technology and Its Impact on Nephrectomy Outcomes, a U.S. Population-Based Analysis (2008–2012)

Abstract Purpose: Robot-assisted surgery has been touted as offering superior outcomes in various oncologic surgeries. We sought to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of robotic radical nephrectomy (RRN) compared with laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN) in regard to hospital charges, complications, and survival. Materials and Methods: Using the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program-Medicare linked database, we identified patients over the age of 65 who underwent radical nephrectomy (RN) for nonmetastatic renal-cell carcinoma from 2008 to 2012. Patients who underwent RRN were compared with those who underwent LRN. We used propensity scoring matching to compare perioperative and survival outcomes, including overall survival, cancer-specific survival, major adverse events, and healthcare charges. Results: Two hundred forty-one patients underwent RRN, and 574 patients underwent LRN. After propensity score matching, the adverse events rate and length of stay were similar between two g...
Dynamic pricing and proactive caching with unknown demand profile

In this work, we address the profit maximization problem for a wireless network carrier and payment minimization for users with unknown demand profile. In particular, we address the exploration-exploitation tradeoff that faces the carrier who is unaware of users demand profiles and seeks to maximize its expected profit by applying smart pricing to incentivize users to use proactive caching. We formulate the problem as a reinforcement learning problem where the carrier minimizes the regret defined as the difference between the profit obtained by a genie who knows the demand profile of all users and that obtained by the given policy over a finite horizon D. Users, on the other hand, harness their predictable demands in proactively caching peak time demand to minimize their expected payments. We show that the carrier needs only to know the distribution of users demand profile in order to converge to the same profit of the case when it has an access to the demand profile, hence preserving users privacy. An iterative gradient-based policy is proposed to minimize the regret. Numerical results are provided where the proposed policy is compared with the UCB1 algorithm.
Next-generation infrared focal plane arrays for high-responsivity low-noise applications

High-quality infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) are used in many satellite, astronomical, and terrestrial applications. These applications require highly-sensitive, low-noise FPAs, and therefore do not benefit from advances made in low-cost thermal imagers where reducing cost and enabling high-temperature operation drive device development. Infrared detectors used in FPAs have been made for decades from alloys of mercury cadmium telluride (MCT). These infrared detectors are nearing the believed limit of their performance. This limit, known in the infrared detector community as Rule 07, dictates the dark current floor for MCT detectors, in their traditional architecture, for a given temperature and cutoff wavelength. To overcome the bounds imposed by Rule 07, many groups are working on detector compounds other than MCT. We focus on detectors employing III-V-based gallium-free In As Sb superlattice active regions while also changing the basic architecture of the pixel to improve signal-to-noise. Our architecture relies on a resonant, metallic, subwavelength nanoantenna patterned on the absorber surface, in combination with a Fabry-Perot cavity, to couple the incoming radiation into tightly confined modes near the nanoantenna. This confinement of the incident energy in a thin layer allows us to greatly reduce the volume of the absorbing layer to a fraction of the free-space wavelength, yielding a corresponding reduction in dark current from spontaneously generated electron-hole pairs in the absorber material. This architecture is detector material agnostic and could be applied to MCT detector structures as well, although we focus on using superlattice antimonide-based detector materials. This detector concept has been applied to both mid-wave (3–5 μm) and longwave (8–12 μm) infrared detectors and absorbers. Here we examine long-wave devices, as these detectors currently have a larger gap between desired device performance and that of currently existing detectors. The measured structures show an external quantum efficiency exceeding 50%. We present a comparison of the modeled and measured photoresponse of these detectors and compare these detectors to currently available commercial detectors using relevant metrics such as external quantum efficiency. We also discuss modeling of crosstalk between adjacent pixels and its influence on the potential for a dual-wavelength detector. Finally, we evaluate potential advances in these detectors that may occur in the near future.
Technical Note: Deciphering the Hydrologic Response of Riverbedsacross Changes in Recharge with Electrical Resistivity Imaging

Abstract. The fluxes between groundwater and surface water play a significant role in quantifying water balance along stream reaches to continent scales. Changes in these dynamics are occurring due to aquifer depletion, where river flow from predevelopment baseflow conditions with groundwater to surface water have evolved to enhanced recharge through streambeds of ephemeral flows to groundwater. This problem is studied along the Arkansas River in Western Kansas across a stream reach that transitions from near equilibrium of fluxes to a losing river that contributes recharge to a depleting High Plains Aquifer. Existing hydrologic data illustrates the lack of understanding they provide related to the control of fluxes exerted by alluvial deposits. We employ electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) along this river transect to elucidate the intricate pathways of hydrologic connectivity existing between the Arkansas River and underlying Arkansas Alluvial and Ogallala Aquifers. Time-lapse ERI profiles quantify the temporal changes in resistivity across the riverbed, and these changes are associated with the distribution of soil physical properties and hydrologic conditions below the water-sediment interface. Results utilize a recently discovered vadose zone property whereby fine grained inclusions may become revealed by their different water holding capacity relative to that of a surrounding matrix of coarser grained soil across changes in recharge (caused by changes in stream discharge). These findings corroborate the role of large-scale geologic features in maintaining streamflow in regions of near-surface impermeable layers, and the localized recharge that occurs to the High Plains Aquifer through embedded assemblages of fine and coarse grained soils.
Pharmacodynamic assessment of diuretic efficacy and braking in a furosemide continuous infusion model.

Abstract Introduction Diuretic failure is a potential life-ending event but is unpredictable and poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to evaluate pharmacodynamic markers of furosemide-induced diuresis and to investigate mechanisms of diuretic braking in dogs receiving constant rate infusion (CRI) of furosemide. Animals Six healthy male dogs. Methods Raw data and stored samples from one arm of a previously published study were further analyzed to mechanistically investigate causes of diuretic braking in these dogs. Urine volume was recorded hourly during a 5-h furosemide CRI. Urine and blood samples were collected hourly to measure serum and urine electrolytes, urine aldosterone, and plasma and urine furosemide. Serum electrolyte fractional excretion was calculated. Urine sodium concentration was indexed to urine potassium (uNa:uK) and urine furosemide (uNa:uFur) concentrations, plasma furosemide concentration was indexed to urine furosemide concentration (pFur:uFur), and urine aldosterone was indexed to urine creatinine (UAldo:C). Temporal change and the relationship to urine volume were evaluated for these measured and calculated variables. Results Urine volume was significantly correlated with urine electrolyte amounts and with uNa:uK. The ratio of pFur:uFur decreased during the infusion, whereas furosemide excretion was unchanged. Conclusions There was a strong relationship between urine volume and absolute urine electrolyte excretion. Urine volume was strongly correlated to uNa:uK, giving it potential as a spot indicator of urine production during diuresis. The decrease in uNa:uK over time during the infusion is consistent with mineralocorticoid modification of urinary electrolyte excretion, supporting renin–angiotensin–aldosterone activation as a cause of diuretic braking in this model.
Origami-inspired engineering: from minimally invasive surgery to exoplanet exploration (Conference Presentation)

The engineering world has exploded with recent interest in the craft of origami. This traditional art form most often associated with Japan has become fertile ground for inspiration of devices with applications ranging from medicine to aerospace. What is it about origami that makes it attractive, and why is the origami revolution occurring now? This talk will present an overview of the prominent figures and applications that are currently driving innovation in the field. Engineers and artists alike have come together to develop new techniques that take the practice from paper curiosities to practical engineered devices and systems. Foldable tools are now entering the human body during minimally invasive surgery, and foldable optical structures are being designed for the next generation of space-based telescopes. Mathematicians, material scientists, roboticists, architects, and mechanical designers are all investigating classical origami patterns and inventing new ones, benefiting from the insights and craftsmanship of partnering artist. The resulting software tools are accessible by engineers, tinkerers, and artists alike, some of who then leverage laminated manufacturing techniques to fabricate fully operational systems with embedded electrical components and smart material actuation. While engineering is often influenced by external disciplines, such as biology or aesthetics, the melding of engineering and origami has been uniquely synergistic. The interaction of scientists and artists has mutually benefited both sides: beyond the novel advancements in engineering, the artists themselves are taking back the numerical tools and material innovations, using them to produce revolutionary pieces of balanced complexity and elegance.
Lady Amalia Fleming: Turbulence and Triumph

Amalia Voureka was a physician, bacteriologist, and Greek Resistance activist who joined the laboratory of Sir Alexander Fleming in 1946 on a scholarship. She had nine research publications between May 1947 and August 1952, four of which were as the single author and three as the first author. Only three were coauthored with Sir Fleming. Her research focus was bacteria and antimicrobial agents. She demonstrated variable endpoints for the bacteriostatic power of streptomycin depending on media used, inoculum size, salt concentration, and atmospheric conditions. She worked on bacterial antibiotic resistance, demonstrating the induction of bacterial variants following chloramphenicol treatment. In another paper, she showed that penicillin-resistant bacteria can be made sensitive by coculture with other organisms that are either penicillin sensitive or insensitive. In a study of staphylococcal strains from the anterior nares of patients, she documented a low rate of penicillin resistance (7.6%). Elsewhere, she showed that toxin production by staphylococci is important for virulence. She determined that bacterial flagella can be critical for movement and not simply attachments resulting from cell distress. She refined and invented new laboratory techniques, improving on flagellar staining. Dr. Voureka married Sir Fleming in 1953, despite a 31-year age difference. Her marriage to Sir Fleming was brief (he died of a heart attack in 1955). She later returned to Greece but was exiled and stripped of her citizenship by the military junta for her political activities. After the junta fell, she returned to Greece and was elected to Parliament in 1977, 1981, and 1985. She died in 1986.
Understanding modern contraception uptake in one Ethiopian community: a case study

In the last decade, the proportion of Ethiopian women using contraceptive methods has increased substantially (from 14% in 2005 to 35% in 2016 among married women). Numerous factors have contributed to the increased uptake. An important one is the implementation of the Health Extension Program, a government-led health service delivery strategy that has deployed more than 38,000 health extension workers (HEWs) throughout the country. Key mechanisms underlying the success of this program are not well understood. Using a case study approach, the goal of this study is to describe how key features of local contexts, community perceptions, and messaging by HEWs have contributed to the increased use of modern contraception in one community in Ethiopia. We conducted focus groups and individual interviews with men, women, adolescents, and key informants, including (HEWs), in Oromia, Ethiopia. We used a random sampling protocol to recruit all participants except key informants, with whom purposive sampling was used to ensure participants were knowledgeable on family planning in the village. Interviews were audio recorded, translated, transcribed, and then analyzed using applied thematic analysis and NVivo v.11 qualitative research software. We identified four themes that may explain uptake of contraception: (1) HEWs are seen as trusted and valued community members who raised awareness about family planning; (2) the HEW messaging that contraception is useful to space pregnancies among married women was effective; (3) the message that spacing is healthy for mother and child was also effective; and (4) communicating to the entire community (including men, women, adolescents, and religious leaders), contributed to changing attitudes around contraception. The four aspects of the Health Extension Program approach increased uptake of contraception in our sample. In contexts where community health workers are valued by the health systems and local communities they serve, this type of approach to widening modern contraception use could help increase uptake and address unmet need. Understanding these granular aspects of the program in one local context may help explain how use of contraception increased in the country as a whole.
Local convergence theorems for Newton methods

Affine invariant sufficient conditions are given for two local convergence theorems involving inexact Newton-like methods. The first uses conditions on the first Frechet-derivative whereas the second theorem employs hypotheses on themth (m ≥ 2 an integer). Radius of convergence as well as rate of convergence results are derived. Results involving superlinear convergence and known to be true for inexact Newton methods are extended here. Moreover, we show that under hypotheses on the mth Frechet-derivative our radius of convergence can sometimes be larger than the corresponding one in [10]. This allows a wider choice for the initial guess. A numerical example is also provided to show that our radius of convergence is larger than the one in [10].
Financial Speculators' Underperformance: Learning, Self-Selection, and Provision of Liquidity

Why do so many speculators enter financial markets when most lose money and cease trading after a short period of time? In contrast to existing behavioral explanations, we offer an equilibrium model of learning by rational agents that explains these and related phenomena. Agents do not know their speculative skills, but trading profits can provide them information. Even though it is common knowledge that most traders are unskilled, some agents enter financial markets. They initially experiment by trading on a small scale, and use the information uncovered by their trading profits to decide whether to continue. Competitive market makers post price quotes, recognizing the entry process of speculators, so that the rewards from speculation are endogenous. The model reconciles several empirical regularities: (1) In a given cross-section, most individual speculators lose money. (2) Large (more active) speculators out-perform small (less active) speculators. (3) Performance positively affects subsequent trade intensity. Most new traders lose money and quickly cease speculation. (4) Performance shows persistence. We also show how learning from trade produces endogenous liquidity in financial markets. This endogenous liquidity reduces bid-ask spreads and reduces the effect of exogenous liquidity shocks on asset prices, but amplifies the effect of real shocks in the economy (e.g., labor market and learning costs) on prices. Finally, if some traders are slightly overconfident about their speculative abilities, we show that this increases bid-ask spreads, thereby hurting all traders.
Chordae: 1959–2009

In October 1955, I started training in General Surgery at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN). On the third Saturday afternoon in October, I observed John Kirklin performing an open heart operation using extracorporeal circulation. On Monday, I visited the Fellowship Office and requested the addition of Thoracic Training to my studies. This was added and carried with it the requirement of writing a thesis. For this task, my advisor Dr. Bunky Ellis gave me a project: development of a mitral valve prosthesis. This was a virgin field at the time and I first asked myself the question: how does the mitral valve work? In 1959, I started my thesis in the classical manner by studying the anatomy of any mitral valve I could get my hands on. I dissected the hearts of humans, dogs, deer, guinea pigs, beaver, etc. My major conclusion from this effort was that mitral valve anatomy was dominated by irregularity.
Conversion of Americia to Anhydrous Trivalent Americium Halides

Anhydrous americium(III) starting materials were prepared from americia (AmO2) using inexpensive, commercially available reagents and mild reaction conditions. [AmCl(μ-Cl)2(THF)2]n (1-Am) and AmBr3(THF)4 (2-Am) were isolated and characterized by electronic absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. These new starting materials are soluble in organic solvents, making them useful synthons for nonaqueous organometallic americium chemistry.
From heart to hypothesis: a mechanism for the calcium modulatory actions of taurine.

Taurine is ubiquitous in animals. In mammals, numerous taurine-dependent phenomena have been described (Table 1). The increasing intensity of interest in this simple but recalcitrant compound is indicated by the various symposia on taurine and the monographs published on it within the last 15 years (5,6,17,18,19,20,24,32,38,44).
BChPT$\times 1/{\rm N_c}$ in SU(3): a more effective theory

The chiral and $1/N_c$ expansions are combined in the description of low energy baryons. The combination furnishes a better behaved expansion, consequence of exactly eliminating large terms that violate the $1/N_c$ expansion and which are typical of formulations of BChPT where consistency with the large $N_c$ limit is disregarded. The improvements are particularly dramatic in the case of SU(3). The general framework is outlined and applications to the vector charges and axial couplings are presented along with a comparison with Lattice QCD results with three quark flavors.
Step Frequency Training Improves Running Economy in Well-Trained Female Runners

AbstractQuinn, TJ, Dempsey, SL, LaRoche, DP, Mackenzie, AM, and Cook, SB. Step frequency training improves running economy in well-trained female runners. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2019—The purpose was to determine whether a short training program (15 minutes for 10 days) to increase step
Energy Management of Multi-Energy Storage Systems Using Energy Path Decomposition

In this paper, a novel energy management strategy based on the decomposition of energy paths is proposed. The proposed approach allows energy management systems to accurately recognize the energy exchange flows within complex systems by determining a pricing policy for the energy of storage systems in terms of average cumulative cost. The proposed approach is implemented to fulfill the cost-effective energy management of a typical residential unit with several energy storage systems and energy resources. Simulation studies are conducted to investigate the performance of the proposed energy management strategy and to verify its effectiveness compared to a commonly available energy management strategy from technical and economic viewpoints.
5 Data Traces of Identification

Many of the things I do every day leave little trace on the world. No lasting record exists of the coffee I just poured, the door I just opened to let my dogs out, or the eggs I just made. Some of my other activities, however, do leave behind traces of data. The websites I visit are logged by my ISP and the cookies in my browser, my location data is transmitted to my cellular provider multiple times per minute, and my word processing program creates metadata about this chapter as I type. I leave behind digital data traces every time I use my laptop or my mobile phone to do pretty much anything. But I know all that. What I had not considered until I began researching RFID was how many of my direct interactions with physical infrastructure left behind data as well.
Modeling and Distributed Control of Microgrids: A Negative Feedback Approach

In this paper, we first show how general microgrid can be modeled as a negative feedback configuration comprising two subsystems. The first subsystem is the interconnected microgrid grid which is affected through negative feedback by the second subsystem consisting of all single-port components. This is modeled by transforming physical state variables into energy state variables and by systematically defining input and output of system components in this transformed state space. We next draw on the fact that for this basic feedback configuration there exist several types of conditions regarding subsystem properties which ensure overall system properties. In particular, we utilize dissipativity theory to propose a subsystem nonlinear control design for heterogeneous resource components comprising microgrids so that they jointly result in a closed-loop feasible and stable dynamical system for given ranges of system disturbances.
Sovateltide (IRL-1620) activates neuronal differentiation and prevents mitochondrial dysfunction in adult mammalian brains following stroke

The development of effective drugs for stroke is urgently required as it is the 2nd largest killer in the world and its incidence is likely to increase in the future. We have demonstrated cerebral endothelin B receptors (ETBR) as a potential target to treat acute cerebral ischemic stroke. However, the mechanism of ETBR mediated neural regeneration and repair remains elusive. In this study, a permanent middle cerebral artery occluded (MCAO) rat model was used. Sovateltide (an ETBR agonist) injected intravenously showed better survival and neurological and motor function improvement than control. Higher neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs) differentiation along with better mitochondrial morphology and biogenesis in the brain of sovateltide rats were noted. Exposure of cultured NPCs to hypoxia and sovateltide also showed higher NPC differentiation and maturation. This study shows a novel role of ETBR in NPCs and mitochondrial fate determination in cerebral ischemia, and in improving neurological deficit after stroke.
Fluid and diffusion models for a system of taxis and customers with delayed matching

We study a system of taxis and customers with Poisson arrivals and exponential patience times. We model a delayed matching process between taxis and customers using a matching rate $$\theta $$ as follows: if there are i taxis and j customers in the system, the next pairing will occur after an exponential amount of time with rate $$\theta i^{\delta _1}j^{\delta _2}$$ ( $$\delta _1, \delta _2 \in (0,+\infty $$ )). We formulate the system as a CTMC and study the fluid and diffusion approximations for this system, which involve the solutions to a system of differential equations. We consider two approximation methods: Kurtz’s method (KA) derived from Kurtz’s results (Kurtz in J Appl Probab 7(1):49–58, 1970; Kurtz in J Appl Probab 8(2):344–356, 1971) and Gaussian approximation (GA) that works for the case $$\delta _1 = \delta _2 = 1$$ (we call this the bilinear case) based on the infinitesimal analysis of the CTMC. We compare their performance numerically with simulations and conclude that GA performs better than KA in the bilinear case. We next formulate an optimal control problem to maximize the total net revenue over a fixed time horizon T by controlling the arrival rate of taxis. We solve the optimal control problem numerically and compare its performance to the real system. We also use Markov decision processes to compute the optimal policy that maximizes the long-run revenue rate. We finally propose a heuristic control policy (HPKA) and show that its expected regret is a bounded function of T. We also propose a version of this policy (HPMDP) that can actually be implemented in the real queueing system and study its performance numerically.
What are the sources of exposure in healthcare personnel with coronavirus disease 2019 infection

In our facility, 25% of personnel with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had a higher-risk exposure to an infected patient or co-worker and 14% reported a higher-risk exposure in the community. All higher-risk exposures to infected patients occurred on non-COVID-19 units, often when there was a delay in diagnosis because COVID-19 was not initially suspected. Higher-risk exposures to co-workers with COVID-19 often involved lapses in compliance with masking in nonpatient care areas such as nursing stations and staff work or break rooms.
A decision support framework for sustainable and smart manufacturing

Abstract System transition toward manufacturing sustainability is a technically very challenging process, as it requires continuous sustainability assessment and decision analysis in order to derive best possible solutions for implementation. This process could be facilitated by employing smart manufacturing technologies that are able to establish an environment for high-accuracy modeling and model-based manufacturing, semantic and ontology-based engineering, etc. This chapter introduces a decision support framework for sustainable and smart manufacturing. The introduced framework is equipped with a data analytics block that is responsible for both sustainability assessment and monitoring of external factors that may affect the sustainability performance of the system in its transition process. A model predictive control (MPC) strategy is adopted to identify and update optimal sustainability strategic plans for achieving short-to-long-term sustainability goals. The framework can provide a structured step-by-step guide to decision makers in formulating sustainability strategies and deriving and updating sustainability strategic plans intelligently.
Soil origin and plant genotype structure distinct microbiome compartments in the model legume Medicago truncatula.

Understanding the genetic and environmental factors that structure plant microbiomes is necessary for leveraging these interactions to address critical needs in agriculture, conservation, and sustainability. Legumes, which form root nodule symbioses with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, have served as model plants for understanding the genetics and evolution of beneficial plant-microbe interactions for decades, and thus have added value as models of plant-microbiome interactions. Here we use a common garden experiment with 16S rRNA gene amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to study the drivers of microbiome diversity and composition in three genotypes of the model legume Medicago truncatula grown in two native soil communities. Bacterial diversity decreased between external (rhizosphere) and internal plant compartments (root endosphere, nodule endosphere, and leaf endosphere). Community composition was shaped by strong compartment × soil origin and compartment × plant genotype interactions, driven by significant soil origin effects in the rhizosphere and significant plant genotype effects in the root endosphere. Nevertheless, all compartments were dominated by Ensifer, the genus of rhizobia that forms root nodule symbiosis with M. truncatula, and additional shotgun metagenomic sequencing suggests that the nodulating Ensifer were not genetically distinguishable from those elsewhere in the plant. We also identify a handful of OTUs that are common in nodule tissues, which are likely colonized from the root endosphere. Our results demonstrate strong host filtering effects, with rhizospheres driven by soil origin and internal plant compartments driven by host genetics, and identify several key nodule-inhabiting taxa that coexist with rhizobia in the native range. Our results set the stage for future functional genetic experiments aimed at expanding our pairwise understanding of legume-rhizobium symbiosis toward a more mechanistic understanding of plant microbiomes.
The Politics of the Past: Polish-Soviet and Polish-Russian Efforts at Historical Reconciliation

This article examines Polish-Soviet, and subsequently Polish–Russian, relations through the lens of successive bilateral efforts to address “blank spots” in the shared history of these two neighbor...
Phase Transition Material-Assisted Low-Power SRAM Design

The threshold switching properties of the phase transition material (PTM) can be exploited to realize a heterogeneous static random access memory (SRAM) bitcell, which can obviate the need for assist techniques. This unique PTM-SRAM bitcell is designed by placing the PTM in series with the gate of pull-down nMOS transistors. The large insulating state resistance of the PTM device blocks the propagation of read voltage rise during a read operation and noise during retention operation, thereby enhancing read/retention stability. On the flip side, the write-time and write-ability are impacted, which can be improved by tuning the access transistor strength. Overall, the PTM-SRAM bitcell achieves active- $V_{\text {MIN}}$ equivalent to baseline SRAM $V_{\text {MIN}}$ aided by both read- and write-assist techniques. Furthermore, the read access time of the PTM-SRAM bitcell does not degrade with reducing read $V_{\text {MIN}}$ in contrast to other read-assist techniques. For an isoactive- $V_{\text {MIN}}$ of 0.52 V, the PTM-SRAM has 20% lower read access time, 35% lower read power, 16% higher write time, and 55% lower write power compared to the baseline SRAM aided by assist techniques. Also, the dynamic retention stability of the PTM-SRAM improves by $11.36\times $ compared to baseline SRAM. Detailed analysis highlighting the sensitivity of PTM parameters on PTM-SRAM performance metrics is also presented.
Challenges and Growth: Lived Experience of Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) with a Sibling with ASD

Adolescent and young adult (AYA) siblings of individuals with autism experience unique challenges that can promote both growth and emotional maladjustment. This study explored sibling and parent reports of siblings' lived experiences and identified learning, stressors, and concerns from those experiences. 20 neurotypical (NT) AYA siblings (ages 13-24), and 21 parents were interviewed. Themes that emerged from the data analysis included: (1) learning, empathy, and compassion (2) relationship between the degree of functional impairment and the nature of the sibling relationship; (3) reluctance to share information about siblings with peers; (4) hypervigilance associated with unpredictable behavior; (5) worries and concerns about the future. These findings contribute to the existing literature on the impact and nature of neurotypical siblings' lived experience.
“White Privilege Is a Myth”: Tackling Race

This chapter considers, first, what young white students think about race, as well as their assertions that “white privilege is a myth” and “people are reverse racist against white people.” White students in middle and high school generally share a perception that they are made to feel guilty about being white and that they are losing opportunities for the same reason. The ideas expressed by these students are compared to those of young African American students as they engage in an open and honest conversation about their experiences in a primarily white school district.
Reframing Sexual Health for Black Girls and Women in HIV/STI Prevention Work: Highlighting the Role of Identity and Interpersonal Relationships.

While Black girls and women are disproportionately impacted by sexual health disparities, there continues to be an overwhelming focus on individual risk behaviors within prevention initiatives, which offers a fragmented narrative of the multidimensional nature of risk and plausibly limits effectiveness of prevention programs and attenuates reductions in disparities. Because sexual health is experienced within an individual’s beliefs/values, interpersonal relationships, and behaviors and reflects larger social and cultural systems, it is important to critically examine common theories used to inform HIV/STI prevention interventions for Black women and girls. To fill this gap in the literature, we critique two commonly used theories in HIV/STI prevention interventions, namely the social cognitive theory and the theory of gender and power, by highlighting theoretical and practical strengths and weaknesses. We propose research implications that incorporate key strengths of the two theories while adding new concepts grounded in the intersectionality theory. The overall goal is to introduce a more comprehensive conceptual model that is reflective of and applicable to the multidimensional sexual experiences of Black girls and women within the evolving definition of sexual health and behavior.
Sliding Mode Control of Chemical Process Systems Described by Partial Differential Equations

This paper focuses on the application of sliding mode control theory to distributed parameter chemical process systems. For a class of partial differential equations, the method of characteristics is used to exactly transform the distributed parameter system to a finite set of ordinary differential equations, allowing for the implementation of geometric methods to extend sliding mode concepts. Through simulations the method is shown to be effective in controlling a steam heater.
Lessons from the 80s: the tale of one MIS department

Abstract The MIS department of a mutual insurance company survived rapid and dramatic changes during the 1980s and early 1990s. The external environment of this company went from stable to very turbulent, with many aggressive new competitors, many new products, and plummeting profits. On the MIS side, changes included a new hardware platform and operating system, a new database representation, changes in leadership, a rapid expansion in the use of personal computers and other forms of end-user computing, new software development tools, continuous pressure for new applications, and a shift to stricter fiscal responsibility. After much pain, the MIS department not only survived, but emerged stronger, leaner and a full partner in the strategy making process of the company. This article is a case study that summarizes the issues, challenges and traps of the MIS world in the 80s. It also presents ten lessons to help steer a course through the next decade.
Evaluation of the new RapID-ANA II system for the identification of clinical anaerobic isolates.

The RapID-ANA II System (Innovative Diagnostic Systems, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.) is a recently revised and marketed 4-h system for the identification of anaerobic bacteria. The system was compared with conventional identification methods for its ability to identify 566 clinical anaerobic isolates. Overall, the system identified correctly to genus and species 68% of the total isolates (62% of 204 gram-negative bacilli, 70% of 69 nonsporeforming gram-positive bacilli, 74% of 130 Clostridium isolates, and 72% of 163 anaerobic cocci), without the use of additional tests. With the additional tests suggested by the manufacturer, 78% of the total isolates were identified correctly to species. The routine use of a few simple and practical tests (e.g., egg yolk agar for Clostridium spp.), in addition to the RapID-ANA II, would improve significantly the accuracy of the system in the identification of anaerobic bacteria. This second-generation system offers a number of improvements over the original system, including an updated data base and the option of overnight refrigeration of the system before the addition of reagents.
Seasonal growth patterns of Saccharina latissima (Phaeophyceae, Ochrophyta) in a glacially-influenced subarctic estuary

Summary Global climate warming is exacerbating the melting of glaciers in Arctic and subarctic nearshore regions. Glacial discharge causes increases in sedimentation, abrasion of organisms, and sand/silt cover along with lowered light intensity, salinity, nitrate and hard substrate cover. These effects can have deleterious consequences on foundation species, such as the kelps that provide important habitat structure and support tightly-linked food webs. The purpose of this study was to determine if the kelp, Saccharina latissima, from a glacially-influenced and an oceanic shore in a subarctic Alaskan estuary exhibits differing seasonal growth patterns in response to its environment. Reciprocal in situ shore transplant studies examined seasonal patterns in growth, physiological competence (as maximum quantum yield), morphology and storage product levels (mannitol) of S. latissima. In situ growth was seasonally different at the two shore locations, with a shorter growing season at the glacially-influenced shore. During the glacial melt season, the thalli at the two shore locations were morphologically distinct. Mannitol levels were typically higher in thalli from the oceanic site, with generally low mannitol levels at the end and the beginning of the growing season on both shores. Maximum quantum yield was consistently high (≥0.7) at both shore sites and did not vary seasonally. Growth rates of glacially-influenced transplants to the oceanic shore suggest that the glacially-influenced population has a different seasonal growth pattern from that of the oceanic shore site, which seems to be genetically fixed or based on differences in gene expression. It appears that S. latissima is a highly resilient species, partly due to high phenotypic plasticity, which may have led to genetic fixation under persistent glacial conditions.
Integrating Social Values into Fisheries Management

Abstract This article summarizes responses from program leaders and managers in fisheries management to a questionnaire requesting information about the use of social and community values in decision-making. More specifically, we investigated to what extent managers in the Pacific Northwest region know about and incorporate the social values of commercial fishing communities, the means by which they obtain their information, and the barriers to obtaining viable information for use in decision-making. In this pilot study, decision-makers and managers indicated that they have frequent contact with fishers and members of the coastal community, but the type of information they receive, and lack of trained personnel make it difficult to integrate the information into decision-making. Significant differences of opinion regarding the use and integration of social and community values information in decision-making also exist among our respondents. Without structural changes within management agencies that increa...