cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A human exposome framework for guiding risk management and holistic assessment of recycled water quality

Challenges associated with water scarcity and increasing water demand are leading many cities around the globe to consider water reuse as a step towards water sustainability. Recycled water may be used in a spectrum of applications, from irrigation or industrial use to direct potable reuse, and thus presents a challenge to regulators as not all applications require the same level of treatment. We propose that traditional drinking water standards identifying “safe” water quality are insufficient for recycled water and that using the “human exposome” as a framework to guide development of a risk management strategy offers a holistic means by which to base decisions impacting water quality. A successful and comprehensive plan for water reuse must consider 1) health impacts associated with both acute and chronic exposures, 2) all routes of exposure by which individuals may encounter recycled water, and 3) water quality at the true point of use after storage and transport through pipe networks, rather than at the point of treatment. Based on these principles we explore key chemical differences between recycled and traditional potable water, implications for distribution systems with respect to design and operation, occurrence of chronic contaminants, and the presence of emerging and often underappreciated microbial contaminants. The unique nature of recycled water has the potential to provide rapid regrowth conditions for certain microbial contaminants in these systems, which must be considered to achieve safe water quality at the point of use.
The Effect of Hypertension Treatment on the Prevention of Coronary Artery Disease Events in the Elderly.

Both isolated systolic (greater than 140/ less than 90 mm Hg) and systolic/diastolic ( greater than 140/ greater than 90 mm Hg) hypertension have been identified as major risk factors for cardiovascular disease in the elderly. Effective specific antihypertension therapy is available if lifestyle intervention fails to reduce blood pressure to normal levels. Long term placebo-controlled trials, primarily with diuretics and beta-blockers, have demonstrated not only a reduction in cerebrovascular events but in CHD events as well. A significant reduction in the occurrence of CHF and progression of less severe to severe hypertension has also been demonstrated in treated compared to placebo subjects. A recent study suggests that the use of one of the moderately long acting dihydropyridine CCBs nitrendipine (not available in the U.S.) may also reduce the occurrence of strokes in elderly subjects with ISH
Ethical Information Transparency and Sexually Transmitted Infections

Shared decision making is intended to help protect patient autonomy while satisfying the demands of beneficence. In shared decision making, information is shared between health care professional and patient. The sharing of information presents new and practical problems about how much information to share and how transparent that information should be. Sharing information also allows for subtle paternalistic strategies to be employed to "nudge" the patient in a desired direction. These problems are illustrated in two experiments. Experiment 1 (N = 146) suggested that positively framed messages increased the strength of judgments about whether a patient with HIV should designate a surrogate compared to a negatively framed message. A simple decision aid did not reliably reduce this effect. Experiment 2 (N = 492) replicated these effects. In addition, Experiment 2 suggested that providing some additional information (e.g., about surrogate decision making accuracy) can reduce tendencies to think that one with AIDS should designate a surrogate. These results indicate that in some circumstances, nudges (e.g., framing) influence judgments in ways that non-nudging interventions (e.g., simple graphs) do not. While non-nudging interventions are generally preferable, careful thought is required for determining the relative benefits and costs associated with information transparency and persuasion.
Laboratory experiments to estimate interception of infrared radiation by tree canopies

Estimates of biomass-burning in wildfires or prescribed fires are needed to account for the production of trace gases and aerosols that enter the atmosphere during combustion. Research has demonstrated that the biomass consumption rate is linearly related to fire radiative power (FRP), and that total biomass consumed is linearly related to fire radiative energy (FRE). Measurement of these is biased by certain characteristics of a forest canopy, such as foliar moisture content and tree canopy cover. Laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the influence of canopy cover on the FRP observed from an overhead sensor (e.g. an aircraft or satellite). A range of canopy cover from 0 to 90% and two classes of canopy (non-transpiring living and desiccated branches) were used in the experiments. Experiments suggest that in cases of complete or nearly complete canopy closure, fires obscured by the canopy may be below the detection threshold of above-canopy FRP sensors. Results from this research will reduce uncertainties in estimates of biomass consumption in surface fires burning under forest canopies.
Automatic Alignment of Color Imagery onto 3D Laser Radar Data

We present an algorithm for the automatic fusion of city-sized, 2D color imagery to 3D laser radar imagery collected from distinct airborne platforms at different times. Our approach is to derive pseudo-intensity images from ladar imagery and to align these with color imagery using conventional 2D registration algorithms. To construct a pseudo-intensity image, the algorithm uses the color imagery's time of day and location to predict shadows in the 3D image, then determines ambient and sun lighting conditions by histogram matching the 3D-derived shadowed and non-shadowed regions to their 2D counterparts. A projection matrix is computed to bring the pseudo- image into 2D image coordinates, resulting in an initial alignment of the imagery to within 200 meters. Finally, the 2D intensity image and 3D generated pseudo-intensity image are registered using a modified normalized correlation algorithm to solve for rotation, translation, scale and lens distortion, resulting in a fused data set that is aligned to within 1 meter. Applications of the presented work include the areas of augmented reality and scene interpretation for persistent surveillance in heavily cluttered and occluded environments.
The effect of component separation technique on quality of life (QOL) and surgical outcomes in complex open ventral hernia repair (OVHR).

Outcomes following OVHR may be affected by type of component separation. In this study, outcomes including QOL of patients undergoing OVHR were evaluated based on the utilization of transversus abdominis release (TAR), posterior rectus sheath release (PRSR) alone or in combination with external oblique release (EOR + PRSR). A prospective, single-institution study following open ventral hernia repair involving component separation was performed from May 2005 to April 2015. Self-reported QOL outcomes were obtained preoperatively and at 1, 6 and 12 months postoperatively using the Carolinas Comfort Scale (CCS). A CCS of 2 (mild but bothersome discomfort) or greater was considered symptomatic. Comorbidities, complications, outcomes and CCS scores were reviewed. Univariate group comparisons were performed using Chi-square and Wilcoxon two-sample tests with statistical significance set at p 0.05). Comparing OVHR patients outcomes by CST type, TAR was associated with decreased wound infections compared to others (3.2 vs. 16.1 vs. 20%, p = 0.07) while recurrence rates were increased in EOR + PRSR compared to TAR and PRSR alone(8.4 vs. 3 vs. 1.8%, p = 0.03). Eighty percent of recurrences had a biologic mesh secondary to contaminated field during hernia repair. The other two recurrences were one which occurred superior to the mesh at a suture site and one who developed a wound infection postoperatively. Mesh infection rates were low (0 vs. 1.5 vs. 2.6%, p > 0.05) even including contaminated cases (0 vs. 2 vs. 3.6%, p > 0.05) and were statistically equivalent among all three techniques. While QOL is not impacted by type of component separation on short- or long-term follow-up, the TAR may provide benefits such as decreased wound infection rates. Overall QOL had a significant improvement from preoperative regardless of type of component separation. When controlling for field contamination, there were no differences in recurrence or infection.
Electric-double-layer doping of WSe2 field-effect transistors using polyethylene-oxide cesium perchlorate

Electric double layers (EDLs) formed between polyethylene oxide cesium perchlorate and multilayer WSe2 field-effect transistors (FETs) are explored as a means for contact and access region doping. In this application, the electric double layer is formed using a top field plate or a side gate and then locked into place by cooling of the device below the glass transition temperature of the polymer. A dual work-function Ti/Pd contact is used to form the Schottky contacts with Ti as the n-contact and Pd as the p-contact and these are evaporated in a single evaporation. Using the EDL doping technique, sheet carrier density and current density are as high as (4.9 ± 1.9) × 1013 cm−2 and 58 μA/μm for n-doping and (3.5 ± 1.9) × 1013 cm−2 and 50 μA/μm for p-doping for the highest channel conductivities. The weak temperature dependence of the transfer characteristics at high doping levels reveals that the current in the Schottky contacts is dominated by tunneling with a contact resistance of 1 kΩ μm for the p-branch...
Farmers' Preferences for Cooperative Services in the Aegean Region of Turkey

The principal aim of this study is to determine farmers' preferences and priority rankings for marketing, input procurement, credit and technical assistance services provided by agricultural development cooperatives in the Aegean region of Turkey. Data were collected from 203 farmers in six provinces of the region via face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. A fuzzy pair-wise comparison was employed to designate the service preferences of farmers and their priority rankings for services provided to them. Cluster analysis was applied to separate farms into groups so that the differences in preferences could be determined between farm types. The results indicate that the most preferred service that cooperatives provide for farmers is marketing. Additionally, cluster analysis revealed that fruit farms prefer marketing service, while vegetable farms prefer input procurement.
Glomangiomatosis: a case report

Glomangiomatosis is a benign vascular variant of a glomus tumor. The lesion represents only 5% of glomus tumors with unusual or atypical features and even fewer glomus tumors with typical features. The lesions are most commonly located in the distal extremities and are multiple, deep, extensive, and often pain producing. They develop from small arteriovenous anastamoses and are most often identified in young adults. The lesions may recur. We present a case of a 33-year-old male who presented clinically with multiple slowly enlarging masses of the leg over a 5-year period, of which one caused significant pain. One of the lesions was reported to be present at birth. Imaging studies were performed and were suggestive of neurofibromatosis. Biopsies from multiple lesions led to an eventual diagnosis of multiple glomangiomatosis.
Towards Measuring Intergranular Force Transmission Using Confocal Microscopy and Digital Volume Correlation

We aim to show the feasibility of using confocal microscopy imaging techniques for Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) and analysis of granular mechanics experiments. The first part of this study validates the DVC and confocal microscopy imaging methods for a general problem of uniaxial compression of continuous media. The second part investigates the specific problem of granular mechanics. Intergranular force transmission will be analyzed from 3D image stacks captured using confocal microscopy. DVC methods will be used to analyze the full 3D grain motions and deformations. The intergranular forces will be determined inversely using the Granular Element Method (GEM). Preliminarily results show that confocal microscopy is a useful volumetric imaging method for DVC analyses and shows promise in furthering the study of intergranular force chains and shear bands.
Muscle stem cell dysfunction impairs muscle regeneration in a mouse model of Down syndrome

Down syndrome, caused by trisomy 21, is characterized by a variety of medical conditions including intellectual impairments, cardiovascular defects, blood cell disorders and pre-mature aging phenotypes. Several somatic stem cell populations are dysfunctional in Down syndrome and their deficiencies may contribute to multiple Down syndrome phenotypes. Down syndrome is associated with muscle weakness but skeletal muscle stem cells or satellite cells in Down syndrome have not been investigated. We find that a failure in satellite cell expansion impairs muscle regeneration in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome. Ts65Dn satellite cells accumulate DNA damage and over express Usp16, a histone de-ubiquitinating enzyme that regulates the DNA damage response. Impairment of satellite cell function, which further declines as Ts65Dn mice age, underscores stem cell deficiencies as an important contributor to Down syndrome pathologies.
Interplay between Singularities Asymptotics and Generalized Functions

We present various aspects of generalized functions and their applications to wave propagation, asymptotic expansions and singular integral equations.
Il trauma vascolare toracico per il chirurgo generale

Le lesioni al muscolo cardiaco e ai grandi vasi toracici molte volte ti costringono a intervenire anche contro ogni volonta. Ora, se sei un chirurgo generale, non ti sentirai a tuo agio nel trattamento delle grandi strutture vascolari del torace, e preferiresti lasciarle gestire al chirurgo toracico. Con i traumi aortici contusivi questa scelta strategica e non solo possibile, ma rappresenta anche una buona idea, giacche si tratta di ematomi contenuti. Vi e quindi tutto il tempo per visualizzare la lesione all’angiografia, valutare le diverse opzioni terapeutiche (ivi compresa la riparazione endovascolare) oppure trasferire il paziente in un’altra struttura. Non e cosi, invece, per i traumi penetranti in cui il paziente ha un’emorragia in atto ed e spesso in stato di shock. In questo caso tira un respiro profondo e mettiti al lavoro. Consultare telefonicamente il cardiochirurgo non e una buona manovra rianimatoria per il tamponamento cardiaco.
Use of Radiolabeled Liposomes for PEG-Liposome-Based Drug Targeting and Diagnostic Imaging Applications

The development of new targeted diagnostic and therapeutic imaging agents is at the cutting edge of diagnostic imaging (Torchilin, 1995). When a specific targeted agent accumulates in pathological tissue, the diagnostic imaging physician is able to determine simultaneously that a disease process is present and its location in the body. Usually, the uptake of a targeted agent is due to alteration of a physiological process, and hence a disease process may be detected prior to manifestation of any anatomical changes. Targeted diagnostic imaging, therefore, has the ability to be more sensitive for the detection of some disease processes in early stages. Although targeted diagnostic imaging agents are currently being developed for use in imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound, nuclear medicine is the branch of diagnostic medicine with the longest history and the largest number of diagnostic and therapeutic targeted agents. This success in the field of nuclear medicine with targeted diagnostic imaging agents is probably due to the high signal response generated from an atomic decay which requires localization of only a small number of atoms at a particular body location in order for the photon emissions to be detected. While CT requires 10 to 100 mg of contrast agent per study and MRI requires 10-1 to 10-3, nuclear medicine imaging requires only 10-7 to 10-9 mg for diagnostic imaging (Wolf, 1995). Targeted agents developed for nuclear scintigraphy can be used in virtually all the organs of the body including bones, heart, liver, gallbladder, kidney, brain, soft tissues and tumors.
Prognostic factors for pancreatic metastases in renal cell cancer.

e16106Background: The prognostic significance and optimal management of pancreatic metastases in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains unknown. This study aims to identify factors associated with impr...
Snappy cell division in Actinobacteria

Cell envelope assembly during V snapping, an unusual method of cell division in Actinobacteria, is mechanistically different than that seen during cell division of many other bacteria.
Endogenous Sex Hormones and Endothelial Function in Postmenopausal Women and Men: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Abstract Background: The relationship of endogenous sex hormones (SH) with vascular endothelial function and with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is incompletely understood. We examined the associatio...
A nonlinear finite element model for the performance of thermoelectric bulk and nanostructured materials

Abstract A nonlinear model of coupled thermoelectricity is presented and implemented in the finite element method. The model accounts for the Seebeck, Peltier and Thomson effects in thermoelectric materials within the framework of the coupled thermal and electrical behaviors governed by the Fourier and Ohm’s laws. The resulting finite element system of equations is expressed directly in terms of the potential variables, i.e. voltage and temperature, and it is solved using the Newton method by formulating the stiffness and Jacobian matrices with respect to these fundamental variables. The model is verified by comparing its predictions with the analytical solution resulting from the system of ordinary differential equations that represent the simplified model for the one-dimensional case. Then, the finite element model is applied to estimate the energy conversion performance of nanostructured thermoelectric materials compared with that of traditional bulk materials. The study illustrates the excellent behavior of nanostructured materials in terms of their power output and conversion efficiency. The analysis shows the advantages of developing nanostructured thermoelectric materials for increased performance and miniaturization.
Demonstration of $V_{\pi}$ Reduction in Electrooptic Modulators Using Modulation Instability

Reduction in the operating voltage of electrooptic modulators is needed, in order to remove the bottleneck in the flow of data between electronics and optical interconnects. We report an experimental demonstration of a tenfold reduction in an electrooptic modulator's half-wave voltage up to 50 GHz. This was achieved by employing optical sideband-only amplification.
Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Due to Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysm: Clipping or Coiling

Microsurgical clipping has a long-established benefit in preventing recurrent subarachnoid hemorrhage from a ruptured aneurysm. Since the advent of the detachable coil in 1990, the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms has emerged as a minimally invasive alternative to microsurgical clipping. With the development and widespread adoption of endovascular techniques, debate has ensued over the optimal treatment of intracranial aneurysms. This debate was intensified with the publication of the results from the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT). Despite flaws in methodology limiting their general applicability, the ISAT results have significantly affected practice across the world, resulting in the increasing use of endovascular techniques for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. Unfortunately, existing studies have failed to adequately reveal the optimal strategy for the treatment of ruptured intracranial aneurysms; this chapter reviews the existing data on this subject.
Academic Remediation/achievement and Other Factors Related to Recidivism Rates among Delinquent Youths

Given the close association of academic achievement with delinquency and recidivism, further examination of the relationship between these variables is warranted. This study examined the records of...
Alzheimer-like amyloid and tau alterations associated with cognitive deficit in temporal lobe epilepsy

Temporal lobe epilepsy represents a major cause of drug-resistant epilepsy. Cognitive impairment is a frequent comorbidity, but the mechanisms are not fully elucidated. We hypothesized that the cognitive impairment in drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy could be due to perturbations of amyloid and tau signalling pathways related to activation of stress kinases, similar to those observed in Alzheimer's disease. We examined these pathways, as well as amyloid-β and tau pathologies in the hippocampus and temporal lobe cortex of drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy patients who underwent temporal lobe resection (n = 19), in comparison with age- and region-matched samples from neurologically normal autopsy cases (n = 22). Post-mortem temporal cortex samples from Alzheimer's disease patients (n = 9) were used as positive controls to validate many of the neurodegeneration-related antibodies. Western blot and immunohistochemical analysis of tissue from temporal lobe epilepsy cases revealed increased phosphorylation of full-length amyloid precursor protein and its associated neurotoxic cleavage product amyloid-β*56. Pathological phosphorylation of two distinct tau species was also increased in both regions, but increases in amyloid-β1-42 peptide, the main component of amyloid plaques, were restricted to the hippocampus. Furthermore, several major stress kinases involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease pathology were significantly activated in temporal lobe epilepsy brain samples, including the c-Jun N-terminal kinase and the protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase. In temporal lobe epilepsy cases, hippocampal levels of phosphorylated amyloid precursor protein, its pro-amyloidogenic processing enzyme beta-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1, and both total and hyperphosphorylated tau expression, correlated with impaired preoperative executive function. Our study suggests that neurodegenerative and stress-related processes common to those observed in Alzheimer's disease may contribute to cognitive impairment in drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy. In particular, we identified several stress pathways that may represent potential novel therapeutic targets.
LIPOMATOUS MASS OF THE LIMBUS PORTION OF THE ATRIAL SEPTUM - AN UNUSUAL CAUSE OF DYSPNEA

Lipomatous hypertrophy of the atrial septum (LHAS) is a benign anomaly of the heart characterized by an infiltration of adipocytes into myocytes of the atrial septum. We report a case of a large lipomatous mass primarily localized to the limbus portion of the atrial septum which occupied the right
Contributions of a LysR Transcriptional Regulator to Listeria monocytogenes Virulence and Identification of Its Regulons.

ABSTRACT The capacity of Listeria monocytogenes to adapt to environmental changes is facilitated by a large number of regulatory proteins encoded by its genome. Among these proteins are the uncharacterized LysR-type transcriptional regulators (LTTRs). LTTRs can work as positive and/or negative transcription regulators at both local and global genetic levels. Previously, our group determined by comparative genome analysis that one member of the LTTRs (NCBI accession no. WP_003734782) was present in pathogenic strains but absent from nonpathogenic strains. The goal of the present study was to assess the importance of this transcription factor in the virulence of L. monocytogenes strain F2365 and to identify its regulons. An L. monocytogenes strain lacking lysR (the F2365ΔlysR strain) displayed significant reductions in cell invasion of and adhesion to Caco-2 cells. In plaque assays, the deletion of lysR resulted in a 42.86% decrease in plaque number and a 13.48% decrease in average plaque size. Furthermore, the deletion of lysR also attenuated the virulence of L. monocytogenes in mice following oral and intraperitoneal inoculation. The analysis of transcriptomics revealed that the transcript levels of 139 genes were upregulated, while 113 genes were downregulated in the F2365ΔlysR strain compared to levels in the wild-type bacteria. lysR-repressed genes included ABC transporters, important for starch and sucrose metabolism as well as glycerolipid metabolism, flagellar assembly, quorum sensing, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. Conversely, lysR activated the expression of genes related to fructose and mannose metabolism, cationic antimicrobial peptide (CAMP) resistance, and beta-lactam resistance. These data suggested that lysR contributed to L. monocytogenes virulence by broad impact on multiple pathways of gene expression. IMPORTANCEListeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of listeriosis, an infectious and fatal disease of animals and humans. In this study, we have shown that lysR contributes to Listeria pathogenesis and replication in cell lines. We also highlight the importance of lysR in regulating the transcription of genes involved in different pathways that might be essential for the growth and persistence of L. monocytogenes in the host or under nutrient limitation. Better understanding L. monocytogenes pathogenesis and the role of various virulence factors is necessary for further development of prevention and control strategies.
Analyzing Costs and Optimizations for an Elastic Key-Value Store on Amazon Web Services

Cloud computing has emerged to provide virtual, pay-as-you-go computing and storage services over the Internet, where the usage cost directly depends on consumption. One compelling feature in Clouds is elasticity, where a user can demand, and be immediately given access to, more (or relinquish) resources based on requirements. However, this feature introduces new challenges in developing application and services. In this paper, we focus on the challenges of elastic data management in Cloud environments. Particularly, we consider an elastic key-value store, which is used to cache intermediate results in a service-oriented system, and accelerate future queries by reusing the stored values. Such a key-value store can clearly benefit from the elasticity offered by Clouds, by expanding the cache during query-intensive periods. However, supporting an elastic key-value store involves many challenges, including selecting an appropriate indexing scheme, data migration upon elastic resource provisioning, and optimizations to remove certain overheads in the Cloud. This paper focuses on the design of an elastic key-value store. We consider three ubiquitous methods for indexing: B + -Trees, Extendible Hashing, and Bloom Filters, and we show how these schemes can be modified to exploit elasticity in Clouds. We also evaluate various performance aspects associated with the use of these indexing schemes. Furthermore, we have developed a heuristic to request elastic compute resources for expanding the cache such that instance startup overheads are minimized in our scheme. Our evaluation studies show that the index selection depends on various application and system level parameters that we have identified. And while we confirm that B + -Trees, which pervade many of today’s key-value systems, would scale well, we show cases when Extendible Hashing would outperform B + -Trees. We also conduct an analysis which focuses on cost–performance tradeoffs of maintaining the cache. We have compared several Amazon Web Service (AWS Cloud) resources as possible cache placements and found that application dependent attributes such as unit-data size, total cache size, and persistence, have far reaching impli- cations on the cost of cache sustenance. Moreover, while instance-based caches expectedly yield higher cost, the performance that they afford may outweigh lower cost options.
Evolutionary and Ecological Correlates of Quiet Flight in Nightbirds, Hawks, Falcons, and Owls

Two hypotheses have been proposed for the evolution of structures that reduce flight sounds in birds. According to the stealth hypothesis, flying quietly reduces the ability of other animals (e.g., prey) to detect the animal's approach from its flight sounds. This hypothesis predicts that animals hunting prey with acute hearing evolve silencing features. The self-masking hypothesis posits that reduced flight sounds permit the animal itself to hear better (such as the sounds of its prey, or its own echolocation calls) during flight. This hypothesis predicts that quieting features evolve in predators that hunt by ear, or in species that echolocate. Owls, certain hawks, and nightbirds (nocturnal Caprimulgiformes) have convergently evolved a sound-reducing feature: a velvety coating on the dorsal surface of wing and tail feathers. Here we document a fourth independent origin of the velvet, in the American kestrel (Falco sparverius). Among these four clades (hawks, falcons, nightbirds, and owls), the velvet is longer and better developed in wing and tail regions prone to rubbing with neighboring feathers, apparently to reduce broadband frictional noise produced by rubbing of adjacent feathers. We tested whether stealth or self-masking better predicted which species evolved the velvet. There was no support of echolocation as a driver of the velvet: oilbird(Steatornis caripensis) and glossy swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta) each evolved echolocation but neither had any velvet. A phylogenetic least squares fit of stealth and self-masking (to better hear prey sounds) provided support for both hypotheses. Some nightbirds (nightjars, potoos, and owlet-nightjars) eat flying insects that do not make much sound, implying the velvet permits stealthy approach of flying insects. One nightbird clade, frogmouths (Podargus) have more extensive velvet than other nightbirds and may hunt terrestrial prey by ear, in support of self-masking. In hawks, the velvet is also best developed in species known or suspected to hunt by ear (harriers and kites), supporting the self-masking hypothesis, but velvet is also present in reduced form in hawk species not known to hunt by ear, in support of the stealth hypothesis. American kestrel is not known to hunt by ear, and unlike the other falcons sampled, flies slowly (kite-like) when hunting. Thus the presence of velvet in it supports the stealth hypothesis. All owls sampled (n = 13 species) had extensive velvet, including the buffy fish-owl (Ketupa ketupu), contrary to literature claims that fish-owls had lost the velvet. Collectively, there is support for both the self-masking and stealth hypotheses for the evolution of dorsal velvet in birds.
Investigation of the "Superior Facet Rule" Using 3D-Printed Thoracic Vertebrae With Simulated Corticocancellous Interface.

Background Pedicle screw placement is the most common method of fixation in the thoracic spine. Use of the “superior facet rule” allows the operator to locate the borders of the pedicle reliably using posterior landmarks alone. This study investigated the ability of 3-dimensionally (3D)-printed thoracic vertebrae, made from combined thermoplastic polymers, to demonstrate pedicle screw cannulation accurately using the superior facet as a reliable landmark. Methods An anonymized computed tomography scan of the thoracic spine was obtained. The T1–T12 thoracic vertebrae were anatomically segmented and 3D-printed. The pedicle diameters and distance from the midpoint of the superior facet to the ventral lamina were recorded. A total of 120 thoracic pedicles in 60 thoracic vertebral models were instrumented using a freehand technique based only on posterior landmarks. The vertebral models were then coronally cut and examined for medial or lateral violations of the pedicle after screw placement. Results A total of 120 pedicle screws were placed successfully within the 3D-printed thoracic vertebral models. Average measurements fell within 1 standard deviation of previous population studies. There were no pedicle wall violations using standard posterior element landmarks for instrumentation. There were 3 lateral violations of the vertebral body wall during screw placement, all attributable to the insertion technique. Conclusions 3D-printed thoracic vertebral models using combined thermoplastic polymers can accurately demonstrate the anatomical ultrastructure and posterior element relationships of the superior facet rule for safe thoracic pedicle screw placement. This method of vertebral model prototyping could prove useful for surgical education and demonstrating spinal anatomy.
Perceiving a calling, living a calling, and calling outcomes: How mentoring matters.

In this study, we integrate two careers-related literatures-callings research and mentoring research-by examining how mentoring relationships might help close the gap between people's perception of a calling and actually living out their calling. Drawing on work as calling theory (WCT; Duffy, Dik, Douglass, England, & Velez, 2018) as a framework, our results first revealed that, consistent with previous research, perceiving a calling is an important antecedent to living a calling. However, in our sample of 129 U.S. teachers, results further showed that the relationship between perceiving a calling and living a calling is stronger for those with a mentor in their profession. We additionally extend WCT by examining both positive and potentially negative outcomes associated with living a calling, focusing on stress-related outcomes. Our findings revealed that, in addition to reporting higher levels of job satisfaction and work engagement, those who were living their calling experienced lower rates of stress-related absenteeism and reported fewer somatic complaints than those who did not believe they were living their calling. In sum, this study is unique in its integration of two focal careers-related literatures, and it provides practical implications for professionals, counselors, educators, and organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Lorentz and C P T tests with charge-to-mass ratio comparisons in Penning traps

Applications of the general theory of quantum electrodynamics with Lorentz- and $CPT$-violating operators of mass dimensions up to six are presented to Penning-trap experiments comparing charge-to-mass ratios between particles and antiparticles. Perturbation theory is used to derive Lorentz- and $CPT$-violating contributions to the energy levels and cyclotron frequencies of confined particles and antiparticles. We show that whether the experimental interpreted quantity $(|q|/m{)}_{\overline{w}}/(|q|/m{)}_{w}\ensuremath{-}1$ is a clean measure of a $CPT$ test depends on the context of the relevant theory. Existing experimental results of charge-to-mass ratio comparisons are used to obtain first-time constraints on 69 coefficients for Lorentz and $CPT$ violation.
Becoming a library leader: seven stages of leadership development for academic librarians: Shin Freedman and James M. Freedman, Association of College and Research Libraries, 2020, xvii + 248 pp., $48.00, ISBN 978-0-8389-4768-5

How does a new professional effectively move from a novice librarian to an impactful leader? In the saturated area of library leadership and management, Shin and James Freedman have written a uniqu...
Validation of high-resolution melting assays for the detection of virulent strains of Escherichia coli O26 and O111 in beef and pork enrichment broths

Abstract Extensive validation of diagnostic assays using widely collected surveillance samples is critical for developing pathogen detection assays. The detection of potentially virulent E. coli strains is critical to the red meat industry. We previously developed two high-resolution melting (HRM) assays for detecting potentially virulent and avirulent E. coli O26 and O111 strains. Assays were validated using enriched beef (n = 36) and pork (n = 36) samples collected as part of a U.S. federal regulatory surveillance program. Data from this study showed more than 90% sensitivity and specificity for both the HRM assays, demonstrating suitability for the red meat industry and regulatory agencies.
Abstract 14858: Conditional Deletion of Lysyl Oxidase Improves Vascular Function in Apoe -/- Mice

Introduction: Lysyl oxidase (LOX) is a copper-dependent amino-oxidase that initiates covalent cross-linking of collagen and elastin, modifies growth factor action and controls gene expression. LOX ...
Coca Yes, Cocaine No: How Bolivia’s Coca Growers Reshaped Democracy: by Thomas Grisaffi, Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 2019, 272 pp., $85.92 (hardback), ISBN 978-14-7800-171-3

This complex and interesting book makes a very important contribution to scholarship on grassroots democracy, indigenous movements, the war on drugs in the Americas and Latin American politics. Gri...
Communication-Efficient Sampling for Distributed Training of Graph Convolutional Networks

Training Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) is expensive as it needs to aggregate data recursively from neighboring nodes. To reduce the computation overhead, previous works have proposed various neighbor sampling methods that estimate the aggregation result based on a small number of sampled neighbors. Although these methods have successfully accelerated the training, they mainly focus on the single-machine setting. As real-world graphs are large, training GCNs in distributed systems is desirable. However, we found that the existing neighbor sampling methods do not work well in a distributed setting. Specifically, a naive implementation may incur a huge amount of communication of feature vectors among different machines. To address this problem, we propose a communication-efficient neighbor sampling method in this work. Our main idea is to assign higher sampling probabilities to the local nodes so that remote nodes are accessed less frequently. We present an algorithm that determines the local sampling probabilities and makes sure our skewed neighbor sampling does not affect much to the convergence of the training. Our experiments with node classification benchmarks show that our method significantly reduces the communication overhead for distributed GCN training with little accuracy loss.
Implementation of the Online Teaching Platform Design Based on the Web

Since the 21st century., with the comprehensive promotion of information technology courses and the rapid development of mobile internet and communication technology., changes have been constantly brought to the teaching mode of cultural education in China. At present., information technology., as one of the basic elements of education and teaching., has been applied to all aspects of college education and achieved integration with it. With the enrichment of online learning resources, teachers are no longer the only source of knowledge for students. Students can learn through various online learning materials anytime and anywhere. Therefore, online education has created a good condition and beginning, featuring “student-centered, learning-oriented”. The teacher's responsibility lies in guiding, helping, serving and supporting student's learning. The teaching process has changed from teacher's “teaching” to student's “learning” under the teacher's guidance. Interactive teaching based on the internet platform is not only conducive to the construction of multi-dimensional sharing mode through multiple cross platform communication, but also can better mobilize students' learning enthusiasm. Based on the sharing function of the Internet platform, the boundaries of classroom teaching objects have been broken, and cross grade and cross specialty students, teachers and other teachers, students' parents and business partners can participate in teaching and share information.
Novel Endogenous Retroviral Genomes in Human Genomic DNA

Human breast neoplasia remains the major cause of cancer related deaths in women. Unfortunately little information is available about the causes and nature of this disease. Several laboratories have searched for a common element associated with human breast cancer (1). Early studies suggested that a retrovirus resembling the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) might be expressed in human mammary tumors. However, attempts to identify RNA related to MMTV in human breast tumor tissue met with variable success (2, 3) due to the poor quality of available DNA probes and the insensitivity of the techniques used to quantitate or detect DNA/RNA hybrids. In recent years using recombinant MMTV DNA (4, 5) and low stringency blot hybridization conditions (6, 7), sequences homologous to MMTV have been detected in human DNA (7, 8). Here we describe the isolation and characterization of a human recombinant clone (HLM-2) which contains sequences related to the MMTV genome. Analysis of HLM-2 and other related clones has shown the following: (a) the human MMTV related sequences are organized in a manner expected for a genetically transmitted provirus; (b) the human proviral genome contains a mosaic of sequences characteristic of different retroviral genera; (c) the HLM-2 proviral genome is representative of a large family of endogenous retroviral genomes; and (d) this class of endogenous retroviruses has been intimately associated with primates throughout much of their evolution.
Soundness of Formal Encryption in the Presence of Active Adversaries

We present a general method to prove security properties of cryptographic protocols against active adversaries, when the messages exchanged by the honest parties are arbitrary expressions built using encryption and concatenation operations. The method allows to express security properties and carry out proofs using a simple logic based language, where messages are represented by syntactic expressions, and does not require dealing with probability distributions or asymptotic notation explicitly. Still, we show that the method is sound, meaning that logic statements can be naturally interpreted in the computational setting in such a way that if a statement holds true for any abstract (symbolic) execution of the protocol in the presence of a Dolev-Yao adversary, then its computational interpretation is also correct in the standard computational model where the adversary is an arbitrary probabilistic polynomial time program. This is the first paper providing a simple framework for translating security proofs from the logic setting to the standard computational setting for the case of powerful active adversaries that have total control of the communication network.
New Evidence for Standing Waves in Electrically Exploded Iron Wires

Data from the measurement of over 6000 interstriation distances are presented in graphical form. Data were taken from deposits of electrically exploded iron wires on glass plates, clearly revealing the striations measured by a measuring microscope. The data are fit to a frequency distribution function by least squares. Three sets of data constitute knowledge of wires exploded by the sudden discharge of a 238 μF capacitor bank at each of three voltages: 1200, 1600, and 2000 V. Evident in each of the three frequency graphs are ministriations, which are regularly spaced peaks in the frequency graph. These are submitted as further evidence of standing waves in electrically exploded iron wires. It is postulated that the standing waves responsible for the appearance of ministriations are de Broglie waves, which represent the motion of electrons from the negative terminal and holes from the positive terminal of the wire. While these waves have the properties to assure standing waves on their superposition, the currents they represent are additive to give alternate maximum and minimum values to the resulting current along the wire. This postulate allows the calculation of the electrical conductivity of iron, which is in reasonable agreement with handbook values. Finally, a brief review of properties of a metal derivable from data on striations is given.
An application of data fusion techniques in quantitative operational risk management

In this article we show an application of data fusion techniques to the field of quantitative risk management. Specifically, we study a synthetic dataset which represents a typical mid-level financial institution's operational risk loss as defined by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) report. We compute the economic capital needed for a sample financial institution using a Loss Distribution Approach (LDA) by determining the Value at Risk (VaR) figure along with the correlation measures by using copulas. In addition, we perform computational studies to test the efficacy of using a "universal" statistical distribution function to model the losses and compute the VaR. We find that the Lognormal-Gamma (LNG) distribution is computationally robust in fusing the frequency and severity data when computing the overall VaR.
Linear systems with sparse inputs: Observability and input recovery

In this work, we introduce a new class of linear time-invariant systems for which, at each time instant, the input is sparse with respect to an overcomplete dictionary of inputs. Such systems may be appropriate for modeling a system which exhibits multiple discrete behaviors orchestrated by the sparse input. Although the input is assumed to be unknown, we show that the additional structure imposed on the input allows us to recover both the initial state and the sparse, but unknown, input from output measurements alone. For this purpose, we derive sufficient observability and sparse recovery conditions that integrate classical observability conditions for linear systems with incoherence conditions for sparse recovery. We also propose a convex optimization algorithm for jointly estimating the initial condition and recovering the sparse input.
Sleep-related behaviors and beliefs associated with race/ethnicity in women.

Abstract Explore how social factors influence sleep, especially sleeprelated beliefs and behaviors. Sleep complaints, sleep hygiene behaviors, and beliefs about sleep were studied in 65 black/African American and white/European American women. Differences were found for snoring and discrepancy between sleep duration and need. Sleep behaviors differed across groups for napping, methods for coping with sleep difficulties, and nonsleep behaviors in bed. Beliefs also distinguished groups, with differences in motivation for sleep and beliefs about sleep being important for health and functioning. These findings have important public health implications in terms of developing effective sleep education interventions that include consideration of cultural aspects.