cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Force-induced diffusion in suspensions of hydrodynamically interacting colloids

We study the influence of hydrodynamic, thermodynamic and interparticle forces on the diffusive motion of a Brownian probe driven by a constant external force through a dilute colloidal dispersion. The influence of these microscopic forces on equilibrium self-diffusivity (passive microrheology) is well known: all three act to hinder the short- and long-time self-diffusion. Here, via pair-Smoluchowski theory, we explore their influence on self-diffusion in a flowing suspension, where particles and fluid have been set into motion by an externally forced probe (active microrheology), giving rise to non-equilibrium flow-induced diffusion. The probe’s motion entrains background particles as it travels through the bath, deforming the equilibrium suspension microstructure. The shape and extent of microstructural distortion is set by the relative strength of the external force to the entropic restoring force of the bath particles, defining a Peclet number ; and also by the strength of hydrodynamic interactions, set by the range of interparticle repulsion , where is the thermal energy and and are the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic sizes of the particles, respectively. We find that in the presence of flow, the same forces that hinder equilibrium diffusion now enhance it, with diffusive anisotropy set by the range of interparticle repulsion . A transition from hindered to enhanced diffusion occurs when diffusive and advective forces balance, , where the exact value is a sensitive function of the strength of hydrodynamics, . We find that the hindered to enhanced transition straddles two transport regimes: in hindered diffusion, stochastic forces in the presence of other bath particles produce deterministic displacements (Brownian drift) at the expense of a maximal random walk. In enhanced diffusion, driving the probe with a deterministic force through an initially random suspension leads to fluctuations in the duration of probe–bath particle entrainment, giving rise to enhanced, flow-induced diffusion. The force-induced diffusion is anisotropic for all , scaling as in all directions for weak forcing, regardless of the strength of hydrodynamic interactions. When probe forcing is strong, in all directions in the absence of hydrodynamic interactions, but the picture changes qualitatively as hydrodynamic interactions grow strong. In this nonlinear regime, microstructural asymmetry weakens while the anisotropy of the force-induced diffusion tensor increases dramatically. This behaviour owes its origins to the approach toward Stokes flow reversibility, where diffusion along the direction of probe force scales advectively while transverse diffusion must vanish.
Heterogeneous Effects of Information on Household Behaviors to Improve Water Quality

Providing information about health risks only sometimes induces protective action. This raises questions about whether and how risk information is understood and acted upon, and how responses vary across contexts. We stratified a randomized experiment across two periurban areas in Cambodia, which differed in terms of socioeconomic status and infrastructure. In one area, showing households specific evidence of water contamination altered their beliefs about health risk and increased their demand for a treatment product; in the other area, it had no effect on these outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of identifying specific drivers of responses to health risk information.
Influence of Carbon Monoxide to the Surface Layer of Uranium Metal and Its Oxides

The surface structures of uranium metal and triuranium octaoxide (U3O8) and the influence of carbon monoxide to the surface layers have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). After exposure to carbon monoxide, contents of oxygen in the surface oxides of uranium metal and U3O8 are decreased and O/U ratios decrease 7. 2% ,8.0% respectively. The investigation indicated the surface layers of uranium metal and its oxides were forbidden to further oxidation in the atmo-sphere of carbon monoxide.
Non‐Nuclear Weapons States Must Lead in Shaping International Norms on Nuclear Weapons: A Practitioner Commentary

Nuclear weapons States continue to defy their responsibilities for achieving nuclear, as well as general and complete, disarmament while they simultaneously hold non-nuclear States to their non-proliferation commitments. Costa Rica is part of that non-nuclear armed majority. We take a firm stand that the lack of legal prohibition of nuclear weapons constitutes a legal anomaly among weapons of mass destruction. As such, Costa Rica is committed to encouraging negotiations towards a treaty establishing new legal obligations to ban nuclear weapons once and for all. The time has come for a new era of nuclear politics in which the non-nuclear majority of States can lead the way in charting the course towards a non-nuclear world.
Longitudinal Poisson Assessment of Factors Influencing Farmers’ Market Counts

This study uses secondary longitudinal data and a first difference pooled Poisson regression model to explain annual counts for farmers’ markets in the United States. Data were collected for all 50 states and the District of Columbia for 10 years, from 2004 to 2013, leading to a longitudinal data set with 510 observations. Results indicate that population growth and funds routed toward Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) farmers’ market nutrition programs increase farmers’ markets’ annual counts. The rate ratio of farmers’ markets’ counts for highly populated states that have both WIC and senior farmers’ market nutrition programs is approximately three times greater than their counterparts. Areas with high agriculture output experience a significant increase in counts. States located in the south and in desert areas have lower counts than other regions. This study suggests important recommendations to policy makers, farmers’ market managers, and researchers.
Actin 'purse string' filaments are anchored by E-cadherin-mediated adherens junctions at the leading edge of the epithelial wound, providing coordinated cell movement

At the leading edge of healing embryonic epithelium, cables of actin filaments appear to extend from cell to cell, forming a ring around the wound circumference. It has been hypothesized that this actin filament cable functions as a contractile 'purse string' to facilitate wound closure. We have observed this cable in large, circular healing epithelial wounds in corneas of adult mice. To elucidate the role of the actin filament cable, we characterized the molecular components associated with the cell-cell junction where the actin filament cable inserts and with the actin filament cable itself, and we studied the effect of disruption of the cable using an E-cadherin function-blocking antibody, ECCD-1. Localization of E-cadherin and the direct association of catenins with actin filament cable at the cell-cell interface of the actin cable confirmed that the cell-cell junction associated with the actin filament cable is an adherens junction. The E-cadherin function-blocking antibody caused disruption of the actin filament cable and induction of prominent lamellipodial extensions on cells at the leading edge, leading to a ragged uneven epithelial wound margin. These data demonstrate that cell-to-cell associated E-cadherin molecules link the actin filament cable, forming a functional adherens junction, and that the actin filament cable plays a role in coordinating cell movement.
Stress-related changes in personality: A longitudinal study of perceived stress and trait pessimism

Although research has shown that certain aspects of personality can change over time, the determinants of such change remain unclear. Stress alters neural dynamics and precipitates disorders that shape personality traits involving negative affectivity. In this study, therefore, we assessed the perceived stress and pessimism levels of 332 young, middle-aged, and older adults for five weeks to examine how levels of stress and pessimism change and interrelate over time. The best fitting longitudinal model was a bivariate latent growth curve model, which indicated that stress and pessimism both changed and exhibited significant variability in change over time. Moreover, changes in stress were associated with changes in pessimism. Pessimism thus changes over time, with alterations in stress potentially structuring these changes.
Does terrorism increase after a natural disaster? An analysis based upon property damage

Does an emergency such as a natural disaster lead to a surge of terrorism? This paper contributes to the emerging literature on this issue. We consider the experience of 129 countries during the period 1998–2012 to determine the effect of a natural disaster on both domestic as well as transnational terrorism. We also control for endogeneity using expenditure on health care and land area in a country as instruments. In contrast to the existing literature, we measure the extent of terrorism by the value of property damage. The results indicate that after natural disasters, (a) transnational terrorism increases with a lag, and (b) a statistically significant impact on domestic terrorism is not observed.
Congenital Neuropathic Bladder

This chapter discusses the most up-to-date and comprehensive approach to the child with neuropathic bladder dysfunction, from the moment the fetus is identified until the adolescent years, in order to gain first-hand knowledge of management. It describes the controversies that still exist and the reasons why the author has chosen his path of care. It tries to explain the physiology involved so the reader can appreciate the therapeutic options chosen by the author. Once the chapter is thoroughly analyzed, the reader should have the ability to decide his/her own style of management for these children based on solid foundation of information.
Information & Settlement: Empirical Evidence on Daubert Rulings and Case Outcomes

In 1993, the Supreme Court established a new standard for the admissibility of expert evidence with its decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. Although whether Daubert actually has increased the reliability of expert evidence remains an open question, empirical research generally suggests that Daubert has increased the judicial role in expert testimony as the number of challenges has increased. An unexplored topic to date is how Daubert outcomes impact litigation outcomes. This paper aims to fill that gap by examining how Daubert outcomes in federal district court affect the likelihood and timing of settlement. This paper also fits into the larger empirical literature that explores how information flows impact settlement. The sample of 2,127 Daubert motions made in 1,017 private cases from 91 federal district courts, spanning from 2003-2014, and involving 57 different causes of action provides the most comprehensive overview of Daubert practice in federal courts to date. The main empirical results suggest that defendant Daubert wins (plaintiff wins) are associated with a reduction (increase) in the likelihood of settlement. Results from duration analysis suggest that longer pendency time for Daubert motions are associated with lower settlement rates (a 4-7 percent reduction in the rate of settlement for every month that a Daubert motion goes undecided). Decomposition finds that the indirect effect of Daubert pendency (delay due to the reduction in communication between parties while Daubert motions pend before the court) may account for the majority of the measured reduction in the settlement rate. These results suggest that courts might reduce the cost of litigation if they were to adopt “Lone Pine”-type procedures that structure expert discovery and concomitant Daubert motions early, especially when expert testimony is required to prove certain elements of a claim.
Multivariate Brain Prediction of Heart Rate and Skin Conductance Responses to Social Threat.

Psychosocial stressors induce autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses in multiple body systems that are linked to health risks. Much work has focused on the common effects of stress, but ANS responses in different body systems are dissociable and may result from distinct patterns of cortical–subcortical interactions. Here, we used machine learning to develop multivariate patterns of fMRI activity predictive of heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) responses during social threat in humans (N = 18). Overall, brain patterns predicted both HR and SCL in cross-validated analyses successfully (rHR = 0.54, rSCL = 0.58, both p SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We show that threat-induced increases in heart rate and skin conductance share some common representations in the brain, located mainly in the vmPFC, temporal and parahippocampal cortices, thalamus, and brainstem. However, despite these similarities, the brain patterns that predict these two autonomic responses are largely distinct. This evidence for largely output-measure-specific regulation of autonomic responses argues against a common system hypothesis and provides evidence that different autonomic measures reflect distinct, measurable patterns of cortical–subcortical interactions.
Development of assembling capacitor model based on RTDS user define component (UDC) technology

This paper describes the basic digital knowledge of real time digital simulator (RTDS) user define component model (UDC) technique. Aim at assembling capacitor and with transient simulation compare between the UDC component's responses and the same one drafted from the RTDS component library, the paper validates that the UDC model could have a high degree of agreement with RTDS library components, while do not impact the simulation quality.
GABP (GA Binding Protein) Is Required for Formation of a Retinoic Acid-Induced Myeloid Enhanceosome on the CD18 Promoter.

Abstract CD18, the β chain of the leukocyte integrins, mediates cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions of white blood cells and is required for normal innate immunity. Retinoic acid (RA) induces maturation of myeloid cells; mutations in retinoic acid receptors (RARs) account for acute promyelocytic leukemia. CD18 is transcriptionally regulated by RA in myeloid cells. The proximal promoter of CD18 is transcriptionally regulated by RA but, strikingly, this region is not bound or activated by retinoic acid receptors. Rather, the RA-responsiveness of the CD18 proximal promoter is dependent on ets sites that are bound by the ets transcription factor, GA-binding protein (GABP). The transcriptional co-activator, p300, further increases the RA-responsiveness of CD18. We show that p300 and GABPα, the ets DNA binding subunit of GABP, physically interact in myeloid cells. This interaction uses the cysteine/histidine regions of p300, and the pointed domain (PNT) of GABPα. This demonstrates p300 as the first known interaction partner of the GABPα PNT domain. We prepared a GABPα PNT domain construct for expression in mammalian cells and showed that this PNT construct inhibited the GABPα:p300 interaction and dramatically decreased the RA-responsiveness of the CD18 proximal promoter. We used Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) to demonstrate that RA induces formation of an enhanceosome on the CD18 promoter; thus, GABPα and p300 on the CD18 proximal promoter recruit RAR/RXR bound to a distal enhancer in the presence of RA. We prepared a dominant negative p300 construct and showed that its expression blocks the formation of the CD18 enhanceosome. These results demonstrate that GABP is required for formation of an enhanceosome that mediates responsiveness of CD18 to RA in myeloid cells. Dominant negative forms of GABPα and p300 interfere with RA responsiveness in myeloid cells and disrupt this enhanceosome. The CD18 enhanceosome is the first known RA-induced enhanceosome and demonstrates its role in mediating retinoid responsiveness in myeloid cells.
Progression and variability of physiologic deterioration in an ovine model of lung infection sepsis

Variable pulmonary response to injury results in varying outcomes in a previously reported animal model of lung injury and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus-induced sepsis. Heart rate and...
Health on the Nineteenth-Century U.S. Great Plains: Opportunity or Displacement?

A population’s average stature reflects its cumulative net nutrition and provides important insight when more traditional measures for economic well-being are scarce or unreliable. Heights on the U.S. Central Plains did not exhibit the antebellum paradox instantiated in the eastern urban areas; they increased markedly during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, becoming the tallest in the world. Whites were taller than blacks on the Central Plains where slavery was not the primary source of labor, but whites were also taller than blacks in the American South where it was. Immigrants from industrialized Europe were shorter than black and white Americans but taller than Latin Americans and Asians.
Tunable impedance matching networks based on phase-switched impedance modulation

The ability to provide accurate, rapid and dynamically-controlled impedance matching offers significant advantages to a wide range of present and emerging radio-frequency (RF) power applications. This work develops a new type of tunable impedance matching networks (TMN) that enables a combination of much faster and more accurate impedance matching than is available with conventional techniques. This implementation is based on a narrow-band technique, termed here phase-switched impedance modulation (PSIM), which entails the switching of passive elements at the RF operating frequency, effectively modulating their impedances. The proposed approach provides absorption of device parasitics and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) of the active devices, and we introduce control techniques that enable ZVS operation to be maintained across operating conditions. A prototype PSIM-based TMN is developed that provides a 50 Ohms match over a load impedance range suitable for inductively-coupled plasma processes. The prototype TMN operates at frequencies centered around 13.56 MHz at input RF power levels of up to 150 W.
Vimentin Is Required for Lung Adenocarcinoma Metastasis via Heterotypic Tumor Cell–Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Interactions during Collective Invasion

Purpose: Vimentin is an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) biomarker and intermediate filament protein that functions during cell migration to maintain structure and motility. Despite the abundance of clinical data linking vimentin to poor patient outcome, it is unclear if vimentin is required for metastasis or is a correlative biomarker. We developed a novel genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) to probe vimentin in lung adenocarcinoma metastasis.Experimental Design: We used the LSL-KrasG12D/Lkb1fl/fl/Vim-/- model (KLV-/-), which incorporates a whole-body knockout of vimentin and is derived from the Cre-dependent LSL-KrasG12D/Lkb1fl/fl model (KLV+/+). We compared the metastatic phenotypes of the GEMMs and analyzed primary tumors from the KLV models and lung adenocarcinoma patients to assess vimentin expression and function.Results: Characterization of KLV+/+ and KLV-/- mice shows that although vimentin is not required for primary lung tumor growth, vimentin is required for metastasis, and vimentin loss generates lower grade primary tumors. Interestingly, in the KLV+/+ mice, vimentin was not expressed in tumor cells but in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) surrounding collective invasion packs (CIPs) of epithelial tumor cells, with significantly less CIPs in KLV-/- mice. CIPs correlate with tumor grade and are vimentin-negative and E-cadherin-positive, indicating a lack of cancer cell EMT. A similar heterotypic staining pattern was observed in human lung adenocarcinoma samples. In vitro studies show that vimentin is required for CAF motility to lead tumor cell invasion, supporting a vimentin-dependent model of collective invasion.Conclusions: These data show that vimentin is required for lung adenocarcinoma metastasis by maintaining heterotypic tumor cell-CAF interactions during collective invasion. Clin Cancer Res; 24(2); 420-32. ©2017 AACR.
Systemic Reactions in Pediatric Patients Receiving Standardized Allergen Subcutaneous Immunotherapy with and without Seasonal Dose Adjustment

Background The 2003 Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters recommended standardizing allergen subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT). Data from longitudinal surveillance survey in North America reported a systemic reaction (SR) rate of 0.1% to 0.2% of injection visits. The rate of SR to standardized SCIT in pediatric patients has not been well evaluated. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the rate of SRs to standardized SCIT in pediatric patients aged 5 to 18 years in a single tertiary care center in the United States. Methods A retrospective chart review was conducted in 2 groups: group 1 started SCIT within a period extending from January 2009 to June 2012, whereas group 2 started SCIT within a period extending from January 2013 to June 2016. The protocol was modified in group 2 such that updosing and maintenance doses were adjusted in the spring for tree and grass pollen and in the fall for weed pollen. Results There were a total of 128 patients in group 1 and 118 patients in group 2. The rate of SR was 0.429% in group 1 and 0.364% in group 2, which was not significant. There was no difference in the severity of SR in the 2 groups with no-fatal or near-fatal SR noted. Asthma was a significant risk factor in the younger age subgroup aged 5 to 11 years. Conclusions Standardized SCIT appears to be associated with an SR rate of 0.429% to 0.364% of visits in pediatric patients. Protocol modification did not lead to a significant drop in SR. Larger multicenter studies are required to further evaluate the rate of SRs from standardized SCIT.
Angioplasty is an Effective Treatment for Vasospasm Following Pituitary Apoplexy and Tumor Resection

Pituitary apoplexy is a clinical syndrome characterized by acute headache, visual changes, and decreased consciousness occurring in association with hemorrhage or infarct of an existing pituitary adenoma. Surgical management involves tumor resection and decompression of surrounding structures including the optic apparatus. Vasospasm is a rare but potentially devastating complication of pituitary apoplexy. We present a case of pituitary apoplexy in a 28-year-old male treated with emergent endoscopic transsphenoidal resection. On postoperative day seven, following surgical resection, the patient developed neurologic deficits and motor weakness, and severe vasospasm was diagnosed. This is a novel case of intra-arterial verapamil and angioplasty used to treat vasospasm following surgical decompression for pituitary apoplexy. The patient experienced complete recovery of motor deficits following treatment. The authors propose angioplasty as an effective treatment for postoperative vasospasm following transphenoidal surgery for pituitary apoplexy in the presence of focal vessel stenosis.
A Six-Channel Multispectral Imager for Simultaneous In Vivo Imaging of Multiple Near-Infrared Fluorescent Markers

We have created a six-channel multispectral imager for the simultaneous space- and time-detection of color and multiple near-infrared fluorescent molecular markers by integrating the vertically stacked photodetector technology with pixelated spectral interference filters.
Key insomnia symptoms and incident pain in older adults: direct and mediated pathways through depression and anxiety

Pain is common among older adults and negatively impacts functioning. Sleep disturbances and mood disorders, specifically depression and anxiety, are closely associated with pain in older individuals, but the directionality of these associations remains unclear. In this study, we deconstruct long-term temporal effects of two key insomnia symptoms on incident pain into direct and indirect pathways, with focus on depression and anxiety symptoms, within a nationally representative sample. We utilized 2011-2013 data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a longitudinal survey of 2239 community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries. Participants completed annual in-person interviews with assessments of sleep initiation and maintenance; depression, and anxiety (using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 [PHQ-2] and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-2 [GAD-2] respectively); and bothersome pain. Causal mediation analysis was applied to examine direct effects of the two insomnia symptoms at baseline on incident pain, and their indirect effects through depression and anxiety symptoms. Almost one-third of the study participants were 69 years old or younger. A similar proportion reported bothersome pain in 2013. The two baseline insomnia symptoms predicted the development of pain. Adjusted analyses suggested that compared to older adults without the two baseline insomnia symptoms, participants with sleep initiation or maintenance difficulties had 24% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2%,51%) and 28% (95% CI 4%,55%) higher odds of incident pain, respectively. Anxiety symptoms partially mediated the relationship between the insomnia symptoms and incident pain, accounting for up to 17% of the total effect, but depressive symptoms did not. These results suggest that improved sleep or anxiety could reduce the risk for future pain.
In Vivo and in Vitro Assessment of Mirtazapine Pharmacokinetics in Cats With Liver Disease

Background Liver disease (LD) prolongs mirtazapine half-life in humans, but it is unknown if this occurs in cats with LD and healthy cats. Hypothesis/objectives To determine pharmacokinetics of administered orally mirtazapine in vivo and in vitro (liver microsomes) in cats with LD and healthy cats. Animals Eleven LD and 11 age-matched control cats. Methods Case-control study. Serum was obtained 1 and 4 hours (22 cats) and 24 hours (14 cats) after oral administration of 1.88 mg mirtazapine. Mirtazapine concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Drug exposure and half-life were predicted using limited sampling modeling and estimated using noncompartmental methods. in vitro mirtazapine pharmacokinetics were assessed using liver microsomes from 3 LD cats and 4 cats without LD. Results There was a significant difference in time to maximum serum concentration between LD cats and control cats (median [range]: 4 [1-4] hours versus 1 [1-4] hours; P = .03). The calculated half-life of LD cats was significantly prolonged compared to controls (median [range]: 13.8 [7.9-61.4] hours versus 7.4 [6.7-9.1] hours; P Conclusions and clinical importance Cats with LD might require less frequent administration of mirtazapine than normal cats.
Finite element simulations of viscoelastic flow of blade coating using the log-conformation tensor

Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of the log-conformation formulation to model viscoelastic fluids; it increases stability at high Weissenberg numbers and ensures that the conformation tensor remains positive-definite. Many studies have applied the log-conformation tensor formulation to benchmark cases; however, relatively few studies investigate using the formulation on more complex flows. In this paper, we extend the log-conformation formulation to the manufacturing-relevant flow of blade coating. We first verify the log-conformation formulation on the benchmark problem of flow past a cylinder using the finite element method, and then apply it to the blade-coating process, in which a viscoelastic fluid entrained by a moving substrate passes under a blade at a constant web speed. We investigate various rheological effects and the resulting film thickness for the blade-coating problem, and compare the results from the log-conformation formulation to those of the original stress formulation. We show that the log-conformation formulation agrees well with other established methods, and also increases the maximum achievable web speed in the blade-coating problem.
Tumor bulk to predict clinical outcomes of anti-EGFR therapy in treatment refractory metastatic colorectal cancer independent of sidedness.

795Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies, cetuximab (C) and panitumumab (P) have shown improvement in clinical outcomes for distinct molecular profiles in metastatic colore...
Quantile local spatial autocorrelation

This note introduces the concept of quantile local spatial autocorrelation as a special case of a local indicator of spatial association (LISA) for the situation where the variables of interest are binary. This provides additional insight into the spatial distribution of observations at the extremes of the distribution. The concept is illustrated with an analysis of local spatial clusters and outliers for health outcomes using data for 791 Chicago census tracts in 2014.
Differential olfactory bulb methylation and hydroxymethylation are linked to odor location memory bias in injured mice

Chronic pain is often linked to comorbidities such as anxiety and cognitive dysfunction, alterations that are reflected in brain plasticity in regions such as the prefrontal cortex and the limbic a...
A New Heuristic for Physical Design

In a physical design problem, the designer chooses values of some physical parameters, within limits, to optimize the resulting field. We focus on the specific case in which each physical design parameter is the ratio of two field variables. This form occurs for photonic design with real scalar fields, diffusion-type systems, and others. We show that such problems can be reduced to a convex optimization problem, and therefore efficiently solved globally, given the sign of an optimal field at every point. This observation suggests a heuristic, in which the signs of the field are iteratively updated. This heuristic appears to have good practical performance on diffusion-type problems (including thermal design and resistive circuit design) and some control problems, while exhibiting moderate performance on photonic design problems. We also show in many practical cases there exist globally optimal designs whose design parameters are maximized or minimized at each point in the domain, i.e., that there is a discrete globally optimal structure.
Using the Program for Cooperative Cataloging’s Past and Present to Project a Linked Data Future

Drawing on the PCC’s history with linked data and related work this article identifies and gives context to pressing areas PCC will need to focus on moving forward. These areas include defining pla...
Fracture energy of UHP-FRC under direct tensile loading applied at low strain rates

Abstract This research investigates the fracture energy of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concretes (UHP-FRC) under direct tensile loading applied at relatively low strain rates. Nine UHP-FRC series incorporating three types of steel fibers (straight, end-hooked, and twisted fibers), each in three different fiber volume fractions, are tested under uniaxial tensile loading at four different strain rates, ranging from 0.0001 s −1 to 0.1 s −1 . Particular attention is given to clearly distinguish between the dissipated energy during the strain hardening and softening portions of the loading regime. The test results show that: 1) the fracture energy is mainly influenced by a parameter, termed fiber factor, which is a function of the fiber volume fraction and slenderness, and 2) all three types of UHP-FRCs exhibit increases in fracture energy with increasing strain rates. The observed strain rate sensitivity of the fracture energy suggests it is likely associated with the strain sensitive micro-cracking that occurs during fiber pull-out.
Predictors of Change in Code Status from Time of Admission to Death in Critically Ill Surgical Patients

Racial and gender disparities in end-of-life decision-making practices have not been well described in surgical patients. We performed an eight-year retrospective analysis of surgical patients with...
Capacity to Address Natural and Man-Made Vulnerabilities: The Administrative Structure of U.S. Election System Security

This article examines the efforts of American state election offices to address election emergency preparedness including contingency planning and cybersecurity planning. The election infrastructur...
Decreased smooth muscle function, peristaltic activity, and gastrointestinal transit in dystrophic (mdx) mice

Background Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by the lack of dystrophin in skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle. Slow colonic transit and constipation are common in DMD patients and animal models of DMD. However, the cause of this hypocontractility and the expression of contractile proteins in smooth muscle are unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate the expression of contractile proteins in the colonic smooth muscle and the function of the colon in control and mdx mice. Methods Muscle contraction was measured in muscle strips and isolated muscle cells. Peristaltic activity was measured in ex vivo preparations by spatiotemporal mapping, and gastrointestinal (GI) transit in vivo was measured by the distribution of fluorescent marker along the intestine and colon. mRNA expression of contractile proteins smoothelin, caldesmon, calponin, and tropomyosin was measured by qRT-PCR. Results Expression of mRNA for contractile proteins was decreased in colonic smooth muscle of mdx mice compared with control. Contraction in response to acetylcholine and KCl was decreased in colonic muscle strips and in isolated muscle cells of mdx mice. Distension of ex vivo colons with Krebs buffer induced peristalsis in both control and mdx mice; however, significantly fewer full peristaltic waves were recorded in the colons of mdx mice. GI transit was also inhibited in mdx mice. Conclusion and inferences The data indicate that the lack of dystrophin causes decrease in colonic smooth muscle contractility, peristalsis, and GI transit and provides the basis for analysis of mechanisms involved in smooth muscle dysfunction in DMD.
Estrogen Receptor β-Mediated Inhibition of Actin-Based Cell Migration Suppresses Metastasis of Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a highly metastatic breast carcinoma with high frequency of estrogen receptor α (ER)α-negativity. Here we explored the role of the second ER subtype, ERβ, and report expression in IBC tumors and its correlation with reduced metastasis. Ablation of ERβ in IBC cells promoted cell migration and activated gene networks that control actin reorganization, including G-protein coupled receptors and downstream effectors that activate Rho GTPases. Analysis of preclinical mouse models of IBC revealed decreased metastasis of IBC tumors when ERβ was expressed or activated by chemical agonists. Our findings support a tumor-suppressive role of ERβ by demonstrating the ability of the receptor to inhibit dissemination of IBC cells and prevent metastasis. Based on these findings, we propose ERβ as a potentially novel biomarker and therapeutic target that can inhibit IBC metastasis and reduce its associated mortality.
Continuum modeling and TCAD simulations of laser-related phenomena in CMOS applications

Abstract In this chapter the current status of laser annealing simulation models, in the continuum formulation for the evolving fields (e.g., temperature, phases, doping density), is presented and discussed. The content is organized so as to gradually guide the reader from the basic principles to the formalisms already implemented in the Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) tools for the laser processing and, finally, to the less studied features which can be the topics of future developments. The laser-matter interaction models are outlined and the thermalization approximation, on the basis of the TCAD models, is introduced in the right context. Within this approximation, self-consistent numerical solutions of the ultra-fast heating, induced by pulsed lasers in the nanoseconds time scales, are discussed highlighting the crucial differences between the solutions obtained in blanket and patterned 2D and 3D complex systems. The kinetics of the localized (in the nanometers range) phase transitions is a key modelling issue. Here we will consider both the two phases (e.g., solid-liquid) and the three phases (amorphous-liquid-crystal) evolutions whereas the latter characterizes the explosive crystallization phenomenon. The chapter discusses also critical and challenging models related to laser processing; among them: the already cited explosive phenomenon, the anomalous doping redistribution, the failure of the heat diffusion equation in the nanoscale, the accurate simulation of alloy melting.
The death of affirmative action? Racialized framing and the fight against racial preference in college admissions: by J. Scott Carter and Cameron Lippard, Bristol, UK, Bristol University Press, 2021, 234 pp., $45.95 (paperback), ISBN 9781529201123

Competition to get into any US university is tougher than ever before, so a popular narrative goes. A closer look at this narrative will uncover the 2019 “Varsity Blues” scandal when wealthy famili...
Aggressive angiomyxoma of left buttock

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AA) is a rare mesenchymal tumour that is characterised by increased incidence in women compared with men, local invasion to the surrounding tissue and high recurrence rate. A premenopausal woman presented to clinic with pelvic pressure, intermittent tingling in the thigh and pressure emptying the bladder. CT scan, vaginal and gluteal biopsies, and MRI scan were performed to conclude a final diagnosis of AA. The patient underwent complete resection of the mass. The mass tested positive for oestrogen receptor and progesterone receptor. The patient received leuprolide postoperatively to prevent recurrence. AA should be considered as a differential diagnosis for a pelvic and perineal mass. Patients should be warned of high recurrence rate, necessity of surgical removal and long-term hormonal treatment.
The Politics of Deference

Like so much else in our politics, the administrative state is fiercely contested. Conservatives decry its legitimacy and seek to limit its power; liberals defend its necessity and legality. Debates have increasingly centered on the doctrine of Chevron deference, under which courts defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutory language. Given both sides’ increasingly entrenched positions, it is easy to think that conservatives have always warned of the dangers of deference, while liberals have always defended its virtues. Not so. This Article tells the political history of deference for the first time, using previously untapped primary sources including presidential and congressional archives, statements by interest groups, and partisan media sources. It recounts how the politics of deference have varied over time, even though the issue is often framed in terms that resist evolutionary analysis. As the administrative state grew in the 1970s, conservatives in Congress sought to rein in deference, while liberals defended it. These positions reversed in the 1980s, as the Reagan Administration relied on flexible readings of statutes in service of its deregulatory efforts, including in the Chevron case itself. After a period of political detente, the 2010s witnessed a resurgence of conservative opposition and liberal support for Chevron, driven largely by the ascendance of libertarian interests in the Republican Party and the increasingly central role of administrative policymaking to the agenda of the Democratic Party. The Article then develops a framework for understanding the shifting politics of deference. It argues that the politics of deference are the politics of regulation: for nearly a half-century, partisans and interest groups have viewed doctrinal debates as inexorably tied to interests in policy outcomes. Positions about Chevron have varied based on which party controls the presidency and the ideological makeup of the federal courts. But the parties are also asymmetrically reliant on the administrative state, and thus on judicial deference. Liberals depend on deference to advance their regulatory goals in the face of an often-gridlocked Congress, while conservatives have many paths to accomplishing their deregulatory ends. The conservative turn against the so-called “deep state” and Chevron’s non-application in areas where conservatives most favor deference (such as national security) further exacerbate the partisan split on the doctrine. And Chevron has become a rhetorical cudgel in broader partisan debates about the legality and legitimacy of the administrative state as a whole. Unless these dynamics change, Chevron deference will continue to have a political valence. And so long as the doctrine is understood to create winners and losers, partisans and interest groups will fight to ensure its survival or hasten its demise.
Feasibility and safety of percutaneous image-guided cryoablation of abdominal wall endometriosis.

To evaluate the feasibility and safety of percutaneous image-guided cryoablation of abdominal wall endometriosis (AWE). A retrospective review of percutaneous cryoablation (CT or MR) of AWE was performed from January 2018 to December 2020. Eighteen patients were identified from an internal percutaneous ablation database. Technical success, complications, and outcomes were analyzed according to standard nomenclature. Patients comprised 18 females (mean age 36.9 years) who underwent 18 cryoablation procedures to treat 23 AWE deposits. Three of the 18 cases were performed under MR guidance, while the remaining 15 employed CT guidance. Technical success was achieved in all 18 cases (100%). Fifteen of 18 patients (83%) had biopsy proven AWE deposits prior to treatment. Hydrodisplacement was used to displace adjacent bowel, bladder, or neurovascular structures in 13/18 cases (72%). The mean number of probes used per case was 3. Sixteen of 23 (70%) of AWE deposits had imaging follow-up (median 85 days). Of the 16 lesions with imaging follow-up, 15 (94%) demonstrated no residual enhancement or T1 hyperintensity at the treatment site and 1 lesion (6%) demonstrated residual/progressive disease. At clinical follow-up, 13 of 14 (93%) patients reported improvement in AWE-related symptoms. Eleven patients had clinically documented pain scores before and after ablation and all demonstrated substantial symptomatic improvement. No society of interventional radiology (SIR) major complications were observed. Percutaneous cryoablation of AWE is feasible with a favorable safety profile. Further longitudinal studies are needed to document durable response over time.
Hirsutism and benign androgenic hyperplasia of the adrenals

Abstract The simple hirsute group of female patients are those who have acne, hirsutism, sometimes clitoral hypertrophy, and usually, but not invariably, a menstrual disorder. Urinary excretion levels of 17-ketosteroids comparing a control group of normal, ovulating, menstruating women and a group of patients with simple hirsutism will be presented. The diagnostic plan for evaluation of the androgenized female with simple hirsutism will be outlined. The maintenance of adrenal suppression is continued beyond the period of diagnostic study because it constitutes the basis for therapy when the diagnosis is confirmed. If the treated patient does not respond with ovulatory menses and cessation of new hair growth in about 6 months, re-evaluation of the patient is indicated. This clinical approach to the simple hirsute patient is not infallible. Hirsutism associated with adrenal hyperplasia is controllable; however, the reversibility may be less certain.
Performance limitations of stochastic sensors

A stochastic sensor is an integrated sensor/circuit system which provides a digitized sensor output signal as a function of a physical parameter to be sensed. The sensor is an integral part of the positive feedback amplifier which is pulsed N-times through the metastable region. After each clock pulse, a zero or a one is provided at the output. A digital counter counts the number of ones and provides a digital output after N clock pulses. A relative accuracy of 0.4% can be achieved at N=10/sup 6/ clock pulses. This accuracy can be improved by an increase of N. The relative accuracy depends on the number of applied pulses and on the signal amplitude. Temperature changes cause the gain variation of the input-output transfer curve. Clock feedthrough and the resolving time in the positive feedback amplifier impose the limitation on clock speed. An analytical equation of this resolving time during the metastable region is compared with SPICE simulation. >
March of the (virtual) machines: past, present, and future milestones in the adoption of virtualization in computing education

Many courses in the computing curricula can benefit from hands-on pedagogical activities (e.g. active, discovery or problem-based learning) in the form of laboratory components associated with the lectures. While the benefits of such hands-on learning sessions are generally agreed upon, some system-oriented courses present a non-trivial challenge to instructors. Operating systems concepts (OSC), system administration, networking (NET) and computer security are all examples of courses which laboratories require students to have root access to be able to engage in meaningful experimentation of the lecture's concepts. With this constraint comes the need for more flexible technological support in the classroom. This paper reviews how virtualization has penetrated the computing educational practices over the past 3 years and identifies milestones toward its efficient integration. Our focus is on leveraging virtualization along with clustering technologies to provide an inexpensive, scalable, on-demand and transparent virtualization environment to students. We discuss technological alternatives to main vendors' offering based on our experience with the SOFTICE project. We conclude by presenting a prototype which extends further our objectives and discuss its potential for a GRID enabled version of our work.
Gastric residual volume after split-dose compared with evening-before polyethylene glycol bowel preparation

Background and Aims Split-dose bowel preparation for colonoscopy results in superior preparation quality. However, some endoscopy units remain hesitant to prescribe split-dose preparation given theoretical concerns about possible aspiration caused by gastric residual fluid when a second dose is given close to the time of endoscopy. Our aim was to compare gastric residual volume (GRV) in patients taking split-dose bowel preparation and those taking preparation the evening before colonoscopy. Methods We performed a prospective observational comparison of GRV among random inpatients undergoing same-day EGD and colonoscopy either after a split-dose bowel preparation or after a bowel preparation the prior evening. Results GRV was measured in 150 patients undergoing EGD and colonoscopy: 75 who completed a split-dose bowel preparation 2 to 3 hours before endoscopy and 75 who completed the bowel preparation regimen the prior evening. The mean GRV 2 to 3 hours after the last ingestion of bowel preparation among split-dose group patients was 21 ± 24 mL (± standard deviation; range, 0 to 125 mL), which was not different from the mean GRV of 24 ± 22 mL (range, 0 to 135 mL) in patients who ingested the preparation the prior evening ( P = .08). GRV had no association with the presence of diabetes, gastroparesis, or opioid use. Conclusions GRV is the same after a split preparation and fasting for 2 to 3 hours or after preparation with overnight fasting. The data suggest that the risk of aspiration is identical after either preparation technique and thus that sedation for colonoscopy can be performed safely 2 hours after bowel preparation ingestion.