cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
85Strontium scintimetry of the spine.

85Sr step-scan scintimetry of the spine was performed in 123 patients with normal spines (twenty cases), osteo-arthritis (forty cases), compression fractures (twenty-seven cases), metastatic disease of the spine(ten cases), spondylitis (twenty-one cases), and Paget's disease (five cases). This method was found to permit precise topographic and quantitative evaluation of 85Sr uptake of the spine. This method has value in: 1. Differentiation between recent compression fracture (high values) and older ones (six months) (normal values); 2. Evaluation of compression fractures secondary to pathological processes other than osteoporosis (high values); 3. Detection of occult metastases to the spine; 4. Evaluation of the activity of a spondylitic focus; 5. Differentiation between spondylarthrosis (normal values) and specific disease entities (high values).
Load Balancing in Decoupled Look-ahead: A Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Approach

Despite the proliferation of multi-core and multi-threaded architectures, exploiting implicit parallelism for a single semantic thread is still a crucial component in achieving high performance. Lookahead is a "tried-and-true" strategy in uncovering implicit parallelism. However, a conventional, monolithic out-of-order core quickly becomes resource-inefficient when looking beyond a small distance. One general approach to mitigate the impact of branch mispredictions and cache misses is to enable deep look-ahead. A particular approach that is both flexible and effective is to use an independent, decoupled look-ahead thread on a separate thread context guided by a program slice known as skeleton.While capable of generating significant performance gains, the look-ahead agent often becomes the new speed limit. We propose to accelerate the look-ahead thread by skipping branch based, sideeffect free code modules that do not contribute to the effectiveness of look-ahead. We call them Do-It-Yourself or DIY branches for which the main thread does not get any help from the look-ahead thread, instead relies on its own branch predictor and prefetcher. By skipping DIY branches, look-ahead thread propels ahead and provides performance-critical assistance down the stream to improve the performance of decoupled look-ahead system by up to 15%.
Fluorescence Assays: Fluorescence Polarization and Time-Resolved Pulse

In recent years techniques and instrumentation have been developed that allow fluorescence to be applied to a wide variety of immunoassays, with c goal of replacing radioimmunoassay. This article presents two of these—fluorescence polarization immunoassay and time-resolved pulse fluorescence. Fluorescence polarization assays ave already become the standard method for several tests. The high sensitivity and low interference of the newer time-resolved pulse fluorescence assays will make them increasingly popular.
Decomposing the Entrepreneurial Decision to be Acquired vs. Going Public

Using a large panel dataset of all US manufacturing firms with consummated deals in 1980-2000, I find that all else being equal, entrepreneurial firms with high bargaining power are more likely to choose M&As, firms that represent high private values (e.g. in high-tech industries) are more likely to be sold through IPOs, as the market thickness increases, the likelihood of entrepreneurial firms being sold through M&A decreases. However, this finding is reversed for firms with higher private values. For firms with high debt ratios, the likelihood of M&A increases compared to IPOs. I find that as venture capital activity in the focal industry increases, the likelihood of M&As increases.
Resistance forces during boulder extraction from an asteroid

Abstract Planning for NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) requires estimating the forces that appear during extraction of a boulder from the surface of an asteroid with unknown surface regolith properties. These forces are estimated for a vertical constant force or acceleration pull and a rolling, constant force, torque (peel) on a 4-m diameter spherical boulder using both analytic and discrete element method (DEM) models considering the effects of microgravity and regolith cohesion using Johnson–Kendall–Roberts (JKR) model. Estimates of the bulk asteroid regolith cohesion strength derived from lunar and asteroid regolith studies ranged from 25 Pa to 250 Pa. JKR cohesive forces at particle contacts depend on particle surface energy and effective curvature radius (particle size). DEM particle size dependent cohesion parameters are linked to estimated regolith cohesion strength by simulating shear and tension tests over a range of DEM particle surface energies resulting in the formulation of the dependence of particle surface energy as a function of cohesion strength and particle size. Maximum extraction forces occur for a vertical pull through the boulder center of mass with constant acceleration. Extraction force decreases for a constant force pull to 0.62 p c S where S is the boulder surface area embedded in the regolith and pc is the cohesion strength of the regolith. Boulder extraction by peeling produces the smallest forces by up to more than a factor of 2, as the failure across the boulder surface increases progressively rather than being fully engaged as occurs during a vertical pull extraction. Variations between DEM and analytic results differed from 9% to 17% over the range of regolith cohesion values and peel extraction leverage.
The utility of difference-based reasoning

The traditional approach to problem solving examines a current situation in isolation, ignoring the existence of previous experience. More recent analogical approaches look for previous, similar cases and attempt to infer further similarity from existing similarity. What has been overlooked is the power that identifying a disanalogy provides. Identifying disanalogies enables one to learn and reason by focusing on what is different between two similar situations, rather than on what is the same. This paper describes a technique called difference-based reasoning which exploits differences found between two otherwise identical situations to focus search and generate plausible hypotheses. The technique's power and diversity is demonstrated with implemented examples from theory formation, diagnosis, and failure explanation in planning.
Tumor-bone cell interactions in bone metastases

Publisher Summary The development of bone metastasis is an organized multi-step process in which some organs are preferential targets. In patients with advanced cancer, bone is the third most common site for metastases after lung and liver. Some cancers are particularly osteophilic, such as cancers of the breast and prostate where bone metastases occur in 60 to 70% of patients. Bone metastases occurrence can be explained by the expression of different malignant factors such as the chemokine receptors CXCR4 or CX3CR1, or the integrin αVβ3 promoting cancer cell homing to bone. Another critical parameter of tumor cell development in bone is their ability to survive and grow in the bone microenvironment. Cancer cells (the seeds) arriving in the bone marrow cavity will not grow if they are not properly responsive or adapted to the bone environment (the soil). Bone is a unique and rich environment whose integrity relies on the balance between osteoclastic bone resorption and osteoblastic bone formation to renew and adapt. The arrival of tumor cells and their interactions with bone cells disrupts normal bone remodeling causing abnormal new bone formation or bone destruction that characterizes osteoblastic and osteolytic metastases, respectively. Osteoblastic metastases are common with advanced prostate cancer while breast cancer bone metastases are typically osteolytic. However, many bone metastases are mixed and contain both osteoblastic and osteolytic characteristics. These skeletal complications have significant clinical consequences (hypercalcemia, intractable pain, fractures, nerve compression syndromes) that reduce the quality of life of these patients. More importantly, unbalanced bone remodeling provides metastatic tumor cells the means to grow and survive in bone.
Placing Broadcast News Videos in their Social Media Context Using Hashtags

With the growth of social media platforms in recent years, social media is now a major source of information and news for many people around the world. In particular the rise of hashtags have helped to build communities of discussion around particular news, topics, opinions, and ideologies. However, television news programs still provide value and are used by a vast majority of the population to obtain their news, but these videos are not easily linked to broader discussion on social media. We have built a novel pipeline that allows television news to be placed in its relevant social media context, by leveraging hashtags. In this paper, we present a method for automatically collecting television news and social media content (Twitter) and discovering the hashtags that are relevant for a TV news video. Our algorithms incorporate both the visual and text information within social media and television content, and we show that by leveraging both modalities we can improve performance over single modality approaches.
Neurocognitive Function in Children with Primary Hypertension.

Objective To compare neurocognitive test performance of children with primary hypertension with that of normotensive controls. Study design Seventy-five children (10-18 years of age) with newly diagnosed, untreated hypertension and 75 frequency-matched normotensive controls had baseline neurocognitive testing as part of a prospective multicenter study of cognition in primary hypertension. Subjects completed tests of general intelligence, attention, memory, executive function, and processing speed. Parents completed rating scales of executive function and the Sleep-Related Breathing Disorder scale of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ-SRBD). Results Hypertension and control groups did not differ significantly in age, sex, maternal education, income, race, ethnicity, obesity, anxiety, depression, cholesterol, glucose, insulin, and C-reactive protein. Subjects with hypertension had greater PSQ-SRBD scores ( P = .04) and triglycerides ( P = .037). Multivariate analyses showed that hypertension was independently associated with worse performance on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (List A Trial 1, P = .034; List A Total, P = .009; Short delay recall, P = .013), CogState Groton Maze Learning Test delayed recall ( P = .002), Grooved Pegboard dominant hand ( P = .045), and Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence Vocabulary ( P = .016). Results indicated a significant interaction between disordered sleep (PSQ-SRBD score) and hypertension on ratings of executive function ( P = .04), such that hypertension heightened the association between increased disordered sleep and worse executive function. Conclusions Youth with primary hypertension demonstrated significantly lower performance on neurocognitive testing compared with normotensive controls, in particular, on measures of memory, attention, and executive functions.
Introduction to the special issue: Connectivity in Geomorphology

Abstract With the increased recent attention on understanding the complex pathways and fluxes of material, energy, and organisms and the multidimensional coupling between various geomorphic process domains, the 47th Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium was organized around the theme of Connectivity in Geomorphology. Six key subthemes emerged: sediment connectivity, hydrologic connectivity, geochemical connectivity, riverine connectivity, landscape connectivity, and modeling of connectivity. Papers presented at the symposium and collected in this special issue elucidate the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of connectivity but also provide field-based and analytical approaches to document the fundamental role of connectivity in geomorphic and ecological functioning. Among the consistent themes that emerged from the papers and from discussion during the symposium were (1) the interconnectedness of diverse forms of connectivity, (2) the appropriateness (or not) of conceptualizing connectivity as a gradient or continuum, and (3) the importance of an explicit recognition of disconnectivity as a mechanism to retain ecologically important materials and organisms within landscapes. Knowledge gaps identified in discussions during the symposium include: identifying questions that can be usefully addressed within a framework emphasizing connectivity; identifying feedbacks that enhance and limit connectivity; and quantification – of diverse aspects of connectivity, of thresholds of connectivity, and of interactions among different types of connectivity.
Abstract 238: Molecular Identity of Cardiac Mitochondrial Chloride Intracellular Channel Proteins and Their Role in Mitochondrial Function

Introduction: Mitochondria are primary target organelles for cardioprotection. Rabbit heart and cardiomyocytes showed increased infarction upon treatment with IAA-94, a known chloride intracellular channel (CLIC) inhibitor implicating role of CLICs in cardioprotection. There are six CLIC homologs (CLIC1-6), but the molecular identity of cardiac mitochondrial CLICs and their functional roles are not deciphered. We aim to determine the identity of cardiac mitochondrial CLICs and establish their role in mitochondrial function to understand the mechanism of CLIC-mediated cardioprotection. Methods: Hearts were isolated from 2-3 months old SD rats for all the experiments. qPCRs were performed to determine the abundance of CLIC1-6 and corroborated by Western blot using specific antibodies. Immunofluorescence was performed on neonatal and adult cardiomyocytes. Percoll-purified mitochondria were also probed with Western blot, immuno organelle chemistry and Mass spectrometry to establish the presence of CLICs. In order to determine their role in mitochondrial function, spectrofluorimetric analysis were performed to measure the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production using amplex red and calcium retention capacity (CRC) using calcium green. Results: We have discovered that CLIC4, CLIC5 and CLIC1 as the most abundant paralogs in rat heart using qRT PCR and corroborated their presence by Western blot. CLIC4 and CLIC5, not CLIC1 were found to be present in mitochondria of neonatal and adult cardiomyocytes. Percoll-purified mitochondria further showed presence of CLIC4 and CLIC5 where they colocalizes with mitochondria (45+/-2 and 74+/-3, n=3, respectively). Over-expressing CLICs in H9C2 cells showed mitochondrial localization of CLIC4 and CLIC5 and not CLIC1 establishing them as mitochondrial anion channels. Blocking of CLICs with IAA-94 modulated the ROS production at both complex I and II/III of electron transport chain of mitochondria. Further IAA-94 reduced CRC of mitochondria by 83+/-6%, n=4. Conclusions: We have established that CLIC4 and CLIC5 are the cardiac mitochondrial anion channels and their activity regulates the function of mitochondria hence playing a direct role in cardioprotection from ischemia-reperfusion injury.
LNG-IUS 12: a 19.5 levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system for prevention of pregnancy for up to five years

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Globally, intrauterine devices (IUDs) are the second most commonly used form of reversible contraception because of their high efficacy, safety, convenience and cost effectiveness. The levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system with daily average release of 20 mcg (LNG-IUS 20) is the popular choice because of its favorable bleeding patterns and many noncontraceptive benefits. A three year (LNG-IUS 8) became available three years ago. More recently, the LNG-IUS 12 was added. This new IUD shares a smaller frame, narrow inserter and lower rate of amenorrhea with the LNG-IUS 8, but it offers the five years of contraceptive protection of the LNG-IUS 20.Areas covered: This article provides information on the contraceptive efficacy, safety and tolerability of this new IUS based on approximately 60,000 cycles of use. Where available, the impacts of subject age, parity and body mass index (BMI) on study outcomes are reported.Expert opinion: This new LNG-IUS 12 with mid-dose hormone levels, ...
TCR Signaling: Mechanisms of Initiation and Propagation

The mechanisms by which a T cell detects antigen using its T cell antigen receptor (TCR) are crucial to our understanding of immunity and the harnessing of T cells therapeutically. A hallmark of the T cell response is the ability of T cells to quantitatively respond to antigenic ligands derived from pathogens while remaining inert to similar ligands derived from host tissues. Recent studies have revealed exciting properties of the TCR and the behaviors of its signaling effectors that are used to detect and discriminate between antigens. Here we highlight these recent findings, focusing on the proximal TCR signaling molecules Zap70, Lck, and LAT, to provide mechanistic models and insights into the exquisite sensitivity and specificity of the TCR.
The German Financial Industry from a US Perspective

The German financial industry, which has been stable for the last 15 years, has lately been put to the test. The German banking system was adversely impacted by the recent economic slump in Germany, which resulted in serious profit cuts for German banks. The implications for the structure of the industry are the focus of many analyses. The situation in Germany is sometimes even compared with the Japanese banking crisis, where substandard economic growth went hand in hand with an undercapitalized banking sector. Problems and suggestions for improving German banks are common topics of public discussion. In addition to the general economic situation in Germany, experts cite various problems with which German banks have to deal. For example, the universal banking system and the structure of the financial sector in Germany are frequently mentioned as causes for the banks’ difficulties.
Geometric Theory of Foliations. By Cesar Camacho and Alcides Lins Neto

(1989). Geometric Theory of Foliations. By Cesar Camacho and Alcides Lins Neto. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 96, No. 1, pp. 71-76.
Perinatal depression: hiding in plain sight.

Objective:To promote prompt identification and treatment of perinatal depression and enhance preventive care for women at risk.Methods:Using MEDLINE and PubMed searches, we reviewed the recent rese...
Flexible learning of problem solving heuristics through adaptive search

Noting that the methods employed by existing learning systems are often bound to the intended task domain and have little applicability outside that domain, this paper considers an alternative learning system design that offers greater flexibility without sacrificing performance. An operational prototype, constructed around a powerful adaptive search technique, is presented and applied to the problem of acquiring problem solving heuristics through experience. Some performance results obtained with the system in a poker betting domain are reported and compared with those of a previously investigated learning system in the same domain. It is seen that comparable levels of performance are achieved by the two systems, despite the latter's dependence on a considerable amount of domain specific knowledge for effective operation.
Observation of transient states during magnetization reversal in a quasicrystal artificial spin ice

Artificial spin ices (ASIs) consisting of arrays of magnetic bars are key systems in the study of geometric frustration in magnetic systems. Of particular interest are quasicrystal (QC) ASIs, in which the lack of translational symmetry and the varying coordination number of interacting bars allow for topologically enhanced frustrated magnetization to occur. We have directly observed the formation of magnetic vortexes within the vertices of a QC-ASI as a metastable transient state, during the magnetization reversal process. We observed that the vortexes primarily form in a specific subset of the vertex motif types. Micromagnetic simulations show that although these magnetic vortexes result in an increase in the local energy of the vertex before the magnetization of the bars reverses to align with the applied magnetic field, the overall energy increase is lower than the higher energy motif configurations that would result from reversal of the magnetization in the connecting bar.
The Ben Carson Effect: Do voters prefer racialized or deracialized black conservatives?

Abstract A plethora of research has explored how blacks and whites respond to deracialized and racialized outreach. However, these studies overwhelmingly focus on individuals' reactions to liberal black elites. We explore whether whites and/or blacks favor co-racial elites who take a conservative deracialized position in the form of support for privatizing social security or a conservative racialized position in the form of advocating for ending the norm of political correctness. Using an online experiment with an oversample of black respondents, we find that whites, and in particular white Republicans, have a strong preference for racialized black conservatives over deracialized black conservatives. In contrast, we find that blacks display a preference for deracialized co-racial conservatives, but view black and white racialized conservatives as being equally likeable.
Understanding the role of acculturative stress on refugee youth mental health: A systematic review and ecological approach to assessment and intervention:

In this article, we conduct a systematic review of the extant literature on the risk and protective factors that impact the healthy resettlement of refugee children around the world. We identify ac...
Proceedings of the 39th Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture

It is an honor to introduce the technical program for the 39th International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA 2012). This symposium is the premier forum for new ideas and results in the area of computer architecture. This year's program includes 47 papers on a broad set of topics, keynotes from Jeff Hawkins (Numenta) and Justin Rattner (Intel), and a set of workshops and tutorials coordinated by Alaa Alameldeen and Benjamin Lee. ISCA 2012 received 262 paper submissions --- the highest number in over twenty years. I assigned each paper to 4 Program Committee (PC) members and 1 senior external reviewer to review. By directly assigning external reviews, I felt I could reduce the load of the PC members (who did not have to solicit or interact with external reviewers) and ensure the highest reviewing standards. Given that I had 50 PC members, each PC member had to review, on average, about 21 papers personally. Overall, I believe that all of the PC members and external reviewers showed a very high degree of professionalism and fairness in their reviews. After all the reviews were collected, a Rebuttal Period allowed the authors to respond to the reviews. Then, PC members read the 5 reviews and the authors' response for the papers they had read, and engaged in a week-long discussion with other PC reviewers of the same paper(s) via email. At the end of this process, each PC member had to explicitly assign a grade to each of the papers she/he had reviewed. The papers' average grade was used to order the discussion of papers at the PC meeting. The whole review process was double blind.
Incorporating mammography into an overseas referral metric: Tongan doctors’ assessments of patient eligibility for medical travel

Tonga's largest public hospital received its second-although its first fully functioning-mammogram machine in 2016. If diagnosed with breast cancer, Tongan women must travel to New Zealand or Australia to access biomedical treatment (e.g. chemotherapy), but many can only do so with financial support from the Tongan government. Given limited funding, strict referral guidelines require doctors to quantify patients into calculations of risk. According to these guidelines, which I argue serve as an overseas referral metric, only "low-risk" patients-as determined by prognosis and treatment cost-are supposed to be funded. At present, doctors can sometimes draw on qualitative knowledge, such as long-term clinical experience, to circumvent referral guidelines. However, as mammography touts new epidemiological capabilities, it also has the potential to reinforce emphases on quantifiable evaluations of referral eligibility, which are often preferred by program funders. This could potentially exclude some women from treatment, as already-limited funding is increasingly reserved for those deemed "low-risk" according to numerical assessments. Based on recent ethnographic fieldwork (2016-2017) in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, I draw on in-depth interviews and conversations with local doctors to elucidate the interplay between mammography access and practitioners' processes of cancer diagnosis, patient risk assessment, and overseas referral. In following doctors' efforts to maximize accountability and risk management in referrals, I show how broader emphases on quantification and efficiency in global-health practice can generate intense moral dilemmas for those who must grapple with their implementation in the day-to-day. Significantly, these experiences demonstrate how numerical trends in global health not only permeate local health-care practices but also impact transnational health-care seeking, shaping a political economy of medical travel that structures opportunities for some women (and not others) to access biomedical treatment abroad.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair Outcomes: An Updated Systematic Review of Recent Literature.

Purpose To critically review recent literature on outcomes following primary surgical repair of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Methods In December 2018, a search of the MEDLINE database was conducted for English language articles reporting clinical outcomes of ACL repair from 2003 to 2018. Included studies were evaluated for patient demographics, patient-reported outcome measures, return to sports/work, patient satisfaction, and postoperative complications. Subgroup analysis was conducted for studies that included patients with only type 1/proximal ACL ruptures. Results Twenty-eight studies satisfied the inclusion criteria, comprising 2,401 patients (52.3% male, 35.7% female, 12.0% unspecified gender) with mean age ranging from 6.0 to 43.3 years. Most studies were conducted in Europe (82.1%), were level of evidence IV (60.7%), and were designed as case series (57.1%). Fourteen investigations (50.0%) used primary suture repair and 14 (50.0%) used dynamic intraligamentary stabilization. Preoperative ranges for Lysholm, International Knee Documentation Committee Score subjective, and Tegner scores were 28 to 100, 94.1 to 100, and 2 to 9, respectively. Postoperative ranges for the same measures were 80 to 100, 54.3 to 98, and 3.67 to 7, respectively. Time to return to sport/work ranged from 3.1 ± 3.3 to 17.4 ± 1.5 weeks. Frequency of rerupture, revision ACL surgery, and overall reoperations were as high as 23.1%, 33.3%, and 51.5%, respectively. Overall ACL repair survivorship ranged from 60.0% to 100.0%. In subgroup analysis for proximal ruptures treated with repair, the rates of revision ACL reconstruction (ACLR) and total reoperations were as high as 12.9% and 18.2%, respectively. Conclusions Based on our cumulative findings across 2,401 patients from the 28 included studies, it appears that ACLR results in better survivorship and patient-perceived postoperative improvement when compared with ACL repair. At present, ACLR appears to remain the superior treatment strategy in the vast majority of cases. Level of Evidence Level IV, systematic review of Level II to IV studies.
Group A Streptococcal Bacteremia following Streptococcal Pharyngitis in an Older Patient with Diabetes: A Case Report

Group A streptococcus (GAS) is responsible for a wide range of both invasive and noninvasive infections. Severe invasive group A streptococcal infection is associated with morbidity and mortality and has been linked to chronic medical conditions with skin and soft tissues involvement, and intravenous drug use (IVDU). Invasive diseases are, however, rare and have been recognized to affect the extremes of age (younger than 10 years of age and older than 74). We report a case of Group A streptococcus bacteremia following pharyngitis in a 76-year-old diabetic male with no history of IVDU. This report's main goal is to illustrate that chronic illnesses such as diabetes and congestive heart failure might predispose elderly patients to invasive diseases such as Group A streptococcus bacteremia.
Soil phosphorus testing on alkaline calcareous soils

Soil phosphorus testing made great strides with multiple chemical tests proposed and implemented that have been used for fertilizer management programs for crop production during the previous century. In the latter part of the previous century, the environmental impact of excess nonpoint phosphorus loading from the landscape (e.g. agricultural lands) to waterbodies became an issue of increased concern and soil phosphorus testing came to the forefront of management and monitoring. This article will provide a general overview of the usage of phosphorus testing for agronomic purposes in the United States.
Semblance: An empirical similarity kernel on probability spaces.

In data science, determining proximity between observations is critical to many downstream analyses such as clustering, classification, and prediction. However, when the data’s underlying probability distribution is unclear, the function used to compute similarity between data points is often arbitrarily chosen. Here, we present a novel definition of proximity, Semblance, that uses the empirical distribution of a feature to inform the pair-wise similarity between observations. The advantage of Semblance lies in its distribution-free formulation and its ability to place greater emphasis on proximity between observation pairs that fall at the outskirts of the data distribution, as opposed to those toward the center. Semblance is a valid Mercer kernel, allowing its principled use in kernel-based learning algorithms, and for any data modality. We demonstrate its consistently improved performance against conventional methods through simulations and real case studies from diverse applications in single-cell transcriptomics, image reconstruction, and financial forecasting.
Does Short Selling Inform or Manipulate Capital Investment

Recent theoretical work suggests that short sellers can manipulate firms into making suboptimal investment decisions. In this study, I empirically test whether short sellers improve or harm the efficiency of firms' capital investment. Overall, I show that short selling improves the efficiency of firms' capital budgeting. However, I also demonstrate that following the full repeal of the uptick rule in 2007, short selling now has a deleterious effect on investment efficiency. Furthermore, in subsample analyses, I find support for manipulative short selling taking place in firms with high levels of short-term leverage, stock market liquidity, and informed trading..
Real-Time Associations Between Glucose Levels and Fatigue in Type 2 Diabetes: Sex and Time Effects.

Objective:Fatigue is a pervasive and serious complaint among aging adults with type 2 diabetes. Anecdotally, hyperglycemia was thought to cause fatigue, but prior cross-sectional analyses failed to...
Regionalization of Lung Cancer Surgery Improves Outcomes in an Integrated Health Care System

Background Current literature favors a volume-outcome relationship in pulmonary lobectomy that prompted centralization of these operations abroad, in national, single-payer health care settings. This study examined the impact of regionalization on outcomes after lung cancer resection within a US integrated health care system. Methods This study retrospectively reviewed major pulmonary resections (lobectomy, bilobectomy, pneumonectomy) for lung cancer that were performed before (2011 to 2013; n = 782) and after (2015 to 2017; n = 845) thoracic surgery regionalization during 2014. Results Case migration from 16 regionwide sites to 5 designated centers was complete by 2016. Facility volume increased from 17.4 to 48.3 cases/y (P = .002), and surgeon volume increased from 12.5 to 19.9 cases/y (P = .001). The postregionalization era was characterized by increased video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (86% from 57%; P Conclusions After the successful implementation of thoracic surgery regionalization in our US health care network, pulmonary resection volume increased, and practice shifted to majority video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and minimum intensive care unit utilization. Regionalization was independently associated with significant reductions in length of stay and morbidity.
Simulation and analysis of neuromorphic tactile data for object interaction speed detection

The sense of touch provides an intimate connection to our surroundings and is a critical component for navigating the environment and manipulating objects. To better capture and convey touch information to prosthetic arm users or autonomous robots, it is useful to leverage biological representations of tactile signals for rapid and efficient processing. We developed a software pipeline that simulates and analyzes biomimetic tactile signals for developing better techniques and approaches for robotic systems that rely on the sense of touch. Touch sensor signals were simulated with a virtual hand model (MuJoCo HAPTIX) and were converted to a biological representation of tactile afferent spiking activity using existing neuron models (TouchSim). We simulated virtual hand object interaction, at three different movement speeds, and found that biomimetic tactile signals yield better results (91%) compared to using traditional force signals (61%) at classifying the different hand speeds. This software toolkit enables researchers to quickly generate, capture, and analyze biologically realistic tactile behavior for creating smarter and more effective robotic systems.
Design of 3D Printed Batteries with Printable Water-in-Salt Gel Polymer Electrolyte

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), has emerged as a promising strategy to design and fabricate future energy storage devices. The benefits of 3D printed batteries include versatile, adaptable shape and geometry, enhanced performance with new architectural design, and the ability to integrate printing power sources with other 3D printable devices. Although significant progress has been reported, current 3D printed batteries design still presents several limitations. The printed battery cells may use a solid electrolyte, which can only be operated at an elevated temperature, or use a conventional organic liquid electrolyte, which is toxic and flammable. The use of oxygen and moisture-sensitive electrolytes especially presents challenges for packing and sealing 3D printable batteries.To overcome these challenges, this work incorporated the latest developments in aqueous batteries into a novel 3D printable battery that can be fabricated directly in an ambient environment that is also more environmentally friendly in nature. Specifically, a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) with a water-in-salt (WIS) concept was introduced in our 3D printed batteries. The WIS concept, using a highly concentrated electrolyte, offers a larger operation voltage compared with conventional aqueous batteries, whereas the GPEs formulation enables the printability and easier packaging than liquid counterparts. By combining the advantages of both WIS and GPE, the resulting 3D printable batteries show promise for much more simplified processing conditions, as well as performance. The structural, (electro-)chemical, and morphological evolution of the printed batteries are being investigated by synchrotron X-ray techniques and electrochemical analysis. Overall, our research explores the possibility for an easier and more environmentally friendly way to build 3D printable, customizable batteries for future technologies.
Carbon dioxide and water vapor fluxes of multi-purpose winter wheat production systems in the U.S. Southern Great Plains

ABSTRACT Eddy fluxes collected during 2016 to 2019 from eight production-scale multi-purpose winter wheat fields (grain only, graze-grain, and graze-out), managed under conventional till (CT) and no-till (NT), were synthesized to determine seasonality, daily magnitudes, seasonal, and annual budgets of carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes and evapotranspiration (ET), and to investigate spatio-temporal variability of the fluxes. Maximum daily net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE), gross primary production (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (ER) approximated -11, 19, and 12 g C m−2, respectively, and daily ET approximated 7 mm. Wheat fields, including graze-out, were large sinks of CO2 (ranged from -149 ± 8 to -564 ± 9 g C m−2) during growing seasons (October–May). Wheat fields, left fallow during summer, were from near neutral to large sinks of CO2 at annual (calendar year) scales. Cumulative annual NEE was up to -242 ± 12 g C m−2 in a NT and -183 ± 12 g C m−2 in a CT field, which had grain-only wheat in spring followed by graze-grain wheat in fall. Cumulative seasonal ET ranged from 260 mm to 521 mm, and maximum annual ET approximated 800 mm. In general, ET was smaller under NT than CT. Eddy fluxes showed stronger relationships with remotely-sensed enhanced vegetation index and in-situ biometric variables in grain-only fields than grazed fields. Across-site analysis for grain-only wheat showed biomass and leaf area index alone explained >80% of variations in NEE, GPP, and ET, and ∼70% of variations in ER. Similarly, Canopy coverage explained >80% of variations in NEE and GPP, and ∼60% of variations in ER and ET. Strong relationships of biometric observations with the fluxes demonstrated their potential to model and explain spatio-temporal variability of CO2 fluxes and ET. Results also indicated huge implications of management practices on carbon and water budgets by altering vegetative properties.
Repeated Load Saturated Soil Behavior Linked to Two Derailment Case Studies

According to Hay (Railroad engineering, Wiley, New York, 1982), the support of railway track is a critical requirement to achieve the potential of railway track to serve as one of the most cost-effective types of infrastructure in terms of long-term maintenance cost. Uniform resilient support provided to the track structure (rails and ties) is needed to maintain stresses in the track structure that result from the applied train loading within an acceptable range. Excessive track deflection due to poor track support contributes excessive stress to track components. The shallower the support deterioration, the more severe the effect on the track structure and the deeper the support deterioration the more difficult it can be to locate and repair. Saturated-undrained soil conditions would not be expected to compromise track support in railway track built using commonly specified materials. However, changes in track drainage patterns and contamination of open-graded aggregate ballast has been known to result in roadbed saturation and associated softening that is listed in the FRA Railway Accident/Incident Reporting System as derailment cause code T001 Roadbed Settled/Soft. The technical cause of deterioration is often a moisture content increase associated reduction in strength. Repeated load behavior of saturated undrained soils is known to cause specific types of problematic failures that might be mitigated with operational limitations or maintenance. The potential for saturated-undrained repeated load soil failure modes in track can only be assessed if situations susceptible to these conditions can be identified. In this paper, the classic conditions related to these soil failures are discussed as a basis for review of two case studies illustrating the field conditions associated with two distinct failure scenarios.
A National Comparison of Police Academies Operated by Academic Institutions and by Law Enforcement Agencies: Different Strokes for Different Folks?

Well known is the fact new hires of police agencies must complete a program of basic law enforcement training (BLET) before they can become sworn officers and this training usually occurs at police...
How early does the selfing syndrome arise? Associations between selfing ability and flower size within populations of the mixed mater Collinsia verna

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Widespread associations between selfing rate and floral size within and among taxa suggest that these traits may evolve in concert. Does this association develop immediately, because of shared genetic/developmental control, or stepwise with selection shaping the evolution of one trait following the other? If the former, then association ought to appear within and across selfing populations. We explore this fundamental question in three populations of the mixed-mater Collinsia verna where autonomous selfing (AS) ability has been shown to be under selection by the pollination environment. METHODS We grew clonal replicates of C. verna in a controlled environment to characterize broad-sense genetic correlations among traits within populations and to assess whether divergence in mating system and floral traits among these populations is consistent with their previously observed selection pressures. KEY RESULTS As predicted by their respective pollination environments, we demonstrate significant genetic divergence among populations in AS ability. However, patterns of divergence in floral traits (petal, stamen, and style size, stigmatic receptivity, and stigma-anther distance) were not as expected. Within populations, genetic variation in AS appeared largely independent from floral traits, except for a single weak negative association in one population between flower size and AS rate. CONCLUSIONS Together, these results suggest that associations between selfing rate and floral traits across Collinsia species are not reflected at microevolutionary scales. If C. verna were to continue evolving toward the selfing syndrome, floral trait evolution would likely follow stepwise from mating system evolution. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Organocobalt cluster complexes : XXVI. Thermolysis of alkylidynetricobalt nonacarbonyl complexes. Evidence for carbyne intermediates

Abstract The thermolysis of methylidynetricobalt nonacarbonyl, HCCos 3 (CO) 9 , in refluxing xylene solution gives a mixture of CH 3 CCo 3 (CO) 9 and C 2 H 5 CCo 3− (CO) 9 . A reaction course involving the generation of a carbyne, HC:, and its addition to the CCo 3 core of the HCCo 3 (CO) 9 molecule, followed by extrusion of Co(CO) 3 to give acetylenehexacarbonyldicobalt and finally decomposition of the latter to form CH 3 CCo 3 (CO) 9 , is suggested. A separate experiment confirmed that the last step can occur.
Transition in Flow between Rotating Concentric Cylinders

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the transition in flow between rotating concentric cylinders. The use of laser-Doppler techniques has led to significant advances in understanding of the transition to turbulence for the flow between rotating cylinders. There can be little doubt about a sequence of transitions as R increases that involves, at least, steady flow → periodic flow → quasiperiodic flow → chaotic flow. The relevance of these observations within the framework of the theory of dynamical systems and in contrast to early conjectures that transition to turbulence will occur as an infinite sequence of hydrodynamical instabilities. It is possible to construct systems of several nonlinear ordinary differential equations that, as a parameter varies, can exhibit one or more such transitions. But what is required is a mathematical model that can exhibit such transitions and truly represent the flow field. The experimental observations reveal a variety of phenomena including transitions from steady flow to steady flow, from steady flow to periodic flow, from periodic flow to quasiperiodic flow, from periodic or quasiperiodic flow to weak turbulence, from a periodic flow to a time-dependent nonperiodic flow, and the reverse transition, and so on.
d-Fructose 1-Phosphate Kinase, a New Enzyme Instrumental in the Metabolism of d-Fructose

Abstract An inducible enzyme which phosphorylates d-fructose 1-phosphate with adenosine triphosphate to yield d-fructose 1,6-diphosphate has been identified and partially purified from extracts of d-fructose-grown Aerobacter aerogenes PRL-R3. Evidence is cited which supports the participation of this enzyme in d-fructose metabolism in this organism.
Electron Microscopic Observations on the Structure of Treponema zuelzerae and Its Axial Filaments

The fine structure of the spirochete Treponema zuelzerae, and particularly of its axial filaments, was investigated by using the electron microscope. The cell consists of a protoplasmic core surrounded by two concentric envelopes, each approximately 12 nm in width. Between these envelopes are two axial filaments, one originating at each pole of the cell, which overlap and lie side by side in the central region of the cell. The diameter of the axial filaments is 18.0 to 18.5 nm. The terminal region of each filament at its proximal end consists of a hook-like structure, very similar in appearance to the proximal end of a bacterial flagellum. The outer envelope of the cell is readily disrupted with distilled water, and this treatment often results in the release of the filaments from their axial position. A sheath is seen surrounding the filaments when cells are treated with distilled water for no more than 1 min and fixed immediately with osmium tetroxide or glutaraldehyde. This sheath has a striated fine structure and a diameter of 46 nm.
Judgments of relative distance based on separate 2-D TV views.

An experiment was conducted to determine human capabilities for making judgments of relative distance based on cues obtained from two ordinary, two-dimensional, closed-circuit television systems. The two cameras were placed so that their lines-of-sight converged symmetrically upon the mid-point between the two rods of a modified Howard-Dolman depth perception apparatus. Four camera lines-of-sight convergence angles were investigated: 15degree, 30°, 60°, and 90°. Difference thresholds for relative depth perception were determined for 24 subjects by the psychophysical Method of Limits. Thresholds were on the order of 12-13 minutes of arc in terms of the parallactic difference angle for the camera lines-of-sight. The results are related to the design of viewing systems for remote operations.
Religious Freedom, the Minority Question, and Geopolitics in the Middle East

The right to religious freedom is widely regarded as a crowning achievement of secular-liberal democracies, one that guarantees the peaceful coexistence of religiously diverse populations. Enshrined in national constitutions and international laws and treaties, the right to religious liberty promises to ensure two stable goods: (1) the ability to choose one's religion freely without coercion by the state, church, or other institutions; and (2) the creation of a polity in which one's economic, civil, legal, or political status is unaffected by one's religious beliefs. While all members of a polity are supposed to be protected by this right, modern wisdom has it that religious minorities are its greatest beneficiaries and their ability to practice their traditions without fear of discrimination is a critical marker of a tolerant and civilized polity. The right to religious freedom marks an important distinction between liberal secularism and the kind practiced in authoritarian states (such as China, Syria, or the former Soviet Union): while the latter abide by the separation of religion and state (a central principle of political secularism), they also regularly abrogate religious freedoms of their minority and majority populations. Despite claims to religious neutrality, liberal secular states frequently regulate religious affairs but they do so in accord with a strong concern for protecting the individual's right to practice his or her religion freely, without coercion or state intervention.