cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
MELD-Na: Does This Leave Anyone Behind?

This article reviews the historical evolution of the current deceased donor liver allocation and distribution policy in the USA and describes the continued efforts to address limitations within our current allocation system. Due to the finding that hyponatremia is an independent predictor of mortality, since January 2016, the Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD)-Na score incorporating serum sodium is now used for patients with MELD score <11. MELD exception points allocation continues to be a challenging prospect in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); new changes include a “delay and cap” policy implemented in 2015 but consideration of other HCC-specific MELD scores are being explored. In order to address the significant differences in non-standardized MELD exception points being granted from different regional review boards, a national review board is being proposed. Despite efforts to address limitations in our current liver allocation system through policy changes targeted at reducing waitlist mortality and disparities, there continues to be significant differences on how these policies are implemented on a regional level, prompting the proposal for a national review board.
Principled strength reduction

This paper presents a principled approach for optimizing iterative (or recursive) programs. The approach formulates a loop body as a function f and a change operation ⊕, incrementalizes f with respect to ⊕, and adopts an incrementalized loop body to form a new loop that is more efficient. Three general optimizations are performed as part of the adoption; they systematically handle initializations, termination conditions, and final return values on exits of loops. These optimizations are either omitted, or done in implicit, limited, or ad hoc ways in previous methods.
Development of a Single-Degree-of-Freedom Mechanical Model for Predicting Strain-based Brain Injury Responses

Linking head kinematics to injury risk has been the focus of numerous brain injury criteria. Although many early forms were developed using mechanics principles, recent criteria have been developed using empirical methods based on subsets of head impact data. In this study, a single-degree-of-freedom (sDOF) mechanical analog was developed to parametrically investigate the link between rotational head kinematics and brain deformation. Model efficacy was assessed by comparing the maximum magnitude of displacement to strain-based brain injury predictors from finite element (FE) human head models. A series of idealized rotational pulses covering a broad range of acceleration and velocity magnitudes (0.1-15 krad/s2 and 1-100 rad/s) with durations between 1 and 3000 ms were applied to the mechanical models about each axis of the head. Results show that brain deformation magnitude is governed by three categories of rotational head motion each distinguished by the duration of the pulse relative to the brain's natural period: for short-duration pulses, maximum brain deformation depended primarily on angular velocity magnitude; for long-duration pulses, brain deformation depended primarily on angular acceleration magnitude; and for pulses relatively close to the natural period, brain deformation depended on both velocity and acceleration magnitudes. These results suggest that brain deformation mechanics can be adequately explained by simple mechanical systems, since FE model responses and experimental brain injury tolerances exhibited similar patterns to the sDOF model. Finally, the sDOF model was the best correlate to strain-based responses and highlighted fundamental limitations with existing rotational-based brain injury metrics.
Stabilizing and destabilizing effects of damping in non-conservative systems: Some new results

Abstract Previous work has amply demonstrated that non-conservative systems can be made unstable by the application of damping. Systems with two neutrally-stable damping levels, whereby the system initially gains stability but later loses stability as the level of damping is increased, have also been observed. The phenomenon of three damping-induced stability transitions has not been reported in the literature. Here we show that the addition of damping can cause non-conservative systems to become stable, then unstable, then stable again at the same value of the non-conservative forcing variable. This combination of stability transitions is found to exist for several example systems, including linkages with follower end forces and fluid-conveying pipes. Another interesting observation is that a given system can exhibit different forms of stability transitions in different regions of its parameter space. In a particular example, the neutral stability curves corresponding to two different modes are observed to intersect, such that the boundary separating the stable and unstable regions is piecewise continuous. This observation requires that the accepted definitions of “stabilizing” and “destabilizing” roles of damping be revised. All of these stability transition behaviors were found by applying the Routh-Hurwitz procedure, whereby the traditional procedure is first applied to the characteristic polynomial of the system, and then again to guarantee the existence of a second-order auxiliary polynomial in the Routh array. This procedure is developed in the context of examples, each of which concerns a classical apparatus who dynamics are more interesting than previously believed.
Targeting Poxvirus Decapping Enzymes and mRNA Decay to Generate an Effective Oncolytic Virus

Through the action of two virus-encoded decapping enzymes (D9 and D10) that remove protective caps from mRNA 5′-termini, Vaccinia virus (VACV) accelerates mRNA decay and limits activation of host defenses. D9- or D10-deficient VACV are markedly attenuated in mice and fail to counter cellular double-stranded RNA-responsive innate immune effectors, including PKR. Here, we capitalize upon this phenotype and demonstrate that VACV deficient in either decapping enzyme are effective oncolytic viruses. Significantly, D9- or D10-deficient VACV displayed anti-tumor activity against syngeneic mouse tumors of different genetic backgrounds and human hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts. Furthermore, D9- and D10-deficient VACV hyperactivated the host anti-viral enzyme PKR in non-tumorigenic cells compared to wild-type virus. This establishes a new genetic platform for oncolytic VACV development that is deficient for a major pathogenesis determinant while retaining viral genes that support robust productive replication like those required for nucleotide metabolism. It further demonstrates how VACV mutants unable to execute a fundamental step in virus-induced mRNA decay can be unexpectedly translated into a powerful anti-tumor therapy.
A Miniature Spectrometer for a Hybrid Emulsion Experiment to Measure B-Particle Lifetimes

Nuclear emulsion is the only proven technique having position resolution ≲ 1µ, and therefore capable of relatively bias-free measurement of lifetimes down to ~ 10-15 sec for decaying particles with γ ~ 25. Hybrid experiments using spectrometers1–4 and bubble chambers5,6 to tag the location of events in emulsion have provided the first measurements of charmed particle lifetimes. These experiments have exploited the relatively large yield of charm in neutrino (~ 5%) and photon (~ 1%) interactions by searching the emulsion for every tagged event. Measuring the lifetimes of particles carrying the beauty quantum number will be much more difficult because of the tiny yield expected at energies available now or in the near future: ≲ 10-4 in neutrino beams, and ~ 1/500 of charm in photon and hadron beams’. Nevertheless, the hybrid emulsion technique can indeed provide the first measurements of B-particle lifetimes if hadronic production of BB pairs has a cross section ≳ 10 nanobn, well within current estimates.
Determination of Flaw Depth Profiles from Acoustic Images

Acoustic images offer good spatial resolution in two dimensions, but do not give information on the third spatial dimension. In this paper we will describe a new method of measuring flaw depth profiles which makes use of the corner reflections from a surface breaking flaw. A calibration experiment is described, showing that at the present time this method of flaw depth determination can be calibrated to an accuracy of about 20%.
Pushdown Automata, Context Free Grammars and Languages

We turn next to a class of automata which are more powerful than the finite automata in the sense that they accept a larger class of languages. These are the pushdown automata (pda’s).
Experimental Techniques and the Hall Effect in Unusual Conditions

This is a composite chapter. Its purpose is on the one hand to review the principal methods which have been used to measure the Hall effect in metals, and on the other hand to consider Hall effect measurements made in “unusual” circumstances. Such an arrangement is convenient since these two topics are evidently not unrelated; an unusual measurement, such as one made at high pressure or upon a liquid sample, will in general require a special experimental technique.
On non-symmetric deformations of neo-Hookean solids

Deformations possible (i.e., those satisfying the governing three-dimensional equations of equilibrium and the incompressibility constraint) within a class of non-symmetric deformations for a neo-Hookean nonlinearly elastic body were determined in [1], where it was found that only three special cases of the class of deformation fields considered could be solutions. One of these is the trivial solution, one the solution describing radially symmetric deformation, and the other a (non-symmetric, non-homogeneous) deformation contained within a family of universal deformations. In this paper, the results reported in [1] are shown to hold for a substantially broadened deformation field.
Application of a Self-Calibrating Ultrasonic Technique to the Detection of Fatigue cracks by the Use of Lamb Waves

The reliability of fatigue-crack detection plays an important role in the safety of aircraft structures. Improvements in this reliability can be achieved by making the inspection technique independent of the coupling of the sensor to the specimen. A self-calibrating technique previously developed by the authors [1] makes it possible to detect and quantitatively characterize defects in aircraft structures with greater reliability.
Thermal architecture of the galaxy evolution probe mission concept

The Galaxy Evolution Probe (GEP) is a proposed far infrared-optimized observatory designed for zodiacal-light-limited imaging and spectroscopy in the 10 to 250 micron band. The GEP telescopes and instruments are planned to be actively cooled with the system in a sun-earth L2 halo orbit. A detailed description of the GEP mission concept is documented in [1]. Crucial to the scientific performance of GEP is the thermal architecture; it must support a range of cryogenic elements, ranging from the full telescope optical assembly at around 4 K to the far-IR focal planes consisting of kinetic inductance detector (KID) arrays cooled to 100 mK. Given the mass operating at these low temperatures, the thermal system is one of the main drivers of mission cost and complexity. We present a solution to the GEP thermal design that is realizable within a probe-class envelope. The baseline system utilizes a multi-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) for the 100mK base; the ADR system also provides an intercept at 1K. ADR systems similar to that in our design have flown, and among sub-K options, ADRs offer high Carnot efficiency. The ADR rejects heat to a hybrid Joule Thompson (JT) and Stirling or PT Cryocooler with a lowtemperature stage at 4 K as well as an intercept at 20 K. These coolers are also mature systems with flight heritage on most subcomponents.
Expectations of Fundamental Knowledge in a Commercial Space Education Program by Space Industry Professionals and Aeronautical Engineering Technology Students

Career opportunities in the space industry are growing due to a combination of both the growth of the industry projected by the department of U.S. Labor Statistics and the age of existing employees. A new source of skilled workers is needed during this growth to ensure that companies can continue to develop quality designs, manufacturing, and production of the next generation spacecraft. One source to meet this need is the evolution of existing aerospace focused programs, such as Aeronautical Engineering Technology (AET). However, the transformation of any program must include an understanding of the new requisite and fundamental skills and unique requirements. This research includes a survey of space industry professionals to establish baseline commercial space industry knowledge. In addition, a survey of existing AET students is included to examine the difference between student and industry expectations. The results are combined to generate a ranked list of minimal knowledge expected by industry for recent graduates of a space focused AET program. In addition, a comparison to what students expect versus professional realities is important to understand. This insight facilitates recruitment into the profession and enhances student retention and satisfaction. These concepts can and should be included in curriculum and course development to bring the meaningful relevance of information for the students as they learn. Inclusion also provides the student both context and a springboard for industry expectations.
Eye gaze patterns reveal how reasoning skills improve with experience

Reasoning, our ability to solve novel problems, has been shown to improve as a result of learning experiences. However, the underlying mechanisms of change in this high-level cognitive ability are unclear. We hypothesized that possible mechanisms include improvements in the encoding, maintenance, and/or integration of relations among mental representations - i.e., relational thinking. Here, we developed several eye gaze metrics to pinpoint learning mechanisms that underpin improved reasoning performance. We collected behavioral and eyetracking data from young adults who participated in a Law School Admission Test preparation course involving word-based reasoning problems or reading comprehension. The Reasoning group improved more than the Comprehension group on a composite measure of four visuospatial reasoning assessments. Both groups improved similarly on an eyetracking paradigm involving transitive inference problems, exhibiting faster response times while maintaining high accuracy levels; nevertheless, the Reasoning group exhibited a larger change than the Comprehension group on an ocular metric of relational thinking. Across the full sample, individual differences in response time reductions were associated with increased efficiency of relational thinking. Accounting for changes in visual search and a more specific measure of relational integration improved the prediction accuracy of the model, but changes in these two processes alone did not adequately explain behavioral improvements. These findings provide evidence of transfer of learning across different kinds of reasoning problems after completing a brief but intensive course. More broadly, the high temporal precision and rich derivable parameters of eyetracking make it a powerful approach for probing learning mechanisms.
Optic Neuritis: Clinical Manifestations, Pathophysiology, and Management

Abstract Optic neuritis is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the optic nerve, which usually manifests with acute to subacute unilateral visual loss. Optic neuritis may be the initial manifestation of multiple sclerosis. Patients report retro-orbital pain, central blur, and impaired color vision. MRI of optic nerves may reveal their enhancement following infusion of the gadolinium. Treatment of optic neuritis consists of intravenous corticosteroids.
Robotic Resection of Ectopic Parathyroid Glands in the Superior Posterior Mediastinum

Background: Ectopic parathyroid glands can present in a challenging location in the superior posterior mediastinum. Methods: Two patients with primary hyperparathyroidism were operated on for ectopic paraesophageal parathyroid glands in the superior posterior mediastinum. Sestamibi scan, computed tomography (CT) scan, and photon emission CT were used to identify the exact location of these glands. We describe a minimally invasive resection using a three-arm robotic-assisted thoracoscopic technique. Results: Both lesions were completely resected with using the port-based robotic approach with expedited recovery. There was no perioperative morbidity. Patient had low postoperative pain scores and improved symptomatically. Conclusion: Robotic approach for resection of superior posterior mediastinal parathyroids is safe and effective in this challenging operative location.
Urban forest fragments buffer trees from warming and pests

Trees are important components of urban landscapes because of the ecosystem services they provide. However, the effects of urbanization, particularly high temperatures, can benefit chronic insect pests and threaten ecosystem services offered by urban trees. Urban forest fragments are an often-overlooked component of the greater urban forest which may help to mitigate the damaging effects of urbanization. Melanaspis tenebricosa (gloomy scale) is a common pest of Acer rubrum (red maple) that becomes more abundant because of the urban heat island effect. We conducted observational and manipulative field experiments to test the hypothesis that trees in urban forest fragments would be cooler than those in surrounding ornamental landscapes and would thus have fewer M. tenebricosa, particularly in a hot mid-latitude city. Trees in forest fragments were 1.3° cooler and had three orders of magnitude fewer M. tenebricosa than trees in ornamental landscapes in Raleigh, NC USA. However, there was no difference in M. tenebricosa density between forest and landscape trees in Newark, DE and Philadelphia, PA USA which are 3.95 degrees of latitude higher, and nearer to the northern range extent. Trees in landscapes and forest fragments did not differ in predawn water potential, a measure of water stress, but likely differed in soil composition and moisture. We used potted trees to control for these differences and found that M. tenebricosa density still increased three times more in landscapes than forests suggesting temperature and not tree stress is the dominant factor. Taken together our results indicate two things. First, that trees growing in urban forest fragments are buffered from a chronic urban tree pest due to lower temperatures. Second, that temperature-driven differences in M. tenebricosa density which we saw in Raleigh could predict future density of the pest in higher latitude cities as the climate warms.
Transforming Abandoned Rail Corridors into Multi-purpose Trails: Applying a Spatial Hedonic Approach to Estimating the Economic Benefits of the Little Miami Scenic Trail in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

This research assesses the appreciation in residential property values in connection with proximity to the Little Miami Scenic Trail, a multi-purpose biking, hiking, and jogging trail built along an abandoned railroad corridor near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Applying two spatial hedonic frameworks, the spatial lag of X (SLX) model and the spatial Durbin error model, we conclude that proximity to trail entrances had significant impacts on property values for both, Euclidean and network distance measures. Specifically, the SLX results indicate that decreasing the distance to the closest trail entrance by one foot (meter) increases a house’s property value by US$0.92 (US$3.02) when using network distances.
An Elusive Case of Acute Interstitial Pneumonia

Acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) is a rare and severe form of diffuse lung injury that affects previously healthy individuals. It is a subset of idiopathic lung disease with a rapidly progressive course. The prognosis is poor with over 50% of patients dying during hospital admission from progressive respiratory failure. Presented herein is a case of a previously healthy 64-year-old woman without a prior history of tobacco use who presented with progressive hypoxia, dyspnea, and nonspecific constitutional symptoms.
IoT Malware Analysis

IoT devices can be used to fulfil many of our daily tasks. IoT could be wearable devices, home appliances, or even light bulbs. With the introduction of this new technology, however, vulnerabilities are being introduced and can be leveraged or exploited by malicious users. One common vehicle of exploitation is malicious software, or malware. Malware can be extremely harmful and compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA triad) of information systems. This paper analyzes the types of malware attacks, introduce some mitigation approaches and discusses future challenges.
Communication in prairie grouse: II. Ethological isolating mechanisms

Ethological isolating mechanisms, including interspecific communication, are often critical in maintaining species integrity among closely related, sympatric, avian species. Greater prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse hybridize within a narrow area of sympatry in central United States. This study investigates the reactions of males and females to conspecific and heterospecific stimuli. Males of both species courted live heterospecific hens less than conspecific females on mixed display grounds. Sharptail males, however, showed greater discrimination of live females and taxidermist mounts of hens in the copulatory position compared to prairie chicken males. Males of both species maintained mutually exclusive territories on mixed grounds through similar aggressive displays. Prairie chicken males responded significantly to playbacks of sharptail coos, cork notes, composite sounds, and gobbles. Sharptail males reacted to prairie chicken cackles and booms. All of these vocalizations except composite sounds have aggressive intraspecific functions. Females showed very strong preferences for conspecific males on naturally occurring mixed display grounds and in captivity. Although F1 hybrid hens initially preferred prairie chicken territories in captivity, most hybrid and backcross hens mated with sharptail males. Strong preferences by prairie chickens and sharptail females is expected due to highly developed polygyny and relatively low paternal investment in clutches and broods. Of the possible isolating mechanisms between these species, interspecific communication appears to predominate in areas of sympatry.
Increased hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence in women compared to men with high alpha fetoprotein at liver transplant

Abstract Introduction. Men have higher risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than women. Pre liver transplant (LT) alpha fetoprotein (AFP) levels strongly predict post LT HCC recurrence. Though women with HCC have higher AFP, the contribution of AFP level by gender to post LT HCC recurrence is unknown. Material and methods. In this UNOS-based, retrospective cohort study we investigate sex differences in HCC recurrence among LT recipients with MELD exception between 2006-2010. Covariates include race, disease etiology, co-morbidities, AFP at listing and LT, tumor burden, loco-regional therapy, and donor risk index. HCC recurrence was assessed by competing risks regression. Results. Of the eligible cohort (n = 5,002) included 3,872 men and 1,130 women. HCC recurred in 258 men (7%) and 66 women (6%). Median listing AFP was higher in women than men (14 vs. 11 ng/dL, p Conclusion. This study reveals novel sex differences in post LT HCC recurrence, which was nearly three times higher in women than men with high AFP at LT. Pre-LT AFP levels appear to carry a different prognosis in women than men, and a subset of female LT recipients may benefit from more intensive HCC surveillance after LT.
A Chaos-Based Complex Micro-instruction Set for Mitigating Instruction Reverse Engineering

Chaos computing provides a large number of functions from a single hardware. Large-scale reconfigurability can be achieved flexibly by tuning only a few parameters from a chaos-based computing system. Implementation of reconfigurable complex functions from a single chaos circuit can alleviate area and power concerns due to decreasing technology nodes. It is possible to make a multi-input multi-output complex instruction set using the chaos-generated functionalities where operations are more uniform than conventional implementations. Lack of uniformity in implementation of instructions in traditional computing system provides opportunity for attackers to reverse engineer based on side channel power analysis. In this paper, it is proposed that chaos-based implementation of a complex instruction set is immune to classification-based reverse engineering attack. Cross obfuscation and self obfuscation schemes are proposed in this work which leverage reconfigurability of chaotic system for obfuscating the power profile of the instruction set and it has been made immune to reverse engineering attacks. The design utilizes 3-input multi-output instructions by using a single chaotic iterative map. We analyzed the immunity of this design against classification-based reverse engineering attack for six different classification algorithms with five dimensionality reduction techniques.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE : LES INTELLECTUELS SANS LA CULTURE

Elaboration d’une notion critique de la vocation de l’intellectuel, qui met en cause l’ideologie du desinteret et affirme que l’intellectuel radical doit prendre conscience des rapports de pouvoir implicites dans sa pretention de parler au nom du peuple.
Three-dimensional vortical structures and wall shear stress in a curved artery model

We numerically investigate spatial and temporal evolution of multiple three-dimensional vortex pairs in a curved artery model under a fully developed pulsatile inflow of a Newtonian blood-analog fluid. We discuss the connection along the axial direction between regions of organized vorticity observed at various cross sections of the model, extending previous two-dimensional analysis. We model a human artery with a simple, rigid 180° curved pipe with circular cross section and constant curvature, neglecting effects of taper, torsion, and elasticity. Numerical results are computed from a discontinuous high-order spectral element flow solver using the flux reconstruction scheme and compared to experimental results obtained using particle image velocimetry. The flow rate used in both the simulation and the experiment is physiological. Vortical structures resulting from secondary flow are observed in various cross sections of the curved pipe, in particular, during the deceleration phase of the physiological waveform. We provide side-by-side comparisons of the numerical and experimental velocity and vorticity fields during acceleration and deceleration, the latter during which multiple vortical structures of both Dean-type and Lyne-type coexist. Correlations and quantitative comparisons of the data at these cross sections are computed along with trajectories of Dean-type vortices. Comparing cross-sectional flow fields and vortices provides a means to validate wall shear stress values computed from these numerical simulations, since the evolution of interior flow structures is heavily dependent upon geometry curvature and inflow and boundary conditions.
Durvalumab (D) and PET-directed chemoradiation (CRT) after induction FOLFOX for esophageal adenocarcinoma.

226Background: Based on the positive results of the CALGB 80803 study (J Clin Oncol 2017;35:1 [abstr]), we have added D to induction FOLFOX and pre-op CRT. Methods: Patients (Pts) had TanyN+ or T3-...
Awareness of US Empire and Militarist Ideology: A Survey of College Students from a Southwestern University in the United States

Much scholarship on militarism examines the phenomenon itself rather than determinants of militaristic ideology. We designed and administered a survey to college students and created a Militaristic...
Person, Persona, and Act: The Dark and Light Sides of George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams

The dark side of stand-up comedy can take many forms. This chapter investigates the dark and light sides of George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams. Shouse reflects upon how the personal lives, personae, and stage acts of these iconic stand-up comics made each a tragicomic figure, but for entirely different reasons. Reading the biographies of Carlin, Pryor, and Williams against their personae and stage acts raises important questions about the nature of the oftentimes dark “truths” shared in stand-up comedy. Ultimately, the chapter argues against both the naive temptation to read a comic’s act as a truthful distillation of his or her essential personality and lived experience and the ultra-relativistic idea that truth does not matter and/or is completely impossible to discern in stand-up.
Selecting Participation Activities

Stakeholder engagement requires the sharing of information about preferences between stakeholders and the organization. This can be accomplished through many kinds of participation activities. Some are passive and not specifically shared with the organization. Others are active and can range from one-way to two-way interactions that serve a variety of purposes. Organizations can design data collection strategies that fit the purposes for which they need information. They can also consider the venue in which stakeholder inputs can be gathered. Stakeholder participation can be influenced by the availability of data, time required, nature of the interaction, and intended use of the inputs. Because of this, the relative costs of gathering stakeholder preferences using different activities vary. Deliberately designing participation activities can enhance the transparency of the organization’s activities and increase the representativeness of the data to inform decisions.
Machine learning and law: An overview

Machine learning is an artificial intelligence (AI) approach that is widely used today for automation and prediction. This chapter explores machine learning’s nascent use within the legal domain. The first section highlights the central principles of machine learning. The subsequent discussion considers the relationship between machine learning and law. Machine learning operates by identifying patterns in data, and many aspects of the law can be viewed in terms of data. Such data-oriented features of the law are amenable to machine learning methods. This chapter then explores uses of machine learning technology in law, while recognizing both the technology’s capabilities and limits. It concludes by surveying some contemporary social controversies involving the use of machine learning in the legal context.
The 50 most cited papers in chronic scapholunate reconstruction: a bibliometric analysis

This study identifies the most impactful papers on scapholunate reconstruction and provides a quantitative assessment of the impact of these papers in order to inform future clinical practice, education, and research of this condition. The Scopus database was used in May 2020 to identify the 50 most cited clinical articles pertaining solely to chronic scapholunate reconstruction. Citation number and density, publication variables, and Altmetric Attention Scores (AASs) were collected and analyzed. The top 50 articles on chronic scapholunate reconstruction produced 1,868 total citations, with an average of 37.36 ± 39.90 citations per article (range 7–196) and an average citation density of 2.44 ± 2.27. US-based publications (n = 20) and articles published in Journal of Hand Surgery (n = 24) were associated with significantly higher citation number and density (p < 0.01 – p = 0.018). In addition, sample size was positively correlated with citation density (rho = 0.312, p = 0.029). Fourteen articles were associated with an AAS (mean score = 4.07 ± 4.70). There was no significant association between AAS and citation number or density, but AAS did significantly predict citation density (coefficient = 0.378, 95% CI: [0.013–0.741], p = 0.043). Numerous factors, such as journal of publication, location, and sample size, were significantly associated with citation number and/or citation density. Interestingly, AAS was predictive of, but not directly correlated with citation density, suggesting that the impact of scapholunate literature may not be adequately captured with a citation analysis.
The Role of Reading Anxiety among Struggling Readers in Fourth and Fifth Grade

Cognitive predictors of reading are well known, but less is understood about the roles of “noncognitive” factors, including emotional variables such as anxiety. While math anxiety has been a focus ...
Role of research in public health.

Abstract Environmental health research is at a promising stage for more precisely identifying gene-environment components of disease. Simplistic models and reductionist approaches that have been the norm both in toxicology and in clinical medicine are beginning to be replaced with a more holistic or systems biology approach. We are slowly moving to an understanding that the time between an exposure and its consequence as a diagnosed disease is a time during which many different biochemical changes are occurring and a time during which many biomarkers of disease progression could be identified and used. With such information in hand, clinicians would be able to intervene early in disease progression. With such information, environmental health researchers and policy makers could more reliably identify which elements in our environment need to be controlled or reduced and which populations need the most protection. With such information, the incidence of many human diseases could be dramatically reduced.
Response of Fish and Invertebrate Larvae to Backreef Sounds at Varying Distances: Implications for Habitat Restoration

Underwater sound is used by many marine larvae to orient to coastal habitats including backreef, sponge-dominated hardbottom habitat in the Florida Keys (Florida, USA) – a particularly “noisy” coastal habitat. However, the distance over which acoustic cues are attractive to settlement-stage larvae is generally unknown. We examined this phenomenon in a region of the Florida Keys where mass sponge die-offs have diminished both underwater soundscapes and larval settlement. The absence of pronounced hardbottom-associated sound over such a large area allowed us to experimentally test in situ the response of fish and invertebrate larvae to broadcasted sounds at different distances from their source. We first measured the signal-to-noise ratio of healthy hardbottom habitat soundscapes broadcast from an underwater speaker at seven distances to determine the maximum range of the signal. Based on those results, larval collectors were then deployed at 10, 100, 500, and 1000 m from speakers broadcasting sounds recorded at either degraded or healthy hardbottom sites for five consecutive nights during each of three new and full moon periods in summer/fall 2019. Larval settlement onto those collectors was affected by lunar phase and soundscape type, but varied among species. In most cases, the effect was small and not likely to be ecologically significant. The absence of a strong larval settlement response to a sound cue lies in contrast to results from other studies. We suspect that the small (<500m) radius of the broadcasted soundscapes may have limited the magnitude of the larval response to locally available larvae whose abundance may have been low because the experiment was conducted within a large, relatively quiet seascape. If true, it is possible that planktonic larvae may require a series of acoustic “sign-posts”, perhaps in combination with other cues (e.g., chemical), to successfully orient to distant nursery habitats. Although habitat restoration efforts may be able to restore healthy soundscapes, the typically small size and number of restoration sites may limit the range of the acoustic cue and thus larval attraction to restored habitats.
Predicting Alzheimer's Disease from Combined Slow Gait and Low Activity Fragmentation - is Activity Fragmentation Always Bad?

Background: Among older people, slow walking is a mild predictor of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, studies that assessed this association did not consider slow walking may have different causes and that the increased risk of AD may be limited to a subgroup. We hypothesized that individuals with slow walking who show frequent alternative bouts of activity and rest are more likely to have non-neurological causes of slow walking, while those who fail to use this compensatory strategy despite slow walking are more likely to have neurological causes that put them at higher risk of AD. Methods: We analyzed data on gait speed and activity fragmentation (AF) by accelerometry from 505 initially cognitively normal persons aged 60 and older (51%women, 24%Black). New diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD were adjudicated over a mean of 7·2-years. Associations of gait speed, AF, and their interaction with incident MCI/AD were evaluated by Cox proportional-hazards models, adjusted for covariates. Findings: MCI/AD developed in 64 participants. Each 0·05m/sec slower gait speed was associated with 8% higher risk of MCI/AD (p=0·03). AF alone was not associated with MCI/AD risk (p>0·05), but we found a significant “gait*AF” interaction (p=0·02). At low AF (-1SD), each 0·05 m/sec slower gait speed was associated with 16% higher risk of MCI/AD, while at higher AF (+1SD), gait speed did not predict MCI/AD. Among those with slow gait, higher AF was associated with less decline in pegboard dominant hand performance, higher odds of having lower extremity osteoarthritis, and higher cardiopulmonary burden. Interpretation: Frequent rests among slow walkers are associated with lower risk of future MCI/AD, perhaps because this behavioral strategy indicates lower likelihood of subclinical brain damage. On the contrary, failing to fragment activity in the face of impaired mobility may indicate subclinical brain damage and, therefore, is predictive of MCI/AD. Funding: This study was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging. Declaration of Interest: None declared. Ethical Approval: The BLSA protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the National Institutes of Health. Participants provided written informed consent at each BLSA visit.
Insights into the technology utilized to cultivate microalgae in dairy effluents

Abstract The population increase has brought a number of consequences, such as greater demands for food, fossil fuels, and freshwater. The cultivation of microalgae appears to be an alternative source of food and energy because the biomass of microalgae can yield several products with applications in the fields of bioenergy, agriculture, and human and animal food. However, growing microalgae requires high concentrations of nutrients and water, making it an expensive process for large-scale production. The use of some effluents as culture media for microalgae has become a promising solution to reduce process costs and to obtain effluent treatment. The organic residues present in dairy effluent are considered harmful to the environment due to the high chemical and biochemical oxygen demand. Another problem is the high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. However, these two nutrients are among the main nutrients used to grow microalgae. The ability of microalgae to effectively absorb nutrients from dairy effluent and the concomitant generation of value-added products make this effluent a potential medium for biomass production at a reduced cost. Therefore, this review aims to present recent advances in microalgae biotechnology for the treatment of dairy effluents. In addition, the review contributes to the existing literature by expanding knowledge about replacing drinking water and synthetic nutrients with dairy effluents in the cultivation of microalgae. This review shows the efficiency of the treatment of this effluent by microalgae and the possible applications of microalgae biomass cultivated in dairy effluents.
Topology of the yeast plasma membrane proton-translocating ATPase.

Abstract Four proteases have been used to assess the topology of the H+-ATPase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae reconstituted into phosphatidylserine vesicles. Limited proteolysis by trypsin and alpha-chymotrypsin inactivates the enzyme and produces stable, membrane-bound fragments. Sequence analyses of these peptides have located the peptide bonds hydrolyzed. The labile bonds are on opposite sides of a central hydrophilic domain containing consensus sequences for the site of phosphorylation and fluorescein isothiocyanate binding of several related ATPases. Limited proteolysis of the ATPase by elastase cuts approximately 50 amino acids from the C terminus, leaving the remaining membrane-bound fragments active. Proteolysis by carboxypeptidase Y in the presence and absence of detergent suggests that the C terminus is on the inside of the vesicle in this reconstitution. A model for the transmembrane arrangement of the polypeptide is proposed. In this model, the C terminus is on the inside of the vesicle, the N terminus is on the outside, the ATP binding region is on the outside, and the polypeptide passes through the membrane a minimum of five times.
Lambda-calculus, combinators, and functional programming

Originally published in 1988, this book presents an introduction to lambda-calculus and combinators without getting lost in the details of mathematical aspects of their theory. Lambda-calculus is treated here as a functional language and its relevance to computer science is clearly demonstrated. The main purpose of the book is to provide computer science students and researchers with a firm background in lambda-calculus and combinators and show the applicabillity of these theories to functional programming. The presentation of the material is self-contained. It can be used as a primary text for a course on functional programming. It can also be used as a supplementary text for courses on the structure and implementation of programming languages, theory of computing, or semantics of programming languages.
Binding and aggregation of the 25-kilodalton toxin of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis to cell membranes and alteration by monoclonal antibodies and amino acid modifiers.

Abstract The 25-kilodalton toxin of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis binds irreversibly to Aedes albopictus cells, Choristoneura fumiferana cells, and erythrocytes. The binding to cells increased with both toxin concentration and time and when the cells were first preincubated with unlabeled toxin. Binding data indicated a two- to threefold increase in the rate of binding after the amount of the membrane-bound toxin reached approximately 3.5 fmol/3 x 10(5) A. albopictus cells or 3.3. fmol/2 x 10(5) C. fumiferana cells. When this level of bound toxin was reached, the toxins also began forming aggregates at the cell membrane. The toxin aggregates were extracted with 10% Triton X-100 and separated from the monomers with a 5 to 20% sucrose density gradient. The toxin aggregates isolated from A. albopictus and C. fumiferana cell membranes were ca. 400 kilodaltons, while those isolated from human erythrocytes were significantly smaller. The proportion of the toxin found in aggregate form increased rapidly with the amount of toxin bound; however, the molecular size of the aggregates remained constant. Eleven monoclonal antibodies raised against the native form of the toxin blocked 80 to 97% of the toxin binding to cells. The epitope of one of these monoclonal antibodies was mapped to a domain which included the cysteine, suggesting the importance of the domain around this amino acid to binding. Toxin binding and cell lysis were also inhibited by treating the toxin with HgCl2, further indicating the importance of the C-terminal hydrophobic cysteine-containing domain in cytolytic activity of the 25-kilodalton protein.
Remote stress detection using a visible spectrum camera

Heart rate variability (HRV) can be an important indicator of several conditions that affect the autonomic nervous system, including traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and peripheral neuropathy. Recent work has shown that some of the HRV features can potentially be used for distinguishing a subject’s normal mental state from a stressed one. In all of these past works, HRV analysis is performed on the cardiac activity data acquired by conventional electrocardiography electrodes, which may introduce additional stress and complexity to the acquired data. In this paper we use remotely acquired time-series data extracted from the human facial skin reflectivity signal during rest and mental stress conditions to compute HRV driven features. We further apply a set of classification algorithms to distinguishing between these two states. To determine heart beat signal from the facial skin reflectivity, we apply Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for denoising and Independent Component Analysis (ICA) for source selection. To determine the signal peaks to extract the RR-interval time-series, we apply a threshold-based detection technique and additional peak conditioning algorithms. To classify RR-intervals, we explored classification algorithms that are commonly used for medical applications such as logistic regression and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Goodness of each classifier is measured in terms of sensitivity/specificity. Results from each classifier are then compared to find the optimal classifier for stress detection. This work, performed under an IRB approved protocol, provides initial proof that remotely-acquired heart rate signal can be used for stress detection. This result shows promise for further development of a remote-sensing stress detection technique both for medical and deception-detection applications.
Spatially Structured Random Effects: A Comparison of Three Popular Specifications

Random effects models are increasing in popularity (see, for example, Demidenko, 2004), partially because they have become estimable. One common specification is for the intercept term to be cast as a random effects, resulting in it representing variability about the conventional single-value, constant mean. The role of a random effects in this context may be twofold: (1) supporting inferences beyond the specific fixed values of covariates employed in an analysis; and, (2) accounting for correlation in a non-random sample of data being analyzed. Including a random effects term moves a frequentist analysis a bit closer to a Bayesian analysis, given that, for instance, the intercept term becomes a random variable rather than being a constant, and has a prior probability distribution (usually normal) attached to it. Nevertheless, a bone fide Bayesian analysis would have a random variable for each of the n intercept term components comprising such a random effects, maintaining some degree of differentiation here between the frequentist and Bayesian approaches.
Equilibrium states and ergodic properties of infinite systems

We discuss the ergodic theoretic structure of infinite classical systems and present results on the ergodic properties of some simple model systems, e.g. ideal gas, Lorentz gas, Harmonic crystal. (The ergodic properties of the latter system are shown to be related in a simple way to the spectrum of the force matrix; when the spectrum is absolutely continuous, as in the translation invariant crystal, the flow is Bernoulli.) We argue that ergodic properties, suitably refined by the inclusion of space translations, and other structure, are important for an understanding of non-equilibrium properties of macroscopic systems, [1–5].