cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Deep procedural sedation by a sedationist team for outpatient pediatric renal biopsies

To date, no study has analyzed the use of deep PS for pediatric renal biopsies by a dedicated sedation team in an outpatient setting. Retrospective analysis of renal biopsies performed at CHOA from 2009 to 2013. Patient demographics, procedure success, and sedation-related events were analyzed. Logistic regression techniques were applied to identify characteristics associated with procedure safety and success. A total of 174 biopsies from 136 patients, aged 2-21 yr, were reviewed. Of the 174 biopsies, 63 of 174 (36%) were from native, and 111 of 174 (64%) were from transplanted kidneys, respectively. No deaths, allograft losses, or unanticipated hospital admissions occurred. The most commonly utilized interventions during sedation were blow-by oxygen (29.9%) and CPAP (12.1%). Children receiving the combination of F + P had significantly higher biopsy success rates vs. other drug combinations (96.1% vs. 79%; p = 0.014). There was no difference in complication rates regardless of drug combination or biopsy type (transplanted vs. native). The combination of F + P yields a high procedural success rate for outpatient native and transplanted kidney biopsies. We identified a number of sedation-related events that can be easily managed by a well-trained sedationist team.
Speciation of C6H6 Isomers by Gas Chromatography-Matrix Isolation Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy−Mass Spectrometry

Isomeric C6H6 species produced by high-pressure shock tube pyrolysis of 1,5-hexadiyne have been investigated by gas chromatography-matrix isolation FTIR spectroscopy-mass spectrometry. In addition to benzene (stable end product) and 1,5-hexadiyne (starting material), six isomeric C6H6 species have been identified on the basis of spectroscopic characteristics. The results are consistent with theoretical predictions of stable species that will be formed in the pyrolysis of 1,5-hexadiyne and key species have been positively identified for the first time.
Population characteristics of channel catfish near the northern edge of their distribution: implications for management

Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), populations in six lakes in northern Idaho, USA, were sampled to describe their population characteristics. During the summers of 2011 and 2012, 4864 channel catfish were sampled. Channel catfish populations had low to moderate catch rates, and length structure was dominated by fish <400 mm. Channel catfish were in good body condition. All populations were maintained by stocking age-1 or age-2 fish. Growth of fish reared in thermally enriched environments prior to stocking was fast compared to other North American channel catfish populations. After stocking, growth of channel catfish declined rapidly. Once stocked, cold water temperatures, prey resources and (or) genetic capabilities limited growth. Total annual mortality of age 2 and older channel catfish was generally <40%. Tag returns indicated that angler exploitation was low, varying from 0 to 43% among lakes. This research provides insight on factors regulating channel catfish population dynamics and highlights important considerations associated with their ecology and management.
FEDERAL — STATE — LOCAL SHARING IN AIR POLLUTION CONTROL

Whether forced by the circumstances of states predating a viable central government, convinced by pure logic of inter-level division of powers for a large land mass, or moved to innovate, the constitutionframers did provide for adaptive sharing of governmental functions. Never described as "efficient," this adaptive model has permitted an astounding array of cooperative and conflictual patterns in the administration of public business. The variations seem boundlesswhether between issue-areas, the same issue-area over time, or between levels of government in the same issue-area. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the policy implications of the emerging federal-state-local sharing system in air pollution control. Special emphasis is devoted to stationary source pollution. Given the uniformity of the emission source and the lack of widespread state-local action, the federal government preempted motor vehicle emissions regulation within two years of authorizing federal controls. Stationary source control, on the other hand, has traditionally been a state-local (primarily local) responsibility-an exercise of police power and/or authority to regulate public nuisances.2
The phosphate clamp as recognition motif in platinum–DNA interactions

Abstract This review summarizes studies on substitution-inert polynuclear platinum complexes (PPCs) which bind to DNA through the phosphate clamp – a discrete mode of DNA–ligand recognition distinct from the canonical intercalation and minor-groove binding. Especially, this review concentrates on comparing the binding and conformational changes induced by trinuclear platinum complexes with dinuclear spermine-linked complexes. The protonated central polyamine – + NH 2 –(CH 2 ) 4 –N + H 2 – of spermine allows direct comparison with the central Pt(tetraamine) moiety of the trinuclear complexes. The weight of the evidence suggests that while overall charge on the small molecule determines binding affinity, the presence of minor groove spanning from the phosphate clamp is important in conformational changes and in sequence selectivity.
Microstructure and hardness of P92 steel

Microstructure and hardness evolution of P92 steel tempered at different temperatures were studied by Brinell hardness tester,optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometer.Results show that normalized P92 steel consists of martensite,retained austenite and M23C6 precipitates.It is found that when the tempering temperature is above 600 ℃,all the retained austenite can be dissociated.Under temperature of 400 ℃,no obviously change is observed for the martensite lath structure and dislocation configuration,and the precipitation amount of M23C6 is relatively low while the hardness of P92 steel remains stable.Due to subgrain strengthening and precipitation strengthening of fine M23C6 at 500 ℃,a rational increase of hardness is observed.A further increase of tempering temperature causes gradual decrease of the hardness,which is due to high-temperature recovery of martensite,decrease of dislocation density and ripening of M23C6.
Advanced Topics in Recommender Systems

Recommender systems are often used in a number of specialized settings that are not covered in previous chapters of this book. In many cases, the recommendations are performed in settings where there might be multiple users or multiple evaluation criteria. For example, consider a scenario where a group of tourists wish to take a vacation together. Therefore, they may want to obtain recommendations that match the overall interests of the various members in the group. In other scenarios, users may use multiple criteria to provide ratings to items. These variations in the problem formulation can sometimes make the prediction problem more challenging. In particular, we will study the following advanced variations of recommender systems in this chapter:
Digital holographic phase imaging of particles embedded in microscopic structures in three dimensions

We present a three-dimensional microscopic technique based on digital holographic imaging, which allows highly accurate axial localization of features inside of a three dimensional sample. When a light wave is propagating through, or reflecting from, a microscopic object, the phase changes can be converted into intensity variations using the existing digital microscopic techniques. The phase change indicates the change in the optical path length, which can be then converted to physical thickness, providing the sample height information. This property of holograms is used in phasecontrast techniques, and can also be used for quantitative 3D imaging. However, if the sample contains features with different indices of refraction, this method can only provide the overall optical thickness, and cannot determine where in the axial direction the particular feature is located. As a result, the application of Digital Holographic Microscopy to imaging of organelles within live cells, or defects within semiconductor substrates, is limited to overall morphology of the sample. To determine the axial location of features inside of a three dimensional sample, we developed a phase image processing method based on analyzing images taken from non-zero incident angles. When compared, these images can discriminate between various axial depths of features, while still retaining the information about the overall thickness profile of the sample.
Phospho-site mutants of the RNA Polymerase II C-terminal domain alter subtelomeric gene expression and chromatin modification state in fission yeast

Eukaryotic gene expression requires that RNA Polymerase II (RNAP II) gain access to DNA in the context of chromatin. The C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNAP II recruits chromatin modifying enzymes to promoters, allowing for transcription initiation or repression. Specific CTD phosphorylation marks facilitate recruitment of chromatin modifiers, transcriptional regulators, and RNA processing factors during the transcription cycle. However, the readable code for recruiting such factors is still not fully defined and how CTD modifications affect related families of genes or regional gene expression is not well understood. Here, we examine the effects of manipulating the Y1S2P3T4S5P6S7 heptapeptide repeat of the CTD of RNAP II in Schizosaccharomyces pombe by substituting non-phosphorylatable alanines for Ser2 and/or Ser7 and the phosphomimetic glutamic acid for Ser7. Global gene expression analyses were conducted using splicing-sensitive microarrays and validated via RT-qPCR. The CTD mutations did not affect pre-mRNA splicing or snRNA levels. Rather, the data revealed upregulation of subtelomeric genes and alteration of the repressive histone H3 lysine 9 methylation (H3K9me) landscape. The data further indicate that H3K9me and expression status are not fully correlated, suggestive of CTD-dependent subtelomeric repression mechansims that act independently of H3K9me levels.
A Novel Continuous Assay for the Mechanistic Characterization of Histone Deacetylases and Homologues Using a Small Molecule Fluorescent Substrate

DNA associated with histone proteins is organized into nucleosomes, which are then arranged into higher-order structures known as chromatin. The N-terminal tails of histone proteins are the sites of many different types of modifications including acetylation, phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and methylation, each of which plays a role in the dynamic remodeling of chromatin [1]. Acetylation of the 8-amino group of specific lysine residues achieved by histone acetyltransferase (HAT) enzymes results in transcriptional activation and gene expression. Hyperacetylation is believed to enable transcription factors access to the DNA by neutralizing the positive charge on lysine residues that promotes tight association with the negatively charged phosphate backbone of DNA. On the other hand, hypoacetylation mediated by histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes is associated with repression of gene expression and the maintenance of transcriptionally silent chromatin. There are three different classes of HDAC enzymes, with class I/II being zinc dependent metallohydrolases and class III being NAD+-dependent transacetylases [2]. Hos3 is a prototypical member of the class I/II zinc dependent HDACs from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. HDACs have been shown to interact with, or be recruited by, many well-known tumor supressors and oncogenes [3]. As a result, inhibitors of the HDAC function have been shown to be effective therapeutic agents for the treatment of human cancers [4,5].
Diet Quality—The Greeks Had It Right!

The Mediterranean diet is upheld in the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines as an example of an eating pattern that promotes good health, a healthy body weight, and disease prevention throughout the lifespan. The Mediterranean eating pattern is based on a variety of unprocessed plant foods including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds that are high in polyphenols. The majority of polyphenols arrive in the colon where bacteria degrade them into smaller phenolics that can be translocated via the portal vein to the liver. In the liver, the phenolics undergo additional biotransformation prior to release into the circulation and transport to specific tissues where bioactive effects take place before removal in the urine. Recent epidemiologic studies using improved assessment techniques support that high versus low dietary polyphenol intake predicts reduced risk for neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, and early death from all causes. Emerging science reveals that many of these health-related benefits can be traced to the biotransformed, gut-derived phenolics. In conclusion, the high consumption of unprocessed plant foods by inhabitants of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea has been linked to multiple health and disease prevention benefits that are in large part due to a varied intake of polyphenols.
Detection of iron overload with the ORNL Spallation Neutron Source: An MCNPX simulation study

In previous work we have demonstrated the use of neutrons to detect iron overload in the liver. We are developing a non-invasive technique to measure liver iron concentration in the human body through neutron inelastic scatter spectroscopy. The measurement is performed using an incident neutron beam that scatters inelastically with iron nuclei in the liver, causing characteristic gamma emission that is used to quantify the tissue iron content. Due to its high neutron flux, the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at ORNL presents an attractive option for initial development and optimization of the technique. In this manuscript we describe a simulation study to evaluate feasibility of the SNS beam for iron overload detection in the liver. An MCNPX simulation was developed to model the parameters of the SNS beam and scan a liver phantom with tissue iron content varying from 2 mg/g (mild iron overloaded) to 10 mg/g (severe iron overload). A torso phantom filled with water was placed around the liver and used to simulate scattering effects of the human torso. The emitted gamma spectrum was acquired with a simulated ring detector. Background subtraction was performed by substituting the liver with a water phantom. Background corrected spectra were analyzed to identify gamma lines corresponding to iron in the liver tissue. Statistically significant differences with p ≪ 0.05 were identified for the 56Fe gamma line at 847 keV. Counts in the gamma line were found to be higher in the 10 mg/g sample by a factor of 4.72, differing by less than 6% from the expected value of 5. These results demonstrate the feasibility of the SNS beam to determine iron content in liver tissue.
Miniaturization of a high-frequency dual linearly polarized dipole for vehicular communications

This paper discusses the results of an ongoing study aimed at the miniaturization of a dual linearly polarized crossed dipole antenna at 7 MHz, which can be used for near vertical incidence skywave (NVIS) communication. The goal is to achieve 24 kHz bandwidth and −10 dBi gain when placed on a vehicle. It is shown that the requirements are met with a 3 m long (λ/14) inverted V crossed dipole placed at the rear corner of the vehicle.
Predictive active power-flow control of two-way wireless power transfer system in V2G services

This paper presents a new methodology of active power flow control for a bidirectional inductive wireless power transfer (BIWPT) system in electric vehicle (EV) ancillary services based on the system analytical model. The controller exists on the vehicle side to consider the EV's owner's desire for providing energy to the other sources. The owner is able to choose between three different control modes; Charge, Discharge and Abstain (no interaction). The controller considers the EV's battery state-of-charge (SOC) which is provided by the battery management system (BMS). The control parameters are predicted based on a simple and an accurate analytical model for the BIWPT system. The misalignment effect on the controller performance is considered by adaptively estimating the wireless pads mutual inductance. The proposed controller is implemented and tested by means of simulations and experiments for stationary and quasi-dynamic wireless power transfer situations.
Using large eddy simulations to reveal the size, strength, and phase of updraft and downdraft cores of an Arctic mixed phase stratocumulus cloud†

Three-dimensional large eddy simulations (LES) are used to analyze a springtime Arctic mixed-phase stratocumulus observed on 26 April 2008 during the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC). Two subgrid-scale turbulence parameterizations are compared. The first scheme is a 1.5-order turbulent kinetic energy (1.5-TKE) parameterization that has been previously applied to boundary layer cloud simulations. The second scheme, Cloud Layers Unified By Binormals (CLUBB), provides higher-order turbulent closure with scale-awareness. The simulations, in comparisons with observations, show that both schemes produce the liquid profiles within measurement variability, but underpredict ice water mass and overpredict ice number concentration. The simulation using CLUBB underpredicted liquid water path more than the simulation using the 1.5-TKE scheme, so the turbulent length scale and horizontal grid box size were increased to increase liquid water path and reduce dissipative energy. The LES simulations show this stratocumulus cloud to maintain a closed cellular structure, similar to observations. The updraft and downdraft cores self-organize into a larger meso-γ scale convective pattern with the 1.5-TKE scheme, but the cores remain more isotropic with the CLUBB scheme. Additionally, the cores are often composed of liquid and ice instead of exclusively containing one or the other. These results provide insight into traditionally unresolved and unmeasurable aspects of an Arctic mixed-phase cloud. From analysis, this cloud's updraft and downdraft cores appear smaller than other closed-cell stratocumulus such as midlatitude stratocumulus and Arctic autumnal mixed-phase stratocumulus due to the weaker downdrafts and lower precipitation rates.
Understanding Volunteer AT Fabricators: Opportunities and Challenges in DIY-AT for Others in e-NABLE

We present the results of a study of e-NABLE, a distributed, collaborative volunteer effort to design and fabricate upper-limb assistive technology devices for limb-different users. Informed by interviews with 14 stakeholders in e-NABLE, including volunteers and clinicians, we discuss differences and synergies among each group with respect to motivations, skills, and perceptions of risks inherent in the project. We found that both groups are motivated to be involved in e-NABLE by the ability to use their skills to help others, and that their skill sets are complementary, but that their different perceptions of risk may result in uneven outcomes or missed expectations for end users. We offer four opportunities for design and technology to enhance the stakeholders' abilities to work together.
Nutritional Support in the Neurointensive Care Unit

Acute neurological injuries result in activation of sympathetic and inflammatory pathways that have significant impact on the resting metabolic rate. The resultant hypermetabolic state, if not fully supported, can result in a malnourished state, influence secondary complications, and impair the recovery process. Therefore, it is important to recognize the nutritional status of patients in the neurocritical care setting. Unfortunately, much of the data supporting nutritional support is derived from studies in a general critical care population and does not address specific needs for the neurologically injured patient population. This chapter will provide an updated review of the literature on methods by which to monitor and manage nutritional status for common diseases in the neurocritical care setting. Additionally, new concepts of providing nutritional interventions as targeted therapies modulating the immune response after neurological injury will be discussed.
Winterbottom, Tom. A Cultural History of Rio de Janeiro after 1889: Glorious Decadence. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

All intellectual production on Brazil made outside Brazil must deal with a series of challenges inherent to this condition. One of these challenges is to read Brazil on its own terms, without using the author’s place of origin as reference for comparison; another is having to introduce fundamental themes of Brazilian history and culture to an audience often unfamiliar with them, while at the same time discussing in depth these same themes with the familiarized reader.
Factors that Influence Residents’ Support for Environmental Development along the Haeparang Trail, South Korea

The Korean government established Haeparang Trail, a 770-km paved trail that intersects 10 cities in Korea’s eastern region. The trail is frequented by residents, domestic visitors, and international tourists, which has enhanced the local and regional economies. The purpose of this study is to examine the interrelationship among host community residents’ attitudes toward the government’s tourism planning, perception of tourism impact, quality of life, and support for environmental development within the context of this trail. A conceptual model was empirically tested based on data collected from 496 residents in four cities. Findings indicate that residents’ attitudes toward the government’s tourism planning positively enhance their perceptions of tourism’s impact and quality of life. Consequently, residents’ support for environmental development is significantly influenced by their perceptions of tourism’s impact and quality of life. Overall, the results identify the factors that influence community residents’ support for environmental development initiatives, which can assist the government in planning and policy formulation. Subscribe to JPRA
Salesperson regulatory knowledge and sales performance

Abstract Salesperson knowledge is an important factor leading to sales performance. Extant literature, however, is silent on the impact of a specific sub-dimension of knowledge—namely, regulatory knowledge or a salesperson's understanding of his or her industry's regulatory environment. This study proposes that salesperson regulatory knowledge is positively associated with sales performance and that individual-level factors (i.e., self-efficacy and customer orientation) and the industry-level factor regulatory turbulence positively moderate this direct effect. Furthermore, the study predicts that the firm-level factor organizational entrepreneurial orientation (EO) positively influences salesperson regulatory knowledge. Two studies analyzing business-to-business salespeople test the conceptual model. The results show that regulatory knowledge is positively associated with sales performance and that customer orientation and industry regulatory turbulence positively moderate this relationship. The findings also reveal that organizational EO is an antecedent to salesperson regulatory knowledge.
Carbon Dioxide Effects on Nerve Cell Function

In this paper we will examine the sensitivity of three distinct populations of nerve cells to CO2. The aims of the study are threefold: first, to separate specific effects of CO2 from pH effects; secondly, to determine the variety of nerve cell responses to CO2 and, if possible, make some generalizations about the effects of this agent; and finally, to understand the ionic mechanisms of this response. Unfortunately, this third goal has not to date at all been achieved.
Competing for the Crown: Rebel Group Competition and Civilian Victimization in Civil War

Recent analyses demonstrate that inter-group dynamics among rebels have important implications for conflict processes. Fragmentation, factionalism, and competition among independent non-state actor organizations shape the strategies adopted by states and rebel factions as well as conflict outcomes. We expand on this literature by examining the influence of competition among rebel groups on civilian victimization. We argue that volatility within a conflict system contributes to an increase in civilian targeting by rebel groups. More specifically, the likelihood of a given rebel group victimizing civilians is partly a function of threat to the group’s access to necessary conflict resources, including civilian support, trade in lucrative commodities, and control of territory. The emergence of rival challengers represents a threat to the existing group’s market share within the conflict system. The “shock” created by the entry of new actors as well as the decline in market share the new group produces temporary increases in civilian targeting. We evaluate hypotheses drawn from this argument using monthly conflict events data for a sample of African civil conflicts between 1989 and 2008. The results of the regression analyses support these hypotheses.
Molecular Pathology of Rickettsial Lung Infections

Rickettsial infections of humans comprise a diverse group of infections caused by pathogens that are obligate intracellular bacteria with a genetic relationship, including the genera Rickettsia, Orientia, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma. The host cells of these pathogens largely belie the systemic clinical manifestations, because Rickettsia and Orientia infect endothelial cells, and Ehrlichia and Anaplasma infect circulating leukocytes (monocytes and neutrophils, respectively). Thus, the predominant manifestations (fever, headache, myalgia, with or without rash) do not usually focus attention on the respiratory system; however, the underlying pathogenesis of these infections involves degrees of vascular compromise either by direct injury and inflammation or by the action of vasoactive proinflammatory molecules such as cytokines, chemokines, and prostaglandins. Given that the lung possesses the largest vascular bed in the human body, it is not surprising that pulmonary involvement is periodically identified and, when severely affected, is considered a potentially life-threatening complication.1,2
Elementary school classroom physical activity breaks: student, teacher, and facilitator perspectives

Current physical activity (PA) guidelines recommend that children accumulate at least 60 min of PA each day, and that adults should collaborate across sectors to increase opportunities for PA. Impl...
A Longitudinal Investigation of Siblings’ and Friends’ Features of Connectedness and Interaction Quality During Play

The present study examined features of sibling and friend dyads’ connectedness (e.g., length and emotional tone of connected sequences) and the quality of the dyads’ interactions during play from e...
EPA's ROLE IN STANDARDS SETTING

EPA's role in setting radiation protection standards is reviewed. In addition, highlights are included of EPA's programs concerning Uranium Fuel Cycle Standards, Plutonium Standards, and Federal Radiation Protection Guidance.
Optimal seasonal irrigation application analysis.

The concept of an optimal seasonal depth of infiltrated water for an irrigated crop is developed for the case when the yield is a quadratic function of the depth of water infiltrated, and the water distribution function is known. The cost of drainage is taken into consideration for those situations when the infiltrated depth is large enough to cause reductions in yield or large enough to warrant installation of a drainage system because of water logging or drainage problems elsewhere. In addition, the cost of leached nutrients or penalties or both for excess deep percolation are considered. An example is used to show how to determine the optimal infiltrated depth when the yield function and water distribution function are known. It is also shown how one can determine how much additional capital can be spent to improve an irrigation system’s uniformity in order to increase the profit.
Fabrication of Hydrogen-Selective Silica Membranes via Pyrolysis of Vapor Deposited Polymer Films

Efficient separation of hydrogen under steam reforming conditions is important for the development of clean energy sources. Although high-temperature and steam-stable membranes with high fluxes and large separation factors would be valuable for such an application, their fabrication remains a challenge. Silicon-based ceramic membranes are particularly promising due to their high temperature resistance and excellent chemical stability. In this study, we propose a new synthetic route for fabricating nanoporous, asymmetric membranes via the pyrolysis of silicon-containing polymer films deposited by initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) on macroporous silicon carbide supports. Specifically, we systematically investigated the change in the chemical structure of poly(2,4,6,8-tetravinyl-2,4,6,8-tetramethyl cyclotetrasiloxane) films at different pyrolysis temperatures and found that the complete transition to a silica membrane occurred at ∼1100 °C. Three different supports composed of silicon carbide powders...
Pharmacological inhibition of NPY receptors illustrates dissociable features of experimental colitis in the mouse DSS model: Implications for preclinical evaluation of efficacy in an inflammatory bowel disease model

Administration of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to rodents at varying concentrations and exposure times is commonly used to model human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Currently, the criteria used to assess IBD-like pathology seldom include surrogate measures of visceral pain. Thus, we sought to standardize the model and then identify surrogate measures to assess effects on visceral pain. We used various 4% DSS protocols and evaluated effects on weight loss, colon pathology, biochemistry, RNA signature, and open field behavior. We then tested the therapeutic potential of NPY Y1 and/or Y2 receptor inhibition for the treatment of IBD pathology using this expanded panel of outcome measures. DSS caused weight loss and colon shrinkage, increased colon NPY and inflammatory cytokine expression, altered behaviors in the open field and induced a distinct gene metasignature that significantly overlapped with that of human IBD patients. Inhibition of Y1 and/or Y2 receptors failed to improve gross colon pathology. Y1 antagonism significantly attenuated colon inflammatory cytokine expression without altering pain-associated behaviors while Y2 antagonism significantly inhibited pain-associated behaviors in spite of a limited effect on inflammatory markers. A protocol using 7 days of 4% DSS most closely modeled human IBD pathology. In this model, rearing behavior potentially represents a tool for evaluating visceral pain/discomfort that may be pharmacologically dissociable from other features of pathology. The finding that two different NPY receptor antagonists exhibited different efficacy profiles highlights the benefit of including a variety of outcome measures in IBD efficacy studies to most fully evaluate the therapeutic potential of experimental treatments.
Development of a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure for Mohs Reconstruction.

Objective: There are currently no validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to specifically evaluate quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes for patients undergoing Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS)...
N 14 ( α , α ) N 14 and N 14 ( α , p ) O 17 Differential Cross Sections

The ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}(\ensuremath{\alpha}, \ensuremath{\alpha}){\mathrm{N}}^{14}$ and ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}(\ensuremath{\alpha}, p){\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ differential cross sections have been measured for $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle bombarding energies from 2.0 to 3.8 Mev. A differentially pumped gas scattering chamber was used. The ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}(\ensuremath{\alpha}, \ensuremath{\alpha}){\mathrm{N}}^{14}$ differential cross sections were measured at center-of-mass angles of 170.8\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, 140.6\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, 125.1\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, and 91.0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. Resonances were observed at 2.351, 2.370, 2.767, 2.868, 2.870, 3.080, 3.576 Mev and \ensuremath{\sim}3.67 and \ensuremath{\sim}3.71 Mev.The ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}(\ensuremath{\alpha}, p){\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ differential cross sections were measured for $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle bombarding energies from 2.7 to 3.8 Mev at center-of-mass angles of 169.7\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, 135.6\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, 119.0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, and 84.7\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. Resonances in the ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}(\ensuremath{\alpha}, p){\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ differential cross section were observed at $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle bombarding energies of 2.868, 3.080, and 3.69 Mev.
Belief in the Code of the Street and Individual Involvement in Offending: A Meta-Analysis:

Anderson’s Code of the Street thesis suggests that stronger belief in, and adherence to, subcultural “street code” norms increases the risk of criminal and aggressive behaviors, particularly among ...
Impact of The Community Eligibility Provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act on Student Nutrition, Behavior, and Academic Outcomes: 2011–2019

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows high-poverty schools participating in US Department of Agriculture meal programs to offer universal free breakfast and lunch. Authorized as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, CEP became available to eligible schools nationwide in 2014.Emerging evidence suggests that schools that provide universal free meals experience positive impacts on student nutrition, behavior, and academic performance. In particular, schools benefit from increased meal participation rates. There is mixed evidence of impacts on test scores and attendance, and limited but promising results showing improvements in weight outcomes, on-time grade promotion rates, disciplinary referrals, and food security.In this article, we summarize the growing evidence base and suggest policy approaches to increase the use of CEP by eligible schools.
Industry 4.0 in Logistics and Supply Chain Management: A Systematic Literature Review

“Industry 4.0” is a concept that focuses on automation of system and process, digitalization, and data exchange in industries. Its goal is to achieve a smart factory to reduce lead time to respond ...
What we think about when we think about predictive processing

The predictive processing framework (PPF) attempts to tackle deep philosophical problems, including how the brain generates consciousness, how our bodies influence cognition, and how cognition alters perception. As such, it provides a zeitgeist that incorporates concepts from physics, computer science, mathematics, artificial intelligence, economics, psychology, and neuroscience, leveraging and, in turn, influencing recent advances in reinforcement learning and deep learning that underpin the artificial intelligence in many of the applications with which we interact daily. PPF purports to provide no less than a grand unifying theory of mind and brain function, underwriting an account of perception, cognition, and action and their dynamic relationships. While mindful of legitimate criticisms of the framework, to which we return below, an important test of PPF is its utility in accounting for individual differences such as psychopathology. These, then, are the central concern of this special section of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology: What is the state of the art with regards to applying the PPF to the symptoms of mental illness? How might we leverage its insights to elevate and systematize our explanations, and ideally treatments, of those symptoms? And, conversely, can we refine and refute aspects of the PPF by considering the particular challenges that our patients experience as departures from the parametric estimates of the PPF? (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Scalable and Actionable Performance Measures for Traffic Signal Systems using Probe Vehicle Trajectory Data

Scalable and actionable performance measures for traffic signal systems provide opportunities for practitioners to measure and improve the transportation network. Historically, traffic signal impro...
Trade Policy, Economic Interests and Party Politics in a Developing Country: The Political Economy of CAFTA

Developing countries have increasingly opened their economies to trade. Research about trade policy in developed countries focuses on a bottom-up process by identifying economic preferences of domestic groups. We know less about developing countries. We analyze how economic and political variables influenced Costa Rican voters in a referendum on CAFTA, an international trade agreement. We find little support for Stolper-Samuelson models of economic preferences, but more support for specific factor models. We also isolate the effects of political parties on the referendum, controlling for many economic factors; we document how at least one party influenced voters and this made the difference for CAFTA passage. Politics, namely parties using their organizational strength to cue and frame messages for voters, influenced this important trade policy decision. Theories about trade policy need to take into account top-down political factors along with economic interests.
Predator- and competitor-induced responses in amphibian populations that evolved different levels of pesticide tolerance

Exposure to agrochemicals can drive rapid phenotypic and genetic changes in exposed populations. For instance, amphibian populations living far from agriculture (a proxy for agrochemical exposure) exhibit low pesticide tolerance, but they can be induced to possess high tolerance following a sublethal pesticide exposure. In contrast, amphibian populations close to agriculture exhibit high, constitutive tolerance to pesticides. A recent study has demonstrated that induced pesticide tolerance appears to have arisen from plastic responses to predator cues. As a result, we might expect that selection for constitutive pesticide tolerance in populations near agriculture (i.e., genetic assimilation) will lead to the evolution of constitutive responses to natural stressors. Using 15 wood frog (Rana sylvatica) populations from across an agricultural gradient, we conducted an outdoor mesocosm experiment to examine morphological (mass, body length, and tail depth) and behavioral responses (number of tadpoles observed and overall activity) of tadpoles exposed to three stressor environments (no-stressor, competitors, or predator cues). We discovered widespread differences in tadpole traits among populations and stressor environments, but no population-by-environment interaction. Subsequent linear models revealed that population distance to agriculture (DTA) was occasionally correlated with tadpole traits in a given environment and with magnitudes of plasticity, but none of the correlations were significant after Bonferroni adjustment. The magnitudes of predator and competitor plasticity were never correlated with the magnitude of pesticide-induced plasticity that we documented in a companion study. These results suggest that while predator-induced plasticity appears to have laid the foundation for the evolution of pesticide-induced plasticity and its subsequent genetic assimilation, inspection of population-level differences in plastic responses show that the evolution of pesticide-induced plasticity has not had a reciprocal effect on the evolved plastic responses to natural stressors.
An international perspective of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract Background Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) accounts for a substantial proportion of sudden cardiac events globally, with hundreds of thousands of cases reported annually in the United States. The mortality rate of patients who suffer OHCA remains high despite extensive utilization of resources. Objectives We aim to describe the current landscape of OHCA during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide an overview of the logistical challenges and resuscitation protocols amongst emergency medical service (EMS) personnel. Discussion Recent studies in Italy, New York City, and France characterized a significant increase in OHCA incidence in conjunction with the arrival of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The presence of the pandemic challenged existing protocols for field resuscitation of cardiac arrest patients as the pandemic necessitated prioritization of EMS personnel and other healthcare providers' safety through stringent personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements. Studies also characterized difficulties encountered by the first responder system during COVID-19, such as dispatcher overload, increased response times, and adherence to PPE requirements, superimposed on PPE shortages. The lack of guidance by governmental agencies and specialty organizations to provide unified safety protocols for resuscitation led to the development of different resuscitative protocols globally. Conclusions The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic modified the approach of first responders to OHCA. With the rise in OCHA during the pandemic in several geographic regions and the risks of disease transmission with superimposed equipment shortages, novel noninvasive, adjunct tools, such as point of care ultrasound, warrant consideration. Further prehospital studies should be considered to optimize OHCA and resource management while minimizing risk to personnel.
EFFECTS OF SPEED OF VISUAL PROCESSING TRAINING UPON NON-VISUAL ATTENTION IN "AT-RISK" OLDER DRIVERS

Reduction in a measure known as the Useful Field of View (UFOV) is a risk factor for car crash involvement in older drivers. This measure depends on aspects of visual attention (divided attention, selective attention, and speed of processing). UFOV scores can be improved through speed of processing training, and this improvement may transfer to enhanced driving performance. This preliminary analysis addresses the hypothesis that training of visual speed of processing can improve performance in attention-demanding tasks that are processed outside the visual domain.
Shaming in Corporate Law

Along with the burgeoning legal literature on norms has come a renewed interest in the use of shaming sanctions as an alternative to standard forms of punishment. Shaming enthusiasts such as Professor Dan Kahan have argued that shaming sanctions can be used either as an independent sanction, or to supplement sanctions such as fines that might not otherwise convey an adequate amount of moral disapproval. Shaming skeptics worry that shaming sanctions will lead to idiosyncratic or unpredictable enforcement. This Article focuses on the role that shaming can or could play in corporate law. Although this Article is not the first to consider corporate shaming, it seeks to extend the literature in at least two respects. First, the Article provides the most detailed examination to date of what we might call the "anatomy" of corporate shaming - the role and limitations of the enforcer; the enforcement community (or audience); and, most interestingly in corporate law, the target, which can be the firm itself, individual managers, or both. Second, the Article significantly expands the focus of the shaming inquiry. The existing literature, both in the corporate context and elsewhere, has focused almost entirely on the use of shaming sanctions as a penalty for violating a criminal or certain kinds of civil laws (such as non-criminal environmental provisions). From this perspective, the enforcer is always a court. Yet private parties also shame wayward directors and firms. In the corporate law context, shareholder activists and the financial press have made frequent use of shaming techniques. Each time CalPERS publishes a list of underperforming firms, for instance, one of its central goals is to shame the offending firms. To more fully understand corporate shaming, the Article therefore considers both private and judicial enforcers. The Article explores three "case studies" of shaming in particular detail: the use by CalPERS and the financial press of "rosters of shame;" shareholder activist Robert Monks and Nell Minow's more aggressive shaming campaigns, which included a full-page Wall Street Journal advertisement shaming the directors of Sears by name; and the decision of the Delaware chancery court in a case stemming from alleged Medicaid and Medicare violations by Caremark Industries. For private enforcers like CalPERS and other shareholder activists, I suggest that the SEC could facilitate shaming by forcing offending firms to bear some of the costs of shaming efforts. Even in the absence of such changes, these shaming efforts seem likely to continue to prove quite effective as a device for prodding recalcitrant boards into action. For judicial shaming, I consider how shaming could be fit into the kinds of multi-faceted liability schemes that have been proposed in the literature on corporate criminal and tort liability.
Novel time domain analysis technique for lossy nonuniform transmission lines

The nonuniform transmission line is traditionally modeled and analyzed in the frequency domain. However, it is difficult to characterize and simulate nonuniform lossy transmission lines accurately in the time domain. A highly accurate and general approach for time domain analysis of lossy inhomogeneous transmission lines is described. The propagator method presented is an exact solution to the lossy telegrapher's equations based on the modal matrix technique. Simpson's rule is applied to produce a remarkably accurate numerically compatible result. An exponentially tapered transmission line example shows that this method is not only simple and efficient, but also an accurate technique for analyzing lossy nonuniform transmission lines with minimal numerical dispersion. Multiple sectioned transmission lines can be handled by a straightforward application of the presented equations.
The Politics of Disaster Relief

Severe weather events provide unexpected tests of political leadership. From the perspective of the social scientist, disaster relief provides an excellent vantage point to observe the responses of both elected officials and voters to these dramatic events that, though not caused by politics, require a distinctly political response. This essay provides an overview of the research on the politics of disaster relief in the United States. The topic is vast and we focus specifically on the response of voters and politicians in the aftermath of severe weather events. We review the foundational research, discuss more recent advances, and then address what we see as the most important issues for future research on this topic. Keywords: natural disaster; voting behaviour; politicians; democratic governance
Self-assembly in space via self-reconfigurable robots

Self-assembly systems in space are arguably within the reach of today's technology based on the research and development of self-reconfigurable robots on earth. This paper presents an approach to self-assembly in space by developing: (1) a novel design for intelligent and reconfigurable components; (2) the free-flying "intelligent fiber/rope" "match-maker" robots with self-reconfigurable and self-adjustable tethering for autonomous docking; and (3) a totally distributed control method for planning, executing, and monitoring the assembly process. These approaches are partially evaluated by a set of experimental and simulation results to simulate the dynamics and control of free-flying objects in zero-gravity environment.