cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
COMPRESSING AVIATION DATA IN XML FORMAT

Design, operations and maintenance activities in aviation involve analysis of variety of aviation data. This data is typically in disparate formats making it difficult to use with different software packages. Use of a self-describing and extensible standard called XML provides a solution to this interoperability problem. XML provides a standardized language for describing the contents of an information stream, performing the same kind of definitional role for Web content as a database schema performs for relational databases. XML data can be easily customized for display using Extensible Style Sheets (XSL). While self-describing nature of XML makes it easy to reuse, it also increases the size of data significantly. Therefore, transfemng a dataset in XML form can decrease throughput and increase data transfer time significantly. It also increases storage requirements significantly. A natural solution to the problem is to compress the data using suitable algorithm and transfer it in the compressed form. We found that XML-specific compressors such as Xmill and XMLPPM generally outperform traditional compressors. However, optimal use of Xmill requires of discovery of optimal options to use while running Xmill. This, in turn, depends on the nature of data used. Manual disc0ver.y of optimal setting can require an engineer to experiment for weeks. We have devised an XML compression advisory tool that can analyze sample data files and recommend what compression tool would work the best for this data and what are the optimal settings to be used with a XML compression tool.
Recently Evolved Genes Identified From Drosophila yakuba and D. erecta Accessory Gland Expressed Sequence Tags

The fraction of the genome associated with male reproduction in Drosophila may be unusually dynamic. For example, male reproduction-related genes show higher-than-average rates of protein divergence and gene expression evolution compared to most Drosophila genes. Drosophila male reproduction may also be enriched for novel genetic functions. Our earlier work, based on accessory gland protein genes (Acp's) in D. simulans and D. melanogaster, suggested that the melanogaster subgroup Acp's may be lost and/or gained on a relatively rapid timescale. Here we investigate this possibility more thoroughly through description of the accessory gland transcriptome in two melanogaster subgroup species, D. yakuba and D. erecta. A genomic analysis of previously unknown genes isolated from cDNA libraries of these species revealed several cases of genes present in one or both species, yet absent from ingroup and outgroup species. We found no evidence that these novel genes are attributable primarily to duplication and divergence, which suggests the possibility that Acp's or other genes coding for small proteins may originate from ancestrally noncoding DNA.
Liberalism, Conservatism, and Americanism

Lipset sets out to demonstrate the distinct differences between American and European notions of liberalism and conservatism. Tocqueville's coined term “American exceptionalism” reaffirms that social, political, and religious systems took a unique form in the United States. American liberals and conservatives alike have sought to extend the “good society” based on the Protestant ethic worldwide, though, ironically, both see their domestic opponents as advocates of immoral policies. The author concludes with an assessment of the current global movement toward classical liberalism: “We are all liberals-even the socialists and communists,” he asserts. As economic liberalism is not a panacea for the world's problems, Lipset predicts a return to the state-centric world in the not-so-near future.
The three-dimensional crystal structure of the PrpF protein of Shewanella oneidensis complexed with trans-aconitate: insights into its biological function.

In bacteria, the dehydration of 2-methylcitrate to yield 2-methylaconitate in the 2-methylcitric acid cycle is catalyzed by a cofactor-less (PrpD) enzyme or by an aconitase-like (AcnD) enzyme. Bacteria that use AcnD also require the function of the PrpF protein, whose function was previously unknown. To gain insights into the function of PrpF, the three-dimensional crystal structure of the PrpF protein from the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis was solved at 2.0 A resolution. The protein fold of PrpF is strikingly similar to those of the non-PLP-dependent diaminopimelate epimerase from Haemophilus influenzae, a putative proline racemase from Brucella melitensis, and to a recently deposited structure of a hypothetical protein from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Results from in vitro studies show that PrpF isomerizes trans-aconitate to cis-aconitate. It is proposed that PrpF catalysis of the cis–trans isomerization proceeds through a base-catalyzed proton abstraction coupled with a rotation about C2–C3 bond of 2-methylaconitate, and that residue Lys73 is critical for PrpF function. The newly identified function of PrpF as a non-PLP-dependent isomerase, together with the fact that PrpD-containing bacteria do not require PrpF, suggest that the isomer of 2-methylaconitate that serves as a substrate of aconitase must have the same stereochemistry as that synthesized by PrpD. From this, it follows that the 2-methylaconitate isomer generated by AcnD is not a substrate of aconitase, and that PrpF is required to generate the correct isomer. As a consequence, the isomerase activity of PrpF may now be viewed as an integral part of the 2-methylcitric acid cycle.
Activities of Gatifloxacin Compared to Those of Seven Other Agents against Anaerobic Organisms

The agar dilution MIC was used to compare activities of gatifloxacin with those of ciprofloxacin, sparfloxacin, trovafloxacin, ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, clindamycin, and metronidazole against 351 anaerobes. Overall MICs at which 50% of the isolates are inhibited and MICs at which 90% of the isolates are inhibited (in micrograms per milliliter) were as follows: gatifloxacin, 0.5 and 4; ciprofloxacin, 2 and 32; sparfloxacin, 2 and 8; trovafloxacin, 1 and 4; ampicillin, 1 and 64; ampicillin-sulbactam, 0.5 and 4; clindamycin, 0.125 and 8; and metronidazole, 1 and >16, respectively. Gatifloxacin MICs were similar to those of trovafloxacin in all organism groups.
Refractive indices of human skin tissues at eight wavelengths and estimated dispersion relations between 300 and 1600 nm

The refractive index of human skin tissues is an important parameter in characterizing the optical response of the skin. We extended a previously developed method of coherent reflectance curve measurement to determine the in vitro values of the complex refractive indices of epidermal and dermal tissues from fresh human skin samples at eight wavelengths between 325 and 1557 nm. Based on these results, dispersion relations of the real refractive index have been obtained and compared in the same spectral region.
Dynamics of Cluster Growth During Homogeneous Nucleation of Supersaturated Vapors

An analysis of cluster growth and dynamics leading to phase transformation through homogeneous nucleation is developed to account for thermal nonaccommodation within the period of one vibration of the newly formed cluster. The approach, which is an extension of studies by Volmer and Feder et al., considers the following different mechanisms of interaction between clusters: (1) condensation of single molecules, (2) evaporation of molecules from clusters, and (3) coagulation between clusters. This approach is evaluated by comparing computer simulations of the population balance equations with classical nucleation theory and with experimental results reported in the literature. The interaction of the impinging molecule with the surface of the condensed phase is central to the development. The probability that such an impinging molecule will condense, be thermally equilibrated, and be incorporated into the cluster is included in the thermal nonaccommodation term in the basic population balance equations. Simu...
Clues to the Puzzle of Scientific Evidence

The evidence with respect to scientific claims is like empirical eviderwe generally — only more so: more complex, more dependent on instruments, etc., and usually a shared resource. Warranted scientific claims are always warranted by somebody's, or somebodies', experience, and somebody's or, somebodies', reasoning; so a theory of warrant must begin with the personal and then move to the social before it can get to grips with the impersonal sense in which we speak of a well-warranted claim or ill-founded conjecture.
Complete response in a critically ill patient with ALK-negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma treated with single agent brentuximab-vedotin.

ABSTRACTAnaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a rare hematological malignancy and a distinct subtype of mature T-cell lymphomas. ALCL is comprised of two clinically distinct but morphologically similar sub-class under 2008 WHO classification: cutaneous and systemic. Primary systemic ALCL is further sub-categorized into tumors that carry the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangement or not; ALK-positive versus ALK-negative disease respectively. Traditionally, both forms of primary systemic ALCL have been treated upfront with an anthracycline based combination chemotherapy such as CHOP. More recently an antibody drug conjugate, brentuximab-vedotin (BV), directed against CD30 antigen has shown promise in CD30 expressing hematologic malignancies such as Hodgkin's lymphoma and ALCL. At the present time, this novel antibody-drug conjugate has been approved in the treatment of patients with ALCL after failure of at least one prior multi-agent chemotherapy regimen in the United States. We present a c...
Reliable bulk data dissemination in sensor networks

A wireless sensor network consists of a large number of resource-constrained sensor nodes that are self-organized into a multi-hop network and cooperate on a single task. In many situations, sensor networks need to run for a long time once deployed. When the environment changes during their lifetime, updating the code image or application data at the node for a new task becomes necessary, thus making data dissemination a critical issue where a large data object needs to be reliably propagated to all of the nodes in a network. While most of the current sensor nodes are equipped with a multiple-channel radio, the existing data dissemination approaches such as Deluge [1] do not take advantage of multiple channels. Moreover, these approaches mostly focus on the object delivery latency, while energy efficiency is also very important due to the resource constraints of the sensor nodes. This dissertation proposes three novel protocols for reliable bulk data dissemination, named McTorrent, CORD and McCORD, that focus on both object delivery latency and energy efficiency. These protocols use multiple channels, or a core-based two-phase approach, or both techniques to reduce object delivery latency and energy consumption at each node. The results from experiments on both indoor and outdoor testbeds and extensive simulations in various scenarios show that these protocols significantly reduce the latency and/or energy consumption, compared to the existing approaches.
Transformation and Degradation of Dimethyl Sulfide by Marine Microorganisms or by Their Products

Three ways of the transformation and degradation of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) by marine microorganisms or by their products are reviewed. DMS is transformed to methyl mercaptan and formaldehyde under oxic conditions by some strains of sulfur oxidizing bacteria and methylotrophs. DMS is transformed to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) under oxic conditions by the bacterium which utilizes DMS as a sulfur source, ammonia oxidizers, methanotrophs, and photosensitizers produced by marine algae. DMS is transformed or degraded under anoxic conditions by some strains of methanogens and phototrophic bacteria.
A Necessary and Sufficient Vertex Solution for Checking Robust Stability of Interval Parameter Matrices

This paper revisits the problem of checking the robust stability of matrix families generated by interval parameters in a matrix. Previous research on this topic (including that of this author) erroneously assumed that this family can be represented as a standard convex combination of vertex matrices (matrices evaluated at the end points of the interval parameters). Solutions offered to this important problem with this erroneous assumption suffered various set backs in the form of counterexamples and the real, correct solution is still elusive. In this paper, we make considerable progress in correcting these misconceptions currently existing in the literature. Towards this direction, for the first time in the literature, in this paper, explicit expressions for the convex combination coefficients in terms of the interval parameters are derived. These expressions help to clarify and explain the misconceptions that currently exist in the research community about the nature of the convex combination coefficients induced by the interval parameters and shed significant insight into the ‘correct’ scenario for this case. A previously presented ‘vertex algorithm’ by the author for this tough problem was derived under the misunderstood mapping of the parameter space to the matrix element space that currently exists in the literature (in the absence of the explicit expressions derived in this paper). Based on the correct mapping presented in this paper, a thorough and possibly correct vertex solution is offered for this tough problem. Several examples are given which clearly demonstrate effectiveness of the new, corrected algorithm.
The Role of the Church in the Modern World

The publication of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World or Gaudium et Spes (1965) by the Second Vatican Council marked the definitive opening of the Catholic Church to the challenge of the modern world. It represented a decisive reformulation of the Church's relationship to the social and historical context in which it now fulfills its mission. While almost a century of Catholic reflection on social issues had prepared the way, nothing previously had matched the depth and comprehensiveness of the Council's examination of the meaning of modern civilization as a whole. Having weathered the successive shock waves of the modernist critique, from Protestantism, to scientism, to historicism, to materialism, the Church seemed to have attained a new-found confidence to confront and contemplate the true nature of the adversary that now simultaneously opposed it and stood in need of its ministry. The eternal light of Christ's love was turned toward the condition of modern man, and the result was an illumination of the spiritual core of the contemporary civilizational crisis that henceforth was intended to define the mission of the Church in the modern world.
Determination of Cadmium in Blood by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

[Objective]To discuss the feasibility for determination of cadmium in blood by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption spectrometry.[Methods]Blood samples were acidized by 5% nitrate,the ammonium dihydrogen phosphate and magnesium nitrate were used as mixed matrix modifier and the temperature of ash was elevated to 600 ℃.Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry was used for directly determination[Results]Fo different content samples,the relative standard deviation of precision determination was 3.1%～4.2%,recoveries achieved 92.6%～103.5%.[Conclusion]Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry can be used for determination of cadmium content in blood.Precision and accuracy are in line with experimental requirements,with satisfactory results.
Metachondromatosis: report of a family with facial features mildly resembling trichorhinophalangeal syndrome

Four members of a family – three of whom have facial features mildly resembling those of the trichorhinophalangeal syndrome, type I, and all of whom manifested appendicular bony prominences similar to trichorhinophalangeal syndrome, type II – were found to have the radiographic findings of metachondromatosis. The radiographic manifestations and evolution of metachondromatosis are depicted in this report.
Surrealism, Postmodernism, and Roger, Mexico

Thomas Pynchon is considered a major representative of American postmodernism, and hardly a discussion of postmodernism fails to mention Gravity's Rainbow. It is important, however, to see the extent to which Pynchon adheres to a surrealist aesthetic if one is to better understand the measure to which his postmodernist writing is shaped by the earlier movement. Elsewhere I have pursued Pynchon's own remarks in the preface to Slow Learner about his commitment to surrealism by tracing connections between V. and the surrealist presence in New York City. Here I merely note a West Coast connection between Pynchon and surrealism, and a further connection between Gravity's Rainbow and the general surrealist context of Pynchon's work.
African American Personal Presentation: Psychology of Hair and Self-Perception

A great amount of literature is dedicated to racial identity and self-perception, but very little addresses how hair may play a critical role in how African American women view themselves and others. African American women choose to wear their hair in a variety of styles, including weaves, wigs, dreads, chemically processed, or non-chemically processed (often referred to as “natural hair”). Researchers conducted a study that explored 282 African American females from urban and rural communities, varying in age, socio-economic status, and education levels and discussed the reporting of the hairstyles they currently wear, what styles they believe are more attractive/unattractive, what styles they believe are more professional/unprofessional, and what influenced the style they currently wear. In addition, these women completed the Rotter’s Locus of Control and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scales. Regression analyses indicated there was a slight but significant positive correlation between a higher internal locus ...
Integrated Superconducting Electronics

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the high-speed digital application of superconductivity. Superconducting devices are particularly attractive for high-performance digital systems. They offer a number of advantages in combination: (1) the low-temperature operating environment assures low noise and, hence, small signal levels and very low power dissipation; (2) the achievable switching times are extremely short and inherent limits are an order of magnitude shorter; (3) use of low-loss superconducting transmission lines results in low cross talk and high wiring density, and easily permits impedance matching and signal termination, whereas each represents a severe problem in semiconductor technology; and (4) processing of superconducting circuits is insensitive to impurities and totally avoids thermochemical steps. The chapter also discusses the basic concepts relevant to superconductivity and Josephson junctions.
Una visión más amplia de la Catedral: El significado de la regla de responsabilidad. Corrigiendo un malentendido

In this article, the author analyses the tort not only from a private view, but also from a public function as part of the legalpolitical- economic structure of a State. Likewise, he analyses the significance of the liability rule and how this social-democratic way of organizing law and entitlements fixes the size of the liability; however, it is an inaccurate description of what occurs in the world, as in the case of eminent domain. Therefore, he claims a more significant economic role for the liability rule.
The Genesis of Mach’s Early Views on Atomism

It is appropriate to consider three distinct phases of Mach’s changing views regarding the ultimate structure of matter. As a young ‘Dozent’ at the University of Vienna, until 1863, Mach accepted the atomic theory without reservation — at least as a useful working model and hypothesis. His earliest views on atomism are contained primarily in the investigations on the Doppler effect, capillary phenomena, spectra of gases, resonance vibrations, and the transmission of sound in the ear. In addition Mach employed the atomic theory in his compendium of physics for medical students which was published in 1863.
Comparison of stored red blood cell washing techniques for priming extracorporeal circuits.

Background:The aim of this study was to compare three different blood washing techniques and describe the differences for the composition of the washed red blood cells (RBC).Methods:Stored RBCs les...
Dynamic changes in oligomeric complexes of UPR sensors induced by misfolded proteins in the ER

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) localized unfolded protein response (UPR) sensors, IRE1α, PERK, and ATF6α, are activated upon accumulation of misfolded proteins caused by ER stress. It is debated whether these UPR sensors are activated either by the release of their negative regulator BiP chaperone or directly binding to misfolded proteins during ER stress. Here we simultaneously examined oligomerization and activation of all three endogenous UPR sensors. We found that UPR sensors existed as preformed oligomers even in unstressed cells, which shifted to large oligomers for PERK and small oligomers for ATF6α, but little changed for IRE1α upon ER stress. Neither depletion nor overexpression of BiP had significant effects on oligomeric complexes of UPR sensors both in unstressed and stressed cells. Thus, our results find less evidence for the BiP-mediated activation of UPR sensors in mammalian cells and support that misfolded proteins bind and activate the preformed oligomers of UPR sensors.
A Model for Failure Initiation in Ductile Materials

Initial results from a set of three-dimensional unit cell simulations clearly demonstrate the nature of the relationship between local constraint and local failure initiation processes. The simulations show that the deformations are substantially different under high and low levels of stress constraint; the effective plastic strain at failure initiation is quite small under high triaxial stress constraint, increasing rapidly as constraint decreases. Through extensive parametric studies, the numerical results demonstrate that two-parameters—triaxial stress constraint and effective plastic strain—are sufficient for development of a three-dimensional ductile fracture criterion that is consistent with void growth concepts. Additional support for the proposed criterion is provided by experimental evidence that indicates the effective plastic strain at failure initiation is a monotonic function of stress constraint.
Neuropsychological Assessment of Gays and Lesbians

The study of the neuropsychological aspects of gays and lesbians is in its infancy. Currently there is no research on this group in terms of differences in brain structure or neurochemistry. They are a group of people embedded in all cultures, races, and ethnic groups. The sexual orientation of the individual makes no difference in the neuropsychological results; however, when the assessment is completed and the results are provided to the individual and his or her support system(s), the sexual orientation of the client may have a profound effect on the outcome of treatment. The specific external Stressors that affect homosexuals will influence how this information will be assimilated into their lives. This chapter will explore and address the complex issues of neuropsychological assessment of gays and lesbians and how psycho-social issues affect the neuropsychological assessment. It is suggested that the clinician go beyond the traditional assessment procedures and explore with the client and their support system(s) how their sexual orientation will affect the assessment and rehabilitation.
Use of high-speed burr and water-based lubricant in the partial removal of surgical plates: A technique Guide

Implant removal comprises 5% of all orthopaedic surgery procedures performed annually. Surgical indications range from implant failure, infection, non-union, and symptomatic hardware. Intra-operatively, surgeons need to prepare for complications including bony overgrowth, cold-welding, broken screws, and stripped screw heads. Large anatomic dissections required for complete hardware removal place the patient at increased risk of complications due to increased operating time and larger dissections. The authors present a safe and effective technique for the partial removal of surgical implants. The technique utilizes a high-speed burr to cut surgical plates, minimizing the total dissection and operative time. Sterile surgical laps covered in water-based lubricant capture metal debris to reduce tissue contamination as well as surgeon exposure to metal particles.
Intracavernous Injection Therapy: Analysis of Results and Complications

AbstractExperience with 100 patients who used intracavernous injection therapy with a combination of papaverine with or without phentolamine for 29 months is analyzed in detail. The largest group of patients had vasculogenic erectile failure (56%). At the end of followup 50% of the patients were no longer performing injection. Those who discontinued injection therapy were slightly older and had more vasculogenic erectile failure. The nonfibrotic complications were mild in all instances and did not result in discontinuation of injection therapy. These complications consisted of small hematomas in 20.9% of the patients, mild discomfort in 13.6% and mild liver enzyme abnormalities in 9.8%. No episode of priapism or infection occurred during therapy. Fibrotic complications consisted of nodules or plaques, and correlated significantly with the number of months on injection and the number of injections. At 12 months the fibrotic complication rate was 31 ± 8.6%.Our study suggests caution regarding the long-term ...
Developmental Behavioral Genetic Research on Infant Information Processing: Detection of Continuity and Change

The first infant intelligence tests assumed that cognitive development was a continuous process from infancy through adulthood. However, as the attempts to create a predictive infant test failed time after time, a discontinuity theory became the favored perspective. Recent evidence indicates that the continuity theory may not have been adequately tested and that cognitive development should be viewed from a more balanced perspective consisting of both change and continuity. In this chapter I will address the issue of continuities and discontinuities in mental development from infancy to adulthood using a developmental behavioral genetic approach. Data from the Colorado Adoption Project and from the Colorado Infant Twin Project will be used to support the following hypotheses: (1) measures of infant visual information processing administered during the first year of life will relate to later I.Q.; (2) these measures are genetically influenced during infancy; and (3) continuity of individual differences in intelligence from infancy to adulthood is at least in part genetically mediated.
Aquatic Insects, Classification

The study of aquatic insects includes those insects that complete all or part of their life cycle in the aquatic environment or have life stages that are closely associated with aquatic environments (semiaquatic). Although the vast majority of insects are terrestrial, a small but important percentage is considered to be aquatic. Aquatic insects are integral components in the structure and function of inland waters and serve vital roles in the processing of organic matter, the cycling of nutrients, and as prey for aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial predators. All insects are classified hierarchically in the Phylum Arthropoda, Superclass Hexapoda, and Class Insecta. Of the approximately 30 orders of insects, nearly half have aquatic representatives as either immatures and/or adults, although five orders have exclusively aquatic immatures (Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), Megaloptera (dobsonflies, fishflies, and alderflies), and Trichoptera (caddisflies)). In addition to using a taxonomic approach to the classification of aquatic insects, functional group approaches have been also widely used to classify aquatic insects on the basis of their mode of feeding (functional feeding groups), mode of existence (functional habit groups), or life cycle duration (functional life history groups).
Custom’s Two Bodies

One of the earliest, and most difficult, lessons first year law students must learn is that, in a common law system, there is no such thing as "The Law." Medieval historians face a similar challenge in trying to understand the concept of custom. They tend to assume that custom was legalistic, in the sense that it provided formal rules of decision, and the most easily accessible sources collections of supposed customs that look very much like books of law encourage this assumption. This essay argues that historians have misunderstood the nature of custom by failing to see that it consists of a duality, that is, that each custom potentially has two separate, though related, manifestations: the behavior-custom and the law-custom. Nonetheless, the statement of the custom as a rule by the sanctioning body did give it definition and made clear to the community its binding nature. Keywords:behavior-custom; law system; law-custom; medieval historians
Potassium channels in mouse spinal cord cells.

Activation of voltage gated potassium channels is important for the repolarization of the action potential in a number of systems (for example, the squid giant axon: Hodgkin and Huxley, 1952b; and the frog node of Ranvier: Stampili and Hille, 1976), though it may not be necessary in others (mammalian node of Ranvier: Chiu, Ritchie, Rogart and Stagg, 1979). Barrett, Barrett and Crill (1980) reported the existence of both fast and slow voltage-activated outward currents in cat motor neurones in vivo, and suggested that the fast component may be involved in repolarization of the fast action potential. However, iontophoretic application of tetra-ethyl ammonium (TEA), sufficient to reduce the amplitude of this fast outward current, caused only a minor increase in the duration of the action potential (Schwindt and Crill, 1980; Schwindt and Crill, 1981).
A method to compare the discriminatory power of data-driven methods: Application to ICA and IVA

Abstract Background The widespread application of data-driven factorization-based methods, such as independent component analysis (ICA), to functional magnetic resonance imaging data facilitates the study of neural function and how it is disrupted by psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. While the increasing number of these methods motivates a comparison of their relative performance, such a comparison is difficult to perform on real fMRI data, since the ground truth is, relatively, unknown and the alignment of factors across different methods is impractical and imprecise. New method We present a novel method, global difference maps (GDMs), to compare the results of different fMRI analysis techniques on real fMRI data, quantify their relative performances, and highlight the differences between the decompositions visually. Comparison with existing methods We apply this method to compare the performances of two different factorization-based methods, ICA and its multiset extension independent vector analysis (IVA), for the analysis of fMRI data from 109 patients with schizophrenia and 138 healthy controls during the performance of three tasks. Results Through this application of GDMs, we find that IVA can determine regions that are more discriminatory between patients and controls than ICA, though IVA is less effective at emphasizing regions found in only a subset of the tasks. Conclusions These results demonstrate that GDMs are an effective way to compare the performances of different factorization-based methods as well as regression-based analyses.
A systematic approach to family engagement: Feasibility pilot of a pediatric delirium management and prevention toolkit.

ObjectiveDelirium is a frequent and severe complication of serious pediatric illness. Development of a nonpharmacologic approach to prevent pediatric delirium may improve short- and long-term outcomes in children and their families. In this brief report, we describe the development of a quality improvement project designed to methodically promote the family member's engagement, comforting, and orienting activities with their critically ill child to decrease delirium rates.MethodWe created a developmentally specific Delirium Prevention Toolkit for families. In a feasibility pilot, March through June 2016, we offered the kit to 15 patients and their families. On discharge, families were asked to describe use of the toolkit and whether or not it was helpful for them.ResultsTwelve of 15 patients and families used various elements of the toolkit, particularly the headphones, music, and games; no one regularly used the blank journal. All reported that it was easy and helpful to have as support for their stay in the pediatric intensive care unit.Significance of resultsThis pilot demonstrated practicality of a nonpharmacologic delirium prevention toolkit in the pediatric intensive care unit, and satisfaction from patients and families.
Asthma status moderates the relationship between neighbourhood disadvantage and obesity in African American adolescent females.

Introduction Significant health disparities exist in asthma and obesity for African American youths. Successful interventions present an opportunity to address these disparities but require detailed study in order to ensure generalizability. This study investigated the intersection of obesity, neighbourhood disadvantage, and asthma. Methods Data were extracted from 129 African American females ages 13 to 19 years (mean = 15.6 years [SD = 1.9]). Obesity was measured via body mass index (BMI). Asthma status was based on clinical diagnosis and/or results of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies during Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire. The concentrated disadvantage index (CDI) assessed neighbourhood disadvantage. Results Findings showed that 21.5% (n = 28) of participants were clinically defined as having asthma, 76.2% (n = 99) had obesity, and 24.9% (n = 31) were classified without obesity. The mean BMI was 35.1 (SD = 9.1) and the mean CDI was 1.0 (SD = 0.9). CDI and obesity were significantly associated in participants without asthma, but not in those with asthma. Multivariable linear regression results showed a significant interaction between CDI and asthma (t value = 2.2, P = .03). Conclusion In sum, results from this study found that asthma moderated the relationship between neighbourhood disadvantage and obesity.
Challenges Facing Emerging Megawatt Applications: New Technology and Solutions Needed for High-Power Applications

Standards exist for voltage levels, but there are no industry or IEEE standards to define power levels. Typical perceptions of high power can range from hundreds of watts to hundreds of megawatts. At this year's IEEE Future of Electronic Power Processing and Conversion workshop, the high-power session focused primarily on megawatt applications.
Conducting statewide needs assessments for persons with traumatic brain injury.

The Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-166) gave new authority to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to establish a grant program for states to assist in addressing the needs of persons with trau
Rapid Increase in Telemental Health Within the Department of Veterans Affairs During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The use of telemental health via videoconferencing (TMH-V) became critical during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic due to restriction of non-urgent in-person appointments. The current brief report demonstrates the rapid growth in TMH-V appointments in the weeks following the pandemic declaration within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the largest healthcare system in the United States. Methods: COVID-19 changes in TMH-V appointments were captured during the six weeks following the World Health Organization's pandemic declaration (March 11, 2020-April 22, 2020). Pre-COVID-19 TMH-V encounters were assessed from October 1, 2017 to March 10, 2020. Results: Daily TMH-V encounters rose from 1,739 on March 11 to 11,406 on April 22 (556% growth, 222,349 total encounters). Between March 11-April 22, 114,714 patients were seen via TMH-V, and 77.5% were first-time TMH-V users. 12,342 MH providers completed a TMH-V appointment between March 11-April 22, and 34.7% were first-time TMH-V users. The percentage growth of TMH-V appointments was higher than the rise in telephone appointments (442% growth); in-person appointments dropped by 81% during this time period. Discussion and Conclusions: The speed of VA's growth in TMH-V appointments in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic was facilitated by its pre-existing telehealth infrastructure, including earlier national efforts to increase the number of providers using TMH-V. Longstanding barriers to TMH-V implementation were lessened in the context of a pandemic, during which non-urgent in-person MH care was drastically reduced. Future work is necessary to understand the extent to which COVID-19 related changes in TMH-V use may permanently impact mental health care provision.
Development of an Automated Monitoring Platform for Invasive Plants in a Rare Great Lakes Ecosystem Using Uncrewed Aerial Systems and Convolutional Neural Networks

We present a novel method for rapidly and precisely monitoring invasive plant species within rare and Great Lakes endemic coastal ecosystems. Our monitoring platform comprises: 1) an Uncrewed Aerial System capable of collecting high-resolution imagery in a precise and repeatable manner; 2) software enabling ecologists to annotate this imagery to identity invasive plant species of interest; 3) neural network–based algorithms for identifying targeted invasive plant species in the images; and 4) software for generating georeferenced density maps of invasive plant species infestations. We applied our monitoring platform to two lakeplain prairie remnants in southeastern Michigan and classifier performance was high for both invasive reed (Phragmites australis subsp. australis) and glossy buckthorn (Frangala alnus) (AUC values of 96.5% and 99.4%, respectively). We present invasive species density maps generated by deep Convolutional Neural Networks. These site-specific georeferenced maps quantify invasive plant species density and distribution and provide resource managers with actionable insight to gauge risk to the site, plan biodiversity restoration, and evaluate the efficacy of control efforts.
Measuring the Quality of Mergers and Acquisitions

We use accounting theory to develop a new measure of the quality of mergers and acquisitions, implied return-on-equity improvement (IRI), which quantifies the minimum improvement in the target’s accounting returns after acquisition needed to justify the offer price. We validate our measure by showing that it captures disclosed synergies and estimated EPS accretion. Consistent with larger performance improvements being less achievable, we find that high-IRI acquirers have worse post-acquisition ROE and more frequent and larger goodwill impairments. We also show that this worse long-run performance is likely driven by overconfident and poorly incentivized managers undertaking acquisitions of inferior quality.
Reversible Canalith Jam of the Horizontal Semicircular Canal Mimicking Cupulolithiasis

Objective:To describe a case of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) resulting in reversible horizontal semicircular canalith jam successfully treated with horizontal canal occlusion. A brie...
The Last Utopians: Four Late Nineteenth-Century Visionaries and Their Legacy: by Michael Robertson, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 2018, 318 pp., £25.00/$29.95 (cloth), $19.95/£16.99 (paper)

Writing about writers of utopian vision aims to understand how individual ideology motivates the creation of grand social narratives. With this goal in mind, Michael Robertson has selected four whi...
Outcomes after resection of primary cardiac sarcoma

Abstract Objective To evaluate the outcomes of surgical resection of malignant primary cardiovascular tumors. Methods From 1983 to 2018, 32 patients underwent surgical resection of malignant primary cardiovascular sarcoma at Cleveland Clinic. Mean age was 48 ± 15 years, and 19 (59%) were women. Outcomes are compared between those with complete resection and those without, and in relation to primary location. Results The most common histologic subtypes were angiosarcoma (n = 8 [25%]) and high-grade undifferentiated sarcoma (n = 7 [22%]). Fourteen (44%) involved the left heart, 9 (28%) the right heart, 8 (25%) the pulmonary arteries, and 1 (3%) the aorta. There was clinical evidence of isolated extracardiac metastases in 8 (25%). Six (19%) patients were deemed unresectable at surgery, undergoing biopsy and palliative debulking followed by referral for definitive chemotherapy and/or radiation. The remaining 26 (81%) patients underwent 31 tumor resections with curative intent. Seven (22%) patients had previously undergone a resection or biopsy at another institution. There were 10 second-time resections, 2 third-time resections, 1 fourth-time resection, and no operative mortalities. Median survival was 3 years, with estimated survival at 6 months and 1, 5, and 10 years of 90%, 73%, 31%, and 17%, respectively. Of the 8 (25%) who were considered disease-free following surgery, 4 experienced recurrences during follow-up. Conclusions Primary cardiac sarcoma continues to be a challenging disease with poor prognosis. Aggressive resection with curative intent, frequent surveillance for local and distant recurrence, and systemic and local multimodality treatment optimizes outcomes.
Hydraulic and nutrient removal performance of vegetated filter strips with engineered infiltration media for treatment of roadway runoff.

As a new strategy for treating excess nutrients in roadway runoff, a self-filtering roadway could be accomplished by including engineered infiltration media within a vegetated filter strip (VFS) located in the roadway shoulder. However, nutrient removal performance will depend on the design to effectively infiltrate roadway runoff and the capacity of subsurface media to sequester or remove nutrients from infiltrated runoff. The objective of this study is to test hydraulic and nutrient removal performance of a roadside VFS over varied rainfall-runoff event sizes and filter widths. Two identical 1:1 scale physical models of roadway shoulders and embankments, one containing engineered media (Treatment model) and the other without (Control model), were tested with simulated rainfall and runoff from 1- and 2-lane roadways. Overall, 32 paired hydraulic experiments and 28 paired nutrient removal experiments were completed to assess performance across frequent and extreme rainfall-runoff events. The results indicate that scalability of performance with filter width varied by parameter. Runoff generation scaled predictably with filter width, as runoff generated close to the pavement and total infiltration increased with filter length. A 6 m-wide VFS containing the engineered media infiltrated all rainfall-runoff except during the most extreme storm events (1-h storms of 76.2 mm and 50.8 mm), where respectively 35% and 22% of rainfall-runoff did not infiltrate and left the system as surface runoff. A majority of phosphorus was retained within a 1.5 m filter while nitrate removal was not observed until 6 m. The Treatment model strongly outperformed the Control model with respect to nitrate (arithmetic mean ± standard deviation of 94 ± 6% reduction vs. 23 ± 64% increase, p < .001) and total nitrogen removal (80 ± 5% vs. 38 ± 23% reduction, p < .001) due to higher rates of microbially-mediated denitrification in the Treatment model. The two models performed comparably with regard to phosphorus reduction (84 ± 9% vs. 82 ± 12% reduction). A minimum 6 m filter width is recommended to ensure sufficient infiltration of runoff and nitrogen removal. Results of this study address uncertainty regarding nutrient removal performance of VFS in urban runoff applications and highlight a potential strategy for standardizing VFS performance across varied soil properties by including engineered media within the filter.
A fixed-memory moving, expanding window for obtaining scatter corrections in X-ray CT and other stochastic averages ☆

Abstract A simple algorithm for averaging a stochastic sequence of 1D arrays in a moving, expanding window is provided. The samples are grouped in bins which increase exponentially in size so that a constant fraction of the samples is retained at any point in the sequence. The algorithm is shown to have particular relevance for a class of Monte Carlo sampling problems which includes one characteristic of iterative reconstruction in computed tomography. The code is available in the CPC program library in both Fortran 95 and C and is also available in R through CRAN. Program summary Program title: mewAvg Catalogue identifier: AEXA_v1_0 Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEXA_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 4757 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 67572 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Fortran 95 or C. Computer: Personal computer or larger. Operating system: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, but probably cross platform. RAM: kB to GB depending on the application Classification: 4.13. Nature of problem: Some problems require both a self-consistent solution and Monte Carlo sampling. Monte Carlo samples based on early iterates may not be useful, but discarding all samples and resampling every time solution parameters change can be wasteful. Solution method: The solution is to keep a fixed fraction of the samples, such as the most recent half. The trick implemented here involves exponentially expanding windows so that a fixed fraction of the samples can be retained using a fixed amount of physical memory. Additional comments: The subprograms are intended to be integrated into a larger program of the user. Small driver programs are provided to illustrate the usage. Running time: Microseconds to seconds per iteration References: [1] G. T. Herman, Image reconstruction from projections: The fundamentals of computerized tomography (Academic, 1980). [2] E.-P. Ruhrnschopf and K. Klingenbeck, Medical Physics 38, 5186 (2011). [3] M.-H. Chen, Q.-M. Shao, and J. G. Ibrahim, Monte Carlo Methods in Bayesian Computation (Springer-Verlag, 2000). [4] A. Gelman, J. B. Carlin, H. S. Stern, and D. B. Rubin, Bayesian Data Analysis (Chapman & Hall/CRC, 2004), 2nd ed. [5] H. Robbins and S. Monro, The Annals of Mathematical Statistics 22, 400 (1951). [6] J. C. Spall, Introduction to Stochastic Search and Optimization (John Wiley and Sons, 2003). [7] H. J. Kushner and J. Yang, SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization 31, 1045 (1993). [8] A. L. Pintar and Z. H. Levine, mewAvg: A Fixed Memory Moving Expanding Window Average (2014), URL http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/mewAvg/index.html .