cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Action subservient sensing and design

A method is outlined for automatically designing sensors from the specification of a robot's task, its actions, and its uncertainty in control. The sensors provide precisely the information required by the robot to perform its task, despite uncertainty in sensing and control. The key idea is to generate a strategy for a robot task by using a backchaining planner that assumes perfect sensing while taking careful account of control uncertainty. The resulting plan indirectly specifies a sensor that tells the robot when to execute which action. Although the planner assumes perfect sensing information, the sensor need not actually provide perfect information. The sensor provides only the information required for the plan to function correctly. >
Diagnosis and evaluation of obstructive sleep apnoea in children.

Introduction: The aim of this article is to review the medical literature and describe clinical and laboratory findings in children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) to differentiate children with OSA from those with primary snoring or other disorders, with a particular focus on Asian children. Methods: Medline search via Pub Med, search terms sleep apnoea and children; and sleep apnoea and children and Asian. Results and Conclusions: Children with OSA usually present with snoring, daytime sleepiness, and/or difficulties in school or behaviour. The prevalence of OSA in Asian children is less than that of other groups, but the severity of the disorder on presentation may be greater. Overnight polysomnography remains the diagnostic “gold standard”; limited studies, or studies in the home, are not sufficient to exclude OSA in a child with suggestive symptoms, nor can they reliably assess the severity of the disorder which is important in planning treatment. Limited studies may, however, be useful in large-scale research studies. Ann Acad Med Singapore 2008;37:701-5
Not going to Starbucks: Boycotts and the out-scouring of politics in the branded world

Focusing on boycotts of Starbucks over last decade, this article looks more broadly at the current states of buying and civic engagement in the United States and abroad. Contrary to what Robert Putnam argues, at least in part, in his now classic text, Bowling Alone, this article suggests that, as formal electoral politics have lost their hold on many, citizens have not abandoned trying to change things or making their voices heard. Instead, they have increasingly expressed their ideas about everything from local affairs to foreign relations at the point of purchase — through in this case, not buying a widely recognized product to gain a say in the larger distribution of social power. ‘Open brands,’ ones that are sensitive to consumer desires, have, in turn, responded, producing a kind of ‘rough democracy of buying’ by offering political solutions to win or retain customers. In the end, however, the evidence suggests that while pursuing political power through (not) buying makes sense and reflects broader ...
Peer Grading in a MOOC: Reliability, Validity, and Perceived Effects.

Peer grading affords a scalable and sustainable way of providing assessment and feedback to a massive student population, and has been used in massive open online courses (MOOCs) on the Coursera platform. However, currently there is little empirical evidence to support the credentials of peer grading as a learning assessment method in the MOOC context. To address this research need, this study examined 1825 peer grading assignments collected from a Coursera MOOC with the purpose of investigating the reliability and validity of peer grading as well as its perceived effects on students’ MOOC learning experience. The empirical findings proved that the aggregate ratings of student graders can provide peer grading scores that were fairly consistent and highly similar to the instructor grading scores. Student responses to a survey also show that the peer grading activity was well received as the majority of MOOC students believed it was fair, useful, beneficial, and would recommend it to be included in future MOOC offerings. Based on the empirical results, this study concludes with a set of principles for designing and implementing peer grading activities in the MOOC context.
A Cross-Language Study of Perception of Lexical Stress in English.

This study investigates the question of whether language background affects the perception of lexical stress in English. Thirty native English speakers and 30 native Chinese learners of English participated in a stressed-syllable identification task and a discrimination task involving three types of stimuli (real words/pseudowords/hums). The results show that both language groups were able to identify and discriminate stress patterns. Lexical and segmental information affected the English and Chinese speakers in varying degrees. English and Chinese speakers showed different response patterns to trochaic vs. iambic stress across the three types of stimuli. An acoustic analysis revealed that two language groups used different acoustic cues to process lexical stress. The findings suggest that the different degrees of lexical and segmental effects can be explained by language background, which in turn supports the hypothesis that language background affects the perception of lexical stress in English.
Filling the Gaps in Hume's Vacuums

The paper addresses two difficulties that arise in Treatise 1.2.5. First, Hume appears to be inconsistent when he denies that we have an idea of a vacuum or empty space yet allows for the idea of an "invisible and intangible distance." My solution to this difficulty is to develop the overlooked possibility that Hume does not take the invisible and intangible distance to be a distance at all. Second, although Hume denies that we have an idea of a vacuum, some texts in Treatise 1.2.5 are taken by interpreters to suggest that Hume nonetheless believes that there are vacuums in nature. I discuss the relevant texts and defend the view that Hume does not in fact countenance belief in vacuums. I conclude by outlining an interpretation of Hume's intention in the Treatise that allows us to understand his discussion of ideas as having implications for the sciences.
Moral Limits on Morals Legislation: Lessons for U.S. Constitutional Law from the Declaration on Religious Freedom

A persistent American confusion regarding the proper relationship between law and morality is manifest in the opinions in Lawrence v. Texas. The Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom provides the foundation for an analytical framework that can bring clarity to that confusion. The heart of this framework is the moral concept of public order. This concept offers a principled explanation of both the holding in Lawrence and the limitations the Court placed on that holding. The Court could clarify the confusion manifest in Lawrence by explicitly acknowledging that a state interest only becomes legitimate for purposes of rational basis review when the asserted interest constitutes a public order concern. A constitutional jurisprudence that aspires to be faithful to the sort of limited government that is demanded by respect for human dignity should recognize that the state can only use law to restrain human freedom when that limitation serves a public order function.
The Structure of Symmetric Attractors

We consider discrete equivariant dynamical systems and obtain results about the structure of attractors for such systems. We show, for example, that the symmetry of an attractor cannot, in general, be an arbitrary subgroup of the group of symmetries. In addition, there are group-theoretic restrictions on the symmetry of connected components of a symmetric attractor. The symmetry of attractors has implications for a new type of pattern formation mechanism by which patterns appear in the time-average of a chaotic dynamical system.
A GSM receiver front-end in 65 nm digital CMOS process

A highly compact 18.6mA, 1.5V GSM 850MHz receiver front-end implemented in a standard 65 nm digital CMOS process is presented. It achieves 33dB of gain with noise figure of 1.7dB, in-band IIP3 of -9.9dBm and IIP2 greater than 31 dBm. The P1dB is -26.5dBm and the P1dB with -25dBm blocker at 3MHz offset is -23.1dBm. It occupies an area of just 0.43 mm2
Effects of Early Postnatal Dietary Protein Restriction and Repletion on Porcine Muscle Growth and Composition

Young pigs were fed a low protein diet for varying lengths of time, followed by repletion, to evaluate responses of selected constituents of the longissimus dorsi muscle. Protein restriction was initiated at 2 weeks of age during suckling, and continued to weaning at 5 weeks, to 7 weeks and to 9 weeks (restriction periods 1, 2 and 3 respectively). A group of pigs was repleted for 3 weeks after each restriction period (repletion 1, 2 and 3). Age controls were fed a diet with adequate protein throughout the 12-week study. Body weight, muscle weight and protein, muscle content and concentrations of DNA, RNA and hydroxyproline did not differ from age controls at weaning. The dam, therefore, was able to furnish strong nutritional support even though her diet was inadequate. Restriction periods 2 and 3 resulted in reduced body and muscle weight, and alterations in protein, DNA, RNA and hydroxyproline. Response to repletion was a function of age rather than length of time consuming the low protein diet. Repletion period 1 resulted in a weak general response. Significant changes toward normal in all constituents altered by the low protein diet occurred during repletion periods 2 and 3. Muscle cytochrome oxidase was unaffected by dietary protein level whereas cathepsin D was elevated by the low protein diet. This study suggests an ulti mate return to normal muscle composition, but also the unlikelihood that normal size would be obtained by repleted pigs unless there was an extension of the growth period. J. Nutr. 103: 1637-1645, 1973.
Memory access reduction method for efficient implementation of fast cosine transform Pruning on DSP

In this paper, we propose a novel memory access reduction method to minimize the memory accesses due to weighting factors (cosine coefficients in the computation diagram of fast DCT pruning) and input points for implementing fast DCT pruning on DSP processors. The proposed method reduces the number of memory accesses in two steps: 1) Reduce the number of weighting factors and 2) Combine butterflies at two stages in fast DCT pruning diagram to form an efficient butterfly structure in one stage and calculate them. The proposed method is applied to implement Pruning FCT on TI TMSC320C64x DSP. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve average of 40% memory access reduction, 48.6% clock cycle reduction and 32.6% memory space saving for weighting factors to compute Pruning FCT on DSP comparing with the conventional implementation.
Phase II trial of outpatient schedule of paclitaxel in patients with previously untreated metastatic, measurable adenocarcinoma of the stomach.

Background: Chemotherapy represents the standard treatment for patients with metastatic stomach cancer. Conflicting results have been published regarding the activity of paclitaxel in this setting. Therefore, we developed a phase II study to evaluate an outpatient 3 h infusion of paclitaxel. Methods: Patients with chemonaive metastatic stomach cancer received paclitaxel 210 mg/m 2 every 3 weeks. Patients with esophageal cancer were not eligible. Results: Twenty-one patients were enrolled. The median age was 55.5 years (range 37–81 years). Two partial responses were observed among the 18 patients evaluable for response and toxicity (response rate 11%, 95% CI: 2–33%). The median time to progression was 10.5 weeks and median survival 23 weeks. There was only one episode of grade IV neutropenia and no episodes of grade 3–4 non-hematological toxicity were observed. Conclusion: Paclitaxel exhibited minimal activity in this patient population.
Evaluation of the immunoglobulin G avidity test for diagnosis of toxoplasmic lymphadenopathy.

Toxoplasmic lymphadenopathy (TL) is the most common clinical manifestation of acute acquired toxoplasma infection in normal individuals. The diagnosis is established by serologic methods and lymph node biopsy. Recently, tests for avidity of toxoplasma immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies have been introduced to help discriminate between recently acquired and distant infection with the parasite. We studied an avidity test to define the usefulness of this method and to determine the evolution of the IgG avidity in TL. Seventy-three consecutive patients diagnosed as having TL were studied. IgG avidity test titers were noted to be time dependent from the clinical onset of lymphadenopathy. Low IgG avidity test results were observed in patients who had developed lymphadenopathy from
Secondary Bystander Effects on Intimate Violence: When Norms of Restraint Reduce Deterrence

Research on bystander effects indicates that bystanders encourage individuals to behave in conformity with norms. In modern Western society, there are norms against stronger actors using violence against weaker actors. To the extent that the presence of a bystander reduces the likelihood that stronger actors use violence toward weaker actors, we suggest that weaker actors may become more likely to use violence toward stronger actors because of their reduced risks from retaliation. In the present study, subjects indicated their own likelihoods of using violence in hypothetical situations of boyfriend/girlfriend conflicts with and without bystanders. As theoretically predicted, the results showed that the presence of a bystander decreased the use of violence by males toward females, and increased the use of violence by females toward males. We suggest that a greater understanding of indirect effects on interpersonal relationships is essential for both social theory and policy.
Optimization-based scheduling of flexible manufacturing systems for apparel production

In the mid to high volume apparel production, garments are typically grouped into production lots, and each lot is processed in its own manufacturing cell. A flexible manufacturing system used in this environment enables quick cell configuration, and the efficient operation of cells. The scheduling problem is to decide when to set up a cell and consequently begin garment production in the cell, and to decide the quantity of machines to allocate to each cell. In this paper, an integer programming model is developed which integrates scheduling and resource allocation. The model is solved by using the Lagrangian relaxation technique, and a new bundle method is used to optimize the Lagrangian dual function. Testing is performed using data from a real factory, and numerical results show that high quality schedules are efficiently generated on personal computers.
Mind Your Salts: When the Inactive Constituent Isn't

Many pharmacological agents include "inactive" constituents that are used to alter the solubility, stability, or pharmaceutical properties of a drug. These "salts" are often ignored, and the "active ingredient" gets all of the attention. Pamoic acid (4-[(3-carboxy-2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)methyl]-3-hydroxynaphthalene-2-carboxylic acid) has been used in formulations of several drugs as pamoate salts. This Perspective highlights an Accelerated Communication in this issue (p. 560) that identifies pamoic acid as a potent activator of the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR35. This effect may contribute to the pharmacological actions of some agents that are prepared as pamoate salts. Thus, pharmacologists, regulators, and clinicians should "mind their salts" in considering differences among supposedly equivalent agents.
What is the quality of the implemented meta-analytic procedures in chronic pain treatment meta-analyses?

Abstract:Objective:Meta-analysis (MA) is the application of quantitative techniques for the purposes of summarizing data from individual studies. This type of review has many advantages over traditional reviews. However, different investigators performing MAs on the same data set have reached differ
Mechanistic Investigation on the Formation of 2-Halo-3-aryl-4(3H)-quinazoliniminium Halides from Heteroenyne-allenes: A Computational Study.

Intramolecular cyclization of the heteroenyne-allene, 2-((phenylimino)methyleneamino)-benzonitrile (1) in the presence of HCl to produce 2-chloro-3-phenyl-4(3H)-quinazoliniminium chloride (Qz) involves the formation of two new bonds: a C–Cl bond and a C–N bond. We propose five pathways for this reaction. Four of these pathways involve chloride capture to form the C–Cl bond prior to the intramolecular nucleophilic attack to form the C–N bond, while one pathway involves ring closure to form the C–N bond prior to C–Cl bond formation. All calculations were carried out at B3LYP and MP2 levels of theory and employed the 6-311G* basis set. The solvent effects were considered using a Polarized Continuum Model with dichloromethane as the solvent. The calculations at both levels show that the mechanism involves initial protonation of 1, preferentially at Nα to give 2 which rapidly captures the chloride ion to form 5. This intermediate is protonated at the −CN group to form 8ROT, which then tautomerizes to its more ...
Finite Element Analysis of the Effects of Bolt Condition on Bolted Rail Joint Stresses

The rail joint is typically considered to be one of the weakest locations in the track superstructure. Defects and failures—including bolt hole cracks, head–web cracking or separation, broken or missing bolts, and joint bar cracking—have been found to start at rail joints and the area surrounding these joints. The initiation and propagation of these defects are primarily attributable to the discontinuities of both geometric and mechanical properties in the rail joint area and the high-impact loads induced by the discontinuities. Loosened or missing rail joint bolts can decrease the overall stiffness at the joint. A loosened rail joint can also accelerate certain types of defects, such as cracking around the bolt hole and the head–web fillet area (the upper fillet area) close to the rail end. These cracks present both economical and safety concerns as they can significantly reduce the service life of the rail or joint bar and even lead to breaks in the rail. However, the effect of bolt condition on stress ...
Wealth, health expenditure, and cancer: A national perspective.

6546 Background: The healthcare system in the United States (US) is characterized by high expenditures with penultimate health outcomes. Socioeconomic status is a strong determinant of general popu...
In Defense of Oral Argument

Stanley Mosk presents a case against the trend of appellate courts granting oral argument less frequently.
Effects of moisture ingressions on mechanical properties of honeycomb-structured fiber composites for aerospace applications

Composite structures are usually subjected to a wide range of environmental conditions whereby they can absorb a substantial amount of moisture, oil, or solvent from the environment, thus reducing their mechanical, thermal, electrical, and other physical properties and service times. In this study, hydrophobic barrier films used to prevent moisture ingression into sandwich structures are investigated. Four different hydrophobic thin barrier films—polyvinyl fluoride (PVF), polyether ether ketones (12.5 and 25 μm), polyimide, and polytetrafluoroethylene—were co-bonded to the surfaces of fiber composite sandwich structures to study the changes in mechanical properties of the sandwich structures before and after immersing them into deionized (DI) water and aviation hydraulic fluid (Skydrol®). For comparison and evaluation purposes, the composite coupons underwent two different mechanical tests: sandwich flexure and compression strength compression. Test results confirmed that using barrier films as the outermost ply on composite sandwich structures significantly reduced moisture ingression, and as a result, mechanical properties were considerably increased compared to those coupons without any barrier films.
Expressions of DR4 and Bax and their clinical significance in cervical carcinoma tissues

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the factors of cellular apoptosis through the determination of the Trail-receptor DR4 and Bax,so as to find a new therapy for cervical carcinoma.METHODS:Forty-one cases of cervical carcinoma tissues were selected,with 18 cases of less differentiation (Group B),and 23 cases of more differentiation(Group A),and 20 cases of chronic cervicitis(Group C).Immunohistochemistry technique was used to detemin DR4 and bax.RESULTS:The Group C expressed the most DR4(4.72±0.35),and there was a significant difference among the 3 groups(P0.05).The expression of DR4 was (3.23±1.94)in Group A,which was higher than that in Group B (1.35±1.14,P0.05).The Group A expressed the most Bax,and the least in Group C(6.05±1.04,P0.05).CONCLUSION:Tissues with more differentiation have more expression of DR4 and Bax,and the expression of them may be concerd with the prognosis of cervical carcinoma.
SU-F-T-97: Outlier Identification in Radiation Therapy Knowledge Modeling.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of outliers on knowledge modeling in radiation therapy, and develop a systematic workflow for identifying and analyzing geometric and dosimetric outliers using pelvic cases. Methods: Four groups (G1-G4) of pelvic plans were included: G1 (37 prostate cases), G2 (37 prostate plus lymph node cases), and G3 (37 prostate bed cases) are all clinical IMRT cases. G4 are 10 plans outside G1 re-planned with dynamic-arc to simulate dosimetric outliers. The workflow involves 2 steps: 1. identify geometric outliers, assess impact and clean up; 2. identify dosimetric outliers, assess impact and clean up.1. A baseline model was trained with all G1 cases. G2/G3 cases were then individually added to the baseline model as geometric outliers. The impact on the model was assessed by comparing leverage statistic of inliers (G1) and outliers (G2/G3). Receiver-operating-characteristics (ROC) analysis was performed to determine optimal threshold. 2. A separate baseline model was trained with 32 G1 cases. Each G4 case (dosimetric outliers) was then progressively added to perturb this model. DVH predictions were performed using these perturbed models for remaining 5 G1 cases. Normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) calculated from predicted DVH were used to evaluate dosimetric outliers’ impact. Results: The leverage of inliers and outliers was significantly different. The Area-Under-Curve (AUC) for differentiating G2 from G1 was 0.94 (threshold: 0.22) for bladder; and 0.80 (threshold: 0.10) for rectum. For differentiating G3 from G1, the AUC (threshold) was 0.68 (0.09) for bladder, 0.76 (0.08) for rectum. Significant increase in NTCP started from models with 4 dosimetric outliers for bladder (p<0.05), and with only 1 dosimetric outlier for rectum (p<0.05). Conclusion: We established a systematic workflow for identifying and analyzing geometric and dosimetric outliers, and investigated statistical metrics for detecting. Results validated the necessity for outlier detection and clean-up to enhance model quality in clinical practice. Research Grant: Varian master research grant
The Effects of Instruction on Test-Taking Skills in Second-Grade Black Children

This research investigated the effects of instruction in test-taking techniques upon the standardized reading test scores of second-grade Black students. Fifty Black students were randomly selected...
The Evolution of Conflict Resolution (2009)

Before discussing how the field of contemporary conflict resolution (CR) has evolved and continues to evolve, we must consider different views of its parameters and of the major realms it encompasses.1 This is needed because consensus about those characteristics is lacking. For some workers in the field, the term refers essentially to a specific kind of work, for example, engaging in mediation in a particular manner. For many other conflict resolvers, it refers to ways of settling or ending conflicts that entail joint efforts to reach mutually acceptable agreements. For still others, conflict resolution is a Weltanschauung that can apply to all stages of conflicts, and encompasses relatively constructive ways of conducting and transforming conflicts and then maintaining secure and equitable relations. A very broad conception of CR is adopted here, which facilitates discussing the changing conceptions of the field as it evolves.
Hacking the Electorate: The Policy Roots of Elite Perceptions

Voter registration records, as well as other public records containing personal information, do not merely happen to be useful for campaigning. The data are useful by design. This chapter demonstrates how public policies about data are purposefully shaped in ways that affect campaigns' strategic communications with voters. Political campaigns are waged in a particular policy context. To understand how political campaigns interact with voters, it is necessary to examine that context. When investigating campaign perceptions and strategies in contemporary politics, it is striking how reliant campaigns are on public institutions for their data. Parties and vendors receive real-time updates from election authorities about which voters have newly registered, which voters have cast early ballots, and which voters bear key demographic characteristics. They receive a steady stream of data from state and federal authorities that manage lists of licensees and subsidy beneficiaries. They also obtain detailed neighborhood characteristics from the Census Bureau. The thesis of this chapter is that campaigns are able to perceive voters through these resources in part because politicians have designed data laws for this very purpose. Laws about the collection and dissemination of public data are often tailored so that politicians can repurpose the data in service of their campaigns. This repurposing often happens with little public awareness. From nearly the moment voter registration laws were enacted, the records that compose the voter registration system were co-opted by political parties to help them mobilize their supporters. Other sources of public data have been similarly co-opted by campaigns for electioneering. The decennial Census, meant to count the population for the purpose of allocating congressional seats, now caters not only to private industry by providing detailed information about every neighborhood in the United States but also to campaigns that use these same data to target political messages to segments of voters. Similarly, open-record laws, which allow citizens to request government documents, are co-opted by political campaigns that petition agencies for administrative data in order to facilitate political targeting.
Snow Drifting and Engineering Design

The results of field experiments and observations on drift snow accumulation in the vicinity of Arctic bases show that it is possible to design buildings and facilities and to lay out bases and depots in Polar regions which will largely control drifting snow. It is possible, also, to make use of drifting snow in the construction of some facilities.
Correlation of digital health use and chronic pain coping strategies.

Background: Digital health is an increasingly popular tool for patient engagement, having shown great success in arenas such as medication adherence, management of chronic conditions, and patient safety. Given the growth of chronic pain diagnoses, it is imperative to find new technologies to improve care for this particular population. Little research has catalogued the use of digital health in the chronic pain patient population. This manuscript’s objective was to describe current patterns of digital health usage among chronic pain patients and how digital health use correlates with health care utilization and health outcomes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to patients with a self-identified chronic pain diagnosis participating in ‘Patients Like Me’ ® (PLM), an organization that directly collects data from patients experiencing chronic health conditions, with emphasis on patient-centered outcomes and experiences interacting with the health care system. Validated measures of healthcare utilization, chronic pain management, and digital health use were adapted for the survey. Digital health was defined as the use of online sites, social media, and mobile phone applications before, during, or after healthcare utilization. Descriptive statistics, chi square tests, logistic regression, and linear regression were used as appropriate for analysis. Results: Among 565 respondents (mean age 51.3, 87.2% female, 45.7% publicly insured), most participants (89.5%) reported some digital health use. Females and users below the age of 50 were more likely to use multiple forms of digital health. Healthcare utilization, education level, and race/ethnicity did not correlate with digital health use. Patients using more types of digital health reported significantly higher levels of pain coping skills in the realms of social support, relaxation, and exercise. Conclusions: Digital health use is common among a wide range of patients with chronic pain diagnoses. The use of multiple forms of digital health is associated with improved chronic pain coping mechanisms. Future work should explore the directional relationship between digital health tools and chronic pain coping skills, as well as which components of digital health have the most effect on chronic pain management and other patient-centered outcomes.
Environmental constraints on transpiration and stomatal conductance in a Siberian Arctic boreal forest

Boreal forest ecosystems are experiencing changes in plant productivity that are likely to continue with ongoing climate change. Transpiration (T) and canopy stomatal conductance (gc) are a key influence on plant productivity, and a better understanding of drivers and limitations of T and gc is necessary for constraining estimates of boreal ecosystem change. We describe patterns in T and gc of a deciduous conifer, Larix cajanderi, in an arctic boreal forest in northeastern Russia across three growing seasons from 2013 to 2015. We examine the influence of environmental drivers on gc using a phenomenological model. T was highly variable across days and varied between 0.03 and 0.75 L m−2 d−1. T and gc largely covaried with daily fluctuations in air temperature and vapor pressure deficit. gc was highly suppressed on days when the vapor pressure deficits exceeded 0.75 kPa with an average daily gc of 37.55 mmol m−2 s−1, and the average daily gc was almost double (71.25 mmol m−2 s−1) when vapor pressure deficits stayed below 0.75 kPa. Daily variation in gc was significantly related to air temperature, permafrost thaw depth, and past precipitation. The influence of past precipitation and permafrost thaw depth on gc indicates that belowground conditions relating to soil moisture status are a key limitation for T. Such limitations on gc and T suggest that soil water and plant water stress play an important role in plant productivity and water relations in far northeastern Siberia.
The Legitimacy of the Court of Justice of the European Union

This paper examines both scholarly debates and empirical evidence about the normative and sociological legitimacy of one of the oldest, busiest and most powerful international courts in the world: the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). With respect to normative legitimacy, the paper identifies and applies three criteria for international court legitimacy, namely that courts should be fair and unbiased, that their rulings should be politically acceptable and legally sound, and that they should operate openly and transparently. While the CJEU has historically enjoyed a high degree of normative legitimacy, I find, recent decades have witnessed the emergence of a vigorous debate regarding overlapping charges of bias, of judicial activism and poor legal reasoning, and of opacity at the Court. By contrast with normative legitimacy, sociological or descriptive legitimacy measures diffuse support for the Court among its various audiences. The study of public attitudes toward the Court, I argue, is highly sensitive to measurement issues, but in general paints a picture of a public support that has been historically widespread but shallow and quite fragile, and I demonstrate that this support has decreased in the past decade, as the Court has been caught up in a broader crisis of EU legitimacy.
A Low-Cost Checkpointing Technique for Distributed Databases

For distributed databases, checkpointing is used to ensure an efficient way to perform global reconstruction. However, the need for global reconstruction is infrequent. Most current checkpointing approaches for distributed databases are too expensive during run time. Some of them allow the checkpointing process to run in parallel with normal transactions at the cost of more data and resource contention, which in turn causes longer response time for normal transactions. Thus, an efficient way to checkpoint distributed databases is needed to avoid degrading the system performance. This paper presents a low-cost solution, called Loosely Synchronized Local Fuzzy Checkpointing (LSLFC), to these problems. LSLFC supports global reconstruction, and our performance study shows that LSLFC has little overhead during run time.
Evaluation of individual demands for parking lot based on type-2 fuzzy sets

In order to meet the needs of different drivers on the parking fees, the distance from parking lot to the destination, as well as the individual needs of evaluation of the parking lot, by the analysis of driver's personal preference and parking behavior, the evaluation of the choice of parking lot is provided in this paper. Finally, by the type-2 fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, the satisfaction degree of the parking lot is ranked, it is helpful for drivers to choose parking lot.
Abstract WP114: Retrograde Labeling, FACS Isolation, and Transcriptional Profiling of Layer 5 Cortical Neurons After White Matter Stroke Reveals Unique Pathways of Degeneration and Regeneration

Introduction: Small vessel ischemic strokes account for 25% of strokes in the US. They often occur silently, increasing the prevalence 5-10 fold and are progressive with new strokes occurring adjac...
Beyond PD-L1 testing-emerging biomarkers for immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer.

Recently, a firmer understanding of tumor immunology and tumor escape mechanisms has led to the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors, antibodies against programmed death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1). Nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and atezolizumab have dramatically altered the treatment paradigm in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and have each demonstrated improvements in outcomes and quality of life when compared to chemotherapy. Enrichment strategies to better select those patients more likely to respond have identified PD-L1 staining by immunohistochemistry (IHC) to be a predictive biomarker in both treatment naive and refractory patients. Unfortunately, many challenges exist with this strategy and underscore the need for further exploration for more reliable biomarkers. Multiple tissue and plasma-based enrichment strategies have been identified in the hope of identifying patients more likely to benefit from checkpoint inhibitors. These include tumor mutational load; the “inflamed phenotype” including tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILS) and immunoscore; T-cell receptor clonality; gene signatures, and several plasma biomarkers. Several studies have revealed many of these biomarkers to be reliable predictors of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors across multiple tumor types. Given the small nature of these studies, additional prospective studies are warranted to formalize and validate each of these enrichment strategies.
Lava without the fizz

The carbon dioxide content of lavas influences both the behaviour of Earth's mantle and its climate. In one particular case, the difficulties of directly measuring that content have been overcome.
P3 amplitude attenuation secondary to increases in target-to-target interval (TTI) during spatial serial order recall: implications for EEG models of working memory function.

Research suggests that increasing delays in stimulus read-out can trigger declines in serial order recall accuracy due to increases in cognitive demand imposed by the delay; however, the exact neur...
Laser-emission Based Microscopy for Cancer Diagnosis

We developed scanning laser-emission microscopy capable of mapping lasing emission from nuclear biomarkers in frozen and paraffin-embedded tissues, which may open a new field in bioimaging with unprecedented contrast for cancer diagnosis and cell biology.
A comparison of the urological complications associated with long-term management of quadriplegics with and without chronic indwelling urinary catheters.

AbstractThe primary objective of this retrospective study was to compare the incidence of urological complications and renal deterioration in post-traumatic quadriplegic patients managed with or without a chronic indwelling urinary catheter. The charts of 57 consecutive patients who sustained traumatic cervical spinal cord injury between 1970 and 1980 were reviewed. All of the patients received the initial management or rehabilitation therapy at our institution. The unique features of this clinical review are that a large cohort of patients was followed for a minimum of 10 years, none of the 57 consecutive patients was lost to followup and a yearly excretory urogram provided an objective assessment of the renal units. The followup, and mechanism, level and degree of injury for the 32 patients managed with and 25 managed without a catheter were similar. Overall, the incidences of renal and bladder calculi, pyelonephritis, gross hematuria, penile/urethral erosion, urosepsis, urethral stricture, epididymitis...
Chronic hepatitis C virus infections in leukemia survivors: Prevalence, viral load, and severity of liver disease

Abstract The natural history of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infections in long-term leukemia survivors has not been well characterized. We studied the prevalence of HCV infections, measured HCV RNA levels, and evaluated the severity of liver disease in patients with leukemia who achieved long-term remissions after intensive chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation (BMT). HCV antibody tests were performed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and positive tests confirmed by the recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA). HCV RNA levels were measured by the branched DNA (bDNA) assay. Seventy-five leukemia survivors with 25 or more blood donor exposures were identified. Nine (12%) were anti-HCV positive. All were infected before 1992 when second generation HCV screening tests were implemented. Mean HCV RNA levels were 10.3 ×106 eq/mL versus 3.2 × 106 eq/mL (P = .056) in a control group of 20 anti-HCV positive immunocompetent individuals of comparable age who were infected twice as long (17.8 ± 6.5 years v 9.0 ± 4.4 years in leukemia survivors, P = .001). Liver biopsies were performed on six of the nine anti-HCV positive leukemia survivors. All showed at least moderate portal inflammation and half had evidence of bridging fibrosis. We conclude that viral loads in anti-HCV positive leukemia survivors are markedly higher than in immunocompetent controls. Our results suggest that long-term leukemia survivors with chronic HCV may have more rapidly progressive liver disease than has been previously recognized.
Two Cases of Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis after Human Papillomavirus Vaccination (P4.353)

Objective: To report two cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the pediatric population that developed after administration of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination with Gardasil ® . Background: The quadrivalent HPV vaccine, Gardasil ® , was FDA approved in 2006 for prevention of HPV infection and related cancers. Few cases have been reported of CNS demyelinating disease including acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, neuromyelitis optica (NMO), clinically isolated syndrome and MS post-vaccination. Design/Methods: NA Results: Case 1: 14 year-old male presented with retro-orbital pain and blurry vision in the left eye, diagnosed with left optic neuritis. He had a second attack of left optic neuritis two months after initial presentation. Third dose of Gardasil ® was given two weeks prior to presentation. Case 2: 17 year-old female presented right optic neuritis. MRI brain showed right frontal enhancing lesion. First dose of Gardasil ® was given two weeks prior to presentation. She did not receive further doses. One week after discharge, she experienced intermittent numbness and weakness in her lower extremities. Repeat MRI brain showed new left parieto-occipital enhancing lesion. For both patients, CSF showed presence of oligoclonal bands. Rest of work-up was unremarkable including NMO antibody. Both patients were treated with IV steroids for relapses, and started on disease modifying therapy with interferon beta-1a for relapsing remitting MS after second event. They were followed for two years. Conclusions: Despite a large Scandinavian study of almost 4 million girls and women, in which nearly 800,000 received HPV vaccination, no increased risk of MS or demyelinating disease were identified. These 2 cases and the others that have been previously reported, suggest a temporal association between HPV vaccination and onset of MS. Whether the vaccine increases the risk of the initial demyelinating event in an already predisposed population or triggers the onset of MS, by way of an immune response, remains to be studied. Disclosure: Dr. Hu has nothing to disclose. Dr. Tornes has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lopez-Alberola has nothing to disclose.
Factors That Impact Family Perception of Goal-Concordant Care at the End of Life.

Background: Goal-concordant care (GCC)-care aligned with a patient's known goals and values-is a measure of the quality of end-of-life (EOL) care that can be assessed by surveying family members after a patient's death. It is unknown whether patient characteristics affect this measure. Objective: The objective of the article was to examine family report of GCC and its associations with patient characteristics. Methods: Using the Health and Retirement Study, which is a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort of adults over age 50, we sampled decedents whose family completed the 2014 postdeath interview. Families reported frequency of GCC at the EOL. A multivariable regression model assessed the associations between family report of GCC and decedent characteristics. Results: Of 1175 respondents, 76% reported that the decedent "usually" or "always" received GCC. Proxy report of GCC was independently associated with age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.03), having three or more chronic medical conditions (AOR 1.34, CI 1.02-1.77), the presence of written or verbal advance care planning (ACP) (AOR 1.38, CI 1.02-1.88), and an interaction term of race and ability to participate in EOL decision making (AOR 3.83, CI 1.02-14.40). African American race was not independently associated with GCC (AOR 0.73, CI 0.5-1.06). Conclusion: Family's report of GCC is associated with ACP, age, and multimorbidity. Being African American and perceived as able to participate in EOL decision making was significantly associated with report of GCC. Bringing the patient's voice into EOL care discussions through upstream ACP with likely surrogates may be particularly important to improving GCC for African Americans.
Survival of prey growing through gape-limited predators

Juvenile to adult survival of fish is modeled by the rate at which prey progressively escape the size distribution of gape-limited predators through growth. The model characterizes adult survival as a function of the mean and standard deviation of the predator population gape sizes, the ratio of mortality and growth rates and a compensatory growth factor. The model fits the survival of adult returns of Chinook salmon and reveals that a 25% increase in either the initial size at ocean entrance or the growth to mortality rate over the first few months of ocean residence can increase adult survival by a factor of 2 to 3. Additionally, the model proposes a rigorous mechanism through which the size distribution of predators determines the effects of juvenile growth on adult survival. Finally, possible contributions of the model framework to fisheries management and predator-prey theory are noted.
The United Kingdom Right to Request as a Model for Flexible Work in the European Union

Flextime, the seemingly innocuous practice of giving employees some control over their working time, can transform the modern workplace. Once the province of scattered national legislation, the European Union is now considering the inclusion of flextime rights in the Working Time Directive (WTD), the leading EU legislation related to work time and currently undergoing a major review. Given the tenuous state of the European Union and the recent United Kingdom vote in favor of Brexit, a harmonious adoption of flextime rights cannot happen at the expense of eroding relations between EU member states. In this paper, we propose adoption of a specific form of flextime rights, known as the right to request, as the reform most likely to encourage meaningful flextime practices without unduly destabilizing the WTD or relations amongst member states. Adoption of the right to request in the WTD would minimally impact employers, offer significant benefits to employees, and promote EU goals of protecting worker health and safety. With this adoption, the WTD can strengthen its goals, do its part to keep the fabric of the EU intact, and perhaps even encourage states flirting with exit to remain tied to one of the world’s most important supranational political unions.
Letter--Value-Driven Treatment Decisions: Need of the Hour for Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma.

DISCLOSURES: No funding was involved in the writing of this letter. Medhekar, Sapra, Majer, Harrison, and Tekle are employees of and stockholders in Amgen.
Multi-Radio-Based Vehicle Pseudonym Association

With the advent of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, many new applications will be enabled, including safety and traffic optimization. However, initial proposals of V2X communication protocols raise privacy concerns about the ability to track vehicles without the owners' consent. While solutions have been proposed to mitigate this tracking, they have focused on a single protocol. We propose a new passive vehicle tracking technique, which we refer to as Vehicle Ensemble Tracking, or VETing. This approach uses traces from secondary radios with long-term identifiers to de-anonymize pseudonyms used by V2X radios. Using a simulator with a network of listeners, we show that VETing can reconstruct high precision paths of vehicles traveling through a city.