cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training

Selective attention supports the prioritized processing of relevant sensory information to facilitate goal-directed behavior. Studies in human subjects demonstrate that attentional gain of cortical responses can sufficiently account for attention-related improvements in behavior. On the other hand, studies using highly trained nonhuman primates suggest that reductions in neural noise can better explain attentional facilitation of behavior. Given the importance of selective information processing in nearly all domains of cognition, we sought to reconcile these competing accounts by testing the hypothesis that extensive behavioral training alters the neural mechanisms that support selective attention. We tested this hypothesis using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure stimulus-evoked visual responses from human subjects while they performed a selective spatial attention task over the course of ~1 month. Early in training, spatial attention led to an increase in the gain of stimulus-evoked visual responses. Gain was apparent within ~100 ms of stimulus onset, and a quantitative model based on signal detection theory (SDT) successfully linked the magnitude of this gain modulation to attention-related improvements in behavior. However, after extensive training, this early attentional gain was eliminated even though there were still substantial attention-related improvements in behavior. Accordingly, the SDT-based model required noise reduction to account for the link between the stimulus-evoked visual responses and attentional modulations of behavior. These findings suggest that training can lead to fundamental changes in the way attention alters the early cortical responses that support selective information processing. Moreover, these data facilitate the translation of results across different species and across experimental procedures that employ different behavioral training regimes.
A Simple Estimate of Glomerular Filtration Rate in Adolescent Boys

We reexamined the relationship between creatinine clearance (C cr ) and body habitus in 212 girls and 356 boys, including 181 boys and 69 girls between 13 and 21 years of age. The use of formula C cr =k L/P cr , where k=0.55 for the calculation of GFR, resulted in a significant underestimation of GFR in adolescent boys but was suitable for girls. In 51 adolescent boys the equation C cr =0.7 L/P cr resulted in an accurate estimate of GFR. Regression analysis in 133 boys aged 3 to 21 years showed that the constant k increased gradually and linearly with age (r=0.35, P cr =1.5 (age)+0.5 (L/P cr ), where age is given in years (r=0.82, P cr in 91 additional clearance studies performed in adolescent boys with native kidneys or functioning renal transplants. The larger value for the constant k (0.7) and the age correction for GFR reflect the greater rate of urinary creatinine excretion (and thus muscle mass) per unit of body mass in adolescent boys.
Distributed control using a serial communication link

Abstract The gathering of input data, the computation of an algorithm, and the shipment of actuator output data to that process have generally been implemented within one piece of hardware. As the number of processes increase and the volume of input/output grows, distributed processing must be applied. This paper describes how a serial link may be used to convey a real-time clock for process syndironization, transmit periodic sampled data for remote process loop control, and pass messages on a request/reply bases.
Acid Phosphatase Staining Pattern as an Indicator of T-Cell Acute Leukemia

Acid phosphatase staining pattern has been variably advocated and discouraged as an indicator of T-cell differentiation of acute lymphoblastic leukemias. This study indicates that acid phosphatase staining pattern will correlate with the results of E rosette testing in both T-cell and non-T, non-B acute lymphoblastic leukemias in over 90% of cases. Acid phosphatase staining pattern may reliably be used to indicate T-cell differentiation in acute lymphoblastic leukemia in cases where insufficient material for E rosette testing is available.
The Diagnosis and Management of Acute Scrotal Conditions in Boys

Summary— In a consecutive series of 69 boys with an acute scrotal condition, 55% were suffering from torsion of a testicular appendage, 22% from torsion of the testis and the remainder from idiopathic scrotal oedema or epididymitis. The general clinical features and specific scrotal findings in each of these conditions are compared and contrasted. It is concluded that on clinical grounds alone, torsion of the testis can be excluded in many boys presenting with an acute scrotal condition. The implications for management are discussed.
The Beckham effect: examining the longitudinal impact of a star performer on league marketing, novelty, and scarcity

Research question: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Major League Soccer’s (MLS) league marketing strategy to make a significant investment in an international star athlete. So...
Experience With the MAGPI Hypospadias Repair

Over a 9-month period, 25 consecutive patients with subcoronal hypospadias underwent hypospadias repair using the MAGPI technique. Only those patients with subcoronal lesions, and without chordee were included in this series. The mean age at the time of repair was 3 years with a range of 1.2 to 9 years. The average length of hospitalization was eight hours and the overall complication rate was 4%. The technical simplicity and reliability of this procedure as well as the excellent cosmetic and functional results which can be obtained make it an essential adjunct to our surgical armamentarium.
Pneumococcal Sepsis with False-Negative Blood Cultures

Most physicians recognize the false-positive blood cultures (generally due to contamination) are common. Bacteria such as pneumococci, however, may rapidly die in broth cultures, and viable bacteria may not be identified. Several patients were observed with pneumococcal infections that had false-negative blood cultures 24 hours after inoculation. Hemolysis and methemoglobin formation in the bottle suggested bacterial growth within 12 hours after incubation, and blind subcultures at that time yielded pneumococci. Pneumococcal antigen could be detected in the blood culture bottles using counter-immunoelectrophoresis, even though subculture at 24 hours yielded no growth. Physicians and laboratory personnel should be aware that false-negative blood cultures may occur, particularly with certain bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, and that the blood culture bottles should be observed visually for the presence of brown sediment or hemolysis.
Super-resolution of point sources via convex programming

Recent work has shown that convex programming allows to recover a superposition of point sources exactly from low-resolution data as long as the sources are separated by 2/fc, where fc is the cut-off frequency of the sensing process. The proof relies on the construction of a certificate whose existence implies exact recovery. This certificate has since been used to establish that the approach is robust to noise and to analyze related problems such as compressed sensing off the grid and the super-resolution of splines from moment measurements. In this work we construct a new certificate that allows to extend all these results to signals with minimum separations above 1.26/fc. This is close to 1/fc, the threshold at which the problem becomes inherently ill posed, in the sense that signals with a smaller minimum separation may have low-pass projections with negligible energy.
A deep learning approach to estimate chemically-treated collagenous tissue nonlinear anisotropic stress-strain responses from microscopy images.

Abstract Biological collagenous tissues comprised of networks of collagen fibers are suitable for a broad spectrum of medical applications owing to their attractive mechanical properties. In this study, we developed a noninvasive approach to estimate collagenous tissue elastic properties directly from microscopy images using Machine Learning (ML) techniques. Glutaraldehyde-treated bovine pericardium (GLBP) tissue, widely used in the fabrication of bioprosthetic heart valves and vascular patches, was chosen to develop a representative application. A Deep Learning model was designed and trained to process second harmonic generation (SHG) images of collagen networks in GLBP tissue samples, and directly predict the tissue elastic mechanical properties. The trained model is capable of identifying the overall tissue stiffness with a classification accuracy of 84%, and predicting the nonlinear anisotropic stress-strain curves with average regression errors of 0.021 and 0.031. Thus, this study demonstrates the feasibility and great potential of using the Deep Learning approach for fast and noninvasive assessment of collagenous tissue elastic properties from microstructural images. Statement of Significance In this study, we developed, to our best knowledge, the first Deep Learning-based approach to estimate the elastic properties of collagenous tissues directly from noninvasive second harmonic generation images. The success of this study holds promise for the use of Machine Learning techniques to noninvasively and efficiently estimate the mechanical properties of many structure-based biological materials, and it also enables many potential applications such as serving as a quality control tool to select tissue for the manufacturing of medical devices (e.g. bioprosthetic heart valves).
Prostibulos y Subversion en “La Gringa” de Gloria Pampillo

Seleccionar una escritora argentina contemporanea cuya ficcion feminista evidencie originalidad estilistica y relevancia tematica constituye una tarea dificil, pues muchas han demostrado exitosamente gran creatividad en ambos aspectos literarios. Si bien autoras como Luisa Valenzuela, Noemi Ulla y Angelica Gorosdicher ocupan un lugar importante por su contribution literaria, el nombre de Gloria Pampillo adquiere resonancia particular al hablar de mujer y prostitution. Su tematica feminista se ha ido desarrollando a traves de su obra ya sea en novelas como en cuentos cortos.
The Competitive Effects of Entry: Evidence from Supercenter Expansion

Coupling weekly grocery transactions with the exact location and opening date of Walmarts over an 11-year period, we examine how Supercenter entry affects prices and revenues at incumbent supermarkets. We find that entry within 1 mile of an incumbent causes a sharp 16 percent drop in revenue, a competitive effect that decays quickly with distance. Surprisingly, despite large cross-sectional differences in supermarket prices by exposure to Walmart, our findings also indicate that Supercenter entry has no causal effect on incumbent prices. This result is robust across many dimensions, including a lack of price response for individual products, and across brands within a category.
Synthesis of North American High-Speed Passenger Rail Ridership Forecasting:

This paper presents a synthesis of two decades of ridership forecasts developed for proposed high-speed intercity passenger rail (HSR) routes in various stages of development across North America. A comprehensive database of ridership forecasts consisted of 210 ridership estimates from 43 unique intercity corridors. Analysis of the database revealed that increasing the maximum operating speed of the HSR service increased ridership, and a simple multiple linear regression model yielded demand elasticities that were consistent with values reported in published ridership studies. Regarding the impacts of HSR on the broader transportation system, this synthesis found that the mode share of HSR as well as the percentage of airline trips diverted to HSR services increased as the maximum speed of the system increased. The percentage of induced trips and the percentage of automobile trips diverted to HSR did not vary significantly with speed. Whereas this synthesis provides a starting point for a broader discussi...
The best of times and the worst of times: empirical operations and supply chain management research

We assess the current state of empirical research in operations and supply chain management (OSM), using Dickens’ contrast between the best of times and the worst of times as a frame. The best of times refers to the future that empirical OSM research is now entering, with exciting opportunities available using big data and other new data sources, new empirical approaches and analytical techniques and innovative tools for developing theory. These are well aligned with new research questions related to the digital economy, Industry 4.0, the impact of the millennial generation as consumers, social media, 3D printing, etc. However, we also explore how it is the worst of times, focusing on the challenges and problems that plague empirical OSM research. Our goal is to show how OSM researchers can learn from the worst of times, in order to be poised to take advantage of the best of times. We introduce the research diamond as a vehicle for emphasising the importance of a balanced research perspective that treats ...
How and What Teachers Learn: A Shifting Perspective:

We explore our efforts to create a conceptual framework to describe and analyse the challenges around preparing teachers to create, sustain, and educate in a “community of learners.” In particular,...
Co-Administration of Low-Dose Naltrexone and Bupropion Reduces Alcohol Drinking in Alcohol-Preferring (P) Rats.

Background This study examined whether combining naltrexone (NTX) with bupropion (BUP) is more effective in reducing alcohol drinking in alcohol-preferring (P) rats with a genetic predisposition toward high voluntary alcohol intake than either drug alone. Methods Alcohol-experienced, adult, male, P rats were fed NTX alone in a dose of 10.0 mg/kg BW, BUP alone in a dose of 10.0 mg/kg BW, BUP alone in a dose of 20.0 mg/kg BW, NTX (10.0 mg/kg BW) + BUP (10.0 mg/kg BW), or vehicle (VEH) at 1 hour prior to onset of a daily 2-hour alcohol access period for 5 consecutive days. Results When administered alone, neither NTX (10.0 mg/kg BW) nor BUP, in either of 2 doses (10.0 mg/kg BW or 20.0 mg/kg BW), reduced voluntary alcohol intake in P rats. However, NTX combined with BUP (10.0 mg/kg NTX + 10.0 mg/kg BUP) and given as a single medication significantly reduced alcohol consumption throughout prolonged treatment. Conclusions Combining low doses of NTX and BUP, each of which is ineffective when given alone, increases the efficacy of the medication. Low drug doses circumvent the problem of negative side effects that can occur with higher doses of either drug. A reduction in side effects can facilitate patient compliance and improve clinical outcomes for alcoholics and heavy drinkers who want to reduce their alcohol intake. The results, together with those from our prior studies, demonstrate the strength of a combinatorial pharmacotherapeutic approach to the treatment of alcohol use disorder.
Towards Automatic Learning of Procedures From Web Instructional Videos

The potential for agents, whether embodied or software, to learn by observing other agents performing procedures involving objects and actions is rich. Current research on automatic procedure learning heavily relies on action labels or video subtitles, even during the evaluation phase, which makes them infeasible in real-world scenarios. This leads to our question: can the human-consensus structure of a procedure be learned from a large set of long, unconstrained videos (e.g., instructional videos from YouTube) with only visual evidence? To answer this question, we introduce the problem of procedure segmentation---to segment a video procedure into category-independent procedure segments. Given that no large-scale dataset is available for this problem, we collect a large-scale procedure segmentation dataset with procedure segments temporally localized and described; we use cooking videos and name the dataset YouCook2. We propose a segment-level recurrent network for generating procedure segments by modeling the dependencies across segments. The generated segments can be used as pre-processing for other tasks, such as dense video captioning and event parsing. We show in our experiments that the proposed model outperforms competitive baselines in procedure segmentation.
High-speed “multi-grid” pulse-retrieval algorithm for frequency-resolved optical gating

We use an algorithmic technique called "multi-grid" to improve the speed of convergence of the cross-correlation frequency-resolved-optical-gating (XFROG) pulse-retrieval algorithm for very complex pulses. The multi-grid approach uses a smaller trace (N/4 × N/4) drawn from the original N × N trace for initial iterations, yielding poorer resolution and range, but proceeding ~16 times faster for such iterations. The pulse field rapidly retrieved from this smaller array then provides the initial guess for the larger, full array, significantly reducing the number of iterations required on the full array. We first find that, for simple pulses and their resulting simple traces, the original generalized-projections FROG and XFROG algorithms already converge in less time than is required to plot the retrieved pulse, so speed improvements for them appear irrelevant in general. Considering therefore only complex pulses and their resulting complex traces, we adapted the multi-grid algorithm to XFROG, the technique used for complex pulses whenever possible. We show that extending multi-grid to even smaller arrays is not helpful, but intermediate-size arrays of N/2 × N/2 are, further reducing the number of iterations on the full array and further decreasing convergence time. We obtain a factor of ~7 improvement in speed for very complex pulses with time-bandwidth products of 50 to 90. This approach does not require modifications to the algorithm itself and so can be used in conjunction with essentially all FROG algorithms for improved speed. And it retains FROG's ability to determine the pulse-shape stability in multi-shot measurements.
Predicting Accruals Based on Cash-Flow Properties

ABSTRACT Our goal is to understand the extent to which cash-flow properties explain accruals. Using the Dechow, Kothari, and Watts (1998) model, we derive a negative relation between accruals and c...
Gemin4 is an essential gene in mice, and its overexpression in human cells causes relocalization of the SMN complex to the nucleoplasm.

ABSTRACT Gemin4 is a member of the Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) protein complex, which is responsible for the assembly and maturation of Sm-class small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs). In metazoa, Sm snRNPs are assembled in the cytoplasm and subsequently imported into the nucleus. We previously showed that the SMN complex is required for snRNP import in vitro , although it remains unclear which specific components direct this process. Here, we report that Gemin4 overexpression drives SMN and the other Gemin proteins from the cytoplasm into the nucleus. Moreover, it disrupts the subnuclear localization of the Cajal body marker protein, coilin, in a dose-dependent manner. We identified three putative nuclear localization signal (NLS) motifs within Gemin4, one of which is necessary and sufficient to direct nuclear import. Overexpression of Gemin4 constructs lacking this NLS sequestered Gemin3 and, to a lesser extent Gemin2, in the cytoplasm but had little effect on the nuclear accumulation of SMN. We also investigated the effects of Gemin4 depletion in the laboratory mouse, M us musculus . Gemin4 null mice die early in embryonic development, demonstrating that Gemin4 is an essential mammalian protein. When crossed onto a severe SMA mutant background, heterozygous loss of Gemin4 failed to modify the early postnatal mortality phenotype of SMA type I ( Smn −/− ; SMN2 +/+ ) mice. We conclude that Gemin4 plays an essential role in mammalian snRNP biogenesis, and may facilitate import of the SMN complex (or subunits thereof) into the nucleus.
The Treadmill of Taxation: Desertification and Organizational State Deviance in Minqin Oasis, China

Green criminology has long proposed a political economy approach towards the study of environmental harm. This paper engages with that emerging scholarship by examining how land reclamation and organizational state deviance contributed to severe desertification from 1986 to 2005 in Minqin County, China. Specifically, the study examines how macro-level tax reforms in post-socialist China provided the motive, opportunities, and operationality of social control that enabled the under-enforcement of conservation regulations in the Minqin oasis. The findings demonstrate that organizational state deviance was structured in an interwoven web of fiscal obligations and patronage relationships generated by the incessant tax burden imposed on grassroots state actors and local farmers. The data comes from 110 in-depth interviews of local farmers and grassroots actors as well as 7237 pages of policy reports gathered from regional and local archives in northwestern China.
Disclosure Regulation in the Commercial Banking Industry: Lessons from the National Banking Era

I exploit variation in the adoption of disclosure and supervisory regulation across U.S. states to examine their impact on the development and stability of commercial banks. The empirical results suggest that the adoption of state-level requirements to report financial statements in local newspapers is associated with greater stability and development of commercial banks. I also examine which political constituencies influence the adoption of disclosure and supervisory regulation. I find that powerful landowners and small private banks are associated with late adoption of these regulations. These findings suggest that incumbent groups oppose disclosure rules because the passage of such rules threatens their private interests. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Conservative finite‐volume schemes for the quasi‐geostrophic equation on coastal‐conforming unstructured primal–dual meshes

In this paper we propose finite volume schemes for solving the inviscid and viscous quasi-geostrophic equations on coastal-conforming unstructured primal-dual meshes. Several approaches for enforcing the boundary conditions are also explored along with these schemes. The pure transport part in these schemes are shown to conserve the potential vorticity along fluid paths in an averaged sense, and conserve the potential enstrophy up to the time truncation errors. Numerical tests based on the centroidal Voronoi-Delaunay meshes are performed to confirm these properties, and to distinguish the dynamical behaviors of these schemes. Finally some potential applications of these schemes in different situations are discussed.
Cellular tolerance at the µ-opioid receptor is phosphorylation dependent

Phosphorylation of the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) is known as a key step in desensitization and internalization but the role in the development of long-term tolerance at the cellular level is not known. Viral expression of wild type (exWT) and mutant MORs, where all phosphorylation sites on the C-terminus (Total Phosphorylation Deficient (TPD)) were mutated to alanine, were examined in locus coeruleus neurons in a MOR knockout rat. Both receptors activated potassium conductance similar to endogenous receptors in wild type animals. The exWT receptors, like endogenous receptors, acutely desensitized, internalized and, after chronic morphine treatment, displayed signs of tolerance. However, TPD receptors did not desensitize or internalize with agonist treatment. In addition the TPD receptors did not develop cellular tolerance following chronic morphine treatment. Thus C-terminal phosphorylation is necessary for the expression of acute desensitization, trafficking and one sign of long-term tolerance to morphine at the cellular level.
Aerobic Exercise and Resting Blood Pressure in Older Adults: A Meta-Analytic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

P98 OBJECTIVE: Use the meta-analytic approach to examine the effects of aerobic exercise on resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure in older adults. METHODS: Studies were retrieved from (1) computer searches (MEDLINE, Current Contents, Sport Discus), (2) cross-referencing from bibliographies of retrieved studies and review articles, and (3) expert review of reference list. Inclusion criteria for this study were (1) randomized trials, (2) aerobic activity as the only intervention, (3) nonexercise control group included, (4) changes in resting systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure assessed, (5) within study ages of subjects ≥ 50 years, (6) English-language studies published in journals between January 1966 and January 1998. All studies were coded by both authors, independent of each other. The authors then met and reviewed every item coded. Discrepancies were resolved by consensus. Net changes in blood pressure were calculated as the exercise minus control group difference. RESULTS: A total of 14 primary outcomes were derived from 7 studies. Using a random-effects model, decreases of approximately 2% and 1% were found for resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively, with only changes in systolic blood pressure statistically significant (systolic, mean ± SD = -2 ± 3 mmHg, 95% confidence interval = -4 to -1; diastolic, mean ± SD = -1 ± 2 mmHg, 95% confidence interval = -2 to 0 mmHg). No statistically significant publication bias was observed for changes in either resting systolic or diastolic blood pressure. Regression analyses revealed a statistically significant association between changes in resting systolic blood pressure and initial systolic blood pressure (R = 0.73, SEE = 0.57, p = 0.003). Changes in blood pressure were independent of changes in body weight, body fat, and body mass index. CONCLUSIONS: Aerobic exercise is efficacious for reducing resting systolic blood pressure in older adults. However, a need exists for additional studies that address the effectiveness of this intervention for reducing resting blood pressure in older adults.
Protein-coding variants implicate novel genes related to lipid homeostasis contributing to body-fat distribution

Body-fat distribution is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular health consequences. We analyzed the association of body-fat distribution, assessed by waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index, with 228,985 predicted coding and splice site variants available on exome arrays in up to 344,369 individuals from five major ancestries (discovery) and 132,177 European-ancestry individuals (validation). We identified 15 common (minor allele frequency, MAF ≥5%) and nine low-frequency or rare (MAF <5%) coding novel variants. Pathway/gene set enrichment analyses identified lipid particle, adiponectin, abnormal white adipose tissue physiology and bone development and morphology as important contributors to fat distribution, while cross-trait associations highlight cardiometabolic traits. In functional follow-up analyses, specifically in Drosophila RNAi-knockdowns, we observed a significant increase in the total body triglyceride levels for two genes (DNAH10 and PLXND1). We implicate novel genes in fat distribution, stressing the importance of interrogating low-frequency and protein-coding variants.
The lightship in economics

What role does government play in the provision of public goods? Economists have used the lighthouse as an empirical example to illustrate the extent to which the private provision of public goods is possible. This inquiry, however, has neglected the private provision of lightships. We investigate the private operation of the world’s first modern lightship, established in 1731 on the banks of the Thames estuary going in and out of London. First, we show that the Nore lightship was able to operate profitably and without government enforcement in the collection of payments for lighting services. Second, we show how private efforts to build lightships were crowded out by Trinity House, the public authority responsible for establishing and maintaining lighthouses in England and Wales. By including lightships into the broader lighthouse market, we argue that the provision of lighting services exemplifies not a market failure, but a government failure.
How Many Women Mathematicians Can You Name

(2001). How Many Women Mathematicians Can You Name? Math Horizons: Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 9-14.
Histopathological Image QTL Discovery of Immune Infiltration Variants

Summary Genotype-to-phenotype association studies typically use macroscopic physiological measurements or molecular readouts as quantitative traits. There are comparatively few suitable quantitative traits available between cell and tissue length scales, a limitation that hinders our ability to identify variants affecting phenotype at many clinically informative levels. Here we show that quantitative image features, automatically extracted from histopathological imaging data, can be used for image quantitative trait loci (iQTLs) mapping and variant discovery. Using thyroid pathology images, clinical metadata, and genomics data from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project, we establish and validate a quantitative imaging biomarker for immune cell infiltration. A total of 100,215 variants were selected for iQTL profiling and tested for genotype-phenotype associations with our quantitative imaging biomarker. Significant associations were found in HDAC9 and TXNDC5. We validated the TXNDC5 association using GTEx cis-expression QTL data and an independent hypothyroidism dataset from the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics network.
Connecting Gaze, Scene, and Attention: Generalized Attention Estimation via Joint Modeling of Gaze and Scene Saliency

This paper addresses the challenging problem of estimating the general visual attention of people in images. Our proposed method is designed to work across multiple naturalistic social scenarios and provides a full picture of the subject’s attention and gaze. In contrast, earlier works on gaze and attention estimation have focused on constrained problems in more specific contexts. In particular, our model explicitly represents the gaze direction and handles out-of-frame gaze targets. We leverage three different datasets using a multi-task learning approach. We evaluate our method on widely used benchmarks for single-tasks such as gaze angle estimation and attention-within-an-image, as well as on the new challenging task of generalized visual attention prediction. In addition, we have created extended annotations for the MMDB and GazeFollow datasets which are used in our experiments, which we will publicly release.
Faster colonoscope withdrawal time without impaired detection using EndoRings.

Background and study aims Mucosal exposure devices on the colonoscope tip have improved detection. We evaluated detection and procedure times in colonoscopies performed with EndoRings. Patients and methods We had 14 endoscopists in a university practice trial EndoRings. We compared detection and procedure times to age- and indication-matched procedures by the same endoscopists. Results There were 137 procedures with EndoRings. The adenoma detection rate was 44 % with EndoRings vs. 39 % without (P = 0.39). Mean adenomas per colonoscopy (standard deviation) was 1.2 (2.3) with EndoRings vs. 0.9 (1.6) without (P = 0.055). Mean insertion time with EndoRings was 6.2 (3.2) minutes vs. 6.6 (6.7) minutes without (P = 0.81). Mean withdrawal time with EndoRings in all patients with or without polypectomy was 12.2 (5.3) minutes and 16.1 (10.3) minutes without (P = 0.0005). Conclusion EndoRings may allow faster withdrawal during colonoscopy without any reduction in detection. Prospective trials with mucosal exposure devices targeting procedure times as primary endpoints are warranted.
Sticking to Your Plan: The Role of Present Bias for Credit Card Paydown

Abstract We use data from an online financial service to show that many consumers fail to stick to their self-set debt paydown plans. This behavior is best explained by present bias. Our empirical approach is informed by a parsimonious model showing that the sensitivity of spending to paycheck receipt reflects a present-biased agents short-run impatience, and that this sensitivity is reduced by available resources only for agents who are aware (sophisticated) of their future impatience. Classifying users accordingly, we find that (i) sophisticated users debt paydown decreases with short-run impatience, and that (ii) planned paydown is most predictive of actual paydown for sophisticated users.
On positivity in Sasaki geometry

It is well known that if the dimension of the Sasaki cone $${\mathfrak {t}}^+$$ is greater than one, then all Sasakian structures in $${\mathfrak {t}}^+$$ are either positive or indefinite. We discuss the phenomenon of type changing within a fixed Sasaki cone. Assuming henceforth that $$\dim {\mathfrak {t}}^+>1$$ there are three possibilities, either all elements of $${\mathfrak {t}}^+$$ are positive, all are indefinite, or both positive and indefinite Sasakian structures occur in $${\mathfrak {t}}^+$$. We illustrate by examples how the type can change as we move in $${\mathfrak {t}}^+$$. If there exists a Sasakian structure in $${\mathfrak {t}}^+$$ whose total transverse scalar curvature is non-positive, then all elements of $${\mathfrak {t}}^+$$ are indefinite. Furthermore, we prove that if the first Chern class is a torsion class or represented by a positive definite (1, 1) form, then all elements of $${\mathfrak {t}}^+$$ are positive.
Deciphering the Roles of N-Glycans on Collagen–Platelet Interactions

Collagen is a potent agonist for platelet activation, presenting itself as a key contributor to coagulation via interactions with platelet glycoproteins. The fine details dictating platelet–collagen interactions are poorly understood. In particular, glycosylation could be a key determinant in the platelet–collagen interaction. Here, we report an affinity purification coupled to a mass spectrometry-based approach to elucidate the function of N-glycans in dictating platelet–collagen interactions. By integrative proteomic and glycoproteomic analysis of collagen–platelet interactive proteins with N-glycan manipulation, we demonstrate that the interaction of platelet adhesive receptors with collagen is highly N-glycan regulated, with glycans on many receptors playing positive roles in collagen binding, with glycans on other platelet glycoproteins exhibiting inhibitory roles on the binding to collagen. Our results significantly enhance our understanding of the details of glycans influencing the platelet–collage...
Escaping Saddle Points in Constrained Optimization

In this paper, we study the problem of escaping from saddle points in smooth nonconvex optimization problems subject to a convex set $\mathcal{C}$. We propose a generic framework that yields convergence to a second-order stationary point of the problem, if the convex set $\mathcal{C}$ is simple for a quadratic objective function. Specifically, our results hold if one can find a $\rho$-approximate solution of a quadratic program subject to $\mathcal{C}$ in polynomial time, where $\rho<1$ is a positive constant that depends on the structure of the set $\mathcal{C}$. Under this condition, we show that the sequence of iterates generated by the proposed framework reaches an $(\epsilon,\gamma)$-second order stationary point (SOSP) in at most $\mathcal{O}(\max\{\epsilon^{-2},\rho^{-3}\gamma^{-3}\})$ iterations. We further characterize the overall complexity of reaching an SOSP when the convex set $\mathcal{C}$ can be written as a set of quadratic constraints and the objective function Hessian has a specific structure over the convex $\mathcal{C}$. Finally, we extend our results to the stochastic setting and characterize the number of stochastic gradient and Hessian evaluations to reach an $(\epsilon,\gamma)$-SOSP.
Mastering Technology: Studies in Cognitive Styles:

This excerpt from an article in College Teaching discusses how new technologies—because they don't respect the same subject-area boundaries as print—will compel educators to think beyond traditiona...
Factors that influence the transition of university postdocs to non-academic scientific careers: An exploratory study

Abstract While postdoctoral fellowships are viewed as positions that prepare PhD students for academic careers, studies show that most postdocs will not find tenure-track employment within universities. Postdocs consequently pursue non-academic jobs that differ in the degree to which they utilize a postdoc’s scientific training, yet we know little about how this occurs. To help address this gap, this study inductively investigates factors that may influence a postdoc’s transition to a non-academic career. The study uncovers multiple individual, PI, as well as organizational and policy factors, including the lack of relevant skills, absence of support—and in some cases opposition—from their principal investigators, and poor availability of non-academic career preparation opportunities, among others. Viewed collectively, these elements likely hinder a move to non-academic scientific positions and thus have consequences for postdoc career trajectories and, by extension, the utilization of new knowledge. The paper opens the door for future research, theorization, and policy action that might smooth the transition of postdocs into non-academic careers and potentially improve the impact of publicly-funded research.
Examining the ocular fundus in neurology.

Purpose of reviewThe funduscopic examination can be a technically difficult, and often omitted, portion of the neurologic examination, despite its great potential to influence patient care.Recent findingsMedical practitioners are often first taught to examine the ocular fundus using a direct ophthal
Bi-Level Volt-VAR Optimization to Coordinate Smart Inverters With Voltage Control Devices

Conservation voltage reduction (CVR) uses Volt-VAR optimization (VVO) methods to reduce customer power demand by controlling feeder's voltage control devices. The objective of this paper is to present a VVO approach that controls system's legacy voltage control devices and coordinates their operation with smart inverter control. An optimal power flow (OPF) formulation is proposed by developing linear and nonlinear power flow approximations for a three-phase unbalanced electric power distribution system. A bi-level VVO approach is proposed, where Level 1 optimizes the control of legacy devices and smart inverters using a linear approximate three-phase power flow. In Level 2, the control parameters for smart inverters are adjusted to obtain an optimal and feasible solution by solving the approximate nonlinear OPF model. Level 1 is modeled as a mixed integer linear program (MILP) while Level 2 as a nonlinear program with linear objective and quadratic constraints. The proposed approach is validated using 13-bus and 123-bus three-phase IEEE test feeders and a 329-bus three-phase PNNL taxonomy feeder. The results demonstrate the applicability of the framework in achieving the CVR objective. It is demonstrated that the proposed coordinated control approach help us to reduce the feeder's power demand by reducing the bus voltages; the proposed approach maintains an average feeder voltage of 0.96 p.u. A higher energy saving is reported during the minimum load conditions. The results and approximation steps are thoroughly validated using OpenDSS.
How Much Would Bangladesh Gain from the Removal of Subsidies on Electricity and Natural Gas

As in many countries around the world, subsidies to energy in Bangladesh impose a significant fiscal burden, with benefits that disproportionately accrue to high-income households. Any reforms of energy subsidies should benefit the overall economy rather than those who use energy the most. Using a computable general equilibrium model, this study investigates the economywide impacts of the removal of direct subsidies in the electricity sector and indirect subsidies in natural gas in Bangladesh. The study finds that removal of energy subsidies would be beneficial to the economy and would increase gross domestic product. The magnitude of the economic impact depends on how the budgetary savings from the removal of the electricity subsidies and increased revenues due to the removal of indirect subsidies to natural gas are reallocated to the economy. Recycling the savings (or the new revenues) to fund investment would benefit the country most, followed by the case of utilizing them to fund cuts in income taxes, and finally to fund cuts in indirect taxes. Although the reallocation of budgetary savings to households through lump-sum transfers is found to be inferior to the other recycling options considered, it would be the preferred option from the distributional perspective.
Human Interaction Management Impact on Hospital Labor Planning

Labor cost is the single highest expense for hospitals. Rather than relying on new technology, this case study seeks to utilize Human Interaction Management to redesign work structure and process to improve labor forecasting and scheduling outcomes. This study takes a distinctly unique approach to the hospital workforce planning (forecasting and scheduling) problem. The study is differentiated from precedent work in its focus on the structure of the work and the human interactions involved in labor planning, rather than strictly quantitative mathematical models and algorithms. Hospital labor planning involves many dimensions and levels of complexity. Within this complexity, we believe there are many improvement opportunities. This study focused on examining human processes, interactions and work involved with forecasting workload and subsequent labor scheduling. The objective was to redesign necessary components to optimize human interactions, flow of information, and knowledge sharing in order to address the large amounts of complexity and variability. The study concluded that a centralized role-process structure that facilitates and encourages more human interactions and feedback across the different roles resulted in more accurate labor forecasts, subsequently leading to more accurate labor schedules. We found that large amounts of critical knowledge and information was locked within the human participants who did not interact with other roles. There was a lack of a path for the critical information to flow across the roles where needed to successfully perform tasks. The drivers for the improvements were task focus and more information sharing leading to a richer collection of information and knowledge used as input to the work tasks. Redesigning work activities and roles resulted in better forecasting and scheduling outcomes as well as an additional benefit of freeing up clinical department leader time to focus on more patient and employee centric tasks within their departments.
Abolishing the Death Penalty: An Untested Legal Argument

This paper supplies the logical and substantive framework for an untested challenge to the legality of the death penalty in the United States. As such, it yields a novel strategy for appellants and supporting amici seeking review of capital cases in the United States Supreme Court. With twin reliance on the right of the people to reparation for harm wrongly inflicted by others and their constitutional right to Due Process of Law under the Fourteenth Amendment, this paper advances the argument that the mere possibility of a wrongful execution yields an imperative for abolishment of capital punishment by the Court.
Macroeconomic uncertainty and the distant forward-rate slope

Abstract Over the 1990 to 2014 period, we show that the macroeconomic-uncertainty index of Jurado et al. (2015) is a powerful empirical determinant of the slope in Treasury forward interest rates over the 10- to 30-year term-structure segment. The strong negative partial relation between macroeconomic uncertainty and the distant forward-rate slope remains reliably evident in a multivariate setting that includes expected bond yield volatility (as a control for convexity’s influence), economic growth, expected inflation, and five other well-known uncertainty and risk measures. Beyond the well-known bond convexity channel for promoting a downward sloping distant forward-rate slope, our findings suggest that higher macroeconomic uncertainty can promote a more downward slope in distant forward rates through a hedge channel in the sense of Campbell et al. (2017). Consistent with the hypothesized hedge channel, we also document striking cross-sectional variation in how bond returns are related to macroeconomic uncertainty, both across mid- and long-horizon T-bonds and across high and low credit-risk corporate bonds.
Diapause Response of the Boll Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to Selected Diets

The boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), once the dominant pest of cotton (Gossypium spp.) in the United States, is now the most serious pest of South American cotton. Despite eradication efforts in the United States, intractable populations in southern Texas and northern Mexico remain a threat to adjoining regions. A key to eliminating this pest from the subtropics may lie in better understanding mechanisms facilitating survival through the non–cotton season. We examined the diapause response to diet regimes by evaluating the influences of food type (square, boll), size, and replacement interval, under photoperiod (13:11 [L:D] h) and temperature conditions (29.4°C) considered to suppress diapause. Female weevils exhibited diapause characters earlier than did males on all diets, and physiological status was not reliably evaluated until adults were 9 d old. When squares fed to groups of weevils were replaced thrice weekly, most weevils responded with symptoms of starvation instead of diapause. In other feeding regimes, incidence of diapause increased with increasing food development, which may reflect the weevil perception of host maturity. These results are consistent with accounts of seasonality of diapause and host utilization in the subtropics and tropics, as well as accounts of lateseason weevil ecology in temperate regions prior to the widespread adoption of mechanized harvest and determinant cotton cultivars. These findings, combined with earlier demonstrations of extended host-free longevity and lack of a photoperiod response, identify food characteristics as important determinants of boll weevil reproductive diapause irrespective of other environmental cues.
Nonlinear Diffusion Acceleration of the Least-Squares Transport Equation in Geometries with Voids

AbstractIn this paper we show the extension of nonlinear diffusion acceleration (NDA) to geometries containing small voids using a weighted-least-squares (WLS) high-order equation. Even though the WLS equation is well defined in voids, the low-order drift-diffusion equation was not defined in materials with a zero cross section. This paper derives the necessary modifications to the NDA algorithm. We show that a small change to the NDA closure term and a nonlocal definition of the diffusion coefficient solve the problems for void regions. These changes do not affect the algorithm for optically thick material regions while making the algorithm well defined in optically thin ones. We use a Fourier analysis to perform an iterative analysis to confirm that the modifications result in a stable and efficient algorithm. Later in the paper, numerical results of our method are presented. We test this formulation with a small, one-dimensional test problem. Additionally, we present results for a modified version of t...