cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Targeting cancers in the gastrointestinal tract: role of capecitabine

Capecitabine is currently the only novel, orally home-administered fluorouracil prodrug. It offers patients more freedom from hospital visits and less inconvenience and complications associated with infusion devices. The drug has been extensively studied in large clinical trials in many solid tumors, including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, and many others. Furthermore, the drug compares favorably with fluorouracil in patients with such cancers, with a safe toxicity profile, consisting mainly of gastrointestinal and dermatologic adverse effects. Whereas gastrointestinal events and hand-foot syndrome occur often with capecitabine, the tolerability profile is comparatively favorable. Prompt recognition of severe adverse effects is the key to successful management of capecitabine. Ongoing and future clinical trials will continue to examine, and likely expand, the role of capecitabine as a single agent and/or in combination with other anticancer agents for the treatment of gastrointestinal as well as other solid tumors, both in the advanced palliative and adjuvant settings. The author summarizes the current data on the role of capecitabine in the management of gastrointestinal cancers.
Impairment of chaperone-mediated autophagy leads to selective lysosomal degradation defects in the lysosomal storage disease cystinosis

Metabolite accumulation in lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) results in impaired cell function and multi-systemic disease. Although substrate reduction and lysosomal overload-decreasing therapies can ameliorate disease progression, the significance of lysosomal overload-independent mechanisms in the development of cellular dysfunction is unknown for most LSDs. Here, we identify a mechanism of impaired chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) in cystinosis, a LSD caused by defects in the cystine transporter cystinosin (CTNS) and characterized by cystine lysosomal accumulation. We show that, different from other LSDs, autophagosome number is increased, but macroautophagic flux is not impaired in cystinosis while mTOR activity is not affected. Conversely, the expression and localization of the CMA receptor LAMP2A are abnormal in CTNS-deficient cells and degradation of the CMA substrate GAPDH is defective in Ctns(-/-) mice. Importantly, cysteamine treatment, despite decreasing lysosomal overload, did not correct defective CMA in Ctns(-/-) mice or LAMP2A mislocalization in cystinotic cells, which was rescued by CTNS expression instead, suggesting that cystinosin is important for CMA activity. In conclusion, CMA impairment contributes to cell malfunction in cystinosis, highlighting the need for treatments complementary to current therapies that are based on decreasing lysosomal overload.
Fringing Field Formulas and Winding Loss Due to an Air Gap

The paper describes a simple treatment for the fringing fields of an air gap in the core of a magnetic component such as an inductor or a transformer. It verifies the derived analytical formulas for the fields by using numerical (finite-element) calculations. It then applies these formulas to the calculation of high-frequency eddy-current losses for two types of winding arrangements, both of which employ thin rectangular conductors. The rectangular conductors are commonly used in flex circuit windings, printed circuit windings, and thin-film windings. The two types of winding configurations are flat and barrel wound. Each behaves in a different way as a function of the position of the conductor.
Some New Results on Compromise Solutions for Group Decision Problems

We report some new results on compromise solutions studied by Yu [Yu, P. L. 1973. A class of decisions for group decision problems. Management Sci.19 8, April 936--946]. The following article focuses on the relation between the compromise solution and its parameter. In particular, we show that, under some nice conditions, the compromise solution is a continuous function of its parameter. A fundamental monotonicity result Theorem 3.1 concerning compromise solutions is derived. The result enables us to generate the bounds of all compromise solutions. When n = 2, two monotonicity results are derived. These yield a good interpretation of the parameter p. When p is small the “group utility” is emphasized; and when p increases the individual regrets receive more weight. Finally we construct an example to illustrate that the monotonicity results for n = 2 are almost impossible to be generated for n > 2.
\How many people do you know in prison?": Using overdispersion in count data to estimate social structure in networks ⁄

Networks—sets of objects connected by relationships—are important in a number of fields. The study of networks has long been central to sociology, where researchers have attempted to understand the causes and consequences of the structure of relationships in large groups of people. Using insight from previous network research, Killworth et al. and McCarty et al. have developed and evaluated a method for estimating the sizes of hard-to-count populations using network data collected from a simple random sample of Americans. In this article we show how, using a multilevel overdispersed Poisson regression model, these data also can be used to estimate aspects of social structure in the population. Our work goes beyond most previous research on networks by using variation, as well as average responses, as a source of information. We apply our method to the data of McCarty et al. and find that Americans vary greatly in their number of acquaintances. Further, Americans show great variation in propensity to form ...
Impact of temporary trade barriers: Evidence from China

With a decrease in tariffs around the world, temporary trade barriers (TTBs) have increased dramatically to take their place. These TTBs are usually in the form of antidumping duties, countervailing duties and global safeguards. Recently, an increasing number of these TTBs have been targeted towards China. In this paper, I explore the impact of the US temporary trade barriers (TTBs) on Chinese exports. Using detailed product level data for the period 2002–2008, I find robust evidence of trade deflection i.e. the US trade barriers against China led to an increase in the growth of Chinese exports to other countries. However, I do not find any evidence of trade depression. The results are robust to a wide variety of specification and robustness tests. While I do not find any difference in the impact of TTBs across developed and developing countries, there is considerable heterogeneity in response to TTBs depending on the type of products involved. Specifically, I find that, while the US TTBs on non-steel products lead to an increase in Chinese exports of those products to third markets, there is a significant chilling effect in case of steel. Finally, most of the trade-deflection seems to be along the intensive margins i.e. an increase in exports to the existing third country markets rather than exports to new markets. If anything, the US TTBs on China seem to decrease Chinese exports to newer and more volatile markets.
Model and procedures for reliable near term wind energy production forecast

Accurate and reliable prediction of wind energy production is important for the operational management of wind farm as well as ensuring the stability of electrical grid integrated with renewable wind energy. This paper describes a new method that aims to reliably predict wind energy production based on weather forecast data. With this new method, an aerodynamic model is firstly used to predict the distribution of wind speed with elevation by use of 24-hour ahead forecasted wind speed data at three-hour intervals (which is available with common weather forecast provider). The aerodynamic model considers the influence of factors such as ground topology, types of land cover, etc. on the wind speed distribution. Based on this model, wind speed at 10-minutes time interval is simulated, which is subsequently used together with the turbine production curve to predict energy production within the next 24 hours. The model and procedures for forecasting wind energy production are validated on a 100kW utility scale ...
Teddy Racer: Lógica de Programação e Ludicidade

Conhecendo a grande dificuldade dos alunos dos cursos superiores da area de tecnologia da informacao e engenharias nas disciplinas de algoritmos e programacao, novos objetos para apoiar o processo de ensino- aprendizado tem sido criados na tentativa de tornar o aprendizado dessas disciplinas mais prazeroso e amenizar os expressivos numeros de alunos desistentes e reprovados nessas disciplinas que geram um enorme gargalo na fase inicial desses cursos, sendo um dos fatores responsaveis pelo alto indice de evasao e atraso na formacao de profissionais dessas areas. Este trabalho apresenta o objeto de aprendizado “Teddy Racer” que visa auxiliar no processo de ensino e aprendizagem das disciplinas relacionadas a logica de programacao, visando tornar a aprendizagem dessas disciplinas um pouco mais ludica. O jogo foi desenvolvido aplicando a metodologia XisOA e foi projetado de forma generica possibilitando ao educador gerir o tipo de conhecimento que sera utilizado dentro do jogo por meio de interface Web parametrizavel, sendo possivel tambem ao educador acompanhar o desempenho de seus alunos dentro do jogo.
What substance normally controls a given biological process?: I. Formulation of some rules

Abstract Six rules (the “PESIGS” rules) are stated for determining what naturally occurring substance normally controls a given biological process. The application of these rules, in quantitative form, is urged on developmental physiologists.
INSTITUTIONAL AND RESOURCE-BASED DETERMINANTS OF SUBSTANTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF ISO 14001.

We suggest that combining institutional and resource-based theory improves our understanding of inter-firm variances in implementation of adopted practices. Using survey data from 192 ISO 14001 cer...
Seasonal Activity and Response of the Male Black Cutworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to Virgin Females Reared for One or Multigenerations in the Laboratory

Several field trials were conducted in likely activity sites in Iowa to determine how chronological age and laboratory propagation affect the ability of black cutworm (BCW), Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel), females to attract male BCW moths. The effects of seasonality also were studied. In 1978, initial experiments were conducted to ascertain the factors that might contribute to variability in trap catches. Trap location and night of capture were identified as highly variable factors. In experiments conducted from 6 July to 13 July 1978, there were no significant differences in the attractancy of BCW female moths reared for one or multigenerations in the laboratory. In 1979, only the seasonal trends in reproductive behavior for 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-d-old virgin female BCW were analyzed. In general, neither 4- nor 6-d-old virgin female BCW were significantly more attractive at any time during the year; however, a trend favoring the attractancy of older females (up to 6 d) early in the season seems evident. A reduction in sexual responsiveness of male BCW was noted during late July and early August in Iowa.
Ship Track Impacted by Incident Waves

Correctly predicting the track of a ship when impacted by incident waves is one of the most important tasks in accurately simulating seakeeping performance. This is especially difficult during a storm surge in coastal regions, where the bottom topography rapidly changes. In fact accurately predicting a ship track in calm water has not been completely solved. Most recently, Lin et al. integrated the total forces and moments over an actual ship hull and rudders in a fully nonlinear ship motion model named the Digital, Self-consistent Ship Experimental Laboratory (DiSSEL) by using finite element/finite difference in calm water (Lin et al. 2005 [1], Lin and Kuang, 2006 [2], 2008 [3], 2009 [4]; Lin et al., 2009 [5]). The new method is not only accurate, but also computationally efficient. As part of a continuing effort, in this study, the incident wave impact is now included. The incident wave impact on the ship hull and rudders is integrated over the actual wetted surfaces at each time step, based on the ship position. First, the numerical simulations are benchmarked using existing experimental data for an experimental hull form. The DiSSEL simulations agree well with the experimental data. Based on the simulations, we explore the physics to gain an understanding into the possible factors that cause changes to the ship tracks. For example, why will the turning circle of a ship with constant rudder angle and ship speed, in the presence of waves, sometimes be a spiral while other times remain a circle? Finally DiSSEL will be coupled with the coastal wave model by Lin and Perrie (1997, 1999) [6], [7], to predict the ship track in a coastal region impacted by a storm surge. Future improvements to DiSSEL will include the incorporation of a propeller model. Since a model for the propellers has not yet been implemented, the influence of the propeller slipstream on the rudder is currently handled by empirically modifying the effective inflow velocity into the rudder to account for the acceleration of the flow by the propeller.© 2010 ASME
Energy Simulation System Using BIM (Building Information Modeling)

It is recognized that there is a need in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry for new programs and methods of producing reliable energy simulations using BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology. Current methods and programs for running energy simulations are not very timely, difficult to understand, and lack high interoperability between the BIM software and energy simulation software. The goal of this research project is to develop a new methodology to produce energy estimates from a BIM model in a more timely fashion and to improve interoperability between the simulation engine and BIM software. In the proposed methodology, the extracted information from a BIM model is compiled into an INP file and run in a popular energy simulation program, DOE-2, on an hourly basis for a desired time period. Case study showed that the application of this methodology could be used to expediently provide energy simulations while at the same time reproducing the BIM in a more readably three dimensional modeling
Cyanophilous spore walls in the Agaricales and agaricoid Basidiomycetes.

On the basis of refined techniques applied to 80 genera and more than 160 species of Agaricales and other agaricoid Basidiomycetes, certain conclusions are drawn about the value of cotton-blue abso...
Functional Studies of Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors Utilizing Kappa-Neurotoxins

Snake venom is a rich source of biologically active polypeptides. Among the best known snake venom neurotoxins are the α-neurotoxins such as α-bungarotoxin, isolated from Bungarus multicinctus. The α-neuro toxins bind with high affinity to acetylcholine recognition sites on muscle nicotinic receptors, thereby blocking the function of these receptors (Changeux et al., 1984). The present report describes a related family of snake venom polypeptides, the kappa-neurotoxins. The kappa-neurotoxins are potent antagonists at a variety of neuronal nicotinic receptors, many of which are insensitive to blockade by α-bungarotoxin (Chiappinelli, 1985). This chapter delineates the biochemical properties of the kappa-neurotoxins, then examines the physiological evidence which has established these polypeptides as selective, competitive antagonists of certain neuronal nicotinic receptors.
Base-rate data and norms for the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Embedded Performance Validity Indicator

The present study examines the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) Embedded Performance Validity Indicator (EPVI) for detecting performance validity. This retrospective study analyzes the performance of four groups of 879 participants comprised of 464 clinically referred patients with suspected dementia, 91 forensic patients identified as not exhibiting adequate effort on other measures of response bias, 25 patients with well documented TBI, and a random sample of 198 adults collected in the Gulf State of Oman. The EPVI was also put to the test using normative data collected from the literature. Using sensitivity and specificity analyses, the results indicate moderate to high sensitivity yet low specificity. In conclusion, the study shows that the EPVI is a reasonably good indicator for inadequate effort on the RAVLT but those who fail this measure might not necessarily be exhibiting adequate effort. The limitations and benefits of utilizing the EPVI in clinical practice are discussed.
Distance dependent photo-induced electron current in nm-sized junctions driven by surface plasmon polaritons

We demonstrate the generation of electron currents with remotely launched surface plasmon polaritons in Au nanojunctions under ambient conditions. Electron currents across gaps ranging from 4–12 nm are investigated and described by a modified Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) model.
5 – Applications of Higher-Order Differential Equations

In Chapter 4, we discussed several techniques for solving higher-order differential equations. In this chapter, we illustrate how some of these methods can be used to solve initial-value problems that model physical situations.
Flavors and Risk: Perceptions of Flavors in Little Cigars and Cigarillos Among U.S. Adults, 2015

Introduction Flavored little cigars, cigarillos, and filtered cigars (LCCs) are popular and pose unique health risks. This study explored risk perceptions of flavors in LCCs and the relationship between perceptions and use among U.S. adults. Methods Data were from the 2015 Tobacco Products and Risk Perceptions Survey of a national probability sample of 6051 adults, conducted online, August-September, 2015. The analytic sample consisted of 5105 adults aware of LCCs and 2174 who had ever used any type of LCCs. Results Just over half of adults reported flavors in LCCs as "very" or "somewhat" risky, while more than one-third of adults reported they did not know the risks of flavors in LCCs. Younger adults, males, and users of any LCCs were more likely than older adults, females and non-users, respectively, to perceive LCC flavors as less risky. Those who perceived LCC flavors as "not at all risky" or "a little risky" were roughly twice as likely to have ever used flavored LCCs compared to those who reported not knowing the risks (AOR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.16 to 3.69 and AOR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.26 to 3.06). Those who reported LCC flavors as "very risky" were also more likely to have ever used flavored LCCs than those who reported not knowing the risks (AOR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.13 to 1.98). Conclusions Though the proportion of adults assigning low risk to flavors in LCCs is small, these adults are more likely to use flavored LCCs. The association of use with risk perceptions of flavors in LCCs should be addressed in health risk campaigns. Implications Flavored LCCs are popular, particularly among young adults. While understanding the impact of flavors is an FDA research priority, little is currently known about perceptions of risk associated with flavors in LCCs. This study explores the nature of risk perceptions of flavors in LCCs, and the relationship between perceptions and flavored LCC use. We conclude that perception of risk of flavors in LCCs is related to use of these products, particularly perception of less risk. Considering the relationship between use and risk perceptions would be helpful in constructing health risk messaging.
Providing Health Sciences Services in a Joint-Use Distributed Learning Library System: An Organizational Case Study

The purpose of this organizational case study is to describe the complexities librarians face when serving a multi-campus institution that supports both a joint-use library and expanding health sciences academic partnerships. In a system without a centralized health science library administration, liaison librarians are identifying dispersed programs and user groups and collaborating to define their unique service and outreach needs within a larger land-grant university. Using a team-based approach, health sciences librarians are communicating to integrate research and teaching support, systems differences across dispersed campuses, and future needs of a new community-based medical program.
School Factors & Cumulative Inequality: A Comparative Study of Elementary Education in Pakistan

Stratification is deeply rooted in the networks of educational institutes at both macro and micro level. It leads to difference in accumulation of educational capital. Since the role of equal primary education in development cannot be denied; one of the key skills for success is the “linguistic key”; the English language skill. This paper aims to highlight aspects that lead to disparity among educational institutes and explore differences among Socioeconomically Divided School Systems at elementary level. Specifically this work examines trends in school factors to compare how these factors accumulate to a specific kind of linguistic exposure across socioeconomically divided school systems in Pakistan. In this ethnographic study, cumulative inequality theory of advantage and disadvantage is used as a theoretical framework and data is gathered from 30 elementary schools in Rawalpindi through demographics, teacher interviews and test scores. The results of the research show which factors play a significant role in cumulative advantage or disadvantage. The results are significant for policy makers, educationists, teachers and the larger society.
Presenting a cell permeable peptide on a chelator scaffold for PET imaging of prostate cancer

469 Objectives We have recently demonstrated the potential of using a cell permeable peptide, NH2GR11, for specific imaging of prostate cancer metastases. In order to improve the in vivo stability and specific binding affinity of the probe, in this work we presented one or two copies of NH2GR11 on a recently reported cross-bridged tetraazamacrocyclic chelator scaffold instead of the commonly used bifunctional chelator, 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA). Methods NH2GR11 was conjugated to a cross-bridged tetraazamacrocyclic chelator scaffold in both monovalent (CBTE2A-NHGR11) and bivalent (CBTE2A-2NHGR11) forms. The conjugates were purified by HPLC and characterized by MALDI-MASS. Both conjugates were efficiently labeled with 64Cu at 70 °C within 30 min. The in vivo evaluation was performed on a Siemens Inveon PET-CT Multimodality System using a mouse model bearing PC3 tumors on both shoulders. Results The specific activities of both 64Cu-labeled conjugates were 68 - 80 GBq/µmol. The PC3 tumors were clearly visualized by both 64Cu-labeled conjugates at 1 h, 4 h, and 24 h post-injection (p.i.), whereas the bivalent conjugate showed higher tumor contrast than the monovalent one. The PET imaging quantification revealed a steady tumor accumulation for both conjugates out to 24 h p.i., while the bivalent one showed a 58% tumor uptake increase as compared to the monovalent one at 1 h p.i. (1.23 ± 0.17 %ID/g vs 0.78 ± 0.21 %ID/g, P Conclusions We demonstrated that the NH2GR11 conjugates on a cross-bridged tetraazamacrocyclic chelator scaffold retained the PET imaging ability on prostate cancer. At early time point, the bivalent form displayed superior tumor imaging quality compared to the monovalent form. Research Support NIH grants (5 UL1 RR024982-04 and U24 CA126608) USAMRMC grant (W81XWH-08-1-0305
Harnessing heredity in Gilded Age America: middle class mores and industrial breeding in a cultural context.

By investigating the practices and beliefs of Gilded Agetrotting horse breeders, this article demonstrates therelationship between industrial economic development and thegrowth of genetic reasoning in the United States. As mosthistorians of biology already know, E.H. Harriman, LelandStanford, and John D. Rockefeller not only transformed Americanbusiness practice, they donated heavily to institutions thatpromoted eugenic research programs. What is not widely known, however, is that these sameindustrialists were accomplished trotting horsebreeders with well-developed theories ofinheritance. The article that follows usesthese theories to place the rise of eugenic andgenetic research into the context of the rapiddevelopment of industry in post Civil WarAmerica. Specifically, the study identifieshow functional utility as defined through thenarrow concerns of industrial practices wereprivileged over form and pedigree in Americanhorse breeding. Even more importantly, thisarticle suggests that the continuityestablished between the practices of theindustrial philanthropists and the scientificresearch institutions that they establishedoccurred at two levels: through the valuesprivileged by the development of the dynamicsof a mass society and through the tools used toprocess the large amounts of informationnecessary to understand breeding patterns inslow breeding organisms.
Towards the Social Organism: Herbert Spencer and William B. Carpenter on the Analogical Method

During the middle of the nineteenth century, the British philosopher Herbert Spencer made the organismic analogy central to evolutionary sociology.1 Societies and organisms are analogous, Spencer wrote in a paper on the “social organism” which he published in 1860, because of the fact that they both “slowly augment in mass; that they progress in complexity of structure; that at the same time their parts become more mutually dependent.”2 For Herbert Spencer, the organismic analogy suggested a naturalistic basis to society; and it implied a continuity between life in its simplest and in its most complex forms. “Through all its ramifications,” Spencer wrote, “Society is a growth and not a manufacture.”3 Spencer’s analogy of the social organism is significant not merely because of its great importance for the history of social thought, but also because it illuminates an important aspect of scientific argument during the mid nineteenth century. Whereas many British philosophers had maintained that valid science should be grounded in experiment and induction, Herbert Spencer attempted instead to found his science upon the principle of analogy.
HyperNEAT: The First Five Years

HyperNEAT, which stands for Hypercube-based NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies, is a method for evolving indirectly-encoded artificial neural networks (ANNs) that was first introduced in 2007. By exploiting a unique indirect encoding called Compositional Pattern Producing Networks (CPPNs) that does not require a typical developmental stage, HyperNEAT introduced several novel capabilities to the field of neuroevolution (i.e. evolving artificial neural networks). Among these, (1) large ANNs can be compactly encoded by small genomes, (2) the size and resolution of evolved ANNs can scale up or down even after training is completed, and (3) neural structure can be evolved to exploit problem geometry. Five years after its introduction, researchers have leveraged these capabilities to produce a broad range of successful experiments and extensions that highlight the potential for future research to build further on the ideas introduced by HyperNEAT. This chapter reviews these first 5 years of research that builds upon this approach, and culminates with thoughts on promising future directions.
Narrating Bankruptcy / Narrating Risk

This review essay arises out of three recent books on the history of American bankruptcy law. The essay observes that while the inevitability of business cycle risk was said to cut in favor of compulsory debtor's insurance in the form of 19th-c. bankruptcy legislation, inevitability in industrial accidents cut against workers' insurance in the form of 19th-c. tort law. The apparent indeterminacy of inevitability stories in the emerging American law of risk provides an opportunity to study patterns of risk regulation in American law. In particular, this indeterminacy suggests limits on the power of the cultural theory of risk associated with Douglas and Wildavsky. The history of bankruptcy and the comparison to tort direct us to attend instead to the power of those we might call narrative entrepreneurs to shape the way the law treats particular risks. In the making of American bankruptcy law, powerful constituiencies of creditors, debtors, and the bankruptcy bar sucessfully renarrated commercial failure in ways that emphasized not self-reliance and fault, but interdependence and inevitability.
Plasma Cell Labeling Index

Multiple myeloma is characterized by proliferation of monoclonal plasma cells (PCs), mostly in the bone marrow. The proliferative rate of the malignant plasma cell is an important determinant of the disease biology and can be measured as the percentage of PCs in the S-phase of the cell cycle. This percentage, or PC labeling index, can be measured using a slide-based immunofluorescence method using an antibody against 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine, which is actively incorporated by DNA of the dividing PCs. This technique, which can be performed using bone marrow or peripheral blood specimens, also utilizes concurrent cytoplasmic staining against immunoglobulin as well as kappa and lambda light chains. Employment of cytoplasmic immunoglobulin staining allows more specific identification of PCs as well as confirmation of the monoclonal nature of the PC population. The staining procedure, which can be done manually or using an automated stainer, as well as the process of reading and interpreting these slides is described in detail. The bone marrow peripheral blood labeling index is an important clinical test, providing valuable diagnostic and prognostic information.
Modeling of the Modular Multilevel Converters Based on the State-Plane Analysis and $\Sigma\Delta$ Coordinate Transformation

Because of its simple modular structure and easy voltage scaling, the modular multilevel converter (MMC) is deemed the most suitable for high-voltage power conversion using relatively low-voltage devices. In most practices, the volume of the capacitors is more than 50% of the total module size. Hence, methods of reducing circulating energy and the size of the capacitor bank have been widely pursued. Even though a significant progress has been made toward reducing the capacitor voltage ripple, there is a lack of an effective modeling tool that enables a more systemic approach to address control strategies for system optimization. This paper proposes a method of modeling and control based on the state trajectory analysis and offers graphical visualization of the power throughput and circulating energy. Furthermore, through a coordinate transformation, a simple equivalent circuit model is developed leading to the establishment of the two control laws that enable maximum power throughput with minimum circulating energy.
Nano-Architecture Driven Plasmonic Field Enhancement in 3D Graphene Structures

The limited spatial coverage of the plasmon enhanced near-field in 2D graphene ribbons presents a major hurdle in practical applications. In this study, diverse self-assembled 3D graphene architectures are explored that induce hybridized plasmon modes by simultaneous in-plane and out-of-plane coupling to overcome the limited coverage in 2D ribbons. While 2D graphene can only demonstrate in-plane, bidirectional coupling through the edges, 3D architectures benefit from fully symmetric 360° coupling at the apex of pyramidal graphene, orthogonal four-directional coupling in cubic graphene, and uniform cross-sectional radial coupling in tubular graphene. The 3D coupled vertices, edges, surfaces, and volume induce corresponding enhancement modes that are highly dependent on the shape and dimensions comprising the 3D geometries. The hybridized modes introduced through the 3D coupling amplify the limited plasmon response in 2D ribbons to deliver nondiffusion limited sensors, high efficiency fuel cells, and extrem...
The Irrelevance of Blackstone: Rethinking the Eighteenth-Century Importance of the Commentaries

This Note challenges William Blackstone's modern position as the "oracle of the law" in the eighteenth century. In a time when the status of legal doctrines at the Founding is of renewed significance in interpreting the Constitution, it is especially important to ensure that the sources of these doctrines comport with historical practices. This Note looks beyond the usual story of Blackstone's influence, as told by the significant circulation of his work. It turns instead to the work's practical significance for legal education in the decades preceding the Constitutional Convention. By using curricula and student notes-referred to as commonplace books-to discover what was actually considered influential in the legal profession of the period, a more comprehensive perspective of eighteenth-century legal thought is uncovered While Blackstone was apparently known to these late colonists, his work was far from "the most widely read law book in eighteenth-century America. " Instead, more traditional treatises and English reporters dominated legal learning until at least 1787. It is these admittedly more impenetrable works which should inform our understanding of the common law as it existed at the Founding.
When to Build an FAQ: A Case Study

Column description. The Technology column examines current and developing technology topics in libraries. The column?s focus is creative uses of technology, introductions to new technologies, and c...
Medication and Substance Use and Misuse in the Elderly

Abstract Substance use disorders can occur in any age and demographic. It is particularly devastating in the elderly, where comorbid conditions, ill health, and polypharmacy can increase the mortality rate from combined pharmaceutical and chemical effects. Older adults who may already be prone to dizziness or falls can see increased risk and hospitalization with substance use outside of their medication regimen. Although ingestion of alcohol has typically been seen as the most abused substance, recent studies suggest that other substances, including over-the-counter medications, also figure largely in substance misuse in this age group. Multiple reasons for substance misuse have been identified including pain, loneliness, and isolation. This chapter explores substance use, as well as medication diversion and the use of chemical restraints in the elderly, and why those working with the elderly need to be able to recognize signs of substance use in older persons.
The Potential Emergence of Disease-Modifying Treatments for Alzheimer Disease: The Role of Primary Care in Managing the Patient Journey

Despite recent setbacks, disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) for Alzheimer disease (AD) might become available within a few years. These DMTs are likely to be used in the early stages of AD to avoid the progression to manifest dementia, which implies that a large reservoir of prevalent cases would need to be evaluated when DMTs first become available. Primary care providers (PCPs) would play a vital role in managing the patient flow to specialty care. We review the literature on diagnostic tests that could be used by PCPs and estimate the impact of different testing approaches on demand for specialty care. While many tests have been evaluated, only the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) perform acceptably for detection of early-stage cognitive decline with sensitivities and specificities of 55% to 82% and 72% to 84%, respectively, for the MMSE; and 77% to 96% and 73% to 95%, respectively, for the MoCA. However, neither test is sufficiently specific for the AD pathology and would result in 4 to 5 false positives for each true positive. Blood-based tests for AD biomarkers may soon become available for clinical use. A plasma amyloid-β (Aβ) test has been shown to have a sensitivity of up to 97% and specificity of up to 81%. Adding this test to the MMSE or MoCA could reduce false positives by approximately 80%. These findings suggest a combination of brief cognitive tests and blood-based biomarker tests will allow PCPs to identify patients with potential early stage AD efficiently and triage them for further evaluation.
Independent Losses of the Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF) Pathway within Crustacea

Metazoans respond to hypoxic stress via the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway, a mechanism thought to be extremely conserved due to its importance in monitoring cellular oxygen levels and regulating responses to hypoxia. However, recent work revealed that key members of the HIF pathway have been lost in specific lineages (a tardigrade and a copepod), suggesting that this pathway is not as widespread in animals as previously assumed. Using genomic and transcriptomic data from 70 different species across 12 major crustacean groups, we assessed the degree to which the gene HIFα, the master regulator of the HIF pathway, was conserved. Mining of protein domains, followed by phylogenetic analyses of gene families, uncovered group-level losses of HIFα, including one across three orders within Cirripedia, and in three orders within Copepoda. For these groups, additional assessment showed losses of HIF repression machinery (EGLN and VHL). These results suggest the existence of alternative mechanisms for cellular response to low oxygen and highlight these taxa as models useful for probing these evolutionary outcomes.
Deliver Us From Injustice: Reforming the U.S. Healthcare System

For the last fifty years, the United States healthcare system has done an extremely poor job of delivering healthcare in a just and fair manner. The United States holds the dubious distinction of being the only industrialized nation in the world lacking provisions to ensure universal coverage. We attempt to provide some of the reasons this dysfunctional system has persisted and show that healthcare should not be a commodity. We begin with a brief historical overview of healthcare delivery in the United States since WWII. This is followed by a critical analysis of the for-profit model including reasons to support the view that healthcare should not be a free market commodity. We also demonstrate how special interest groups have been able to win support for their practices based on propaganda rather than fact. A brief analysis of the Affordable Care Act is offered along with critical comments regarding its ineffectiveness. We conclude with a brief overview of international approaches that have resulted in universal coverage and suggest the United States ought to adopt an approach similar to those outlined so that it no longer stands as the only industrialized nation to ignore the glaring problems that exist.
P-values – a chronic conundrum

In medical research and practice, the p-value is arguably the most often used statistic and yet it is widely misconstrued as the probability of the type I error, which comes with serious consequences. This misunderstanding can greatly affect the reproducibility in research, treatment selection in medical practice, and model specification in empirical analyses. By using plain language and concrete examples, this paper is intended to elucidate the p-value confusion from its root, to explicate the difference between significance and hypothesis testing, to illuminate the consequences of the confusion, and to present a viable alternative to the conventional p-value. The confusion with p-values has plagued the research community and medical practitioners for decades. However, efforts to clarify it have been largely futile, in part, because intuitive yet mathematically rigorous educational materials are scarce. Additionally, the lack of a practical alternative to the p-value for guarding against randomness also plays a role. The p-value confusion is rooted in the misconception of significance and hypothesis testing. Most, including many statisticians, are unaware that p-values and significance testing formed by Fisher are incomparable to the hypothesis testing paradigm created by Neyman and Pearson. And most otherwise great statistics textbooks tend to cobble the two paradigms together and make no effort to elucidate the subtle but fundamental differences between them. The p-value is a practical tool gauging the “strength of evidence” against the null hypothesis. It informs investigators that a p-value of 0.001, for example, is stronger than 0.05. However, p-values produced in significance testing are not the probabilities of type I errors as commonly misconceived. For a p-value of 0.05, the chance a treatment does not work is not 5%; rather, it is at least 28.9%. A long-overdue effort to understand p-values correctly is much needed. However, in medical research and practice, just banning significance testing and accepting uncertainty are not enough. Researchers, clinicians, and patients alike need to know the probability a treatment will or will not work. Thus, the calibrated p-values (the probability that a treatment does not work) should be reported in research papers.
Parahippocampal area three gray matter is reduced in first-episode schizophrenia spectrum: Discovery and replication samples.

Early course schizophrenia is associated with reduced gray matter. The specific structures affected first and how deficits impact symptoms and cognition remain unresolved. We used the Human Connectome Project multimodal parcellation (HCP-MMP) to precisely identify cortical areas and investigate thickness abnormalities in discovery and replication samples of first-episode schizophrenia spectrum individuals (FESz). In the discovery sample, T1w scans were acquired from 31 FESz and 31 matched healthy controls (HC). Thickness was calculated for 360 regions in Freesurfer. In the replication sample, high-resolution T1w, T2w, and BOLD-rest scans were acquired from 23 FESz and 32 HC and processed with HCP protocols. Thickness was calculated for regions significant in the discovery sample. After FDR correction (q < .05), left and right parahippocampal area 3 (PHA3) were significantly thinner in FESz. In the replication sample, bilateral PHA3 were again thinner in FESz (q < .05). Exploratory correlation analyses revealed left PHA3 was positively associated with hallucinations and right PHA3 was positively associated with processing speed, working memory, and verbal learning. The novel use of the HCP-MMP in two independent FESz samples revealed thinner bilateral PHA3, suggesting this byway between cortical and limbic processing is a critical site of pathology near the emergence of psychosis.
Using deep reinforcement learning to reveal how the brain encodes abstract state-space representations in high-dimensional environments

Humans possess an exceptional aptitude to efficiently make decisions from high-dimensional sensory observations. However, it is unknown how the brain compactly represents the current state of the environment to guide this process. The deep Q-network (DQN) achieves this by capturing highly nonlinear mappings from multivariate inputs to the values of potential actions. We deployed DQN as a model of brain activity and behavior in participants playing three Atari video games during fMRI. Hidden layers of DQN exhibited a striking resemblance to voxel activity in a distributed sensorimotor network, extending throughout the dorsal visual pathway into posterior parietal cortex. Neural state-space representations emerged from nonlinear transformations of the pixel space bridging perception to action and reward. These transformations reshape axes to reflect relevant high-level features and strip away information about task-irrelevant sensory features. Our findings shed light on the neural encoding of task representations for decision-making in real-world situations.
In Vivo Partial Restoration of Neural Activity across Severed Mouse Spinal Cord Bridged with Ultralong Carbon Nanotubes

Electrically bridging severed nerves in vivo has transformative healthcare implications, but current materials are inadequate. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising, with low impedance, high charge...
Replacing a third-generation wave model with a fetch based parametric solver in coastal estuaries

Abstract Within a restricted estuarine environment, the use of third-generation wave models for predicting wave heights can be computationally expensive, signaling a need for model development that reduces the computational costs of existing coupled hydrodynamic models. This study focuses on the development and testing of a parametric wave solver that incorporates four wave height formulations (SMB, SPM, TMA, and CEM) for predicting wave properties in a restricted estuarine environment. The emphasis is on improved efficiency without affecting accuracy, allowing for ensemble wave-surge forecasting to be performed on desktop computational resources. Evaluation of the performance of the parametric solver is twofold, first the parametric solver is compared to a third-generation wave model, Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN), for the Indian River Lagoon domain, which lies on Florida's east coast. Then both the parametric solver and SWAN are compared to in-situ ADCP wave data at a point in the estuarine domain. The creation of three different synthetic wind fields allows for model comparison, with wind fields permitting testing of the parametric model in order to reproduce (1) fully developed conditions, (2) wind speed variability, and (3) wind direction variability in tropical storm level wind events. For consistency comparison, wave height solutions over the same domain are generated by SWAN and the parametric models. Comparisons made between the parametric model performance and SWAN show a 4-member parametric model is accurate to within 87% globally, with a runtime improvement of over two orders of magnitude compared to SWAN. The parametric model's ensemble average wave height solution was 5.5% less than the in-situ measured wave height; the SWAN solution was 5.5% greater than the measured wave height at the same location. Therefore, the parametric wave model proves to be a viable alternative to running an expensive third-generation wave model for predicting waves in an enclosed estuarine system.
A Critique of the Insider Trading Prohibition Act of 2021

The Insider Trading Prohibition Act of 2021 has been passed by the House of Representatives and, as of this writing, is awaiting action in the Senate. The Act’s proponents claim that it simply codifies and clarifies existing law. In fact, the Act does neither. It likely will expand the scope of insider trading in undesirable ways and introduce new ambiguities into the law. The ways in which the Act likely will expand the insider trading prohibition, coupled with the new ambiguities it introduces, threatens the central policy on which the insider trading prohibition rests. The Supreme Court has recognized that the work of market analysts and other investment professionals inherently entails seeking information advantages. In turn, as the Court also recognized, that work is an essential part of maintaining efficient stock markets. By increasing the risk of liability, especially in light of the Draconian penalties associated with insider trading, the Act likely will chill this vital activity, to the detriment of all investors. When a very similar bill passed the House in the 116th Congress, the legislation died in the Senate. The Insider Trading Prohibition Act of 2021 now awaits Senate action. The Senate would be well advised to let this bill die as well.
Case report: Tension pneumomediastinum from opioid inhalation.

Abstract Pneumomediastinum is a rare complication of substance use, likely due to a Valsalva maneuver after drug inhalation. There are no previously documented associations between pneumomediastinum and opioid use. A 30-year-old man with a history of recent heroin and fentanyl inhalation presented to the emergency department in respiratory distress requiring intubation. His course was complicated by pneumomediastinum which subsequently developed tension physiology. He required emergent surgical decompression with a “blowhole incision” to his anterior chest. Although a rare complication of polysubstance use, pneumomediastinum can progress to tension physiology, requiring prompt diagnosis and management.