cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An analysis of early oncologic head and neck free flap reoperations from the 2005–2012 ACS-NSQIP dataset

AbstractBackground: There are limited population-based studies that examine perioperative factors that influence postoperative surgical take-backs to the OR following free flap (FF) reconstruction for head/neck cancer extirpation. The purpose of this study was to critically analyse head/neck free flaps (HNFF) captured in the ACS-NSQIP dataset with a specific focus on postoperative complications and the incidence of factors associated with re-operation.Methods: The 2005–2012 ACS-NSQIP datasets were accessed to identify patients undergoing FF reconstruction after a diagnosis of head/neck cancer. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and perioperative risk factors were examined as covariates, and the primary outcome was return to OR within 30 days of surgery. A multivariate regression was performed to determine independent preoperative factors associated with this complication.Results: In total, 855 patients underwent FF for head/neck reconstruction most commonly for the Tongue (24.7%) and Mouth/Floor/cavity ...
Surgical-orthodontic treatment of two skeletal Class III patients with Invisalign and fixed appliances.

2000 by Boyd, Vlaskalic, and Miller.1 Since then, a number of case reports1-19 and two clinical trials20-22 have demonstrated the applications of this system in many different types of orthodontic treatment. To date, more than 250,000 patients around the world have had Invisalign treatment23—a remarkably high number considering the appliance has been available to clinicians for less than five years. One of the longitudinal clinical trials found that Invisalign had limitations in terms of tooth movement, with tipping movements being the most predictable.20,21 The appliances in this study, however, were made of materials that are no longer used, and they were changed at two different time intervals (one or two weeks), before the current protocol of two weeks for each aligner was established. Another longitudinal study has been reported only as an abstract.22 One of the primary advantages found in both studies was a statistically significant reduction in plaque and gingivitis.21,22 With fixed appliances, patients typically show an increase in plaque and gingivitis throughout orthodontic treatment; in fact, some patients experience irreversible bone loss,24,25 especially on banded molars,26 as well as decalcification.25,27-29 The present article demonstrates the use of Invisalign appliances in two of the most difficult types of orthodontic patients—skeletal Class III cases requiring singleor two-jaw multiple-segment orthognathic surgery.
A Service Buffering Mechanism Based on Unified Interface Network Communications Layer of USPIOT Platform

IOT applications have become one of the emerging industries,the business platform is a key to its application. In the study and implementation of Ubiquitous Service Platform for IOT( USPIOT) process,network communication layer is both an essential core part and the key part of development. In this paper,introduce the network communication layer of design and implementation of for USPIOT,in the implementation process,to solve the large volume end-users access,service differences,and other characteristics,also propose and implement a service buffering mechanism. In the design of mechanism for the platform service management,adopt a multi-level buffering technique,and use two buffer pools mechanism to verify the system. This implementation results show that in the multi-terminal high traffic environment,particularly in more than 2 000 number of tasks,compared with the single-stage buffer pool,the system efficiency can be increased by 20% or more.
Serialization of Simultaneity in Mandarin

In (1) and (2) the two events, sitting and reading, overlap temporally, but only one sequential arrangement is allowed. This paper shows that this asymmetry can be determined solely by the semantic properties of the verbs involved in terms of Figure and Ground event assignment (Talmy 2000). This paper focuses on the following questions. First, given two verbs that can be used to describe two concurrent events, can we predict which one is realized as the subordinate VP1 and which one is realized as the main VP2 in the “Agent VP1-zhe VP2” construction? Second, if we can make such predictions, what is the motivation behind this pattern? This paper claims that the correlation between Figure and Ground events and main and subordinate VPs is the answer. This paper is organized as follows. Section 1 gives some background information about the “Agent VP1-zhe VP2”construction. Section 2 demonstrates that some verbs are likely to be expressed as VP1 or VP2 on the basis of corpus data. Section 3 shows that the distinction between Figure and Ground events correlates well with the distinction between main and subordinate verb phrases in this construction and that this correlation accounts for the data discussed in section 2. The final section concludes the paper.
Modeling the Effect of Prior Sublethal Thermal History on the Thermal Inactivation Rate of Salmonella in Ground Turkey

Traditional models for predicting the thermal inactivation rate of bacteria are state dependent, considering only the current state of the product. In this study, the potential for previous sublethal thermal history to increase the thermotolerance of Salmonella in ground turkey was determined, a path-dependent model for thermal inactivation was developed, and the path-dependent predictions were tested against independent data. Weibull-Arrhenius parameters for Salmonella inactivation in ground turkey thigh were determined via isothermal tests at 55, 58, 61, and 63 degrees C. Two sets of nonisothermal heating tests also were conducted. The first included five linear heating rates (0.4, 0.9, 1.7, 3.5, and 7.0 K/min) and three holding temperatures (55, 58, and 61 degrees C); the second also included sublethal holding periods at 40, 45, and 50 degrees C. When the standard Weibull-Arrhenius model was applied to the nonisothermal validation data sets, the root mean squared error of prediction was 2.5 log CFU/g, with fail-dangerous residuals as large as 4.7 log CFU/g when applied to the complete nonisothermal data set. However, by using a modified path-dependent model for inactivation, the prediction errors for independent data were reduced by 56%. Under actual thermal processing conditions, use of the path-dependant model would reduce error in thermal lethality predictions for slowly cooked products.
A goodness-of-fit test for structural nested mean models

Coarse structural nested mean models are tools to estimate treatment effects from longitudinal observational data with time-dependent confounding. There is, however, no guidance on how to specify the treatment effect model, and model misspecification can lead to bias. We derive a goodness-of-fit test based on modified overidentification restrictions tests for evaluating a treatment effect model, and show that our test statistic is doubly-robust in the sense that, with a correct treatment effect model, the test has the correct type-I error if either the treatment initiation model or a nuisance regression outcome model is correctly specified. In a simulation study we show that the test has correct type-I error and can detect model misspecification. We use the test to study how the timing of antiretroviral treatment initiation after HIV infection predicts the effect of one year of treatment in HIV-positive patients with acute and early infection.
Games and Minimax Values

This chapter introduces some basic concepts of games. Finite zero-sum two-person perfect information games, for which our theory is to be developed, are introduced first. These games are represented by special graphs, called game graphs. If nodes representing the same game position in a conventional game tree are merged into only one node, then the merged graph is called a game graph. Two examples are used to clarify the discussion.
Metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma: Circulating biomarkers to guide antiangiogenic and immune therapies

Abstract Background The therapeutic armamentarium for metastatic renal cell carcinoma has rapidly expanded over the past decade to include a number of anti-angiogenic therapies and more recently, an immunotherapy. Biomarkers in the peripheral circulation are easily accessible, can provide important prognostic value, and have the potential to give important information about disease progression and treatment sensitivity or response. Main Findings Herein, we review a variety of circulating markers including circulating protein markers (VEGF-A, inflammatory cytokines, and LDH), circulating nucleic acids (cell free DNA and micro RNAs), and circulating cellular factors (circulating tumor cells, circulating endothelial cells, and immune cell subsets). We discuss these biomarkers in the context of their ability to provide prognostic and predictive information to anti-angiogenic and immunotherapeutic agents. Principal Conclusions While promising, there is still much work to be done, and prospective evaluation of any potential predictive biomarker for these therapies is greatly needed.
Decision Support Systems for Improving the Quality of Medical Care

The successful delivery of medical care is a complex outcome that depends on multiple factors. Structural factors include the setting in which care takes place and related infrastructure that facilitate the care processes. The actual processes of medical care are defined by the completeness of the diagnosis and appropriateness and continuity of the resulting patient treatment. These factors are also highly dependent on valid, accurate, complete and reliable data collection and the use of that data to build models and systems to support the decision making processes involved. This presentation describes the computational, data communication, organizational and managerial components of a networked decision support system to improve medical care in a distributed healthcare system serving diverse patients. After data validation and cleaning, a statistical risk model is created that adjusts for the regional patient mix, loads and available structures of care. Using the model the system produces: (1) summary reports comparing patient outcomes over multiple periods, (2) dashboards to convey up to date status on utilization and outcomes and (3) a decision calculator for clinicians to calculate the riskiness of patient conditions - all intended to drive data driven decision making in the distributed healthcare system. Details of the data collection, data processing and system outputs and their use in medical decision making by various stakeholders -policy makers, regional hospital administrators, medical department chiefs and clinicians are illustrated and organizational/managerial best practices are presented. These practices coupled with the communication technologies have implications for distributed DSS practitioners and researchers.
Assaying and PET Imaging of Ytrrium-90: 1>>34ppm>0

Yttrium-90 is widely used to label radiopharmaceuticals with curative, or at least palliative intent. At present, both the quantitative assay, ±10% variation, and the in vivo imaging observe bremstrahllung from the 2.3 MeV β - . Detection of the positron, which is created in the E0-decay of the 1.78 MeV excited state with a 34 ± 4 ppm branching ratio, are resolved with two detector systems. A high purity Ge spectrometer with calibrated efficiency clearly resolves the 511 keV annihilation with a 2/1 peak over the continuous bremstrahllung, providing ±5% precision in 10min of multichannel analysis. Secondly, a simple NaI detector pair in fast coincidence yields similar precision, with trues/randoms ≈ 1000/1 evident in the time spectrum and the on/off-axis counting rate. The Ge detector, more tolerant to distributed sources, was used to assay the filling of a micro-Derenzo phantom, charged with 50 MBq/ml of Y-90 chloride, imperfectly stripped from unused µ-spheres. Phantoms were scanned with a Concorde µPET P4 and a CTI 933/04. The phantom's 1.6-2.4-3.2-4.0-4.8 mm holes are clearly resolved, and particulate residue is evident as a settled deposit. The µPET sensitivity to a centered 37 MBq point source of Y-90 is ≈ 24 cps trues, 37 cps randoms and 270 kcps singles, with the 4-decade drop being the result of the miniscule positron branching. Imaging is slow, but the promise of quantitative dosimetry is essential for a rational application of Y- 90 radiotherapeutic agents.
E-027 Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Ischemic Stroke in Post-surgical Patients

Introduction Ischemic strokes in the post-surgical period may negatively impact clinical outcome. Major surgery within the previous 14 days is a relative contraindication to intravenous-tPA administration. Mechanical thrombectomy may thus become a valid treatment option. We present our experience in a series of patients who presented with a clinical stroke syndrome in the post-surgical period who underwent emergent angiography with intent to treat. Methods This is a retrospective review of patients who were treated from January 2012 to March 2015 in our institution. Patients who had emergent angiography after presenting with clinical stroke during the post-surgical period were included. Type of surgery, clinical characteristics, imaging studies, treatment variables, and discharge modified Rankin scores were collected. Results 15 patients had emergent angiography in the post-surgical period. The mean age is 68.87 years. 87% (13/15) had cardiovascular surgery, 8 (62%) of which were valvular repairs. 57% (8/14) presented in the immediate post-surgical period. The mean NIHSS was 18. Mean symptom duration from time last known well was 256 minutes. 10/11 (91%) had perfusion deficits on CTP. 60% (9/15) had proximal vessel occlusion while 33% (5/15) had distal occlusions, and 1 had no occlusion. Of the 9 patients with proximal vessel occlusions, 7 underwent thrombectomy with the Solitaire device achieving a 57% (4/7) TICI 2 b/3 recanalization rate. The mean mRS for all patients in the series is 3.79. Patients with TICI 2 b/3 recanalization did significantly better at discharge than those who did not, mean mRS of 1.67 vs. 5, p = 0.019. Conclusion In our experience, emergent angiography among post-surgical stroke patients showed proximal vessel occlusion in more than half of patients, making them potential candidates for mechanical thrombectomy. Those who achieved TICI 2 b/3 recanalization performed clinically better than those who did not. This may indicate the potential benefit of mechanical thrombectomy among post-surgical stroke patients. The overall lower recanalization rates in this cohort may reflect atypical clot characteristics encountered in post-surgical patients and would be an interesting avenue for further investigation. Disclosures M. Litao: None. H. Bhamra: None. K. DeSousa: None. E. Raz: None. E. Nossek: None. A. Favate: None. M. Shapiro: 2; C; Covidien. T. Becske: 2; C; Covidien. P. Nelson: 2; C; Covidien.
Educating Mathematics and Science Students in Urban USA and Sub-Saharan Africa - Lessons Learned and Future Challenges

This essay focuses on the challenges of implementing effective mathematics and science programs in in secondary schools in urban America and Sub-Saharan Africa. A successful approach for meeting these challenges is considered which has first been introduced by the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning. This approach is based on maximizing the connections between mathematics and science, on developing an open-source software containing the entire curriculum and loading it into a SMART board computer. Integral to the methodology used is the presentation of questions with multiple choice answers. The technology implemented enables students to see the distribution of their answers (without seeing the correct one), and the teacher engages them in discussion and debates about the merits of various answers. The success of the educating-the-educators model supported by the implementation of the SMART system in both urban America and in The Gambia provides a model that can be replicated in diverse settings, and thus should be of interest to the world community of mathematics and science educators. ACM Computing Classification System (1998): K.3.1.
Modeling Segregation in Modulated Granular Flow

We consider unsteady segregating granular flows, focusing on stratification in bidisperse bounded heap flow. Experiments indicate that periodically changing the feed rate of particles falling onto the upstream portion of the heap results in a stratified segregation much like that which occurs at low feed rates, but with more regular stratified layers of large and small particles and a higher overall feed flow rate. Experiments clarify how a front of large particle at a high feed rate deposits a layer of large particles that is subsequently covered over by a layer of small particles during a low feed rate, thus generating layers of large and small particles. The stratification can be modelled using a version of an advection-segregation-diffusion equation with a segregation velocity. Simply repeatedly switching the model from a low volume flow rate to a high volume flow rate instantaneously along the entire length of the flowing layer results in stratification patterns that are similar to those observed in experiments. Using a modulated feed rate offers the potential to intentionally create extended layers of bidisperse granular materials to enhance the effective degree of mixing of the deposited materials at heap length scales.
Experience Gained by Use of Extensive Ice Laboratory Facilities in Solving Ice Problems

Ice Engineering is a relatively new field of endeavor which seeks to provide technical analysis, techniques, and designs for the solution of ice problems. An ice problem can be defined as any instance where ice or the effects of ice increases operational and/or maintenance requirements, reduces reliability, or impairs man’s efforts.
A Novel Short Isoform of Cytosolic PSD-95 Interactor (Cypin) Regulates Neuronal Development

The guanine deaminase cypin (cytosolic PSD-95 interactor) binds to PSD-95 (postsynaptic density protein 95) and regulates dendrite branching by promoting microtubule polymerization. Here, we identify a novel short isoform of cypin, termed cypinS, which is expressed in mouse and human, but not rat, tissues. Cypin and cypinS mRNA and protein levels peak at P7 and P14 in the mouse brain, suggesting a role for these isoforms during development. Interestingly, although cypinS lacks guanine deaminase activity, overexpression of cypinS increases dendrite branching. This increase occurs further away from soma than do increases resulting from overexpression of cypin. In contrast, overexpression of cypin, but not cypinS, decreases dendritic spine density and maturity. This suggests that changes to spines, but not to dendrites, may be dependent on guanine deaminase activity. Furthermore, overexpression of either cypin or cypinS increases miniature excitatory postsynaptic current (mEPSC) frequency, pointing to a presynaptic role for both isoforms. Interestingly, overexpression of cypinS results in a significantly greater increase in frequency than does overexpression of cypin. Thus, cypin and cypinS play distinct roles in neuronal development.
Correlation of plasma clearance of 54 extensively metabolized drugs between humans and rats: mean allometric coefficient of 0.66.

Purpose. To evaluate the distribution of allometric exponents for relationship of total plasma clearance of 54 extensively metabolized drugs, with wide-ranging linear clearance values, between humans and rats, to provide a rationale for the observed data, and to discuss potential significance of the findings. Methods. Human and rat plasma clearance values of 54 drugs with markedly different physicochemical properties were obtained from the literature. Standard allometric analysis was performed for each drug using both rat and human data. Unbound vs. total plasma clearances were obtained for 15 out of 54 drugs and their correlations between humans and rats were compared. Results. The mean ± SD of the allometric exponent for the 54 drugs studied is 0.660 ± 0.190. The median clearance ratio based on unit body weight is 7.41 and the median exponent is 0.645. Excluding two outliers the correlation coefficient of plasma clearance between humans and rats was 0.745 (p < 0.0001). For the 15 drugs, use of unbound plasma clearance approach seems to significantly improve the correlation coefficient compared to total plasma clearance (0.940 vs. 0.841). Conclusions. The present study indicates that on average, humans and rats may eliminate extensively metabolized drugs at a rate similar to that expected from the allometric or body surface area relationship of basal metabolic rate between the two species. A simple statistical distribution hypothesis is used to rationalize the species difference in plasma drug clearance. Rat may serve as an useful animal model to predict (unbound) plasma clearance of drugs in humans.
EVEREST II MitraClip After Failed Surgical Mitral Valve Repair

This case demonstrates the use of the MitraClip to successfully repair severe mitral regurgitation in a patient with prior mitral annuloplasty ring repair. The annuloplasty ring complicated the procedure by causing shadowing artifacts and by limiting movement of the clip. The case also illustrates how transthoracic and intracardiac echocardiography can complement transesophageal echo in the MitraClip procedure.
BIOMASS PRODUCTION FROM ANIMAL WASTES BY PHOTOSYNTHETIC BACTERIA

Abstract The residue from centrifugation of cow and poultry manures which have been digested anaerobically contain, respectively, 10.2 and 31% of their dry weights as protein. The supernatant fluids contain high concentrations of acetic, propionic, and butyric acids. A mixed culture of photosynthetic bacteria grow on substrates in these liquids when exposed to light. The cell yields as protein are 20 and 24%, respectively, of the dry weight of dry cow and chicken manure. The total production of protein resulting from anaerobic fermentation and growth of photosynthetic bacteria is 30.2% of the dry weight of cow manure, 55% of the dry weight of chicken manure.
Liberation modeling and parameter estimation for multicomponent mineral systems

A review of the literature reveals that methods for simulating the coupled behavior of size reduction and liberation are limited to binary mineral systems containing one composite particle class. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of a mathematical model to simulate such behavior for binary and ternary systems containing multiple classes of composite particles. A modified Leven-berg-Marquardt algorithm and a finite difference Jacobian are used in conjunction with the developed model and a set of constrained equations to estimate all kinetic parameters. This estimation scheme is validated for a binary ore (sphalerite-dolomite) with five composite particle classes using experimental data.
Building a hydrologic foundation for tropical watershed management

Here we provide an empirical hydrologic foundation to inform water management decisions in the El Yunque National Forest (EYNF) in eastern Puerto Rico. Tropical watershed hydrology has proven difficult to quantify due to high rainfall variability, high evapotranspiration rates, variation in forest canopy interception and storage, and uncertain hydrologic inputs from fog condensation in cloud forests. We developed mass-balance and observation-based water budgets for nine local watersheds within the EYNF using a novel assemblage of remotely sensed rainfall data, gaged streamflow observations, and municipal water withdrawal rates. It is important to note that, while prior budgets considered large water withdrawals outside (downstream) of EYNF boundaries, our current budget is confined to within EYNF boundaries. Here, we also base our estimates of water withdrawal volume on operational data, in contrast to prior water budgets that estimated volume based on either the capacity of known water intakes or regulatory permit limits. This resulted in more conservative and realistic estimates of withdrawals from within the EYNF. Finally, we also discuss the ecological importance of considering the effects of water withdrawals not only at an average monthly scale, but also on the basis of exceedance probability to avoid over-abstraction for the protection of native migratory fishes and shrimps. This analysis highlights a number of unique challenges associated with developing hydrologic foundations for water management in tropical ecosystems.
Low temperature chemical vapor deposition of superconducting vanadium nitride thin films

Superconducting thin films of vanadium nitride have been grown by low temperature (250–300 °C) chemical vapor deposition from tetrakis(dimethylamido)vanadium (TDMAV) and ammonia. For example, films grown from TDMAV (1 sccm Ar as carrier gas) and 7 mTorr ammonia at 300 °C are nanocrystalline (cubic δ-phase) with an average crystal size of 20 nm, have relatively low room temperature resistivities of 250 μΩ cm, and are superconducting with critical temperatures as high as 7.6 K (versus a bulk value of 9 K). The films have a V:N ratio of 1:1, with a carbon content of 95% in trenches of an aspect ratio of 4:1; for superconducting films grown at 250 °C, the step coverage is 65% for an aspect ratio of 3:1. At 150 °C, near-stoichiometric films with <2 at. % carbon and <3 at. % oxygen can be deposited if the gaseous ammonia is precracked by a remote plasma source; the resulting films have low resistivities of 320 μΩ cm but are not superconducting down to 4 K.
Impact of efficiency and practicality of CFRP anchor installation techniques on the performance of RC beams strengthened with CFRP sheets

Utilizing fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) anchors can enhance the strength and delay the debonding of flexural FRP in strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) beams. In this study, two different techni...
Harmaline Analogs as Substrate-Selective Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors

We report the design, synthesis, and evaluation of a series of harmaline analogs as selective inhibitors of 2-arachidonylglycerol (2-AG) oxygenation over arachidonic acid (AA) oxygenation by purified cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). A fused tricyclic harmaline analog containing a CH3O substituent at C-6 and a CH3 group at the C-1 position of 4,9-dihydro-3H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole (compound 3) was the best substrate-selective COX-2 inhibitor of those evaluated, exhibiting a 2AG-selective COX-2 inhibitory IC50 of 0.022 μM as compared to >1 μM for AA. The 2.66 A resolution crystal complex of COX-2 with compound 3 revealed that this series of tricyclic indoles binds in the cyclooxygenase channel by flipping the side chain of L531 toward the dimer interface. This novel tricyclic indole series provides the foundation for the development of promising substrate-selective molecules capable of increasing endocannabinoid (EC) levels in the brain to offer new treatments for a variety of diseases, from pain and inflammation to stress and anxiety disorders.
E-121 Salvage endovascular strategies in a unique duplicated internal carotid artery leading to catastrophic dissection and fusiform aneurysm

Background Anatomical variance of duplicated internal carotid artery (ICA) is novel. However, duplication associated dissecting stenosis in one lumen and fusiform aneurysm in second lumen is not described. Objective To report a case of ICA dissection originating from a duplicated ICA that caused an intracranial occlusion and extracranial fusiform aneurysm. Additionally, we report our endovascular salvage strategies. Case A 41-year-old woman with history of hypertension and migraines presented with worsening headaches. Angiography demonstrated left ICA dissection without critical stenosis, but small pseudoaneurysm, patient was managed conservatively. Follow-up MRA required for worsening symptoms, showed deteriorating dissecting-narrowing at the skull-base in the petrous ICA. Emergent angiography revealed a dissecting long segment lesion extending from the distal cervical carotid artery to the petrous segment with critical stenosis of 90%. Duplicated ICA originated 20 mm from the ICA origin and ended at C2 level meeting the original ICA from where the dissection began. The other duplication demonstrated a fusiform dilation at the center. Petrous ICA was repaired by PTA followed by Neuroform EZ stent and distal cervical ICA was reconstructed with additional 3 Neuroform Allas stents. Despite reconstruction, antegrade flow to the ICA remained slow due to the competitive flow from other duplications. Emergent shut-down of the fusiform duplication obtained by embolizing 3 large Stryker XL coils resulting in restoration of antigrade flow to the stented segments. Patient remained neurologically intact and discharged home in 2 days. Conclusions Carotid duplication may lead to dissection and fusiform aneurysm formation. Competitive flow from duplication may responsible for dissection. Sacrifice of one of the duplication of the ICA, especially, the fusiform one is needed to maintain persistent antigrade flow. Disclosures Y. Lodi: None. B. Pulgarin: None. Z. Weiss: None. S. Chin: None. V. Reddy: 2; C; Terumo. 3; C; Janssen, Chiesi Inc, Portola.
Overweight and Stunting in Migrant Hispanic Children in the USA

In order to evaluate the need for preventive interventions to improve nutrition, the BMI/sex/age percentile, height/sex/age percentile, prevalence of stunting, at-risk-for-overweight and overweight in a group of migrant Hispanic children, aged 2-18, in southern New Jersey, USA, was assessed using anthropometric measurements of height, weight and skinfold thickness with reference to the NHANES 1999-2000. Results showed that the frequency of overweight in this sample - 20% - exceeds that of the general U.S. pediatric population and equals or exceeds (in 2-5-year olds) that of settled Mexican-Americans. Being born in the U.S. significantly diminished the prevalence of stunting, especially in boys. The children of migrant Hispanic agricultural workers belong to a marginalized, poor and insecure population who are not included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination studies, because of their transience. This is the first anthropometric study to evaluate growth in this population in over 20 years.
Electro-optic response in polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals

Cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) is a one-dimensional photonic crystal and is promising for various applications, including smart windows, optical components, and displays. Previous work has reported that polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs) have shown dynamic photonic properties with the application of direct current (DC) field, including bandwidth broadening, switchable scattering, red tuning and blue tuning. Recently, PSCLCs have been prepared upon exposure of a 363.8 nm Argon laser, and higher order diffraction peaks, such as the second and/or third order diffraction peaks, are observed. The higher order reflection bands are caused by the deformed helical structure of the polymer stabilizing network formed during the exposure of a single laser beam or under reflection grating conditions. The spectral position of the second-order reflection band, which is half the spectral position of the main CLC reflection band, is simply adjusted by chiral dopant concentrations in the CLC mixture. The selective main and higher order reflection notches can be red-tuned and broadened by the application of DC fields. A potential mechanism for higher order diffraction peaks in the PSCLCs will be discussed.
Thomas Hobbes and ‘gently instilled’ conscience

This article engages with a key interpretive puzzle in Hobbes’s political thought – his seemingly contradictory view of liberty of conscience – and argues that Hobbes theorizes civic education as a...
Location Selection of Fast-Charging Station for Heavy-Duty EVs Using GIS and Grid Analysis

This work presents a systematic methodology for the location selection of fast-charging stations for heavy-duty electric vehicles (EVs) based on both geospatial and electric grid analysis. The geospatial analysis is based on real-world geographic information system (GIS) data of road networks and existing supportive infrastructures. The grid analysis is implemented based on node-level analysis of potential impacts on voltages and power losses in the distribution system. A case study using a realistic, three-phase, unbalanced distribution feeder from California and extracted real-world GIS data is used to demonstrate the intuitiveness and effectiveness of the proposed methodology for the location selection of fast-charging stations for heavy-duty EVs considering both electric and existing transportation infrastructures.
Scarce Resource Allocation in a Pandemic: A Protocol to Promote Equity, Timeliness, and Transparency

Shortages of equipment, medication, and staff under coronavirus disease 2019 may force hospitals to make wrenching decisions. Although bioethical guidance is available, published procedures for decision-making processes to resolve the time-sensitive conflicts are rare. Failure to establish decision-making procedures before scarcities arise exposes clinicians to moral distress and potential legal liability, entrenches existing systemic biases, and leaves hospitals without processes to guarantee transparency and consistency in the application of ethical guidelines. Formal institutional processes can reduce the panic, inequity, and irresolution that arise from confronting ethical conflicts under duress. Drawing on expertise in critical care medicine, bioethics, and political science, we propose a decision-making protocol to ensure fairness in the resolution of conflict, timely decision-making, and accountability to improve system response.
Compositional Sonification of Cybersecurity Data in a Baroque Style.

Compositional sonification is a musical mapping algorithm that transforms a dataset into a soundscape for humans to hear numbers within a musical structure. In this study, we used three methods to sonify data: 1) a Baroque-style gestural mapping algorithm that emphasized timing and rhythm using an analog method of handwritten composition, 2) an electronic online pitch sequencer, and 3) the classical instrument Harp performing notated music. We investigated related sound mapping algorithms and the sensitivity of pattern representation of cybersecurity data, including the malware distribution network datasets. Our preliminary experiments showed that a Baroque-inspired timing element based on gestures plays a critical role in aural sonification. Using a sequencer with visualizers helped listeners grasp the patterns more effectively since they were able to watch and hear the results simultaneously. Performing the sonified data live on the harp helped make the compositions more relatable and thus connected with a broader audience. The harp also added a visual element which helped listeners identify patterns. We found that listeners were able to accurately identify the sonified data patterns in both the baroque-style analog handwritten compositions performed on harp and the compositions produced by the Online Sequencer. While non-musicians were able to answer questions about the data patterns they heard with a high percentage of accuracy, their results improved when visual elements were added.
CardiacWave: A mmWave-based Scheme of Non-Contact and High-Definition Heart Activity Computing

Using wireless signals to monitor human vital signs, especially heartbeat information, has been intensively studied in the past decade. This non-contact sensing modality can drive various applications from cardiac health, sleep, and emotion management. Under the circumstance of the COVID-19 pandemic, non-contact heart monitoring receives increasingly market demands. However, existing wireless heart monitoring schemes can only detect limited heart activities, such as heart rate, fiducial points, and Seismocardiography (SCG)-like information. In this paper, we present CardiacWave to enable a non-contact high-definition heart monitoring. CardiacWave can provide a full spectrum of Electrocardiogram (ECG)-like heart activities, including the details of P-wave, T-wave, and QRS complex. Specifically, CardiacWave is built upon the Cardiac-mmWave scattering effect (CaSE), which is a variable frequency response of the cardiac electromagnetic field under the mmWave interrogation. The CardiacWave design consists of a noise-resistant sensing scheme to interrogate CaSE and a cardiac activity profiling module for extracting cardiac electrical activities from the interrogation response. Our experiments show that the CardiacWave-induced ECG measures have a high positive correlation with the heart activity ground truth (i.e., measurements from a medical-grade instrument). The timing difference of P-waves, T-waves, and QRS complex is 0.67%, 0.71%, and 0.49%, respectively, and a mean cardiac event difference is within a delay of 5.3 milliseconds. These results indicate that CaridacWave offers high-fidelity and integral heart clinical characteristics. Furthermore, we evaluate the CardiacWave system with participants under various conditions, including heart and breath rates, ages, and heart habits (e.g., tobacco use).
A Requiem for the Retail Investor

THE American retail investor is dying. In 1950, retail investors own d over 90% of the stock of U.S. corporat ons.1 Today, re tail investors own less than 30 %2 and represent a very small per centage of U.S. trading volume. Data on the overall level of retail trading in U.S. equity markets are not available. But recent New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") data reveal that trades by indi vidual investors represent, on average, less than 2% of NYSE trad ing volume for NYSE-listed firms.3 There is no question that U.S. securities markets are now dominated by institutional investors. In his article, "The SEC, Retail Investors, and the Institutionali zation of the Securities Markets,"4 Professor Donald Langevoort offers a compelling, original account of the challenges facing the Securities and Exchange Commission as it turns seventy-five years old in the face of securities markets characterized by increasing in stitutionalization. Professor Langevoort's article offers several in teresting insights and serves as an important commentary on the appropriate regulatory model for a marketplace strikingly different from the one existing at the time of the SEC's founding. Despite the enormous contribution of the work, however, I find some of Professor Langevoort's assertions regarding the SEC's focus and
Fingerprint image enhancement using STFT analysis

Contrary to popular belief, despite decades of research in fingerprints, reliable fingerprint recognition is still an open problem. Extracting features out of poor quality prints is the most challenging problem faced in this area. This paper introduces a new approach for fingerprint enhancement based on Short Time Fourier Transform(STFT) Analysis. STFT is a well known technique in signal processing to analyze non-stationary signals. Here we extend its application to 2D fingerprint images.The algorithm simultaneously estimates all the intrinsic properties of the fingerprints such as the foreground region mask, local ridge orientation and local frequency orientation. We have evaluated the algorithm over a set of 800 images from FVC2002 DB3 database and obtained a 17% relative improvement in the recognition rate.
Large Edit Distance with Multiple Block Operations

We consider the addition of some or all of the operations block move, block delete, block copy, block reversals, and block copy reversals, to the traditional edit distance problem (finding the minimum number of insert-character and delete-character operations to convert one string to another). When all of the above operations are allowed, the problem, called the nearest neighbors problem, is NP hard, and the best known approximation is O(logn log* n), which was achieved by Muthukrishnan and Sahinalp [2000,2002a]. In this paper we show that this problem can be approximated by a constant factor of 3.5 using a simple sliding window method. When eliminating reversals, the same method reduces the best known approximation of 12, achieved by Ergun, Muthukrishnan and Sahinalp [2003], down to a factor of 4. Both constant factors are proved to be tight. Allowing only subsets of these operations does not necessarily make the problem easier. Shapira and Storer [2002] present a logn factor approximation algorithm for edit distance with block moves (which is also an NP-complete problem). Here, we show that edit distance with block deletions can be solved optimally, but edit distance with block moves and block deletions remains NP-complete and can be reduced to the problem of block moves only, keeping the same logn factor approximation.
Estimation of Monotone Treatment Effects in Network Experiments

ABSTRACTRandomized experiments on social networks pose statistical challenges, due to the possibility of interference between units. We propose new methods for finding confidence intervals on the attributable treatment effect in such settings. The methods do not require partial interference, but instead require an identifying assumption that is similar to requiring nonnegative treatment effects. Network or spatial information can be used to customize the test statistic; in principle, this can increase power without making assumptions on the data-generating process. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.
Magnetic imaging with polarized soft x-rays

Magnetic imaging with polarized soft x-rays offers several advantages compared to other techniques, which are available to visualize magnetic structures and magnetic behavior on microscopic levels. The ultimate spatial resolution for soft x-ray techniques, i.e. the diffraction limit set by the wavelength, will be in the few nm regime. The temporal resolution, given by the length of a single x-ray pulse is at 3rd generation synchrotron sources in the sub 100 ps regime, but should reach out into the fs regime at next generation x-ray sources, where single shot imaging should become feasible due to a sufficiently large number of photons per single x-ray pulse. The interaction of polarized soft x-rays with magnetic (ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic) materials exhibits for element specific photon energies, which correspond to inner core electron binding energies significant magnetic cross sections. These magnetic dichroism effects serve as magnetic contrast mechanism for imaging and give quantitative information about magnetic ground state properties, such as magnetic spin and orbital moments. A full 3 dimensional information, specifically access to magnetic structures at interfaces can be obtained by imaging under certain geometries, as well as from computational magnetic tomography of 2 dimensional projection images.
Gatling: Automatic Attack Discovery in Large-Scale Distributed Systems.

In this paper, we propose Gatling, a framework that au- tomatically finds performance attacks caused by insider at- tackers in large-scale message-passing distributed systems. In performance attacks, malicious nodes deviate from the protocol when sending or creating messages, with the goal of degrading system performance. We identify a represen- tative set of basic malicious message delivery and lying ac- tions and design a greedy search algorithm that finds effec- tive attacks consisting of a subset of these actions. While lying malicious actions are protocol dependent, requiring the format and meaning of messages, Gatling captures them without needing to modify the target system, by using a type- aware compiler. We have implemented and used Gatling on six systems, a virtual coordinate system, a distributed hash table lookup service and application, two multicast systems and one file sharing application, and found a total of 41 attacks, ranging from a few minutes to a few hours to find each attack.
Protein Structure Alignment in Subquadratic Time

The problem of finding an optimal structural alignment for a pair of superimposed proteins is often amenable to the Smith-Waterman dynamic programming algorithm, which runs in time proportional to the product of the lengths of sequences being aligned. While the quadratic running time is acceptable for computing a single alignment of two, spatially “fixed”, structures, the time complexity becomes a bottleneck when running the Smith-Waterman routine multiple times in order to find an optimal pairwise superposition. We present a subquadratic running time algorithm capable of computing an alignment that optimizes one of the most widely used measures of protein structure similarity, defined as the number of pairs of residues in two proteins that can be superimposed under a predefined distance cutoff. The algorithm presented in this article can be used to significantly improve the speed-accuracy tradeoff in a number of popular protein structure alignment methods.
Lines of Tribe

It is important to begin by explaining why I take the title of my essay from the statement in President Barack Obama's 2009 Inaugural Address: "the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve." During the address, his words affected me and they remained with me long afterward. President Obama may very well have meant what he said in a metaphoric or figurative sense; I have certainly been provided with many interpretations and assurances by most that a literal meaning was not his intent and that he instead spoke in a good way of the beneficial melting of divisions between us.It serves my purposes, however, to complicate the statement's usage and to choose not to lose the opportunity to consider it in a literal sense given the history of our country, and not only our country, but the whole of the American continent. That is to say that there is a belief that the dissolution of the lines of tribe, in fact, can result in good and in peace. It is the chilling language and metaphor of colonists. I am familiar with the history of the good that white reformers thought would come from detribalization of Indigenous Peoples in the United States. Detribalization efforts severely weakened the lucky, but destroyed and disappeared others, and, in doing so, opened vast tracts of lands for, yes, the peaceful settlement by others. We have seen the lines of tribe dissolve, and not in a poetic sense, but violently. President Obama's reference to tribes brought to mind the modem tribal peoples the United States is engaged with in Iraq, Afghanistan, and within its own boundaries. There can be hope for a peace that does not require that the lines of tribe dissolve. Additionally, President Obama's words evoke a picture that connects to present work on Indigenous identity. The words evoke an image that modem day tribes, in their utilization of blood quantum, may be hastening along. To a tribal person, "the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve" means the end of a tribe's existence. There is no Indigenous identity without the existence of tribe, or "the People." Such words convey the failure to recognize the significance of tribalism, of the United States' history with tribes, and of the sense of how near we came in this country to its literal meaning. The statement, spoken as metaphoric prophecy, focused my attention on the lynchpin of tribe (that is the continuation of"tribe", or "the People") to Indigenous identity and the link between blood quanta, the line of tribe, and dissolution.