cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PORE-SCALE MODEL FOR REACTIVE TRANSPORT AND BIOMASS GROWTH

A Lagrangian multi-scale particle model based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) was used to simulate pore-scale flow, reactive transport and biomass growth in fractured porous media. The biomass growth was controlled by double Monod kinetics. The deformation and attachment and detachment of biomass was modeled through a combination of pair-wise short range repulsive and medium range attractive forces and hydrodynamics forces resulting from the fluid flow. The multi-scale model was compared with a cellular automata model that explicitly assumed that biomass can grow only in directions with shear stresses smaller than a critical value. For the set of parameters used in the simulations both cellular automata and multi-scale models predicted that: 1) biomass grows in the shape of bridges connecting soil grains and oriented in the direction of flow so as to minimize resistance to the fluid flow; 2) the solution containing electron donors and acceptors gets rapidly depleted as it enters the fractured porous domain; 3) and the biomass growth occurs mainly at the entrance into the fracture. The multi-scale model predicted that biomass would spread uniformly along the walls of the fracture while the cellular automata model predicted that the most of the biomass would concentrate at themore » entrance of the fracture. The proposed multi-scale model shows that biomass can spread along preferential flow paths and seal off a porous matrix creating biogeochemical barriers to contaminant migration and that attachment/detachment of biomass is an important mechanism in biomass spreading and can not be disregarded in computational models.« less
Developments in radical polymerization

Developments in the field of radical polymerization including co- and graft polymerization are evaluated from a personal viewpoint. A number of important advances have been made in the last few years which present the opportunity of opening new ways for further scientific and technological progress. Also included in this critical evaluation of developments in co- and graft polymerization primarily by radical initiators is work that is peripheral to the subject but constitutes possible important new directions of development.
RELIGION AND INTERGENERATIONAL ASSISTANCE: Distinct Differences by Adult Children's Gender and Parent's Marital Status

Using data from a national and intergenerational survey in 1997, this study examines the link between religion and intergenerational assistance between parents and adult children. Two possibilities...
Quantum Qualitative Dynamics

We describe our work on qualitative methods for visualizing the quantum eigenstates of systems with nonlinear classical dynamics. For two-degree-of-freedom systems, our approach is based on the use of generalized coherent states, and allows systems with nonoscillator kinematics to be investigated. The general approach is illustrated with two examples involving vibration-rotation interaction in polyatomic molecules. We apply the coherent states of the Lie groupH 4⊗SU(2) to define quantum surfaces of section for a model involving centrifugal coupling of a harmonic bend with molecular rotation, andSU(2)⊗SU(2) coherent states to study two harmonic normal modes coupled to overall molecular rotation through coriolis interaction. In both systems, quantum states are visualized on the rotational surface of section and compared with the corresponding classical phase space structure. Striking classical-quantum correspondence is observed. We then describe recent results on the quantum states of (N⩾ 3)-dimensional systems of coupled nonlinear oscillators, which reveal a quantum delocalization that is reminiscent of classical Arnold diffusion.
Age-dependent recruitment of neutrophils by fetal endothelial cells : implications in scarless wound healing

Abstract Purpose Fetal dermal wounds heal with minimal inflammation and absent fibrosis. Later in gestation, a transition to adult-like healing with marked inflammation and scarring is observed. Interaction with endothelial cells (ECs) is imperative for leukocyte transmigration, a critical step in the inflammatory cascade. This study was embarked upon to determine if gestational age-dependent differences in EC function modulate changes in inflammatory response and correlate with the healing phenotype. Methods Fetal porcine ECs were harvested at days 65 (mid gestation), 85 (late gestation), and 100 (near-term) (term = 115 days). Confluent monolayers were activated with IL-1 β at 10 and 100 ng/mL and exposed to adult neutrophils under static (n = 4 per group) and continuous flow (n = 6 per group) conditions. Neutrophil-endothelial interaction was quantified and compared using analysis of variance. Results Under static conditions, the lower cytokine dose elicited maximal neutrophil recruitment in later-gestation ECs, while midgestation ECs required higher stimulation. Midgestation ECs recruited significantly less neutrophils than later gestation ECs at both cytokine concentrations under flow conditions. Conclusion There is a gestational age-dependent variation in neutrophil recruitment by fetal ECs. With minimal stimulation, later-gestation ECs actively recruit neutrophils, whereas midgestation ECs do not. These findings correlate with the transition period to adult-like healing, supporting the potential role of fetal ECs in scarless healing.
Emissions dispatch under the underutilization provision of the 1990 US Clean Air Act Amendments: models and analysis

Pending US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) regulations concerning the use of Phase I generating units have the potential to significantly affect dispatch decisions and costs. Practical methods for estimating production costs and for real-time dispatch that would incorporate regulatory constraints upon the output of all Phase I units in a generating system are proposed. These approaches are based on assigning a bonus, in $/MBtu, to fuel use by those units. As a demonstration, a probabilistic production costing model is used to assess the impact of two alternative proposals concerning the definition of underutilization. >
Psychological effects of dopamine beta-hydroxylase inhibition: a failure to replicate.

In a previous investigation of whether reduced dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH) might play a role in schizophrenia, we studied the effects of DBH inhibition for a few hours in normal subjects. This initial study showed positive effects, i.e., unusual subjective psychological reports confirmed by psychiatric rating scales, in subjects given the DBH inhibitor fusaric acid. The present study attempted to replicate these findings using a more detailed battery of tests and an additional control situation. Each subject underwent the following four treatment conditions at 1-week intervals: fusaric acid plus L-dopa; L-dopa alone; d-amphetamine; placebo. The present results did not confirm those of the first study. A few interesting results were found that were chiefly attributable to amphetamine effects. No effect could be definitely attributed to fusaric acid.
Objective Tinnitus Due to Essential Palatal Tremor in a 5-Year-Old

A healthy 5-year-old male reported a clicking sound in both ears. Neurologic examination was normal except for an audible clicking noise that could be heard when within 10 cm of either ear and bilateral rapid rhythmic movements of the soft palate. All tests were normal including magnetic resonance imaging brain scan. One year after onset, his objective tinnitus and palatal tremor were no longer present.
PAX2 mutation in a patient with coloboma-ureteral-renal syndrome. • 623

Coloboma-ureteral-renal syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder consisting of eye colobomas, vesicoureteral reflux, and abnormal kidneys. We demonstrated that mutations in PAX2 are responsible for the disorder. PAX2 is a transcription factor expressed in the developing kidney, eye, central nervous system and otic vesicle. We describe a patient with optic nerve colobomas, hypoplastic kidneys, proteinuria, end stage renal disease, abnormal ears and hearing loss in whom we demonstrated a mutation in PAX2. This 20 year old woman was referred to genetics to rule out CHARGE syndrome. The patient developed 3+ proteinuria, had a renal biopsy revealing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and renal ultrasound showing small kidneys. She progressed to end stage renal disease and underwent transplantation. Ophthalmologic examination revealed bilateral optic nerve colobomas. She had abnormal pinnae with under-folded superior helices, a square nose with a thick tip, up-slanting palpebral fissures, joint hyperextensiblity and moderate unilateral hearing loss at 6000-8000 Hz. Intelligence was normal. Karyotype was 46, XX. Both parents were examined by an ophthalmologist and do not have colobomas. We performed single stranded conformational polymorphism analysis of the PAX2 gene on DNA from the patient, her parents and normal controls and found an abnormally migrating band in exon 2 from the patient. PCR products from the patient's exon 2 were cloned and sequenced. Sequencing of 6 clones revealed an inserted G into a normal sequence of 7 G's in 3 clones, leading to a stop codon 27 amino acids downstream. Sequencing of the parent's DNA did not reveal a mutation. Dot blots confirmed that the patient was heterozygous for the mutation while the parents and normal controls were homozygous for the normal allele. Thus this mutation appears to have developed de novo in this patient. Clinical evaluation combined with understanding of the molecular basis of this disorder further delineates the coloboma-ureteral-renal syndrome.
Relation of diurnal temperature and humidity ranges to egg production and feed efficiency of New Hampshire hens

The effect of environment on the production and size of eggs, feed efficiency and mortality of New Hampshire hens in individual cages was studied simultaneously in five areas of Guatemala having temperatures covering a range of 0°–45° C. with variable humidities. While birds housed in the tropical lowlands did show visible signs of thermo-stress, there were no significant differences in egg size, production, feed consumption, mortality and body weight between areas or between groups within areas. The inconsistency of these data with other published reports is explained on the basis of the observed extremely wide diurnal range for temperatures and humidities. An attempt is made to present accepted physiological phenomena in the form of a working hypothesis wherein the diurnal temperature range is related to the fowl's tolerance to thermo-stress.
The Meiji Political Novel: A Brief Survey

FROM a purely objective point of view, the study of the political novel in any period of history is useful because of the inherent value of that particular type of novel portrayal of the political ideology of its time and presentation of its authors' political opinions. This is especially true with reference to the political novel in Japan's Meiji era. The Restoration had shifted the balance of power; Western influence was strong; Japan was emerging from her self-imposed seclusion. In the first flush of her breakaway from previous restraints and before new ones could be devised and stringently enforced Japan's political thought as expressed in the literary vehicle specifically designed for it presents perhaps a truer index of the feelings of the literate classes than does the governmental mechanism which was evolved at that time, inasmuch as one of the avowed purposes of a novel is to appeal to its audience, a point not included in Japanese governmental tradition. This being the general trend in the Far East, the most important medium even the only medium through which the articulate could register their objections and their own thoughts has been literature. Certainly one of the most important causes for the Western belief that the Oriental is phlegmatic and mysterious is that so little study has been made of his writings, the only possible channel for his outpourings. Meiji culture saw that collision of the ancient Confucian tradition with the West's spirit of innovation. Oppressed by the old-time political organization, many of the thinking people of Meiji yearned for objectives which perhaps they could not fully comprehend, but which they knew of and wanted because they linked them with the new and wonderful West independence, freedom, equal rights. And it was in Western society, politics, literature, and fine arts that they saw the concrete appearance of their ideals. Therefore, the first literary movement which we see in Meiji,
Use of engineering case studies to teach associate degree electrical engineering technology students

This paper describes the use of engineering case studies to teach associate degree electrical engineering technology (2EET) students at the Penn State University, Altoona College (Penn State Altoona). Engineering case studies are used in several 2EET courses such as digital electronics (EET 117), semiconductors (EET 210), and electrical machines (EET 213 W). The paper begins with a description of the need for the use of engineering case studies to teach engineering technology students. Development and implementation of the case study based instructional model used in several 2EET courses is described next. The results of implementation of this instructional technique in the 2EET courses are presented in the paper.
A Generalizable Formulation of Conditional Logit with Diagnostics

Abstract The conditional logit model is a multinomial logit model that permits the inclusion of choice-specific attributes. This article shows that the conditional logit model will maximize entropy given a set of attribute-value preserving constraints. A correspondence between the maximum entropy (ME) and maximum likelihood (ML) estimates for logit probabilities is established. Some easily computable and useful diagnostics for logit analysis are provided, and it is shown that an evaluation of the relative importance of attributes can be made using the ME formulation. The ME formulation is also generalized to accommodate initial choice probabilities into the logit model. An example is given. KEY WORDS: Choice models; Entropy; Kullback-Leibler discrimination information function; Relative importance.
Cancer Burden from Arsenic in Drinking Water in Bangladesh

We assessed the potential burden of internal cancers due to arsenic exposure in Bangladesh. We estimated excess lifetime risks of death from liver, bladder, and lung cancers using an exposure distribution, death probabilities, and cancer mortality rates from Bangladesh and dose-specific relative risk estimates from Taiwan. Results indicated at least a doubling of lifetime mortality risk from liver, bladder, and lung cancers (229.6 vs 103.5 per 100 000 population) in Bangladesh owing to arsenic in drinking water.
Which ASR should I choose for my dialogue system

We present an analysis of several publicly available automatic speech recognizers (ASRs) in terms of their suitability for use in different types of dialogue systems. We focus in particular on cloud based ASRs that recently have become available to the community. We include features of ASR systems and desiderata and requirements for different dialogue systems, taking into account the dialogue genre, type of user, and other features. We then present speech recognition results for six different dialogue systems. The most interesting result is that different ASR systems perform best on the data sets. We also show that there is an improvement over a previous generation of recognizers on some of these data sets. We also investigate language understanding (NLU) on the ASR output, and explore the relationship between ASR and NLU performance.
Corporate Value, Managerial Stockholdings and Investments of Japanese Firms

We use a simultaneous equation model which treats firm value, investments and management ownership as endogenous to the firm. Our results show a feedback relation between corporate value and management ownership, i.e., corporate value is positively impacted by management ownership, which in turn is positively impacted by corporate value. Corporate value also affects investments made by the firm. We also find that the effect of the main bank on corporate value is positive but only up to a certain point; then, it turns negative. Supporting the argument that keiretsu firms have lower agency cost, we find that firms belonging to a keiretsu have higher valuations during the sample period. Finally, we find that management ownership increases as the ownership of the main bank, ownership of institutional holders and cross-holdings decreases, suggesting a substitution effect among these monitoring forces. Our results indicate that ignoring the web of these relationships leads to incorrect inferences.
Informatics in Radiology: What Can You See in a Single Glance and How Might This Guide Visual Search in Medical Images?

Radiologists’ rapid appreciation of the gestalt of a medical image-a specialization of the ability of naive observers to grasp the gist of a scene in a fraction of a second-is discussed, with emphasis on learning to perform rapid global visual processing of medical images in development of radiologic expertise.
Schedule-independent storage mapping for loops

This paper studies the relationship between storage requirements and performance. Storage-related dependences inhibit optimizations for locality and parallelism. Techniques such as renaming and array expansion can eliminate all storage-related dependences, but do so at the expense of increased storage. This paper introduces the universal occupancy vector (UOV) for loops with a regular stencil of dependences. The UOV provides a schedule-independent storage reuse pattern that introduces no further dependences (other than those implied by true flow dependences). OV-mapped code requires less storage than full array expansion and only slightly more storage than schedule-dependent minimal storage.We show that determine if a vector is a UOV is NPcomplete. However, an easily constructed but possibly nonminimal UOV can be used. We also present a branch and bound algorithm which finds the minimal UOV, while still maintaining a legal UOV at all times.Our experimental results show that the use of OV-mapped storage, coupled with tiling for locality, achieves better performance than tiling after array expansion, and accommodates larger problem sizes than untilable, storage-optimized code. F'urthermore, storage mapping based on the UOV introduces negligible runtime overhead.
Osteoporosis and Related Diseases: Voluntary Organizations

This paper highlights the work of four nonprofit, volunteer osteoporosis educational foundations: the United States National Osteoporosis Foundation, the Paget Foundation for Paget’s Disease of Bone and Related Disorders, the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and Bone Disease, and the Osteoporosis Society of Canada. All facilitate education across the patient, medical, scientific, general public, and political communities, in order to promote behavioral change in all aspects of disease prevention and management.
The host response and molecular pathogenesis associated with respiratory syncytial virus infection

Since the isolation of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in 1956, its significance as an important human pathogen in infants, the elderly and the immunocompromised has been established. Many important mechanisms contributing to RSV infection, replication and disease pathogenesis have been uncovered; however, there is still insufficient knowledge in these and related areas, which must be addressed to facilitate the development of safe and effective vaccines and therapeutic treatments. A better understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of RSV infection, particularly the host-cell response and transcription profiles to RSV infection, is required to advance disease intervention strategies. Substantial information is accumulating regarding how RSV proteins modulate molecular signaling and regulation of cytokine and chemokine responses to infection, molecular signals regulating programmed cell death, and innate and adaptive immune responses to infection. This review discusses RSV manipulation of the host response to infection and related disease pathogenesis.
WOL: a language for database transformations and constraints

The need to transform data between heterogeneous databases arises from a number of critical tasks in data management. These tasks are complicated by schema evolution in the underlying databases and by the presence of non-standard database constraints. We describe a declarative language called WOL (Well-founded Object Logic) for specifying such transformations, and its implementation in a system called Morphase (an "enzyme" for morphing data). WOL is designed to allow transformations between the complex data structures which arise in object-oriented databases as well as in complex relational databases, and to allow for reasoning about the interactions between database transformations and constraints.
Large scale solar and stellar magnetic fields

With the recent advent of stellar evolution calculations that include the effect of rotation, the prospect of correctly evaluating the influence of magnetic fields in a wide class of stars has been greatly improved. Calculations of large scale (global) magnetic fields will be presented that utilize sequences of models of a rotating star (the Sun) that take into account differential rotation and meridional circulation. The influence of various magnetic field configurations and strengths will be considered as well as the possible effect of the Lorentz force on the equations of motion.
Computing in 3D

3DIC technology refers to stacking and interconnecting chips and substrates (“interposers”) with Through Silicon Vias (TSVs). Industry is gearing up for widespread introduction of this technology with the 22 nm node. We have been pursuing a range of approaches to enable low power computing. As well as 3DIC these include heterogeneous computing, powered optimized SIMD units, optimized memory hierarchies, and MPI with post-silicon customized interconnect. Heterogeneous computing refers to the concept of building a mix of CPUs and memories that in turn enable in-situ tuning of the compute load to the compute resources. We introduce the concept of Fast Thread Migration using 3DIC technologies. We present the design of a power optimized SIMD unit in which over half of the power is employed in the FP units. A parallel computer is built using an MPI paradigm. Codes are analyzed so that the MPI interconnect can be power optimized post-silicon. Emerging 3D memories have potential to be employed as Level 2 and Level 3 caches, and this is explored using the Tezzaron 3D memory. As scaling and power optimization occurs, the main memory increasingly dominates the power consumption. Possible extensions to Cortical Processing are discussed.
Pricing and Firm Conduct in California's Deregulated Electricity Market

Abstract This paper analyzes the pricing behavior of electricity generating firms in the restructured California market from its inception in April 1998 until its collapse in late 2000. Using detailed firm-level data, I find that conduct is fairly consistent with a Cournot pricing game for much of the sample. In summer and fall 2000, the market was slightly less competitive, yet the dramatic rise in prices was more driven by changes in costs and demand than by changes in firm conduct. The five large nonutility generators raised prices slightly above unilateral market-power levels in 2000, but fell far short of colluding on the joint monopoly price.
The impact of past and present preferences on stimulus engagement in nursing home residents with dementia.

Objectives: We examined engagement with stimuli in 193 nursing home residents with dementia. We hypothesized that activities and stimuli based on a person's past and current preferences would result in more engagement than other activities/stimuli. Method: The expanded version of the self-identity questionnaire [Cohen-Mansfield, J., Golander, H. & Arheim, G. (2000)] was used to determine participants’ past/present interests (as reported by relatives) in the following areas: art, music, babies, pets, reading, television, and office work. We utilized the observational measurement of engagement (Cohen-Mansfield, J., Dakheel-Ali, M., & Marx, M.S. (2009). Results: Analysis revealed that residents with current interests in music, art, and pets were more engaged by stimuli that reflect these interests than residents without these interests. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the utility of determining a person's preferences for stimuli in order to predict responsiveness. Lack of prediction for some stimuli may...
An architecture for energy efficient sphere decoding

Sphere Decoding has become a popular implementation of MIMO decoding due to its improved performance at lower hardware complexity. Present ASIC implementations fail to consider sources of pipelinability and parallelism in the algorithm to achieve reduced power. In this work, we provide a proposal and initial results for an improved architecture which aims to increase overall energy efficiency (b/s/mW) of the decoder. This improvement is based on a novel implementation which combines the use of a deeply pipelined data-path and "multi symbol vector" based approach to exploit the pipeline. Implementation in 0.18μ 1.8V CMOS technology provides an operational frequency of 128/230(retimed)MHz at 409 mW(DFF memory)/ 360 mW(realistic memory) and 3.44 sq.mm (DFF memory).
Opto-Electrical Characterization and X-Ray Mapping of Large-Volume Cadmium Zinc Telluride Radiation Detectors

Large-volume cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) radiation detectors would greatly improve radiation detection capabilities and, therefore, attract extensive scientific and commercial interests. CZT crystals with volumes as large as hundreds of centimeters can be achieved today due to improvements in the crystal growth technology. However, the poor performance of large-volume CZT detectors is still a challenging problem affecting the commercialization of CZT detectors and imaging arrays. We have employed Pockels effect measurements and synchrotron X-ray mapping techniques to investigate the performance-limiting factors for large-volume CZT detectors. Experimental results with the above characterization methods reveal the non-uniform distribution of internal electric field of large-volume CZT detectors, which help us to better understand the responsible mechanism for the insufficient carrier collection in large-volume CZT detectors.
Maize opaque5 Encodes Monogalactosyldiacylglycerol Synthase and Specifically Affects Galactolipids Necessary for Amyloplast and Chloroplast Function

The maize (Zea mays) opaque5 (o5) locus was shown to encode the monogalactosyldiacylglycerol synthase MGD1. Null and point mutations of o5 that affect the vitreous nature of mature endosperm engendered an allelic series of lines with stepwise reductions in gene function. C18:3/C18:2 galactolipid abundance in seedling leaves was reduced proportionally, without significant effects on total galactolipid content. This alteration in polar lipid composition disrupted the organization of thylakoid membranes into granal stacks. Total galactolipid abundance in endosperm was strongly reduced in o5- mutants, causing developmental defects and changes in starch production such that the normal simple granules were replaced with compound granules separated by amyloplast membrane. Complete loss of MGD1 function in a null mutant caused kernel lethality owing to failure in both endosperm and embryo development. The data demonstrate that low-abundance galactolipids with five double bonds serve functions in plastid membranes that are not replaced by the predominant species with six double bonds. Furthermore, the data identify a function of amyloplast membranes in the development of starch granules. Finally, the specific changes in lipid composition suggest that MGD1 can distinguish the constituency of acyl groups on its diacylglycerol substrate based upon the degree of desaturation.
‘Marriage means having children and forming your family, so what is the need of discussion?’ Communication and negotiation of childbearing preferences among Bangladeshi couples

This paper explores communication and negotiation regarding contraception and childbearing based on multiple semi-structured interviews with 19 married couples in southwestern Bangladesh. The narratives of three couples are presented to describe how sociocultural context and gender-based norms influence interactions between husbands and wives and their fertility decision-making. Despite national-level declines in fertility, the couples' stories illustrate the ongoing struggles to balance their desired number of male and female children with their financial and social well-being. The stories also indicate that the nature of the interactions between spouses evolves throughout the course of their marital and reproductive lifespans, resulting in a shift in fertility decision-making power. Both wives and husbands described the relative powerlessness of new wives in negotiating fertility with husbands and extended family; however, wives' preferences appeared to dominate as they became more established in their households. Many wives acted independently and often contrary to their husbands' desires, through their covert use or non-use of contraception and pregnancy termination. These findings illustrate that, despite efforts to increase contraceptive availability within Bangladesh, without concurrent changes in the opportunities available for women beyond their reproductive capacities, the demand for children, and particularly for male children, is not likely to change.
Does being female provide a neuroprotective advantage following spinal cord injury

It has been controversial whether gender has any effect on recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI). Past experimental and clinical research aimed at addressing this subject has led to constrasting findings on whether females hold any advantage in locomotor recovery. Additionally, for studies supporting the notion of a female gender related advantage, a definite cause has not been explained. In a recent study, using large sample sizes for comparative male and female spinal cord injury cohorts, we reported that a significant gender advantage favoring females existed in both tissue preservation and functional recovery after taking into consideration discrepancies in age and weight of the animals across sexes. Prior animal research frequently used sample sizes that were too small to determine significance with certainty and also did not account for two other factors that influence locomotor performance: age and weight. Our finding is important in light of controversy surrounding the effect of gender on outcome and the fact that SCI affects more than ten thousand new individuals annually, a population that is disproportionately male. By deepening our understanding of why a gender advantage exists, potential new therapeutics can be designed to improve recovery for the male population following the initial trauma or putatively augment the neuroprotective privilege in females for enhanced outcomes.
The Expanding Empire of Psychopathology: The Case of PTSD

In his entertaining, erudite, and provocative article, Nick Haslam (this issue) provides an incisive analysis of conceptual creep in psychopathology and beyond. Psychiatry, he argues, continues to ...
Taxing plaintiffs: A look at tax accounting for attorney's fees and litigation costs

This article looks at the issue of the tax accounting issues associated with contingent fees. From the client's perspective, it addresses the assignment of income issue and matters presented under the alternative minimum tax incurred (prior to the amendment of IRC 62(a)(2) and the Supreme Court's 2005 decision in Banks). From the law firm's perspective, it addresses the questions of timing and characterization of costs advanced to clients and incurred in connection with contingent fee litigation.
Risk of incident atrial fibrillation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) might be at an increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) as a result of deleterious effects of inflammatory cytokines on cardiomyocytes. This study aimed to comprehensively review all available evidence to further characterize this possible association. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies that reported relative risk, hazard ratio, incidence ratio or standardized incidence ratio with 95% confidence intervals comparing the risk of incidence of AF in patients with RA versus non-RA participants. Pooled risk ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated using random-effect, generic inverse-variance methods of DerSimonian and Laird. Results Three retrospective cohort studies with 39 912 cases of RA and 4 269 161 non-RA controls were included in the data analysis. The pooled risk ratio of subsequent development of AF in patients with RA versus controls was 1.29 (95% CI, 1.05–1.59). The statistical heterogeneity was moderate with an I2 of 71%. Conclusion Our meta-analysis demonstrated a statistically significant increased risk of subsequent development of AF among patients with RA.
Multi-Exciton Dissociation Dynamics in CdSe Quantum Dots

We report studies of ultrafast exciton dissociation dynamics in quantum dots by electron transfer to adsorbed molecular acceptors. Up to three excitons per CdSe quantum dots (generated by multiple photon absorption) can be dissociated.
Natural Mortality of Cinnabar Moth in California

The cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), an insect introduced for the biological control of tansy ragwort, Senecio jacobaea L., suffered considerable mortality at some study sites from 1967 through 1970. At the original site of colonization, one mile south of Fort Bragg, Calif., mortality was probably in excess of 85% in 1970. Factors influencing the mortality included predation by insects, sowbugs (Crustacea: Isopoda), and rodents, a microsporidian disease caused by Nosema sp., and some limited parasitism. Despite this relatively high mortality for an introduced insect, the cinnabar moth is well established in California, Oregon, and Washington. Populations have generally increased, and partial control of the pest plant is being obtained in some areas.
The Opposition (Spiritual) in The Country House

Although throughout his life Galsworthy could write in any setting, spending most of his mornings with a J-nib pen and paper wherever he was, the increasing concomitants of success, rehearsals, meetings and social engagements, led him to seek a frequent refuge outside London. For several years after 1906, the Galsworthys spent many long weekends or weeks, especially in winter, at Littlehampton, a resort town, no longer fashionable, on the West Sussex coast. Dorothy Ivens, who visited the Galsworthys there a number of times, has described it: “A small place then, in the off season, moribund, in fact the quietest little seaside town imaginable. An esplanade, bare and empty, boarding houses close shuttered and just one comfortable hotel housing perhaps a solitary old lady.”1 There were no facilities for swimming, no public buildings of any size and the only recreation consisted of long walks along the sands. At Easter, for several weeks, and once or twice in the late summer or autumn, they would travel further and stay at Wingstone. After they secured the long lease on the guest portion of the house, they stayed for weeks or months at a time and occasionally lent it to friends and relatives when they were away.
Statistical Considerations for Evaluating Prognostic Biomarkers: Choosing Optimal Threshold

The use of biomarker is increasingly popular in cancer research and various imaging biomarkers have been developed recently as prognostic markers. In practice, a threshold or cutpoint is required for dichotomizing continuous markers to distinguish patients with certain conditions or responses from those who are without. Two popular ROC based methods to establish “optimal” threshold are based on Youdan index J and closest top-left criterion. We have shown in this paper the importance to acknowledge the inherent variance of such estimates. In addition, a purely data-driven approach to search for optimal threshold can produce estimates that are not necessarily meaningful due to the large variance in such estimates. Instead, we propose to estimate the threshold through pre-specified criterion, such as a fixed level of specificity. The confidence intervals of the threshold and sensitivity at the pre-specified specificity are much narrower compared to the quantities measured through either Youdan index J or closest top left criterion. We suggest to estimate the threshold at a pre-specified level of specificity, and the sensitivity at that threshold, all the estimates should be accompanied by appropriate 95 % confidence intervals.
In Her Own Words: The Semantics of Female Authorship in Ancient Greece, from Sappho to Nossis

What we call things is important—it reveals what we think about the world. What we call ourselves, however, is even more important. It reveals ideas and assumptions about identity, gender, community. It helps us to see where we fit in in society; what we understand our purpose, our role to be; the kinds of activities we undertake. In a history where women have been largely barred from higher-paying, traditionally male occupations, the way in which women in particular use terminology to lay claim to skills and expertise in counterpoint to a generally male-dominant culture speaks volumes about the ways in which women see themselves and their relationship to their work. As Erica Jong puts it in her feminist essay, The Artist as Housewife, ‘naming is a form of self-creation’.
Do celebrity endorsements matter? Observational study of BRCA gene testing and mastectomy rates after Angelina Jolie’s New York Times editorial

Objective To examine the effect on BRCA testing and mastectomy rates of a widely viewed 2013 New York Times editorial by public figure Angelina Jolie that endorsed BRCA testing and announced Jolie’s decision to undergo preventive mastectomy. Design Observational study with difference-in-difference analysis. Setting Commercially insured US population. Participants Women aged 18-64 years with claims in the Truven MarketScan commercial claims database (n=9 532 836). Main outcome measures Changes in BRCA testing rates in the 15 business days before versus after 14 May 2013 (editorial date) compared with the change in the same period in 2012; mastectomy rates in the months before and after publication, both overall and within 60 days of BRCA testing among women who were tested; national estimates of incremental tests and expenditures associated with Jolie’s article in the 15 days after publication. Results Daily BRCA test rates increased immediately after the 2013 editorial, from 0.71 tests/100 000 women in the 15 business days before to 1.13 tests/100 000 women in the 15 business days after publication. In comparison, daily test rates were similar in the same period in 2012 (0.58/100 000 women in the 15 business days before 14 May versus 0.55/100 000 women in the 15 business days after), implying a difference-in-difference absolute daily increase of 0.45 tests/100 000 women or a 64% relative increase (P Conclusions Celebrity endorsements can have a large and immediate effect on use of health services. Such announcements can be a low cost means of reaching a broad audience quickly, but they may not effectively target the subpopulations that are most at risk for the relevant underlying condition.
A genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa suggests a risk locus implicated in dysregulated leptin signaling

We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of anorexia nervosa (AN) using a stringently defined phenotype. Analysis of phenotypic variability led to the identification of a specific genetic risk factor that approached genome-wide significance (rs929626 in EBF1 (Early B-Cell Factor 1); P = 2.04 × 10−7; OR = 0.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.61–0.8) with independent replication (P = 0.04), suggesting a variant-mediated dysregulation of leptin signaling may play a role in AN. Multiple SNPs in LD with the variant support the nominal association. This demonstrates that although the clinical and etiologic heterogeneity of AN is universally recognized, further careful sub-typing of cases may provide more precise genomic signals. In this study, through a refinement of the phenotype spectrum of AN, we present a replicable GWAS signal that is nominally associated with AN, highlighting a potentially important candidate locus for further investigation.
A cross-classified multilevel analysis of identity and performance in multiple team arrangements

Multiple team memberships (MTM) are an increasingly prevalent in modern organizations, yet little research has focused on the implications of this work arrangement. Applying a motivation within tea...
Stable engraftment of human microbiota into mice with a single oral gavage following antibiotic conditioning

Human microbiota-associated (HMA) animal models relying on germ-free recipient mice are being used to study the relationship between intestinal microbiota and human disease. However, transfer of microbiota into germ-free animals also triggers global developmental changes in the recipient intestine, which can mask disease-specific attributes of the donor material. Therefore, a simple model of replacing microbiota into a developmentally mature intestinal environment remains highly desirable. Here we report on the development of a sequential, three-course antibiotic conditioning regimen that allows sustained engraftment of intestinal microorganisms following a single oral gavage with human donor microbiota. SourceTracker, a Bayesian, OTU-based algorithm, indicated that 59.3 ± 3.0% of the fecal bacterial communities in treated mice were attributable to the donor source. This overall degree of microbiota engraftment was similar in mice conditioned with antibiotics and germ-free mice. Limited surveys of systemic and mucosal immune sites did not show evidence of immune activation following introduction of human microbiota. The antibiotic treatment protocol described here followed by a single gavage of human microbiota may provide a useful, complimentary HMA model to that established in germ-free facilities. The model has the potential for further in-depth translational investigations of microbiota in a variety of human disease states.
Modifications and Dysfunctions

Modifications of the Golgi apparatus are difficult to deal with because of the many, varied forms of the organelle, its extensive changes with activities of the cell, and significant alterations during the period of development and differentiation.
Network-cognizant design of decentralized Volt/VAR controllers

This paper considers the problem of designing decentralized Volt/VAR controllers for distributed energy resources (DERs). The voltage-reactive power characteristics of individual DERs are obtained by solving a convex optimization problem, where given performance objectives (e.g., minimization of the voltage deviations from a given profile) are specified and stability constraints are enforced. The resultant Volt/VAR characteristics are network-cognizant, in the sense that they embed information on the location of the DERs and, consequently, on the effect of reactive-power adjustments on the voltages throughout the feeder. Bounds on the maximum voltage deviation incurred by the controllers are analytically established. Numerical results are reported to corroborate the technical findings.
Pixel-wise object tracking

In this paper, we propose a novel pixel-wise visual object tracking framework that can track any anonymous object in a noisy background. The framework consists of two submodels, a global attention model and a local segmentation model. The global model generates a region of interests (ROI) that the object may lie in the new frame based on the past object segmentation maps, while the local model segments the new image in the ROI. Each model uses a LSTM structure to model the temporal dynamics of the motion and appearance, respectively. To circumvent the dependency of the training data between the two models, we use an iterative update strategy. Once the models are trained, there is no need to refine them to track specific objects, making our method efficient compared to online learning approaches. We demonstrate our real time pixel-wise object tracking framework on a challenging VOT dataset
Human microglia and astrocytes constitutively express the neurokinin-1 receptor and functionally respond to substance P

The tachykinin substance P (SP) is recognized to exacerbate inflammation at peripheral sites via its target receptor, neurokinin 1 receptor (NK-1R), expressed by leukocytes. More recently, SP/NK-1R interactions have been associated with severe neuroinflammation and neuronal damage. We have previously demonstrated that NK-1R antagonists can limit neuroinflammatory damage in a mouse model of bacterial meningitis. Furthermore, we have since shown that these agents can attenuate bacteria-induced neuronal and glial inflammatory mediator production in nonhuman primate (NHP) brain explants and isolated neuronal cells, and following in vivo infection. In the present study, we have assessed the ability of NHP brain explants, primary human microglia and astrocytes, and immortalized human glial cell lines to express NK-1R isoforms. We have utilized RT-PCR, immunoblot analysis, immunofluorescent microscopy, and/or flow cytometric analysis, to quantify NK-1R expression in each, at rest, or following bacterial challenge. Furthermore, we have assessed the ability of human microglia to respond to SP by immunoblot analysis of NF-kB nuclear translocation and determined the ability of this neuropeptide to augment inflammatory cytokine release and neurotoxic mediator production by human astrocytes using an ELISA and a neuronal cell toxicity assay, respectively. We demonstrate that human microglial and astrocytic cells as well as NHP brain tissue constitutively express robust levels of the full-length NK-1R isoform. In addition, we demonstrate that the expression of NK-1R by human astrocytes can be further elevated following exposure to disparate bacterial pathogens or their components. Importantly, we have demonstrated that NK-1R is functional in both human microglia and astrocytes and show that SP can augment the inflammatory and/or neurotoxic immune responses of glial cells to disparate and clinically relevant bacterial pathogens. The robust constitutive and functional expression of the full-length NK-1R isoform by human microglia and astrocytes, and the ability of SP to augment inflammatory signaling pathways and mediator production by these cells, support the contention that SP/NK-1R interactions play a significant role in the damaging neuroinflammation associated with conditions such as bacterial meningitis.
Mobile Robot Rendezvous Using Potential Fields combined With Parallel Navigation

Industrial robotics, military, surveying, and delivery applications have laid a foundation for research into autonomous machines, including unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous ground vehicles, and autonomous undersea vehicles. This paper supports this research by developing a new guidance method which combines potential fields, typically used for obstacle avoidance, and parallel navigation, a popular missile guidance method. The new unified algorithm allows a mobile robot interceptor to guide to, and rendezvous with, a moving target while avoiding obstacles in its path. A Matlab simulator is used to analyze performance for different interceptor-target geometries and obstacle densities. Simulations and analysis show that the combined algorithm increases performance by reducing the time-to-contact in most of the cases. Specifically, it was found to provide a 14.4%–21.3% improvement in approximately 96%–98% of the simulation cases.