cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Coated-Platelets Improve Prediction of Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack in Asymptomatic Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis

Background and Purpose—Coated-platelets, a subset of procoagulant platelets observed on dual agonist stimulation with collagen and thrombin, support a robust prothrombinase activity and provide a unique measure of platelet thrombotic potential. Coated-platelet levels are increased in large artery stroke, and higher levels are associated with early stroke recurrence, suggesting a potential role for risk stratification in asymptomatic patients with carotid artery stenosis. Methods—Three-hundred twenty-nine consecutive patients with technically adequate carotid Doppler evaluation without stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in the previous 6 months were enrolled as part of a prospective cohort study conducted during a 40-month period. The main outcome was occurrence of stroke or TIA according to coated-platelet levels and internal carotid stenosis severity at enrollment. The optimal cutoff value of coated-platelet levels was determined by recursive partitioning analysis. Event-free survival was estimate...
Farm-scale anaerobic storage and aerobic stability of high dry matter sorghum as a biomass feedstock

Research was conducted to determine the feasibility of using a chopped harvest and anerobic storage system to conserve mature, high dry matter (DM) sorghum intended as a cellulosic biomass feedstock for production of biofuels or bioproducts. Forage and sweet sorghum were anaerobically stored in farm-scale silo bags for over 200 days. Sorghum DM content was between 385 and 579 g kg−1. The DM lost during storage averaged 24 g kg−1 DM (range 3–48 g kg−1 DM). The additional DM lost after two- and seven-day aerobic exposure was 7 and 11 g kg−1 DM, respectively. On-harvester inoculation with a combination of homofermentative (Pediococcus pentosaceus) and heterofermentative (Lactobacillus buchneri) bacterium increased the production of both lactic and acetic acid during storage, produced lower yeast and mold populations during aerobic exposure and improved aerobic stability as quantified by temperature. Total fermentation products were less than 50 g kg−1 with an overall average of 34.9 g kg−1. Average recovery of cellulose and hemicellulose was 98% of initial mass. Anaerobic storage of chopped, inoculated, high DM, mature sorghum was shown to be a viable cellulosic biomass feedstock system.
Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Media Images on Men's Body-image Concerns

Abstract Two meta-analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which pressure from the mass media to conform to the muscular “ideal” male body affects men's self-images (i.e., body satisfaction, body esteem, and self-esteem). A total of 25 studies contributing 93 effect sizes were included in two meta-analyses, which revealed that pressure from the mass media was significantly related to men feeling worse about their own bodies. The effect size from the meta-analysis of the correlational studies (Study 1) was significantly negative, d = −0.19, p < .001. The effect size from the meta-analysis of the experimental studies (Study 2) was also significantly negative, d = −0.22, p < .0001. Results from both Study 1 and Study 2 suggest that as men felt pressure from the mass media (in correlational and experimental designs) they felt worse about their bodies. Results showed that pressure from the mass media was related to body satisfaction, body esteem, self-esteem, psychological disorders (e.g., depression...
Removal of Industry-Sponsored Formula Sample Packs from the Hospital Does It Make a Difference?

Background:Most US hospitals distribute industry-sponsored formula sample packs. No research has examined outcomes associated with sample pack removal as part of a hospital intervention to eliminate sample distribution postpartum.Objective:To examine prospectively hospital-based and breastfeeding outcomes associated with removal of industry-sponsored formula sample packs from the hospital.Methods:We enrolled mothers postpartum at Cooper University Hospital, an urban New Jersey hospital, in 2009-2010. For the first 6 months, all women received industry-sponsored formula samples packs (control group); for the next 6 months, all postpartum women received hospital-sponsored bags with no formula at source (intervention group). Research assistants blinded to the design called subjects weekly for 10 weeks to determine feeding practices.Results:We enrolled 527 breastfeeding women (284 control; 243 intervention). At 10 weeks postpartum, 82% of control and 36% of intervention women (P < .001) reported receiving for...
Part I: providing ubiquitous gigaband networks in the United States

A new generation of broadband networks, here called Gigaband networks, will bring such significant benefits to the nation at such cost efficiency that the United States needs to act immediately to bring them into being nationwide. Gigaband networks may be defined as networks providing symmetric data transport ranging to and beyond Gigabits per second (Gb/s) to and from the user
Modeling and simulation of consumer credit originations processes

Staffing decisions in a consumer credit origination environment have a significant impact on the financial institution's costs as well as customer service levels. Staff resources account for a substantial portion of the expenses in processing and servicing home equity or consumer loans. This paper describes a staffing model, known as the capacity planning simulation model (CPSM), used in the Originations Division of Wells Fargo Bank's Consumer Credit Group. The CPSM utilizes process mapping, spreadsheet modeling, and Monte Carlo simulation to model demand uncertainty and process variation, observed during the course of processing a consumer credit loan. We review the model formulation, verification, validation, and application.
Impact tolerances of the rigidly fixated maxillofacial skeleton

A study was designed to determine how soon an athlete who undergoes rigid fixation of a facial fracture can return to full competition. The impact resistance of a rigidly fixated malar complex fracture was studied and compared with that of an intact malar complex. Twelve fresh human cadaver heads were used. A custom-designed impact device was used to deliver a blow of a specific energy to each intact malar complex. The subsequent fractures were rigidly fixated at three points using titanium miniplates and screws. A second impact of identical energy was delivered. The forces generated and the subsequent displacement of hard and soft tissues were recorded after each impact. It was concluded from this study that an impact to a rigidly fixated malar complex fracture produced less force and greater displacement of hard and soft tissues than an impact of identical energy to an intact malar complex. The potential for sustaining more severe maxillofacial injuries after an initial facial fracture should be seriously considered. The results suggest that sufficient time should be allowed for the bony healing of a facial fracture to occur, even after rigid fixation, before an athlete can resume full contact activities.
Reexamining student-athlete GPA: traditional vs. athletic variables.

A sample of 674 first-year student-athletes at a midsize Midwestern university were examined each year over a five-year period (2004–2008) to determine if athletic variables were powerful enough to be used in conjunction with traditional predictors of college success to predict GPA. The four specific athletic variables unique to student-athletes (i.e., sport, coaching change, playing time, team winning percentage), were hypothesized to be as predictive as traditional variables. Pearson correlations revealed student-athletes were more likely to earn a high first-year GPA if they were female (r = .35), Caucasian (r = -.33), scored well on standardized tests (r = -.47), had a respectable high school GPA (r = .64), were ranked high in their graduating high school class (r = -.58), had a relatively large high school graduating class (r = .15) were not undecided about major (r = -.11), were not a member of a revenue sport (r = .33), and earned a considerable amount of playing time in their first year (r = -.15). Least squares linear regression demonstrated the traditional variables of gender (B = .16), race (B = -.26), standardized test scores (B = .03), high school GPA (B = .41), high school rank (B < -.01), and size of high school graduating class (B < .01) were most influential in predicting first-year student-athlete GPA.
Impact of Surface Active Compounds on Iron Catalyzed Oxidation of Methyl Linolenate in AOT–Water–Hexadecane Systems

Edible oils contain minor surface active components that form micro-heterogeneous environments, such as reverse micelles, which can alter the rate and direction of chemical reactions. However, little is known about the role of these micro-heterogeneous environments on lipid oxidation of bulk oil. Our objective was to evaluate the ability of water, cumene hydroperoxide, oleic acid, and phosphatidylcholine to influence the structure of reverse micelles in a model oil system: sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (aerosol-OT; AOT) in n-hexadecane. The influence of reverse micelle structure on iron catalyzed lipid oxidation was determined using methyl linolenate as an oxidizable substrate. The size and shape of the reverse micelle were investigated by small-angle x-ray scattering, and water contents was determined by Karl Fischer titrations. Lipid hydroperoxides and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were used to follow lipid oxidation. Our results showed that AOT formed spherical reverse micelles in hexadecane. The size of the reverse micelles increased with increased water or phosphatidylcholine concentration, but decreased upon addition of cumene hydroperoxide or oleic acid. Iron catalyzed oxidation of methyl linolenate in the reverse micelle system decreased with increasing water concentration. Addition of phosphatidylcholine into the reverse micelle systems decreased methyl linolenate oxidation compared to control and reverse micelles with added oleic acid. These results indicate that water, cumene hydroperoxide, oleic acid, and phosphatidylcholine can alter reverse micelle size and lipid oxidation rates. Understanding how these compounds influence reverse micelle structure and lipid oxidation rates could provide information on how to modify bulk oil systems to increase oxidative stability.
Confidence from uncertainty - A multi-target drug screening method from robust control theory

Background Robustness is a recognized feature of biological systems that evolved as a defence to environmental variability. Complex diseases such as diabetes, cancer, bacterial and viral infections, exploit the same mechanisms that allow for robust behaviour in healthy conditions to ensure their own continuance. Single drug therapies, while generally potent regulators of their specific protein/gene targets, often fail to counter the robustness of the disease in question. Multi-drug therapies offer a powerful means to restore disrupted biological networks, by targeting the subsystem of interest while preventing the diseased network from reconciling through available, redundant mechanisms. Modelling techniques are needed to manage the high number of combinatorial possibilities arising in multi-drug therapeutic design, and identify synergistic targets that are robust to system uncertainty.
Sensitivity Test of POP System Matrices—An Application of Spectral Portrait of a Nonsymmetric Matrix

By using the POP (principal oscillation pattern) system matrices as examples, this study introduces to the meteorological community the concept and application of spectral portrait (or pseudospectra) of a nonsymmetric matrix. An analytical formula is provided to estimate the system error of a POP matrix due to the inversion of a covariance matrix. By comparing the spectral portrait and the system error, this study demonstrates a possible tool to test the sensitivity of a POP analysis.
Behavior of pesticides in the environment: “Environmental Chemodynamics”

In the past quarter century man has introduced a variety of chemicals1 for the protection of his crops and health and to increase the comfort of his environment. These chemicals represent various classes of compounds and are used as pesticides, drugs, surfactants, etc. Recently fears of environmental contamination from certain stable compounds used as pesticides have led to restricting their uses. It is true that pesticide residues have been found widely distributed in crops, soils, water, birds, fish, and air near the places of use. The understanding of how this distribution occurs and the fate of the chemical in relation to exposure of man become of considerable interest. We have directed our efforts for some time in the study of the basis of persistence, transport, partitioning, and interaction of pesticides in the environment in order to understand this problem and perhaps point to means of reducing it.
Whitespace evaluation software (WEST) and its applications to whitespace in Canada and Australia

Spectrum whitespaces and dynamic spectrum sharing have become important and interesting topics in recent years. The USA authorized the use of TV whitespaces in 2008 and the UK and Canada followed suit in early 2015. In light of the PCAST report of 2012, additional bands are being evaluated for spectrum sharing in the USA and abroad. With the increasing momentum of spectrum whitespaces, it is more important than ever to understand the consequences of regulatory decisions. For example, what is the effect of increasing the separation distance from 10km to 15km? Regulators need the ability to understand tradeoffs like this so that they can make informed decisions based on actual, not hypothetical or supposed, impact. Despite the clear need, data-driven analyses appear to be quite rare among regulators, industry members, and researchers alike. Although the data is often freely available, employing it can be an onerous task. In order to reduce this barrier, we have created an open-source software package, WEST, that quickly allows a user to estimate the amount of whitespace in a given region. For example, after collecting the requisite data, we produced estimates of the amount of whitespace in Canada in under an hour. To demonstrate the power of our software, we present novel results on whitespace availability in Canada and Australia. However, the true potential of WEST lies in the ability to configure it to use existing or hypothetical rulesets. We thus use WEST to compare the FCC and Industry Canada (IC) rulesets, showing that each citizen loses approximately one whitespace channel, mainly due to the increased size of IC's separation distances as compared to the FCC's. We also showed that although the effect of taboo channel exclusions (a notion introduced in the IC ruleset) is small in Canada, it would be much larger if applied to the USA. The identification of the real-world effects of these regulatory decisions was made possible by WEST's ability to create “chimera rulesets,” i.e. mosaics of the IC and FCC rules, so that we could examine each variable in isolation. Finally, we describe the high-level design of WEST. The modular design makes it easy for users to combine, replace, modify, or remove various components to achieve the desired effect. We sincerely hope that the community will use and contribute to WEST, turning it into an even more powerful tool than it is today. If real-world data were at your fingertips and easy to use, what would you do?
A meta-analysis examining the independent association between thyroid nodule size and malignancy

Background: Tumor size is recognized as an important predictor of malignancy in many types of cancers. However, there is no clear line of characterization when it comes to the association between thyroid nodule size and malignancy risk prediction; and the current data remains inconsistent across different studies. The aim of our study is to examine the association between nodule size and malignancy using meta-analysis of the current literature. Methods: Data sources were gathered through systemic search of PubMed, Embase and other scientific databases for articles published between January 1, 1996 and June 1, 2013. A reference group with nodule sizes Results: Seven studies met our inclusion criteria with 10,817 thyroid nodules evaluated. Malignancy was identified in 2,206 (20.4%) nodules. After adjusting for patient age and gender, nodules that measured 3- 5.9 cm had a 26% greater malignancy risk compared to those measuring Conclusions: Thyroid nodule size predicts cancer risk. However, a threshold effect of thyroid nodule size 6 cm or greater is significantly associated with a more benign disease.
Characteristic Classes of the Boundary of a Complex b-manifold

We prove a classification theorem by cohomology classes for compact Riemannian manifolds with a one-parameter group of isometries without fixed points generalizing the classification of line bundles (more precisely, their circle bundles) over compact manifolds by their first Chern class. We also prove a classification theorem generalizing that of holomorphic line bundles over compact complex manifold by the Picard group of the base for a subfamily of manifolds with additional structure resembling that of circle bundles of such holomorphic line bundles.
SGLT and GLUT: are they teammates? Focus on "Mouse SGLT3a generates proton-activated currents but does not transport sugar".

more than 25 years ago, it was hypothesized that a specific enzyme, glucokinase, acted as a “glucose sensor” in pancreatic β-cells ([9][1]). However, after the discovery of different glucose transporter proteins in the mid- to late-1980s, the hypothesis proposed by several groups evolved to
Effect of Pesticides on Neozygites floridana (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae) and Arthropod Predators Attacking the Twospotted Spider Mite (Acari: Tetranychidae) in North Carolina Peanut Fields

Some commonly used peanut pesticides were evaluated for their effect on natural enemies of Tetranychus urticae Koch in North Carolina peanut fields. No evidence was found to indicate that the pesticides tested directly or immediately reduced predators or that predators regulated T. urticae populations in peanut plots. The fungicides benomyl and mancozeb apparently reduced the efficacy of the T. urticae fungal pathogen Neozygites floridana Weiser and Muma. T. urticae populations increased to damaging levels when the efficacy of N. floridana was reduced.
Solid-Phase SN2 Macrocyclization Reactions To Form β-Turn Mimics

Efficient solid-phase SN2 macrocyclization reactions were sought to facilitate preparations of focused libraries of β-turn mimetics. A very efficient, but undesired, cyclization reaction to give five-membered ring lactams 4 was identified in attempts to use O-nucleophiles. Subsequent studies focused exclusively on S-nucleophiles. These reactions gave the desired macrocyclization products 1 in high purities and good overall yields. Conformational analyses of illustrative macrocyclization products 1 via NMR, CD, and molecular simulations showed that they seem to sample both type I and type II β-turn conformations in solution. CD studies indicate a curious relationship between the preferred conformation and the amino acids encapsulated in the macrocycles.
Analysis on Treatment Outcome of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in 2002～2005 in Huoshan City

Objective To analyze treatment outcome of pulmonary tuberculosis in 2002-2005 in Huoshan county and provide the basis for making policy of TB control.Method The data from TB quarterly,annual reporting system and tuberculosis patient register,reporting card of infectious disease and other related information during 2002-2005 in Huoshan county was collected and analyzed.Results The cure rate of new smear positive cases was raised from 54.83% in 2002 to 85.09% in 2005.The cure rate of re-treatment smear positive cases was raised from 28.13% in 2002 to 75.86% in 2005.The initial treatment smear negative cases had been treated with Anti-tuberculosis drugs,the rate of compliment their treatment courses was raised(P0.05).There was no significant difference on the cure rate of new smear positive cases between male and female cases,but the cure rate in the group of 35～44 years old cases and 0～14 years old cases was higher than that in other age group.The cure rate of teacher and worker was higher than that of other occupation.Conclusion The performance of TB control in Huoshan had been improved.Implemntation of DOTS and quality improvement of DOTS are still the key to keep the higher level of cure rate.
ST-segment elevation: Differential diagnosis, caveats

The differential diagnosis of ST-segment elevation includes four major processes: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI); early repolarization; pericarditis; and ST elevation secondary to an abnormality of the QRS complex (left bundle branch block, left ventricular hypertrophy, or preexcitation). Other processes that may be associated with ST elevation include hyperkalemia, pulmonary embolism, and Brugada syndrome. The clinical setting and specific electrocardiographic criteria often allow identification of the cause. This article reviews ST-T and QRS configurations specific to each diagnosis.
Y1.4 What is the secret of the mentor-mentee relationships?

I’ve had the opportunity to mentor over 150 pre- and post-doctoral fellows and faculty colleagues, several of whom have mentored or advised many more. From the Mentor’s perspective, many keys to success with Mentees are well known. For example, define goals explicitly. Back up your mentoring commitments with long-term investments of time, required resources, regular meetings, and a research project of mutual interest. Provide emotional and psychological support; directly assist with career development. Train mentees in the anatomy and brevity of a manuscript. Optimal mentoring is often inter-disciplinary, with the primary mentor clearly designated. Mentor on publications, posters and presentations. Regarding “Secrets” (symposium organizers assigned the title of this talk), my first Secret is to assess the passion, enthusiasm and initiative for the work as shown in the eyes, language and demeanor of the potential Mentee. Second, get to know what is in the applicant’s heart, as well as what is in the brain. Third, mentoring often doesn’t stop when the mentee leaves (e.g. mentors recommend their mentees for every possible award). The first phase of the mentoring job isn’t really over until publications first-authored by the Mentee are accepted, and the first job and research grant are secured. Fourth, supervised peer group mentoring can be very effective. In addition, I’ll review ten “Lessons Learned” in mentoring research, publishing, applying for funds and finding work.
Detrital-zircon geochronology of the Sawtooth metamorphic complex, Idaho: Evidence for metamorphosed lower Paleozoic shelf strata within the Idaho batholith

U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from metasedimentary rocks of the Sawtooth metamorphic complex (SMC) are key for identifying the stratigraphic age of metamorphosed strata within the Idaho batholith region of the Cordilleran orogen. The SMC is an exposure of medium- to high-grade metasedimentary rocks surrounded by the Idaho and Sawtooth batholiths. U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from SMC quartzites and quartzofeldspathic gneisses yield two distinctive age spectra consisting of primary 2900–2510 Ma and 1990–1760 Ma zircons for one group and 1870–1670 Ma, 1490–1330 Ma, and 1220–1020 Ma zircons for the other group. The suite of samples also yields a small number of zircons with concordant Cambrian and Neoproterozoic ages. Statistical and visual comparisons of age spectra with detrital-zircon data from Proterozoic and Paleozoic strata deposited on the western passive margin of Laurentia suggest that the SMC rocks were deposited in the Cambrian and Middle Ordovician. The identification of lower Paleozoic shelf strata in the SMC, along with similar sections recently identified in the Stibnite and Gospel Peaks inliers of the Idaho batholith, suggest that the Cordilleran passive margin sequence was continuous along the western margin of Laurentia, including the area occupied by the Idaho batholith.
The Right to Arms and the American Philosophy of Freedom

The right to keep and bear arms is a vital element of our liberal order, but its philosophic basis is no longer appreciated by American elites. The left rejects the understanding of politics on which our nation was founded, and conservative intellectuals have been remarkably uncomfortable with the right to arms. George Will and Charles Krauthammer, for example, have advocated repeal of the Second Amendment, and conservative pundits have generally stayed silent in the face of such attacks on the Constitution.People who do not understand why they should defend the right to arms are not likely to be its most effective defenders, and ignorance about the philosophy underlying our free institutions is among the least excusable failings of public intellectuals. Conservative pundits constantly complain about the erosion of individual liberty by bureaucratic government, about the enervating effects of the nanny state, and about the suffocating atmosphere of euphemisms and repressed resentment imposed by the political correctness police. If they had a better understanding of John Locke, William Blackstone, Cesare Beccaria, Alexis de Tocqueville, and every one of our founding fathers, these opinion leaders would not display an effete abhorrence of what Krauthammer calls “America’s frontier infatuation with guns.” Our nation’s founding philosophy was not infected with some silly romanticism about guns or an outmoded frontier mentality. It was based on the reality of human nature and on reason, neither of which has changed since the eighteenth century.
Death by a thousand cuts: The health implications of black respectability politics.

The authors introduce the concept of “vigilance,” capturing behaviors that reflect attempts to navigate racialized social spaces on a daily basis. Specifically, vigilant behaviors include care about appearance and language to be treated with respect, avoidance of social spaces, and psychological preparation for potential prejudice and discrimination. Furthermore, these behaviors align with those discussed in Black respectability politics debates. Using data from a population-representative sample of Black adults in Chicago, they report that vigilance is associated with poor physical and mental health indexed through chronic health conditions, depressive symptoms, and self-rated health.
Locality-Aware Dynamic Task Graph Scheduling

Dynamic task graph schedulers automatically balance work across processor cores by scheduling tasks among available threads while preserving dependences. In this paper, we design NABBITC, a provably efficient dynamic task graph scheduler that accounts for data locality on NUMA systems. NABBITC allows users to assign a color to each task representing the location (e.g., a processor core) that has the most efficient access to data needed during that node's execution. NABBITC then automatically adjusts the scheduling so as to preferentially execute each node at the location that matches its color—leading to better locality because the node is likely to make local rather than remote accesses. At the same time, NABBITC tries to optimize load balance and not add too much overhead compared to the vanilla NABBIT scheduler that does not consider locality. We provide a theoretical analysis that shows that NABBITC does not asymptotically impact the scalability of NABBIT.We evaluated the performance of NABBITC on a suite of benchmarks, including both memory and compute intensive applications. Our experiments indicate that adding locality awareness has a considerable performance advantage compared to the vanilla NABBIT scheduler. Furthermore, we compared NABBITC to both OpenMP tasks and OpenMP loops. For regular applications, OpenMP loops can achieve perfect locality and perfect load balance statically. For these benchmarks, NABBITC has a small performance penalty compared to OpenMP due to its dynamic scheduling strategy. Similarly, for compute intensive applications with course-grained tasks, OpenMP task's centralized scheduler provides the best performance. However, we find that NABBITC provides a good trade-off between data locality and load balance; on memory intensive jobs, it consistently outperforms OpenMP tasks while for irregular jobs where load balancing is important, it outperforms OpenMP loops. Therefore, NABBITC combines the benefits of locality-aware scheduling for regular, memory intensive, applications (the forte of static schedulers such as those in OpenMP) and dynamically adapting to load imbalance in irregular applications (the forte of dynamic schedulers such as Cilk Plus, TBB, and Nabbit).
Positron emission tomography–CT prediction of occult nodal metastasis in recurrent laryngeal cancer

Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of positron emission tomography (PET)-CT in identifying occult nodal metastasis in clinically and radiographically N0 patients with recurrent laryngeal cancer undergoing salvage laryngectomy. Methods Retrospective review of 46 clinically and radiographically N0 patients with recurrent laryngeal cancer who underwent a PET-CT examination before salvage laryngectomy with neck dissection from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2014, was performed. Results Two patients (16.7%) had true-positive PET-CT results, whereas 10 patients (83.3%) had false-negative scans, 1 patient (2.9%) had a false-positive result and 33 patients (97.1%) had a true-negative PET-CT. The sensitivity of PET-CT was 16.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.5% to 46.0%) with a specificity of 97.1% (95% CI, 83.8% to 99.9%), positive predictive value (PPV) of 66.7% (95% CI, 20.2% to 94.4%), and negative predictive value (NPV) of 76.7% (95% CI, 62.1% to 87.0%). Conclusion PET-CT has poor sensitivity and NPV making PET-CT an imperfect predictor of nodal disease in recurrent laryngeal cancer. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 980-987, 2017.
High-Performance Key-Value Store On OpenSHMEM

Recently, there has been a growing interest in enabling fast data analytics by leveraging system capabilities from large-scale high-performance computing (HPC) systems. OpenSHMEM is a popular run-time system on HPC systems that has been used for large-scale compute-intensive scientific applications. In this paper, we propose to leverage OpenSHMEM to design a distributed in-memory key-value store for fast data analytics. Accordingly, we have developed SHMEMCache on top of OpenSHMEM to leverage its symmetric global memory, efficient one-sided communication operations and general portability. We have also evaluated SHMEMCache through extensive experimental studies. Our results show that SHMEMCache has accomplished significant performance improvements over hte original Memcached in terms of latency and throughput. Our evaluation on the Titan supercomputer has also demonstrated that SHMEMCache can scale to 1024 nodes.
Evaluation Influence: The Evaluation Event and Capital Flow in International Development:

Background:Assessing program effectiveness in human development is central to informing foreign aid policy-making and organizational learning. Foreign aid effectiveness discussions have increasingl...
Novel Exact and Approximate Algorithms for the Closest Pair Problem

The closest pair problem (CPP) is an important problem that has numerous applications in clustering, graph partitioning, image processing, patterns identification, intrusion detection, etc. Numerous algorithms have been presented for solving the CPP. For instance, on n points there exists an O(n log n) time algorithm for CPP (when the dimension is a constant). There also exist randomized algorithms with an expected linear run time. However these algorithms do not perform well in practice. The algorithms that are employed in practice have a worst case quadratic run time. One of the best performing algorithms for the CPP is MK (originally designed for solving the time series motif finding problem). In this paper we present an elegant exact algorithm called MPR for the CPP that performs better than MK. Also, we present approximation algorithms for the CPP that are faster than MK by up to a factor of more than 40, while maintaining a very good accuracy.
Bad to the Bone: Multifaceted Enrichment of Open-Ended Biomechanics Class Projects

Equipping engineering students for career success requires more than technical proficiency; mindset and contextual interpretation also matter. Entrepreneurial mindset learning (EML) is one framework that faculty can use to systematically enrich course projects to encourage development of these important career skills. We present the thought process behind enriching two biomechanics class projects to foster both the entrepreneurial mindset and the technical proficiency in undergraduate engineering students. One project required students to analyze a court case surrounding vertebral fracture in an elderly woman diagnosed one year after a fall in an elevator. In addition to technical analysis, students had to make a recommendation about the likelihood that the injury occurred due to the fall, and contextualize the results within economic and societal terms-how much should the plaintiff sue for and how could such injuries be prevented through design and regulation? The second project asked students to evaluate cervine cancellous bone as a suitable laboratory model for biomechanics research. In addition to technical analysis, students considered the value of cervine vertebrae as a laboratory model within the context of societal and economic benefits of ex vivo animal models, including the relevant policy and regulatory issues. In both projects, implemented at different institutions with similar student demographics, students performed well and enjoyed the "real-world" nature of the projects, despite their frustrations with the open-ended nature of the questions posed. These and other similar projects can be further enhanced to foster the entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineering students without undue burden on the instructor.
Lysosomal Enzyme Levels in Corneal Storage Media: K-Sol Versus McCarey-Kaufman

Abstract Evidence indicates that lysosomal enzymes can carry out corneal autolysis during corneal storage and that they are damaging to the corneal endothelium. The authors investigated the release of lysosomal enzymes into two corneal storage media (K-Sol and McCarey-Kaufman [M-K]) by paired human donor corneas during 4°C storage. The authors also studied the interaction of these media with lysosomal enzymes from human cornea. K-Sol and M-K stimulated ( P N -Acetyl-glucosaminidase, a major catabolic enzyme of the cornea, was inhibited by the chondroitin sulfate in K-Sol by over 90% ( P P P
Focus of Attention, Inside and Outside the Laboratory

Pay attention. Most of us use these words, in one form or another, every day. Said in a particularly strict tone of voice, they have struck fear into the hearts of schoolchildren for generations. Said differently, they are a cue that important secrets are about to be revealed.
Taj Mahal, circulations of science, and (post) colonial present

This article makes a case for post-structuralist intervention in history of science and technology. The issue for me is not simply historical/archival elisions and distortions. Rather, following De...
PI3K-AKT-mTOR and NFκB Pathways in Ovarian Cancer: Implications for Targeted Therapeutics

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy in the United States, with an estimated 22,530 new cases and 13,980 deaths in 2019. Recent studies have indicated that the phosphoinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), as well as the nuclear factor-κ light chain enhancer of activated B cells (NFκB) pathways are highly mutated and/or hyper-activated in a majority of ovarian cancer patients, and are associated with advanced grade and stage disease and poor prognosis. In this review, we will investigate PI3K/AKT/mTOR and their interconnection with NFκB pathway in ovarian cancer cells.
Autonomous morals: Inferences of mind predict acceptance of AI behavior in sacrificial moral dilemmas

Abstract Three studies compared people's judgments of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and humans faced with a moral dilemma. Study 1 showed that, for identical decisions, AVs were judged as more blameworthy, less moral, and less trustworthy compared to humans. However, perceiving AVs as having a human-like mind reduced this difference. Study 2 extended this finding by manipulating AV mindedness. Describing AVs' decision-making capacity in mentalistic terms (relative to mechanistic terms) reduced blame and anger and fostered greater trust and perceptions of morality. Study 3, replicated these findings, and demonstrated that perceived mindedness predicted judgments of trust, morality, and willingness to purchase or ride in an AV. These findings suggest that people's moral reservations about AVs may derive from doubting that AVs have the mental capacities necessary for moral judgment, and that one route for improving trust in AVs is to design them with a veneer of human-like mental qualities.
Energy Management for Microgrids Using a Hierarchical Game-Machine Learning Algorithm

This paper presents an energy management strategy for microgrids using a multiagent game-learning algorithm. This microgrid is powered by photovoltaic (PV) systems equipped with batteries and is intended to be operating in islanded mode. The proposed energy management strategy is applied to wireless communication networks by addressing the tradeoff between the communication signal's quality of service (QoS) and energy availability. A two-layer algorithm combining multiagent-game and reinforcement learning (RL) is designed for base stations (BSs) in order to accomplish the goal mentioned above. The proposed method shows improvement in the microgrid's performance and has a higher converging speed compared to a direct RL approach. The designed energy management algorithm was tested in multiple case studies.
Mechanically robust and reprocessable imine exchange networks from modular polyester pre-polymers

Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) containing reversible cross-links impart recyclability to thermoset materials without sacrificing their desirable properties (e.g. high tensile strength and solvent resistance). In addition to thermal recycling, the sustainability of these materials may be further improved by incorporating bio-sourced monomers or by enabling alternate end-of-life fates, such as biodegradation or recovery of starting materials. The alternating ring-opening copolymerisation of epoxides and cyclic anhydrides permits the modular synthesis of polyester pre-polymers that can then be cross-linked to form dynamic imine-linked networks. We report the synthesis and characterisation of five imine exchange polyester CANs with varied cross-linking densities and pre-polymer architectures. While the materials exhibit characteristic thermoset properties at service temperatures, differences in pre-polymer architecture produce distinct dynamic mechanical effects at elevated temperatures. The networks may be thermally reprocessed with full recovery of their tensile strengths and cross-linking densities, dissociated to pre-polymer, or hydrolytically degraded.
Random, Messy, Funny, Raw: Finstas as Intimate Reconfigurations of Social Media

Among many young people, the creation of a finsta-a portmanteau of "fake" and "Instagram" which describes secondary Instagram accounts-provides an outlet to share emotional, low-quality, or indecorous content with their close friends. To study why people create and maintain finstas, we conducted a qualitative study through interviews with finsta users and content analysis of video bloggers exposing their finsta on YouTube. We found that one way that young people deal with mounting social pressures is by reconfiguring online platforms and changing their purposes, norms, expectations, and currencies. Carving out smaller spaces accessible only to close friends allows users the opportunity for a more unguarded, vulnerable, and unserious performance. Drawing on feminist theory, we term this process intimate reconfiguration. Through this reconfiguration finsta users repurpose an existing and widely-used social platform to create opportunities for more meaningful and reciprocal forms of social support.
An environmental determinant of viral respiratory disease

The evident seasonality of influenza suggests a significant role for weather and climate as one of several determinants of viral respiratory disease (VRD), including social determinants which play a major role in shaping these phenomena. Based on the current mechanistic understanding of how VRDs are transmitted by small droplets, we identify an environmental variable, Air Drying Capacity (ADC), as an atmospheric state-variable with significant and direct relevance to the transmission of VRD. ADC dictates the evolution and fate of droplets under given temperature and humidity conditions. The definition of this variable is rooted in the Maxwell theory of droplet evolution via coupled heat and mass transfer between droplets and the surrounding environment. We present the climatology of ADC, and compare its observed distribution in space and time to the observed prevalence of influenza and COVID-19 from extensive global data sets. Globally, large ADC values appear to significantly constrain the observed transmission and spread of VRD, consistent with the significant coherency of the observed seasonal cycles of ADC and influenza. Our results introduce a new environmental determinant, rooted in the mechanism of VRD transmission, with potential implications for explaining seasonality of influenza, and for describing how environmental conditions may impact to some degree the evolution of similar VRDs, such as COVID-19.
Novel MIS 3D NAV Single Step Pedicle Screw System (SSPSS): Workflow, Accuracy and Initial Clinical Experience:

Study Design:Prospective case series.Objective:SSPSS (single step pedicle screw system) was developed for minimally invasive spine surgery. We performed this study to report on safety, workflow, an...
Centenarians, Supercentenarians: We Must Develop New Measurements Suitable for Our Oldest Old.

Researchers and clinicians need to develop measurements that capture the nuances of the many senior successes found in centenarians and supercentenarians in order to empower people to improve healthspans for the duration of extreme lifespans. Only after these measurement tools are created can we accurately assist our oldest old in fostering further development. Marian Diamond, the mother of neuroplasticity, opined that her evidence was applicable in humans; with the solitary change of adding “TLC” to the research protocol, her rats continued “Enriching Heredity” throughout the equivalent of 90 human years; this could be the first proof of the power of positive psychology (Diamond, 1988, 2001). The Flynn effect (Flynn, 2018) found the 20th century was “dominated by massive IQ gains from one generation to another” as documented in “at least 34 nations.” Neuroscience provides evidence-based interventions to “prevent, delay onset, and/or reverse” cognitive decline and dementia (Ball et al., 2002, 2013; Mahncke et al., 2006) and to enhance brain architecture and function (Diamond, 1988, 2001; Pereira et al., 2007; Angevaren et al., 2008; Larson, 2008; Baker et al., 2010; Lojovich, 2010; Erickson et al., 2011, 2014; Jessberger and Gage, 2014; Nagamatsu et al., 2014; Niemann et al., 2016; Ryan and Nolan, 2016; Shaffer, 2016; Burzynska et al., 2017; Edwards et al., 2018). This article reviews research showing that healthy aging without dementia is achievable (Andersen-Ranberg et al., 2001; Perls, 2004; Jopp et al., 2016; Qiu and Fratiglioni, 2018) even with lesions postmortem (Mizutani and Shimada, 1992) and urges development and application of measurements suitable for centenarians and supercentenarians which could inform development of evidence-based interventions across the extreme lifespan. Search efforts were primarily within PubMed using combinations of keywords listed above and names of prominent researchers in the field. Reference lists in articles and related reviews were searched. Studies reviewed met rigorous scientific standards, were review articles or random control trials. Periodic searches of this nature were conducted between 2016 and 2021.
Royal Society Conference and Publication for the Centenary of Srinivasa Ramanujan’s Election as FRS

The Royal Society honoured Srinivasa Ramanujan on the centenary of his election as Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) by conducting a conference at Carlton House Terrace, London, the current premises of the Society, during October 15–16, 2018, and by publishing the refereed proceedings of the conference as a special issue of its Philosophical Transactions A in December 2019 (online) and January 2020 (print version). The organisers of the 2018 conference were Ken Ono (then at Emory University), George Andrews (The Pennsylvania State University), Manjul Bhargava (Princeton University), and Robert Vaughan, FRS (The Pennsylvania State University).
Sex differences in the aging brain? A voxel-based morphometry analysis of the hippocampus and the amygdala.

Objectives Volumetric reductions in the hippocampus and the amygdala are considered a hallmark for many psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Because brain atrophy is often observed in disorders that have a higher prevalence in females than males, it has been proposed that sex differences in the aging brain represent a vulnerability factor for developing more severe psychiatric conditions. Methods Sexual dimorphism was assessed in the amygdala volume and hippocampal volume in a large sample (N = 554) of healthy individuals ranging from 20 to 79 years old, using structural brain data available from a public dataset. Results In both the hippocampus and the amygdala, a quadratic association was found between age and brain volume. Using uncorrected data for head size [total intracranial volume (TIV)], males clearly demonstrated larger amygdala and hippocampal volume across all ages, and an interaction between age and sex in the hippocampus supported the hypothesis of accelerated atrophy in the hippocampus in later life (60-79 years old). However, when volumetric data adjusted for TIV were used, sex differences were not observed in the hippocampus nor the amygdala. Conclusion These findings support the extensive series of studies suggesting that sex differences in brain volume are likely related to the confounding effect of head size. While continued effort is allocated to identify sex-related biomarkers, increasing evidence suggests that sexual dimorphism in the hippocampus or the amygdala does not appear to be the primary candidates for precision medicine to identify sex-related biomarkers that index potential vulnerabilities.
Incorporating Bar Pass Strategies into Routine Teaching Practices

As legal educators, we teach our students how to dissect a judicial opinion. Yet this work we do with respect to teaching the “case brief” method is but a beginning. We must and can do more. We must not wait for students to make the connection between the cases they read for class discussion and how an attorney actually uses such cases to solve client problems; we must tell them. It is not enough for us to tell our students to read “actively”; we must show them how to do so. We must teach our students how to read with purpose and intent, with an eye toward the case's usefulness. In short, we must show students how to interact with the materials. It should be the job of every law teacher to incorporate these skills into routine pedagogy. It is not sufficient to relegate this task to those who teach in academic support or assistance programs.