cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Commentary: Wayne Fenton's Impact on Industry

Wayne Fenton's vision for people with serious mental illnesses was deep and inspiring. He was fiercely committed to improvements in patient care and management so that persons with these disorders could be fully functioning members of society. Fenton was wise enough to recognize that he could not accomplish these goals alone and understood that persistent work with many different stakeholders was necessary. His skill was to bring these diverse groups together so that their wisdom and resources could be pooled in synergistic ways. A major focus of his vision was the recognition of the substantial unmet medical need related to schizophrenia and the urgent need for novel therapeutics to treat this illness. In order to accomplish this goal, he recognized that a new kind of partnership between academia, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and industry was needed. This partnership must be built on inclusion, mutual respect, and synergism. Each stakeholder would contribute their area of expertise to the common goal of improving the lives of persons with severe mental illness.
Behavior in all-pay auctions with incomplete information

Abstract This paper analyzes the behavior of single-unit all-pay auctions within the independent private values environment in the laboratory. We study revenue, individual bidding behavior, and efficiency, in relation to theoretical benchmarks and to a similar study of winner-pay first-price sealed-bid auctions. We conclude that the all-pay auction yields significantly higher revenue than both the risk- neutral Bayesian equilibrium and the winner-pay auction. Bidders' decisions move closer to equilibrium levels over time in the auction.
A novel outbreak enterovirus D68 strain associated with acute flaccid myelitis cases in the USA (2012–14): a retrospective cohort study

Summary Background Enterovirus D68 was implicated in a widespread outbreak of severe respiratory illness across the USA in 2014 and has also been reported sporadically in patients with acute flaccid myelitis. We aimed to investigate the association between enterovirus D68 infection and acute flaccid myelitis during the 2014 enterovirus D68 respiratory outbreak in the USA. Methods Patients with acute flaccid myelitis who presented to two hospitals in Colorado and California, USA, between Nov 24, 2013, and Oct 11, 2014, were included in the study. Additional cases identified from Jan 1, 2012, to Oct 4, 2014, via statewide surveillance were provided by the California Department of Public Health. We investigated the cause of these cases by metagenomic next-generation sequencing, viral genome recovery, and enterovirus D68 phylogenetic analysis. We compared patients with acute flaccid myelitis who were positive for enterovirus D68 with those with acute flaccid myelitis but negative for enterovirus D68 using the two-tailed Fisher's exact test, two-sample unpaired t test, and Mann-Whitney U test. Findings 48 patients were included: 25 with acute flaccid myelitis, two with enterovirus-associated encephalitis, five with enterovirus-D68-associated upper respiratory illness, and 16 with aseptic meningitis or encephalitis who tested positive for enterovirus. Enterovirus D68 was detected in respiratory secretions from seven (64%) of 11 patients comprising two temporally and geographically linked acute flaccid myelitis clusters at the height of the 2014 outbreak, and from 12 (48%) of 25 patients with acute flaccid myelitis overall. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all enterovirus D68 sequences associated with acute flaccid myelitis grouped into a clade B1 strain that emerged in 2010. Of six coding polymorphisms in the clade B1 enterovirus D68 polyprotein, five were present in neuropathogenic poliovirus or enterovirus D70, or both. One child with acute flaccid myelitis and a sibling with only upper respiratory illness were both infected by identical enterovirus D68 strains. Enterovirus D68 viraemia was identified in a child experiencing acute neurological progression of his paralytic illness. Deep metagenomic sequencing of cerebrospinal fluid from 14 patients with acute flaccid myelitis did not reveal evidence of an alternative infectious cause to enterovirus D68. Interpretation These findings strengthen the putative association between enterovirus D68 and acute flaccid myelitis and the contention that acute flaccid myelitis is a rare yet severe clinical manifestation of enterovirus D68 infection in susceptible hosts. Funding National Institutes of Health, University of California, Abbott Laboratories, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Feeding the Planet or Feeding Us a Line? Agribusiness, 'Grainwashing' and Hunger in the World Food System

In this article I examine hunger in the world food system in light of agribusiness corporate environmental communications. Using data gleaned from advertisements and websites, I examine the messages of companies such as Arch- er Daniels Midland, Cargill, and Monsanto, among others, selling their contri- butions toward sustainability and alleviating hunger through biotechnology and globalization. In analysing these I contrast claims of corporate social responsibil- ity with what I call 'grainwashing', which misleads the public. This analysis is important to an ever-evolving sociology of agriculture and food in which struc- tural challenges, conflict, power, and inequality determine hunger in a system in which people lack food sovereignty or food justice. It connects the study of agri- business and hunger to environmental sociology and theoretical considerations such as treadmill of production and ecological modernization ideas explaining corporate environmental communication and practices.
Gender Politics in Sudan: Islamism, Socialism, and the State

Gender Politics in Sudan: Islamism, Socialism, and the State. SONDRA HALE. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996. xvi + 292 pp., notes, tables, glossary, references, index.
Striped-channel InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs with shallow-grating structures

Striped-channel (SC) InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs have been demonstrated with shallow gratings. The shallow grating structure keeps the gate from touching the channel layer and thus solves the gate leakage problem observed in the deep grating devices on InP substrates. Various channel widths have been realized to study the impact of the channel width on the dc and microwave performance. Due to the enhanced charge control in the SC HEMTs, enhanced transconductance/source-drain current (G/sub m//I/sub ds/) and transconductance/output conductance (G/sub m//G/sub ds/) were observed. Compared with conventional HEMTs, the SC HEMTs showed degraded f/sub T/ due to additional parasitic capacitances and improved f/sub max/ due to better carrier confinement.
An anisotropic elastic formulation for configurational forces in stress space

A new variational principle for an anisotropic elastic formulation in stress space is constructed, the Euler–Lagrange equations of which are the equations of compatibility (in terms of stress), the equilibrium equations and the traction boundary condition. Such a principle can be used to extend recently obtained configurational balance laws in stress space to the case of anisotropy.
Crocodilian Biology and Evolution

Crocodilian Biology and Evolution. G. C. Grigg, F. Seebacher, and C. E. Franklin (eds.). Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton NSW, Australia, 446 p. Fossils of crocodilians and their extinct relatives are relatively common in the freshwater and sometimes marine fossil record since the Middle Triassic, but their study has not kept pace with that of their sexier relatives the dinosaurs. As the least specialized of the two living archosaur groups, crocodilians are critical to understanding the great archosaurian radiation that dominated terrestrial life during the Mesozoic and continues today as the great diversity of birds. However, the days are fortunately gone when crocodilians were considered as essentially living fossils little changed from the dawn of the Mesozoic. We now know that many of their features are adaptations to a semiaquatic lifestyle that …
Simul Justus et Peccator: Ecclesiological and Ecumenical Perspectives

The Lutheran formula “simul Justus et peccator” originally applied to the individual Christian believer. However, it can also apply to the ecclesial community of believers and it can also have ecumenical dimensions and consequences. This article investigates these dimensions and consequences in view of the discussions which were occasioned by Vatican II.
Congenital Hydrocephalus Risk Factors

Risk factors associated with the pathogenesis of congenital hydrocephalus were evaluated in a 10 year retrospective study of 596 cases identified at the University of Mississippi Medical Center between 1998 and 2007.
Resilience of what to what? Evidence from pastoral contexts in East Africa and Central Asia

AbstractThis article draws upon comparative case studies of pastoral societies in East Africa and Central Asia to operationalise the theory of socio-ecological resilience. We first derive a local and subjective definition of resilience based on focus group discussions with pastoralists in Borana, Ethiopia and Altay, Xinjiang, China. Pastoralists generally believe that pastoral resilience means the maintenance of decent household welfare, i.e. a viable number of livestock and freedom for livelihood diversification. Hence, three surrogate indicators for pastoral resilience are proposed, which are livestock mobility, land use patterns and livelihood diversification. We further explore the challenges to pastoral resilience in the two contexts, including environmental stresses and external development interventions. By investigating ‘resilience of what’ and ‘resilience to what’, we show that the operationalisation of pastoral resilience must be context specific. In addition, we argue that careful balance betwe...
Gauss–Hermite Quadrature in Marginal Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Item Parameters

Although many theoretical papers on the estimation method of marginal maximum likelihood of item parameters for various models under item response theory mentioned Gauss–Hermite quadrature formulas, almost all computer programs that implemented marginal maximum likelihood estimation employed other numerical integration methods (e.g., Newton–Cotes formulas). There are many tables that contain quadrature points and quadrature weights for the Gauss–Hermite quadrature formulas; but these tabled values cannot be directly used when quadrature points and quadrature weights are specified by the user of computer programs because the standard normal distribution is frequently employed in the marginalization of the likelihood. The two purposes of this paper are to present extensive tables of Gauss–Hermite quadrature for the standard normal distribution and to present examples that demonstrate the effects of using various numbers of quadrature points and quadrature weights as well as different quadrature formulas on item parameter estimates. Item parameter estimates obtained from more than 20 quadrature points and quadrature weights with either Gauss–Hermite quadrature or the Newton–Cote method were virtually identical.
Nonlinear Inversion Control for a Ducted Fan UAV

The unstable and nonlinear nature of small ducted fan unmanned aerial vehicles that can hover and transition to forward flight make the design of control systems for this type of vehicle challenging. In this paper a nonlinear dynamic inversion control system is designed and evaluated for a small ducted fan UAV. The approach taken completes a nonlinear dynamic inversion by incorporating experimental wind tunnel data and full state feedback. Special attention is given to the issue of robustness to plant uncertainty in both hover and forward flight. A discussion of the techniques used to design and optimize outer loop feedback regulators such that the system demonstrates good gust rejection and robustness to plant uncertainty is included. This paper also describes a method to control the velocity of the vehicle. Results demonstrating the simulated responses of the vehicle with the optimized control laws are presented.
Exploring the efficacy of cyclic vs static aspiration in a cerebral thrombectomy model: an initial proof of concept study.

Background and purpose Current technology for endovascular thrombectomy in ischemic stroke utilizes static loading and is successful in approximately 85% of cases. Existing technology uses either static suction (applied via a continuous pump or syringe) or flow arrest with a proximal balloon. In this paper we evaluate the potential of cyclic loading in aspiration thrombectomy. Methods In order to evaluate the efficacy of cyclic aspiration, a model was created using a Penumbra aspiration system, three-way valve and Penumbra 5Max catheter. Synthetic clots were aspirated at different frequencies and using different aspiration mediums. Success or failure of clot removal and time were recorded. All statistical analyses were based on either a one-way or two-way analysis of variance, Holm–Sidak pairwise multiple comparison procedure (α=0.05). Results Cyclic aspiration outperformed static aspiration in overall clot removal and removal speed (p Conclusions Cyclic aspiration significantly outperformed static aspiration in speed and overall clearance of synthetic clots in our experimental model. Within cyclic aspiration, efficacy is improved by increasing cycle frequency, utilizing specific pressure cycle waveforms and using water rather than air as the aspiration medium. These findings provide a starting point for altering existing thrombectomy technology or perhaps the development of new technologies with higher recanalization rates.
A Voice Conversion Scheme Based on Sinusoidal Plus Noise Model

A voice conversion approach with a sinusoidal plus noise model is introduced and a parametric conversion algorithm based on phoneme segments is discussed in this paper. The modification of both pitch and formant structure contributed greatly to reproducing the target speaker's characteristics. Listening tests show that the similarity between target speech and modified one reached 78.8%. Compared to classical LPC approach, the experiments prove the superiority of this approach in terms of speech quality.
The View from the Other Side: Staff Auditors' Observations of Questionable Peer Behavior

This study classifies and reports public auditors’ observations of unethical behavior within their offices. Sixty-six of 238 survey respondents reported observing eighty instances of unethical behavior in their offices. The majority of behaviors are audit-related; although many are workplace related. Audit standards violations threaten audit quality, increasing litigation risk, while workplace behavior violations lead to demoralization and employee turnover, a significant threat given CPA firms’ focus on attracting and retaining qualified and talented professionals. Identification of these activities can help managers understand what types of activities that employees judge as unethical. With this knowledge, managers can begin to address employee concerns and work toward developing a positive organizational climate.
Grain boundary sliding mechanism during high temperature deformation of AZ31 Magnesium alloy

Abstract High temperature tensile creep tests were conducted on AZ31 Magnesium alloy at low stress range of 1–13 MPa to clarify the existence of grain boundary sliding (GBS) mechanism during creep deformation. Experimental data within the GBS regime shows the stress exponent is ~2 and the activation energy value is close to that for grain boundary diffusion. Analyses of the fracture surface of the sample revealed that the GBS provides many stress concentrated sites for diffusional cavities formation and leads to premature failure. Scanning electron microscopy images show the appearances of both ductile and brittle type fracture mechanism. X-ray diffraction line profile analysis (based on Williamson-Hall technique) shows a reduction in dislocation density due to dynamic recovery (DRV). A correlation between experimental data and Langdon's model for GBS was also demonstrated.
Acid rain mitigation experiment shifts a forested watershed from a net sink to a net source of nitrogen

Abstract Decades of acid rain have acidified forest soils and freshwaters throughout montane forests of the northeastern United States; the resulting loss of soil base cations is hypothesized to be responsible for limiting rates of forest growth throughout the region. In 1999, an experiment was conducted that reversed the long-term trend of soil base cation depletion and tested the hypothesis that calcium limits forest growth in acidified soils. Researchers added 1,189 kg Ca2+ ha−1 as the pelletized mineral wollastonite (CaSiO3) to a 12-ha forested watershed within the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Significant increases in the pH and acid-neutralizing capacity of soils and streamwater resulted, and the predicted increase in forest growth occurred. An unanticipated consequence of this acidification mitigation experiment began to emerge a decade later, with marked increases in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) exports in streamwater from the treated watershed. By 2013, 30-times greater DIN was exported from this base-treated watershed than from adjacent reference watersheds, and DIN exports resulting from this experiment match or exceed earlier reports of inorganic N losses after severe ice-storm damage within the study watershed. The discovery that CaSiO3 enrichment can convert a watershed from a sink to a source of N suggests that numerous potential mechanisms drive watershed N dynamics and provides new insights into the influence of acid deposition mitigation strategies for both carbon cycling and watershed N export.
Data Reduction and Regression Using Principal Component Analysis in Qualitative Spatial Reasoning and Health Informatics

The central idea of principal component analysis (PCA) is to reduce the dimensionality of a dataset consisting of a large number of interrelated variables, while retaining as much as possible of the variation present in the dataset. In this paper, we use PCA based algorithms in two diverse genres, qualitative spatial reasoning (QSR) to achieve lossless data reduction and health informatics to achieve data reduction along with improved regression analysis respectively. In an adaptive hybrid approach, we have employed PCA to traditional regression algorithms to improve their performance and representation. This yields prediction models that have both a better fit and reduced number of attributes than those produced by using standard logistic regression alone. We present examples using both synthetic data and real health datasets from UCI Repository.
Photosynthetic Patterns of Sonoran Desert Lichens I. Environmental Considerations and Preliminary Field Measurements

Summary In comparison to the Negev Desert environment, where extensive desert lichen photosynthetic and productivity studies have been conducted, the environment of the interior Sonoran Desert at Phoenix, Arizona, is shown to be much less favorable for lichen photosynthetic activity. Lack of dewfall events is inferred to be the major difference, as the estimated dewfall frequency of 12 d per year is only 6 % of the number of days when dewfall occurs at Avdat, Israel. Favorable moisture periods for lichen photosynthesis are shown to be largely restricted to the winter period when temperatures are cool. The occurrence of dewfall and periods with low vapor pressure deficits is generally coupled with the occurrence of winter rainfall periods. Fog, a factor responsible for luxuriant lichen communities in some maritime, arid environments, is shown to be almost non-existent at Phoenix. Preliminary photosynthetic measurements over 28 d confirmed that days with photosynthetic activity are tightly coupled with precipitation events. Moisture conditions favorable for photosynthetic activity may persist for a day or two after precipitation events. Because of the marked differences in moisture conditions and in lichen biomass estimates between the Negev and the interior Sonoran Desert, it is inferred that lichen productivity must be much lower at the Sonoran Desert site.
Sorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after liver transplantation

e15579 Background: Sorafenib has been approved for the treatment of advanced HCC. However, there is no data on its use for HCC patients (pts) after liver transplantation (OLT). Pts at high risk for tumor recurrence (native liver showing vascular invasion, multiple tumors >3 in number, size >6 cm, or lymph node involved) after OLT or who develop recurrence after OLT have worse prognosis. These pts may potentially benefit from sorafenib. Methods: We reviewed our experience with HCC pts after OLT treated with sorafenib. 15 pts had a starting dose of 400 mg po bid and 3 had a starting dose of 200 po bid. Sorafenib was started 3 months (mo) after OLT as adjuvant therapy (7 pts) or at the time of tumor recurrence after OLT (11 pts). CT or MRI scans of the chest/abdomen and physical exams were performed every 2–3 mo. Lab tests including serum AFP were performed monthly. Results: Median age was 60 (range 53–75). Median performance status was 90%(range 80–100). In terms of toxicity, 4 of the 15(27%) pts on the ini...
Tropical and Subtropical Velvet Ants of the Genus Dasymutilla Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) with Descriptions of 45 New Species

This study nearly doubles the number of recognized species and subspecies of Neotropical Dasymutilla (from 76 to 139). We include descriptions of 45 new species (21 from the female only, 23 from the male only, and one from both sexes), descriptions of the previously unknown males of D. pulchra (Smith 1855) and D. scaber (Fox 1894), and six new synonymies. New species are: D. argentea, D. atrata, D. baleygi, D. batui, D. bellatrix, D. bimaculata, D. boharti, D. brazilia, D. buenavista, D. campogrande, D. chalcocephala, D. chamela, D. chilcotti, D. chionothrix, D. cirrhomeris, D. citromaculosa, D. concordia, D. fimbriata, D. griswoldi, D. guanacaste, D. impressa, D. ionothorax, D. leve, D. loreto, D. mazatlanorum, D. mirabilis, D. mirapenis, D. modgudi, D. monstrosa, D. naranjo, D. niphopilis, D. nocticaro, D. parkerorum, D. rufipilis, D. sinaloa, D. sleipniri, D. spilota, D. spiniscapula, D. tomasi, D. truxali, D. twegeni, D. veracruz, D. wasbaueri, D. whartoni, and D. zoster. New synonymies are: D. fulgida Mickel 1928 and D. pallida Mickel 1937 under D. erythrina (Say 1836); D. atrifulva Mickel 1928 under D. nogalensis Mickel 1928; D. gaumeri Mickel 1937 under D. ocyrae (Cameron 1895); D. cobira (Cameron 1895) under D. proclea (Cameron 1895); D. ariadne (Blake 1871) and D. solola (Blake 1871) under D. toluca (Blake 1871); and D. bosquensis Rohwer 1912, D. columbiana Mickel 1928, D. errans (Blake 1871), D. sappho (Fox 1899) and D. texensis Rohwer 1912 under D. vesta (Cresson 1865). We also provide the first taxonomic key for the species of Neotropical Dasymutilla.
Rim-to-Rim Wearables at the Canyon for Health (R2R WATCH): Correlation of Clinical Markers of Stress with Physiological COTS Data

Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) wearable devices can provide easily deployable physiologic measurement systems that generate large amounts of crucial health status data. This data, although similar to physiologic data recorded and used routinely in the health care environment, lacks validation in the non-clinical environment. To address this gap in knowledge and to translate clinical expertise to the field we examined healthy volunteers attempting a strenuous task of crossing the Grand Canyon from rim to rim (R2R) in a single day. Subjects completed a pre-crossing questionnaire with baseline biometric measurements and blood collection for analysis of a comprehensive metabolic panel. Enrolled subjects were then asked to wear COTS wearable fitness devices as they attempted the crossing. Subjects were asked to provide a post-crossing questionnaire, repeat biometric measurements and blood collections. We obtained 52 complete sets of pre- and post-hike blood samples. We identified multiple significant changes in metabolic measurements consistent with expected stresses endured. In addition to the subjective fatigue expectedly reported by subjects, subjects had signs of significant muscle breakdown, yet no subject required immediate medical attention upon completing the task. We linked these clinical markers of stress to the physiologic output from COTS wearable devices and are now able to translate the output measures of these devices to meaningful clinical outcomes. In addition, we have begun to establish new expected ranges for physiologic data during extreme stress that does not require immediate medical attention. This data is crucial to defining usage parameters for wearable devices in deployed field settings.
Abstract 18319: Virtual Mitral Valve Repair for Improved Pre-surgical Planning: Quantitative Evaluation of Neochordoplasty versus Leaflet Resection

Background: Neochordoplasty and/or leaflet resection are reliable and reproducible mitral valve (MV) repair techniques for the treatment of chordal rupture with severe mitral regurgitation (MR). We...
Venetoclax in Combination with Decitabine for Relapsed T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant

Long-term disease-free survival in adults with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) remains poor, particularly after relapse, with few available salvage options. Preclinical data suggest that inhibition of the antiapoptotic protein BCL-2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) either alone or in combination with other agents, may be a unique therapeutic approach for the treatment of T-ALL. We present a case of a young male with T-ALL, relapsed after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, who achieved a second complete remission following salvage therapy with combined venetoclax and decitabine. Assessment of measurable residual disease by next generation sequencing showed no evidence of residual disease of a sensitivity of 1 × 10−6. While the combination of venetoclax and hypomethylating agents has shown promise in the treatment of relapsed/refractory AML, and to our knowledge, this is the first report of this combination demonstrating clinical activity in relapsed/refractory T-ALL.
Blockade of LAG-3 Immune Checkpoint Combined With Therapeutic Vaccination Restore the Function of Tissue-Resident Anti-viral CD8+ T Cells and Protect Against Recurrent Ocular Herpes Simplex Infection and Disease

Recurrent viral diseases often occur after the viruses evade the hosts' immune system, by inducing exhaustion of antiviral T cells. In the present study, we found that functionally exhausted herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) -specific CD8+ T cells, with elevated expression of lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3), an immune checkpoint receptor that promotes T cell exhaustion, were frequent in symptomatic (SYMP) patients with a history of numerous episodes of recurrent corneal herpetic disease. Similarly, following UV-B induced virus reactivation from latency the symptomatic wild-type (WT) B6 mice that developed increase virus shedding and severe recurrent corneal herpetic disease had more exhausted HSV-specific LAG-3+CD8+ T cells in both trigeminal ganglia (TG) and cornea. Moreover, a therapeutic blockade of LAG-3 immune checkpoint with antagonist antibodies combined with a therapeutic immunization with gB498-505 peptide immunodominant epitope of latently infected B6 mice significantly restored the quality and quantity of functional HSV-1 gB498-505 specific CD8+ T cells in both TG and cornea and protected against UV-B induced recurrent corneal herpes infection and disease. In contrast to dysfunctional HSV-specific CD8+ T cells from WT B6 mice, more functional HSV-specific CD8+ T cells were detected in LAG-3-/- deficient mice and were associated with less UV-B induced recurrent corneal herpetic disease. Thus, the LAG-3 pathway plays a fundamental role in ocular herpes T cell immunopathology and provides an important immune checkpoint target that can synergizes with T cell-based therapeutic vaccines against symptomatic recurrent ocular herpes.
Unifying consensus and atomic commitment for effective cloud data management

Data storage in the Cloud needs to be scalable and fault-tolerant. Atomic commitment protocols such as Two Phase Commit (2PC) provide ACID guarantees for transactional access to sharded data and help in achieving scalability. Whereas consensus protocols such as Paxos consistently replicate data across different servers and provide fault tolerance. Cloud based datacenters today typically treat the problems of scalability and fault-tolerance disjointedly. In this work, we propose a unification of these two different paradigms into one framework called Consensus and Commitment (C&C) framework. The C&C framework can model existing and well known data management protocols as well as propose new ones. We demonstrate the advantages of the C&C framework by developing a new atomic commitment protocol, Paxos Atomic Commit (PAC), which integrates commitment with recovery in a Paxos-like manner. We also instantiate commit protocols from the C&C framework catered to different Cloud data management techniques. In particular, we propose a novel protocol, Generalized PAC (G-PAC) that integrates atomic commitment and fault tolerance in a cloud paradigm involving both sharding and replication of data. We compare the performance of G-PAC with a Spanner-like protocol, where 2PC is used at the logical data level and Paxos is used for consistent replication of logical data. The experimental results highlight the benefits of combining consensus along with commitment into a single integrated protocol.
Association between Preoperative Adenomyosis Detection Rate during Pelvic Ultrasonography and the Specialty of the Reading Physician.

ABSTRACT Study Objective To compare the detection rate of adenomyosis when ultrasound is performed by a radiologist compared with a gynecologic expert sonologist. Design A retrospective, single-center study. Setting A university teaching hospital. Patients All women above 18 years of age with a positive histopathology diagnosis of adenomyosis obtained in a hysterectomy specimen from October 1, 2011, to October 1, 2017, were screened for inclusion. Cases without a preoperative pelvic ultrasound report, those with coexisting premalignant/malignant conditions, and patients presenting to the clinic with symptoms other than abnormal uterine bleeding, dysmenorrhea, or abdominal pain were excluded. A total of 412 cases were included in the final analysis. Measurements and Main Results The preoperative ultrasound was performed by a radiologist in 241 patients (59%) and by an expert gynecologic sonologist in 171 patients (42%). Patients’ age, body mass index, race, ethnicity, parity, and history of prior cesarean section were comparable between the 2 groups. The adenomyosis detection rate was significantly higher in the expert gynecologic sonologist group compared with radiologists (95 [56%] vs 29 [12%], p Conclusion The detection rate of adenomyosis was significantly higher when ultrasound was performed by expert gynecologic sonologists compared with radiologists. The presence of myomas significantly decreased detection rates regardless of specialty. Ultrasound evaluation for detecting adenomyosis should be preferentially performed by gynecologic expert sonologists.
Evidence-Based Practices or Practice-Based Evidence: What Is the Future?

Although multiple evidence-based practices are available for the treatment of behavioral disorders, these interventions are not consistently delivered in routine care in the United States. This research to practice gap has created a large quality chasm that may be even larger for people with serious mental illnesses and those with substance use disorders. The process through which behavioral evidence-based practices are integrated into routine care is influenced by the same factors affecting the diffusion of other innovations, that is, characteristics of patients, providers, and the innovation, and system-level factors. Barriers related to each of these factors impede successful EBP implementation through their effects on fidelity and other implementation outcomes, and as a result, intervention effects are substantially smaller than those predicted from the original clinical studies. Key among these barriers are an innovation-related factor, that is, a process of evidence generation and research translation that has traditionally neglected the needs and realities of potential implementers and end-users, and several system-level factors, including financing policy, regulations, and the basic design of the behavioral healthcare system. These barriers are described in detail and strategies to address them and to develop new models growing out of effective practice are discussed.
Moving a Team-Based Freshmen Biomedical Engineering and Design Course Online

Team projects and in-class interactions are the hallmark of a freshmen introductory course in biomedical engineering (BME). Our challenge was to continue team activities, mentoring, and the semester-long design project in a virtual environment after in-person classes ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper highlights some of the adaptations required to continue a large (n = 124) team-based course with students located throughout the world. Breaking up planned in-class activities into small individual assignments followed by team meetings gave groups a starting point for their discussions. Mentoring panels with upperclassmen were actually enhanced through the inclusion of alumni in a virtual environment. The end-of-semester anonymous survey results indicate that 81% of the freshmen agreed or strongly agreed that the course objectives were met, and 75% believed that the team assignments were useful learning experiences. In spite of the sudden shift to online learning, we were able to continue with both short-term and semester-long team activities.
“No More Money, Hannah!”: Using HBO’s Girls to Teach Force Field Analysis:

Research suggests that students today favor a collaborative learning style, short cases, and group activities over semester-long case studies, and they respond well to classroom activities characte...
Toward a theory of entrepreneurial differentiation: how entrepreneurial firms compete

This paper presents arguments toward developing a theory of entrepreneurial differentiation. The comprehensive theory enables the distinction between entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial firms by providing a clear framework based on the idea of differentiation. In developing our framework, we relied heavily on previous research and prior theoretical developments as well as established understanding of entrepreneurial phenomena. Our theory delineates eight specific dimensions of differentiation we utilize to determine and assess the entrepreneurial profile of the firm. We argue that these eight dimensions work together to increase the overall amount of differentiation of the firm, and therefore, entrepreneurial nature of the firm. We then present formal propositions of the Theory of Entrepreneurial Differentiation as we relate our eight dimensions of differentiation to entrepreneurial orientation, management objectives, and organizational outcomes with specific relationships between each of these constructs. The resulting framework provides a comprehensive explanation of how entrepreneurial firms compete. We then assess how these theoretical conceptualizations impact existing research and how future research might proceed given these ideas.
Organizational Learning Sequences in Technological Innovation: Evidence from the Biopharmaceutical and Medical Device Sectors

Organisations engage in various activities designed to foster effective learning. Three forms of learning with important implications for the innovation process are experiential (whereby firms gain relevant insights through direct experience with patterns of action), vicarious (observation of external activities, with inference and other attributions being employed to reconstruct the underlying processes) and inter-organisational (direct contact with outside entities). This paper examines the influence of these forms of learning throughout the process of technological innovation. Using interview and archival data from 11 innovation projects in biopharmaceuticals and medical devices, I uncover evidence of three distinct learning sequences: (1) intensive-externalising (IE); (2) intensive-internalising (II); and (3) expansive-internalising (EI). The sequences vary both in the breadth of learning forms utilised and in the degree to which resultant knowledge is internalised as subsequent innovations are pursued. These findings offer useful insights into the locus and sources of learning for innovation processes in technologically complex settings.
Where Does Opportunity Knock? Executives and Distributive Politics

American state governors, like other executives, promise policies to voters but lack the means to deliver them without the help of the legislative branch. As such, they must secure relationships with legislators by delivering side benefits. What priorities drive this allocation of executive powers and how does a Governor prioritize the competing goals of placating members of the legislative branch, securing their own reelection, and being an effective steward of their state? The Trump Tax Bill of December 2017, which gave state governors a one-time opportunity to distribute a geographically-targeted federal tax incentive, provides a useful case-study to examine this question. As part of the bill, all 50 Governors were given the opportunity to choose census tracts within their state to become eligible for preferential tax treatment. Within 120 days of the law’s enactment, governors selected up to 25% of their eligible tracts, providing a short window that allows confident measurement of the political situation at the time of the distribution of the favor. We estimate the likelihood that an eligible tract is selected as a function of both the economic characteristics of the tract and the political characteristics of the governor and the relevant state and federal legislators. We find persistent differences between Republicans and Democrats: the latter targeted tracts exclusively based on demographics while the former used the program to reward legislative co-partisans. We also find that these partisan differences are intensified among governors insulated from electoral pressures due to term limits or insulated from the need to reach across the aisle by virtue of controlling both chambers of the state legislature.
A 5.1ms Low-Latency Face Detection Imager with In-Memory Charge-Domain Computing of Machine-Learning Classifiers

We present a CMOS imager for low-latency face detection empowered by parallel imaging and computing of machine-learning (ML) classifiers. The energy-efficient parallel operation and multi-scale detection eliminate image capture delay and significantly alleviate backend computational loads. The proposed pixel architecture, composed of dynamic samplers in a global shutter (GS) pixel array, allows for energy-efficient in-memory charge-domain computing of feature extraction and classification. The illumination-invariant detection was realized by using log-Haar features. A prototype 240×240 imager achieved an on-chip face detection latency of 5.1ms with a 97.9% true positive rate and 2% false positive rate at 120fps. Moreover, a dynamic nature of in-memory computing allows an energy efficiency of 419pJ/pixel for feature extraction and classification, leading to the smallest latency-energy product of 3.66ms∙nJ/pixel with digital backend processing.
Robust Topology Detection Under Load Uncertainty

A multiple-model based detection method for power system topology is developed to operate under substantial load uncertainty. Using a lumped transmission circuit model for each anticipated topology and assuming synchrophasor availability at all generator terminals, a convex hull of potential load current perturbations is mapped into a decision space spanned by vectors of measurable current synchrophasors, where set convexity is preserved. A robust detector design algorithm is presented to find the set of detection hyperplanes that fully separate the topology-defined sets of measurable current synchrophasors mapped from the largest convex hull of load perturbations. An optimally robust detector is designed for the IEEE 9-bus test system, demonstrating a much larger tolerable load uncertainty compared with a recently reported norm-based topology detector. Our detector displays robustness under a uniform load uncertainty of ±0.21 per unit across the real and reactive current phasor components, or an uncertainty equal to ±29% of the nominal load. The method features several scaling factors, allowing the designer to tolerate higher uncertainty on a specified load at the cost of less tolerance elsewhere.
Interface energy effect on effective elastoplastic behavior of spheroidal particle reinforced metal matrix nanocomposites

Abstract A nanomechanical framework is proposed to predict the effective elastoplastic behavior of the metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs) containing randomly distributed and randomly oriented spheroidal particles. The interface energy effect is investigated by considering both of the interface elastic stress and the interface residual stress on the idealized zero-thickness membrane interphase between the matrix and the inhomogeneities. The orientational average is performed to obtain the effective constitutive relations of the MMNCs with randomly oriented spheroidal particles. By employing the micromechanical homogenization approaches, an effective yield criterion is formulated, and the effective secant moduli of the MMNCs are derived. Comparisons are made between the present framework and the classical micromechanics theory. The interface energy effect on the effective secant moduli are discussed, and the particle size dependence of the effective secant moduli is revealed. Furthermore, the effects of the interface elastic stress and the interface residual stress on the plastic yielding of the nanocomposites are discussed. Lastly, the theoretical predictions obtained by the present framework are compared with the relevant experiments and numerical simulations.
Near-Optimal Randomized Exploration for Tabular MDP.

We study exploration using randomized value functions in Thompson Sampling (TS)-like algorithms in reinforcement learning. This type of algorithms enjoys appealing empirical performance. We show that when we use 1) a single random seed in each episode, and 2) a Bernstein-type magnitude of noise, we obtain a worst-case $\widetilde{O}\left(H\sqrt{SAT}\right)$ regret bound for episodic time-inhomogeneous Markov Decision Process where $S$ is the size of state space, $A$ is the size of action space, $H$ is the planning horizon and $T$ is the number of interactions. This bound polynomially improves all existing bounds for TS-like algorithms based on randomized value functions, and for the first time, matches the $\Omega\left(H\sqrt{SAT}\right)$ lower bound up to logarithmic factors. Our result highlights that randomized exploration can be near-optimal, which was previously only achieved by optimistic algorithms. To achieve the desired result, we develop 1) a new clipping operation to ensure both the probability being optimistic and the probability being pessimistic are lower bounded by a constant, and 2) a new recursion formula for the absolute value of estimations errors to analyze the regret.
FlowVOS: Weakly-Supervised Visual Warping for Detail-Preserving and Temporally Consistent Single-Shot Video Object Segmentation

We consider the task of semi-supervised video object segmentation (VOS). Our approach mitigates shortcomings in previous VOS work by addressing detail preservation and temporal consistency using visual warping. In contrast to prior work that uses full optical flow, we introduce a new foreground-targeted visual warping approach that learns flow fields from VOS data. We train a flow module to capture detailed motion between frames using two weakly-supervised losses. Our object-focused approach of warping previous foreground object masks to their positions in the target frame enables detailed mask refinement with fast runtimes without using extra flow supervision. It can also be integrated directly into state-of-the-art segmentation networks. On the DAVIS17 and YouTubeVOS benchmarks, we outperform state-of-the-art offline methods that do not use extra data, as well as many online methods that use extra data. Qualitatively, we also show our approach produces segmentations with high detail and temporal consistency.
General Characteristics of Cold-Adapted Microorganisms

Although interest in microbes inhabiting low-temperature environments has increased in recent years, significant gaps remain in understanding what makes certain microorganisms cold adapted. Interest in the structural, biochemical, and physiological properties of psychrophilic microorganisms has motivated investigations to characterize the adaptations that maintain enzymatic reaction rates, macromolecular stability, and homeostasis at cold temperature. This chapter provides an overview on the state of knowledge about adaptations that allow certain bacteria and archaea to persist in the coldest regions of the biosphere. In general, the proteins of psychrophilic microorganisms must maintain flexibility to perform catalysis at low temperatures, whereas thermophilic proteins are rigid to protect them from thermal denaturation. Importantly, adaptations that enhance protein flexibility reduce the activation energy needed for the formation of the enzyme-substrate complex, resulting in enhanced catalytic activity at low temperature. The chapter discusses many of the most common and generally understood biochemical and physiological adaptations that appear unique to the psychrophilic lifestyle. Psychrophilic microorganisms use a range of strategies to persist at low temperatures, including possessing catalytically efficient enzymes, synthesizing specialized lipids that increase membrane flexibility, and producing proteins that affect freezing and ice structure. Coupled with technological advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing and proteomics, one can expect that information on cold-adapted bacteria and archaea will increase in the future.
Statistics of pose and shape in multi-object complexes using principal geodesic analysis

A main focus of statistical shape analysis is the description of variability of a population of geometric objects. In this paper, we present work in progress towards modeling the shape and pose variability of sets of multiple objects. Principal geodesic analysis (PGA) is the extension of the standard technique of principal component analysis (PCA) into the nonlinear Riemannian symmetric space of pose and our medial m-rep shape description, a space in which use of PCA would be incorrect. In this paper, we discuss the decoupling of pose and shape in multi-object sets using different normalization settings. Further, we introduce new methods of describing the statistics of object pose using a novel extension of PGA, which previously has been used for global shape statistics. These new pose statistics are then combined with shape statistics to form a more complete description of multi-object complexes. We demonstrate our methods in an application to a longitudinal pediatric autism study with object sets of 10 subcortical structures in a population of 20 subjects. The results show that global scale accounts for most of the major mode of variation across time. Furthermore, the PGA components and the corresponding distribution of different subject groups vary significantly depending on the choice of normalization, which illustrates the importance of global and local pose alignment in multi-object shape analysis.