cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spatially variable propagule pressure and herbivory influence invasion of chaparral shrubland by an exotic grass

Although numerous studies have identified mechanisms that either resist or facilitate biological invasions, few studies have explicitly tested how resisting and facilitating mechanisms interact to drive invasion success. In California, USA, undisturbed Mediterranean-type shrublands have resisted invasion by the perennial tussock grass Cortaderia jubata. In some cases, however, this resistance has been spectacularly breached even in the absence of large-scale disturbance. I tested the hypothesis that these invasions are facilitated by local reductions in the strength of biotic resistance. I evaluated invasive success using C. jubata seed and seedling additions at different microhabitats: the edge of a chaparral stand, under shrub canopy at different distances from the stand edge, and in canopy gaps within the stand. When left exposed to mammalian herbivores, seedling survivorship decreased sharply from nearly 40% on the stand edge to zero just 10 m into the stand. When transplants were protected from herbivory, however, distance from the edge had no significant influence on transplant survivorship. Seedling emergence was also greater on the edge and in canopy gaps than under the canopy, but these differences were not caused by differences in herbivory. The flux of invasive propagules reaching the soil surface was immense and greater along the edge and within gaps than under the stand canopy. Mirroring these patterns, naturally occurring seedling abundance declined dramatically with distance from the stand edge, and seedlings were far more common within stand gaps than would be expected given gap frequency within the stand. Despite strong biotic resistance to invasion within the stand, the cover of C. jubata has increased 20% over the last 9 years. These results suggest that the relative amount of susceptible edge habitat and the supply of invasive propagules can facilitate invasion even in the face of strong local biotic resistance.
Mining Latent Entity Structures

The "big data" era is characterized by an explosion of information in the form of digital data collections, ranging from scientific knowledge, to social media, news, and everyone's daily life. Examples of such collections include scientific publications, enterprise logs, news articles, social media, and general web pages. Valuable knowledge about multi-typed entities is often hidden in the unstructured or loosely structured, interconnected data. Mining latent structures around entities uncovers hidden knowledge such as implicit topics, phrases, entity roles and relationships. In this monograph, we investigate the principles and methodologies of mining latent entity structures from massive unstructured and interconnected data. We propose a text-rich information network model for modeling data in many different domains. This leads to a series of new principles and powerful methodologies for mining latent structures, including (1) latent topical hierarchy, (2) quality topical phrases, (3) entity roles in hierarchical topical communities, and (4) entity relations. This book also introduces applications enabled by the mined structures and points out some promising research directions.
Bone marrow histogenesis: a comparison of fatty and red marrow

Histogenesis of fatty marrow in extramedullary sites was compared to histogenesis of the red marrow. Both tissues undergo a similar sequence of events leading to reconstruction of hemopoietic marrow nodules. Histogenesis of yellow marrow then continues; such implants become nodules of fatty marrow, whereas implants of red marrow remain hemopoietically active. This observation supports the concept that histogenesis of the bone marrow recapitulates the ontogeny of this organ and indicates an intrinsic difference between the stroma of red and yellow marrow.
ON KNOWING A WORD

▪ Abstract A person who knows a word knows much more than its meaning and pronunciation. The contexts in which a word can be used to express a particular meaning are a critical component of word knowledge. The ability to exploit context in order to determine meaning and resolve potential ambiguities is not a uniquely linguistic ability, but it is dramatically illustrated in the ease with which native speakers are able to identify the intended meanings of common polysemous words.
On the exploration of the solution space in analog placement with symmetry constraints

The traditional way of approaching placement problems in computer-aided design (CAD) tools for analog layout is to explore an extremely large search space of feasible or unfeasible placement configurations, where the cells are moved in the chip plane (being even allowed to overlap in possibly illegal ways) by a stochastic optimizer. This paper presents a novel exploration technique for analog placement operating on a subset of tree representations of the layout-called symmetric-feasible, where the typical presence of an arbitrary number of symmetry groups of devices is directly taken into account during the search of the solution space. The computation times exhibited by this novel approach are significantly better than those of the algorithms using the traditional exploration strategy. This superior efficiency is partly due to the use of segment trees, a data structure introduced by Bentley, mainly used in computational geometry.
Absolute radioassay of extended sources: an equivalent point-source coincidence-counting approach with application to the thyroid

A general methodology is provided for the absolute assay of radioisotopes decaying with coincident photons in an extended source. In the determination of the source activity, the method requires neither the detailed consideration of the geometric and self‐attenuation processes taking place between the source component points nor a knowledge of the distribution of activity across the source. It derives from the concept of the ‘‘equivalent point source,’’ that is a fictitious point source whose activity would equal that measured for the actual extended source. It has been developed for an arbitrary number of coincident photon types displaying an arbitrary degree of mutual correlation, and for arbitrary detection geometry. A unifying formalism is developed for both point and extended sources and for single and dual detecting systems. It is found that in all cases the various instrumental and spectroscopic uncertainties appear within a composite parameter (herein called F factor) that can be determined by standard calibration procedures; this factor is in turn only weakly dependent on its own component parameters. New expressions and relationships are obtained that provide a greater physical insight into coincidence‐counting methods.
Observations of feeding habits of the spotted alfalfa aphid on resistant and susceptible alfalfa plants.

Spotted alfalfa aphids ( Therioaphis maculata (Buckton)) placed on both resistant and susceptible alfalfa plants soon assumed a feeding position. On resistant plants, they became restless in 1 to 4 hours and eventually died or left the plants. Little or no honeydew was produced on resistant plants whereas profuse honeydew production occurred on susceptible plants. Survival of aphids placed first on resistant plants and later transferred to susceptible plants was as good as the survival of aphids transferred from susceptible plants, indicating no residual toxic effect from the resistant plants. Aphids confined to highly resistant plants were found to die at nearly the same rate as aphids confined with no source of food. Microscopic examination of leaf sections indicated that phloem tissue is the principal feeding site. However, it was observed that the setal tubes entered the phloem less frequently in resistant than in susceptible plants, suggesting that the aphid's mechanism for locating the phloem was interfered with in resistant plants. Results of these studies indicate that mortality of the spotted alfalfa aphid on highly resistant plants is caused by starvation or desiccation resulting from a failure to ingest a sufficient quantity of plant sap.
Wireless AMI application and security for controlled home area networks

Compared to the conventional grid, the smart grid requires active participation of consumers to improve the quality and reliability of power delivery. Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), commonly known as the smart meter, which has the capability of supporting various functions beyond that of recording energy usage, will facilitate this expected increase in consumer participation. Another primary benefit of AMI is load and cost management for the utility. AMI requires a reliable communication system between the smart meter and consumer equipment. This paper identifies wireless networking solutions such as ZigBee as the best mode for such communication. Due to the shared nature of the wireless medium, however, these deployments face security challenges and interference issues. These must be addressed, taking into account the interests of both the utility and the consumer. This paper takes a comprehensive look at wireless security in the AMI based home-area network by identifying a wide range of possible vulnerabilities. Countermeasures that can be used by both the utility company as well as the customer are developed.
Selection and stability issues associated with a navy shipboard DC zonal electric distribution system

The US Navy is currently investigating the implementation of a DC zonal electric distribution system (DC ZEDS) for the next generation of surface combatant. In replacing the current AC radial distribution system, significant gains can be realized in terms of survivability, weight, manning and cost. DC ZEDS is predicated on having starboard and port DC buses feeding electrical zones delineated by watertight bulkhead compartments. The main bus DC voltage is stepped down within the zone and then converted to three-phase AC and lower voltage DC by additional power converters. Due to the large interconnection of tightly-regulated power converters in a stiffly-connected system, negative input impedance effects create the possibility of unwanted resonances. In this paper, the authors describe the rationale for the DC zonal system, characterize the stability issues, and discuss fault detection and load shedding problems.
Combination of Dithiothreitol and Detergent Treatment of Spermatozoa Causes Paternal Chromosomal Damage

Treatment of spermatozoa with either the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 (TX) or dithiothreitol (DTT) has been suggested to confer enhanced success on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in mice and humans. Here, we attempted to use both reagents together, to our knowledge for the first time, and found that this caused severe chromosomal breaks in paternal pronuclei. We documented this effect further by treating mouse spermatozoa with several combinations of DTT with and without detergent. Spermatozoa were treated with vigorous pipetting to induce membrane disruption or with TX or the ionic detergent mixed alkyltrimethylammonium bromide (ATAB). Swim-up spermatozoa were used as controls. In each treatment, two samples were tested, with or without the addition of DTT during the treatment procedure. In all samples with DTT, protamine reduction was confirmed by the decondensation assay. Sperm nuclei obtained after different treatments were injected into oocytes for cytogenetic analysis, and paternal and maternal chromosomes of the zygote were visualized and examined. We found that the numbers of normal paternal karyoplates resulting from ICSI with spermatozoa treated with either DTT (87%, 153/176), TX (79%, 112/142), or ATAB (85%, 99/116) alone were similar to swim-up controls (92%, 103/112). However, only 22% (23/ 103) and 40% (59/149) of examined metaphases were scored as normal in TX 1 DTT or ATAB 1 DTT treatments, respectively. Spermatozoa in which the membranes were disrupted by vigorous pipetting in the presence of DTT had a slightly reduced frequency of normal chromosomes (61%, 64/104), whereas those without DTT were normal (79%, 125/159). However, this difference was not statistically significant. When spermatozoa were treated with TX 1 DTT in the presence of EGTA or a mixture of EGTA and EDTA, the frequency of normal chromosomes was 39% (45/114) and 47% (38/81), respectively, suggesting that endogenous sperm nucleases may play a role in chromosomal damage. Our results indicate that simultaneous treatment of spermatozoa with detergent and DTT induces extensive chromosomal breakage and, therefore, should not be attempted in ICSI. fertilization, gamete biology, sperm, testis
Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae by Michael E. Veal

Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press (2007)338 pp., Paperback, $27.95 The task of documenting and conveying the significance of a genre's intramusical, musical, and extramusical qualities repr...
Development and Validation of an Early Adolescent Temperament Measure

Two studies were employed to develop a self-report temperament measure for the early adolescent period. The measure was based on the work of Rothbart and colleagues with adults and focused on emoti...
Is there immune dysregulation in symptomatic Gulf War veterans

Many Gulf War veterans complain of a variety of symptoms including skin rashes and joint pain which may have a common immunological basis. Other Gulf War veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder associated with chronic stress. Whether or not chronic stress may affect the capacity to resist disease has not been fully delineated, but recent work suggests that a dysregulated balance of cytokines produced by T helper cells of the immune system may play a role in stress-related illnesses. It is known that a balanced immune response (cell-mediated and humoral immunity) is an important defense mechanism. Although the mechanism(s) by which a change in immune system balance occurs is not clear, it may be secondary to stress-induced changes in hormones such as cortisol and catecholamines, both of which have been implicated in altering levels of cellular or humoral immunity. For these reasons, we are investigating the function of both the cellular and humoral arms of the immune system as well as the cytokine patterns associated with these different functions in symptomatic Gulf War veterans and control groups consisting of asymptomatic Gulf War veterans and symptomatic non-Gulf War veterans.
Implicit deductive fault simulation for complex delay fault models

This paper introduces an implicit version of the well-known deductive fault simulation technique suitable to delay fault models with an exponential number of faults. The proposed method calculates the fault coverage by generating lists of entities for each line during a single topological circuit traversal. Each stored entity only contains a number and a subset of the test vectors. No delay faults are stored, and no special data structures are required. There are significant differences between the presented implicit method and fault coverage using deductive fault simulation. The method is shown to be effective for delay the path and segment delay fault models.
Additions to the Lichen Family Cladoniaceae in Australia

Abstract New taxa, including Squamella spumosa, gen. nov. et sp. nov. S. Hammer, and seven new species in the genus Cladonia, C. acervata S. Hammer, C. attacta S. Hammer, C. complanata S. Hammer, C. cucullata S. Hammer, C. glebosa S. Hammer, C. imbricata S. Hammer, and C. nudicaulis S. Hammer, are described. New records for the lichen family Cladoniaceae in Australia are introduced or confirmed.
Evaluation of the Protectiveness of a Paraffin Layer In CO2 Corrosion of Mild Steel

Crude oil composition is highly variable and complex. Its components can be broken down into four different classes by solubility characteristics such as: saturates, aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes. Within each class are myriad of chemical compounds, and many have the potential to interact with the pipeline wall to confer protection from corrosion. In this work the focus is on saturates, with the the n-paraffins chosen as being most relevant for the purposes of the present study. A representative pure model compound for the nparaffins used in the experiments is eicosane (C20H42). A mixture of eicosane and a clear, inert model oil was prepared with a range of paraffin concentrations (0 – 50% eicosane). The chemical properties of the mixture were measured, including the Wax Appearance Temperature (WAT), density, viscosity and interfacial tension. The CO2 corrosion rate for carbon steel was measured both below and above the WAT, using the linear polarization resistance (LPR) technique. The protectiveness of the long-chain paraffin layer was challenged by inducing flow (hydrodynamic shear stress) and by increasing temperature. The eicosane successfully conferred corrosion retardation at temperatures below the WAT; however, this protection did not withstand the effect of shear stress or increased temperature. Further analysis by using sessile drop contact angle measurements using a goniometer revealed that the protectiveness by the eicosane is related to changes in the wettability of the surface. The hydrophobicity of the steel surface increased as the concentration of the paraffins in the synthetic paraffin-oil mixture was increased.
Mathematics and language: Individual and group differences in mathematical language skills in young children

Abstract The development of early numeracy knowledge is influenced by a number of non-mathematical factors—particularly language skills. However, much of the focus on the relation between language and early numeracy has utilized general language measures and not domain-specific measures of mathematical language. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if the variance accounted for by general language skills in predicting numeracy performance was better accounted for by mathematical language. Further, age- and parental education-related differences in mathematical language performance were explored. Using a sample of 136 3- to 5-year-old preschool and kindergarten children ( M = 4.28 years, SD = 0.67 years), a series of mixed-effect regressions were conducted. Results indicated that although general language performance was initially a significant predictor of numeracy performance, when both mathematical language and general language were included in the model, only mathematical language was a significant predictor of numeracy performance. Further, group-difference analyses revealed that children from families where both parents had less than a college education performed significantly lower on mathematical language than their peers; and even by 3-years-old, children have acquired a substantial body of mathematical language skills. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Bilateral periorbital swelling as the initial presentation of cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), defined as isolated cutaneous lesions without significant systemic involvement, has a reported incidence and prevalence of 4.3 and 73.2 per 100,000, respectively.1 It occurs more commonly among women with a reported age of onset between the second and fourth decades of life.1 The 3 more common subtypes of lupus are systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), subacute cutaneous lupus, and discoid lupus erythematosus. A subset of patients shows atypical clinical manifestations of CLE, which are more rare subtypes and pose a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Antimalarial drugs are considered the mainstay of systemic therapy. Because it may take 2 to 3 months to note some improvement,2 oral or topical steroids are used in conjunction to facilitate response. We report a patient with an atypical presentation of CLE who also responded to hydroxychloroquine and review similar cases in the literature.
Say it to My Facebook: Authentication of Social Media Evidence

This Note looks at the current approaches taken by courts across the country to authentication of social media evidence. A uniform approach that treats social media evidence similarly to other forms of evidence is argued for.
Thermal Decomposition of Cigarette Paper. V

Low boiling compounds produced by pyrolysis of flax pulp, wood pulp and handmade cigarette paper composed of flax and wood pulps in helium atmosphere at 650°C were investigated by pyrolysis gas chromatographic analysis. Only a slight differences were observed as to the number of low boiling compounds in pyrolysis products among of flax pulp, wood pulp and handmade cigarette paper. 1, 3-Cyclopentadiene (No 27), propyne+allene (No 48), isobutane (No 13), 1, 2-butadiene (No 22) and 1-hexene+2-hexene (No 34), which have never been reported as the pyrolysis products of cellulose, were newly identified from the flax pulp pyrolyzates.Pyrolysis products of levoglucosan (1, 6-anhydro-β-D-glucopyranose), 2-furaldehyde and 5-methyl-2-furaldehyde were also investigated. The numbers and yields of the low boiling compounds in pyrolysis of levoglucosan were similar to those of filter paper, while those of 2-furaldehyde and 5-methyl-2-furaldehyde were significantly different from those of levoglucosan.In the case of filter paper (α-cellulose ca. 98%), the pyrolysis in helium atmosphere was studied in the range of 450°C-750°C. The optimum temperature of pyrolysis for the maximum numbers and yields of low boiling compounds was between 650°C and 700°C.
Monitor of fly density in Tai'an city

Objective To grasp the population composition and its seasonal fluctuation of flies in Tai'an city,and provide the scientific basis for developing flies control programs.Methods The cage alluring was conducted to monitor the flies density.Results A total of 2 054 flies were captured,with the average flies density of 17.1 pieces per cage.Of which,the dominant species were Musca domestica(25.80%),Lucilia sericata(20.84%) and Muscina stabulans(12.22%).The fluctuations of the flies density followed a single-peaked curve,the peak value appearing from July to August.It was different from the seasonal fluctuations of flies density in different habitats.The flies density in farmers'markets was very high(25.3 pieces per cage).Conclusion The level of flies density is very high,and the main control targets are Musca domestica,Lucilia sericata and Muscina stabulans in Tai'an city,so it is necessary to take the integrated measures to reduce the density of flies and strengthen the surveillance,warning and measures of flies and its diseases.
Tardive dyskinesia with low-dose, short-term neuroleptic therapy

The development, treatment, and outcome of a case of tardive dyskinesia following short-term, low-dose neuroleptic therapy is described. Thirty weeks of treatment with haloperidol, in doses never exceeding 10 mg daily, produced tardive dyskinesia symptomatology. Upon discontinuing haloperidol, the symptoms decreased significantly in severity within the first four weeks and disappeared completely within 12.5 weeks. This case is compared with the classical description of tardive dyskinesia symptomatology, etiology, response to treatment and degree of reversibility. Atypical features are explained and clinical implications of the case are offered.
Phlebotomy skills expected of career entry CLS/CLT graduates: a Missouri hospital perspective.

Objective To determine how much, what type, and what proficiency of phlebotomy experience CLS/CLT students should have during the training program to be prepared to meet the needs of the majority of Missouri hospital employers. Design Survey to determine the role healthcare professionals, inside and outside the laboratory, play in today's blood collection patterns and phlebotomy management. Setting/participants The Missouri Organization of Clinical Laboratory Science mailed 204 surveys to the Missouri Hospital Association member laboratories. MAIN OUTCOMES/CONCLUSIONS: This research examined the need for modifying phlebotomy skills of clinical laboratory science students. Data gathered from employers support the premise that entry-level competencies of CLS/CLT graduates will vary according to clinical facility size. CLS/CLT programs may use data from this study to plan phlebotomy practicums. It can be extrapolated that Missouri employers who are most likely to employ career entry graduates expect them to draw blood from 9.3 patients within one hour. Fifty-three percent of 40 to 400 bed hospitals expect graduates to perform difficult draws in at least eight types of hospital units. Laboratories are the major managers of hospital wide phlebotomy services; thus, CLS/CLT curricula should include phlebotomy management methods.
Network detection of radiation sources using ROSD localization

Networks of radiation counters are increasingly being deployed in monitoring applications to provide faster and better detection than individual detectors. Their performances critically depend on the algorithms used to aggregate measurements from individual detectors. Recently, localization-based algorithms have been developed for network detection, where multiple source location estimates are generated based on the measurements from various “dispersed” subnets: i) when a source is present, these source location estimates form a single dominant cluster; ii) otherwise, they are spatially dispersed. For example, the triangulation-based detection method [1] employs a closed-form quadratic expression for source location estimates using a subnet of three detectors. This method works well in relatively simple detector configurations, but may exhibit unpredictable performances in complex settings mainly due to the increased number of imaginary roots in the closed-form solution.
Personal communications systems using multiple hierarchical cellular overlays

A personal communication system with hierarchical cellular overlays is considered. The system can include a terrestrial segment and a space segment. The terrestrial segment, consisting of microcells and macrocells, provides high channel capacity by covering service areas with microcells. Overlaying macrocells provide overflow groups of channels for clusters of microcells. At the highest hierarchical level, satellite beams overlay clusters of terrestrial macrocells and provide primary access for satellite-only subscribers. Call attempts from cellular/satellite dual subscribers are first directed to the terrestrial cellular network, with satellites providing necessary overlay. At each level of the hierarchy, hand-off calls are given priority access to the channels. The mathematical structure is that of a multi-layer hierarchical overflow system. An analytical model for teletraffic performance (including hand-off) is developed. Theoretical performance measures are calculated for users having different mobility characteristics. These show the traffic distribution, blocking, and forced termination probabilities. >
Can testedness be effectively measured

Among the major questions that a practicing tester faces are deciding where to focus additional testing effort, and deciding when to stop testing. Test the least-tested code, and stop when all code is well-tested, is a reasonable answer. Many measures of "testedness" have been proposed; unfortunately, we do not know whether these are truly effective. In this paper we propose a novel evaluation of two of the most important and widely-used measures of test suite quality. The first measure is statement coverage, the simplest and best-known code coverage measure. The second measure is mutation score, a supposedly more powerful, though expensive, measure. We evaluate these measures using the actual criteria of interest: if a program element is (by these measures) well tested at a given point in time, it should require fewer future bug-fixes than a "poorly tested" element. If not, then it seems likely that we are not effectively measuring testedness. Using a large number of open source Java programs from Github and Apache, we show that both statement coverage and mutation score have only a weak negative correlation with bug-fixes. Despite the lack of strong correlation, there are statistically and practically significant differences between program elements for various binary criteria. Program elements (other than classes) covered by any test case see about half as many bug-fixes as those not covered, and a similar line can be drawn for mutation score thresholds. Our results have important implications for both software engineering practice and research evaluation.
Alan’s coming on to Shakespeare

ABSTRACTThere is no separating Alan Sinfield's life from his work; even the rooms of his house reflected their integration. And nowhere did he find so many of his causes and interests than in the cultural bastion Shakespeare. See his reading of the infamous sonnet 20, as shocking as it is irrefutable.
Context as an Organizing Principle of the Lexicon

Abstract Classic accounts of lexical organization posit that humans are sensitive to environmental frequency, suggesting a mechanism for word learning based on repetition. However, a recent spate of evidence has revealed that it is not simply frequency but the diversity and distinctiveness of contexts in which a word occurs that drives lexical organization. This chapter provides an in-depth evaluation of new research on contextual diversity, integrating evidence from word recognition, semantic memory, episodic memory, and information retrieval. The aggregate evidence suggests an expectancy–congruency learning mechanism that updates lexical representations based on the fit between the current contents of memory and the information in the local environmental context. This learning mechanism produces a well-structured lexicon that is adapted to the demands of lexical retrieval and processing.
Characterizing solutions in optimal microgrid procurement and dispatch strategies

As part of an energy-reduction study at remote sites, we explore a power system comprised of hybrid renewable energy technologies, specifically, photovoltaic cells, battery storage, and diesel generators. An optimization model determines the design and dispatch strategy of the power system to meet load off grid, such as at a military forward operating base. The model alternately uses two types of load data from government agencies, simulated and observed, to assess the effects of these inputs. Because the latter data set contains errors and is incomplete, we detail the process of cleaning and imputing it to provide a year’s worth in hourly increments for two forward operating bases in Afghanistan. We then construct an approximation of a realistic 600-soldier camp load from the full year of observed data. We compare the design and dispatch output from the optimization model using the simulated and constructed (observed) data sets and demonstrate that the results can differ. We investigate the characteristics of load that influence the optimization model’s behavior regarding the design and dispatch strategy and show that mean load has a more pronounced effect than its shape. In addition, the photovoltaic cells are often used to help the generators run more efficiently, especially under load variability.
A clinical alarm system using techniques from artificial intelligence and fuzzy set theory

ABSTRACT Computerized alarm systems have been well accepted in clinical medicine but suffer from several major limitations. In particular, they are generally not able to handle patient/disease specificity, temporal changes, multivariable combinations, and dynamic patterns. In addition, the crisp nature of the alarm limits is counterintuitive. In this paper, we describe these limitations in detail. We also present an approach for building alarm systems that do not suffer from these limitations. This approach uses techniques from artificial intelligence and from fuzzy set theory. In particular, a production system is used to initialize the alarm system, and fuzzy techniques are used to interpret the incoming data. A prototype system for the cardiac surgical intensive care unit is currently under development.
From Nuremberg to Guantanamo Bay: Uses of Physicians in the War on Terror

Seventy years after the Nuremberg Doctors’ Trial, health professionals and lawyers working together after 9/11 played a critical role in designing, justifying, and carrying out the US state-sponsored torture program in the CIA “Black Sites” and US military detention centers, including Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.We analyze the similarities between the Nazi doctors and health professionals in the War on Terror and address the question of how it happened that health professionals, including doctors, psychologists, physician assistants, and nurses, acted as agents of the state to utilize their medical and healing skills to cause harm and sanitize barbarous acts, similar to (though not on the scale of) how Nazi doctors were used by the Third Reich.
Histoire et politique dans la vallée du fleuve Sénégal: Mauritanie. Hiérarchies, échanges, colonisation et violences politiques, VIIIe-XXIe siècle: edited by Mariella Villasante Cervello and Raymond Taylor, with the collaboration of Christophe de Beauvais, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2017, 642 pp., €46.55 (paperback), ISBN 978-2-343-12135-2

Mauritanian history becomes a battlefield when the contingencies of the past are conscripted for the political exigencies of the present. General Mohamed Ould Abdel-Aziz, shortly after his 2008 cou...
Abstract LB-293: IL-2 diphtheria toxin fusion protein with anti-PD1: in mouse B16-F10 melanoma model

In tumor immunotherapy, regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) play an important role in the suppression of beneficial anti-tumor responses. In the non-immunogenic B16-F10 mouse melanoma model, tumors are found to be highly infiltrated by Tregs. DAB389IL-2 (Ontak, denileukin diftitox) is an IL-2 diphtheria toxin-related fusion protein that has been showed to deplete Tregs in both humans and mice. We treated mice with established B16F10 tumors with s-DAB389IL-2 (produced as a secreted protein from C. diphtheria) and observed a significant decrease in tumor growth rate in C57BL/6 mice. Also, s-DAB389IL-2 treatment increased the frequency of CD8+IFNγ+ T cells (TILs) in tumors and spleens. S-DAB389IL-2 treatment followed by PD-1 blockade resulted in greater tumor growth inhibition than either monotherapy alone. These data suggest that s-DAB389IL-2 plus anti-PD1 treatment can improve anti-tumor responses in non-immunogenic B16F10 melanoma and inhibit tumor growth. Additionally, we mutated a vascular leak inducing motif to construct s-DAB389IL-2 (V6A), which cause less vascular leak in vitro. S-DAB389IL-2 (V6A) inhibited tumor growth with similar efficacy to the original fusion toxin. As vascular leak is the major adverse effect caused by Ontak, DAB389IL-2 (V6A) shows promise as a better tolerated drug for further studies as a cancer immunotherapy. Citation Format: Juan Fu, Drew Pardoll, Laurene Cheung. IL-2 diphtheria toxin fusion protein with anti-PD1: in mouse B16-F10 melanoma model [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-293.
Decision Making in a Deregulated Power Environment Based on Fuzzy Sets

In a paper written in 1965 [1], Zadeh introduced the properties of fuzzy sets, and defined it as a class of objects with a continuum of grades of membership in the interval [0,1]. This definition differs from the conventional deterministic set theory in which objects have only membership (characteristic function) values taken from the discrete set {0,1}. In fuzzy set theory, each object x in a fuzzy set X is given a membership value using a membership function denoted by µ(x) which is corresponding to the characteristic function of the crisp set whose values range between zero (complete non-membership) and one (complete membership). In fuzzy sets, the closer the value µ(x) to 1.0 the more x belongs to X.
Myosin Light Chain Phosphorylation in Uterine Smooth Muscle

The uterus is a unique organ capable of increasing its size enormously during pregnancy. The strong contractions of the myometrium bring about the expulsion of the fetus. An understanding of uterine contractility has been the goal of many workers in the last half century.1 Only in this decade has it been recognized that phosphorylation of a small subunit in the head part of the myosin molecule plays a key role in uterine contractility.2–5
Damage Reduction via White-Box Failure Shaping

Emerging hardware that trades reliability guarantees for resource savings presents a challenge to software engineered for deterministic execution. Research areas like approximate computing, however, embrace non-determinism by abandoning strict correctness in favor of maximizing the probability and degree of correctness. Existing work has used stochastic failure sampling to perform white-box searches along software execution paths, producing criticality assessments of which selected operations are likely most damaging if they fail. Here, we apply these assessments to a new domain and employ them using failure shaping, an automated method for reducing a computation’s expected output damage in a model where failures can be relocated but not eliminated. In two case studies, we demonstrate error reductions of 38% to 63% on Strassen’s matrix multiplication algorithm despite a virtually identical failure count. We discuss how our framework helps provide a smooth landscape for performing the search-based software engineering that will be required to apply this technology to larger problems.
Check Clearing and Voidable Preference Law Under the Bankruptcy Code

Every business practice must withstand the critique of federal voidable preference law. This article sureys how well check clearing system fares under this adjunct to the principle that unsecured creditors should share equally in a bankruptcy proceeding. Check clearing involves extending short-term credit by depositary banks to their customers. Banks routinely extend unsecured and secured credit. The fate of a bank in its customer's bankruptcy differs, depending on what kind oif credit is extended. In the case of an overdraft, banks have preference risk, but they also have powerful defenses to muster against liability. In the case credit is advanced against the deposit of checks, the risk is smaller but still existant. This latter case includes the concept of check kiting, which this article explores.
“Measures of Dissipation in Viscoelastic Media” Extended: Toward Continuous Characterization Across Very Broad Geophysical Time Scales

Author(s): Lau, HCP; Holtzman, BK | Abstract: We develop a conceptual/quantitative framework whereby measurements of Earth's viscoelasticity may be assessed across the broad range of geophysical processes, spanning seismic wave propagation, postseismic relaxation, glacial isostatic adjustment, and mantle convection. Doing so requires overcoming three challenges: (A) separating spatial variations from intrinsic frequency dependence in mechanical properties; (B) reconciling different conceptual and constitutive viscoelastic models used to interpret observations at different frequencies; and (C) improving understanding of linear and nonlinear transient deformation mechanisms and their extrapolation from laboratory to earth conditions. We focus on (B), first demonstrating how different mechanical models lead to incompatible viscosity estimates from observations. We propose the determination of the “complex viscosity”—a frequency-dependent parameter complementary to other measures of dissipation (including frequency-dependent moduli and attenuation)—from such observations to reveal a single underlying broadband mechanical model. The complex viscosity illuminates transient creep in the vicinity of the Maxwell time, where most ambiguity lies.
Individual Differences in Learning Efficiency

Most research on long-term memory uses an experimental approach whereby participants are assigned to different conditions, and condition means are the measures of interest. This approach has demons...
Rediscovering the Apaporis Caiman (Caiman crocodilus apaporiensis): Notes from a Long-Anticipated Expedition

Caiman crocodilus apaporiensis has been of particular interest because of its clearly differentiated morphotype within the Spectacled Caiman complex. Information on the biology of C. c. apaporiensis is incomplete because of its restricted distribution in the inaccessible middle and upper Apaporis River in Colombia. I undertook an expedition to the middle Apaporis River basin in an attempt to validate the presence of C. c. apaporiensis through observations on morphometry, ecology, and ethnozoology. Previously described skull characteristics were clearly differentiable in both adults and subadults in the region. However, because many individual C. c. apaporiensis that were either captured or visually assessed were relatively small, some skull characteristics more closely resembled the more general C. crocodilus morphotype. Although data on population size and distribution of C. c. apaporiensis remain limited, information gleaned from local inhabitants indicates that the subspecies is common in the middle Apaporis River. Population parameter and molecular phylogeography studies could lead to management practices that would protect the genetic integrity of C. c. apaporiensis by minimizing subspecific interbreeding.
Assessing BDNF as a mediator of the effects of exercise on depression.

Abstract Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is associated with neuronal growth and reduced BDNF has been implicated in depression. A recent meta-analysis documented reliable effects of exercise on BDNF levels (Szuhany et al., 2015); although, few studies included participants with mental health conditions. In this study, we examine whether increased exercise was associated with enhanced BDNF response in depressed patients, and whether this change mediated clinical benefits. A total of 29 depressed, sedentary participants were randomized to receive either behavioral activation (BA) plus an exercise or stretching prescription. Blood was collected prior to (resting BDNF levels) and following an exercise test (pre-to post-exercise BDNF change) at four points throughout the study. Participants also completed depression and exercise assessments. BDNF increased significantly across all assessment points (p Clinical Trials Registry (clinicaltrials.gov) NCT02176408 , “Efficacy of Adjunctive Exercise for the Behavioral Treatment of Major Depression”.
The Case for Writing Critical Thinking Reports as a Teaching Strategy on Today's Hospital Wards.

I review some of the challenges in teaching medical students and housestaff on today’s hospital medicine wards, including increasingly limited time for dedicated teaching. Tapping into the extensiv...
Multi-User Competitive Energy-Aware and QoE-Aware Video Streaming on Mobile Devices

Video streaming on mobile devices necessitates a balance between a users' Quality of Experience (QoE) and energy consumption. Given large data sizes from video, extensive amounts of battery power are required for downloading, processing, and playing each video segment. However, video quality may suffer drastically in an effort to pursue energy efficiency. In balancing these two objectives, our research incorporates advanced energy models, processor clock rates, buffer management, and network quality aware downloading. Furthermore, multi-user systems present unique challenges in optimization given competition for network resources. Our algorithm accounts for these fluctuations and concurrent demands across both many users and many cells. Present application in LTE networks and foundations for future implementation in 5G systems are provided.
Open-flux solutions to the quantum constraints for plane gravity waves

The metric for plane gravitational waves is quantized within the Hamiltonian framework, using a Dirac constraint quantization and the self-dual field variables proposed by Ashtekar. The z axis (direction of travel of the waves) is taken to be the entire real line rather than the torus [manifold coordinatized by $(z,t)$ is $R\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}R$ rather than ${S}_{1}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}R$]. Solutions to the constraints are proposed; they involve open-ended flux lines running along the entire $z$ axis, rather than closed loops of flux. These solutions are annihilated by the constraints at all interior points of the $z$ axis. At the two boundary points, the Gauss constraint does not annihilate the solutions, because of the presence of open-ended flux lines at the boundaries. This result is in sharp contrast to the situation in the general, (3+1)-dimensional case without planar symmetry, where the Gauss constraints do not contribute at the boundaries because the Lagrange multipliers for the Gauss constraints fall to zero at spatial infinity. In the planar symmetry case, the Lagrange multiplier for rotations about the internal $Z$ axis survives at the boundary. The constraints are found to annihilate the solutions when classical matter terms are added to the Hamiltonian (so that flux lines are terminated on the matter). The holonomy matrices used in the solutions are generated by the $(2j+1)$-dimensional representation of SU(2), where $j$ may be any spin, not necessarily $j=1/2$. In this respect the solutions resemble the symmetric states, or spin network states recently constructed by Rovelli and Smolin in loop space. The Rovelli-Smolin area operator for areas in the $\mathrm{xy}$ plane is constructed and applied to the solutions, with puzzling results.
Travel distance is associated with stage at presentation and laryngectomy rates among patients with laryngeal cancer

BACKGROUND The impact of travel distance on stage at presentation and management strategies of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is unknown. We investigated this relationship. METHODS Retrospective review of patients with laryngeal SCC in the National Cancer Data Base from 2004 to 2016. Multivariate analysis determined relationships between travel distance, sociodemographic, geographic, and hospital factors. Logistic regression determined the influence of travel distance on T-stage and overall stage at presentation, and receipt of total laryngectomy. RESULTS Sixty thousand four hundred and thirty-nine patients were divided into groups based on distance to treatment: short ( 50 miles). Increased travel was associated with T4-stage (intermediate vs. short OR 1.11, CI 1.04-1.18, p = 0.001; long vs. short OR 1.5, CI 1.36-1.65, p < 0.001), and total laryngectomy (intermediate vs. short OR 1.40, CI 1.3-1.5, p ≤ 0.001; long vs. short OR 2.52, CI 2.28-2.79, p ≤ 0.001). In T4 disease, total laryngectomy was associated with improved survival compared to nonsurgical treatment (HR 0.75, CI 0.70-0.80, p < 0.001) regardless of travel distance. CONCLUSION Longer travel distance to care is associated with increased stage at presentation, rate of laryngectomy, and improved survival in advanced laryngeal SCC. Health policy efforts should be directed towards improving early access to diagnosis and care.
Health Service Access Among Homeless Veterans: Health Access Challenges Faced by Homeless African American Veterans

Veteran homelessness is a public health crisis, especially among the disproportionate number of minority veterans in the homeless veteran population. African American homeless veterans in particular face unique challenges accessing appropriate health care services to meet their medical needs. Their needs are often underrepresented in the literature on veteran homelessness. Drawing together over 80 studies and government reports from the last two decades, this review provides a timely synopsis of homeless veterans' health care access, with a particular focus on the barriers faced by African American veterans. This review employs Penchansky and Thomas' Access Model to frame health access barriers faced by homeless veterans, dialing in on what is known about the experience of African American veterans, within the five dimensions of access: Availability, Accessibility, Accommodation, Affordability, and Acceptability. Actionable guidance and targeted interventions to address health access barriers for all veterans are delineated with a focus on the need to gather further data for African American homeless veterans and to consider tailoring interventions for this important and underserved group.