cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration after an acute rotator cuff repair in a sheep model.

Introduction rotator cuff tears (RCTs) are the most common tendon injury seen in orthopedic patients. Muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration of the muscle are crucial factors that dictate the outcome following rotator cuff surgery. Though less studied in humans, rotator cuff muscle fibrosis has been seen in animal models as well and may influence outcomes as well. The purpose of this study was to determine if the rotator cuff would develop muscle changes even in the setting of an acute repair in a sheep model. We hypothesized that fatty infiltration and fibrosis would be present even after an acute repair six months after initial surgery. Methods twelve female adult sheep underwent an acute rotator cuff tear and immediate repair on the right shoulder. The left shoulder served as a control and did not undergo a tear or a repair. Six months following acute rotator cuff repairs, sheep muscles were harvested to study atrophy, fatty infiltration, and fibrosis by histological analysis, western blotting, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results the repair group demonstrated an increase expression of muscle atrophy, fatty infiltration, and fibrosis related genes. Significantly increased adipocytes, muscle fatty infiltration, and collagen deposition was observed in rotator cuff muscles in the tendon repair group compared to the control group. Conclusions rotator cuff muscle undergoes degradation changes including fatty infiltration and fibrosis even after the tendons are repair immediately after rupture. Level of evidence Basic Science Study.
Grasping primate development: Ontogeny of intrinsic hand and foot proportions in capuchin monkeys (Cebus albifrons and Sapajus apella)

Young primates have relatively large hands and feet for their body size, perhaps enhancing grasping ability. We test the hypothesis that selection for improved grasping ability is responsible for these scaling trends by examining the ontogeny of intrinsic hand and foot proportions in capuchin monkeys (Cebus albifrons and Sapajus apella). If selection for improved grasping ability is responsible for the observed patterns of hand and foot growth in primates, we predicted that fingers and toes would be longer early in life and proportionally decline with age. We measured the lengths of manual and pedal metapodials and phalanges in a mixed-longitudinal radiographic sample. Bone lengths were (a) converted into phalangeal indices (summed non-distal phalangeal length/metapodial length) to test for age-related changes in intrinsic proportions and (b) fit to Gompertz models of growth to test for differences in the dynamics of phalangeal versus metapodial growth. Manual and pedal phalangeal indices nearly universally decreased with age in capuchin monkeys. Growth curve analyses revealed that metapodials generally grew at a faster rate, and for a longer duration, than corresponding phalanges. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that primates are under selection for increased grasping ability early in life. Relatively long digits may be functionally adaptive for growing capuchins, permitting a more secure grasp on both caregivers and arboreal supports, as well as facilitating early foraging. Additional studies of primates and other mammals, as well as tests of grasping performance, are required to fully evaluate the adaptive significance of primate hand and foot growth.
Carrier Recovery in Coherent Optical Communication Systems

Carrier recovery is an important building block for modern coherent optical communication systems. This chapter first introduces the concept of carrier recovery and the challenges faced. Before diving into the detail of hardware‐efficient carrier recovery algorithms, the chapter gives a brief introduction to the Cramer‐Rao lower bound (CRLB), CRLB provides us with a more fundamental way to evaluate the effectiveness of various carrier recovery algorithms. Before proceeding to discuss various frequency offset estimation schemes, the chapter focuses on several hardware‐efficient phase estimation algorithms by assuming that the frequency offset has been largely compensated‐for before phase recovery. It describes in more detail three hardware‐efficient multistage phase recovery algorithms that have been demonstrated for high‐SE 100Gb/s and beyond transmission experiments. These are the multistage hybrid blind phase search (BPS)/maximum likelihood (ML) phase recovery algorithm, the hybrid phase‐locked loop (PLL)/ML algorithm, and the training‐assisted two‐stage BPS/ML algorithm.
A 28GHz SiGe BiCMOS phase invariant VGA

The paper describes a technique to design a phase invariant variable gain amplifier (VGA). Variable gain is achieved by varying the bias current in a BJT, while the phase variation is minimized by designing a local feedback network such that the applied base to emitter voltage has a bias-dependent phase variation which compensates the inherent phase variation of the transconductance. Two differential 28GHz VGA variants based on these principles achieve −13dBm while consuming 35mW.
The Poet’s Truth

At the heart of the extended addition to the 1802 version of the Preface stands Wordsworth’s famous declaration about Aristotle: Aristotle, I have been told, has said, that Poetry is the most philosophic of all writing: it is so: its object is truth …. (lines 377–9)
The Influence of Classroom Engagement on Community College Student Learning: A Quantitative Analysis of Effective Faculty Practices.

Objective: This study asked how faculty behaviors and course decisions best predict learning gains for students. Next, it investigated how the identified engaging practices vary based on faculty em...
Video for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention: Promises, Challenges, and Future Directions.

The authors reflect on the use of video recordings and Internet videos in adolescent pregnancy prevention interventions, and it mentions the cost effectiveness of video prevention programs, as well as information about a multi-site randomized controlled trials to evaluate the Seventeen Days interactive video intervention. Increased sexual abstinence and reduced condom failures are examined in relation to teenage pregnancy prevention programs. The limitations of technology are assessed.
Awakening the "Walking Dead": Zombie Pedagogy for Millennials

This article lays out the pedagogical benefits of using popular zombie productions, particularly AMC's The Walking Dead, to teach a critical introduction to modern political theory. Based on my undergraduate course: "Political Theory, Climate Change, and the Zombie Apocalypse," the article outlines how The Walking Dead can be used to critique the mythic assumptions built into modern social contract theory; to introduce other political ideologies, including conservatism, anarchism, fascism, and communism; and to consider the political challenges raised by a global problem such as climate change in an increasingly neoliberal environment. Zombie productions are offered as a particularly salient pedagogical tool that can help awaken critical political analysis for the Millennial Generation.
Are Family Routines Modifiable Determinants of Preschool Children’s Eating, Dietary Intake, and Growth? A Review of Intervention Studies

Children’s eating behaviors are critical determinants of their dietary intake and, hence, childhood growth. Nutritional interventions among families with young children are focused on parents as agents of change, with interventions increasingly targeting family routines as drivers of children’s eating and health outcomes. This review describes studies that have acted on family routines in the context of preschoolers’ eating and growth, summarizes their findings, and discusses the limitations of current approaches to studying family routines and the implications for future research. We found that food availability and parental offering of foods have been modified by several interventions and linked to positive changes in child outcomes. Parent interventions have had success in reducing controlling feeding practices and improving self-efficacy related to child feeding, but these have not been associated with long-term change in child outcomes. We conclude that opportunities exist to strengthen the definition, operationalization, and measurement of family routine variables. Improvements in fidelity and process evaluation measures will be important for more efficacious intervention development and dissemination.
Linguistic Anthropology in 2016: Now What?

In this review, I extend the ideological and discursive insights on prejudice and racism offered by Jane Hill in her work The Everyday Language of White Racism to consider the potential of linguistic anthropology to address social injustice. In a year marked by the global rise of right-wing politics, 2016 cannot simply be viewed as business as usual, but rather calls for a reevaluation of the potential of linguistic anthropology in light of what it can do now. The essay is thematically organized to focus on the production of value and the reproduction of inequality over a wide range of modalities and research contexts. I begin with the “Metrics of Analysis” to review conceptual frameworks through which ethnographic analysis has been undertaken, such as temporality, scale, multimodality, technology, discourse studies, and others. The sections that follow expand upon these themes across three broad headings. The first, “Participation and Social (In)Justice,” addresses the complex agendas and institutional processes that mediate linguistic struggles for equality in settler colonial and indigenous contexts, political language, racism and social justice, and the affordances and limitations of language for young people. The second, “Global Ethnonationalism,” builds on a language ideology framework to examine the study of minority languages, the language of right-wing religiosity, and the contradictions of national branding. The third explores “Epistemologies of Value” via performativity, embodiment, sound, materiality, ontology, and media. The essay concludes with potential directions for linguistic anthropologists to address the worldwide “alt-” realities that have come into clearer view. [ethnonationalism, language ideology, race, semiotics, social justice]
Adamantinoma‐like Ewing sarcoma of the parotid gland: Cytopathologic findings and differential diagnosis

Adamantinoma-like Ewing sarcoma (AES) is a rare variant of Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (EFTs), primarily affecting bone and soft tissue. AES has mixed features of Ewing sarcoma (ES)/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) and adamantinoma with a complex immunoprofile and EWSR1 gene rearrangements. Herein, we report a 72-year-old male who presented with left parotid mass, right neck mass and thyroid nodules. Fine needle aspiration of the left parotid mass displayed nests of monotonous epithelioid cells with basaloid features in a background of small round blue cells and lymphocytes. AES can involve head and neck region and is characterized by groups of primitive small round blue cells admixed with groups of epithelioid cells with amphophilic cytoplasm and focal squamous differentiation. The proportion of these components can be variable, creating diagnostic challenges, particularly in unusual anatomic sites such as the parotid gland. However, when additional material is available, CD99 and/or FLI1 immunostains need to be included for diagnostic confirmation.
Abstract A114: SIRT2 directs DNA-PKcs in the DNA damage response

DNA Damage Response (DDR) pathways, including DNA repair and cell-cycle checkpoints, are critical for maintaining genome integrity and preventing disease including cancer. Deficiencies in the DDR result in increased susceptibility to cancer, a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, the mechanisms mediating the activities of the DDR and how their dysregulation leads to genomic instability and a tumor-permissive phenotype are not fully understood. Sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) is a class III NAD+ dependent histone deacetylase implicated in maintaining genomic stability and tumor suppression in that genetic loss of Sirt2 results in both genomic instability and specific murine breast and liver tumors. SIRT2 deficiency in human cells results in hypersensitivity to DNA damage, impaired recovery from replication arrest, and a defect in the G2/M checkpoint in response to ionizing radiation (IR). Preliminary data demonstrate a strong interaction between SIRT2 and DNA-PKcs following IR in human cell lines. DNA-PKcs is a well-established nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) mediator kinase that is capable of self-regulation by autophosphorylation at serine 2056 to promote end ligation. SIRT2 knockdown inhibits localization of DNA-PKcs to sites of microirradiation and co-immunoprecipitation with the KU complex in response to IR. Inhibition of localization leads to decreased self-activation of DNA-PKcs at serine 2056 and decreased interaction with KU in SIRT2 knockout lines in response to IR. DNA-PKcs self-phosphorylation and interaction with KU is rescued following damage with wild-type SIRT2 but not with deacetylase dead SIRT2 H187Y, indicating that SIRT2 enzymatic function is necessary for regulation. Overexpression of SIRT2 leads to premature autophosphorylation of DNA-PKcs a serine 2056 without induction of DNA damage. We also demonstrate SIRT2 is capable of deacetylating DNA-PKcs in vitro and in cells. SIRT2 overexpression leads to increased DNA-PKcs self-phosphorylation before and after IR. In addition SIRT2 knockout cell lines exhibit increased sensitivity to IR and CPT. Overall, these data demonstrate that SIRT2 could be a strong potential cancer therapeutic target. Citation Format: Pamelasara E. Head, Hui Zhang, David S. Yu. SIRT2 directs DNA-PKcs in the DNA damage response [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2017 Oct 26-30; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2018;17(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A114.
Allelic variant in the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor gene associated with greater effect of liraglutide and exenatide on gastric emptying: A pilot pharmacogenetics study.

BACKGROUND Weight loss in response to the long-acting GLP-1 receptor (GLP1R) analog, liraglutide, is correlated with delay in gastric-emptying (GE). The aim of this pilot study was to assess whether specific genetic variants in GLP1R or TCF7L2 are associated with delayed GE and weight loss in obese patients treated with liraglutide or the short-acting GLP-1 agonist, exenatide. METHODS We evaluated in obese individuals the associations of genetic variations of GLP1R (rs6923761) and TCF7L2 (rs7903146) on GE T1/2 and weight from two trials that evaluated separately exenatide, 5 μg BID for 30 days, or liraglutide, 3 mg daily for 5 weeks. Data were analyzed using the dominant genetic model and intention-to-treat analysis. KEY RESULTS There was a significant correlation between changes in weight and GE T1/2 (rs = -.382, P = .004). GLP1R rs6923761 minor allele A (AA_AG) carriers who received either exenatide or liraglutide had greater delay in GE T1/2 relative to baseline (117.9 ± 27.5 [SEM] minutes and 128.9 ± 38.32 minutes) compared to GG genotype (95.8 ± 30.4 minutes and 61.4 ± 21.4 minutes, respectively; P = .11). There was a non-significant difference in weight loss based on GLP1R rs6923761 genotype after 5 weeks of treatment. There were no significant correlations with TCF7L2 (rs7903146) genotype. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES The minor A allele of GLP1R (rs6923761) is associated with greater delay in GE T1/2 in response to liraglutide and exenatide. These studies provide data to plan pharmacogenetics testing of the hypothesis that GLP1R (rs6923761) influences weight loss in response to GLP1R agonists.
Implementation of an Innovative Tablet-based Curriculum for Radiology Resident Education

Rationale and Objectives The aim of this study was to prospectively examine the impact of a tablet-based curriculum on the radiology resident educational experience. Materials and Methods A comprehensive tablet-based curriculum was developed by creating subspecialty modules with appropriate content level for each required rotation at our diagnostic radiology residency program. Daily assignments included key learning points, readings, and reference presentation slides, covering all objectives published by the ABR Core Exam Study Guide. Residents were provided with iPad devices preconfigured with the curriculum and online access to most major radiology textbooks available in our institutional digital library. Assessment surveys were administered at baseline and 12 months following curriculum implementation. Results Twenty-two residents completed both surveys. In comparing the pre versus postsurvey results, 32% versus 73% residents agreed or strongly agreed that study resources were well-organized, 41% versus 91% agreed or strongly agreed that study resources were easily accessible, 27% versus 77% agreed or strongly agreed that the modules encouraged active learning, 18% versus 82% agreed or strongly agreed that resources motivate them to study daily, 36% versus 82% agreed or strongly agreed that the resources adequately prepared the resident for the radiology board exam, and 36% versus 82% agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied with the resources provided by the residency program ( p Conclusion Our study demonstrated the positive impact of implementing a complete tablet-based curriculum on radiology resident motivation, satisfaction, and engagement. Use of mobile tablet devices has the potential to dramatically transform content delivery in residency education.
A solid polymer electrolyte for aluminum ion conduction

Abstract We report on the synthesis and characterization of a solid polymer electrolyte for aluminum ion conduction. The solid polymer electrolyte is produced via the copolymerization of a low molecular weight polytetrahydrofuran and a cycloaliphatic epoxy. The crosslinked copolymer is swollen in THF solutions of different concentrations of aluminum nitrate as the aluminum ion source. The conductivity as a function of concentration is measured via AC impedance spectroscopy over a temperature range of 20–110 °C. We attain conductivities that increase with salt loading, reaching a value of 2.86 × 10−5 S·cm−1. Thermogravimetric analysis shows the electrolytes are stable up to 150 °C. Raman spectroscopy reveals complete dissociation of the aluminum nitrate salt in the electrolyte over the concentration range explored. This study establishes a polymer system and synthetic route towards solid polymer electrolytes for aluminum ion conduction, for the development of all solid-state aluminum ion batteries.
Rate-Distortion optimized transcoder selection for multimedia transmission in heterogeneous networks

In this paper we propose a solution for selection of appropriate transcoding nodes in a network operating in ad-hoc mode. The heterogeneity present in today's networked devices necessitates different quality of video for different end users. One possible solution for this heterogeneity is to transcode the video stream as per user demand. In this work, we define significant parameters to facilitate decision on selection of transcoding nodes within a wireless access network. We formulate the problem as a rate-distortion optimization to achieve conflicting objectives of high quality and minimum time of delivery to an end user. Unlike past works which have focused on transcoding to develop efficient distributed transcoders, our aim is to come up with methods for placement of these parallel transcoding nodes in a heterogeneous network, keeping in view the constraints of timely delivery of video and minimal distortion.
Analysis of Fission Gas Disposition in Light Water Reactor Steady-State Operation

A model to predict fission gas behavior in irradiated uranium dioxide fuel during the steadystate operation of a nuclear reactor is developed. The basic physical phenomena encountered in analyzing the disposition of fission gas have been retained, but in a simplified form for ease of calculation. The analysis includes treatment of intragranular, grain face, and grain edge gas, and release to open spaces. The code is utilized to obtain comparison with experimental data and to perform fuel behavior studies. The sensitivity studies indicate the importance of grain face and grain edge bubble treatments in modeling fission gas. It is found that representation of release in different sections of the fuel pin is possible in a simple way by assuming evenly spaced bubbles on the edge, and that grain edge bubble interlinkage is a necessary condition for release to the open spaces. The sensitivity studies show that fission gas swelling is mainly due to grain edge bubbles. Grain face bubbles, although large in size, are few in number and contribute little to swelling. Intragranular swelling is intermediate between these two values. The code is successfully used to analyze the Westinghouse fission gas release data from the Zorita, Spain, light water reactormore » and data from the U.K. reactor DIDO. This success in modeling experiments suggests that the present code can be used in predicting fuel element performance, which is necessary in nuclear fuel design, safety analysis, and interpretation of experimental data on fuel element behavior.« less
Targeted retail coupons influence category-level food purchases over 2-years

Targeted coupons strongly influence purchasing behavior and may represent an innovative approach for improving dietary behaviors. The retail analytics firm, Dunnhumby, provided secondary retail data containing grocery transactions, targeted coupon exposures, and coupon use for 2500 households over 2-years. The USDA Quarterly At-Home Food Purchasing Database was used to categorize individual foods into 52 categories and combined into 12 food groups. Mixed effects linear models estimated the difference-in-difference effects of coupon exposure on category-level purchase rate/wk. pre- and post-campaign; models also tested effect modification by food category. Category-level food purchases significantly increased post-campaign. Mean (SD) food purchases/wk. Among exposed households (17.34 (13.08) units/wk) vs. unexposed households (3.75 (4.59) units/wk) were higher (p < 0.001). Difference-in-difference effects of coupon exposure showed a higher increase in purchase rate among exposed vs. unexposed households (5.73 vs. 0.67, p < 0.001). Food category significantly modified the association between coupon exposure and coupon campaign. Category-level purchase rate among exposed vs. unexposed households was relatively higher in less healthful (e.g. convenience foods) vs. more healthful categories (e.g. nuts) with a 1.17 unit/wk. increase in convenience foods purchase (p < 0.001) vs. a 0.03 unit/wk. increase in nuts (p < 0.001). Exploratory analyses suggested that price elasticity of food categories for targeted coupons (1.02–2.81) was higher than previous estimates for untargeted coupons. Across food categories, coupon exposure increased category-level purchase rate, with a relatively larger effect size for less healthful than more healthful categories. Promising results from this preliminary study suggest that experimental research is warranted to determine whether targeting with the explicit purpose of improving dietary quality can more effectively influence diet, and whether it can do so more cost effectively.
Cloud Kanban Framework for Service Operations Management

Abstract As continuous improvement tools evolve, so does the complexity and the size of data. With the ubiquity of data and the scale of machine automation, abilities for rapid decision making and handling of ever increasing complexity of system become necessary. Kanban is on the robust tool to visualize any process. In this paper, we propose a cloud Kanban framework that enables deployment of process excellence. The study addresses two research questions: (1) how can a robust cloud-based Kanban decision support framework work for a service industry, particularly in operations? (2) how can an evolutionary algorithm, specifically Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), augment a cloud-based Kanban decision support framework?
Clinical and Molecular Models of Prognostication in Mastocytosis: Analysis Based on 580 Consecutive Cases

Background: The 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) system lists five morphological categories of systemic mastocytosis (SM): indolent (ISM), smoldering (SSM), SM with an associated hematological neoplasm (SM-AHN), aggressive (ASM) and mast cell leukemia (MCL) (Blood. 2016;127:2391). In the current study, we capitalized on the large number of accumulated cases of SM seen at the Mayo Clinic, between 1968 and 2015 (n=580), in order to devise two separate but complementary prognostic models that are based on either clinically-derived variables, or a combination of both clinical and molecular information. Methods: Study patients (n=580) were recruited from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. Diagnoses of SM and its morphological subcategories were confirmed by both clinical and bone marrow examinations, in line with the 2016 WHO criteria (Blood. 2016;127:2391). Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed in a subset of the study population (n=150). Statistical analyses considered clinical and laboratory data collected at the time of initial diagnosis at the Mayo Clinic. Conventional statistics was used for calculation and of overall survival and determination of inter-independent risk factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the prognostically most discriminative platelet threshold. The JMP® Pro 13.0.0 software from SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA, was used for all calculations. Results: 580 patients with SM (median age 55 years; range 18-88 years; 52% males) were included in the current study; 291 (50%) constituted indolent and 289 (50%) advanced variants; the latter included 85 (15%) ASM, 199 (34%) SM-AHN and 5 MCL cases. At presentation, anemia defined by hemoglobin level below the lower limit of the sex-adjusted reference range, was present in 41% of the patients, hemoglobin Age-adjusted multivariable analysis of clinical variables, which did not include mutation or cytogenetic information, identified age >60 years (HR 2.5, 95% CI 1.8-3.4), advanced vs ISM (HR 2.3, 95% CI 1.5-3.7), thrombocytopenia Conclusions: The current study advances two separate but complimentary risk models for SM and illustrates the additional prognostic contribution of mutations and underlines the importance of thrombocytopenia and serum ALP and albumin levels in both risk models. Furthermore, we show effective application of both risk models in advanced and indolent SM. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
A performance evaluation of surplus production models with time-varying intrinsic growth in dynamic ecosystems

We conducted a simulation study to evaluate performance of surplus production models (SPMs) with a time-varying intrinsic growth rate (SPMTVr) for stocks with predation-driven changes in productivi...
The Financial Imperative of Marketing

This chapter describes the reasons for measuring the performance of a firm in financial terms. First, finance is the language of the firm; publicly incorporated firms must report results in financial terms and are evaluated based on financial performance. Second, financial measures are the only way to compare alternative actions across products, markets, and customers. Such decisions can only be made if the costs and benefits are translated into comparable terms, and this usually means financial terms. The only way to answer questions about the optimal marketing mix is to translate marketing activities and outcomes into financial terms. Measuring marketing outcomes in financial terms provides accountability. Finally, measures of financial performance promote organizational learning and cross-functional team work by focusing members of the team on a common set of inputs and outcomes.
A Globally Convergent LCL Method for Nonlinear Optimization

For optimization problems with nonlinear constraints, linearly constrained Lagrangian (LCL) methods sequentially minimize a Lagrangian function subject to linearized constraints. These methods converge rapidly near a solution but may not be reliable from arbitrary starting points. The well known example \MINOS\ has proven effective on many large problems. Its success motivates us to propose a globally convergent variant. Our stabilized LCL method possesses two important properties: the subproblems are always feasible, and they may be solved inexactly. These features are present in \MINOS only as heuristics. The new algorithm has been implemented in \Matlab, with the option to use either the \MINOS or \SNOPT Fortran codes to solve the linearly constrained subproblems. Only first derivatives are required. We present numerical results on a nonlinear subset of the \COPS, \CUTE, and HS test-problem sets, which include many large examples. The results demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of the stabilized LCL procedure.
La ciudadanía desde el pensamiento social religioso comparado islamocristiano

Citizenship, meaning belonging to a political community, is a concept of secular origin, fruit of the Western modernity and a key for a healthy distinction between religion and politics. Nevertheless, religious traditions can help to get a deeper understanding of this concept. From a comparative theology perspective, the tradition of secular political thought and Christian and Muslim traditions of political thought have a lot to learn from each other. On the one hand, Christianity and Islam can be enlightened from the secular idea of citizenship as a way to deepen in a just differentiation between religion and politics. On the other hand, both religious traditions, each one in its own way, help the secular tradition to look at the human being as whole, including its religious dimension, as well as to understand the concept of citizenship as open to the reality of the entire human family.
Identifying Hidden Buyers in Darknet Markets via Dirichlet Hawkes Process.

The darknet markets are notorious black markets in cyberspace, which involve selling or brokering drugs, weapons, stolen credit cards, and other illicit goods. To combat illicit transactions in the cyberspace, it is important to analyze the behaviors of participants in darknet markets. Currently, many studies focus on studying the behavior of vendors. However, there is no much work on analyzing buyers. The key challenge is that the buyers are anonymized in darknet markets. For most of the darknet markets, We only observe the first and last digits of a buyer's ID, such as ``a**b''. To tackle this challenge, we propose a hidden buyer identification model, called UNMIX, which can group the transactions from one hidden buyer into one cluster given a transaction sequence from an anonymized ID. UNMIX is able to model the temporal dynamics information as well as the product, comment, and vendor information associated with each transaction. As a result, the transactions with similar patterns in terms of time and content group together as the subsequence from one hidden buyer. Experiments on the data collected from three real-world darknet markets demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach measured by various clustering metrics. Case studies on real transaction sequences explicitly show that our approach can group transactions with similar patterns into the same clusters.
Sorption and desorption behavior of PFOS and PFOA onto a Gram-positive and a Gram-negative bacterial species measured using particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy

Abstract In this study we examined whether a Gram-positive and a Gram-negative bacterial species have the capability to remove perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) from solution through sorption reactions under two different pH conditions. We developed a novel approach for quantifying PFAS in solution using particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy, and we used the results to constrain the important PFAS-bacterial sorption mechanisms. A mass balance experiment measuring PFOS in the aqueous phase and solid phase confirmed that PIGE spectroscopy measurements can account for all PFOS in the system, demonstrating for the first time how PIGE spectroscopy can be used to quantify the extent of PFAS sorption in experimental systems. Significant sorption occurred under most conditions studied, with up to 40 ± 5% and 67 ± 11% sorption of PFOA and PFOS, respectively. PFOA and PFOS sorption were both rapid, with steady-state being attained within minutes. PFOS sorption was pH dependent while PFOA sorption was pH independent, and greater sorption occurred onto Bacillus subtilis biomass compared to Pseudomonas putida biomass for both PFAS types. This sorption behavior suggests that pH, the PFAS head molecule, and cell wall structure all have a significant effect on the extent and mechanisms of bacterial sorption of PFAS. The observed sorption behaviors suggest that sorption of both molecules involves electrostatic and hydrophobic components. PFOS desorption was rapid and exhibited complete reversibility for both bacterial species, indicating that sorption is likely a cell surface phenomenon with no internalization occurring on the timescale of these experiments, and that the process can be modeled as an equilibrium reaction. Our work demonstrates that different PFAS molecules react to bacteria differently, and thus likely have markedly different mobilities in the environment. PFAS sorption in geologic systems is strongly influenced by organic matter, and our results suggest that biosorption may represent an inexpensive and effective PFAS remediation technique.
Evolutionary Constraints on Creativity in the Visual and Plastic Arts

The visual and plastic arts represent a fundamental arena for human creativity and aesthetics, lying at the intersection of the sciences and the humanities. In this chapter, I examine the extent to which evolutionary pressures—taking the form of canalized aesthetic biases building on fundamental psychobiological mechanisms—may still persist, in strongly constraining the practice of human art-making. I lay out the empirical evidence bearing on the nature and potential flexibility of such constraints; teasing out some implications, I also address prospects for the long-term sustainability of coherent creative traditions. The latter issue is of special contemporary importance, given the abundantly documented pressure for aesthetic innovation and novelty, which over time comes into progressively harsher conflict with our evolutionarily constrained aesthetic preferences.
On Inexact Solvers for the Coarse Problem of BDDC

In this study, we present Balancing Domain Decomposition by Constraints (BDDC) preconditioners for three-dimensional scalar elliptic and linear elasticity problems in which the direct solution of the coarse problem is replaced by a preconditioner based on a smaller vertex-based coarse space.
Did Brazilians Vote for Jair Bolsonaro Because They Share his Most Controversial Views

The similarity of Jair Bolsonaro’s and Donald Trump’s divisive views on a variety of controversial issues has led many critics to argue that Brazilians elected a ‘Tropical Trump’ in 2018. Research on Trump’s election shows that authoritarian, racist, and sexist voters were essential to his narrow victory; however, it is an open question whether Trump’s pathway to power is the norm or the exception among right-wing nationalists. Even though candidates espousing controversial ideas about democracy and prejudice are gaining much electoral support, we know little about the extent to which their voters hold similar views. This study confirms that many Brazilians share Bolsonaro’s ambivalence about democracy as well as his attitudes denigrating women and sexual minorities; however, the degree of congruence between his supporters’ and his own views on these topics played a minor role at most in shaping voter choice. As in previous elections, ideology and partisanship – specifically, attitudes about Brazil’s Workers’ Party – largely explain whether a voter supported him. This finding largely holds across gender and racial boundaries, although white Brazilians appear to have been modestly more inclined than Afro-Brazilians to vote for Bolsonaro if they shared his divisive views.
Celebrity, Inc.: the self as work in the era of presentational culture online

In 2010, P. David MIn 2010, P. David Marshall wrote one of the foundational texts of celebrity studies and online culture for the first issue of Celebrity Studies: ‘The promotion and presentation o...
Classification of Protein Crystallization Images using EfficientNet with Data Augmentation

In this paper, we applied EfficientNet, a scalable deep convolution neural network, with a custom data augmentation stage to a public protein crystallization image dataset called MARCO. The MARCO dataset has 493,214 protein crystallization images collected from several well-known institutions. In our experiments, EfficientNet outperformed the accuracies reported in the previous studies, and it reached an overall 96.71% testing and 91.33% validation accuracy on the dataset. Also, EfficientNet achieved 97.23% crystal detection accuracy in testing data, which is significant improvement over existing studies.
On the origins of SARS-CoV-2.

Stakeholders in public health must lobby policy makers to make decisions based on evidence, not political expediency, particularly when the studies that hang in the balance are critical to understanding the origins of epidemics.
A feedback mechanism mediated by myosin II-dependent apical targeting of Rab11 vesicles reinforces apical constriction

During tissue morphogenesis, cell shape changes resulting from cell-generated forces often require active regulation of intracellular trafficking. How mechanical stimuli influence intracellular trafficking and how such regulation impacts tissue mechanics are not understood. We identify a mechanosensitive mechanism involving Rab11 recycling endosomes in regulating apical constriction in the Drosophila embryo. During Drosophila mesoderm invagination, apical actin and myosin II (actomyosin) contractility induces accumulation of Rab11-marked vesicles near the apical membrane by promoting a directional bias in vesicle transport, which is mediated by the microtubule motor dynein. At the apical domain, Rab11 vesicles are targeted to the adherens junctions (AJs). The apical accumulation of Rab11 vesicles is essential to prevent fragmented apical AJs, breaks in the supracellular actomyosin network and a reduction in the apical constriction rate, which is separate from the function of Rab11 in promoting apical myosin II activation. These findings provide evidence for a mechanosensitive feedback mechanism between actomyosin-mediated apical constriction and Rab11-mediated intracellular trafficking that regulates the force generation machinery during tissue folding.
Peer Support for the Medical Community

Healthcare institutions have become increasingly aware of job-related emotional distress experienced by healthcare providers and the high cost of this distress to providers, patient safety, and healthcare organizations. When an adverse patient event such as an unanticipated outcome or medical error occurs, some have identified the patient as the first victim and the clinician as the second victim when the clinician experiences ongoing suffering and decreased productivity in the aftermath of the adverse event. Second victims in numerous studies have expressed the desire for peer support provided by dedicated programs within their healthcare organizations. Unfortunately, many healthcare organizations have not succeeded in providing such support and have also struggled to identify best practices for how to do so. However, some institutions have taken bold steps to implement novel peer support programs. A comparative look at three seminal institutional peer support programs highlights some of the unique challenges in providing effective emotional support for second victims, including the difficulty in engaging distressed clinicians with peer support programs even once they are established. It may be that addressing confidentiality of peer interventions as well as the culture of the clinical environment are critical elements in effectively supporting distressed clinicians, but these appear to be even more complex challenges.
Immediate Effect of Stimulability Assessment on Acoustic, Aerodynamic, and Patient-Perceptual Measures of Voice

Summary Objectives The purpose of the present study was to determine if patients with voice disorders could achieve immediate improvements in acoustic and aerodynamic parameters and patient's perception of the sound and feel of voice following instructions to use clear speech. Study Design This is a retrospective study. Methods A total of 114 patients underwent acoustic and aerodynamic analyses of voice before and after instructions to use "clear speech," while reading a standardized passage. The patient's and speech-language pathologist's (SLP) judgments of voice change were also measured. Results An increase (improvement) in average vocal intensity ( P P P P P Conclusions This study is the first to quantify acoustic and aerodynamic parameters and clinician's and patient's perceptions of a standardized stimulability test for voice change in the voice laboratory. These results are potentially paradigm shifting in the role of the SLP in the evaluative clinic setting.
The impact of recent emotional distress and diagnosis of depression or anxiety on the physician-patient encounter in family practice

Background Primary care physicians are expected to identify mental health problems. Currently, it is unclear how a recent experience of emotional distress affects the physician-patient encounter and the diagnostic process. Methods Using the Davis Observation Code, we studied 1269 encounters between family physicians and adult patients who completed brief questionnaires after the visit. Patients were separated into three groups using self-report and billing data: those denying recent emotional distress, those reporting recent emotional distress but not receiving a mental health diagnosis, and those reporting recent emotional distress and receiving a diagnosis of anxiety or depression. Results Nineteen percent of patients reported significant emotional distress during the previous 4 weeks; 18% of these patients received a billing diagnosis of depression or anxiety. Patients not reporting emotional distress had the shortest visits (10.0 minutes); recent emotional distress was associated with significantly longer visits: 11.5 minutes for those without a diagnosis of depression or anxiety and 12.8 minutes for those with a diagnosis of depression or anxiety. The visits of patients with a diagnosis of depression or anxiety included more counseling, history-taking, and discussions of family information and substance use, and less time providing physical examination and evaluation feedback. Fewer preventive services and less chatting occurred when patients reported recent distress, regardless of diagnosis. Conclusions Recent patient emotional distress has a powerful impact on the structure of the family practice visit, with important implications for efforts to enhance diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues. The challenge for the family physician is to recognize and treat a patient's emotional distress while continuing to fulfill competing medical demands.
Transcriptional Regulation of the Steroid Receptor Genes

Steroid hormones, via their binding to specific receptors, are involved in the development, differentiation, and physiological response of cells to diverse stimuli. Activation by hormonal ligands induces conformational change in the receptor, enabling interaction with the target genes. The steroid receptor superfamily includes androgen, glucocorticoid, mineralocorticoid, progesterone, estrogen, thyroid, vitamin D, retinoic acid, and orphan receptors. This review will focus on the classic steroid receptors, i.e., the androgen, glucocorticoid, progesterone, and estrogen receptors, with emphasis on their transcriptional regulation. Readers are directed to several authoritative reviews for further details of steroid receptors (1-11).
Evaluation of Anomaly Detection Capability for Ground-Based Pre-Launch Shuttle Operations

This chapter will provide a thorough end-to-end description of the process for evaluation of three different data-driven algorithms for anomaly detection to select the best candidate for deployment as part of a suite of IVHM (Integrated Vehicle Health Management) technologies. These algorithms were deemed to be sufficiently mature enough to be considered viable candidates for deployment in support of the maiden launch of Ares I-X, the successor to the Space Shuttle for NASA's Constellation program. Data-driven algorithms are just one of three different types being deployed. The other two types of algorithms being deployed include a "nile-based" expert system, and a "model-based" system. Within these two categories, the deployable candidates have already been selected based upon qualitative factors such as flight heritage. For the rule-based system, SHINE (Spacecraft High-speed Inference Engine) has been selected for deployment, which is a component of BEAM (Beacon-based Exception Analysis for Multimissions), a patented technology developed at NASA's JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and serves to aid in the management and identification of operational modes. For the "model-based" system, a commercially available package developed by QSI (Qualtech Systems, Inc.), TEAMS (Testability Engineering and Maintenance System) has been selected for deployment to aid in diagnosis. In the context of this particular deployment, distinctions among the use of the terms "data-driven," "rule-based," and "model-based," can be found in. Although there are three different categories of algorithms that have been selected for deployment, our main focus in this chapter will be on the evaluation of three candidates for data-driven anomaly detection. These algorithms will be evaluated upon their capability for robustly detecting incipient faults or failures in the ground-based phase of pre-launch space shuttle operations, rather than based oil heritage as performed in previous studies. Robust detection will allow for the achievement of pre-specified minimum false alarm and/or missed detection rates in the selection of alert thresholds. All algorithms will also be optimized with respect to an aggregation of these same criteria. Our study relies upon the use of Shuttle data to act as was a proxy for and in preparation for application to Ares I-X data, which uses a very similar hardware platform for the subsystems that are being targeted (TVC - Thrust Vector Control subsystem for the SRB (Solid Rocket Booster)).