cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ideology and Gender in U.S. House Elections

Studies of gender-ideology stereotypes suggest that voters evaluate male and female candidates in different ways, yet data limitations have hindered an analysis of candidate ideology, sex, and actual election outcomes. This article draws on a new dataset of male and female primary and general election candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives from 1980 to 2012. I find little evidence that the relationship between ideology and victory patterns differs for male and female candidates. Neither Republican nor Democratic women experience distinct electoral fates than ideologically similar men. Candidate sex and ideology do interact in other ways, however; Democratic women are more liberal than their male counterparts, and they are advantaged in primaries over Republican women as well as Democratic men. The findings have important implications for contemporary patterns of women’s representation, and they extend our understanding of gender bias and neutrality in American elections.
Rural entrepreneurship and migration

Abstract Using data for U.S. rural counties we examine the how the age profile of migrants from 1990 to 2000 impacts business start-ups in 2000. Depending on the industry classification, we find that younger and older migrants tend to have the largest impacts on rural business start-ups. The impacts tend to be larger for older migrants than younger. This result, which is consistent with the findings of the meta analysis of Akgun et al. (2011), has strong policy implications: from an entrepreneurial perspective, the loss of younger adults is likely out-weighed by the “retirement migration” of older persons. Rural communities should not overlook the in-migration of people who are either pre-retirement age or retirees when pursuing entrepreneurship strategies.
Proceedings of the ACM SIGKDD Workshop on Human Computation

Most research in data mining and knowledge discovery relies heavily on the availability of datasets. With the rapid growth of user generated content on the internet, there is now an abundance of sources from which data can be drawn. Compared to the amount of work in the field on techniques for pattern discovery and knowledge extraction, there has been relatively little effort directed at the study of effective methods for collecting and evaluating the quality of data. Human computation is a new research area that studies the process of channeling the vast internet population to perform tasks or provide data towards solving difficult problems that no known efficient computer algorithms can yet solve. There are various genres of human computation applications available today. Games with a purpose (e.g., the ESP Game) specifically target online gamers who, in the process of playing an enjoyable game, generate useful data (e.g., image tags). Crowdsourcing marketplaces (e.g. Amazon Mechanical Turk) are human computation applications that coordinate workers to perform tasks in exchange for monetary rewards. In identity verification tasks, users need to perform some computation in order to access some online content; a recent example of such a human computation application is reCAPTCHA, which leverages millions of users who solve CAPTCHAs every day to correct words in books that optical character recognition (OCR) programs fail to recognize with certainty. While there has been active work in this area, there is no dedicated forum to discuss these research ideas. The Human Computation Workshop (HCOMP 2009), held in conjunction with the 15th ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD), is the first workshop bringing together academic and industry researchers to discuss existing human computation applications and future directions of this new subject area. An integral part of this workshop is a demo session where participants can showcase their human computation applications. Our call for papers resulted in 33 high-quality submissions from a wide variety of perspectives. All papers were thoroughly reviewed by the program committee and external reviewers. Given the short, half-day duration of the workshop, only one-third of the submissions could be accommodated and appear in the proceedings. The accepted papers have been divided into four sessions: "Games", "Human Computation In Practice", "Game Theory" and "Labeling Cost and Efficiency".
Chemical inhibition of Kir channels reduces salivary secretions and phloem feeding of the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii (Glover)

Background The unique feeding biology of aphids suggests novel insecticide targets are likely to exist outside of the nervous system. We therefore aimed to directly test the hypothesis that pharmacological inhibition of inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channels would result in salivary gland failure and reduced sap ingestion by the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii. Results The Kir inhibitors VU041 and VU590 reduced the length of the salivary sheath in a concentration dependent manner, indicating that the secretory activity of the salivary gland is reduced by Kir inhibition. Next, we employed the electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique to measure the impact Kir inhibition has to aphid sap feeding and feeding biology. Data show that foliar application of VU041 eliminated the E1 and E2 phases (phloem feeding) in all aphids studied. Contact exposure to VU041 after foliar applications was found to be toxic to A. gossypii at 72 and 96 h post-infestation, indicating mortality is likely a result of starvation and not acute toxicity. Furthermore, VU041 exposure significantly altered the feeding behavior of aphids, which is toxicologically relevant for plant-virus interactions. Conclusion These data suggest Kir channels are critical for proper function of aphid salivary glands and the reduced plant feeding justifies future work in developing salivary gland Kir channels as novel mechanism aphicides. Furthermore, products like VU041 would add to a very minor arsenal of compounds that simultaneously reduce vector abundance and alter feeding behavior. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.
Valuation Driven Innovation

This paper studies whether and how market valuation influences firm innovation using an ex ante valuation measure filtering firm scale and growth prospects from tangible investment. It finds that firms with high market valuation have more innovative outputs, as measured by the number of patent and patent citations. The causality relation was established using mutual fund flows as exogenous shocks and identifying a strong effect of market valuation on firm innovation. Consistent with managers taking advantage of irrationally low discount rates by issuing equity and investing the proceeds, information asymmetry weakens and financial constraints strengthen the effect of market valuation on firm innovation.
Corporate governance and employee treatment: evidence from takeover defenses

In this study, we use a unique hand-collected dataset of employee lawsuits to understand the effect of litigation on CEO turnover. We gather 28,258 employee disputes (after initial court hearing) dating between the years 2000 and 2014 to test the relationship between executive turnover following employee allegations. We find increased turnover of CEOs following labor lawsuits. Additional analysis suggests that, following the lawsuits, CEO compensation decreases and becomes more sensitive to cash holding. Our results show that employee lawsuits have an impact on CEO turnover, regardless of the case outcome or motivation. Overall, we document the importance of employee treatment in the workplace. We conclude employee treatment may impact both the tenure and future job prospects of a CEO.
The Impact of Increased Hydrocodone Regulation on Opioid Prescribing in an Urban Safety-Net Health Care System.

Background: Hydrocodone-combination analgesics were changed from Schedule III to Schedule II to discourage the prescribing of these analgesics. Our primary aim was to explore the effect of hydrocodone rescheduling on opioid prescribing within an urban safety-net health care system. Methods and Design: Data were extracted from electronic records of ambulatory patients (N = 82,432 patients) prescribed hydrocodone-combination, codeine-combination, or tramadol opioid analgesics (N = 200,675 prescriptions) between October 6, 2013 and October 6, 2015. Data analyses modeled predicted probabilities of hydrocodone-combination prescriptions (HCPs). Chronic opioid therapy (COT) for chronic pain (ie, ≥3 opioid prescriptions/12 months) and morphine milligram equivalency (MME) levels were also examined. Results: The probability of providers writing HCPs decreased significantly from pre- to postrescheduling (0.525 vs 0.158, respectively, P Discussion: Significant declines in HCPs occurred after rescheduling; however, one third of patients prescribed opioids remained on doses ≥20 MME/day. Codeine- and tramadol-prescription probabilities increased significantly and providers may have an increased perception of safety about these medications. Physicians and health care systems must reduce their overreliance on opioids in treating pain, especially chronic pain, as all opioids incur some level of risk.
Bioequivalence Studies of Vitamin D Gummies and Tablets in Healthy Adults: Results of a Cross-Over Study

The objective of this investigation was to compare bioavailability between single oral dose Vitamin D3 (vitD3) gummies vs. tablets in healthy adults. An initial crossover, randomized clinical trial involving healthy adults (n = 9) was conducted followed by a larger, confirmatory study (n = 31). Healthy participants aged 18–45 years with body mass index (BMI) 18–30 without anemia or vitD deficiency were randomized to receive 20,000 international units (IU) vitD3 as single dose gummies or tablets with serial samples obtained to measure plasma vitD3 at baseline, 3, 6, 10, 24, and 48 h followed by a 2-week washout period. The same participants then crossed over to receive 20,000 IU vitD3 in the form not previously given, with sampling at the same time points. Deidentified blood samples were analyzed for vitD3 concentration by liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectroscopy. In Study 1, results suggested bioavailability was greater with gummies compared with tablets, (effect size 1.08 at 24 h). In Study 2, the area under the concentration curve (AUC) was higher with gummies than tablets (gummy mean (95% CI): 1474 ng·/mL (1393–1555); tablet mean (95% CI): 774 ng·h/mL (693–855), p < 0.0001). Average peak blood concentration (Cmax) values were significantly higher with gummies (gummy: 47.3 ng/mL; tablet: 23.4 ng/mL; p < 0.0001). VitD3 gummies had greater bioavailability than tablets with higher vitD concentrations over time, which may have implications for achieving vitD sufficiency.
Cognitive Impairment is Associated with Abnormal Cardiac Hemodynamics in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Introduction Cognitive impairment (CI) is prevalent in heart failure and is associated with higher mortality rates. The mechanism behind CI in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has not been established. The purpose of this study was to evaluate associations between abnormal cardiac hemodynamics and CI in individuals with HFpEF. Hypothesis Diastolic dysfunction, systolic dysfunction, and impaired ventricular vascular coupling will be associated with CI in HFpEF. Methods This was a secondary analysis of data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Individuals who completed in-person neurocognitive assessments at visit 5 were included. Individuals with stroke or dementia were excluded. Participants were classified as having HFpEF, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), or no heart failure. Independent variables included echocardiographic measures of cardiac function and factors hypothesized to influence CI in HFpEF based on an extensive literature review. Dependent variables included scores on neurocognitive tests. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sample characteristics and identify significant differences among those with HFpEF, HFrEF, and no heart failure. Bivariate analysis identified predictors for multivariate models and evaluated collinearity. Multiple imputation by chained equations was conducted to account for missing values. Multiple linear regression identified independent predictors of CI. Results Scores on tests of attention, language, executive function, and global cognitive function were worse among individuals with HFpEF than those with no heart failure. The effect of HFpEF on CI was small to moderate. Worse diastolic function was weakly associated with worse performance in memory, attention, and language. Higher cardiac index was associated with worse performance on one test of attention. No association between ventricular-vascular coupling and CI was identified. Older age, history of hypertension, and high numbers of depressive symptoms also were associated with CI. Conclusions Cognitive impairment is prevalent in HFpEF and affects several cognitive domains. The current study supports the need to screen individuals with HFpEF for CI. As CI is associated with worse outcomes, early identification and appropriate intervention has the potential to mitigate the effect of CI on outcomes, including mortality rates. The current study demonstrated an association between abnormal cardiac hemodynamics and CI. Although abnormal hemodynamics may contribute to CI in HFpEF, other factors may be involved. Future research should explore other mechanisms that contribute to CI in HFpEF.
Synthesis of the tricyclic indole alkaloids, dilemmaones A and B.

Abstract Dilemmaones A-C are naturally occurring tricyclic indole alkaloids possessing a unique hydroxymethylene or methoxymethylene substituent at the C2 position of the indole core and a C6–C7 fused cyclopentanone. Dilemmaone B has been prepared in 5 steps from 5-methylindan-1-one, and dilemmaone A has been prepared in 3 steps from a common precursor, 6-bromo-5-methyl-7-nitroindan-1-one. In both syntheses, key steps include a Kosugi-Migita-Stille cross coupling and a reductive cyclization using hydrogen gas and a transition metal catalyst.
Assessing Written Communication Skills in STEM Courses

The use of ârealâ data to motivate students and the use of statistical software to analyze this data has become an essential component to most post-secondary introductory statistics courses. The American Statistical Association (ASA) guidelines note that strong communication skills complement technical knowledge and that students should be given frequent opportunities to refine their communication skills and that this should be tied directly to instruction in technical skills. The Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) College Report (2016) also documented the need for post-secondary students to be able to integrate real data with a context and purpose and the need for appropriate assessments to improve and evaluate student learning. The GAISE report lists nine goals of an introductory statistics class and the majority of these goals require assessments of the studentsâ statistical understanding through their written communication. For example, âstudents should be able to interpret and draw conclusion from standard output from statistical softwareâ would require students to write a conclusion for some type of analysis. Each semester there are approximately 900 students enrolled in STAT 250 at GMU and each student completes four data analysis assignments (DAs). These assignments require students to use statistical software to analyze a data set or draw a conclusion from a simulation and provide written responses to questions. Each of these each DAs contain four questions for a total of some 14,400 items that must be graded by our GTAs. Our GTAs are students who are enrolled in our Statistics Masterâs and Doctoral programs but who do not necessarily have any prior teaching experience. The GTAs come from diverse backgrounds and, for many, English is not their first language. In short, we had many assignments for untrained graders. A detailed scoring rubric, therefore, must first be developed for each question. The goal of the scoring rubric is to ensure consistency in the grading process for these assignments while providing feedback to the student on their work. The scoring rubric is designed to assess the overall elements of good technical writing as well as presentation of data and written communication of results. Next, faculty members conduct grading training sessions with the GTAs after each DA assignment and its scoring rubric have been developed. During these training sessions, the importance of consistency between sections and graders is emphasized. The GTAs find these training sessions to be helpful in their understanding of what the faculty were specifically looking for in a student response to a question. Finally, to ensure that the GTAs were following the rubric, faculty members randomly selected student papers and back-grade the GTAsâ scores. If there was a discrepancy between the GTA and faculty scores, the faculty member worked with the GTA to determine and clarify the source of the score disagreement before the scores are released to the students.
Flattening the Curve for Incarcerated Populations - Covid-19 in Jails and Prisons.

Flattening the Curve for Incarcerated Populations People caught up in the U.S. justice system have already been affected by SARS-CoV-2, and improved preparation is essential to minimizing the impac...
The Role of Military Culture in Therapy and Prevention:Training Recommendations for University and College Counseling Centers

Military culture may affect the psychological functioning of military students who seek services in university and college counseling centers (UCCCs). Further, mental health professionals, includin...
Content-Aware Reduction of Bit Flips in Phase Change Memory

The energy costs of Phase Change Memory (PCM) depends almost completely on the number of bits written per time unit. By using an encoding, we can reduce the number of bit flips when overwriting low-entropy data with low-entropy data. This is achieved by using a frequency table for bytes in classes of data to select the encoding. Using various corpora of mainly HTML files, we show that we can reduce the number of bit flips by about 0.5 bit flips per byte.
The Role of False Tendons in Left Ventricular Remodeling and Secondary Mitral Regurgitation After Acute Myocardial Infarction.

BACKGROUND Left ventricular false tendons (LVFT) are common structures visualized on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). The present study tested the hypothesis that LVFT, via a possible 'constraint' mechanism, attenuate left ventricular (LV) remodeling and secondary mitral regurgitation after acute myocardial infarction. METHODS Seventy-one patients admitted to the Coronary Care Unit following an ST-elevation (n = 63) or non-ST-elevation (n = 8) myocardial infarction were analyzed; 29 (41%) had LVFT, and 42 (59%) did not (no-LVFT). All had a TTE and at least 1 follow-up study after revascularization. The χ² analysis, Student's t-test, and Mann Whitney U test were used for the statistical analyses. RESULTS The mean age (64 vs. 66 years), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (41% vs. 39%), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDd) index (23 mm/m² for both), and prevalence of ≥ moderate secondary/functional mitral regurgitation (MR) (17% vs. 14%) were similar between the LVFT and no-LVFT groups. At 1-year follow-up, there was no significant difference in chamber remodeling amongst the LVFT versus no-LVFT group when assessed by: 1) ≥ 10% decrease in the relative LVEF (24% vs. 26%; p = 0.83); 2) ≥ 10% increase in the LVEDd index (41% vs. 38%, p = 0.98); and, 3) ≥ 10% increase in the LV mass index (48% vs. 41%, p = 0.68). There was no difference in the prevalence of ≥ moderate secondary/functional MR (17% vs. 12%, p = 0.77). Outcomes remained similar when stratifying by LVFT morphology or ischemic territory. CONCLUSIONS In patients with mild to moderate LV dysfunction and normal chamber size, LVFT do not affect the development of LV remodeling or secondary/functional MR post-myocardial infarction.
The North American Opioid Epidemic.

BACKGROUND The culmination of the widespread overprescription of opioids, a resurgence of heroin use, and increased accessibility and use of illicit synthetic opioids is commonly referred to as the opioid epidemic in North America. METHODS This article is not intended to provide a comprehensive systematic literature review, but rather summarized recent publications and online governmental reports and datasets for English-written literature primarily published between January 1, 2015 and July 1, 2020. RESULTS In both the United States and Canada, opioids represent one of the most widely prescribed classes of medications. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an unprecedented increase in the use of opioid pain relievers has led to one of the worst drug overdose epidemics in US history and continues to be an ongoing major public health crisis based on recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mortality data, where almost two-thirds of all overdose deaths still involve opioids, including heroin and illicit opioids. In addition to the high mortality rates in both the United States and Canada, there has also been an increase in emergency department visits for nonmedical use of opioid pain relievers, along with additional individuals seeking treatment for opioid addiction, and a rise in neonatal abstinence syndrome. CONCLUSIONS This article highlights the history, underlying issues, ongoing national regulatory efforts, and future strategies and therapies to help mitigate the opioid crisis in North America.
De-escalation in the Emergency Department

Agitation is a state of hyperarousal that can occur on a continuum ranging from anxiety to outright violence. Patients in emergency departments who present in an agitated state require immediate relief from their mounting tension [1–6]. Involuntary medication and restraint have been traditionally considered standard treatments for agitation. However, both are time-consuming and require many resources and much planning. Involuntary medication and restraint are considered coercive treatments and put the patient into a submissive position. When restraints are used, the main message is that physical force is the only method to resolve conflict, which is something that the agitated patient already believes to be true. These methods also reinforce that the patient cannot control his own behavior and that others are responsible for doing so. These methods can be dehumanizing, humiliating, and traumatizing [5, 7] or may have the unintended consequence of increasing agitation and thus lengthening the hospital stay [8, 9].
Clinical Experience with Osseous Site Development Using Autogenous Bone, Bone Graft Substitutes, and Membrane Barriers

Summary The surgeon must be prepared to initiate reconstructive techniques for site development at the time of tooth extraction. All of the various modalities and materials used in site development should be considered for the patient, with the ultimate goal being restoration of form, function, and esthetics. Each phase of surgical procedure should incorporate any and all available resources to the surgeon to enhance the final outcome. Successful treatment is attainable if one follows each step carefully and cautiously and selects the appropriate surgical techniques and materials for patients.
Determining Which Hospitalized Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients Require Urgent Echocardiography.

BACKGROUND: Patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) often have abnormal findings on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). However, although not all abnormalities on TTE result in changes in clinical management, performing TTE in recently infected patients increases disease transmission risks. It remains unknown whether common biomarker tests, such as troponin and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), can help distinguish in which patients with COVID-19 TTE may be safely delayed until infection risks subside. METHODS: Using electronic health records data and chart review, the authors retrospectively studied all patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in a multisite health care system from March 1, 2020, to January 15, 2021, who underwent TTE within 14 days of their first positive COVID-19 result and had BNP and troponin measured before or within 7 days of TTE. The primary outcome was the presence of one or more urgent echocardiographic findings, defined as left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 35%, wall motion score index ≥ 1.5, moderate or greater right ventricular dysfunction, moderate or greater pericardial effusion, intracardiac thrombus, pulmonary artery systolic pressure > 50 mm Hg, or at least moderate to severe valvular disease. Stepwise logistic regression was conducted to determine biomarkers and comorbidities associated with the outcome. The performance of a rule for classifying TTE using troponin and BNP was evaluated. RESULTS: Four hundred thirty-four hospitalized and 151 intensive care unit patients with COVID-19 were included. Urgent findings on TTE were present in 105 patients (24.2%). Troponin and BNP were abnormal in 311 (71.7%). Heart failure (odds ratio, 5.41; 95% CI, 2.61-11.68), troponin > 0.04 ng/mL (odds ratio, 4.40; 95% CI, 2.05-10.05), and BNP > 100 pg/mL (odds ratio, 5.85; 95% CI, 2.35-16.09) remained significant predictors of urgent findings on TTE after stepwise selection. No urgent findings on TTE were seen in 95.1% of all patients and in 91.3% of intensive care unit patients with normal troponin and BNP. CONCLUSIONS: Troponin and BNP were highly associated with urgent echocardiographic findings and may be used in triaging algorithms for determining in which patients TTE can be safely delayed until after their peak infectious window has passed.
Dietary Intake of Branched Chain Amino Acids and Breast Cancer Risk in the NHS and NHS II Prospective Cohorts.

Background Branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) are essential amino acids common throughout the US diet. Although circulating BCAAs have been implicated in insulin resistance and some obesity-related cancers, the relationship between dietary intake of BCAAs and incident breast cancer is unknown. We sought to evaluate the association between long-term dietary intakes of BCAAs and invasive breast cancer risk. Methods Our analyses included 196 161 women from the Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II longitudinal cohorts. Average intakes of total and individual BCAAs (isoleucine, leucine, valine) were estimated from repeated diet questionnaires and incident self-reported breast cancer cases were confirmed via medical record review. Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for reproductive history, lifestyle, body mass index, and other breast cancer risk factors, were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results We observed 10 046 incident cases of breast cancer over a median of 20.8 years of follow-up. No associations between dietary intakes of total or individual BCAAs with breast cancer risk were observed. Compared with women in the bottom quintile of BCAA intake, the hazard ratio of breast cancer for those in the top quintile was 1.05 (95% confidence interval = 0.98 to 1.12; 2-sided P trend = .20). Findings were consistent across molecular subtypes and according to type 2 diabetes diagnosis and body mass index categories. Conclusions Dietary intakes of BCAAs are not likely a risk factor for breast cancer.
A Decision Support Tool for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Children With Sickle Cell Disease: Acceptability and Usability Study.

Background: Individuals living with sickle cell disease (SCD) may benefit from a variety of disease-modifying therapies, including hydroxyurea, voxelotor, crizanlizumab, L-glutamine, and chronic blood transfusions. However, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) remains the only nonexperimental treatment with curative intent. As HCT outcomes can be influenced by the complex interaction of several risk factors, HCT can be a difficult decision for health care providers to make for their patients with SCD. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the acceptability and usability of a prototype decision support tool for health care providers in decision-making about HCT for SCD, together with patients and their families. Methods: On the basis of published transplant registry data, we developed the Sickle Options Decision Support Tool for Children, which provides health care providers with personalized transplant survival and risk estimates for their patients to help them make informed decisions regarding their patients’ management of SCD. To evaluate the tool for its acceptability and usability, we conducted beta tests of the tool and surveys with physicians using the Ottawa Decision Support Framework and mobile health app usability questionnaire, respectively. Results: According to the mobile health app usability questionnaire survey findings, the overall usability of the tool was high (mean 6.15, SD 0.79; range 4.2-7). According to the Ottawa Decision Support Framework survey findings, acceptability of the presentation of information on the decision support tool was also high (mean 2.94, SD 0.63; range 2-4), but the acceptability regarding the amount of information was mixed (mean 2.59, SD 0.5; range 2-3). Most participants expressed that they would use the tool in their own patient consults (13/15, 87%) and suggested that the tool would ease the decision-making process regarding HCT (8/9, 89%). The 4 major emergent themes from the qualitative analysis of participant beta tests include user interface, data content, usefulness during a patient consult, and potential for a patient-focused decision aid. Most participants supported the idea of a patient-focused decision aid but recommended that it should include more background on HCT and a simplification of medical terminology. Conclusions: We report the development, acceptability, and usability of a prototype decision support tool app to provide individualized risk and survival estimates to patients interested in HCT in a patient consultation setting. We propose to finalize the tool by validating predictive analytics using a large data set of patients with SCD who have undergone HCT. Such a tool may be useful in promoting physician-patient collaboration in making shared decisions regarding HCT for SCD. Further incorporation of patient-specific measures, including the HCT comorbidity index and the quality of life after transplant, may improve the applicability of the decision support tool in a health care setting.
An affective approach to modelling intentions to use technologies for social distancing in hotels

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. hotels have deployed service models that facilitate social distancing by using information technology. Based on emotion theories, this study built a conceptual model that explains consumers’ intentions to use several personal and public technologies for social distancing in hotels (e.g., electronic menus, mobile apps). The model tested relationships between trust in the hotel, trust in system, technology anxiety, anticipated positive and negative emotions, and intentions to use technologies for social distancing. Using data collected from 1000 U.S. hotel guests, it was found that intentions to use technologies for social distancing were predominantly influenced by positive anticipated emotions, which in turn were influenced by trust in the hotel and technology anxiety. Several implications for academia and industry are provided.
ACE2 and Glycemic Control

The quest for discovering novel therapeutics to keep type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) under control has been challenging for many researchers worldwide. Several studies shed light on the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme type 2 (ACE2), an enzyme that converts angiotensin II (Ang-II) to angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)), in preventing T2DM disease development and progression. Loss of ACE2 during progression of the disease contributes to exacerbated β-cell dysfunction and glucose intolerance. The exact mechanism behind the reduction of ACE2 expression and activity is not clear, but a disintegrin and metalloprotease 17 is the best characterized sheddase, promoting the cleavage of ACE2 ectodomain and thereby decreasing its levels over time. Beneficial effects of ACE2 are mediated through its ability to restore glycemia by decreasing Ang-II-mediated oxidative stress and inflammation via enhancement of the Ang-(1-7)/Mas signaling pathway. Thus, strategies aimed at preventing or restoring ACE2 shedding and activity, respectively, will improve glucose homeostasis in T2DM.
Molecular mapping of pulmonary endothelial membrane glycoproteins of the intact rabbit lung.

To study the biochemical characteristics of endothelium in vivo, we radioiodinated endothelial membrane proteins of the perfused rabbit lung using a water soluble analog of the Bolton-Hunter reagent, {sup 125}I-sulfosuccinimidyl (hydroxyphenyl) propionate ({sup 125}I-s-SHPP). This technique led to a 10-fold increase in specific activity of radioiodinated lung membrane protein compared with our previously reported method using lactoperoxidase and glucose oxidase-catalyzed radioiodination. Tissue autoradiography confirmed that radioiodination was largely confined to the endothelium. Perfusion pressure, wet-to-dry weight ratios, and the morphological appearance of the lungs were within normal limits, indicating that the procedure does not cause apparent lung injury. Lectin binding to a crude membrane fraction of {sup 125}I-s-SHPP labeled lung led to isolation of several putative endothelial membrane proteins. Immunoprecipitation studies with appropriate antibodies enabled the identification of radioiodinated angiotensin-converting enzyme and beta 2-microglobulin associated major histocompatibility complex class I molecules in the membrane fraction. This technique will be useful for studying biochemical responses of the endothelium in vivo to a variety of pharmacological and physiology stimuli.
Simulated performance results of the OMV video compression telemetry system

The control system of NASA's Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) will employ range/range-rate radar, a forward command link, and a compressed video return link. The video data is compressed by sampling every sixth frame of data; a rate of 5 frames/sec is adequate for the OMV docking speeds. Further axial compression is obtained, albeit at the expense of spatial resolution, by averaging adjacent pixels. The remaining compression is achieved on the basis of differential pulse-code modulation and Huffman run-length encoding. A concatenated error-correction coding system is used to protect the compressed video data stream from channel errors.
Comparison of Speed, Strength, and Agility Exercises in the Development of Agility

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine whether exercises designed specifically to develop strength and speed were as effective for improving agility as exercises designed specifically to develop agility. The 83 male university subjects were separated into five groups with one group each participating in exercises designed to improve agility, speed, strength, speed and strength, and the remaining group participating in lectures. Thirty-one tests were administered before and after participation in the six-week programs, and the data were analyzed by the analysis of covariance technique. The group participating in agility exercises demonstrated statistically significant superiority over one or more of the other groups on four of the seven agility tests. The only other groups which demonstrated superiority on any of the agility tests were the speed group on the 10-second squat thrust test and the control group on the right boomerang run test, thereby leading to the conclusion that agility can bes...
Limb, Respiratory and Masticatory Muscle Compartmentalization: Developmental and Hormonal Considerations

Neuromuscular compartments are subvolumes of muscle that have unique biomechanical actions and can be activated singly or in groups to perform the necessary task. Besides unique biomechanical actions, other evidence that supports the neuromuscular compartmentalization of muscles includes segmental reflexes that preferentially excite motoneurons from the same compartment, proportions of motor unit types that differ among compartments, and a central partitioning of motoneurons that innervate each compartment. The current knowledge regarding neuromuscular compartments in representative muscles involved in locomotion, respiration, and mastication is presented to compare and contrast these different motor systems. Developmental features of neuromuscular compartment formation in these three motor systems are reviewed to identify when these compartments are formed, their innervation patterns, and the process of refinement to achieve the adult phenotype. Finally, the role of androgen modulation of neuromuscular compartment maturation in representative muscles of these motor systems is reviewed and the impact of testosterone on specific myosin heavy chain fiber types is discussed based on recent data. In summary, neuromuscular compartments are pre-patterned output elements in muscle that undergo refinement of compartment boundaries and muscle fiber phenotype during maturation. Further studies are needed to understand how these output elements are selectively controlled during locomotion, respiration, and mastication.
Market Structure and Internalization of Congestion in Air Transportation

We use a simple analytical framework to derive pricing rules for oligpolistic airlines at airports that are served by competitive airlines as well. The pricing rules show how the degree of internalization of marginal congestion costs depends on market structure. The analysis illustrates the importance of selecting an accurate representation of market structure, when making recommendations about the desirability of congestion pricing mechanisms.
Inhibition of PAI-1 in the cigarette smoke induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Introduction: Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) has been known to play an essential role in pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting plasminogen activator (PA). Recently, it is assumed that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) play a role in the pathogenesis of IPF. We tried to find out whether PAI-1 is involved in the bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in the rat and in smoking-induced rat alveolar EMT in vitro. Methods: First, rats were received intratracheal bleomycin (4U/kg) and then administered tiplaxtinin (1mg/kg) at day 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 orally. Rats were sacrificed at day 14. Next, the type II alveolar epithelial cells were isolated from normal rats by percoll gradient methods. Type II epithelial cells were transfected with PAI-1-siRNA and were stimulated with cigarette smoking extract (CSE, 5%). Results: In bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis model, tiplaxitinin decreased the bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis by Ashcroft score and also decreased the PAI-1 and TGF-β concentrations in the BAL fluids. In epithelial cell experiment, exposure to CSE increased the α-SMA and PAI-1 mRNA expression in real-time PCR. However, they were attenuated either after transfection with siRNA-targeted PAI-1 or treatment with tiplaxitinin (50 μM). TGF-β concentrations in the CSE exposed cell culture supernatants were also decreased either by PAI-1-siRNA transfection or treatment with tiplaxitinin. The up-regulation of Snail and pSMAD by smoking exposure in epithelial cells were decreased either by transfection with PAI-1-siRNA or treatment with tiplaxitinin. Conclusions: PAI-1 is involved in the EMT by directly activating the Snail and SMAD2 in the CSE exposed rat type II alveolar epithelial cells.
An architecture for tree search based vector quantization for single chip implementation

Vector quantization (VQ) has become feasible for use in real-time applications by employing VLSI technology. The authors propose a new search algorithm and an architecture for implementing it, which can be used in real-time image processing. This search algorithm takes O(k) time units on a sequential machine, where k is the dimension of the codevectors, assuming unit time corresponds to one comparison operation. The proposed architecture employs a single processing element (PE) and O(N) external memory for storing N hyperplanes used in the search, where N is the number of codevectors. Compared with known architectures for VQ in the literature, the proposed design does not perform any multiplication operation, since the search method is independent of any L/sub q/ metric, 1 >
Data security in an object-oriented environment such as Smalltalk-80

Information-flow theory is used to develop a protocol which supports data security in Smalltalk-80. First, the general approach is explained along with its specific issues and problems. This approach establishes a protocol for data flow among objects in the environment. The basic strategy of this protocol is to develop security levels in which objects reside. In these security levels, information can be passed up to an object in an upper or more secure level, but cannot be passed down to an object in a lower of less secure level. This strategy dictates that a security-checking system be developed to control creating objects and passing messages. Solutions to various problems and modifications in the Smalltalk-80 environment are given. These solutions consist of detailed protocols, refined algorithms, and actual Smalltalk code. The main security-verifying algorithm for Smalltalk methods is demonstrated, along with a rigid evaluation of the algorithm and the general security system. >
Effect of silicon impurities and heat treatment on uranium hydriding rates

Several experiments were run to identify variables that affect the hydriding rate of depleted uranium. Only two factors affecting hydriding rate were found: temperature (and time) of the final heat treatment, and silicon content. Increasing the time and temperature of alpha-phase anneals increased the reaction rate, and annealing in the beta-phase greatly increased the reaction rate over alpha-phase annealing. Silicon contents of up to 100 wppm cause dramatic increases in the hydride reaction rate for both alpha- and beta-phase annealed samples.
The Formative Period on the south coast of Peru: A critical review

Previous and current fieldwork has generated a significant body of data on the occupation of the south coast of Peru during the Formative Period (ca. 3800-2200 B.P.). These data are placed in a synthetic framework and evaluated and compared to the trajectory of cultural development in the better studied regions of the Central Andes. Critical review of this panorama necessitates consideration of the relative chronological framework and definition of the Formative Period, the parameters and validity of the south coast as a culture area, contacts south coast societies sustained with other Central Andean regions, and the role of monumental architecture in the rise of complex society.
Decreased analyte transport through implanted membranes: differentiation of biofouling from tissue effects.

Membrane biofouling and tissue changes in the foreign body response are known to cause detrimental reductions of analyte transport into implanted biosensors. The relative contribution of each phenomenon is unknown. Hollow fiber microdialysis probes were employed to assess the effect of subcutaneous implantation on glucose flux through polymeric membranes in rats over 8 days and to differentiate the transport effects of biofouling versus tissue changes. Three commercially available membranes were examined: poly(ether sulfone) (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and polycarbonate (PC). As measured by glucose recovery (the ratio of microdialysis glucose to blood glucose concentrations), transport through PES membranes was significantly less on day 2 than day 0 (39% decrease, p < 0.05) whereas PAN and PC showed no significant decreases in flux until day 8 (42 and 43%, respectively). Application of a transport model to glucose recovery data obtained before implantation in vivo and after explantation indicated that mass transport resistances originating from biofouling and tissue compartments increased between days 0 and 8. However, on average the biofouling layer adherent to the probe created substantially less resistance to glucose transport (12-24% of total) than did the tissue that surrounded the probe. These results suggested that future material developments for biosensors should be directed at understanding and modifying transport properties of tissues at the implant site.
Emotions–decision-making in sport: Theoretical conceptualization and experimental evidence

We review current evidence on the linkage between emotion and decision-making (DM) in sports, and the appraisal, emotions, and cognitions linkage under temporal and societal pressure. The conceptual framework proposes that perceptions and actions are stored and retrieved from the same representation structure, and thus stimuli are either negatively or positively appraised and evoke emotions, which in turn activate cognitive processes linked to DM. The emotion–cognition congruence concept relies on the notion that neural network in long-term memory is activated when events occur, and influences the capacity of the cognitive system to make the decision for response execution. The quality of this process is considered by us as the underlying mechanism of functioning in or out of the individual or team zone of optimal functioning. We also claim that basic regulations stabilize the action system under conditions which vary in perceived pressure. Using mental routines stabilize the emotional level required to p...
Optimally scheduling N customer arrival times for a single-server system

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the problem of scheduling a finite number of customer arrivals for a single-server system. Under the assumptions that the customers arrive at the system by scheduled appointments and they request random amount of times for service, the question is: what are the ‘best’ arrival times so that the total operating cost is minimized? This type of queueing problem has important applications in production systems as well as in service systems. Using phase-type distribution functions and matrix algebraic manipulation, we are able to obtain recursive expressions for the customer flow-time distributions, from which the mean and variance, or higher moments, can be easily computed. A computational procedure is developed that efficiently evaluates the mean flow-times for large number of customers that need to be scheduled. This procedure is integrated with a nonlinear program that determines the optimal customer arrival times.
Electromagnetism in a gauged chiral model

It is shown that the unique addition of electromagnetism to a recently proposed gauged chiral Lagrangian of pseudoscalars and vectors results in the same model as that obtained by the ''hidden symmetry'' approach. The gauge-invariant treatment of ''vector-meson dominance'' is essentially equivalent to the old model of Kroll, Lee, and Zumino but we argue for the advantages of working in the ''unusual basis'' where the photon has zero mass. There is a possible indication that a small calculable deviation from complete vector-meson dominance can close the present gap between experiment and theory for the pion charge radius.
C-band radar ¿ Beacon tracking for project mercury

As advisors to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Lincoln Laboratory performed an analysis of the Mercury beacon-tracking capabilities. Calculations of signal strength to be expected for orbital flights were made. As a result of the marginal signal levels which were computed, a program of improvements was initiated. Suborbital flight-test data were reduced and compared with computed values. Also extrapolations were made to the orbital cases. As a result of the test data, specific recommendations regarding antenna coverage were made. Orbital flights with and without recommended antenna modifications were performed, which afforded a unique ?before? and ?after? comparison.