cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modulation of myogenic determination factor 1 expression by cell-cell contact.

Myogenic determination factor 1 (MyoD1) expression is modulated by a variety of agents including growth factors and activated cellular proto-oncogenes. However, little is known about the effect of cell-cell contact, which increases as myoblasts terminally differentiate, on the control of MyoD1 expression. Steadystate levels of MyoD1 transcripts decline over a 6–12 hour time period when myoblasts plated at a single cell density are incubated in media supplemented with 0.2% serum; by 48 hours MyoD1 mRNA levels have returned to the initial basal level. The decline in MyoD1 transcripts is diminished, but not prevented in myoblasts which maintain cell-cell contacts (at least 50% of cells with two or more sites of contact). MyoD1 transcript levels do not change if single cell cultures are maintained in 10% serum or are cocultured with fibroblasts. Analysis of conditioned media revealed that myoblasts plated at the single cell density or at a density which allowed multiple sites of cell-cell contact are not producing an activity(s) responsible for modulating MyoD1 mRNA levels. The changes in MyoD1 expression are mediated at the transcriptional level. Thus changes in the degree of cell-cell contact in cultures of myogenically determined cell lines effect changes in MyoD1 gene expression. Consequently when the influence of cytokines or other pharmacological agents on commitment to terminal myogenic differentiation is examined, the degree of cell-cell contact within the culture system may affect the response elicited. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Optimal recovery strategies for manufacturing systems

Abstract This paper presents a framework to generate optimal error recovery strategies in automated single-server assembly processes. The proposed methodology uses a semi-Markovian model to capture the stochastic nature of the production process when dealing with error recovery. The manufacturing objective in this paper is throughput or profit maximization. A machining process in which only a fraction of errors can be recovered is illustrated. Using the proposed framework, we determine the optimal policy for system operations and obtain the corresponding net earning rate or part throughput.
Alfalfa extracts which stimulate growth of Neurospora sitophila III. Effect on weight gain of thyroid‐stressed albino rats

A concentrate prepared from alfalfa leaf meal which retains the property of stimulating growth of Neurospora sitophila in the standard Difco pyridoxine assay failed to increase weight gain in the albino rat when added to a purified diet. When the test animals were subjected to stress by feeding desiccated thyroid, the soluble concentrate did increase weight gain. It was as effective as an equivalent quantity of alfalfa leaf meal.
The Rural Physician Associate Program: The Value of Immersion Learning for Third‐Year Medical Students

ABSTRACT: Context: Changes in health care and new theories of learning have prompted significant changes in medical education. Some US medical schools employ immersion learning in rural communities to increase the number of physicians who choose to practice in these areas. Founded in 1971, the rural physician associate program (RPAP) is a longitudinal immersion learning experience for students during their third year of medical school. Students are assigned to a primary care preceptor(s) in a rural community ranging in population from 1,000 to 30,000 for 36 weeks. Purpose: To describe students' perceived value of this immersion learning experience. Methods: Data from 3 classes (2004, 2005, 2006) of students (n = 95) were analyzed, including final essays that reflect on their experiences and logs of their patient encounters and procedures. Themes from students' essays related to the hands-on learning experience are presented. Frequencies of ambulatory encounters and procedures were calculated and compared with those of metropolitan area colleagues where possible. Findings: The continuity experience allows for one-to-one mentoring and long-term relationships. Students see physicians, clinic/hospital staff, and patients as their teachers. The environment is nurturing, but nudges them outside their comfort zone. Students gain increasing competence with their skills and do best if they are independent and seek out learning opportunities. They report more hands-on experience, more confidence and autonomy than their peers in the metropolitan area. Conclusions: The RPAP experience provides a nurturing, longitudinal, immersion learning experience that facilitates the gradual but steady development of clinical skills alongside a personal and professional mentor.
Power management of PHEV using quadratic programming

This paper studies the power management of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) using quadratic programming. The proposed quadratic programming can obtain the global optimal solution of the power distribution between battery/motor and engine while maintaining vehicle performance. Computation time can be significantly saved compared with dynamic programming. Therefore, it can be used in real-time realisation. Two typical driving cycles, namely, UDDS and HWFET driving cycles are used to test the effectiveness of optimisation strategy. The simulation results indicate that significant amount of fuel can be saved with the proposed method.
Method Bias and Concurrent Verbal Protocol in Software Usability Testing

Concurrent verbal protocols are gaining wide acceptance in software usability testing. In this study, the impact concurrent verbalization has on task performance during a software usability test was investigated. Subjects randomly assigned to two levels of verbalization were asked to complete four tasks of varying difficulty using a disk utility package. Subjects in the verbalization condition were asked to provide an explanation for each step taken to complete a task. Subjects in the control condition were allowed to complete each task silently. Dependent variables were task time, error frequency, and responses to subjective measures of mental workload and ease-of-use. Subjects in the verbalization condition committed fewer errors and consumed less task time than subjects in the silent condition. Further, the mean difference in error frequency and task time between conditions increased with task difficulty. These results were extremely important in revealing a potential method bias in usability tests.
Multiple description image coding framework for EBCOT

Multiple description coding (MDC) schemes have become popular as robustness tools in packet switched networks where multiple paths with varying packet loss rates are available. The descriptions are designed so that the quality of the reconstructed image depends on the number of descriptions received and not on which descriptions are actually received. We propose a new MDC framework for the EBCOT algorithm used in the current JPEG 2000 standard for still image compression. The inherent block coding in EBCOT allows for more flexibility in the formation of basic groups that are then combined in different ways to form descriptions. The bit allocation problem (between the different groups in a description) is formulated and optimized for good rate-distortion performance. Optimization of the bit allocation between the primary and secondary positions in each description is obtained using the generalized BFOS algorithm. Experiments using the Kakadu software (for JPEG 2000) show that the performance of the proposed framework degrades gracefully with increase in the number of descriptions lost.
Towards Achieving Personalized Privacy for Location-Based Services

With the growth of wireless and mobile technologies, we are witnessing an increase in location-based services (LBSs). Although LBSs provide enhanced functionalities, they open up new vulnerabilities that can be exploited to cause security and privacy breaches. Consequently, location data of individuals used by such services must be adequately protected. Such services will require new models for expressing privacy preferences for location data and mechanisms for enforcing them. We identify the factors on which location privacy depends and propose models for expressing privacy that can be used by LBSs. We discuss the architecture of a system that allows one to specify and enforce location privacy and that can be easily integrated with existing systems providing LBSs. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach by developing a prototype.
Human-computer cooperative problem solving. I. A case study of an expert system for real-time monitoring

The mission operations room for NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite is the first of its kind to use an expert system to work with the human operators. This expert system monitors the communication links between the spacecraft and the mission operations room, diagnoses problems, and offers advice. The authors describe the domain of satellite ground control, the features of the expert system called CLEAR, and the methodology and results of a case study that examined how and why human operators made use of this expert system. Three types of data were collected: questionnaire, informal interview, and video- and audio-tape of real-time supports. The results for all three approaches are analyzed. >
LDL particle core enrichment in cholesteryl oleate increases proteoglycan binding and promotes atherosclerosis.

Several studies in humans and animals suggest that LDL particle core enrichment in cholesteryl oleate (CO) is associated with increased atherosclerosis. Diet enrichment with MUFAs enhances LDL CO content. Steroyl O-acyltransferase 2 (SOAT2) is the enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of much of the CO found in LDL, and gene deletion of SOAT2 minimizes CO in LDL and protects against atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the increased atherosclerosis associated with LDL core enrichment in CO results from an increased affinity of the LDL particle for arterial proteoglycans. ApoB-100-only Ldlr−/− mice with and without Soat2 gene deletions were fed diets enriched in either cis-MUFA or n-3 PUFA, and LDL particles were isolated. LDL:proteogylcan binding was measured using surface plasmon resonance. Particles with higher CO content consistently bound with higher affinity to human biglycan and the amount of binding was shown to be proportional to the extent of atherosclerosis of the LDL donor mice. The data strongly support the thesis that atherosclerosis was induced through enhanced proteoglycan binding of LDL resulting from LDL core CO enrichment.
Lethals, steriles and deficiencies in a region of the X chromosome of Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT Twenty-one X-linked recessive lethal and sterile mutations balanced by an unlinked X-chromosome duplication have been identified following EMS treatment of the small nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. The mutations have been assigned by complementation analysis to 14 genes, four of which have more than one mutant allele. Four mutants, all alleles, are temperature-sensitive embryonic lethals. Twelve mutants, in ten genes, are early larval lethals. TWO mutants are late larval lethals, and the expression of one of these is influenced by the number of X chromosomes in the genotype. Two mutants are maternal-effect lethals; for both, oocytes made by mutant hermaphrodites are rescuable by wild-type sperm. One of the maternal-effect lethals and two larval lethals are allelic. One mutant makes defective sperm. The lethals and steriles have been mapped by recombination and by complementation testing against 19 deficiencies identified after X-ray treatment. The deficiencies divide the region, about 15% of the X-chromosome linkage map, into at least nine segments. The deficiencies have also been used to check the phenotypes of hemizygous lethal and sterile hermaphrodites.
A neural network methodology for process fault diagnosis

The ability of knowledge-based expert systems to facilitate the automation of difficult problems in process engineering that require symbolic reasoning and an efficient manipulation of diverse knowledge has generated considerable interest recently. Rapid deployment of these systems, however, has been difficult because of the tedious nature of knowledge acquisition, the inability of the system to learn or dynamically improve its performance, and the unpredictability of the system outside its domain of expertise. This paper proposes a neural-network-based methodology for providing a potential solution to the preceding problems in the area of process fault diagnosis. The potential of this approach is demonstrated with the aid of an oil refinery case study of the fluidized catalytic cracking process. The neural-network-based system successfully diagnoses the faults it is trained upon. It is able to generalize its knowledge to successfully diagnose novel fault combinations it is not explicitly trained upon. Furthermore, the network can also handle incomplete and uncertain data. In addition, this approach is compared with the knowledge-based approach.
Negative Diffusion-Weighted Imaging After Intravenous Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator Is Rare and Unlikely to Indicate Averted Infarction

Background and Purpose—Some patients treated with intravenous (IV) tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) have negative diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) on follow-up imaging. Without a visible infarct, there may be uncertainty as to whether the patient was having a stroke that was averted by tPA or whether the symptoms had not been cerebrovascular in origin. We evaluated patients presenting with suspected acute stroke with a positive DWI lesion before IV tPA to determine the probability of finding a negative DWI up to 48 hours after treatment. Methods—We included patients from the Lesion Evolution in Stroke and Ischemia On Neuroimaging (LESION) project who had acute MRI screening with a positive DWI lesion before IV tPA treatment and had follow-up MRI up to 48 hours later. Experienced readers interpreted all acute and follow-up MRIs looking for ischemic lesions on DWI. Results—There were 231 patients who met study inclusion criteria, of which 225 patients (97.4%) had a persistent positive DWI correspondi...
How fast and far might tree species migrate in the eastern United States due to climate change

Aim We describe and use a model, SHIFT, to estimate potential migration due to climate change over the next 100 years. Location Eastern United States. Methods Five species, currently confined to the eastern half of the United States and not extending into Canada, were used to assess migration potential: Diospyros virginiana (persimmon), Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum), Oxydendrum arboreum (sourwood), Pinus taeda (loblolly pine), and Quercus falcata var. falcata (southern red oak). SHIFT is a matrix simulation model using simple inverse power functions to provide a distance decay of seed dispersal and is driven primarily by the abundance of the species near the boundary, the forest density within and beyond the boundary, and the distance between cells. For each cell outside the current boundary, the model creates an estimate of the probability that each unoccupied cell will become colonized over a period of 100 years. SHIFT is a ‘fat-tailed’ migration model that allows rare very long distance dispersal events and colonization could occur up to 500 km beyond the current distribution boundary. Model outputs were analysed using transects through sections showing relatively low and high colonization probabilities as a result of low and high densities of target trees (high source strength) as well as high densities of forest (high sink strength). We also assess migration potential for species by concentric rings around the current boundary.
Power and sample size considerations for detecting deviations from secular trends in surveillance surveys

SUMMARY On-going public health surveillance is essential to the detection and monitoring of epidemics. We present statistical methods for determining the sample size that is required to detect unacceptable deviations from existing secular trends in prevalence with specified power. Between 1958 and 1969, a large study was conducted for providing surveillance of the prevalence of infection for a well-known disease. Data from this study indicated that the prevalence of infection in the mid-1960s increased significantly over previous secular trends among important demographic groups tested. These data are used to illustrate the statistical methods that we propose for detecting departures from existing temporal trends, estimating the year in which the changepoint occurred and specifying sample sizes for on-going active surveillance studies.
A 200,000-year, high-resolution record of diatom productivity and community makeup from Lake Baikal shows high correspondence to the marine oxygen-isotope record of climate change

Siliceous microfossil succession was analyzed in a 200,000-yr sediment sequence recovered from the Buguldeika Saddle in Lake Baikal, Russia. Siliceous microfossil abundance varied among core depths from no preserved microfossils during inferred colder climate conditions to recent interglacial sediments containing over 300 3 10 6 microfossils per g dry sediment. Depth-age microfossil assemblage zones (CA-I to CA-IV) identified using correspondence analysis had high correspondence to stages in the marine d 18 O isotope record and could be partially aligned with Late Pleistocene glacial‐interglacial cycling models from the mid-Siberian Highland. These observations suggest that Lake Baikal phytoplankton communities have responded to climatic changes driven by insolation parameters and global ice volumes on temporal scales similar to tropical and polar oceans. Microfossil zone CA-I (0‐11.4 kyr B.P.) corresponded to the Holocene interglacial or d 18 O stage 1 (0‐11.4 kyr B.P.), a period of higher production in Lake Baikal during a climatic optimum. Microfossil zone CA-II (12.3‐18.7 kyr B.P.) corresponded to the Sartan glaciation and d 18 O stage 2 (12‐24 kyr B.P.). Zone CA-III (21.3‐73.2 kyr B.P.) comprised d 18 O stages 3 and 4. However, within zone CA-III, subzones CA-IIIa and IIIb (21.3‐56.8 kyr B.P.) grouped were well aligned with d 18 O stage 3 and contained sediments deposited during the inferred Karginskiy interstade. Microfossil zone CA-IVa (77.4‐129.2 kyr B.P.) and CA-IVb (130.3‐172.5 kyr B.P.) included d 18 O stages 5 and 6, respectively, with sediments that were most likely deposited during the Taz glaciation and the Kazantsevo interstade. Climate-induced changes are reflected in production differences and in community composition specificity within microfossil zones or climate stages. This suggests that climate change drives major historical successional patterns in Lake Baikal’s primary producer community; changes in primary producers must have further impacted the system’s entire biota.
Pneumonia Readmissions: Risk Factors and Implications

Background Pneumonia continues to be a severe health problem in the United States, responsible for close to 1 million hospital admissions and nearly 140,000 hospital readmissions per year. The literature on this topic suggests that approximately 1 in 5 patients with pneumonia is readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge and that most readmissions are not because of pneumonia-related causes. Methods Although many pneumonia readmissions may not be preventable, reducing readmissions is feasible, as shown by recent trends in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data. Results Modifiable patient-, physician-, and system-related factors can be targeted for intervention. Conclusion Many interventions aimed at reducing hospital readmissions targeting transitional care, care coordination, and postdischarge care have shown potential for reducing readmission rates.
A sham case-control study of effectiveness of DTP-Hib-hepatitis B vaccine against rotavirus acute gastroenteritis in Kenya

Background In many GAVI-eligible countries, effectiveness of new vaccines will be evaluated by case-control methodology. To inform the design and assess selection bias of a future case-control study of rotavirus vaccine effectiveness (VE) in western Kenya, we performed a sham case-control study evaluating VE of pentavalent vaccine (DTP-Hib-HepB) against rotavirus acute gastroenteritis (AGE).
Hypervolemia at the polyethylene glycol induced onset of drinking.

Abstract Latency to drink and blood plasma conditions of rats were measured at the initiation of drinking following hyperoncotic colloid dialysis. Experiment 1 determined plasma osmolality and volume levels at the initiation of drinking following subcutaneous injection of 5 ml of 20% polyethylene glycol (PG) solution (400 molecular weight). The onset of drinking was associated with: (a) 3.1 per cent increase in osmotic and/or oncotic pressure of the plasma; and, (b) no change in vascular volume. Due to the possibility of plasma contamination by the small molecular weight PG used, Experiment 2 was conducted using 5 ml of 25% PG (20,000 molecular weight) solution. Plasma osmolality and volume determinations were made at the following times post PG or Sham injection: at the initiation of drinking (mean = 17 min), at two times the latency to drink (mean = 34 min), and at four times the latency to drink (mean = 68 min). The onset of drinking in this experiment was associated with no change in plasma osmolality, but with an increase in vascular volume, i.e. hypervolemia not hypovolemia. A reduced vascular volume was not measured until 68 min post PG injection. The results are discussed in terms of the possibility that cellular dehydration and/or cellular volume decrease is the adequate internal stimulus for thirst motivated behavior.
Matched subspace detector based feature extraction for sorting of multi-sensor action potentials

This paper proposes a novel matched subspace detector (MSD) based algorithm for extracting discriminant features from multi-sensor measurements of extracellular action potentials (APs) to facilitate their subsequent separation according to the neuron of origin. The method does not require the construction of AP templates, and is therefore suitable for unsupervised AP sorting applications. In addition, detailed simulations show that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing single-sensor based feature extraction approaches.
Boundary harnack principle for denjoy domains

In this paper we are condidering positive, symmetric, harmonic functions in a Denjoy domain with uniformly perfect boundary that vanish continuously on the boundary of that domain. Given two such functions ν, υ we are proving that the ratio (ν/υ) can be extended to the boundary, and the extension is Holder continuous with exponent depending on the uniformly perfectness cnstants of the bundary.
Enhanced arsenite removal through surface-catalyzed oxidative coagulation treatment.

Abstract Arsenic being a naturally-occurring groundwater contaminant is subject to stringent water quality regulations. Coagulation and adsorption are widely used methods to treat arsenic-contaminated water, however, these treatments have been reported to be less efficient for the removal of arsenite (As(III)) than arsenate (As(V)). In this study, the feasibility of in situ oxidation of As(III) during coagulation was investigated in two systems: Fe(II) or H2O2-assisted oxidative coagulation treatment using ferric chloride as the coagulant. This setup exploits the catalytic property of the fresh formed Fe(III) hydroxide colloids in coagulation suspension to mediate the production of reactive oxidants capable of As(III) oxidation. Fe(II)-assisted coagulation brought about small improvements in As(III) removal compared to treatment with Fe(III) coagulant alone, however, its arsenic removal efficiency is strongly dependent on pH (observed optimal pH = 7–9). Addition of H2O2 together with ferric chloride led to a significant enhancement in arsenic retention at pH 6–8, with final arsenic concentrations well below the U.S.EPA regulatory limit (10 μg/L). H2O2-assisted oxidative coagulation can attain reliable As(III) removal over a broad pH range of 4–9. Radical quenching experiments reveal the participation of superoxide radical in As(III) removal in the oxidative coagulation systems. Phosphate (at > 0.1 mM) strongly suppresses As(III) removal efficiency, whereas carbonate and humic acid pose a minor impact. Overall, the results suggest that a low dose addition of H2O2 along with ferric coagulant is a feasible method for the existing water treatment facilities to achieve improved As(III) removal efficiency.
Time-frequency decomposition of click evoked otoacoustic emissions in children.

Determining the time-frequency distributions of click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) are scientifically and clinically relevant because of their relationship with cochlear mechanisms. This study investigated the time-frequency properties of CEOAEs in 5-10 year old children. In the first part, we examined the feasibility of the S transform to characterize the time-frequency features of CEOAEs. A synthetic signal with known gammatones was analyzed using the S transform, as well as a wavelet transform with the basis function used traditionally for CEOAE analysis. The S and wavelet transforms provided similar representations of the gammatones of the synthetic signal in the mid and high frequencies. However, the S transform yielded a slightly more precise time-frequency representation at low frequencies (500 and 707 Hz). In the second part, we applied the S transform to compare the time-frequency distribution of CEOAEs between adults and children. Several confounding variables, such as spontaneous emissions and potential efferent effects from the use of higher click rates, were considered for obtaining reliable CEOAE recordings. The results revealed that the emission level, level versus frequency plot, latency, and latency versus frequency plot in 5-10 year old children are adult-like. The time-frequency characteristics of CEOAEs in 5-10 year old children are consistent with the maturation of various aspects of cochlear mechanics, including the basal to apical transition. In sum, the description of the time-frequency features in children and the use of the S transform to decompose CEOAEs, are novel aspects of this study. The S transform can be used as an alternative approach to characterize the time-frequency distribution of CEOAEs.
Exercise and endothelial function.

Regular exercise has many benefits for health and has been found to result in a lower incidence of cardiac events and mortality. The exact mechanism is not known; however, physical activity improves cardiac risk factor profiles and may also lead to an improvement in endothelial function. The endothelium acts to maintain normal vasomotor tone, enhance the fluidity of blood, and regulate vascular growth. Abnormalities in these functions contribute to many disease processes, including angina, myocardial infarction, coronary vasospasm, and hypertension. Exercise causes increases in blood flow leading to increased shear stress, which is the force acting parallel to blood vessels. Enhanced shear stress results in endothelium-dependent, flow-mediated dilation of vessels. Chronic increases in shear stress have been found to improve endothelial function in animal studies as well as in some limited human studies. In addition, chronic exercise has been found to enhance fibrinolysis and platelet activity. This review will focus on the benefits of exercise, the role of normal endothelium, the consequences of abnormal endothelial function, and potential improvements in endothelial function in response to chronic exercise.
Contrasting the Surface and Bulk Properties of Anhydrate and Dehydrated Hydrate Materials

Surface and bulk characterization of niclosamide and naproxen sodium between anhydrate and dehydrated hydrate were investigated. A comprehensive solid-state characterization was conducted using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the identification and determination of physical properties of the materials. Surface properties were addressed by evaluating the various forms: by inverse gas chromatography (IGC) and water sorption tendency (dynamic vapor sorption, VTI). The XRPD, DSC, and TGA data show slight or no differences between anhydrate and dehydrated hydrate. However, the SEM, IGC, and water vapor sorption isotherms results provided evidence of the heterogeneity of surface for both compounds. The SEM microphotographs clearly showed the rugosity of the powders. Niclosamide dehydrated hydrate showed a higher dispersive surface energy and higher rate of moisture sorption than the correspon...
TOXICITY OF LACTOBACILLUS CASEI.

With the possible exception of Lactobacillus acidophilus, most of the oral lactobacilli are generally considered harmless saprophytes.1 In view of the virulence-enhancing effect of some bacterial capsules, the finding of a heavily encapsulated strain of Lactobacillus casei2 suggested the possibility of another pathogenic lactobacillus. Preliminary serologic studies showed that when whole encapsulated cells of this organism were injected into the marginal ear veins of rabbits, large, indurated, and erythematous lesions developed at the site of injection and became progressively worse. This report describes the toxic property of the organism and its role in the production of both local and systemic lesions using whole cells and several subcellular fractions.
Social Work With Families: Content and Process (2nd Ed.) by Robert Constable and Daniel B. Lee

Families, however defined, are the institutional core of every society. Across the globe, they do up to 95% of all the caregiving, counseling, education, health care, and norm enforcement in their ...
Characterization of Structural and Electronic Transitions During Reduction and Oxidation of Ru(acac)3 Flow Battery Electrolytes by using X‐ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Metal acetylacetonates possess several very attractive electrochemical properties, however, their cyclabilities fall short of targets for use in non-aqueous redox flow batteries. This paper describes structural and compositional changes during the reduction and oxidation of ruthenium(III) acetylacetonate (Ru(acac)3), a representative acetylacetonate. Voltammetry, bulk electrolysis and in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results are complemented by those from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The reduction of Ru(acac)3 in acetonitrile is highly reversible, producing a couple at -1.1 V vs. Ag/Ag+. In situ XAS and DFT indicates the formation of [Ru(acac)3]- with Ru-O bonds lengthened relative to Ru(acac)3, nearly all of the charge localized on Ru, and no ligand shedding. The oxidation of Ru(acac)3 is quasi-reversible with a couple at 0.7 V. The initial product is likely [Ru(acac)3]+, however, this species is short-lived, converting to a product with a couple at -0.2 V, structure that is nearly identical to that of Ru(acac)3 within 3 A of Ru, and ~70% of the charge extracted from Ru (balance from acetylacetone). This non-innocence likely contributed to the instability of [Ru(acac)3]+. Taken together, the results suggest that the stabilities and cyclabilities of acetylacetonates are determined by the degree of charge transfer to and from the metal.
Leaked Memo to West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen from Major Consuelo Antoinette Martinez regarding The 'Raised Black Female Fist' Old Corps Photograph Incident

This satire responds to the recent West Point Investigation of 16 African American female cadets who took a photograph of themselves holding up their fists. This work of legal analysis and of the imagination takes the form of an investigatory memo written by a fictional Latina West Point official to the (very real) West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen. In it, I study the legal underpinnings for the investigation, which center on certain Department of Defense regulations forbidding political activity on the part of military service members. I reveal the race and gender absurdity that cuts through the military and also through those elements of society that called for the cadets’ court-martial when their photograph was distributed via social media in the Spring of 2016.
Graphene terahertz devices for communications applications

Abstract The extraordinary electronic, thermal and optical properties of graphene, together with its two dimensional nature, and with the possibility of facile integration, have enabled its application into a new generation of high-performance devices capable of extending the performance of existing terahertz communications technologies. Although promising for wireless communications applications, the terahertz region of the spectrum, i.e. the frequency range between 300 GHz and 10 THz, is in fact still characterized by a lack of efficient, compact, solid state components capable of operating at room temperature. In this regard, graphene-based terahertz components have shown very promising results in terms of modulation, detection, as well as generation of terahertz waves. This paper will review and discuss recent progress on graphene based devices for modulation, detection and generation of terahertz waves, which are among the key components for future terahertz band communications systems.
Comparison of conventional and a novel direct-current vector control for a LCL-filter based VSC-converter connected to weak grid

For a grid-connected voltage source converter (VSC), a LCL-filter is often applied to attenuate the switching harmonics. However, when the LCL-filter based VSC connected to a weak grid, the stability of the system may be impacted due to harmonic resonance and deteriorated voltage waveform at the point of common coupling. Hence controller design for the VSC becomes more challenging. This paper studies and compares the performance of conventional and a novel direct-current vector control (DCC) strategy for controlling a LCL-filter based VSC in weak grid cases. A Matlab Simulink model is established to evaluate the stability of the VSC system. The simulation result demonstrates that the DCC strategy can guarantee a much more stable performance than the conventional one.
Examining the incremental contribution of metacognitive beliefs beyond content-specific beliefs in relation to posttraumatic stress in a community sample.

Objective Cognitive-behavioral models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) propose that the content of one's thoughts, including negative beliefs about the self, others, and world, play a fundamental role in our understanding and treatment of PTSD. Metacognitive theory suggests that metacognitive beliefs (i.e., beliefs about thinking), rather than content-specific beliefs, underlie PTSD. The present study provided the first known examination of the incremental contribution of metacognitive beliefs and trauma-related cognitions in relation to posttraumatic stress. Method Community adults recruited through an online crowdsourcing website who reported experiencing a criterion A traumatic event (N = 299) completed self-report measures of the study variables. Results Results from multiple linear regression analyses indicated that metacognitive beliefs of the uncontrollability and danger of thinking shared associations with each posttraumatic stress symptom cluster after accounting for the effects of content-specific beliefs and other covariates. The individual content-specific beliefs did not consistently share associations with posttraumatic stress symptoms in the regression analyses. The contribution of the individual content-specific beliefs to posttraumatic stress symptoms was consistently attenuated or rendered nonsignificant after accounting for metacognitive beliefs. Conclusions These results are consistent with metacognitive theory in suggesting that metacognitive beliefs may be more important than trauma-related thought content in relation to posttraumatic stress. (PsycINFO Database Record
Ceruminous tumors of the cerebellopontine angle

Ceruminomas are rare tumors which usually involve the external auditory canal. The angiographic and pneumoencephalographic findings of a ceruminoma involving the cerebellopontine angle are described.
In situ studies on irradiation resistance of nanoporous Au through temperature-jump tests

Abstract Nanoporous materials have great potentials to alleviate irradiation-induced damage due to their giant surface-to-volume ratio. Previous in situ irradiation study on nanoporous Au at room temperature has shown the shrinkage of nanopores due to the absorption of irradiation-induced defects, and the shrinkage rate is pore-size-dependent. In this follow-up temperature-dependent study, we show that both defect density and nanopores evolve with irradiation temperature. Higher temperature results in lower defect density and reduced shrinkage rate of nanopores. The sink strength of nanopores as a function of temperature is estimated. Moreover, nanoporous Au exhibits significantly enhanced swelling resistance compared to coarse-grained Au. Potential mechanisms for temperature dependent irradiation resistance of nanoporous metals are discussed.
Vascular plant extinctions in California: A critical assessment

Aim Extinctions of species and subspecific taxa in hotspots of biodiversity deserve special attention. After more than 40 years of major efforts, estimates of extinct plant taxa in California seem to be somewhat stabilized. The time is ripe for an attempt to critically evaluate our current knowledge of plant extinctions in California and make a comparison with other countries with mediterranean-type climates. Location California. Methods Besides species-specific studies and personal communications, major databases and state floras were consulted. Results Compared with all numbers published earlier, the current analysis ended with smaller numbers of globally extinct plant species and taxa (13 and 17, respectively) and larger numbers of species and taxa extinct in California, but still present in at least one other state or country (15 and 15). For each species, life form, habitat, year of the last collection and assumed drivers of extinction are listed. Main conclusions Most of the presumed extinct taxa were originally present in one or two counties and often are known from only one or a very few collections. Therefore, the most robust generalization regarding factors contributing to taxon extinctions is a small range size and a low original abundance. Most of the presumed globally extinct taxa were originally present in lowlands where most of the human population and habitat destruction are concentrated. Taxa limited to special habitats, like wetlands, seem to be more predisposed to extinction. Among assumed drivers of plant extinction, agriculture, urbanization and development in general are the most often cited possibilities. Compared with other countries with mediterranean-type climates, the extinction rate of vascular plants in California is lower than in Israel, comparable with the Cape Province of South Africa, Western Australia and continental Mediterranean European countries, and higher than in Chile.
An automated flow for design validation of switched mode power supply

Traditionally SPICE simulations have been extensively used to validate switched mode power supply designs. It takes multiple iterations of each simulation type at a design corner and there are multiple such simulations required over several design corners to find and fix issues, which is tedious and error prone. This paper presents a novel methodology of using detailed analytical circuit equations in addition to simulations for automated validation of power supply design. In this work we propose automatic detection and correction of design issues over required design corners. This significantly reduces the number of simulations required for design signoff and therefore drastically reduces overall design cycle time.
Internal Friction Studies on Silver and Certain Silver-Base Solid Solutions

Internal friction studies on annealed and cold-worked pure silver and alloys of silver with 4.5 atomic pet each of Cd, Sn, and Sb are reported. Small amounts of cold work, introduced by stretching pure silver, decrease the internal friction; large amounts of cold work, by wire drawing, cause this decreased internal friction to rise. Results of several annealing histories on the room-temperature internal friction indicate a rather complex recovery and recrystallization behavior. A rather systematic alloy effect is observed for the elements of Period V-B in silver in both the annealed and cold-worked states.
A Method for Online Optimization of Lower Limb Assistive Devices with High Dimensional Parameter Spaces

We propose a method for optimizing control policies for assistive lower-limb devices. The method frames parameter selection as a dueling bandits problem in which a user indicates his or her qualitative preferences between pairs of parameter sets chosen from a library. We generate the library through an offline optimization procedure that seeks to reproduce the varied gaits of healthy human subjects. By separating the parameter selection process into online and offline portions, the method can handle high-dimensional parameter spaces and produces policies that can generalize to different gait scenarios such as speed variation. We evaluate the method on five subjects walking on a powered knee and ankle prosthesis governed by a neuromuscular control policy that has 43 parameters. We find the five subjects preferred four different parameter sets from the library and that the resulting optima resemble intact subject gait data. This result suggests the offline portion of the optimization method indeed produces control parameters that can adapt to different gaits. Moreover, we find that for three out of the four parameter sets we tested, the procedure also generates parameters that improve the ability of the prosthesis to adapt to increasing gait speed by increasing ankle net work production. The results encourage further research and exploration in clinical settings toward advanced prosthesis controls that employ online learning.
MEMS-in-the-lens 3D beam scanner for in vivo microscopy

The “MEMS-in-the-lens” active lens for a laser scanning microscope comprises a high numerical aperture front element, a 3D+ MOEMS beam scanner and a collimating back lens. The scanner utilizes a silicon gimbal with SU-8 polymer flexures and deformable membrane mirror. The mirror aperture is 4 mm in diameter, and is capable of 9 μm deflection for focus control, with four annular electrodes to allow tuning of primary and secondary spherical aberration. The gimbal supports tip/tilt actuation up to ±3° for lateral beam scanning. We show confocal imaging using a benchtop mockup of the active lens, illustrating the potential for this approach to support 3D microscopy for optical biopsy applications.
Intimate Partner Violence Influences Women’s Engagement in the Early Stages of the HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Care Continuum: Using Doubly Robust Estimation

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) acceptability among US women, but whether IPV influences other steps along the PrEP care continuum remains unclear. This study estimated the causal effects of IPV on the early stages of the PrEP care continuum using doubly robust (DR) estimation (statistical method allowing causal inference in non-randomized studies). Data were collected (2017–2018) from a cohort study of 124 US women without and 94 women with IPV experiences in the past 6 months (N = 218). Of the 218 women, 12.4% were worried about getting HIV, 22.9% knew of PrEP, 32.1% intended to use PrEP, and 40.4% preferred an “invisible” PrEP modality. IPV predicts HIV-related worry (DR estimate = 0.139, SE = 0.049, p = 0.004). IPV causes women to be more concerned about contracting HIV. Women experiencing IPV are worried about HIV, but this population may need trauma-informed approaches to help facilitate their PrEP interest and intentions.
How citizen journalists impact the agendas of traditional media and the government policymaking process in China

“Citizen journalism” is a term used to refer to ordinary individuals who act as journalists during some part of the process of creating content for mainstream journalism coverage. In China, besides...
Effectiveness of Manual Ventilation in Intubated Helicopter Emergency Services-Transported Trauma Patients.

Abstract Background Helicopter Emergency Medical Services agencies frequently transport intubated patients to definitive care. No evidence exists to determine the type of ventilation in this population. Practice varies amongst programs from bag-valve-mask to mechanical ventilation. Study Objective Evaluate the effectiveness of bag-valve ventilation in intubated trauma patients. We hypothesized manual ventilation provides adequate support to maintain physiologic ETCO2. Methods From June to December 2015, twenty patients were enrolled in this prospective, observational study. Included were endotracheally intubated trauma patients transported by this HEMS program. Excluded were interfacility transports, non-scene calls, and patients with supraglottic devices. ETCO2 was recorded every 30 seconds during the flight. As a descriptive pilot study, power was not considered. Results 20 patients provided over 500 cumulative minutes of manual ventilation data. The percentage of cumulative time spent with adequate oxygen saturations was 83.6%. The percentage of cumulative time spent with adequate ETCO2 was 48.7%, with 34.6% of time spent under and 16.7% above this range. Conclusion Manual ventilation maintained a physiologic ETCO2 only 16.7% of the time. Significant variability existed, resulting in intermittent hypoxia and hyperventilation. Prior research linked such events to increased morbidity and mortality. Further studies are warranted to compare manual against mechanically ventilated patients.
Sara Teasdale 1884–1933

Sara Teasdale was a successful poet in the early twentieth century who committed suicide in 1933 at the age of 48. Unlike many creative artists, she does not appear to have suffered from a major affective disorder, nor did she abuse alcohol. Rather, as a result of her upbringing, she developed a personality disorder that left her unable to cope with the common occurrences, let alone the stresses, of a normal life.
Early experiences of independent advocates for potential HIV+ recipients of HIV+ donor organ transplants.

BACKGROUND HIV+ to HIV+ solid organ transplants in the United States are now legally permitted. Currently, these transplants must adhere to the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act Safeguards and Research Criteria that require the provision of an independent recipient advocate, a novel requirement for solid organ transplant programs. The objective of this study was to understand the experiences of the first advocates serving in this role. METHODS We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 HOPE independent recipient advocates (HIRAs) from 12 institutions. RESULTS All HIRAs had a professional degree and experience in transplantation or infectious diseases. HIRAs' encounters with potential recipients varied in length, modality, and timing. The newness of the role and the lack of guidance were associated with unease among some HIRAs. Some questioned whether their role was redundant to others involved in transplantation and research since some potential recipients experienced informational fatigue. CONCLUSIONS HOPE independent recipient advocates are ensuring the voluntariness of potential participants' decision to accept an HIV-infected organ. Many suggested additional guidance would be helpful and alleviate unease. Concerns about potential role redundancy raise the question of whether the HIRA requirement may be inadvertently increasing burden for potential recipients. Future work that captures the experiences of potential recipients is warranted.