cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tribological rehydration of cartilage and its potential role in preserving joint health.

Summary Objective During exercise, cartilage recovers interstitial fluid lost during inactivity, which explains how tissue thickness and joint space are maintained over time. This recovery phenomenon is currently explained by a combination of osmotic swelling during intermittent bath exposure and sub-ambient pressurization during unloading. This paper tests an alternate hypothesis that cartilage can retain and recover interstitial fluid in the absence of bath exposure and unloading when physiological hydrodynamics are present. Method Stationary cartilage-on-flat experiments were conducted to eliminate intermittent bath exposure as a potential contributor to fluid uptake. In situ compression measurements were used to monitor the loss, retention, and recovery of interstitial fluid during testing in saline. Samples were left larger than the contact area to preserve a convergence zone for hydrodynamic pressurization. Results Interstitial fluid lost during static loading was recovered during sliding in the absence of unloading and contact migration; fluid recovery in a stationary contact cannot be explained by biphasic theory and suggests a fundamentally new contributor to the recovery process. We call the phenomenon ‘tribological rehydration' because recovery was induced by sliding rather than by unloading or migration. Sensitivities to sliding speed, surface permeability, and nature of the convergence wedge are consistent with the hypothesis that hydrodynamic effects underlie the tribological rehydration phenomenon. Conclusions This study demonstrates that cartilage can retain and recover interstitial fluid without migration or unloading. The results suggest that hydrodynamic effects in the joint are not only important contributors to lubrication, they are likely equally important to the preservation of joint space.
Compressive sensing of streams of pulses

Compressive Sensing (CS) has developed as an enticing alternative to the traditional process of signal acquisition. For a length-N signal with sparsity K, merely M = O(K log N) ≪ N random linear projections (measurements) can be used for robust reconstruction in polynomial time. Sparsity is a powerful and simple signal model; yet, richer models that impose additional structure on the sparse nonzeros of a signal have been studied theoretically and empirically from the CS perspective. In this work, we introduce and study a sparse signal model for streams of pulses, i.e., S-sparse signals convolved with an unknown F-sparse impulse response. Our contributions are threefold: (i) we geometrically model this set of signals as an infinite union of subspaces; (ii) we derive a sufficient number of random measurements M required to preserve the metric information of this set. In particular this number is linear merely in the number of degrees of freedom of the signal S + F, and sublinear in the sparsity K = SF; (iii) we develop an algorithm that performs recovery of the signal from M measurements and analyze its performance under noise and model mismatch. Numerical experiments on synthetic and real data demonstrate the utility of our proposed theory and algorithm. Our method is amenable to diverse applications such as the highresolution sampling of neuronal recordings and ultrawideband (UWB) signals.
Stochastic online AUC maximization

Area under ROC (AUC) is a metric which is widely used for measuring the classification performance for imbalanced data. It is of theoretical and practical interest to develop online learning algorithms that maximizes AUC for large-scale data. A specific challenge in developing online AUC maximization algorithm is that the learning objective function is usually defined over a pair of training examples of opposite classes, and existing methods achieves on-line processing with higher space and time complexity. In this work, we propose a new stochastic online algorithm for AUC maximization. In particular, we show that AUC optimization can be equivalently formulated as a convex-concave saddle point problem. From this saddle representation, a stochastic online algorithm (SOLAM) is proposed which has time and space complexity of one datum. We establish theoretical convergence of SOLAM with high probability and demonstrate its effectiveness on standard benchmark datasets.
Rutin can replace the use of three other antioxidants in the culture medium, maintaining the viability of sheep isolated secondary follicles.

The present study evaluated the effect of addition of rutin alone or combined with other antioxidants (transferrin, selenium and ascorbic acid) present in the culture medium on the in vitro development of ovine isolated secondary follicles. After collection of the sheep ovaries, secondary follicles (200-230 μm) were isolated and cultured for 12 days in α-Minimal Essential Medium (α-MEM) supplemented with BSA, insulin, glutamine and hypoxanthine (α-MEM: antioxidant free-medium) or in this medium also added by transferrin, selenium and ascorbic acid (AO: base medium with antioxidants). Moreover, different concentrations of rutin (0.1; 1 or 10 μg/mL) were added to the different base media (α-MEM or AO). The parameters analyzed were morphology, antrum formation, extrusion rate, follicular diameter, growth and fully-grown oocytes (oocytes ≥ 110 μm) rates. In treatments that had the best results of morphology, follicular viability, apoptosis, glutathione (GSH), reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and mitochondrial activity were also analyzed. After 12 days, the percentage of normal follicles was higher (P 0.05). There is no difference (P > 0.05) in the diameter and growth rate among treatments. Moreover, AO medium and α-MEM + 0.1 μg/mL rutin showed similar (P > 0.05) percentages of follicular viability, antrum formation, extruded follicles, fully-grown oocytes, levels of ROS and active mitochondria. However, α-MEM + 0.1 μg/mL rutin treatment showed higher (P > 0.05) GSH levels than AO medium. In conclusion, 0.1 μg/mL rutin can be used as the single antioxidant present in the base medium, replacing the addition of transferrin, selenium and ascorbic acid during in vitro culture of ovine secondary follicles, maintaining follicular viability and increasing GSH levels.
Is Diffuse Aurora Driven From Above or Below

In the diffuse aurora, magnetospheric electrons, initially precipitated from the inner plasmasheet via wave-particle interaction (WPI) processes, degrade in the atmosphere toward lower energies and produce secondary electrons via impact ionization of the neutral atmosphere. These initially precipitating electrons of magnetospheric origin can also be additionally reflected back into the magnetosphere, leading to a series of multiple reflections by the two magnetically conjugate atmospheres that can greatly impact the initially precipitating flux at the upper ionospheric boundary (700-800 km). The resultant population of secondary and primary electrons cascades toward lower energies and escape back to the magnetosphere. Escaping upward electrons traveling from the ionosphere can be trapped in the magnetosphere, as they travel inside the loss cone, via Coulomb collisions with the cold plasma, or by interactions with various plasma waves. Even though this scenario is intuitively transparent, this magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) coupling element is not considered in any of the existing diffuse aurora research. Nevertheless, as we demonstrate in this letter, this process has the potential to dramatically affect the formation of electron precipitated fluxes in the regions of diffuse auroras.
Clinical features of ectomesenchymal chondromyxoid tumors: A systematic review of the literature

Ectomesenchymal chondromyxoid tumors are rare, benign neoplasms of the head and neck most commonly found within the oral cavity. While histopathological evaluation has been the primary focus of prior studies, clinical characterization of this rare entity currently remains sparse. Thus, this study was performed to provide insights into the clinical characteristics of ectomesenchymal chondromyxoid tumors to aid clinicians in distinguishing the lesion from other benign and malignant processes for a more accurate diagnosis and treatment. Moreover, this study includes a unique case of ectomesenchymal chondromyxoid tumor arising in the base of tongue, now the fourth to arise at that anatomic site. Including this case, a systematic review of the literature identified only 60 individual cases reported thus far. This study provides a detailed analysis of all 60 cases including demographics, clinical presentation, radiographic imaging, follow-up, and recurrence rate.
Former Black Panther Marshall Eddie Conway on Revolutionary Political Education in the Twenty-First Century

Marshall “Eddie” Conway is a former Black Panther Party member and former political prisoner, who worked as the Baltimore chapter’s Minister of Defense until his imprisonment in 1971. In this interview, Conway speaks on his current activities as a community organizer in Baltimore, a public speaker, a journalist, and executive producer for the Real News Network. He also offers critical perspectives on various topics such as the limitations of contemporary mainstream “progressive” social justice activism, the 2016 presidential election and the history of white nationalism, and the revolutionary potential of contemporary urban food sovereignty movements. Featured in this transcription are Conway’s thoughts on the essential components for engaging in revolutionary political education within colleges and universities in the early twenty-first century USA.
Empirical issues in the study of computer-assisted interactive video

Interactive instructional technologies, such as computer-assisted interactive video, appear to offer unique capabilities. However, little research exists to support the instructional applications of interactive video. The purposes of this paper are: a) to evaluate the relevance of existing research in the component technologies to interactive video; b) to describe several important assumptions and issues associated with the use of interactive video; and c) to propose a propositional framework for use in the study of computer-assisted interactive video.
Amino Acid Medical Foods Provide a High Dietary Acid Load and Increase Urinary Excretion of Renal Net Acid, Calcium, and Magnesium Compared with Glycomacropeptide Medical Foods in Phenylketonuria.

Background. Skeletal fragility is a complication of phenylketonuria (PKU). A diet containing amino acids compared with glycomacropeptide reduces bone size and strength in mice. Objective. We tested the hypothesis that amino acid medical foods (AA-MF) provide a high dietary acid load, subsequently increasing urinary excretion of renal net acid, calcium, and magnesium, compared to glycomacropeptide medical foods (GMP-MF). Design. In a crossover design, 8 participants with PKU (16-35 y) provided food records and 24-hr urine samples after consuming a low-Phe diet in combination with AA-MF and GMP-MF for 1-3 wks. We calculated potential renal acid load (PRAL) of AA-MF and GMP-MF and determined bone mineral density (BMD) measurements using dual X-ray absorptiometry. Results. AA-MF provided 1.5-2.5-fold higher PRAL and resulted in 3-fold greater renal net acid excretion compared to GMP-MF (p = 0.002). Dietary protein, calcium, and magnesium intake were similar. GMP-MF significantly reduced urinary excretion of calcium by 40% (p = 0.012) and magnesium by 30% (p = 0.029). Two participants had low BMD-for-age and trabecular bone scores, indicating microarchitectural degradation. Urinary calcium with AA-MF negatively correlated with L1-L4 BMD. Conclusion. Compared to GMP-MF, AA-MF increase dietary acid load, subsequently increasing urinary calcium and magnesium excretion, and likely contributing to skeletal fragility in PKU. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01428258.
Timing and rate of spheno-occipital synchondrosis closure and its relationship to puberty

Objectives This study examines the relationship between spheno-occipital synchondrosis (SOS) closure and puberty onset in a modern American population. It also investigates the timing and the rate of SOS closure in males and females. Materials and methods The sample includes cross-sectional and longitudinal 3D Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scans of 741 individuals (361 males and 380 females) aged 6–20 years. Each CBCT scan is visualized in the mid-sagittal plane, and the spheno-occipital synchondrosis (SOS) is scored as completely open, partially fused, mostly fused, and completely fused. The Menarche commencement is used as an indicator of puberty onset in females. Results Mean ages of open, partially-fused, mostly-fused, and completely fused SOS were 11.07, 12.95, 14.44, and 16.41 years in males, and 9.75, 11.67, 13.25, and 15.25 in females, respectively. The results show there is a significant association between the SOS closure stage and the commencement of menarche (Fisher's Exact Test p < 0.001). It was found that females had a higher SOS closure rate (38.60%) per year than males at the age of 10 years. The closure rate in males appears slower than females at age 10, but it lasts a longer time, ranging between 22 and 26% per year from age 11 to 14 years. Conclusion There is a significant relationship between puberty onset and SOS closure, suggesting its closure is at least partially affected by systemic, hormonal changes in the growing adolescent. Also, SOS closure occurs at a faster rate and at an earlier age in females compared to males.
Timing of mantle overturn during magma ocean solidification

Abstract Solidification of magma oceans (MOs) formed early in the evolution of planetary bodies sets the initial condition for their evolution on much longer time scales. Ideal fractional crystallization would generate an unstable chemical stratification that subsequently overturns to form a stably stratified mantle. The simplest model of overturn assumes that cumulates remain immobile until the end of MO solidification. However, overturning of cumulates and thermal convection during solidification may act to reduce this stratification and introduce chemical heterogeneity on scales smaller than the MO thickness. We explore overturning of cumulates before the end of MO crystallization and the possible consequences for mantle structure and composition. In this model, increasingly dense iron-rich layers, crystallized from the overlying residual liquid MO, are deposited on a thickening cumulate layer. Overturn during solidification occurs if the dimensionless parameter, R c , measuring the ratio of the MO time of crystallization τ M O to the timescale associated with compositional overturn τ o v = μ / Δ ρ g H exceeds a threshold value. If overturn did not occur until after solidification, this implies that the viscosity of the solidified mantle must have been sufficiently high (possibly requiring efficient melt extraction from the cumulate) for a given rate of solidification. For the lunar MO, possible implications for the generation of the Mg-suites and mare basalt are suggested.
Longitudinal changes in pelvic floor muscle strength among parous women

Background There is limited knowledge of the effects of time on change in pelvic floor muscle strength after childbirth. Objective The objectives of this study were to estimate the change in pelvic floor muscle strength in parous women over time and to identify maternal and obstetric characteristics associated with the rate of change. Study Design This is an institutional review board-approved prospective cohort study of parous women. Participants were recruited 5–10 years after first delivery and followed annually. Pelvic floor muscle strength (peak pressure with voluntary contraction) was measured at 2 annual visits approximately 4 years apart with the use of a perineometer. We calculated the change in peak pressures, which were standardized per 5-year interval. Linear regression was used to identify maternal and obstetric characteristics that are associated with the rate of change in peak pressure. The obstetric variable of greatest interest was delivery group. Participants were classified into 3 delivery groups (considering all deliveries for each multiparous woman). Delivery categories included cesarean only, at least 1 vaginal birth but no forceps-assisted deliveries, and at least 1 forceps-assisted vaginal birth. Statistical analysis was completed with statistical software. Results Five hundred forty-three participants completed 2 perineometer measurements with a median 4 years between measures (interquartile range, 3.1–4.8). At initial measurement, women were, on average, 40 years old and 8 years from first delivery. Initial strength was higher in participants who delivered all their children by cesarean (38.5 cm H2O) as compared with women with any vaginal non-forceps delivery (26.0 cm H2O) or vaginal forceps delivery (13.5 cm H2O; P Conclusion Among parous women, pelvic muscle strength increased minimally over time with an average change of 1.2 cm H2O per 5 years; change in strength was associated with mode of delivery and obesity.
Diversification and Robustness in Portfolio Investment: An Empirical Analysis

Diversification of investment is widely accepted as a useful means of reducing risk of portfolio returns. Recently the diversification issue has attracted some attention due to several theoretical and empirical reasons. From a practical viewpoint the rapid growth of financial assets controlled or managed by institutional investors such as pension funds and investment trusts has generated a demand for realistic standards for judging portfolio performance. The problem of risk measurement has acquired some importance in portfolio evaluation. An individual investor may no longer be satisfied by comparing his individual portfolio returns with a market index, since the market portfolio may have, in all likelihood, very different risk characteristics than the portfolio in question. Existing measures of risk assessment, though useful in several respects have been subject to two basic criticisms. One is that the risk level of a portfolio is assumed to remain inflexible over time, i.e., stationary and the usual mean-variance model of efficient portfolio frontier has excluded the role of skewness of returns distribution altogether.
Pelvic, Vaginal, and Perineal Reconstruction in Radical Pelvic Surgery

Radical pelvic surgery creates exceptional reconstructive challenges. The introduction of large, well-vascularized compound muscle-skin flaps placed at the time of radical surgery has enhanced prevention of major infectious and healing complications and improved the ability to deal with subsequent complications. The distally based rectus abdominis muscle-skin flap is the most useful unit because of its location, size, and reliability. A variety of regional flaps are suitable in specific reconstructive situations. Use of the flaps requires an extensive knowledge of their vascularization, variations, arcs of rotation, and history of reliability, as well as familiarity with alternative reconstructions that can be employed when the flap of first choice is not available.
Roofing material and irrigation frequency influence microbial risk from consuming homegrown lettuce irrigated with harvested rainwater.

Abstract Rooftop harvested rainwater has become an alternative, potable, and non-potable water source used around the world. In the United States, rooftop harvested rainwater is most commonly used for irrigation. Rooftop harvested rainwater may contain contaminants from bird or animal feces that may present a risk to water users. Different roofing materials may influence the survival of fecal bacteria on the rooftop prior to runoff during rainfall. In this study, three pathogen groups (E. coli, enterococci and Salmonella enterica) in rooftop runoff from three, replicated roof types (asphalt shingle, synthetic slate, and wood shake) were quantified in multiple rain events. Matched roofs were selected from locations with differing amounts of tree cover. Enterococci were the most frequently detected bacteria from all roof types. Wood shake and asphalt shingle roofing materials had the poorest microbial water quality. Rainwater runoff from two of the six buildings failed to meet United States Food and Drug Administration microbial standards for irrigation water. A quantitative microbial risk assessment indicated that the annual probability of illness from consuming lettuce irrigated with rooftop harvested rainwater varied by roofing material, irrigation water withholding period, and exposure frequency. Consuming lettuce immediately after irrigation with rooftop rainwater presented the highest human health risk based on the probability of illness from E. coli and enterococci exposure. Withholding irrigation by 1 day prior to harvest decreased the annual probability of illness from E. coli by 2 log, but had a minimal effect on the risk from enterococci.
Humble Data Management to Big Data Analytics/Science: A Retrospective Stroll

We are on the cusp of analyzing a variety of data being collected in every walk of life in diverse ways and holistically as well as developing a science (Big Data Science) to benefit humanity at large in the best possible way. This warrants developing and using new approaches – technological, scientific, and systems – in addition to building upon and integrating with the ones that have been developed so far. With this ambitious goal, there is also the accompanying risk of these advancements being misused or abused as we have seen so many times with respect to new technologies.
Non-Recognition and State Immunities: Toward a Functional Theory

Despite the decline of the constitutive theory of recognition within international law, recognition – of states and governments – retains legal power. Entities that are not recognized as governments or states may not be entitled to the full legal benefits accorded recognized governments and states, including jurisdictional and other immunities. Immunities practice in the case of non-recognition stands at the intersection of three important international law developments: (1) the general application of de facto statehood to the question of new states; (2) the general trend toward abandoning the practice of formal recognition of governments, based on the rationale that political approval or disapproval of particular regimes should not affect legal determinations of rights and obligations that inhere to states; and (3) the adoption of restrictive approach to state immunity through the expansion of the categories of exceptions to state and official immunities – particularly in the areas of commercial and investment activities, terrorist acts, and gross human rights violations. This chapter examines the practice of states with regard to the application of immunity to non-recognized entities. It argues that, when adjudicating claims of jurisdictional immunity asserted by non-recognized entities, forum courts should follow the general trend in international law, whereby recognition is deemed declarative, rather than constitutive of statehood. Following a theory of statehood (or governance) that follows a declarative approach, claims for immunity should be analyzed based on whether the entity claiming the immunity is de facto carrying out the functions of a state or government that would otherwise be entitled to the immunity claimed. A functional approach to questions of immunities that focuses on the acts of the non-recognized entities and their agents will have the effect of reinforcing a declarative approach to recognition by decoupling the political act of recognition from its legal effects. A functional approach also gives effect to the purposes of state immunity: to encourage international cooperation by respecting the judicial construct of sovereign equality.
Conditional Permission to Not Resuscitate: A Middle Ground for Resuscitation

Abstract Every decision to perform or withhold cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has ethical implications that are not always well understood. Value-based decisions with far-reaching consequences are made rapidly, based on incomplete or possibly inaccurate information. For some patients, skilled, timely CPR can restore spontaneous circulation, but for others, success may either be unobtainable or bring serious iatrogenic consequences. Because CPR is an aggressive process yielding mixed results, patients must be informed about the likelihood of its positive and adverse outcomes. In considering whether to accept or refuse it, patients should also be given a realistic set of alternatives. Current protocols limit patients' options by restricting them to a choice between accepting or refusing CPR. Adding a “middle” code, DNAR-X (Do Not Attempt Resuscitation–Except), significantly expands patients' right to control what happens to their bodies by allowing them to stipulate CPR in some circumstances but not in others.
Nitroaromatic detecting zinc cyclohexyldicarboxylate coordination polymers with a long spanning dipyridyl tethering ligand

Abstract Four new divalent zinc coordination polymers containing a dianionic cyclohexyldicarboxylate and the long-spanning pillaring dipyridyl ligand bis(4-pyridylmethyl)piperazine (bpmp) have been prepared and structurally characterized via single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Significant structural and topological diversity across the series is evident. {[Zn2(cis-12cdc)2(bpmp)]·6H2O}n (1, cis-12cdc = cis-1,2-cyclohexanedicarboxylate) shows a coordination polymer layer motif with embedded paddlewheel {Zn2(OCO)4} dinuclear units and T6(4)4(4) classification water tapes. Using cis-1,2-cyclohex-4-enedicarboxylate (cis-12chedc) afforded [Zn2(cis-12chedc)2(bpmp)(H2O)2]n (2), which manifests a simple yet unusual (6)(648.10) topology. [Zn2(cis-13cdc)2(bpmp)]n (3, cis-13cdc = cis-1,3-cyclohexanedicarboxylate) displays sawtooth (4,4) coordination polymer layers, while [Zn2(trans-14cdc)2(bpmp)]n (4, trans-14cdc = trans-1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate) shows a 3D system of coordination polymer networks with 3-fold interpenetrated 41263 pcu topology. The layered phases 1–3 showed capability for the detection of small quantities of nitrobenzene in ethanol suspension.
16 Hydroxychloroquine Blood Levels Predict Retinopathy in SLE

Background Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) retinopathy after 10 years or more of use is more frequent than previously appreciated. This led to new ophthalmology guidelines that changed the recommended dosing from 6.5 mg/kg to 5 mg/kg. However, it is not clear that the lower dose of hydroxychloroquine will have the same efficacy for SLE activity or the same protective role against cardiovascular risk factors and thrombosis. We asked whether hydroxychloroquine blood levels could help identify those at greater future risk of retinopathy. Methods We analyzed data on 537 SLE patients from a clinical cohort who had repeated assessments of HCQ blood concentrations, and were evaluated one or more times for retinopathy (300 single retinopathy exam, 149 two and 88 three or more assessments). The patients were 92% female and 42% Caucasian. Hydroxychloroquine blood levels were performed as previously described. In our analysis, HCQ toxicity was defined dichotomously by a retina expert: all those with a value of No or Possible were categorized as not having HCQ toxicity, and those who had a Yes were categorized as having it. Mean and maximum HCQ blood concentration over all cohort visits prior to the final retinopathy assessment were calculated. Risk of HCQ toxicity was then assessed in tertiles defined by these variables. Results Significant risk factors for retinal toxicity are shown in table 1. Conclusions Our data show that the risk of HCQ retinopathy is higher in men and Caucasians. As expected, it is higher in older patients and with greater duration. We also found that BMI and hypertension were predictive of HCQ retinopathy. For the first time, our data show the utility of HCQ blood levels in predicting retinopathy. This would allow clinicians to either decrease dose or increase monitoring in those with high blood levels. Funding Source(s): The Hopkins Lupus Cohort was funded by NIH Grant R01-AR069572.
Sample Adaptive MCMC

For MCMC methods like Metropolis-Hastings, tuning the proposal distribution is important in practice for effective sampling from the target distribution \pi. In this paper, we present Sample Adaptive MCMC (SA-MCMC), a MCMC method based on a reversible Markov chain for \pi^{\otimes N} that uses an adaptive proposal distribution based on the current state of N points and a sequential substitution procedure with one new likelihood evaluation per iteration and at most one updated point each iteration. The SA-MCMC proposal distribution automatically adapts within its parametric family to best approximate the target distribution, so in contrast to many existing MCMC methods, SA-MCMC does not require any tuning of the proposal distribution. Instead, SA-MCMC only requires specifying the initial state of N points, which can often be chosen a priori, thereby automating the entire sampling procedure with no tuning required. Experimental results demonstrate the fast adaptation and effective sampling of SA-MCMC.
Modeling the Aggregated Response of Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) for Power System Dynamic Studies

Accurate representation of system loads is critical for performing power system dynamic studies. As of date, in positive sequence bulk power system dynamic studies, the WECC composite load model is the state-of-the-art model for representing the aggregated behavior of loads at the substation bus. Although used widely, this model is continuously undergoing improvements to ensure that a reasonable representation of different load components can be obtained. One such refinement is the development of a model for representing the aggregated response of VFDs. This paper proposed a generic positive sequence model used to capture the aggregated response of a large number of VFDs connected at a load bus for bulk system dynamic studies. The model was developed and validated using laboratory test measurements of response different VFDs to voltage sags.
Measures of Secretory Activation for Research and Practice: An Integrative Review.

Background: Maternal concern about inadequate milk volume commonly emerges in the first 2 weeks postpartum, a critical lactation period that includes secretory activation. This review summarizes th...
Evaluation of South American Rice Varieties for Resistance to Rice Delphacid: Potential Sources for Breeding Programs

The rice delphacid, Tagosodes orizicolus (Muir), is a major insect pest of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Latin America. When abundant, the insect causes hopperburn and loss of yield potential as well as being a vector of rice hoja blanca virus. The insect pest was discovered in rice in the southern U.S. on multiple occasions, most recently in 2015 and 2018. To promote development of a sustainable management program, eight Nicaraguan rice varieties were evaluated in greenhouse and field experiments for resistance to the pest. Insect densities in the field were measured using a battery-powered vacuum sampler during as many as five sample dates before and after flooding. Two field experiments with separate planting dates and locations allowed detection of resistance when insects were naturally few and when abundant. Densities were 40-46 and 31-47% lower on Fedearroz 2000, Linea 34, and Altamira 1N varieties than on the most susceptible variety, INTA Dorada, in the first and second field experiments, respectively. An experiment in a greenhouse confirmed that insect densities were lowest on Fedearroz 2000, Linea 34, and Altamira1N. Densities on these varieties were 55-73% lower than on susceptible standard Bluebonnet 50. Overall, Fedearroz 2000, Linea 34, and Altamira 1N were more resistant than was the susceptible standard Bluebonnet 50. The varieties might be useful in management programs against the delphacid in Central America and serve as potential sources of resistance for incorporation into breeding programs in the U.S.
Ion-Neutral Reactions

Experimental studies of ion-neutral reactions are often carried out with specific applications in mind, for instance atmospheric or laser plasmas. Well-developed experimental methods are available in the form of flow tubes, ion-cyclotron resonance methods, ion drift tubes, and ion beam techniques, all of which have been employed extensively.
Plasmon-enabled degradation of organic micropollutants in water by visible-light illumination of Janus gold nanorods.

The development of sustainable methods for the degradation of pollutants in water is an ongoing critical challenge. Anthropogenic organic micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, present in our water supplies in trace quantities, are currently not remediated by conventional treatment processes. Here, we report an initial demonstration of the oxidative degradation of organic micropollutants using specially designed nanoparticles and visible-wavelength sunlight. Gold “Janus” nanorods (Au JNRs), partially coated with silica to enhance their colloidal stability in aqueous solutions while also maintaining a partially uncoated Au surface to facilitate photocatalysis, were synthesized. Au JNRs were dispersed in an aqueous solution containing peroxydisulfate (PDS), where oxidative degradation of both simulant and actual organic micropollutants was observed. Photothermal heating, light-induced hot electron-driven charge transfer, and direct electron shuttling under dark conditions all contribute to the observed oxidation chemistry. This work not only provides an ideal platform for studying plasmonic photochemistry in aqueous medium but also opens the door for nanoengineered, solar-based methods to remediate recalcitrant micropollutants in water supplies.
Drought Vulnerability Assessment to Inform Grazing Practices on Rangelands of Southeastern Colorado’s Major Land Resource Area 69

Increased climate variability, including more frequent and intense drought, is projected for the southwestern region of the United States. Increased temperatures and reduced precipitation lower soil water availability, resulting in decreased plant productivity and altering species composition, which may affect forage quality and quantity. Reduced forage quality and increased heat stress attributable to warmer temperatures could lead to decreased livestock performance in this system, which is extensively used for livestock grazing. Mitigating the effects of increasing drought is critical to social and ecological stability in the region. Reduced stocking rates, change in livestock breeds and/or grazing practices are general recommendations that could be implemented to cope with increased climatic stress. Ecological Sites and their associated state–and-transition models (STMs) are tools to help land managers implement and evaluate responses to disturbances. The projected change in climate will vary depending upon geographic location. Vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies are needed at the local level to inform local management decisions and help ameliorate the effects of climate change on rangelands. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Southwest Climate Hub and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) worked together to produce this drought vulnerability assessment at the Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) level, based on ecological sites and state-and-transition models that will help landowners and government agencies to identify and develop adaptation options for drought on rangelands. The assessment illustrates how site-specific information can be used to help minimize the effects of drought on rangelands and support informed decision-making for the selection of management adaptations within MLRA 69.
OptSLA: an Optimization-Based Approach for Sequential Label Aggregation

The need for the annotated training dataset on which data-hungry machine learning algorithms feed has increased dramatically with advanced acclaim of machine learning applications. To annotate the data, people with domain expertise are needed, but they are seldom available and expensive to hire. This has lead to the thriving of crowdsourcing platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT). However, the annotations provided by one worker cannot be used directly to train the model due to the lack of expertise. Existing literature in annotation aggregation focuses on binary and multi-choice problems. In contrast, little work has been done on complex tasks such as sequence labeling with imbalanced classes, a ubiquitous task in Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Bio-Informatics. We propose OptSLA, an Optimization-based Sequential Label Aggregation method, that jointly considers the characteristics of sequential labeling tasks, workers reliabilities, and advanced deep learning techniques to conquer the challenge. We evaluate our model on crowdsourced data for named entity recognition task. Our results show that the proposed OptSLA outperforms the state-of-the-art aggregation methods, and the results are easier to interpret.
Reexamination of diathesis stress and neurotoxic stress theories: A qualitative review of pre‐trauma neurobiology in relation to posttraumatic stress symptoms

OBJECTIVE Associations of neurobiological differences with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have generated interest in their temporal relation. Support has been voiced for the neurotoxic stress theory (NST) in which neurobiological differences develop following exposure and PTSD development. In contrast, the diathesis stress theory (DST) posits that neurobiological differences existed prior to exposure and may be vulnerability factors for PTSD. Studies in the first wave of neurobiological PTSD research were all cross sectional, but a second wave of research followed which used prospective repeated-measures designs that measured neurobiology prior to trauma exposure experiences, allowing greater causal inference. METHODS This study reviewed the second-wave studies in hopes of developing a preliminary consensus to support either the NST or the DST based on this more powerful prospective, repeated-measures study design. RESULTS Twenty-five second-wave studies were located that measured neurobiology prior to traumatic experiences. Nineteen studies supported the DST. Of 10 studies that were capable of testing the NST, only 3 were supportive. CONCLUSION The implications of the NST versus the DST have profound implications for understanding the fragility of the human brain and possible paths forward for future research on assessment, treatment, and social policy.
Diastereoselective Synthesis of Aryl C-Glycosides from Glycosyl Esters via C−O Bond Homolysis

C -aryl glycosyl compounds offer better in vivo stability relative to O- and N- glycoside analogues. C -aryl glycosides are extensively investigated as drug candidates and applied to chemical biology studies. Previously, C -aryl glycosides are derived from lactones, glycals, glycosyl stannanes, and halides, via methods displaying various limitations with respect to the scope, functional group compatibility, and practicality. Challenges remain in the synthesis of C -aryl nucleosides and 2-deoxysugars from easily accessible carbohydrate precursors. Herein, we report a cross-coupling method to prepare C -aryl and heteroaryl glycosides, including nucleosides and 2-deoxysugars, from glycosyl esters and bromoarenes. Activation of the carbohydrate substrates leverages dihydropyridine (DHP) as an activating group followed by decarboxylation to generate a glycosyl radical via C-O bond homolysis. This strategy represents a new means to activate alcohols as a cross-coupling partner. The convenient preparation of glycosyl esters and their stability exemplifies the potential of this method in medicinal chemistry.
Workshop on Internet Economics (WIE 2019) report

On 9-11 December 2019, CAIDA hosted the 10th interdisciplinary Workshop on Internet Economics (WIE) at UC San Diego's Supercomputer Center. This workshop series provides a forum for researchers, Internet facilities and service providers, technologists, economists, theorists, policymakers, and other stakeholders to exchange views on current and emerging economic and policy debates. This year's meeting had a narrower focus than in years past, motivated by a new NSF-funded project being launched at CAIDA: KISMET (Knowledge of Internet Structure: Measurement, Epistemology, and Technology). The objective of the KISMET project is to improve the security and resilience of key Internet systems by collecting and curating infrastructure data in a form that facilitates query, integration and analysis. This project is a part of NSF's new Convergence Accelerator program, which seeks to support fundamental scientific exploration by creating partnerships across public and private sectors to solve problems of national importance.
Adaptive Squeeze-and-Shrink Image Denoising for Improving Deep Detection of Cerebral Microbleeds

Deep learning for medical image analysis requires large quantities of high-quality imaging data for training purposes, which could be often less available due to existence of heavy noise in particular imaging modalities. This issue is especially obvious in cerebral microbleed (CMB) detection, since CMBs are more discernable on long echo time (TE) susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) data, which are unfortunately much noisier than those with shorter TE. In this paper we present an effective unsupervised image denoising scheme with application to boosting the performance of deep learning based CMB detection. The proposed content-adaptive denoising technique uses the log-determinant of covariance matrices formed by highly correlated image contents retrieved from the input itself to implicitly and efficiently exploit sparsity in PCA domain. The numerical solution to the corresponding optimization problem comes down to an adaptive squeeze-and-shrink (ASAS) operation on the underlying PCA coefficients. Obviously, the ASAS denoising does not rely on any external dataset and could be better fit the input image data. Experiments on medical image datasets with synthetic Gaussian white noise demonstrate that the proposed ASAS scheme is highly competitive among state-of-the-art sparsity based approaches as well as deep learning based method. When applied to the deep learning based CMB detection on the real-world TE3 SWI dataset, the proposed ASAS denoising could improve the precision by 18.03%, sensitivity by 7.64%, and increase the correlation between counts of ground truth and automated detection by 19.87%.
Redefining communities: The association between deferred action, online and offline social capital and depressive symptoms among undocumented young adults

An explosion in Internet use, social networking sites, and COVID-19 has promoted a new concept in health – online social capital, defined as linkages to online social networks that promote trust and group norms. Particularly for the 1.3 million undocumented young adult immigrants who “live in the shadows,” the Internet may serve as a place of support and information. This study examines the association between documentation status (defined as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status), offline social capital, online social capital, and depressive symptoms among foreign-born Latino and Asian and Pacific Islander young adults in California (N=208) using data from an internet-based survey conducted in 2017. This study found that those without DACA status had higher online social capital (p<0.001) and increased depressive symptoms (p=0.01) than those with DACA status. Using linear regression, we found evidence of online social capital potentially mediating the relationship between DACA status and depressive symptoms. This study also found that as offline social capital increases, the association between online social capital on depressive symptoms decreases. This study points to the power of offline communities and the importance of increasing access to community resources, particularly to those without documentation status who may only have online social networks.
Impaired Lactation: Review of Delayed Lactogenesis and Insufficient Lactation

It is estimated that as many as 1 in 20 women worldwide are unable to successfully breastfeed or provide adequate nutrition for their infants through their breast milk alone. Compromised nutrition in the early stages of life places the infant at risk for insufficient growth as well as serious and potentially disabling or life-threatening complications. This review summarizes risk factors associated with impaired lactation that may result in either delayed lactogenesis or insufficient lactation. The risk factors for insufficient lactation are categorized into preglandular, glandular, and postglandular causes. Impaired lactation can occur despite maternal motivation, knowledge, support, and appropriate breastfeeding technique. Although there is no clear way to predict who will experience impaired lactation, knowledge about the risk factors can enable health care professionals to better identify at-risk mother-infant dyads. Early intervention may help prevent infant complications associated with inadequate nutritional intake.
Summary of Workshop on Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Ocean

Sugimura and Suzuki [Marine Chem, 24: 105–131, 1988] reported that a new high temperature catalytic technique for oxidizing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in seawater recovered up to four times more carbon in surface water and two times more carbon in deep water than older, wet-chemical methods. This working group was charged with a discussion of the implications of these new high estimates of dissolved organic carbon on our understanding of the carbon cycle. The Sugimura and Suzuki results have spawned a great deal of interest and controversy because they suggest that the main sink for the production of new organic matter by marine organisms is not the organic matter in sinking particles, but dissolved organic matter which advects and diffuses into the deep sea. Because questions regarding measurement technique and the absolute accuracy of any of the techniques are still very much unanswered, we devoted much of our discussion to the findings of the recent JGOFS DOC intercomparison workshop in Seattle [P. M. Williams, U. S. JGOFS News, 3, no. 1, 1991].
Digital Estate Planning: Is Google Your Next Estate Planner?

While many people do not have an estate plan in place for the disposition of their traditional assets, even fewer have a specifically designed digital estate plan to manage their digital assets upon death. By the end of 2012, almost 30 million Facebook accounts had outlived their owners, but only three million had been memorialised for their deceased owners. This leaves millions of photographs, private messages, and other digital assets stored on the deceased’s Facebook account, which is inaccessible to his or her family and friends. These forgotten pages become a virtual shrine, creating ‘a pixilated Dorian Gray, colored by iPhone photos, ‘pokes’, and ‘LOLs’ — possibly for an eternity.’ As such, the unique nature of digital assets, coupled with the fact that many digital assets will long outlive their owners, present new challenges to traditional estate planning techniques, requiring more complex planning techniques than previously used for the disposition and management of traditional estates.