cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Capon algorithm mean-squared error threshold SNR prediction and probability of resolution

Below a specific threshold signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the mean-squared error (MSE) performance of signal parameter estimates derived from the Capon algorithm degrades swiftly. Prediction of this threshold SNR point is of practical significance for robust system design and analysis. The exact pairwise error probabilities for the Capon (and Bartlett) algorithm, derived herein, are given by simple finite sums involving no numerical integration, include finite sample effects, and hold for an arbitrary colored data covariance. Via an adaptation of an interval error based method, these error probabilities, along with the local error MSE predictions of Vaidyanathan and Buckley, facilitate accurate prediction of the Capon threshold region MSE performance for an arbitrary number of well separated sources, circumventing the need for numerous Monte Carlo simulations. A large sample closed-form approximation for the Capon threshold SNR is provided for uniform linear arrays. A new, exact, two-point measure of the probability of resolution for the Capon algorithm, that includes the deleterious effects of signal model mismatch, is a serendipitous byproduct of this analysis that predicts the SNRs required for closely spaced sources to be mutually resolvable by the Capon algorithm. Last, a general strategy is provided for obtaining accurate MSE predictions that account for signal model mismatch.
A Comparison of Measured Creatinine Clearance versus Calculated Glomerular Filtration Rate for Assessment of Renal Function before Autologous and Allogeneic BMT

Abstract Common blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) eligibility criteria include a minimum glomerular filtration rate (GFR) that may vary by regimen intensity. GFR is often estimated by measurement of creatinine clearance in a 24-hour urine collection (24-hr CrCl), an inconvenient and error-prone method that overestimates GFR. The study objectives were to determine which of 6 GFR calculations: Cockroft-Gault (CG), modified CG (mCG), Modification of Diet in Renal Disease 1 (MDRD1), MDRD2, Jelliffe, and Wright, consistently underestimated measured 24-hr CrCl pre-BMT. We retrospectively analyzed 98 consecutive allogeneic (n = 48) or autologous (n = 50) adult BMT patients from January 2006 to April 2007. All 6 formulas were significantly (P
Regular exercise is associated with emotional resilience to acute stress in healthy adults.

Physical activity has long been considered beneficial to health and regular exercise is purported to relieve stress. However empirical evidence demonstrating these effects is limited. In this study, we compared psychophysiological responses to an acute psychosocial stressor between individuals who did, or did not, report regular physical exercise. Healthy men and women (N=111) participated in two experimental sessions, one with the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and one with a non-stressful control task. We measured heart rate, blood pressure, cortisol and self-reported mood before and at repeated times after the tasks.Individuals who reported physical exercise at least once per week exhibited lower heart rate at rest than non-exercisers, but the groups did not differ in their cardiovascular responses to the TSST. Level of habitual exercise did not influence self-reported mood before the tasks, but non-exercisers reported a greater decline in positive affect after the TSST in comparison to exercisers. These findings provide modest support for claims that regular exercise protects against the negative emotional consequences of stress, and suggest that exercise has beneficial effects in healthy individuals. These findings are limited by their correlational nature, and future prospective controlled studies on the effects of regular exercise on response to acute stress are needed.
General core loss models on a magnetic lamination

An analytical core loss formula and a dynamic hysteresis core loss model have been developed. Experimental data for different lamination thicknesses have been measured and analyzed at various frequencies. Based on the analysis, an analytical eddy current loss model considering skin effect and a dynamic hysteresis finite element core loss model have been established and validated by experiments. The developed models are simple and efficient, and have been shown to be very accurate compared with the experiments. Moreover, the models can calculate core losses based on the input parameters obtained from experimental measurements at only one single frequency in a thin lamination. The models, to our best knowledge, are the first ones that are capable of calculating core losses for different thicknesses of materials and different operating frequencies, without a massive experimental database.
Synchronous Versus Asynchronous Online Courses:: An Introduction for Perioperative Nurses Returning to School

The author has nothing to disclose. a Shannon Clinic, 120 East Beauregard, San Angelo, TX 76903, USA b Department of Nursing, Angelo State University, 333 Vandeventer Avenue, San Angelo, TX 76909, USA *E-mail address: kjackson2@angelo.edu Perioperative Nursing Clinics 7(2012) 161-169 Doi:10.1016/j.cpen.2012.02.001 1556-7931/12/$ see front matter© 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Control of Gluconate Utilization in Sinorhizobium meliloti

The Sinorhizobium meliloti megaplasmid pSymA has previously been implicated in gluconate utilization. We report a locus on pSymA encoding a putative tripartite ATP-independent periplasmic (TRAP) transporter that is required for gluconate utilization. The expression of this locus is negatively regulated by a GntR family regulator encoded adjacent to the transporter operon.
Reply to Betsch et al.: Highlighting risks of diseases shifts vaccine attitudes

Betsch et al. (1) argue that our intervention failed to affect “true” vaccine skeptics’ attitudes, and that the findings of our paper (2) actually support the use of an intervention aimed at dispelling myths linking measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines and autism.
A safety case pattern for model-based development approach

In this paper, a safety case pattern is introduced to facilitate the presentation of a correctness argument for a system implemented using formal methods in the development process. We took advantage of our experience in constructing a safety case for the Patient Controlled Analgesic (PCA) infusion pump, to define this safety case pattern. The proposed pattern is appropriate to be instantiated within the safety cases constructed for systems that are developed by applying model-based approaches.
The Use of Law in Counterinsurgency

No form of war is more closely tied to law than counterinsurgency. Counterinsurgency is, at its core, a contest for “legitimacy,” and the legitimacy of a modern government is inherently tied to its ability to bring about the rule of law. Although counterinsurgency doctrine is consumed with building both legitimacy and the rule of law, it lacks a clear understanding of how law contributes to legitimacy. Moreover, law is useful to counterinsurgents in a variety of ways; more disturbing is the possibility that the use of law as a means to conducting counterinsurgency is not only counterproductive to building legitimacy but may actually undermine the authority of the law itself. Recognizing the complex relationship between law and legitimacy requires counterinsurgents to temper their rush to law as a means of war with consideration of the second- and third-order effects generated by introducing a complex and morally contingent a concept like law as a means to obtaining operational advantage in armed conflict.The paper describes the relationship between law and legitimacy as suggested by U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine and addresses how the “rule of law” can actually build legitimacy. Building legitimacy is not the only way law is used in counterinsurgency, and so the paper describes the four distinct ways law is used in counterinsurgency and how those various uses related to legitimacy and thereby to the authority of the law. A complete understanding of how laws is used by counterinsurgents reveals that the many uses of law in counterinsurgency fall along a continuum of legitimacy. Keeping that continuum in mind has implications for practice, which are discussed in the final section of the paper.
Growing a New Policy Initiative in Hard Times: Pre-Kindergarten and the Great Recession

Over the last three decades, American pre-kindergarten (pre-k) policy has taken an improbable course. Before 1980, only three states offered some form of state supported prekindergarten program. Between 1980 and 2005 an additional 35 states embraced pre-k programs. The rise of state supported pre-kindergarten programs across the country has come to be known as the Pre-Kindergarten Movement. While fewer than 10 percent of American four-year-olds were enrolled in center-based early care and education (including day nurseries and nursery schools) as recently as the 1960s, by 2005, over 60% of American four-year-olds were enrolled in some form of center-based early-education program (Hofferth 1996; NIEER 2006). The galloping expansion in state pre-k initiatives was brought to an abrupt halt by the recession in 2007 and the subsequent years have brought deep cuts in many states. Pre-k was certainly not the only program under the knife, as most states responded to the financial crisis by seeking massive cuts across a wide range of human services (Guernsey and Holt 2012). And while the initial pain of the recession was blunted by federal stimulus dollars, those funds soon dwindled, leaving pre-k programs vulnerable to state efforts to balance their books. From a policy implementation perspective, this is the point where the story becomes even more interesting: While the recession was pervasive and widespread, the fate of pre-k programs differed markedly from state to state. It was certainly the case that many states retrenched their pre-k initiatives. However, some states actually expanded their pre-k programs in spite of the recession. In this respect, the varied fortunes of state pre-k programs offer a lens through which to sharpen our understanding of the structural and strategic factors that make potentially vulnerable policy initiatives more resilient to hard times. The case of pre-k offers, first, an opportunity to evaluate a rare, recent instance of policy innovation against the broader stream of economic constriction and policy retrenchment. Second, the variegated landscape of state decisions concerning pre-kindergarten policy in the wake of the recession provides a tantalizing opportunity to assess the factors that harden otherwise fragile policy initiatives. This paper explores the structural and strategic factors that explain state pre-k policy decisions in the context of economic, political, cultural, and administrative data collected from 38 states.
Hiding in Plain Sight: A Tale of Trust and Mistrust inside a Community of Citizen Reporters.

The large volume of user-generated content on the Social Web puts a high burden on the participants to evaluate the accuracy and quality of such content. Researchers have been trying to address this problem by focusing on discovering in- fluential entities inside social platforms to guide their ranking algorithms. Often these entities correspond to people or orga- nizations already influential in the real-world. However, not everywhere in the world is there a right to and protection of free speech. In countries where the traditional media cannot report the truth, anonymity becomes a necessity for citizens who want to exercise their right of free-speech in the service of their community. But is it possible for anonymous individuals to become influ- ential and gain the trust of a community? In this paper, we discuss the case of a community of Twitter citizen reporters, located in a Mexican city plagued by the drug cartels fighting for control of territory. Our analysis shows that the most in- fluential individuals inside the community were anonymous accounts. Neither the Mexican authorities, nor the drug car- tels were happy about the real-time citizen reporting of crime or anti-crime operations in an open social network such as Twitter, and we discovered external pressures to this com- munity and its influential players to change their reporting behavior.
“A reward for good citizenship”: National Unemployment Benefits and the Genuine Search for Work

During debate on the National Insurance Bill in the House of Commons on May 4, 1911, Colonel Claude Lowther commended the Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George for introducing “a Bill which is clever, human, sound, and statesmanlike.” A Conservative and staunch opponent of socialism, Lowther envisioned unemployment insurance as “free[ing] the individual from the trammels and meshes of poverty. It would inspire him with hope rather than fill him with despair, and help him instead of being a useless of member of society to become a wealth producer.”1 National insurance would be in the interests of national efficiency, whereas the Poor Law was “chaotic” and served to “breed pauperism.”2 The Poor Law stripped honest men of their self-respect, but unemployment insurance would help the poor regain their manhood: No man in this country is allowed to starve. The State acknowledges itself morally bound to give not only food but lodging and shelter to those who cannot find them for themselves…. But instead of attempting to rehabilitate the individual, instead of helping him to re-find his lost manhood and lost dignity, the State brands him with a stigma of disgrace which often causes the honest working man, out of work through no fault of his own, to sink deeper and deeper into the morass of pauperism and despair.
Muybridge’s Magic Lantern:

Though widely known for his contributions to instantaneous photography and studies of human and animal locomotion, the figure of Eadweard Muybridge was equally renowned during the final decades of the 19th century for his tours of the magic lantern circuit. At this time, the photographer entertained and educated audiences with a poly-generic, multi-media show alternating still views with animations produced through his projecting apparatus, the zoopraxiscope. This article examines the temporal and material dimensions of Muybridge’s lantern practice to demonstrate how it builds on 19th-century anxieties about changing epistemologies of vision and visuality, as well as time and temporality. As a dynamic process animating still images into motion, Muybridge treated animation as a palliative measure designed to bring his ungainly images of animals back into the realm of natural human vision. In so doing, he bred truth through illusion and helped prepare audiences for an emerging cinematic sensibility. By emph...
Fear as a Constraint to Active Lifestyles for Females

(1993). Fear as a Constraint to Active Lifestyles for Females. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance: Vol. 64, No. 1, pp. 44-47.
Laboratory Studies of the Courtship of the Velvetbean Caterpillar Moth, Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hū¼bner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Courtship of the velvetbean caterpillar moth, Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hubner), in the laboratory was composed of seven distinct behavior patterns: approach, display, antennation, thrust, envelopment, mounting, and copulation. Successful males (42) performed each successive pattern once (13) or cycled back (29) through previous patterns before copulating. Unsuccessful males (18) cycled much more frequently, having about 3-fold as many transitions between patterns. Regardless of ultimate success, the most-repeated cycle was from thrust back to display and antennation before another thrust. Thus, the elaborate courtship sequence apparently led to female choice at the pivotal state of thrust, either resulting in culmination of the process or return of the male for another attempt.
Identification of the high-risk smoker.

SUMMARY The burden of smoking-related disease can be reduced through smoking prevention and cessation. While physicians should counsel all patients who smoke, disease risks are not uniform among smokers. The smokers of the largest numbers of cigarettes are at greatest risk, as are those who started at younger ages. In addition, other factors determine the likelihood of developing a smoking-related disease (Table 5). Physicians can use the combination of smoking with these additional risk factors to target smokers for intervention, whether education, cessation, or appropriate screening.
Comparison and impact of various whole body perfusion techniques on tissue preservation quality and immunorecognition

Optimal tissue preservation is critical in histotechnology to ensure quality of hematoxylin and eosin (HE (2) physiological saline at pH 7 with heparin; (3) 4% paraformaldehyde fixative; and (4) physiological saline at pH 7 with heparin followed by 4% paraformaldehyde. All solutions were chilled prior to the start of the perfusion. Furthermore, alpha-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) i...
Considerations and Complications of Breast Reconstruction in the Elderly Population

As the treatment of breast cancer has advanced, reconstructive breast surgery has become an important aspect of comprehensive breast cancer care. Women of advanced age, specifically those over the age of 60 years, require special considerations when planning breast reconstruction. These special considerations stem not only from physical changes associated with the aging process, but also in the management of breast malignancies in this population. Although available reconstruction techniques are generally well tolerated and similar to those for younger women, there are differing rates of complications that affect this age group that both the oncologic and reconstructive surgeon must recognize. This chapter offers a discussion of these considerations and complications for surgeons involved in the management of breast disease.
Synthesis of fault tolerant switching protocols for vehicle engine thermal management

Thermal management is very important to guarantee ideal performance of compact vehicle engines. One challenge in the vehicle engine thermal management is to control the engine temperature in a small interval while tolerating component failures and the uncertainties in complex environment and different operating conditions. We formulate this control problem as a temporal logic game for a switched affine system and solve it by synthesizing a switching protocol based on an abstraction. The existing algorithms for computing abstractions either cannot handle parametric uncertainties in the dynamics or can be computationally expensive. Besides, they usually do not deal with possible component failures. The main contribution of this work is to show: (i) how to compute an abstraction more efficiently under the assumption that the vector fields are multiaffine in constant uncertainties and affine in state variables, (ii) how to result in a graceful degradation in case of component failures.
CHAPTER 3 – Protein Isolation and Determination of Amino Acid Sequence

Proteins are separated on the basis of differences in their size, shape, charge, solubility, and binding affinity for other molecules. Chemicals used to extract proteins from membranous particles include dissociating agents, such as urea and mercaptoethanol, chelating agents such as ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and organic detergents, such as sodium deoxycholate, sodium lauryl sulfate, and Triton X-100. The initial purification steps usually separate proteins according to general classification, such as fibrous (insoluble) or globular (soluble). The fibrous and globular designations are related to shape and solubility. Globular proteins are spherical or ellipsoidal, and make up the majority of known proteins. Fibrous proteins contain one or more polypeptide chains and their molecules are elongated and asymmetrical with lengths that may be many times their diameters. Protein can also be separated on the basis of their size by dialysis, gel filtration, and membrane filtration. Chromatographic separations of proteins are based on the differential partitioning of solute molecules due to their differences in affinity between a moving solvent phase and a fixed or supportive phase. Determination of the amino acid sequence of a purified protein begins with determination of the amino acid composition, which is the number of moles of each amino acid residue present in per mole of protein. Determination of the amino acid sequence of a protein involves the identification of the N- and C-terminal amino acid residues, cleavage of any disulfide bonds present, limited cleavage of the peptide into overlapping smaller fragments, purification of the fragments, and their stepwise cleavage into individual amino acid residues.
Information systems outsourcing: A literature review and agenda for research

This article examines the current state of understanding of outsourcing by organizations, especially as it applies to information systems (IS). Both supporting and opposing arguments are presented, along with the relevance of this practice for the public sector. Finally, a research agenda to study the impact of outsourcing on employees and organizations is proposed
CMOS Transistor Reliability and Variability Mechanisms

This chapter talks about device reliability mechanisms such as hot electron injection, gate oxide breakdown, negative bias temperature instability and process variation.
‘Rigmarole’ or ‘Method’?

The persistence of a ‘certain Hegelian phraseology’ in the discourse of Marx’s Capital has been much remarked upon. For professional economists of what we could call a broadly neoclassical inspiration, it has been a source of constant annoyance, a ‘metaphysical’ residue worthy only of ridicule and contempt, at best an irrelevance and at worst an obstacle to serious scientific inquiry. The special target of abuse for Marx’s critics among the economists has been his theory of value, as developed at the very outset of the first volume of Capital. Even if other aspects of Marx’s economics deserved (at least ostensibly) more studied consideration, the attitude toward his value-theory has been one of simple dismissal, and such lack of engagement could always be justified by summarizing everything which the critics found most distasteful and inaccessible about the theory under the epithet of ‘Hegelianism’. In more recent times, self-styled ‘analytical Marxists’ - who are, much like the aspiring Romanian entrepreneur I met not long ago, Marxist ‘dans leurs coeurs’, but stridently neoclassical in their theoretical practice and indeed openly anf/-Marxist in their estimations of most everything usually associated with Marx - have followed the same sort of procedure in claiming to have developed a ‘Marxian theory of exploitation’ on the basis of the postulates of general equilibrium analysis: hence a ‘Marxian theory of exploitation’ which has been ‘liberated’ from the Marxian theory of value.
Do Judges Vary Their Burden of Proof? Evidence from Federal Bench Trials.

The legal standard of proof in any criminal trial is reasonable doubt, but economic models argue for a variable standard. Two economic arguments are tested with data on federal trials over the last decade. First, a trier of fact should respond to a more serious charge with a higher burden of proof. In bench trials, judges display a lower conviction probability for more serious charges. Conversely, jurors, who are instructed to ignore sentencing, do not. Second, entrusting a trier of fact with sentencing discretion might create the incentive to "compromise" on a verdict by convicting but imposing a light sentence when guilt is not fully established. A joint test of whether judges in bench trials both convict more frequently and impose more lenient sentences during periods of greater discretion is not significant, and judges do not appear to be issuing compromise verdicts.
A Case Series of Complex Recalcitrant Wounds Treated with Epidermal Grafts Harvested from an Automated Device

Introduction Epidermal grafting has several advantages over full-thickness or split-thickness grafts in the treatment of complex non-healing wounds. These include the low risk of donor site complications, minimal patient discomfort, and abstention from the operating room. Traditionally, the lack of reliable epidermal harvesting techniques has limited its clinical utilization. The development of an automated suction blister epidermal graft (SBEG) harvesting device may facilitate clinical utilization of this technique. The authors present a case series of multimorbid patients who were poor surgical candidates and were treated with this technique. Methods A retrospective review of all patients treated with CelluTome™​ Epidermal Harvesting System (KCI, an Acelity company, San Antonio, TX) prior to May 2016 at our institution was conducted. Results A total of 12 patients underwent 14 epidermal grafting procedures. Multiple comorbidities were identified, including smoking (33%), immunosuppression by immunotherapy or steroids (25%), chronic venous insufficiency (25%), diabetes mellitus (25%), malignancy (25%), polysubstance abuse (17%), HIV/AIDS (17%), and peripheral artery disease (8%). Among the two acute wounds (≤ 3 months) and 10 chronic wounds, the average wound size was 49.1 cm2 (± 77.6 cm2) and the median wound duration was 5.7 months (interquartile range: 4.1 - 15.8 months) before SBEG was attempted. These complex wounds had failed prior therapies, such as local wound care (100%), incision and drainage (58%), vacuum-assisted closure (33%), split-thickness skin graft (16%), and hyperbaric oxygen (8%). Following the procedure, all donor sites healed within one week. Three patients were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining nine patients, four patients had complete resolution of their wounds at a median follow-up of 13.1 weeks (interquartile range: 6.8-17.3 weeks). Among those with partial resolutions, the average wound size was 4.2 cm2 (± 2.1 cm2) with an average wound reduction of 79% (± 23%). No donor or recipient site complications were observed. Conclusions The automated SBEG harvesting device is an effective and safe option for treating complex non-healing wounds in multimorbid patients who may be poor surgical candidates. This procedure demonstrates minimal contraindications to its use and donor or recipient site complications.
Upfront combination therapy in the treatment of scleroderma-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension: Results of an open label trial

Introduction: Scleroderma-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) responds poorly to current PAH therapy. Aims: To assess the effects of upfront, combination therapy with tadalafil and ambrisentan in a multicenter, prospective open label trial for treatment of SSc-PAH. Methods: 25 treatment naive SSc-PAH patients received tadalafil (40 mg daily) and ambrisentan (10 mg daily) for 36 weeks. Right heart catheterization, cMRI, and echocardiography were performed at baseline and 36 weeks. Primary endpoints were changes in RV mass and PVR. Secondary endpoints were changes in pulmonary compliance (Pca=stroke volume over pulmonary pulse pressure), ventricular mass index (VMI=RV/LV mass index), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), six-minute walk distance (6 MWD) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP). Results: Treatment resulted in significant reductions in RV mass index (21.7±10.6 g/m² vs 18.0±6.7 g/m²; P=0.04), PVR (8.1±5.8 Wood Units (WU) vs. 3.9±3.5 WU; P Conclusions: Upfront combination therapy resulted in significant changes in hemodynamics, RV structure and function, and RV-pulmonary vascular coupling as well as functional status at 36 weeks of therapy. When compared to previous clinical trials, these data suggest initial combination therapy is very effective for SSc-PAH.
ML372 blocks SMN ubiquitination and improves spinal muscular atrophy pathology in mice

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disease and one of the leading inherited causes of infant mortality. SMA results from insufficient levels of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein, and studies in animal models of the disease have shown that increasing SMN protein levels ameliorates the disease phenotype. Our group previously identified and optimized a new series of small molecules, with good potency and toxicity profiles and reasonable pharmacokinetics, that were able to increase SMN protein levels in SMA patient-derived cells. We show here that ML372, a representative of this series, almost doubles the half-life of residual SMN protein expressed from the SMN2 locus by blocking its ubiquitination and subsequent degradation by the proteasome. ML372 increased SMN protein levels in muscle, spinal cord, and brain tissue of SMA mice. Importantly, ML372 treatment improved the righting reflex and extended survival of a severe mouse model of SMA. These results demonstrate that slowing SMN degradation by selectively inhibiting its ubiquitination can improve the motor phenotype and lifespan of SMA model mice.
Instilling positive beliefs about disabilities: pilot testing a novel experiential learning activity for rehabilitation students.

Purpose: To develop and test a novel impairment simulation activity to teach beginning rehabilitation students how people adapt to physical impairments.Methods: Masters of Occupational Therapy stud...
Abstract 15797: Fibrotic Remodeling and Stiffening of Mitral Valve Leaflets After Undersizing Ring Annuloplasty to Correct Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation

Introduction: Systolic leaflet coaptation after undersizing ring annuloplasty (URA) to repair ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) is highly non-physiological, with a hyper-extending anterior leafle...
Markerless Gene Editing in the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Thermococcus kodakarensis

The advent of single cell genomics and the continued use of metagenomic profiling in diverse environments has exponentially increased the known diversity of life. The recovered and assembled genomes predict physiology, consortium interactions and gene function, but experimental validation of metabolisms and molecular pathways requires more directed approaches. Gene function-and the correlation between phenotype and genotype is most obviously studied with genetics, and it is therefore critical to develop techniques permitting rapid and facile strain construction. Many new and candidate archaeal lineages have recently been discovered, but experimental, genetic access to archaeal genomes is currently limited to a few model organisms. The results obtained from manipulating the genomes of these genetically-accessible organisms have already had profound effects on our understanding of archaeal physiology and information processing systems, and these continued studies also help resolve phylogenetic reconstruction of the tree of life. The hyperthermophilic, planktonic, marine heterotrophic archaeon Thermococcus kodakarensis, has emerged as an ideal genetic system with a suite of techniques available to add or delete encoded activities, or modify expression of genes in vivo. We outline here techniques to rapidly and markerlessly delete a single, or repetitively delete several, continuous sequences from the T. kodakarensis genome. Our procedure includes details on the construction of the plasmid DNA necessary for transformation that directs, via homologous recombination, integration into the genome, identification of strains that have incorporated plasmid sequences (termed intermediate strains), and confirmation of plasmid excision, leading to deletion of the target gene in final strains. Near identical procedures can be employed to modify, rather than delete, a genomic locus.
Accurate Quantification of Radiosulfur in Chemically Complex Atmospheric Samples.

An ultralow-level liquid scintillation counting (LSC) technique has been used in measuring radiosulfur (cosmogenic 35S) in natural samples. The ideal half-life of 35S (∼87 days) renders it a new way to examine various biogeochemical problems. A major limitation of the technique is that complex chemical compositions in atmospheric samples may lead to color quenching of LSC cocktails, a serious problem prolonging the pretreatment time (>1 week) and hampering the accurate determination of 35S. For application of the technique where many of the most important atmospheric chemical processes are examined, significant interferences arise and accurate analysis in small samples is not possible. In this study, we optimized the LSC method to minimize/eliminate color quenching in high-sensitivity 35S measurements. The analytical performance of this new method was evaluated using control laboratory experiments and natural aerosol samples. Results show that the new method offers comparable accuracy as the traditional m...
Fashion Digital Products: Rethinking Product Categories and Characteristics

The fashion industry has witnessed drastic changes over the past few years. Technological development sparked innovations in many areas such as new production processes, marketing communications, virtual experiences on digital devices, etc. Much interest was concentrated on new technological advances in digital retail channels and consumer experiences (e.g., virtual fitting room) (e.g., Fiore & Jin, 2003) or on the process of design and/or production (e.g., mass-customization, co-design) (e.g., Ulrich, Anderson-Connell, & Wu, 2003).
Reduced Latch Count Shift Registers

This paper shows a new family of shift register designs which enjoys a reduced latch count. Reduction in the latch count is achieved by introducing additional clocks. The reduction in latch count may reach the ultimate savings of 50%.
Close = Relevant? The Role of Context in Efficient Language Production

We formally derive a mathematical model for evaluating the effect of context relevance in language production. The model is based on the principle that distant contextual cues tend to gradually lose their relevance for predicting upcoming linguistic signals. We evaluate our model against a hypothesis of efficient communication (Genzel and Charniak's Constant Entropy Rate hypothesis). We show that the development of entropy throughout discourses is described significantly better by a model with cue relevance decay than by previous models that do not consider context effects.
Timing of treatment initiation of direct-acting antivirals for HIV/HCV coinfected and HCV monoinfected patients.

Direct-acting antiviral therapy is safe and cost-effective for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, variability in drug payment rules represents a barrier to treatment that may disproportionately affect certain populations. We conducted a retrospective cohort study among HIV/HCV coinfected and HCV monoinfected patients using Kaplan-Meier and Fisher's exact test to analyze the time from the prescription of a direct-acting antiviral agent to delivery to the patient. Variables with significance p < .20 in univariate analysis were included in a Cox regression model. Factors associated with faster treatment were Infectious Diseases office setting (p = .01), public insurance payer (p = .01), and initial approval of requested regimen (p = .01). The presence of other liver disease was associated with delay in treatment (p = .05). Unrestrictive Medicare and Medicaid regulations resulted in more rapid delivery of medication compared to private payers. Fibrosis level, Child-Pugh class and HIV status did not significantly change time to treatment.
Day of the Dam Breach

The testimonials taken by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1889 preserve remarkable eyewitness accounts from the day of the flood, from the early hours that day through the passing of the flood wave. The stories are best told in the words of those witnesses. After getting word of problems on the rails east of Johnstown, PRR executives Michael Trump and Robert Pitcairn boarded trains and headed east. The explicit messages they received about the danger to the South Fork dam gave them both opportunities to warn the towns below that dam and their own employees and passengers along the Little Conemaugh River. Their failure to do so undoubtedly cost many lives.
Grandparents’ Financial Contributions to Grandchildren in Rural China: The Role of Remittances, Household Structure, and Patrilineal Culture

Objectives This investigation examined predictors of monetary transfers made by grandparents for the benefit of their grandchildren in rural China. Predictors included family factors related to financial supply (remittances received from the parents of grandchildren), household demand (living in a skipped-generation household), and patrilineal culture (targeting sons and grandsons). Method The 2015 wave of the Longitudinal Study of Older Adults in Anhui Province was used to study financial transfers made by 831 grandparents to grandchildren in the families of 1,633 parents. Two-part random-effects regression was used to predict whether a transfer was made and the value of transfers, given that one occurred. Results Grandparents provided higher value transfers to grandchildren whose parents provided greater remittances and with whom they coresided in skipped-generation households. The likelihood of making a transfer fully followed the male lineage, and was greatest to grandson-only families in which parents were first-born sons. Discussion Results show that economic, household, and cultural factors are independently associated with the largesse of grandparents. We conclude that grandparents' economic contributions to grandchildren in rural China are shaped by family demands in a highly mobile society, intergenerational interdependence, and a persistent patrilineal gender system that reaches to the level of grandchildren.
Induction of Non-Monotonic Rules From Statistical Learning Models Using High-Utility Itemset Mining.

We present a fast and scalable algorithm to induce non-monotonic logic programs from statistical learning models. We reduce the problem of search for best clauses to instances of the High-Utility Itemset Mining (HUIM) problem. In the HUIM problem, feature values and their importance are treated as transactions and utilities respectively. We make use of TreeExplainer, a fast and scalable implementation of the Explainable AI tool SHAP, to extract locally important features and their weights from ensemble tree models. Our experiments with UCI standard benchmarks suggest a significant improvement in terms of classification evaluation metrics and running time of the training algorithm compared to ALEPH, a state-of-the-art Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) system.
Biometry of thenar muscle origins on the flexor retinaculum.

The transverse carpal ligament (TCL), the main part of the flexor retinaculum, serves as an anchor for the thenar muscles: abductor pollicis brevis (APB), superficial head of the flexor pollicis brevis (sFPB), and opponens pollicis (OPP). Biomechanically, the thenar muscles rely on their TCL anchoring to transmit muscle contractions distally for thumb force and motion production, and reciprocally, muscle contraction interacts with the TCL at the proximal end through the origins. However, scarce knowledge exists regarding the distribution pattern of the thenar muscle origins. The purpose of this study was to understand the anatomical interface between the thenar muscles and TCL by examining the origin distributions of the individual muscles. Ten cadaveric specimens were dissected for digitization of the muscle origins and TCL volar surface. Digitized data were used for mesh reconstruction and calculation of surface areas and centroids. The origin areas for APB, sFPB, and OPP were 105.8 ± 30.3, 64.6 ± 15.2, and 245.9 ± 70.7 mm2 , respectively. The surface area of the TCL was 386.2 ± 86.9 mm2 . The origin areas of APB and OPP on the TCL were comparable, 18.4 ± 4.8% and 17.3 ± 9.6% of the TCL area, respectively. The origin locations for APB, sFPB, and OPP were in proximal-radial quadrant of the TCL, on distal aponeurosis outside the TCL, and around the ridge of trapezium, respectively. The knowledge of the anatomical interface provides a foundation for the understanding of biomechanical interactions between the muscles and ligaments and pathomechanical implications.
Medication Reconciliation: Rec It Right, so it’s not a Wreck

Background: Medication errors and harms continue to be one of the most widely reported healthcare problems. The Joint Commission (TJC) included medication reconciliation (MedRec) as a 2005 National Patient Safety Goal to help reduce errors related to medication omissions, duplications and interactions. Despite years of attention, hospitals continue to struggle to implement successful MedRec. Similarly, we have identified high variability, risk of harm, and opportunities to systematically improve our institution’s MedRec. SMART AIM: To increase the entire institution’s % of overall inpatient admission medication reconciliation (AdmMedRec) completed …
Patterns of emergency department utilization between transplant and non-transplant centers and impact on clinical outcomes in kidney recipients.

There is a high rate of Emergency Department (ED) utilization in kidney recipients post-transplant; ED visits are associated with readmission rates and lower survival rates. However, utilization within and outside transplant centers may lead to different outcomes. The objective was to analyze ED utilization patterns at transplant and non-transplant centers as well as common etiologies of ED visits and correlation with hospitalization, graft, and patient outcomes. This was a longitudinal, retrospective, single-center cohort study in kidney transplant recipients evaluating ED utilization. Comparator groups were determined by ED location, time from transplant, and disposition/readmission from ED visit. 1,106 kidney recipients were included in the study. ED utilization dropped at the transplant center after the 1st year (P 1 year post-transplant was associated with higher risk for graft loss and death (aHR 2.93 and aHR 1.75, P < .0001). The results of this study demonstrate an increased risk of graft loss among patients who utilize non-transplant center emergency departments. Improved communication and coordination between transplant centers and non-transplant centers may contribute to better long-term outcomes.
Intrauterine growth restriction causes cellular, molecular, and behavioral deficits consistent with abnormal dentate gyrus neurogenesis in mice

Background: Children born with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are at increased risk for cognitive impairment including learning and memory deficits. Dentate gyrus (DG) granule neurons relay cortical information into the hippocampus proper for memory formation, and their production is highly dependent on environmental signals. However, it is unknown whether IUGR affects DG neurogenesis, and thus provides a potential mechanism underlying abnormal learning and memory function. Methods: Using a hypertensive disease of pregnancy mouse model of IUGR, we assessed multiple behaviors, quantified neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPCs) and developing neurons in the DG, and characterized transcriptional effects on molecular pathways in the hippocampus. Results: We found that the predominant behavioral phenotype in IUGR offspring, short-term implicit learning and memory deficits, was associated with accelerated DG neurogenesis and NSPC depletion. Consistent with known molecular regulators of DG neurogenesis, we also found strong evidence for decreased Wnt pathway activity following IUGR. Conclusion: We have discovered that postnatal memory deficits are associated with accelerated NSPC differentiation following IUGR, a phenotype that could be explained by decreased Wnt signaling.
Square-Wave Modulated Damping in Transimpedance Amplifiers

A shunt-feedback transimpedance amplifier (SF- TIA) with a dynamic damping factor is presented. In the proposed SF-TIA, the damping factor switches between a low negative and high positive value synchronously with the incoming data which allows the fast response of low-damping factor while mitigating the intersymbol interference (ISI) associated with underdamped 2nd-order systems. The damping factor is modulated by adding a triode-region transistor with a rail-to-rail square-wave bias voltage across the outputs which changes the damping factor of the system between -0.15 and 2.5 each unit interval. The proposed TIA achieves more than twice the vertical eye opening and lower input referred noise compared to an optimized reference TIA as well as higher gain and lower input referred noise compared to a dynamic-damping TIA with sinusoidal damping-factor modulation.
Locus of Control and Vulnerability to Peer Pressure: aStudy of Adolescent Behavior in Urban Ghanaian Context

Peer pressure also known as social pressure refers to the pressure to behave differently that is exerted by peers ...
Drug profile: galcanezumab for prevention of cluster headache.

Introduction: Cluster headache [CH] is a severely disabling trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia [TAC]. Approximately 1 in 1,000 adults are affected by CH. Calcitonin gene-related peptide [CGRP] is an ...
Linking public health and heritage work

This article reports a cross-disciplinary literature review focused to identify if and how history and heritage have been linked with public health. Widely varied opinions suggest history, heritage...
Publish the Picture at Your Peril: Visual Ideas and the Commercial Apparatus of Life Magazine

In the early years of the twentieth century, Life magazine had only approximately one hundred thousand subscribers, yet its illustrated images (like the Gibson Girl) significantly influenced fashion trends and social behaviors nationally. Its outsized influence can be explained by examining the magazine’s business practices, particularly the novel ways in which it treated and conceptualized its images as intellectual property. While other magazines relied on their circulation and advertising revenue to attain profitability, Life used its page space to sell not only ads, but also its own creative components—principally illustrations—to manufacturers of consumer goods, advertisers, and consumers themselves. In so doing, Life’s publishers relied on a developing legal conception of intellectual property and copyright, one that was not always amenable to their designs. By looking at a quasi-litigious disagreement in which a candy manufacturing company attempted to copy one of the magazine’s images, this article explores the mechanisms behind the commodification and distribution of mass-circulated images.
Pediatric tracheostomy surveillance

We report an unusual case of a 14-month-old ex-28 week, ventilator-dependent male with a history of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and tracheostomy at 2 months of age. Lost to follow-up, at age 9 months, he presented to the emergency department with worsening respiratory distress. The patient was taken to the operating room at which time direct visualization of the airway demonstrated a mass filling the entire glottic inlet without supraglottic or pharyngeal mucosal attachments. The solid, nonvascular, mass appeared to be emanating from a suprastomal site. Excision proved to relieve the airway obstruction and postoperatively the patient has thrived.