cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Calcium entry, mobilization, and extrusion in postcapillary venular endothelium exposed to bradykinin

The effect of bradykinin (BK) on cytosolic calcium in coronary venular endothelial cells (CVEC) was studied using the intracellular calcium indicator indo 1. At normal extracellular calcium levels, CVEC responded to BK at concentrations as low as 0.1 pM; maximum cytosolic calcium spikes occurred at 10 nM. In calcium-free medium, poststimulation cytosolic calcium concentration returned to levels below prestimulation values, implying that BK modulates calcium extrusion mechanisms that are normally masked by calcium influx into the cell. To test this hypothesis, we depleted internal stores of calcium using two approaches: preconditioning or blockade of the endoplasmic reticulum calcium pump with the sesquiterpene lactone, thapsigargin. Depletion by preconditioning consisted of two prior doses of BK followed by a third stimulus of the agonist. Under these conditions, the final dose of BK caused a fall, rather than rise, in cytosolic calcium. Thapsigargin blocked the endoplasmic reticulum calcium pump, leading to a steady-state rise in intracellular calcium concentration. Subsequent exposure of these cells to BK also led to a fall in cytosolic calcium. The preconditioning and thapsigargin studies are consistent with a modulation of calcium extrusion processes by BK in CVEC. The signals responsible for this modulation are unknown.
Power-aware communication management for reliable remote relay protection in smart grid

As the failures of traditional remote relay protection are one of the main sources of cascading blackouts, it is critical to design reliable systems to avoid such failures. Although several agent-based methods are proposed on Smart Grid (SG) systems to alleviate the situation by utilizing SG real-time communications, many issues still need to be further investigated. In this paper, we focus on this problem and propose an effective network resource management framework that considers knowledge from both power system and communication network, which enhances the system reliability by minimizing the chances of false trips of remote relays. We evaluate the proposed system with simulations on PowerWorld, and the results show that the proposed solution can significantly improve system reliability while utilizing network bandwidth more efficiently.
In vitro and in vivo assessment of the graft-versus-leukemia activity of cord blood

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) frequently is accompanied by the occurrence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). GVHD is thought to mediate a beneficial graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect believed to be important for disease-free survival in cancer patients. However, it is uncertain if GVHD and GVL are mediated by unique effector cell populations in the graft. The lack of bone marrow donors for individuals needing HLA-matched, unrelated BMT has recently led to the use of cord blood for transplantation. Cord blood transplantation has generated much enthusiasm because of its very low incidence of GVHD, even in HLA-mismatched situations, owing to intrinsic defects in mature T cell functions. Concerns have arisen, however, as to whether cord blood would mediate a significant GVL activity in vivo in the absence of GVHD, and thus prevent relapse in patients treated for malignancies. In this study in vitro and in vivo assessments have been made of the ability of cord blood to mediate GVL activity, focusing on non-specific effector cell mechanisms. Although minimal non-specific cytotoxic activity is found in freshly isolated cord blood (both NK and LAK cell activity), it is rapidly induced and displays a spectrum of lytic activity similar to adult peripheral blood. The kinetics of LAK cell induction in cord blood as well as the responsiveness to IL-2 stimulation was identical to adult peripheral blood.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Radiographic assessment of disease progression in rheumatoid arthritis.

The role that radiography plays in the assessment of disease has been a subject of controversy over the last two decades. Significant problems continue to exist with radiographic assessment. These include (1) technical variables, (2) interpretational variables, (3) clinical variables, and (4) pathophysiologic variables. Unless these problems are recognized and fully understood by the interpreting physician, the "gold standard" quickly can become "fool's gold."
Anisotropic Optical Response of Nanostructures with Balanced Gain and Loss

Photonic systems containing active and passive elements with balanced gain and loss are attracting increased attention due to their extraordinary properties. These structures, usually known as PT-symmetric systems, display strongly asymmetric behaviors. Here we study the optical response of finite nanostructures composed of pairs of active and passive nanospheres operating close to the PT-symmetry condition. We find that, despite their highly regular geometry, these systems scatter light predominantly toward the gain side of the structure when illuminated perpendicularly to their axis. Furthermore, the backscattering intensity for illumination parallel to the axis depends strongly on the side of incidence, being several times larger for light coming along the gain side. Interestingly, under the same conditions, the forward scattering and, consequently, the extinction cross-section remain independent of the side of incidence. This leads to an asymmetric absorption cross-section that can be made arbitrarily...
Demonstration-Guided Motion Planning

We present demonstration-guided motion planning (DGMP), a new frame-work for planning motions for personal robots to perform household tasks. DGMP combines the strengths of sampling-based motion planning and robot learning from demonstrations to generate plans that (1) avoid novel obstacles in cluttered environments, and (2) learn and maintain critical aspects of the motion required to successfully accomplish a task. Sampling-based motion planning methods are highly effective at computing paths from start to goal configurations that avoid obstacles, but task constraints (e.g. a glass of water must be held upright to avoid a spill) must be explicitly enumerated and programmed. Instead, we use a set of expert demonstrations and automatically extract time-dependent task constraints by learning low variance aspects of the demonstrations, which are correlated with the task constraints. We then introduce multi-component rapidly-exploring roadmaps (MC-RRM), a sampling-based method that incrementally computes a motion plan that avoids obstacles and optimizes a learned cost metric. We demonstrate the effectiveness of DGMP using the Aldebaran Nao robot performing household tasks in a cluttered environment, including moving a spoon full of sugar from a bowl to a cup and cleaning the surface of a table.
Pilot physiology, cognition and flight performance during flight simulation exposed to a 3810-m hypoxic condition.

Background. Hypoxia is a physiological state defined as a reduction in the distribution of oxygen to the tissues of the body. It has been considered a major factor in aviation safety worldwide because of its potential for pilot disorientation. Pilots are able to operate aircrafts up to 3810 m without the use of supplemental oxygen and may exhibit symptoms associated with hypoxia. Objective. To determine the effects of 3810 m on physiology, cognition and performance in pilots during a flight simulation. Methods. Ten healthy male pilots engaged in a counterbalanced experimental protocol comparing a 0-m normoxic condition (NORM) with a 3810-m hypoxic condition (HYP) on pilot physiology, cognition and flight performance. Results. Repeated-measures analysis of variance demonstrated a significant (p ≤ 0.05) time by condition interaction for physiological and cognitive alterations during HYP. A paired-samples t test demonstrated no differences in pilot performance (p ≥ 0.05) between conditions. Conclusion. Pilot...
Alterity is a Negative Concept of the Same

Philosophical anthropology is a tradition that is as old as philosophy itself, so much so that it might be said to be indistinguishable from philosophy itself. Philosophical anthropology, extending as it does from Socrates to Sartre, best describes the work of V.Y. Mudimbe. Anthropology, broadly conceived as the science that studies human origins, the material and cultural development of humanity (philosophical anthropology concerns itself with human nature, particularly what it is that distinguishes human beings from other creatures and how philosophy allows human beings to understand themselves), is always Mudimbe’s first line of philosophical inquiry. It is certainly Mudimbe’s interest in anthropology that allows him to conduct his investigations into Africa, its modes of thinking, and colonialism and its continuing effects on the continent. Writing on the latter issue in The Invention of Africa , Mudimbe, with his customary deftness of mind, argues that colonialism and its aftermath cannot by itself account for the continent’s extant condition: “The colonizing structure, even in its most extreme manifestations . . . might not be the only explanation for Africa’s present-day marginality. Perhaps this marginality could, more essentially, be understood from the perspective of wider hypotheses about the classification of beings and societies.” [ Making sense of Africa, in Mudimbe’s terms, must begin with a hypothesization that explicates how “beings and societies” come to be classified, the anthropological undertaking par excellence, which also requires a study of the forces that construct, implement and maintain these classifications.
Digital Modulation Classification through time and frequency domain features using Neural Networks

Cognitive Radio (CR) networks has been presented in the last decade as a solution to the problem of increasing congestion in frequency spectrum, through opportunistic spectrum access techniques. One of the main components of Cognitive Radio receivers is the Automatic Modulation Classification (AMC), in which the CR can blindly identify the modulation scheme of a detected signal. AMC has several applications, including military, spectrum surveillance and management, and commercial applications. In this paper we propose an AMC based on two different Neural Networks (NN) classifiers: Feed-Forward with Resilient Back-Propagation NN and Probabilistic NN. NN classifiers take their inputs as a feature vector from a Features extraction phase. Features selected for classification are the statistical features of the received signal's instantaneous amplitude, frequency and phase. Simulations show that both NN classifiers can achieve over 80% correct classification up to Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of 5 dB, and the probability of correct classification increases up to 99% at a SNR of 15 dB.
Perceived Effectiveness, Self-efficacy, and Social Support for Oral Appliance Therapy Among Older Veterans With Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Abstract Purpose Obstructive sleep apnea is a prevalent sleep disorder among older adults. Oral appliances are increasingly prescribed as therapy for obstructive sleep apnea. Adherence to oral appliance therapy is highly variable. Based on value-expectancy theory and other social–psychological theories, adherence to oral appliance therapy may be influenced by patients’ perceived effectiveness of the therapy, self-efficacy, and availability of social support. We examined these perceptions among older adults with obstructive sleep apnea who were prescribed oral appliance therapy. Methods We mailed surveys to all patients aged ≥65 years who had been prescribed oral appliance therapy for obstructive sleep apnea over the prior 36 months at a Veterans Affairs medical center. We examined frequencies of responses to items that assessed perceived effectiveness, self-efficacy, and social support for nightly use of oral appliances from friends, family, or health care staff. Findings Thirty-nine individuals responded (response rate, 30%; mean [SD] age 71.4 [SD 6.3] years; 97% male). Thirty-six percent of the respondents perceived regular use of oral appliance therapy to be effective in managing obstructive sleep apnea; 39% agreed that they felt confident about using oral appliances regularly; 41% felt supported by people in their life in using oral appliance therapy; and 38% agreed that health care staff would help them to use their oral appliance regularly. These rates represented less than half of respondents despite the finding that 65% of patients believed that they would use their oral appliance regularly. Implications Although oral appliance therapy is increasingly prescribed for obstructive sleep apnea, only about one third of older adults prescribed it perceived it to be an effective treatment, were confident about oral appliance use, and/or believed that they would receive needed support. Future research is needed to better understand older adults’ perceptions so that interventions can be designed to improve the effectiveness of oral appliances, their self-efficacy for using oral appliances, and their social support for this therapy, which may, in turn, improve oral appliance therapy adherence.
Regulation of Gene Expression at the Beginning of Mammalian Development

Preimplantation development in the mouse involves the expression of about 11 000 genes, only a few hundred of which appear during the transition from maternal to zygotic gene expression. Transcription begins in most, if not all, mammals during the late one-cell stage (phase I), but expression of most zygotic genes is delayed until the two-cell to the 16-cell stage, depending on the species. In mice, a small group of genes are expressed immediately after the first mitosis, while a larger group of genes are expressed during the subsequent G2 phase. Zygotic gene activation (ZGA) is delayed by a time-dependent mechanism, termed the “zygotic clock,” that regulates both transcription and translation. The zygotic clock involves the post-translational modification of RNA polymerases, the translational control of maternal gene expression, the developmental acquisition of chromatin-mediated repression, and the ability to alleviate this repression with sequence-specific enhancers. The delay imposed by this “clock” allows remodeling of chromatin into a form that globally represses gene activity so that selected genes can then be activated in a temporally and spatially specific program. Some transcription factors (e.g., Sp1, TBP) function from the oocyte through to the embryo, while others (e.g., Tead2, Tead4, Oct4) are selectively expressed during ZGA. Dramatic changes also occur in DNA methylation. However, while DNA methylation is linked to X-chromosome inactivation, genomic imprinting, and the silencing of transposable elements, a direct role for DNA methylation in regulating gene expression during animal development has yet to be demonstrated. Keywords: Promoter; Enhancer; TATA-box; Preimplantation embryo; Peri-implantation
Thermodynamic evaluation of LiCl-KCl-PuCl3 system

Abstract The present study focuses on developing the phase diagram of LiCl-KCl-PuCl3 system based on the CALPHAD (CALculation of PHase Diagram) method. Sub-binary systems of LiCl-KCl, LiCl-PuCl3, and KCl-PuCl3 were developed first by optimizing the Gibbs energy parameters according to the experimental data from literature using the two-sublattice model. Then the enthalpy of mixing of the LiCl-KCl-PuCl3 system was estimated, to explore the ternary interactions, using an empirical correlation derived from the surrounded-ion model for the asymmetric salt system due to the scarcity of available data for the ternary system. Based on the phase diagram developed, the solubility of PuCl3 in the eutectic LiCl-KCl melt at different temperatures was obtained, as well as the Gibbs energy of formation of PuCl3 in the salt as a function of PuCl3 concentration. The present study extends the experimental data for dilutions to concentrated solutions for which no experimental data have been well reported.
Electoral Systems and Campaign Finance

Studies that emphasize the importance of legislative electoral systems for campaign finance mostly fit into one of two groups. One literature identifies consequences of electoral systems that foster intraparty competition, including high levels of campaign spending and campaign finance- motivated pork, particularism, and political corruption. The second literature studies “spending effects” (i.e., vote-share gains per unit of expenditure), especially whether they differ between incumbents and challengers. Although both literatures pay some attention to how electoral systems affect campaign financing at the district level, that subject is poorly understood. This chapter emphasizes two topics that merit study: how electoral systems influence spending-votes patterns among incumbents and how electoral coordination may concentrate funds on only M 1 candidates per district.
Silicon chip-based quantum random number generator

We demonstrate an all-optical quantum random number generator using a degenerate optical parametric oscillator in a silicon-nitride microresonator. We achieve a 2-MHz generation rate and verify the randomness using the NIST Statistical Test Suite.
P-Rex1 Expression in Invasive Breast Cancer in relation to Receptor Status and Distant Metastatic Site.

Background. Phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate-dependent Rac exchange factor 1 (P-Rex1) has been implicated in cancer growth, metastasis, and response to phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor therapy. The aim of this study was to determine whether P-Rex1 expression differs between primary and metastatic human breast tumors and between breast cancer subtypes. Design. P-Rex1 expression was measured in 133 specimens by immunohistochemistry: 40 and 42 primary breast tumors from patients who did versus did not develop metastasis, respectively, and 51 breast-derived tumors from metastatic sites (36 of which had matching primary tumors available for analysis). Results. Primary breast tumors showed significant differences in P-Rex1 expression based on receptor subtype. ER+ and HER2+ primary tumors showed higher P-Rex1 expression than primary triple-negative tumors. HER2+ metastases from all sites showed significantly higher P-Rex1 expression compared to other metastatic receptor subtypes. Solid organ (i.e., brain, lung, and liver) metastases showed higher P-Rex1 expression compared to bone metastases. Conclusions. P-Rex1 expression is increased in ER+ and HER2+ breast cancers compared to triple-negative tumors. P-Rex1 may be differentially expressed in metastatic tumors based on site and receptor status. The role of P-Rex1 in the development of breast cancer metastases and as a predictive biomarker of therapeutic response warrants further investigation.
Transposition of Image-defined Trajectories into Arc-quadrant Centered Stereotactic Systems

A methodology and computer program used for transposition of image-defined trajectories into stereotactic space is presented. Arc-quadrant centered stereotactic frames (Leksell, modified by us Komai) are based on the principle of aiming a target point from any entry of a formed sphere of known radius. Frames adapted iso-centrically to CT gantry and parallel to the scanning plane allow interactive selection of targets and trajectories based on multiplanar reformatted images. The mathematical fundaments to calculate angle A in the coronal plane and angle B in the saggital plane based on the geometrical configuration of arc-quadrant centered stereotactic devices are presented.
Phonological assessment: a systematic comparison of conversation and picture naming

The purpose of the present study was to systematically compare two methods of speech elicitation for phonological assessment: conversation and picture naming. Subjects were 13 male, phonologically impaired children (aged 4.2 to 5.11 years). All were English speaking and had received no prior speech-language therapy. The children's performance was assessed on a conversational speech task (CST) and a 162-item picture naming task (PNT) using three levels of phonological analysis. The CST and PNT generally yielded similar sound error patterns, and severity measures on the two tasks were highly correlated. However, the PNT yielded more phonological errors. It is suggested that both methods of speech elicitation are useful clinical tools for assessment. However, to obtain a thorough sample of a child's speech output, an extensive, well-designed PNT may tap the child's phonological system more deeply, may be more efficient in some cases, and may represent a good index of phonological ability.
Book Review: Pascal Dey and Chris Steyaert (Eds.), Social Entrepreneurship: An Affirmative Critique:

Pascal Dey and Chris Steyaert (Eds.), Social Entrepreneurship: An Affirmative Critique, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018, 311 pp.
Resilient Adult Daughters of Abused Women: Turning Pain Into Purpose

Through the use of purposive sampling and the grounded theory method, this qualitative study delineates factors that promote adaptation and end family patterns of violence and dysfunction in the case of resilient adult daughters of abused women (N = 29). Coping processes included distancing from the family, seeking understanding and acceptance, and finding meaning and purpose. Motivating factors included learning what not to do from their families and breaking the cycle of violence and dysfunction from occurring in their adult lives. We learn how daughters of abused women may create a life informed, rather than directed, by their childhood adversity.
Wiederansiedelung und Wiederbelebung von Arten

Wenn man die alte Vorstellung von der Harmonie einer unberuhrten Natur aufgibt, ist der Weg fur eine Form des Umweltschutzes frei, die erheblich starker auf Eingriffe setzt. Schon bisher haben die Menschen an einer planlosen Gestaltung der Natur mitgewirkt. An die gleiche Aufgabe konnten sie ohne Weiteres auch umsichtiger und gezielter herangehen. Nach Ansicht von Paul Crutzen mussen die Menschen entscheiden, was Natur ist und sein sollte. Manche Okologen sind nur allzu gern bereit, diese Gelegenheit beim Schopf zu packen.
High prevalence of IBD-associated genetic variants in patients (pts) with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) enteritis/colitis.

2582Background: Colitis is a frequent toxicity of ICI therapy but there is paucity of data on risk factors. Specific serological markers and genetic polymorphisms have been associated with inflamma...
The Congressional Classification Challenge: Domain Specificity and Partisan Intensity

In this paper, we study the effectiveness and generalizability of techniques for classifying partisanship and ideology from text in the context of US politics. In particular, we are interested in how well measures of partisanship transfer across domains as well as the potential to rely upon measures of partisan intensity as a proxy for political ideology. We construct novel datasets of English texts from (1) the Congressional Record, (2) prominent conservative and liberal media websites, and (3) conservative and liberal wikis, and apply text classification algorithms to evaluate domain specificity via a domain adaptation technique. Surprisingly, we find that the cross-domain learning performance, benchmarking the ability to generalize from one of these datasets to another, is in general poor, even though the algorithms perform very well in within-dataset cross-validation tests. While party affiliation of legislators is not predictable based on models learned from other sources, we do find some ability to predict the leanings of the media and crowdsourced websites based on models learned from the Congressional Record. This predictivity is different across topics, and itself a priori predictable based on within-topic cross-validation results. Temporally, phrases tend to move from politicians to the media, helping to explain this predictivity. Finally, when we compare legislators themselves across different media (the Congressional Record and press releases), we find that while party affiliation is highly predictable, within-party ideology is completely unpredictable. Legislators are communicating different messages through different channels while clearly signaling party identity systematically across all channels. Choice of language is a clearly strategic act, among both legislators and the media, and we must therefore proceed with extreme caution in extrapolating from language to partisanship or ideology across domains.
From start-up to acquisition: Implications of financial investment trends for small- to medium-sized high-tech enterprises

The high-technology (high-tech) industry is a dynamic environment defined by both frequent changes in composition and a concentration of market power through consolidation. Operating as a new or small venture within this environment poses many complex challenges, especially when considering the financial resources needed to be successful. In their efforts to obtain financial resources, entrepreneurs often overlook how the choice and pattern of investment funding to maintain a growth path can later affect a successful entrepreneurial exit. Exit via acquisition for small- to medium-sized technology enterprises (SMTEs) is a strong area of interest given firms in the U.S. high-tech industry experience the fastest growth rates and have been the target of over $400 billion in deal volume and 20% of all merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in the last twenty years. Much of this M&A activity is conducted by five prominent firms, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, commonly referred to as the Fearsome Five or the “FANGS”. However, as there has been only limited research examining this unique M&A context, in this study we explore the investment funding factors influencing exit via acquisition by the Fearsome Five. We highlight questions and potential concerns for SMTEs given the trends in financial investments and increasing market power.
Automating Stroke Rehabilitation for Home-Based Therapy

In this work we present a conceptual design to automatically evaluate a subject’s performance for a homebased stroke rehabilitation system. We propose to model a reaching task as a trajectory in the state space of hand part features and then use reward learning to automatically generate new ratings for subjects to track performance over time. Neuro-muscular rehabilitation of the upper-extremity after a stroke requires dedicated hours of arm and hand exercises with a therapist. Often to improve the flexibility of the hands, therapists ask patients to manipulate differently shaped objects and move them around. We are working towards developing a home-based neuro-muscular rehabilitation system by doing away with markers and using 2D computer vision instead. As a first step, we are able to identify different grasp types using 2D hand part features. However such a system would also require basic automation in evaluation of a user’s performance on grasping and reaching tasks. This can allow a user to self-monitor his/her performance at home and also allow remote monitoring by the therapist over time. The ultimate aim is that the user should be able to do therapy in the home in a convenient, productive and cost-effective manner. In order to provide evaluation of a subject’s grasps during therapy, we require robust and accurate predictions in the absence of a therapist. Expert therapists can rate the grasping or reaching performance of a subject just by observing the grasp. Such an approach has been widely used in other domains successfully (Akrour et al. 2013), (F¨ urnkranz and Park ). Expert ratings give a coarse evaluation metric for the subject’s performance. We propose that hand grasps be modeled in a feature space using 2D computer vision. The features incorporate relations between different hand parts. Then, we can apply optimal control (Ziebart et al. 2008), (Ratliff, Bagnell, and Zinkevich 2006), (Ratliff, Silver, and Bagnell 2009) to infer the reward function of the grasping policy that best justifies the ratings by expert therapists (Daniel et al. 2014). For the proposed approach, certain limitations need to be Copyright c 2014, Association for the Advancement of Artificial
The Geological Time-Scale

RECENTLY Dr. K. I. Mayne, Dr. R. St. J. Lambert and D. York1 proposed an extended geological time-scale which would place the middle of the Upper Cambrian at about 650 million years ago compared with 450 million years of the Holmes scale2. Their scale is based primarily on the ages they obtained by the potassium–argon method on biotite from several British granites ; however, they cite many other age measurements for secondary support. It is the purpose of this communication to point out that most of the cases cited are either incorrect or not definitive to the argument. In addition, both they1,3 and Prof. C. F. Davidson3 refer at some length to our as yet unpublished isotopic study of the Swedish kolm. These comments contain errors of fact and interpretation which will be clarified by the full report which will appear elsewhere ; but in view of the widespread misconception concerning this interesting material some discussion appears needed at this time. The British granites referred to above are being remeasured in this laboratory and results will be reported later.
An Analysis of Epistemic Peerhood

In the previous chapter I argued that there are significant differences between simple and complex cases of disagreement. In this chapter I analyze the strict notion of epistemic peerhood used throughout the epistemology of disagreement literature. Such notions typically involve the idea that agents are strict evidential and cognitive equals. I show that this notion rarely, if ever, obtains in cases of real-world disagreement. If this is true, then the sceptical threat to rational inquiry posed by strong conciliationism would evaporate. However, I conclude with a new account of epistemic peerhood that is broad enough to apply to many cases of real-world disagreement between inquirers, and yet not so permissive so as to lose the epistemic significance of disagreement.
A CMOS-Based Energy Harvesting Approach for Laterally-Arrayed Multi-Bandgap Concentrated Photovoltaic Systems

This paper presents an energy harvesting approach for a concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) system based on cell-block-level integrated CMOS converters. The CPV system, built upon the Laterally-Arrayed Multi-Bandgap (LAMB) cell structure, is a potentially higher-efficiency and lower-cost alternative to traditional tandem-based systems. The cells within a sub-module block are connected for approximate voltage matching, and a CMOS-based multi-input single-output (MISO) buck converter harvests and combines the energy while performing maximum power point tracking (MPPT) locally. First, a comparison of modeled performances achievable with traditional tandem CPV and LAMB CPV with a MISO converter is presented using day-long outdoor measured solar spectrum. The model predicts on average >19% more energy can be extracted from LAMB modules on a typical day. Then, a prototype miniaturized MISO dc-dc converter operating at 10MHz is developed in a 130nm CMOS process. For 45-160mW power levels, the prototype converter achieves >92% nominal and >95% peak efficiency in a small form factor designed to fit within available space in a LAMB PV cell block. The results demonstrate the potential of the LAMB CPV architecture for enhanced solar energy capture.
The place of performance in performance studies

This essay calls attention to the value of conspicuous aesthetic performance in performance studies. It provides a review of past and current practice and offers suggestions for increasing both the...
Historical Linguistics: A Cognitive Grammar Introduction

This textbook serves a dual purpose. It is, first, a comprehensive introduction to historical linguistics, intended for both undergraduate and graduate students who have taken, at the least, an introductory course in linguistics. Secondly, unlike many such textbooks, this one is based in the theoretical framework of Cognitive Linguistics, a semantics-based theory which emphasizes the relationship between cognition and language. Descriptions and explanations touch on cognitive, social, and physiological aspects of language as it changes across time. Examples come principally from Germanic (English, German, Yiddish) and Romance (French and Spanish), but with some exploration of aspects of the history of other languages as well. Each chapter concludes with exercises based on material in the chapter and also with suggestions for extensions of the content to wider issues in diachronic linguistics.
Chapter 27 – Clostridium botulinum

Botulism is a severe neuroparalytic disease, caused by consumption of minute quantities of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) in a contaminated food, or by development of toxin by toxigenic spores in the intestine of susceptible infants and adults. The severity, onset time, and duration of botulism are largely dependent upon dose and BoNT type, and because of its rarity, symptoms may be misdiagnosed. BoNTs formed by Clostridium botulinum and rare strains of C. baratii and C. butyricum are responsible for the majority of human botulism cases. C. botulinum presents a particular challenge to food safety because of its ability to form highly stable endospores; their distribution and prevalence vary by geographical region. Primary factors contributing to foodborne botulism include inadequate thermal processing, inadequate storage temperature-time control, food formulations with pH and water activity within growth range of C. botulinum, reduced-oxygen environment, inadequate levels of antimicrobial food ingredients, and lack of competitive microflora.
Disease and healthcare burden of COVID-19 in the United States.

As of 24 April 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic has resulted in over 830,000 confirmed infections in the United States1. The incidence of COVID-19, the disease associated with this new coronavirus, continues to rise. The epidemic threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems, and identifying those regions where the disease burden is likely to be high relative to the rest of the country is critical for enabling prudent and effective distribution of emergency medical care and public health resources. Globally, the risk of severe outcomes associated with COVID-19 has consistently been observed to increase with age2,3. We used age-specific mortality patterns in tandem with demographic data to map projections of the cumulative case burden of COVID-19 and the subsequent burden on healthcare resources. The analysis was performed at the county level across the United States, assuming a scenario in which 20% of the population of each county acquires infection. We identified counties that will probably be consistently, heavily affected relative to the rest of the country across a range of assumptions about transmission patterns, such as the basic reproductive rate, contact patterns and the efficacy of quarantine. We observed a general pattern that per capita disease burden and relative healthcare system demand may be highest away from major population centers. These findings highlight the importance of ensuring equitable and adequate allocation of medical care and public health resources to communities outside of major urban areas.
Effect of Road Safety Laws on Deaths and Injuries from Road Traffic Collisions in Colombia.

Introduction:Colombia is the fourth largest country in South America. It is an upper middle-income country with an estimated population of 49.2 million people, and road traffic collisions (RTCs) are the second most common cause of traumatic death. The United Nations (UN) proclaimed 2011 to 2020 as the “Decade of Action for Road Safety.” In this context, the government of Colombia established the National Road Safety Plan (PNSV) for the period 2011-2021, aiming to reduce RTC-related deaths by 26%. Some road safety laws (RSLs) were implemented before the PNSV, but their impact on deaths and injuries is still not known.Study Objective:The aim of this study was to evaluate whether these RSLs have had a long-term effect on road safety in the country.Methods:Data on RTC casualties, deaths, and injuries from January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2017 were collated from official Colombian governmental publications. Three different periods were considered for analysis: 2001-2010 to evaluate the Transit Code; 2011-2017 to evaluate the PNSV; and 2001-2017 to evaluate a composite of the full study period. Analyses of trends in deaths and injuries were related to dates of new RSLs.Results:A total of 102,723 deaths (12.7%) and 707,778 injuries (87.3%) were reported from 2001 through 2017. The Transit Code period (2001-2010) showed a 10.1% decline in deaths, 16.6% decline in injuries, and rates per 100,000 inhabitants and per 10,000 registered vehicles also declined. During the period of the PNSV (2011-2017), there was an increase in the number of deaths by 16.6%, injuries decreased by 1.7%, and death rates per 100,000 inhabitants also increased. During the total study period, a 12.4% reduction in the total number of casualties was achieved, and death and injury rates per 100,000 inhabitants decreased by 12.4% and 27.5%, respectively.Discussion:Despite the introduction of the PNSV, RTCs remain the second most common cause of preventable death in Colombia. Overall, while the absolute number of RTCs and deaths has been increasing, the rate of RTCs per 10,000 registered vehicles has been decreasing. This suggests that although the goals of the PNSV may not be realized, some of the laws emanating from it may be having a beneficial effect. Further study is required over a protracted period to determine the longer-term impact of these initiatives.
Plea Bargaining: A Test of Dual Discounting Preferences for Non-Monetary Losses.

Judgment and decision-making research on discounting suggests that when humans are thinking about gains, they tend to prefer certain and immediate outcomes to uncertain and delayed outcomes. Howeve...
Preoperative Opioid Weaning Before Major Spinal Fusion: Simulated Data, Real-World Insights.

Study design Retrospective cohort. Objective To identify gaps in opioid prescription immediately prior to spinal fusion and to study the effect of such simulated "opioid weaning/elimination" on risk of long-term postoperative opioid use. Summary of background data Numerous studies have described preoperative opioid duration and dose thresholds associated with sustained postoperative opioid use. However, the benefit and duration of preoperative opioid weaning before spinal fusion has not been elaborated. Methods Humana commercial insurance data (2007-Q1 2017) was used to study primary cervical and lumbar/thoracolumbar fusions. More than 5000 total morphine equivalents in the year before spinal fusion were classified as chronic preoperative opioid use. Based on time between last opioid prescription ( 2-months gap (2G) and >3-months gap (3G). Primary outcome measure was long-term postoperative opioid use (>5000 total morphine equivalents between 3 and 12-mo postoperatively). The effect of "opioid gap" on risk of long-term postoperative opioid use was studied using multiple-variable logistic regression analyses. Results 17,643 patients were included, of whom 3590 (20.3%) had chronic preoperative opioid use. Of these patients, 41 (1.1%) were in the 3G group and 106 (3.0%) were in the 2G group. In the 2G group, 53.8% patients ceased to have long-term postoperative use as compared with 27.8% in NG group. This association was significant on logistic regression analysis (OR 0.30, 95% CI: 0.20-0.46, P Conclusions Chronic opioid users whose last opioid prescription was >2-months prior to spinal fusion and less than 14-days' supply had significantly lower risk of long-term postoperative opioid use. We have simulated "opioid weaning" in chronic opioid users undergoing major spinal fusion and our analysis provides an initial reference point for current clinical practice and future clinical studies.Level of Evidence: 3.
Genetic Predictors of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy from Paclitaxel, Carboplatin and Oxaliplatin: NCCTG/Alliance N08C1, N08CA and N08CB Study

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common and potentially permanent adverse effect of chemotherapeutic agents including taxanes such as paclitaxel and platinum-based compounds such as oxaliplatin and carboplatin. Previous studies have suggested that genetics may impact the risk of CIPN. We conducted genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for CIPN in two independent populations who had completed European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ)-CIPN20 assessments (a CIPN-specific 20-item questionnaire which includes three scales that evaluate sensory, autonomic, and motor symptoms). The study population N08Cx included 692 participants from three clinical trials (North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) N08C1, N08CA, and N08CB) who had been treated with paclitaxel, paclitaxel plus carboplatin, or oxaliplatin. The primary endpoint for the GWAS was the change from pre-chemotherapy CIPN20 sensory score to the worse score over the following 18 weeks. Study population The Mayo Clinic Breast Disease Registry (MCBDR) consisted of 381 Mayo Clinic Breast Disease Registry enrollees who had been treated with taxane or platinum-based chemotherapy. The primary endpoint for the GWAS assessed was the earliest CIPN20 sensory score available after the completion of chemotherapy. In multivariate model analyses, chemotherapy regimen (p = 3.0 × 10-8) and genetic ancestry (p = 0.007) were significantly associated with CIPN in the N08Cx population. Only age (p = 0.0004) was significantly associated with CIPN in the MCBDR population. The SNP most associated with CIPN was rs56360211 near PDE6C (p =7.92 × 10-8) in N08Cx and rs113807868 near TMEM150C in the MCBDR (p = 1.27 × 10-8). Due to a lack of replication, we cannot conclude that we identified any genetic predictors of CIPN.
Preliminary safety evaluation of solvothermal liquefaction of plastic wastes using toluene as solvent

Solvothermal liquefaction (STL) is a promising thermochemical process to produce biocrudes from plastic wastes. In the STL process, solvents, other than water, play a significant role in increasing overall biocrude yield and its properties. However, many of the STL solvents as well as the resulting biocrudes are flammable and hazardous in nature, especially when STL is operated at sub- and supercritical conditions. Therefore, safety evaluation of the STL process is a vital component of the technology advancement. In this study, a STL process with a capacity of 200 tonnes/day feed (1:10 wt/wt plastic wastes to toluene) has been considered. The plant was assumed to be operated at a subcritical temperature of toluene (318 °C) and its autogenous vapor pressure (about 41 bar). A conceptual process flow diagram was constructed, and complete hazard identification along with preliminary risk assessment was performed. Moreover, a consequence model was developed to study the formation of flammable and toxic clouds, potential radiation thermal energy, and over-pressurization on the surrounding area due to a simulated incident of the plant. Based on the preliminary risk assessment, this study proposed a piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) with necessary preventive and mitigative safeguards that could minimize the incident occurrence and severity of the post-incident, respectively.
States and Nature: The Effects of Climate Change on Security

Under what circumstances might climate change lead to negative security outcomes? Over the past fifteen years, a rapidly growing applied field and research community on climate security has emerged. While much progress has been made, we still don't have a clear understanding of why climate change might lead to violent conflict or humanitarian emergencies in some places and not others. Busby develops a novel argument – based on the combination of state capacity, political exclusion, and international assistance – to explain why climate leads to especially bad security outcomes in some places but not others. This argument is then demonstrated through application to case studies from sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. This book will provide an informative resource for students and scholars of international relations and environmental studies, especially those working on security, conflict and climate change, on the emergent practice and study of this topic, and identifies where policy and research should be headed.
Combustion Phenomena in Relationship to Microgravity Research

The conservation equations of combustion are presented, with relevant nondimensional parameters identified, for focusing on the role of buoyancy in combustion processes. The objective is to indicate ways in which microgravity combustion experiments enable regimes of fluid mechanics, not readily investigated in combustion at normal gravity, to be studied more carefully for chemically reacting flows with heat release. Descriptions are given of self-extinguishing flames, of flames balls, of double flames, and of the slow regime of droplet combustion, as examples in which microgravity experiments have revealed new combustion phenomena. A classification of experiments is offered, concerning combustion regimes and flow regimes, within which microgravity combustion studies can be placed. Projects on premixed flame propagation, gas-jet diffusion flames, flame spread, smoldering combustion, and droplet combustion are considered, within this classification, as potential areas for future advances in understanding of combustion phenomena through microgravity experiments.
From Cein3 to Pucoga5: Trends in Heavy Fermion Superconductivity

We review the serendipitous discovery of superconductivity in PuCoGa5 and its relationship to CeMIn5 (M=Co, Ir, Rh). Outstanding issues in our understanding of the phase diagrams of CeMIn5 are also discussed. Finally, we speculate about the relationship between pressure-induced superconductivity in CeIn3 at 200 mK and ambient-pressure superconductivity in PuCoGa5 at 18.5 K and the prospects for other high-temperature unconventional superconductors.
Validation of a Simple Score to Determine Risk of Early Rejection After Pediatric Heart Transplantation.

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to develop a reliable and feasible score to assess the risk of rejection in pediatric heart transplantation recipients during the first post-transplant year. Background The first post-transplant year is the most likely time for rejection to occur in pediatric heart transplantation. Rejection during this period is associated with worse outcomes. Methods The United Network for Organ Sharing database was queried for pediatric patients (age Results A 9-point risk score using 3 variables (age, cardiac diagnosis, and panel reactive antibody) was developed. Mean score in the derivation and validation cohorts were 4.5 ± 2.6 and 4.8 ± 2.7, respectively. A higher score was associated with an increased rate of rejection (score = 0, 10.6% in the validation cohort vs. score = 9, 40%; p Conclusions The rejection score is accurate in determining the risk of early rejection in pediatric heart transplantation recipients. The score has the potential to be used in clinical practice to aid in determining the immunosuppressant regimen and the frequency of rejection surveillance in the first post-transplant year.
Stevens-Johnson syndrome in pregnancy

Abstract 1. 1. The entity of Stevens-Johnson syndrome is described and the literature is reviewed. 2. 2. Vaginal obliteration complicating pregnancy is discussed. 3. 3. A case exhibiting both of these complications is presented. 4. 4. This is believed to be the first report of the concurrence of pregnancy with Stevens-Johnson syndrome. 5. 5. Likewise a new etiological factor responsible for obliteration of the vagina is demonstrated. 6. 6. The effectiveness of ACTH therapy in this condition is further documented.