cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Background of the Current Situation of Filipino-Americans

T"j~HE last Asiatic group to migrate in any numbers to the United States was the Filipino. Prior to 1920 there were not over 5,000 Filipinos in the United States at any one time, although during the previous decade they had begun to immigrate into Hawaii as contract laborers in the sugar and pineapple industries. After 1920 their movement from Hawaii to the mainland increased and was augmented by a stream of direct emigration from the Philippines. During the 1920's well over 50,000 Filipinos came to the mainland from both sources.' Possibly onefourth of this number came via Hawaii. This was a two-way stream, however, the number leaving the United States in any given year being from one-half to one-sixth as great as the number entering. No restrictions were placed on such immigration and emigration as the Filipinos were nationals of the United States (until 1935) and so not subject to any quota restrictions. The result of this relatively short-time migratory movement was that by 1930 there were some 45,200 Filipinos on the mainland of the United States. This immigration was quite effectively cut off by the exigencies of an immigrant making a living during the depression. Then, when the Philippines were promised their independence in 1935, a formal quota of fifty was set up. This quota was in effect until 1945. At this time the Philippines received their complete independence and were given an immigration quota of one hundred, commensurate with the number of Filipinos then in the United States. Because of the practical and then official limiting of immigration, the number of Filipinos in this country has slightly decreased, so that it is expected that the 1950 census will report 40,000 or less. The majority of Filipino-Americans are under 55 years of age. Most of them came as young men in their early twenties or later teens, unaccompanied by wives or families.2 This meant a very disproportionate sex ratio, which in 1930 was 143 to 1. By 1940, because older men had returned to the islands and younger families were having children, this disproportion was down to about 7 to I for the group as a whole. For 19 years and under, the sex ratio was about even, but for 20 years of age and up, the sex ratio was approximately 20 to 1.3 A marriageable Filipina hence is a rare sight. Most Filipinos did not intend to stay permanently in the United States; they came in order to secure savings large enough to set themselves up in business at home, to get an American education, or just out of a spirit of adventure. More often than not their plans to return have never materialized. Many have never accumulated the desired "nest egg," others have failed to achieve the education they sought; they are failures in their own eyes, and their pride will not permit them to return home until that failure has become success. Because they have intended to return home, most Filipinos have sought acculturation but not assimilation.
Pathological Features and Antigen Distribution in Tissues of Piglets Infected with EU-PRSSV

In order to investigate the pathological features of piglets infected with European-type porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses and its distribution characteristics of the viruses in the tissues,healthy piglets were inoculated with isolated EU-PRRSV LNEU12.After 14 days,all the piglets were killed to observe the pathological features and analyze the distribution of antigen in the tissues using immunohitochemical method.The results showed that the main pathological lesions of European-type PRRS are multiple interstitial pneumonia and lymphadenitis;Viruses are mainly distributed in the lungs,lymph nodes,spleen,and brain tissues,while livers and kidneys in the second place.The results proved that the generation of typical pathological lesions of PRRS is obviously relevant to the antigen distribution of PRRSV.
355 SULFONAMIDE HYPERSENSITIVITY AND SUCCESSFUL DESENSITIZATION IN A PATIENT WITH END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE

Background Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) is widely considered the initial drug of choice for the treatment and prophylaxis of Pneumocystis jiroveci (PCP) in HIV infected patients as well as non-HIV infected patients peritransplantation and post solid organ transplantation. However, there are no published data regarding safe and effective TMP-SMX desensitization regimens in non-HIV, immunocompetent patients with renal failure. We present a safe and successful TMP-SMX desensitization protocol peritransplantation for a patient with renal failure and a history of generalized pruritis and maculopapular rash after consumption of TMP-SMX. Methods A 41-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease secondary to lupus and TMP-SMX hypersensitivity was desensitized via a 2-day protocol based on the patient9s creatinine clearance. The starting dose given was 0.001 mg of TMP-SMX orally, increasing the dose ever 30 minutes until the therapeutic dose of 400 mg orally once daily was achieved. Results Tryptase levels were drawn before desensitization and after completion of the protocol and these levels remained within normal limits. The patient tolerated the procedure well, experiencing only one episode of pruritis that lasted 5 minutes on day one of desensitization, which resolved without intervention. She was able to continue her TMP-SMX at therapeutic doses before and after her renal transplant without incident. Conclusion This case report demonstrates successful desensitization with TMP-SMX in a non-HIV, immunocompetent patient with end-stage renal disease. This helped to enable the patient to have optimal PCP prophylaxis, minimize morbidity and mortality, and undergo a successful kidney transplant.
Where is the Hot Rock and Where is the Ground Water – Using CSAMT to Map Beneath and Around Mount St. Helens

We have observed several new features in recent controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) soundings on and around Mount St. Helens, Washington State, USA. We have identified the approximate location of a strong electrical conductor at the edges of and beneath the 2004–08 dome. We interpret this conductor to be hot brine at the hotintrusive-cold-rock interface. This contact can be found within 50 meters of the receiver station on Spine 5, which extruded between April and July of 2005. We have also mapped separate regional and glacier-dome aquifers, which lie one atop the other, out to considerable distances from the volcano.
Summary of Clinical Trials of Influenza Vaccines-II

These studies indicate that the high-risk and normal pediatric populations can be safely and effectively immunized with a two-dose regimen of the influenza A/New Jersey/76 virus vaccine. In addition, the studies have demonstrated important differences between split-product and whole-virus vaccines in the pediatric age group. Furthermore, reactogenicity from the whole-virus vaccine administered in the schedules employed was acceptable after the first dose and negligible after the second dose. More detailed examination of the data will undoubtedly yield additional information of importance to current and future use of inactivated influenza vaccines in children.
Irradiation and modified atmosphere packaging for the control of Listeria monocytogenes on turkey meat.

When radiation-sterilized ground turkey meat was inoculated with Listeria monocytogenes, packaged under mixtures of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and irradiated with gamma-radiation doses of 0 to 3.0 kGy, there was a statistically significant (P < 0.05), but probably not a biologically significant, lower (0.39 log) predicted bacterial survival in the presence of 100% carbon dioxide than in the presence of 100% nitrogen. Possibly because all atmospheres contained oxygen and because a response surface design was used, gamma-radiation resistance was not significantly (P < 0.05) different in air than in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) mixtures containing 5% O2 or containing 20, 40, 60, and 80% CO2 and balance N2. The antilisterial effects of MAP mixtures containing 17.2, 40.5, and 64% CO2 and balance N2 were compared to those associated with air and vacuum packaging on turkey inoculated with approximately 5 × 103 CFU/g. Samples were irradiated to doses of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 kGy and were stored ...
An Empirical Study of Internationalization Failures in the Web

Web application internationalization frameworks allow businesses to more easily market and sell their products and services around the world. However, internationalization can lead to problems. Text expansion and contraction after translation may result in a distortion of the layout of the translated versions of a webpage, which can reduce their usability and aesthetics. In this paper, we investigate and report on the frequency and severity of different types of failures in webpages' user interfaces that are due to internationalization. In our study, we analyzed 449 real world internationalized webpages. Our results showed that internationalization failures occur frequently and they range significantly in terms of severity and impact on the web applications. These findings motivate and guide future work in this area.
Varieties of Apologies

As the preceding discussions suggest, apologies can seem like confounding social exchanges. The considerable variability of apologies across time and cultures can further complicate matters. As I understand apologies, we can think of them as presenting a loose constellation of interrelated meanings. Having isolated and scrutinized the prominent stars in this constellation, we may find it useful to reconfigure them into a more intelligible horizon of meaning. I now suggest grouping a few different arrangements of apologetic meanings into more easily identifiable varieties. If I have been deconstructing the meanings of apologies, we might think of what follows as my attempt at a bit of reconstruction. On my account, apologies present a potentially infinite variety of particular meanings. Classifying each variation would not be possible. Instead, I name a few of the more commonly occurring varieties in the hope of synthesizing some of the considerations previously discussed into a more manageable nomenclature. I hope that these terms will prove helpful and this convenience warrants the simplifications required. The Categorical Apology We can begin with the Categorical Apology, which I consider the most robust, painstaking, and formal of the varieties. We can understand a categorical apology as conveying certain kinds of prescriptively stipulated meanings.
North Korea: markets and military rule, by Hazel Smith

North Korea is not mad, bad, nor sad. Starting from this assertion, Smith’s book aims to accomplish two functions. First, so-called myths concerning North Korea’s strangeness are debunked as Smith ...
Noise Exposure Summary And Comparitive Analyses

This paper summarizes and compares facility Operations and Maintenance (O&M) noise Dosimetry data to industry wide construction data. Dosimetry data has been compiled from a noise exposure assessment at a DOE national research facility Maintenance, Utilities, and Service Department (MUSD). This facility is the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The laboratory consists of ten O&M craft and trade shops responsible for a fifty year old infrastructure including over 300 buildings, and a worker population of approximately 7,000. The facility includes an extensive variety of noise generating activities throughout a one square mile site.
Chronic anticoagulation with warfarin is associated with decreased functional outcome and increased length of stay following craniotomy for acute subdural hematoma

Abstract Introduction With the continued rise of the aging population, the incidence of acute subdural hematoma (ASDH) in the setting of chronic oral anticoagulation with warfarin is expected to increase. No study has directly addressed the risks of poorer outcomes in chronically anticoagulated patients after ASDH evacuation. Methods We reviewed retrospectively 94 consecutive cases of ASDH at a single institution with fresh frozen plasma and craniotomy. The outcomes of patients with ASDH in the setting of chronic oral anticoagulation were compared to those of patients with ASDH not taking oral anticoagulation. Results There were 22 patients receiving chronic anticoagulation (11 male, 11 female, mean age 63.7 ± 4 years) with ASDH requiring craniotomy for evacuation. These patients had significantly lower mean discharge Glasgow Outcome Scores (GOS) when compared to control subjects (2.3 ± 0.3 versus 3.0 ± 0.2). Despite presentation with higher Glasgow Coma Scores (GCS), ASDH size tended to be larger in anticoagulated patients, although not significant. Overall mortality was nearly double, that is 55% in anticoagulated patients compared to 29% in those without anticoagulation. Of previously anticoagulated patients alive at discharge, hospital length of stay was longer compared to controls (31.9 ± 8.5 days versus 21.1 ± 2.4 days). Conclusions These data suggest that ASDH evacuation in chronically anticoagulated patients is associated with higher mortality rates, decreased likelihood of independent function, and increased length of hospital stay. Further research is needed to determine if the effect of chronic anticoagulation on outcome is independent of cofounders, such as age and medical comorbidities. These data may help practitioners and families create treatment plans and furthermore serve as the gold standard for the future evaluation of novel anticoagulation reversal agents such as factor VIIa.
Microbes Touch Everything

As I wheeled my bag away from the Convention Center in New Orleans after the 115th General Meeting, I noticed its ASM luggage tag, which states “Microbes Touch Everything.” This simple line is a perfect summary of the importance of the microbial sciences and the core mission of ASM to promote and advance this field. In history there are many examples of times when the right confluence of people and technology has led to events that rapidly push back frontiers. Two examples, one old, one of our time—Leeuwenhoek seeing animalcules through his lens and the elucidation of the structure of DNA and the genetic code—both transformed science and opened new fields of exploration. The microbial sciences are now poised to enter a renaissance that is based on interdisciplinary approaches and new technologies.
Time-Resolved Chromophore Resonance Raman and Protein Fluorescence of Intermediates in Some Photobiological Changes

This paper summarizes the work of my group over the past four years. Different resonance Raman techniques are described which are useful in studying intermediates of photolabile systems in the millisecond, microsecond, nanosecond, and picosecond time domains. These techniques are used to study two important photobiological systems: bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and carbonmonoxyhemoglobin (HbCO). The summary of the results of applying these techniques to study the retinal system in bR is given and discussed in terms of what is known about its photochemical proton pump cycle.
Characterizing dark matter at the LHC in Drell-Yan events

Spectral features in LHC dileptonic events may signal radiative corrections coming from new degrees of freedom, notably dark matter and mediators. Using simplified models, and under a set of simplifying assumptions, we show how these features can reveal the fundamental properties of the dark sector, such as self-conjugation, spin and mass of dark matter, and the quantum numbers of the mediator. Distributions of both the invariant mass ${m}_{\ensuremath{\ell}\ensuremath{\ell}}$ and the Collins-Soper scattering angle $\mathrm{cos}{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\mathrm{CS}}$ are studied to pinpoint these properties. We derive constraints on the models from LHC measurements of ${m}_{\ensuremath{\ell}\ensuremath{\ell}}$ and $\mathrm{cos}{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\mathrm{CS}}$, which are competitive with direct detection and $\text{jets}+\mathrm{MET}$ searches. We find that in certain scenarios the $\mathrm{cos}{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\mathrm{CS}}$ spectrum provides the strongest bounds, underlining the importance of scattering angle measurements for nonresonant new physics.
Clinicopathologic and immunophenotypic features of eosinophilic fasciitis and morphea profunda: A comparative study of 27 cases

Background Eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) and morphea profunda (MP) are inflammatory and sclerosing disorders of the subcutis that can exhibit clinical and pathologic presentations that overlap. Objective To identify clinicopathologic features that can be used to distinguish EF from MP. Methods We performed a retrospective review of 16 patients with EF and 11 patients with MP. Hematoxylin-eosin, CD123, CD34, and Verhoeff-Van Gieson stains were evaluated on skin biopsies that included the fascia. Results EF patients were more likely than MP patients to be men ( P = .047), have forearm involvement ( P = .003), and have peripheral eosinophilia ( P P = .003), although eosinophils were absent in 3 (19%) patients with EF. Focal absence of CD34 staining was more prominent in the fascia of EF patients ( P = .04). The extent of Verhoeff-Van Gieson staining did not differ between the 2 groups. Dermal sclerosis was not detected in many cases of EF and MP (56% and 36%, respectively). Limitations This was a retrospective study at a single institution. Conclusion Although EF and MP share clinical and pathologic features, our results indicate that the presence of eosinophils in the blood and fascia and focal loss of CD34 staining might be more suggestive of EF than MP.
Progress in quasi-optical power combining

In order to increase the power available from solid-state sources, spatial combiners are being developed. Frequently the familiar waveguide or cavity combiners have serious disadvantages. In the past few years significant investigations have been carried out to develop planar arrays of solid-state oscillators or amplifiers in order to produce spatial combining. Some of these structures have used quasi- optical resonators for coupling the sources to provide feedback for frequency locking. Sources utilized have included Gunn, IMPATT, or resonant tunneling diodes, as well as three-terminal devices such as FETs or HEMTS, with the latter types being preferred because they offer higher efficiency, better control, and monolithic capability. This presentation will summarize progress to date.
Synthesis of high-performance thin film composite (TFC) membranes by controlling the preparation conditions: Technical notes

Abstract Reverse osmosis (RO) is one of the most globally competitive technologies for desalination and water purification, in which thin film composite (TFC) membrane is the common form of membranes used. In this paper, we examined changes in membrane performance by studying the effects of 1) m-phenylenediamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) exposure times; 2) different phase inversion methods to prepare polysulfone (PSU) support sheets; 3) the support sheet thickness, and 4) the fabricated membrane’s drying temperature. Operational conditions of 300 psi, 25 °C, 2000 ppm NaCl, and sample run time of at least 8 h were applied. Optimal performance results were achieved when the interfacial polymerization time was short, and a vertical immersion during PSU layer preparation was applied. Increasing PSU sheet thickness increased the salt rejection but decreased the water flux, while rising the curing temperature led to an enhancement in salt rejection and water flux at short reaction times. Based on this study, a TFC membrane of NaCl rejection 98.8 ± 0.5% and water flux 76.1 ± 2.7 L/m2 h was fabricated using 25 s MPD contacting time, 5 s TMC reaction time, and 110 °C drying temperature. This result is considered high among reported outcomes in the literature for simply prepared TFC membranes.
Representations of sl(2, ℂ)

Unless otherwise indicated, in this chapter a representation of a Lie group or Lie algebra is a complex representation.
Emotion Perception and Social Functioning in Schizophrenia

In this chapter, research is summarized regarding the relationship between measures of emotion perception and indices of social functioning among persons with schizophrenia. In particular, the results of three studies from our social cognition laboratory are reviewed. The findings revealed that better emotion perception skills were associated with more adaptive and less maladaptive ward behavior among inpatients with chronic schizophrenia. In a third study, emotion perception had weak to modest relationships with social skill, as measured with unstructured role plays, among stabilized outpatients with schizophrenia. A similar relationship, albeit weaker, was found in a chronically ill inpatient sample. Overall, these studies suggest that emotion perception skills have a more consistent relationship with ward behavior than with social skills among persons with schizophrenia. Future work needs to address the following issues regarding the relationship between emotion perception and social functioning in schizophrenia: Does emotion perception contribute independent variance to social behavior beyond other social-cognitive measures? Can we develop measures of social cognition and social functioning that are more ecologically valid than those currently in existence?
Stochastic gradient adaptation of front-end parameters.

This paper examines how any parameter in the typical front end of a speech recognizer, can be rapidly and inexpensively adapted with usage. It focusses on firstly demonstrating that effective adaptation can be accomplished using low CPU/Memory cost stochastic gradient descent methods, secondly showing that adaptation can be done at time scales small enough to make it effective with just a single utterance, and lastly showing that using a prior on the parameter significantly improves adaptation performance on small amounts of data. It extends previous work on stochastic gradient descent implementation of fMLLR [1] and work on adapting any parameter in the front-end chain using general 2nd order opimization techniques [2]. The framework for general stochastic gradient descent of any front-end parameter with a prior is presented, along with practical techniques to improve convergence. In addition the methods for obtaining the alignment at small time intervals before the end of the utterance are presented. Finally it shown that experimentally online causal adaptation can result in a 5-15% WER reduction across a variety of problems sets and noise conditions, even with just 1 or 2 utterances of adaptation data.
Metals, Organic Compounds, and Nutrients in Long Island Sound: Sources, Magnitudes, Trends, and Impacts

Long Island Sound (LIS) is a relatively shallow estuary with a mean depth of 20 m (maximum depth 49 m) and a unique hydrology and history of pollutant loading. These factors have contributed to a wide variety of contamination problems in its muddy sediments, aquatic life, and water column. The LIS sediments are contaminated with toxic compounds and elements related to past and present wastewater discharges and runoff. These include nonpoint and stormwater runoff and groundwater discharges, whose character has changed over the years along with the evolution of its watershed and industrial history. Major impacts have resulted from the copious amounts of nutrients discharged into LIS through atmospheric deposition, domestic and industrial waste water flows, fertilizer releases, and urban runoff. All these sources and their effects are in essence the result of human presence and activities in the watershed, and the severity of pollutant loading and their impacts generally scales with total population in the watersheds surrounding LIS. Environmental legislation passed since the mid-to-late 1900s (e.g., Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act) has had a beneficial effect, however, and contaminant loadings for many toxic organic and inorganic chemicals and nutrients have diminished over the last few decades (O’Shea and Brosnan 2000; Trench et al. 2012; O’Connor and Lauenstein 2006; USEPA 2007). Major strides have been made in reducing the inflow of nutrients into LIS, but cultural eutrophication is still an ongoing problem and nutrient control efforts will need to continue. Nonetheless, LIS is still a heavily human impacted estuary (an “Urban Estuary,” as described for San Francisco Bay by Conomos 1979), and severe changes in water quality and sediment toxicity as well as ecosystem shifts have occurred since the European colonization in the early 1600s (Koppelman et al., 1976). The Sound has seen the most severe environmental changes over the last 400 years during its 10,000 year history (Lewis, this volume), suggesting that human impacts have overwhelmed the natural forces at play.
An Evaluation of Quantitative Electron Probe Methods

This publication describes a comparative test of several procedures of electron probe microanalysis commonly used at present, on the basis of results obtained from specimens of presumably known composition. The strategy used is to separate as far as possible the effects of the atomic number, absorption, and fluorescence on the results of subsets from a set of measurements containing 1826 entries, selected as described later in detail.
Response properties of dorsolateral pontine units during smooth pursuit in the rhesus macaque

1. The anatomical connections of the dorsolateral pontine nucleus (DLPN) implicate it in the production of smooth-pursuit eye movements. It receives inputs from cortical structures believed to be i...
Multiple timescales in a strongly coupled dusty plasma revealed by survival-function analysis

Under liquidlike conditions, particles are found to rearrange on multiple timescales in a two-dimensional dusty plasma experiment. Our analysis is based on survival functions, which are time-series graphs of the probability that a particle's number of nearest neighbors remains unchanged. Nondefects are found to exhibit two distinct timescales, revealed by an elbow in their survival function. Defects have survival functions that are more nearly exponential, with decay rates that offer insight at a microscopic level into the viscoelastic relaxation in a liquid.
Postdural puncture headache in obstetric neuraxial anaesthesia: Current evidence and therapy

Abstract Postdural puncture headache (PDPH) may occur after inadvertent dura mater puncture during obstetric neuraxial anaesthesia. The potentially debilitating nature of the symptoms necessitates prompt and effective prevention and treatment modalities to minimize the distress to the mother as well as her subsequent care and bonding with the newborn. Improving ultrasound guidance may aid in the prevention of accidental dural puncture. However, despite the epidural blood patch being recognized as the gold standard in the treatment of PDPH, it is not without risk and can potentially fail. Nerve blocks and newer therapies have been reported that could be efficacious, easy to administer and with less risks. We present this recent evidence and potential alternative therapies in the treatment of PDPH in this review.
Demand complementarities and cross‐country price differences

Empirical studies document that markups vary across destinations. This paper proposes a novel mechanism to explain variation in markups: consumers utility from final goods and services depends on their consumption of complementary goods and services. In countries with more complementary goods and services, consumer demand is less elastic, enabling monopolistically competitive firms to charge higher prices. The paper provides empirical evidence documenting a dependence of prices on demand complementarities.
Trojan horses for immunotherapy.

Responsive polymersomes enhance the action of STING-targeting cyclic dinucleotides in cancer therapy.
Chapter 1 – Nanotechnology: A Toolkit for Cell Behavior

Tissue engineering seeks to effectively manipulate cellular populations to improve the function of damaged or diseased tissues and organs. Many techniques can affect cell behavior; however, in order to maintain desirable function, scientists and engineers design solutions that are as biomimetic as possible. True biomimeticity is very challenging without the incorporation of nanotechnology. Since cells in human tissues are surrounded by a 3D hierarchical tissue extracellular matrix containing numerous nano components, a revolutionary change in tissue engineering is to explore biomimetic nanobiomaterials and advanced 3D nano/microfabrication techniques for creating novel tissue constructs and regulating cell behavior. This chapter will provide an overview of recent nanotechnology in tissue engineering applications. We will put special emphasis on integrating cutting-edge 3D nano/microfabrication techniques with nanobiomaterials for complex tissue and organ regeneration.
A supervised exercise intervention fails to improve depressive symptoms and quality of life among sedentary older adults with HIV infection.

ABSTRACTOlder people living with HIV (PLWH) experience multimorbidity that can negatively impact quality of life (QoL). Exercise can improve physical function, but effects on QoL are not well understood. 32 PLWH and 37 controls aged 50–75 completed 12-weeks of moderate-intensity exercise, then were randomized to moderate or high-intensity for 12 additional weeks. Depressive symptoms (CES-D scores) were significantly greater and QOL (SF-36 mental and physical summary scores) significantly lower among PLWH at baseline (all p < 0.05). PLWH had significantly greater worsening in CES-D scores compared to controls (3.4 [0.7, 6.0]; p = 0.01) between 13and 24 weeks. Mental QoL changed minimally, with no significant difference in changes by serostatus between weeks 0 and 12 or weeks 13 and 24 (p ≤ 0.22). Changes in physical function summary scores were similar by serostatus between 0 and 12 weeks (1.5 [−1.6, 4.6], p = 0.35), but declined significantly more among PLWH between 13 and 24 weeks (−4.1 [−7.2,−1], p = 0....
Boron nitride nanotubes reinforced polycarbonate nanocomposites

Abstract Surface functionalized boron nitride nanotubes (f-BNNTs) with hydroxyl (OH) and amino (NH2) groups are employed as a nanofiller to reinforce polycarbonate (PC), a resin that has widely been used where a combination of transparency and high energy absorption is required, such as in armor, automotive and display technologies. To improve the interfacial compatibility of BNNTs with the PC matrix, BNNTs are treated with bromine in water inducing B N bond cleavage and subsequent formation of OH and NH2 functional groups on BNNT-surfaces. Samples of 1, 2 and 4 wt% f-BNNT/PC nanocomposite are prepared in a mixture of chloroform and dimethylformamide (DMF). The resulting f-BNNT/PC nanocomposites are processed in two ways: thin film formation from the powder by using a hot-press and plaque formation through melt-mixing-extrusion and compression molding techniques, respectively. The thermal and mechanical properties of the f-BNNT/PC nanocomposites are evaluated and compared with those of neat PC. They exhibit about 4∼8 °C improvement in thermal stability and over 30 °C higher in anti-oxidation than those of the neat PC. The testing result reveals that the f-BNNT/PC nanocomposite at 1 wt% loading achieves 39% increase in tensile toughness relative to the neat PC. Young’s modulus has an improvement by 13% (1 wt%) and 31% (4 wt%), respectively, from the thin-film samples; while about 2% and 13% improvements are observed from the extruded coupons at the same f-BNNT loadings. The transparency of the thin films is shown to decrease with the increase of f-BNNT loading.
Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma presenting as subcutaneous nodules.

AbstractSubcutaneous nodules secondary to metastasis can be a presenting symptom of lung cancer. Underlying cancer must be ruled out in patients presenting with multiple subcutaneous nodules with s...
Programming contests for assessing problem-solving ability

Computer science is one of the largest curricular areas among college and university programs seeking accreditation, a peer-review process designed to certify that a program meets professional standards of quality. Our program is accredited by ABET, the largest accrediting body in the U.S. for computer science. One of the ABET requirements (following ACM curriculum standards) is that a program teaches students how to "analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution"; moreover, one of our own stated program objectives is to develop students' general problem-solving ability. Much of the work in sustaining accreditation involves identifying and collecting data for measuring the extent to which educational goals are being realized, but we find that quantifying problem-solving ability, or even simply defining it, is a significant challenge. This article describes one of the assessment mechanisms that we have developed to meet this challenge.
Non-treatment of stable ramp lesions does not degrade clinical outcomes in the setting of primary ACL reconstruction

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of various methods of treatment of stable and unstable ramp lesions compared to patients with no meniscal pathology at the time of primary ACL reconstruction. All patients with a preoperative MRI performed at our facility who were enrolled in an institutional ACL registry and 1-year clinical follow-up were identified. A musculoskeletal radiologist reviewed preoperative MRI scans for evidence of a ramp lesion. Ramp lesions were classified as stable if a peripheral tear of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus was identified by MRI, but did not displace into the medial compartment with anteriorly directed probing at the time of surgery. Ramp lesions were classified as unstable if a tear was identified by preoperative MRI at the meniscocapsular junction and the meniscus was displaceable into the medial compartment with probing. Reoperation rates for ACL graft failure or recurrent medial meniscus pathology were collected. Patient-reported outcome scores (IKDC, SF12 PCS, SF12 MCS, and Marx Activity scale) were recorded at baseline and final follow-up. A total of 162 patients were included in the analysis with median 2-year (range 1–5 years) clinical follow-up. Patients with a repaired unstable ramp lesion had a significantly higher likelihood of reoperation for recurrent medial meniscus pathology than patients without meniscal pathology at the time of index surgery. Patients with an untreated stable ramp lesion had a similar rate of reoperation when compared to patients without meniscal pathology. At final follow-up, there was no difference between groups in IKDC score, SF12 PCS/MCS, or Marx activity score or change in any score. Patients with untreated stable ramp lesions have similar clinical outcomes at median 2-year (range 1–5 years) follow-up when compared to patients without a ramp lesion. Treatment of stable ramp lesions at the time of ACL reconstruction does not have clinical benefit. III.
Causal Explanations of Image Misclassifications.

The causal explanation of image misclassifications is an understudied niche, which can potentially provide valuable insights in model interpretability and increase prediction accuracy. This study trains CIFAR-10 on six modern CNN architectures, including VGG16, ResNet50, GoogLeNet, DenseNet161, MobileNet V2, and Inception V3, and explores the misclassification patterns using conditional confusion matrices and misclassification networks. Two causes are identified and qualitatively distinguished: morphological similarity and non-essential information interference. The former cause is not model dependent, whereas the latter is inconsistent across all six models. To reduce the misclassifications caused by non-essential information interference, this study erases the pixels within the bonding boxes anchored at the top 5% pixels of the saliency map. This method first verifies the cause; then by directly modifying the cause it reduces the misclassification. Future studies will focus on quantitatively differentiating the two causes of misclassifications, generalizing the anchor-box based inference modification method to reduce misclassification, exploring the interactions of the two causes in misclassifications.
The Association between Opioid Discontinuation and Heroin Use: A Nested Case-Control Study

Abstract BACKGROUND: Opioid prescribing guidelines recommend reducing or discontinuing opioids for chronic pain if harms of opioid treatment outweigh benefits. As opioid discontinuation becomes more prevalent, it is important to understand whether opioid discontinuation is associated with heroin use. In this study, we sought to assess the association between opioid discontinuation and heroin use documented in the medical record. METHODS :A matched nested case-control study was conducted in an integrated health plan and delivery system in Colorado. Patients receiving opioid therapy in the study period (January 2006—June 2018) were included. Opioid discontinuation was defined as ≥45 days with no opioids dispensed after initiating opioid therapy. The heroin use onset date represented the index date. Case patients were matched to up to 20 randomly selected patients without heroin use (control patients) by age, sex, calendar time, and time between initiating opioid therapy and the index date. Conditional logistic regression models estimated matched odds ratios (mOR) for the association between an opioid discontinuation prior to the index date and heroin use. RESULTS: Among 22,962 patients prescribed opioid therapy, 125 patients (0.54%) used heroin after initiating opioid therapy, of which 74 met criteria for inclusion in the analysis. The odds of opioid discontinuation were approximately two times higher in case patients (n = 74) than control patients (n = 1045; mOR = 2.19; 95% CI 1.27-3.78). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients prescribed chronic opioid therapy, the observed increased risk for heroin use associated with opioid discontinuation should be balanced with potential benefits.
Free Fatty Acid and Diacylglycerol Levels are Related to Cerebral O2 During Seizures

It is well established that levels of free fatty acids (FFA) and diacylglycerols (DAG) are elevated during seizures and that these are derived primarily from membrane phospholipids that are degraded via activation of phospholipases A1, A2, and C (Bazan, 1970; Siesjo et al, 1982; Bazan et al., 1983; 1986; Rodriguez de Turco, 1986). Arachidonic acid, which is the primary fatty acid released during seizures, can be metabolized further by cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase to generate prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and thromboxanes. These factors can alter intracellular signalling, generate free radicals and hydroperoxides, and damage cell membranes. Reacylation of FFA and DAG to phospholipids requires energy in the form of ATP from oxidative metabolism. Therefore, it would be expected that a deficiency of oxygen delivery during seizures should enhance levels of FFA and DAG. The objective of the present investigation was to determine if levels of FFA and DAG are related to changes in cerebral oxygenation during the course of recurrent seizures. Furthermore, an attempt was made to determine the relative contribution of reacylation of FFA and reutilization of DAG to the levels observed during and between seizures (i.e., during ictal and interictal periods, respectively).
Diffuse, bright-red rash with desquamation and scaling in an adult

A man presented with fever; chills; and a pruritic, peeling, red rash over his entire body. He also had pain in his hands.
Chapter 20 - Cloud System Modeling

This chapter provides an overview of the cloud system modeling. Cloud-resolving models (CRMs) are numerical models that explicitly represent the cloud-scale circulations and their interactions with microphysical, radiative, and small-scale turbulent processes. Most CRMs are two-dimensional (2-D) models, which allow them to simulate the mesoscale organization of cloud systems over multiday time periods. In contrast, three-dimensional (3-D) large-eddy simulation models are limited to simulating large turbulent eddies over periods of several hours, and one-dimensional (1-D) column models must parameterize the cloud-scale circulations as well as the turbulence. Two-dimensional CRMs are used to study a variety of cloud types and systems. The scales of motion that are explicitly represented depend on the cloud system of interest. The time scales and space scales of a CRM used to simulate a convective cloud system to those of global climate models (GCMs) are compared. The effects of scales of motion that are not resolved are parameterized using a turbulence closure. The chapter explains that new observations of clouds will allow more thorough evaluations of the microphysical and radiative transfer parameterizations employed in CRMs.
The Production of Corporate Law

The production of corporate law has been seen as a competition among the states. This paper takes an interest group view of the production of law, and argues that changes in corporate laws in the United States are driven primarily by lawyers and corporate managers. The benefits to lawyers from modern corporate laws include retention of corporate clients as local corporations, thus excluding the competition of out-of-state lawyers with expertise in Delaware law. But because the production of law is a public good, lawyers find initiating legal change costly, and innovations proceed slowly. Managers, on the other hand, are not generally experts on corporate law, but focus on particular issues that affect them directly, such as antitakeover laws and laws affecting their personal liability. The paper examines the degree of uniformity resulting from this competition, and finds a high degree of correspondence with the norms set in the Model Business Corporation Act. Deviations from this uniformity are explained in large part by innovations, many of which originate in the Model Act. The paper then examines how the collective action problems of the sponsoring interest groups influence the diffusion of innovations in corporate law. Innovations sponsored by lawyers have relatively slow rates of adoption, reflecting their collective action problems. When these costs are reduced through introduction of changes in the Model Act, the rate of diffusion increases. Managers appear to suffer from fewer collective action problems, and have a more intense interest in certain subjects because of the more direct benefits they obtain, and management-sponsored innovations are adopted much more rapidly. Possible inefficiencies from rent-seeking by interest groups appear to be constrained by competitive forces, suggesting that alternative solutions, such as federalizing corporate law, would not solve the rent-seeking problem as well, and would sacrifice the innovations obtained through the present competitive system.
AALS Remedies Symposium, Justice and the Bottom Line: The Continued Vitality of Prophylactic Relief

The identification of a separate classification of prophylactic injunctions and the continued judicial use of the remedy in institutional reform cases has developed a line between legitimate and illegitimate relief. The doctrine and theory of prophylaxis provides an alternative narrative by which to evaluate injunctive relief in order to retain valuable and effective judicial remedies. For the dominant discourse rejects prophylactic relief as illegitimate. Critics have disclaimed prophylactic and other public law relief as judicial policymaking through which judges impose obligations beyond the contours of the legal right. Despite this harsh criticism, prophylaxis has continued to thrive as an effective and necessary part of the practical remediation of complex cases. The continued use of prophylactic remedies demands an alternative theory of justification, for the image of an activist, judicial policymaker does not accurately explain the remedial practice. This essay argues against the rejection of all broad injunctive relief, and instead, suggests that the legal construct of the prophylactic injunction provides an alternative language through which jurists and lawyers can navigate the real issues of crafting appropriate relief.
Geographies of Meaningful Living

Because it is significantly unclear what ‘meaningful’ does or should pick out when applied to a life, any account of meaningful living will be constructive and not merely clarificatory. Where in our conceptual geography is ‘meaningful’ best located? What conceptual work do we want the concept to do? What I call agent-independent and agent-independent-plus conceptions of meaningfulness locate ‘meaningful’ within the conceptual geography of agent-independent evaluative standards and assign ‘meaningful’ the work of commending lives. I argue that the not wholly welcome implications of these more dominant approaches to meaningfulness make it plausible to locate ‘meaningful’ on an alternative conceptual geography — that of agents as end-setters and of agent-dependent value assessments — and to assign it the work of picking out lives whose time-expenditures are intelligible to the agent. I respond to the challenge confronting any subjectivist conception of meaningfulness that it is overly permissive.
Marginal Structural Models versus Structural nested Models as Tools for Causal inference

Robins (1993, 1994, 1997, 1998ab) has developed a set of causal or counterfactual models, the structural nested models (SNMs). This paper describes an alternative new class of causal models — the (non-nested) marginal structural models (MSMs). We will then describe a class of semiparametric estimators for the parameters of these new models under a sequential randomization (i.e., ignorability) assumption. We then compare the strengths and weaknesses of MSMs versus SNMs for causal inference from complex longitudinal data with time-dependent treatments and confounders. Our results provide an extension to continuous treatments of propensity score estimators of an average treatment effect.
Discovery of nitrogen in Saturn's inner magnetosphere

[1] We detected N+ in Saturn's magnetosphere in the range L ∼ 3.5 to ∼9.5 Saturn Radii (Rs) using data collected by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer during Saturn Orbit Insertion and the following orbit (Rev A). The presence of N+ in Saturn's magnetosphere has been a source of much debate since Voyager's detection of unresolved mass/charge 14–16 amu ions in this region. Two principal nitrogen sources have been suggested: Titan's atmosphere and nitrogen compounds trapped in Saturn's icy satellite surfaces (Sittler et al., 2004; E. C. Sittler et al., Energetic nitrogen ions within the inner magnetosphere of Saturn, submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research, 2004). The latter may contain primordial nitrogen, likely as NH3 in ice (Stevenson, 1982; Squyers et al., 1983) or N+ that has been implanted in the surface (Delitsky and Lane, 2002). In addition to our nitrogen detection results, we also present an initial examination of possible sources of these ions.
African rue (Peganum harmala) seedling response to herbicides applied under water-deficit stress

Abstract African rue is an exotic, herbaceous perennial established in several western states that tolerates harsh, water-stressed conditions. The influence of water-deficit stress on herbicide response and subsequent herbicide fate within the plant were compared. African rue seedlings were deprived of water for 0 to 7 d to establish a gradient of water-deficit levels before treatment with hexazinone, imazapyr, or metsulfuron. At herbicide application, water-deficit treatments reduced plant water potential values from −1.0 MPa to −4.7 MPa, causing concomitant reductions in photosynthesis. Thirty-five days after treatment, dry weight of imazapyr- and metsulfuron-treated plants was reduced in plants exposed to more than 4 d water-deficit stress before herbicide application. In contrast, hexazinone-treated plants had less dry weight than water-stressed, nonsprayed control plants regardless of water-deficit stress. Seventy-two hours after herbicide application, African rue leaves absorbed from 5 to 42% of her...