cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Never Having Loved at All

Feminist and some other abortion rights advocates typically ground the right to abortion in bodily integrity, thus conceptualizing abortion as vindicating a right to disassociate oneself from an intruder. Although valid as a matter of logic, the bodily integrity argument is libertarian and seemingly selfish. But a fundamentally associative interest also grounds the abortion right. A woman who cannot raise a child but is legally required to bear one must undergo the psychic pain of forced separation from an infant whom she is biologically programmed to love. Human mothers, like other mammalian mothers, grieve the loss of their young, as illustrated by the sad plight of dairy cows. Accordingly, the abortion right may be best understood as protecting not only an interest in bodily separation, but an interest in avoiding loss, that is, an interest in “never having loved at all.”
Following Charge Separation on the Nanoscale in Cu2O–Au Nanoframe Hollow Nanoparticles

Cu2O–Au nanoframes with different nanolayer thicknesses of Cu2O were prepared, and their photocatalytic properties in aqueous solutions were studied. Cu2O semiconductor excitation leads to electron–hole separation. In aqueous solution, the hole is known to oxidize water to produce hydroxyl radicals whose concentration (and that of the holes) can be monitored by the rate of the degradation of dissolved methylene blue dye. The exciton lifetime is determined by femtosecond techniques and is determined by electron–hole recombination which depends on the rates of a number of competing processes such as, electron or hole transfer to an acceptor such as a gold nanoframe and/or the electron or hole trapping processes at the Cu2O–Au nanoframe interface. We measured the exciton lifetime as a function of the average Cu2O–Au layer separation. A good correlation was found between the rate of the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and the exciton lifetime. The exciton lifetime is found to increase as the Cu2O...
Contrast of the Developing Regularity of Partial Discharge of Oil-paper Insulation Using Step-stress Test and Constant-stress Test

In laboratory,the oil-paper insulation partial discharge in transformer was mostly researched by using step-stress tests,while transformers in field operate under constant voltage.In order to study the influences of different test conditions on the developing process and regularity of oil-paper insulation partial discharge defects,a sphere-plate model was structured for long time high voltage experiments.By using the model,step-stress tests and constant-stress tests were performed to investigate the change of narrow-bandwidth pulse current signal in the duration between the start of discharge and the breakdown of paper insulation.According to the test results,no matter which kind of tests is adopted,during development of the defect,the total accumulative discharge capacity,the total discharge capacity in a second,the pulse phase(including average phase,initial phase and final phase),and the pulse rate show linear or exponential change trends.Further analyses of the test results indicate that the test conditions hardly influence the developing trends of the pulse rate,the distribution of pulse phase,and the total discharge capacity,but they have a great influence on the developing regularity of the average amplitude and maximum amplitude of pulse.
Numerical studies of lithium-ion battery thermal management systems using phase change materials and metal foams

Abstract This article investigates thermal management systems (TMS) of lithium-ion battery made from pure octadecane, pure gallium and octadecane–Al foam composite materials by numerical simulations. Porosity of the Al foam changes from 0.97 to 0.925 and 0.88. The numerical simulation is based on SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations) algorithm, staggered grid, and temperature transforming model. Three different heat fluxes of 400, 600, and 800 W/m2 at the left and right boundaries of the computational domain are considered to simulate the heat released from the battery. Different TMS’s thicknesses have been studied. The time variations of battery surface temperatures are compared with different phase change materials (PCMs) to compare the effectivity of the TMS. Results show that the discharge time before the average battery surface temperature reaches above 60 °C increases with an increasing thickness (between 7.5 and 15 mm) of the TMS. The result with pure octadecane indicates that the discharge time is increased by 87 percent when the thickness of the TMS is increased from 7.5 mm to 15 mm. The surface temperature of the battery is more uniform and the discharge time is 4.7 times longer when gallium is used as the PCM, compared with those with octadecane for all thicknesses at the heat flux of 600 W/m2 and thickness of 12.5 mm. Adding metal matrix of 0.88 porosity to the octadecane led to 7.3 times longer discharge time compared to the pure octadecane. It is also found that adding the Al foam to octadecane remarkably increases the uniformity of the battery surface temperature, i.e. the maximum temperature difference at the surface of the battery decreased from 25 °C with pure octadecane to 2 × 10−4 °C with octadecane–Al foam composite (0.88 porosity) after the battery discharges for 1000 s at 600 W/m2 heat flux.
Knockout maternal adiponectin increases fetal growth in mice: potential role for trophoblast IGFBP-1.

Aims/hypothesis The main objective of this study was to investigate whether maternal adiponectin regulates fetal growth through the endocrine system in the fetal compartment.
Evaluation and Management of Untoward Intraoperative Bleeding

Abnormal or excessive bleeding during neurosurgical procedures could have devastating consequences and requires diligent, expedient workup and management coordinated by the neurosurgeon and anesthesiologist working together. Multiple modalities now exist in order to evaluate the patient’s ability to clot blood, and point of care testing can isolate the problem to platelet dysfunction, coagulation cascade abnormalities, or some other global phenomenon. Hemostatic agents and alterations in hemodynamics may help to reduce this blood loss and allow the surgeon to identify and control the source of bleeding. Blood salvage techniques may be utilized to reduce the amount of allogenic blood products received, and specific diagnostic techniques may also help facilitate hemostasis and direct the administration of medication to help improve platelet function and reduce or inhibit thrombolysis. A systematic and coordinated effort can decrease overall blood loss and minimize associated morbidity.
Effects of additives on breakdown in polyethylene

In 1975 we reported1,2 on a new approach to tree inhibition in dielectrics making use of field grading at asperities based on a field-dependent conductivity. Initially we attempted to take advantage of the second Wien effect, i.e., field enhanced dissociation of ionic additives. While such additives were only marginally successful we found a number of non-ionic materials which markedly increased the tree inception and breakdown voltage.3 During this period several other non-ionic tree inhibitors were reported.4–6 One explanation for the effectiveness of these additives might be that they increase the intrinic strength of polyethylene. In this paper we examine this hypothesis.
Forecasting Change of Iran's Trading Partners with an Emphasis on Continuing Sanctions in Horizon of Fifth Iranian Development Plan

Expanding non-oil exports for diversifying export earnings is a common policy in developing countries with monoculture economics. However, in recent years, sanctions as the major obstacle of achieving the objectives lead to change of trading partners through affecting domestic and foreign policies. Therefore, the uncertainty of future trading partners due to the uncertain conditions of sanction highlights the necessity of forecasting the change trends of Iran's trading partners. This paper aimed to review and forecast share changing of Iran's major trading partners from 1996 until the end of the fifth development plans. Thus, first, the share of trading partners from agricultural export products as the part of non-oil exports during 1996-2012 was investigated using the data on non-oil exports of Iran Customs Administration. Then, the share of Iran's trading partners was forecasted during 2013-2015 by considering sanctions and using econometric techniques. Results of the forecasts showed that, in the non-sanction conditions, the share of western countries of Iran's non-oil exports would increase and, with continuing sanctions, exports would be limited to the neighbouring countries.
Chemotherapy-Induced Tissue Injury: An Insight into the Role of Extracellular Vesicles-Mediated Oxidative Stress Responses

The short- and long-term side effects of chemotherapy limit the maximum therapeutic dose and impair quality of life of survivors. Injury to normal tissues, especially chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy, is an unintended outcome that presents devastating health impacts. Approximately half of the drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for cancer treatment are associated with the generation of reactive oxygen species, and Doxorubicin (Dox) is one of them. Dox undergoes redox cycling by involving its quinone structure in the production of superoxide free radicals, which are thought to be instrumental to the role it plays in cardiomyopathy. Dox-induced protein oxidation changes protein function, translocation, and aggregation that are toxic to cells. To maintain cellular homeostasis, oxidized proteins can be degraded intracellularly by ubiquitin-proteasome pathway or by autophagy, depending on the redox status of the cell. Alternatively, the cell can remove oxidized proteins by releasing extracellular vesicles (EVs), which can be transferred to neighboring or distant cells, thereby instigating an intercellular oxidative stress response. In this article, we discuss the role of EVs in oxidative stress response, the potential of EVs as sensitive biomarkers of oxidative stress, and the role of superoxide dismutase in attenuating EV-associated oxidative stress response resulting from chemotherapy.
Comparison of OCT Angiography Review Strategies to Identify Vascular Abnormalities in the AVATAR Study.

Purpose To compare review strategies for OCT angiography (OCTA) for multiple disease features found in common diseases of the choroid and retina. Design Prospective, observational study. Participants Patients with macular disease undergoing routine spectral-domain OCT. Methods Eyes were imaged with the Avanti RTVue XR HD (Optovue, Fremont, CA), and the split-spectrum amplitude decorrelation angiography algorithm software was used for OCTA performance. Scans were reviewed by 2 masked expert reviewers. A third masked reviewer was used in cases of reviewer disagreement. A single report using automated segmentation within the Avanti software (Optovue, Fremont, CA) to represent the superficial retina capillary plexus, deep retina capillary plexus, outer retina, and choroid capillary layer was generated. A continuous slab descent video export was also reviewed for each OCTA scan. This video consisted of a continuous (e.g., line-by-line) review of the en face OCTA data. Each dataset was reviewed for the presence of 3 pathologic features: choroidal neovascularization (CNV), microaneurysms (MAs), and macular ischemia. Main Outcome Measures Comparison of identification rates of retinal and choroidal microvascular abnormalities using different review strategies. Results A total of 421 eyes were included in the study. Of those, 350 eyes had reports that were deemed of sufficient quality for interpretation and analysis by both reviewers. Identification rates of CNV, MAs, and macular ischemia on the report were 90.5%, 84.5%, and 95.4%, respectively, compared with the overall presence. Likewise, rates of identification in the continuous slab descent review video were 88.1%, 96.4%, and 95.4% for CNV, MA, and macular ischemia, respectively, compared with the overall presence. Cohen's kappa values ranged from 0.80 to 0.96, corresponding to very good agreement between the report and continuous slab descent review for each variable. Conclusions Defining an optimal reporting strategy for OCTA is important for diagnostic accuracy and optimizing workflow in retina clinics. In this study, OCTA report using automated segmentation was comparable to continuous slab descent review for identifying microvascular abnormalities of the retina and choroid.
Deep Bidirectional and Unidirectional LSTM Recurrent Neural Network for Network-wide Traffic Speed Prediction.

Short-term traffic forecasting based on deep learning methods, especially long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks, has received much attention in recent years. However, the potential of deep learning methods in traffic forecasting has not yet fully been exploited in terms of the depth of the model architecture, the spatial scale of the prediction area, and the predictive power of spatial-temporal data. In this paper, a deep stacked bidirectional and unidirectional LSTM (SBU- LSTM) neural network architecture is proposed, which considers both forward and backward dependencies in time series data, to predict network-wide traffic speed. A bidirectional LSTM (BDLSM) layer is exploited to capture spatial features and bidirectional temporal dependencies from historical data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that BDLSTMs have been applied as building blocks for a deep architecture model to measure the backward dependency of traffic data for prediction. The proposed model can handle missing values in input data by using a masking mechanism. Further, this scalable model can predict traffic speed for both freeway and complex urban traffic networks. Comparisons with other classical and state-of-the-art models indicate that the proposed SBU-LSTM neural network achieves superior prediction performance for the whole traffic network in both accuracy and robustness.
Cerebrovascular Outcomes With Proton Pump Inhibitors and Thienopyridines: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background and Purpose— Pharmacokinetic and prior studies on thienopyridine and proton pump inhibitors (PPI) coadministration provide conflicting data for cardiovascular outcomes, whereas there is no established evidence on the association of concomitant use of PPI and thienopyridines with adverse cerebrovascular outcomes. Methods— We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and cohort studies from inception to July 2017, reporting following outcomes among patients treated with thienopyridine and PPI versus thienopyridine alone (1) ischemic stroke, (2) combined ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, (3) composite outcome of stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and cardiovascular death, (4) MI, (5) all-cause mortality, and (6) major or minor bleeding events. After the unadjusted analyses of risk ratios, we performed additional analyses of studies reporting hazard ratios adjusted for potential confounders. Results— We identified 22 studies (12 randomized controlled trials and 10 cohort studies) comprising 131 714 patients. Concomitant use of PPI with thienopyridines was associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke (risk ratio, 1.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41–2.16; P P =0.04), and MI (risk ratio, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.00–1.40; P =0.05). Likewise, in adjusted analyses concomitant use of PPI with thienopyridines was again associated with increased risk of stroke (hazard ratios adjusted, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.04–1.61; P =0.02), composite stroke/MI/cardiovascular death (hazard ratios adjusted, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.03–1.47; P =0.02), but not with MI (hazard ratios adjusted, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.93–1.52; P =0.16). Conclusions— Co-prescription of PPI and thienopyridines increases the risk of incident ischemic strokes and composite stroke/MI/cardiovascular death. Our findings corroborate the current guidelines for PPI deprescription and pharmacovigilance, especially in patients treated with thienopyridines.
Usefulness of Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 Activity and C-Reactive Protein in Identifying High-Risk Smokers for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study).

Despite the causal role of cigarette smoking in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We evaluated the joint relation between smoking and inflammatory markers with ASCVD risk. We tested cross-sectional associations of self-reported smoking status (never, former, current) and intensity (packs/day) with lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) activity and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in 10,506 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities participants at Visit 4 (1996 to 1998). Using Cox hazard models adjusted for demographic and traditional ASCVD risk factors, we examined the associations of smoking status and intensity with incident adjudicated ASCVD events (n = 1,745 cases) over an average of 17 years, stratified by Lp-PLA2 and hsCRP categories. Greater packs/day smoked was linearly associated with higher levels of both Lp-PLA2 and hsCRP among current smokers. Compared with never smokers, the hazard ratio for incident ASCVD in current smokers was 2.04 (95% CI 1.76 to 2.35). Among current smokers, the risk for ASCVD per 1 pack/day greater was 1.39 (1.10 to 1.76). Both Lp-PLA2 activity ≥253 nmol/min/ml and hsCRP >3 mg/L identified current smokers at the highest risk for incident ASCVD, with similar hazard ratios. hsCRP risk-stratified current smokers better based on intensity. Among current smokers, hsCRP improved ASCVD prediction beyond traditional risk factors better than Lp-PLA2 (C-statistic 0.675 for hsCRP vs 0.668 for Lp-PLA2, p = 0.001). In this large cohort with long follow-up, we found a dose-response relation between smoking intensity with Lp-PLA2 activity, hsCRP, and ASCVD events. Although both Lp-PLA2 activity and hsCRP categories identified high risk among current smokers, hsCRP may better stratify risk of future ASCVD.
Clicker Student Response Systems: Dedicated Physical Devices or Web-Enabled Systems that Allow Student to Bring Their Own Device (BYOD).

The implementation of clickers and clicker questions into classroom teaching is a well-established active-learning technique that provides more interactive classrooms and engages students with course content. Throughout the years, however, the actual clickers themselves have undergone an evolution from physical hand-held devices to web-based applications. This review explores the general advantages and disadvantages of two-main clicker styles, dedicated physical devises and web enabled clickers.
Andean Snowline Evidence for Cooler Subtropics at the Last Glacial Maximum

A common perception exists that glacier snowlines were depressed about 1000 m in American alpine regions during the Last Glacial Maximum (dated in marine sediments between 23 and 14 kyr BP by the δ18O proxy for ice volume) as a result of a temperature reduction equivalent to a lapse rate of 5°–6°C/km (e.g. Broecker and Denton, 1989). This contradicts reconstructions of sea-surface temperatures that are <2°C cooler in low-latitude regions (CLIMAP, 1981; Webster and Streten, 1978; Rind andPeteet, 1985; Rind, 1990). In this work I show that snowlines were not uniformily depressed 1000 m in the Andean sub tropics and the revised estimates of temperature reduction are closer to the CLIMAP findings. However, glaciation in the tropical-subtropical latitudes of the Americas probably culminated twice during the late Pleistocene, more than 20 kyr BP and just prior to deglaciation about 14 kyr BP, making a direct comparison of the snowline evidence to the CLIMAP findings potentially misleading.
Annelids and Learning: A Critical Review

The study of annelid learning appears to be moving from its second infancy. The brief flurry of work about fifty years ago seemed to establish clear evidence of annelid learning for a number of species. But the annelids and problems associated with interpretation of their learning were then retired into brief statements in general texts that alluded to “the facts.” The move from the second infancy of the study of annelid learning began after a long delay when investigators began applying more stringent definitions of learning and requiring more precise specification of conditions associated with learning. Thus, the literature on annelid learning now contains more than 50 references and the repertoire of an infant probably contains more than 50 units. But the problem is the degree of coherence and development of these units.
Multinode Bilateral Control Model

Bilateral control can suppress traffic flow instabilities. The simplest form of bilateral control uses information about the relative positions and relative velocities of leading and trailing vehicles. In this paper, we provide a multinode version of bilateral control, in which information about the state of more than just the immediately leading and trailing cars is used. In this mode of control, the question arises: “How much weight should information about vehicles at different positions be given?” Two different methods—a Taylor series approach and a least-squares approach—are explored. We show that the least-squares approach generates sets of coefficients that can damp out low-frequency components of perturbations faster. This means that traffic under multinode bilateral control will approach an equilibrium state more rapidly than under the traditional version of bilateral control. Simulation results confirm our analysis.
The Role of Endonasal Endoscopic Optic Nerve Decompression as the Initial Management of Primary Optic Nerve Sheath Meningiomas.

Background The management of optic nerve sheath meningiomas (ONSMs) remains controversial. Surgical decompression through traditional resective techniques has been associated with significant morbidity. While radiation therapy, the current modality of choice is not exempt of risks. Transnasal endoscopic optic nerve decompression (EOND) offers a direct route to the orbit, optic canal, and orbital apex, providing a minimally invasive alternative. Objective The main objective of this article is to assess EOND as the initial management of symptomatic patients with primary ONSM. Methods Patients with ONSMs without a history of radiotherapy who underwent EOND were retrospectively reviewed. Postoperative imaging, duration of follow-up, and visual outcomes at the last ophthalmology visit were assessed. Results Four women (age range 25–63 years) with primary ONSMs that underwent EOND were identified. All patients displayed subjective and objective baseline signs of vision loss. Additionally, baseline proptosis, diplopia, optic nerve atrophy, and ocular pain were identified. In none of the cases, the optic nerve sheath was breached. Following EOND, all patients deferred treatment with adjuvant radiotherapy. At a mean postoperative follow-up of 14 months, all patients were clinically stable without evidence of disease progression on imaging or physical examination. At last ophthalmologic evaluation, three out of four showed objective improvements from baseline visual acuity and visual field (remaining patient had baseline optic nerve atrophy). Conclusion These results suggest that EOND could be a viable initial treatment modality of selected primary ONSM cases. Further studies are warranted to determine long-term efficacy and its role in a stepwise progression of management, preceding radiotherapy.
Exact solution for laser-induced thermo-capillary force on a 3D microbubble in a liquid

When a laser beam is focused into a volume of highly absorbing thermal medium, gas bubbles can be generated due to the temperature change caused by the laser. In our previous work, it has been shown that these optically generated microbubbles can be steered/manipulated using a low power focused laser beam. Also all possible forces acting on a microbubble which is confined inside a horizontal glass container have been studied and a model is developed to calculate the thermo-capillary force acting on the microbubble. It has been experimentally shown that the microbubble is attracted towards the laser beam due to the thermo-capillary force which is usually larger than the optical force. When developing the complete force model, the thermo-capillary force, optical force, buoyancy force and viscous force have been considered. In our latest work, 2D microbubble trapping is extended to 3D by considering both transversal and axial temperature gradients acting on the microbubble. Microbubbles are generated inside a thick cuvette containing a liquid with absorbing dye through nucleation. Both transversal and axial temperature profiles are calculated by separately solving transversal and axial heat equations and matching the peak temperature change. In this work, the thermo-capillary force on a microbubble is determined by directly solving the 3D heat equation by 3D Fourier transform methods.
PERCUTANEOUS TRICUSPID VALVE-IN-RING REPLACEMENT FOR THE TREATMENT OF RECURRENT SEVERE TRICUSPID REGURGITATION

Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction with severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is associated with poor outcomes and higher mortality risk especially in redo cases. 67 year old female with history of rheumatic mitral stenosis s/p 27-mm St. Jude Epic Bioprosthetic valve replacement and tricuspid valve
Adaptive Heliostat Control Strategy Based on Gossip Algorithm in Preventing Transient Thermal Flux

The solar power tower attracts increasing attentions in recent years, as an important and high efficiency technology in renewable power generation. Heat transfer fluid is heated by focusing the concentrated solar radiation on a tower-mounted receiver, and then is used to drive the turbine, and thereafter generate electric power. One of the challenges in solar power tower operation is due to sudden thermal changes on the surface of the central receiver. To be more specific, when cloud moves towards the solar power tower plant, it will block the solar beam, and lead to severe temperature change on the central receiver. Such transient thermal flux may lead to fatigue and failure of the central receiver before expected number of thermal cycles. In this work, we propose a new control strategy, which uses wireless communication channels to spread the control signal in between the heliostats to prevent transient thermal flux. In addition, the proposed control strategy is expected to save the capital cost in the interconnecting cable that is used to control the heliostats in the field.
It Is More Than Just Alcohol: A Criminological Perspective on Routine Drinking Activities, Opportunity, and Alcohol-Related Crashes:

This project expands on the “routine drinking activities” perspective by examining alcohol outlets, alcohol-related crashes, and theoretically derived contextual measures. Using census tract–level ...
A metamaterial/liquid-core waveguide microfluidic optical sensor

Abstract This paper introduces the design of a novel microfluidic refractometric optical sensor. The sensor is able to detect a liquid analyte by converting the change in the refractive index (RI) of the analyte to a shift of resonance peak in the output spectrum. A liquid-core waveguide and gold/dielectric metamaterial are integrated in the sensor design, producing resonance in the waveguide when the light interacts with the metamaterial structure in the core. Finite element analysis is used to simulate the properties of the sensor to optimize the design. Sample sensors are fabricated and tested with liquid analytes which have known refractive indices. Experimental results are well matched to the simulation proving high sensitivity and good repeatability of the sensors. A sensitivity greater than 1280 nm/RIU is achieved by this novel sensor.
Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Structurally Diverse Benzimidazole Scaffolds as Potential Chemotherapeutic Agents.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Drug resistance and adverse effects are immense healthcare challenges in cancer therapy. Benzimidazole ring-based small molecules have been effective anticancer agents in drug development. In an effort to develop novel chemotherapeutics, we synthesized and assessed the anticancer and antibacterial activities of a small library of structurally unique benzimidazoles. METHODS The benzimidazoles were derived from indole, N-alkyl indole, fatty acid, and alpha-amino acid scaffolds providing a panel of diverse structures. The compounds were tested in three different cancer cell lines for cytotoxicity: HepG2 (human hepatocellular carcinoma), HeLa (human cervical carcinoma), and A549 (human lung carcinoma). Mechanism of cell death induced by benzimidazoles was evaluated using fluorescent dye-based apoptosis-necrosis assay, immunoblotting for active caspases, topoisomerase-II activity assay, and cell cycle assay. RESULTS Cell viability testing revealed that indole- and fatty acid-based benzimidazoles were most potent followed by the amino acid derivatives. Many compounds induced cytotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner with cellular cytotoxicity (CC50) <20μM in the cell lines tested. Most compounds exhibited cytotoxicity via apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway. Inhibition of topoisomerase activity and cell cycle alterations were not the primary mechanisms of cytotoxicity. In addition, several compounds showed promising activity against S. aureus and S. epidermidis (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of as low as 0.04μmol/mL). CONCLUSION The reported benzimidazole derivatives possess promising anticancer and antibacterial properties. Additionally, we discovered apoptosis to be the primary mechanism for cancer cell death induced by the tested benzimidazoles. Our findings suggest that further development of these scaffolds could provide drug leads towards new chemotherapeutics.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Pregnancy

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) include ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. These conditions commonly affect patients during their childbearing years. There are many questions that arise when a female patient with inflammatory bowel disease is attempting pregnancy. Important considerations include the safety of continuing medications during and after pregnancy, the risk of stopping drugs during pregnancy, and the effects of the medications on the newborn. Most pharmacologic agents are safe to continue during pregnancy; however, some drugs such as methotrexate are contraindicated. The anti-tumor necrosis factor biologic agents infliximab and adalimumab have the most robust data regarding their safe use in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. More experience is needed with newer medications. Another important question that can often arise is the potential effect that IBD can have on fertility. Patients with IBD who have not undergone surgery have fertility rates similar to those patients without IBD, though voluntary childlessness is higher in those patients with IBD. Female patients who have undergone surgery for their IBD, such as total colectomy with creation of an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA), do have decreased fertility rates compared to those patients without IBD.
Case Series of Skull Base Meningioma Resection in the Octogenarian Population

Introduction The geriatric population is the fastest growing segment of the American population, and octogenarians are increasingly seen by neurosurgeons for relatively common lesions such as meningiomas. Unfortunately, providers do not have clear data to guide decision-making regarding these lesions, particularly if they involve the skull base. Current research in outcomes among the elderly looks at a wide range of ages, often anyone older than 65. Previous studies in octogenarians report a wide-range of mortality rates and do not focus on skull base lesions. This paper strives to clarify the experiences and outcomes of octogenarians. Patients and Methods This retrospective series reviews skull base tumor surgeries performed at a single academic institution over the past 15 years in octogenarian patients. Primary endpoint was 30-day mortality; however, potential risk factors, perioperative morbidity, postdischarge disposition, and longer term follow-up were also captured. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify relevant perioperative and medical characteristics that increases the risk of adverse events. Results Fourteen patients underwent craniotomies for skull base procedures with an average age of 84.5, with a 14% 30-day mortality rate. One patient required a tracheostomy on discharge and approximately half were able to either go home or rehabilitation after their procedure. On statistical analysis, there were no noted characteristics that predisposed any of the patients to a poorer outcome. Conclusion Octogenarian patients were able to tolerate surgery for skull base meningiomas resection. This outcome data may be used to inform surgical decision and guide conversation with patients and their families.
Physical activity is associated with accelerated gastric emptying and increased ghrelin in obesity.

Background Rapid gastric emptying, increased food intake, and alterations in gastrointestinal hormones are associated with obesity. The effect of regular physical activity (PA) on food intake, gastric emptying (GE), gastric accommodation, and gastrointestinal (GI) hormones in adults with obesity remains unclear. Our aim was to compare, at time of presentation, weight trends, eating behavior, GE, and GI hormone levels among individuals with obesity who engage in regular PA compared to those who do not. Methods In 270 participants with obesity, we performed validated measurements of GI phenotypes: GE of solids and liquids, gastric volume (GV) during fasting and after consumption of 200 mL Ensure®, satiety by kcal intake (T-kcal) during a buffet meal, satiation (volume to fullness [VTF] and maximal tolerated volume [MTV]) of a liquid nutrient, and plasma levels of fasting and postprandial GLP-1, PYY, CCK, and ghrelin. Physical Activity Stages of Change Questionnaire was used to assess whether participants were regularly PA or not. Key results PA was associated with lower BMI (Δ 2.01 kg/m2 , P = .001) and body weight (Δ 4.42 kg, P = .0278). GE of solids (T-50% Δ 7.54 min, P = .021) and liquids (T-50% Δ 2.99 min, P = .029%) was significantly more rapid in physically active participants. PA was also associated with relatively higher postprandial ghrelin AUC (Δ 10.4 pg/mL, P = .015). There was no significant difference in postprandial satiation, satiety, GV, or other GI hormones (CCK, PYY, or GLP-1) between groups. Conclusions & inferences Physical activity is associated with lower BMI, but faster GE and higher postprandial ghrelin levels, two factors that are also associated with obesity.
Short Term Memories, Theories of

This article discusses how information that is no longer available for perception is maintained mentally. To do so, the psychological concepts of short-term memory and working memory are introduced. Next, two different research traditions in the literature are discussed, together with the key theories and findings of each tradition. From that, we will conclude that the general way to maintain information over a short period of time is by focusing attention on it. For verbal material, such as a phone number, people have an extra mechanism available that consists in articulatory rehearsal.
Charge-and-energy conserving moment-based accelerator for a multi-species Vlasov-Fokker-Planck-Ampère system, part I

In this study, we propose a charge, momentum, and energy conserving discretization for the 1D-1V Vlasov-Ampere system of equations on an Eulerian grid. The new conservative discretization is nonlinear in nature, but can be efficiently converged with a moment-based nonlinear accelerator algorithm. We demonstrate the conservation and convergence properties of the scheme with various numerical examples, including a multi-scale ion-acoustic shockwave problem.
Program Evaluation with Unobserved Heterogeneity and Selective Implementation: The Mexican Progresa Impact on Child Nutrition

The assessment of the impact of social programs is the subject of lively, sometimes heated debate over whether program evaluation is best conducted either by comparing mean outcomes from a randomized intervention or by using econometric techniques with nonrandom samples. This paper contributes to this debate through an examination of PROGRESA, a Mexican anti-poverty and human resource program, on child nutritional status. PROGRESA was randomly assigned at the locality level. However, a shortage in the availability of one component; a nutritional supplement provided to preschool children; led local administrators to exercise discretion in its delivery, systematically favoring those children with poorer nutritional status. While comparisons of mean outcomes suggest that PROGRESA had no or a negative effect on nutritional status, estimates that control for this heterogeneity using child specific fixed effects find that PROGRESA had significant and substantial positive impacts in increasing stature. The long-term consequences of these improvements are non-trivial; its impact working through adult height alone may result in a 2.9% increase in lifetime earnings.
A digital-twin and machine-learning framework for the design of multiobjective agrophotovoltaic solar farms

This work develops a computational Digital-Twin framework to track and optimize the flow of solar power through complex, multipurpose, solar farm facilities, such as Agrophotovoltaic (APV) systems. APV systems symbiotically cohabitate power-generation facilities and agricultural production systems. In this work, solar power flow is rapidly computed with a reduced order model of Maxwell’s equations, based on a high-frequency decomposition of the irradiance into multiple rays, which are propagated forward in time to ascertain multiple reflections and absorption for various source-system configurations, varying multi-panel inclination, panel refractive indices, sizes, shapes, heights, ground refractive properties, etc. The method allows for a solar installation to be tested from multiple source directions quickly and uses a genomic-based Machine-Learning Algorithm to optimize the system. This is particularly useful for planning of complex next-generation solar farm systems involving bifacial (double-sided) panelling, which are capable of capturing ground albedo reflection, exemplified by APV systems. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the results, with the overall goal being to provide a computational framework to rapidly design and deploy complex APV systems.
Effect of Binder and Aggregate Fineness on Ultra-High Performance Concrete

Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is a high strength, self-consolidating, steel fiber reinforced, and very durable portland cement based composite material. UHPC differs from normal concrete in its low water-to-cement ratio with high-range water reducer, optimized use of fine aggregates and crushed quartz, inclusion of supplementary cementitious materials such as slag and silica fume, and the use of steel fibers for reinforcement. UHPC’s superior compressive strength, higher ductility, and excellent freeze-thaw and scaling resistance are a direct results of these component differences. The objective of the current study is to study the effects of different types of binders and aggregates on compressive strength and flowability of non-proprietary UHPC, focusing on fineness and gradation. The binders studied are two Type I of portland cement, densified and undensified silica fume, two different Grade 100 ground granulated blast furnace slags, and Class C fly ash. The aggregates are four types of silica sand, F35, F75, NJ0, and NJ00N, and a graded very fine concrete sand. Two type of high range water reducers were also used. The water-to-cement ratio ranges from 0.2 to 0.24. The mixing process that has been adopted and refined consists of four stages. The first stage is mixing the aggregates and silica fume at a constant rpm; stage two is mixing the cementitious materials at the same speed; stage three is mixing with water and water reducing admixture at a faster rpm; the final stage ofmixing is with the steel fibers at the original speed. The typical turnover time is 2 minutes. Because of the varying mixture proportions and material types studied, the current results in flowability range from low (less than 8 inches) to 10 inches. The compressive strength when cured at room temperature at 28 days also varies from of very low (15ksi) up to 21 ksi. The strength and flowability greatly depends on water-to-cement ratio, aggregate packing, fineness of the binders, and the quality and type of materials.
Drone mapping of damage information in GPS-Denied disaster sites

Abstract The increasing number and severity of natural hazard events in recent years, and their devastating impact on human life, local economies, and the built environment has called governments around the world into action and created a new mandate for a paradigm shift in disaster management and mitigation policies. To this end, new affordable technologies with mobile connectivity (e.g., smartphones, unmanned systems, reality capture devices) have scaled up tasks such as data collection and curation, leading to a significant increase in the volume of data gathered and shared in the aftermath of disasters. In the meantime, advancements in high-power and distributed computing have created new opportunities in fast and reliable data analytics. In particular to the application of drones in disaster response, past research has primarily focused on aerial data collection and more recently, ground object detection. Geolocalization of drone data (i.e., the process of determining the geographical position of objects in drone’s field of view), however, is a complex task that relies on prior knowledge of the drone’s geolocation (e.g., flight path coordinates, inertial sensors, camera gaze). Such metadata may not be always available or shared across platforms especially with the increased use of crowdsourcing in disaster response, damage assessment, and recovery. This paper presents a methodology for spatial mapping of disaster impact information in drone videos without reliance on GPS data of the aerial camera. We perform progressive mapping using scale-invariant visual features in red–greenblue (RGB) videos of disaster-affected sites in two major hurricanes in North America, namely Harvey (2017) and Dorian (2019). Results indicate that the proposed methodology can project objects from the perspective view of a drone camera onto an orthogonal map with 32.7–36.9 ft of average root mean square (RMS) error in a land area of 18–45 acres.
Electron Probe Analysis of Transport Properties of Cultured Cells

Potassium, sodium and chloride cellular leak pathways and their components, (Na,K)-pump steady state rate of pumping, apparent maximum velocity, affinity for Na and affinity for other ligands (ouabain) are measured in whole cells using electron probe analysis. The general method for electron probe analysis of cultured cells has been described in several application and review articles (Abraham et al., 1985; Larsson, L. et al., 1986; Larsson, S. et al., 1986; Lechene, 1986; Lechene, 1988).
Thermal response of integral multicomponent composites to a high-energy aerothermodynamic heating environment with surface temperature to 1800 K

Laminated composite insulations developed for potential use on advanced spacecraft operating between GEO and LEO were tested in an aerothermodynamic environment simulating an AOTV aerobraking maneuver (altitude 82.3 km and velocity = 9.0 km/s). Comparisons are discussed between these data and predictions of in-depth temperature response using dynamical thermal conductivity values to 2000 K.
Using geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) to define parts in electrical manufacture

There is a need to provide consistent engineering information available in the manufacturing process. GD&T can ensure that everyone involved in the manufacturing process knows how the electrical components are to be manufactured and inspected. This article surveys the history, need, symbology, industrial problems and some advanced topics concerning GD&T.
Debugging large scale applications in a virtualized environment

With the advent of petascale machines with hundreds of thousands of processors, debugging parallel applications is becoming an increasing challenge. Aside from the complicated debugging techniques required to debug applications at such scale, it is often difficult to gain access to these machines for a sufficient period of time, if at all. Some existing parallel debuggers are capable of handling these machines, but they still require the whole machine to be allocated. In this paper, we present an innovative approach to address debugging on such extreme scales. By leveraging the concept of object-based processor virtualization, our technique enables debugging of even a million processor execution under a simulated environment using only a relatively small cluster. We describe the obstacles we overcame to achieve this goal within two message passing programming models: CHARM++ and MPI. We demonstrate the results using real world applications such as Molecular Dynamics and Cosmological simulation programs.
Emotional Distress in Tort Law: Themes of Constraint

A patchwork of liability rules that would appear puzzling to an unschooled, outside observer characterizes the overall design of tort doctrine addressing intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and claims of emotional harm of more long-standing vintage. Whether these rules hang together in a satisfying way is a principal question addressed in this essay. My discussion is organized around the larger pragmatic and normative policy considerations that run through the cross-currents of doctrine, making reference along the way to the superstructure of rules and limitations that rise above the surface rather than treating the rules as a focal point. In a following section, I offer a brief discussion of emotional distress associated with protracted loss of companionship or anxiety – as contrasted with claims focused on immediate reactions to unexpected, traumatic events – to consider whether these scenarios make out a special case for recovery. Finally, I offer a concluding thought on the notion of “deserving victims” in emotional distress settings.
Betting the Earth: How We Can Still Win the Biggest Gamble of all Time

I first learned of Betting the Earth when the Gonzaga Law School chapter of the Federalist Society invited me to debate its author, John Kunich. I later learned that the Gonzaga debate was part of Kunich’s informal tour of Federalist Society chapters across the country. Because climate change seems to have a macabre sense of humor, our event ended up being cancelled due to a large snow storm. “Global warming debate cancelled due to blizzard” was the inevitable headline announcing that the event would be rescheduled. This sort of cheap rhetoric is not surprising. However, what did surprise me is that Kunich is not a climate change denier (or what the influential climate change writer Joe Romm memorably calls “climate zombies”). Betting the Earth is not an anti-scientific denial of climate change. Indeed, Kunich notes that part of his motivation for writing the book is to help overcome what he sees as the dangerous politicization of the study of and response to climate change. Noting that there are no “easy answers” to the “important questions about our planet’s well being,” Betting the Earth does not set out concrete proposals to address climate change (307). Rather, drawing on his experience as a gambler and a Harvard-trained lawyer, Kunich’s goal is to “set out a way for all of us to make logically correct, evidence-guided, probability-based, rational de-