cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Convergence and parallelism among cicadas of Argentina and the southwestern United States (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea)

Cicadas of the genera Derotettix in Argentina and Okanagodes in the south-western United States resemble each other in colour, live on salt-tolerant plants (Atriplex spp. etc.), nearly match the colour of their respective host plants and produce songs above the range of avian hearing. The Argentine cicadas are smaller, but have nearly identical thermal limits for activity measured by the minimum temperature for flight (20–24 °C) and a body temperature at heat torpor (48–49 °C). The species shift activity from basking sites to shade at temperatures above 37 °C, although O. gracilis rises to a significantly higher temperature (40.7 °C) than its congener (38.2 °C) or Derotettix (37.2 °C). The thermal tolerances are the highest reported for cicada species. A third group using halophytes in Argentina (Babras sonorivox) has similar temperature tolerances and is cryptically coloured. The genera are convergent with respect to morphology, coloration, body size, behaviour, habitat choice and host plant selection. The similarities of thermal tolerances and their influence on behaviour can be viewed as parallelism because the underlying mechanisms are the same in all species studied. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 83, 281–288.
Incorporating IDDQ testing in BIST: improved coverage through test diversity

A scheme for improving test coverage of traditional built-in self-test (BIST) methods through test diversity by combining IDDQ testing with BIST is described in this paper. To support the test diversity approach, the authors present a new differential architecture for built-in current sensing (BICS) which mitigates some of the performance limitations of previous designs and allows at-speed testing for practically-sized circuit partitions. A test circuit incorporating the IDDQ testing elements of the new BIST architecture has been fabricated through MOSIS, using 2.0-micron n-well technology. Results of tests performed on the actual circuit show that it accurately detects all of the test faults implanted in the circuit at speeds of up to 31.25 MHz. The test design establishes the feasibility of incorporating IDDQ testing in a realistic at-speed BIST environment. >
Progress toward automated software testing

Mothra is an integrated environment for automated software validation. Using Mothra, a tester can create and execute test cases, measure test case adequacy, determine input-output correctness, locate and remove faults or bugs, and control and document the test. There are no size constraints built into the design of the environment. A goal of the research has been to exploit computational opportunities in each of the major subtasks of software validation. The author has attempted to reduce test case generation, measurement of the effectiveness of test cases, input-output correctness checking, and debugging to one or more computational metaphors and to design the appropriate algorithms. The result is a system where there is a high degree of control over the apparent cost of testing. >
The Hippo pathway: regulators and regulations

Control of cell number is crucial in animal development and tissue homeostasis, and its dysregulation may result in tumor formation or organ degeneration. The Hippo pathway in both Drosophila and mammals regulates cell number by modulating cell proliferation, cell death, and cell differentiation. Recently, numerous upstream components involved in the Hippo pathway have been identified, such as cell polarity, mechanotransduction, and G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling. Actin cytoskeleton or cellular tension appears to be the master mediator that integrates and transmits upstream signals to the core Hippo signaling cascade. Here, we review regulatory mechanisms of the Hippo pathway and discuss potential implications involved in different physiological and pathological conditions.
Investigation of deep-depletion régime of m.o.s. structures using ramp-response method

A method is proposed for obtaining the capacitance/voltage characteristics of m.o.s. structures in the deep-depletion regime. The method is based on the current response of the m.o.s. capacitor to a linear ramp voltage. The theory of the method is briefly presented. Experimental results are included. The method is specifically applicable for surface breakdown studies.
20 Questions (and 20 Answers!): On the New 3.8 Percent Tax

Originally titled: 20 Questions (and Amazingly 20 Answers) on the Application of the New 3.8% Tax to Trusts and Family Businesses; (shortened for publication).Twenty Questions asks and answers, to the extent answers exist, 20 questions about the application of the new 3.8% tax on net investment income under Code Section 1411 to trusts and family businesses. Because the income threshold for the application of the tax to trusts and estates is only $11,950, nearly every trustee will need to plan to minimize the tax. The tax is particularly harsh on trusts created for middle-income families with beneficiaries that otherwise would escape the tax, making it a substantial tax on "orphans and widows."The author proposes two changes, one regulatory and one statutory, to mitigate this unfairness. The article will be of greatest utility for planning when S corporation stock or partnership interests are held in trust. K-1 income from an "active" business will escape the 3.8% tax, while income from a "passive" business under Code Section 469 will be subject to the 3.8% tax. If the owner material participates in the business operations using the standard under the passive loss rules adopted in 1986, the business is active. Unfortunately, little guidance exists on how to apply the passive loss rules to trust-owned businesses. Worse, in the last couple of years the IRS has attempted to apply a new anti-taxpayer test different than the one, which has existed for the preceding twenty-five years. The article contests the new test using both tax and fiduciary law. Although the new proposed regulations on the 3.8% tax are not the focus of the article, the author believes that the regulations raise more questions than they answer. The article also delves into obscure legislative history to explain why Congress exempted active business income from the net investment income tax. Despite implications to the contrary, the article explains that active business income can escape both 3.8% taxes: the net investment income tax and the Medicare self-employment tax. The author urges Congress to eliminate the current muddle on the application of the Medicare tax by providing tax partnerships and S corporations with the same self-employment tax treatment. Finally, the author explains how to fix the net investment income tax to actually provide the tax relief that Congress intended when it sought to reduce the higher tax costs imposed on the retained earnings of small businesses compared to those of large public corporations.
Preparation of Magnetically Oriented Specimens for Diffraction Experiments

Macromolecular assemblies that are exceedingly anisotropic in shape present substantial problems for structural analysis using diffraction techniques. The subunits that make up these structures are frequently difficult to crystallize, and when they do, may take on conformations in the crystal that are distinct from their conformation in the assembly. Structural analysis of the intact assemblies suffers from the fact that the assemblies cannot, in general, be crystallized. Consequently, noncrystalline specimens must be used for structural studies.
Stimulus-dependent spiking relationships with the EEG

The development and refinement of noninvasive techniques for imaging neural activity is of paramount importance for human neuroscience. Currently, the most accessible and popular technique is electroencephalography (EEG). However, nearly all of what we know about the neural events that underlie EEG signals is based on inference, because of the dearth of studies that have simultaneously paired EEG recordings with direct recordings of single neurons. From the perspective of electrophysiologists there is growing interest in understanding how spiking activity coordinates with large-scale cortical networks. Evidence from recordings at both scales highlights that sensory neurons operate in very distinct states during spontaneous and visually evoked activity, which appear to form extremes in a continuum of coordination in neural networks. We hypothesized that individual neurons have idiosyncratic relationships to large-scale network activity indexed by EEG signals, owing to the neurons' distinct computational roles within the local circuitry. We tested this by recording neuronal populations in visual area V4 of rhesus macaques while we simultaneously recorded EEG. We found substantial heterogeneity in the timing and strength of spike-EEG relationships and that these relationships became more diverse during visual stimulation compared with the spontaneous state. The visual stimulus apparently shifts V4 neurons from a state in which they are relatively uniformly embedded in large-scale network activity to a state in which their distinct roles within the local population are more prominent, suggesting that the specific way in which individual neurons relate to EEG signals may hold clues regarding their computational roles.
Modulation of EZH2 Expression by MEK-ERK or PI3K-AKT Signaling in Lung Cancer Is Dictated by Different KRAS Oncogene Mutations

EZH2 overexpression promotes cancer by increasing histone methylation to silence tumor suppressor genes, but how EZH2 levels become elevated in cancer is not understood. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms by which EZH2 expression is regulated in non-small cell lung carcinoma cells by oncogenic KRAS. In cells harboring KRAS(G12C) and KRAS(G12D) mutations, EZH2 expression was modulated by MEK-ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling, respectively. Accordingly, MEK-ERK depletion decreased EZH2 expression in cells harboring the KRAS(G12C) mutation, whereas PI3K/AKT depletion decreased EZH2 expression, EZH2 phosphorylation, and STAT3 activity in KRAS(G12D)-mutant cell lines. Combined inhibition of EZH2 and MEK-ERK or PI3K/AKT increased the sensitivity of cells with specific KRAS mutations to MEK-ERK and PI3K/AKT-targeted therapies. Our work defines EZH2 as a downstream effector of KRAS signaling and offers a rationale for combining EZH2 inhibitory strategies with MEK-ERK- or PI3K/AKT-targeted therapies to treat lung cancer patients, as stratified into distinct treatment groups based on specific KRAS mutations.
Legal Advice as Moral Perspective

The legal profession's many critics have long insisted that lawyers corrode social values by manipulating the law for the benefit of their clients while paying no heed to the wider impact of their work. This familiar charge has garnered new credence in light of the central roles played by lawyers in an already infamous triumvirate of recent public scandals. First, by appearing to offer a legal justification of torture, government attorneys stand accused of facilitating the mistreatment of prisoners held in the war against terrorism. Second, Enron's attorneys are blamed for facilitating the company's demise by providing legal cover for management's destructive obsession with short-term profit. Third, the Catholic Church's attorneys are seen as having exacerbated bishops' gross mishandling of the priest sex abuse crisis by adopting an aggressively adversarial stance toward victims. Transcending the dominant caricature of lawyers as lacking social consciences, the article weaves the recent scandals into a story of the pervasive disconnect between legal advice and moral advice - a disconnect grounded in the profession's presumption that questions of legality can be sealed off from questions of the good. In a departure from leading academic critiques, however, the article casts moral lawyering as a dialogue to be cultivated, rather than the pursuit of a particular moral norm. Specifically, the article argues that an attorney's moral perspective is inexorably part of the interpretive dynamic that makes the attorney-client dialogue possible, whether acknowledged by the attorney or not. When the attorney's advice is pitched in exclusively legal terms, the moral component is not erased, but rather is forced into the background, where it is not susceptible to exploration by the client. This article traces the paths by which the attorney-client dialogue can be enhanced to delve beyond questions of law and engage the moral perspectives that invariably drive the representation.
Study of dynamics of optical bistability in Cr:LiSrGaF6 laser

We have experimentally observed thermally induced optical bistability in Cr: LiSGaF laser and studied the dynamics of switching between two stable states of laser emission. It has been shown that both the size of the hysteresis loop and the rate of switching increase with the increase of the rate of the pumping power sweep R [W/s]. The delay in the switching power and the rate of switching have been found to change proportionally to R2/3.
Multi-Photon Fluorescence Microscopy

Multi-photon microscopy uses a different principle in exciting fluorochromes from conventional epi-fluorescence microscopy and confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy. In multi-photon microscopy a femto second mode locked laser is used as an illumination light source which emits near infra-red light of high peak power (over kilo watt order) and short pulse (about 100 femto seconds at FWHM) at high repetition rate (about 100 MHz). Under illumination of very high intensity by laser scanning fluorescence microscopy, a non linear effect becomes perceivable. Though near infra-red light is not usually absorbed by commonly used fluorochromes in conventional epi-fluorescence microscopy and confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy, intense near infra-red light is absorbed by those commonly used fluorochromes in multi-photon microscopy. This non linear interaction of near infra-red light with the fluorochromes under laser scanning microscope introduces unique benefits into the observations of biological specimens.
Butterfly Reflections in Thirds

The editors of this volume asked contributors to offer personal narratives related to the study of Lepidoptera, in my case butterflies. I have studied tropical butterflies for a long time and in many locations. Early on, butterflies influenced the paths I chose in life, and they have remained part of my philosophical rudder. My memory swarms with tales that include butterflies, often in context with other people. The difficulty has been to choose which memories might be amusing to an unseen audience. The chronicle here evolved during fieldwork in China (August 2014) from where I am writing this into a trio of recollections that influenced my development as a field biologist. Much of what I’ve written happened before cell phones and personal computers, during a time when “R” represented a letter in the alphabet and a rating for sexy movies. Let me begin by quoting a book title by the novelist and lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov, Speak Memory.
The Applications of DATUM Plane Control Technology to the Design of Taping Machine

While designing taping machine for automobile door and cover board via UG platform,the applications of datum plane to control the design area of designers can effectively avoid the interference of major pressing devices or pre-pressing devices designed by different designers,and can ensure no clearance among devices.This article analyses N300 tailgate taping machine and expounds on the applications of DATUM plane control technology to the design of taping machine.
An exposure-response analysis based on rifampin suggests CYP3A4 induction is driven by AUC: an in vitro investigation.

Abstract1. Induction is an important mechanism contributing to drug–drug interactions. It is most commonly evaluated in the human hepatocyte assay over 48-h or 72-h incubation period. However, whether the overall exposure (i.e. Area Under the Curve (AUC) or Cave) or maximum exposure (i.e. Cmax) of the inducer is responsible for the magnitude of subsequent induction has not been thoroughly investigated. Additionally, in vitro induction assays are typically treated as static systems, which could lead to inaccurate induction potency estimation. Hence, European Medicines Agency (EMA) guidance now specifies quantitation of drug levels in the incubation.2. This work treated the typical in vitro evaluation of rifampin induction as an in vivo system by generating various target engagement profiles, measuring free rifampin concentration over 3 d of incubation and evaluating the impact of these factors on final induction response.3. This rifampin-based analysis demonstrates that the induction process is driven by t...
Simulating stick-slip failure in a sheared granular layer using a physics-based constitutive model

We model laboratory earthquakes in a biaxial shear apparatus using the Shear-Transformation-Zone (STZ) theory of dense granular flow. The theory is based on the observation that slip events in a granular layer are attributed to grain rearrangement at soft spots called STZ's, which can be characterized according to principles of statistical physics. We model lab data on granular shear using STZ theory and document direct connections between the STZ approach and rate-and-state friction. We discuss the stability transition from stable shear to stick-slip failure and show that stick-slip is predicted by STZ when the applied shear load exceeds a threshold value that is modulated by elastic stiffness and frictional rheology. We also show that STZ theory mimics fault zone dilation during the stick phase, consistent with lab observations.
Comprehensive use case scenario generation: An approach for modeling system of systems behaviors

This paper describes a reusable approach using automatic use case scenario generation to specify system of systems (SoS) behaviors. The approach leverages the Monterey Phoenix (MP) language and tools which extend current methods significantly by making a larger number of SoS use case scenario variants available to SoS analysts. Having described how MP structures behavior models to accomplish this task in previous papers this paper provides model-building details and advice that takes readers through the approach so they may repeat it on a SoS of their own interest. A simplified SoS model of three systems interacting in a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) scenario is used to demonstrate the approach. The HADR example highlights the model structure features that enable automatic SoS use case scenario generation and supporting descriptions of each part of the model are provided. The paper concludes with a summary and brief discussion of ongoing research areas that support bringing this approach into the mainstream of system of systems engineering practice.
What’s Love Got to Do With It?

Looking back over the last 20 years of co-learning with my students in the university classroom, I see some things have radically changed while others have stayed fairly constant – both for them and for me. There is no question that each year students in my marriage and family class believe “love” is a necessary precursor to one of life’s major transitions, marriage. However, as they ponder their own life course, and as I have lived mine, what “love” is by definition and how it develops may be different for individuals sharing the same age or birth cohort, necessitating at least a “love primer” for a class on close relationships. Also, what the future holds regarding a lifetime of love has become increasingly salient, as it seems to be conventional wisdom today (albeit quite the conundrum) that marriage may well be a risk factor for love. This article outlines an assignment on the definition and development of love that continues to be rated very highly by students on anonymous, end-of-semester evaluations. In addition, I share some insights gleaned over the years as to how I introduce the topic and particularly how I try to help students glean pertinent information from the existing literature on love. It’s hoped readers will build upon this work and adapt it for their own classrooms.
Maintaining a Disinfectant Residual in the Distribution System

To provide safe drinking water at the tap of a consumer, a disinfectant residual must be maintained in the system. The recognition that the residual declines with distance and time has required a new look at the distribution system. No longer is it satisfactory to have safe water at the treatment plant reservoir, but it must also be guaranteed throughout the system. Thus, over the past few years attention has been focused on the processes which take place in the system. First, it is well known that when the disinfectant residual becomes low, a regrowth of bacteria in the system takes place. This decline in the residual occurs when the disinfectant reacts with organic material in the bulk of the water and in reactions with the biofilm on the surface of the pipes. Two parameters influence this: one, the type and level of disinfectant, and two, the age of the water. There are operational interventions, and there are possibly structural interventions. These will be discussed in the following sections. But what is also needed is a timely determination of the bacterial level in the system-an early recognition of elevated bacterial counts allows a timely response.
State feedback optimal solution for the ECON mode velocity for a cruising turbojet

The main contribution of this paper is to propose a two-part approach to determine the optimal state-feedback solution for the cruise economy mode problem of a flight management system for a jet powered aircraft. This is currently an open problem for which analytical solutions are only available for suboptimal speeds. The paper assumes that the aircraft is cruising below its drag divergence Mach number at constant altitude. The problem is formulated as the minimization of a direct operating cost parameterized by a coefficient index which is the ratio of the cost of a unit of time to the cost of a unit of weight of fuel burned. The approach is summarized in an algorithm that can be programmed on a flight management system. By using the methods outlined in this paper and summarized in Algorithm 1, the optimal speed, final weight, final cruising time, and total cost of cruise can be approximated with negligible error. A numerical example of an Airbus A320 will illustrate the proposed algorithm.
CHARACTERIZATION OF 6,122 PATIENTS WITH ACUTE VENOUS THROMBOEMBOLISM IN ROUTINE CLINICAL PRACTICE: RE-COVERY DVT/PETM PROSPECTIVE GLOBAL COHORT STUDY

RE-COVERY DVT/PE is a multicenter, international, observational study of 6226 consecutively enrolled deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism (DVT/PE) patients from 36 countries. Data were collected between 13 Jan 2016 and 4 May 2017. Analysis is descriptive. A total of 6122 patients were eligible
Cognitive risk factors of electronic and combustible cigarette use in adolescents.

Abstract Introduction Cognitive susceptibility to cigarette smoking has been demonstrated to predict future cigarette initiation in adolescents. Examining this construct prior to tobacco product initiation may provide useful information on the differential risk of individuals initiating cigarette vs. e-cigarette products. Additionally, examining how susceptibility and tobacco product use relate to perceived harm cognitions will increase understanding of risk predisposition among adolescents. Method Data were taken from a longitudinal study of middle school students (n = 1023; age = 12.1, 52.2% female, 72.1% white) in the Northeastern U.S. Likelihood of e-cigarette and cigarette ever-use in high school was examined as a function of a validated index of cigarette smoking susceptibility among tobacco naive students in middle school. Prospective associations between cognitive susceptibility to smoking and subsequent perceived harm of e-cigarettes (assessed in high school), and cross-sectional associations between concurrent tobacco product ever-use status and perceived harm of e–cigarettes were examined. Results Adolescents classified as susceptible to cigarette smoking in middle school were more likely to initiate use of cigarettes (OR = 2.53) and e-cigarettes (OR = 1.95) as compared to adolescents classified as non-susceptible; cigarette smoking susceptibility did not differentially predict use of one product over the other. Adolescents endorsing e-cigarette use, reported significantly less perceived harm associated with e-cigarettes vs. cigarettes, while those who endorsed cigarette only or dual use did not. Conclusion Our data indicate that cognitive susceptibility to cigarette smoking may index a broad risk factor for using either cigarettes or e-cigarettes in the future, and is prospectively associated with perceived harm of e-cigarette use. Overall, those who used any tobacco product perceived e-cigarettes as less harmful when compared to abstainers. Individual facets of perceived harm (addiction potential and harm vs. cigarettes) differ between cigarette only users and e-cigarette users and may help to explain the choice to use one product vs. the other. Implications This is the first study to examine prospective associations between cognitive susceptibility to cigarette smoking, predating tobacco use, and subsequent likelihood of cigarette vs. e-cigarette initiation. This study demonstrates that initiation of either product is elevated among youth who are susceptible to smoking; thus susceptibility to smoking may serve as a useful marker of vulnerability to tobacco product use. Furthermore, this study provides novel information on the relationship between tobacco product onset and specific harm perceptions associated with e-cigarettes versus cigarettes among adolescents.
Interventional Cardiology: The In and the Out

Interventional cardiology is a unique medical discipline with a knowledge base of internal medicine and cardiology coupled with physical skill and analytic thinking common to surgical subspecialties. Not surprising, the training required to become an interventional cardiologist is substantial and ending one’s career as an interventionalist presents special challenges. Given the focus and physical demands required to excel at this discipline, retirement may come early in one’s professional career. Unfortunately, there are no guidelines of when to stop being an interventionalist or what pursuits should follow. In the article, we will discuss the issues most pertinent to the initiation and completion of a career as an interventional cardiologist. The first challenge in the pursuit of a career as an interventional cardiologist comes during training. In its earliest days, interventions performed in cardiac catheterization laboratory were limited to percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and there was no formal curriculum for trainees.1 Now 40 years later, the coronary interventional cardiologist’s toolbox is vast and includes multiple complex and specialized therapies including stenting, atherectomy, hemodynamic support devices, filters, and thrombectomy. Furthermore, the techniques and strategies for advanced and high-risk interventions have increased in complexity and require more dedicated educational time to master. The scope of practice of interventional cardiology is no longer limited to coronary interventions, but rather has expanded to include peripheral vascular and structural interventions. Moreover, the magnitude and complexity of this menu of tasks is so substantial that many say that no single individual interventionalist can master all of them. To effectively educate trainees in all facets of coronary interventions, while also incorporating training in peripheral vascular and structural interventions, many training programs have expanded from 1 to 2 or 3 years in duration.2 The average trainee will already have spent …
Parallel Estimators and Communication in Spacecraft Formations

This paper investigates the closed-loop dynamics of systems controlled via parallel estimators. This structure arises in formation flying problems when each spacecraft bases its control action on an internal estimate of the complete formation state. For LTI systems a separation principle shows that the necessary and sufficient conditions for overall system stability are more stringent than the single controller case; the controllers' open-loop dynamics necessarily appear in the closed-loop dynamics. Communication amongst the spacecraft can be used to specify the complete system dynamics and a framework for integrating the design of the communication links into the formation flying control design problem is presented.
Computing Education 2020: Balancing Diversity with Cooperation and Consistency

Consider two possible scenarios for the computing education community twenty years from now: 1. The various computing-related degree programs are cooperating in order to be a strong, cohesive part of the overall academic community, while still allowing for a diversity of programs, each one satisfying a different need in the workplace. Faculty, staff, and resources are sufficient to meet the needs of both majors and nonmajors in order to produce the type of graduates needed in 2020. 2. The various computing-related degree programs are working independently of each other, often at cross-purposes, vying for the same resources and students. There is duplication both of subjects taught by the different programs and of efforts in several other areas. The various programs are understaffed and lack sufficient resources to meet student and industry demand.
Shifting the Burden to Daughters: A Qualitative Examination of Population Policy, Labor Migration, and Filial Responsibility in Rural Bangladesh

This research examines the gendered consequences of the international low-fertility agenda, as it has been realized in an era of a globalized labor market, by documenting some of the ways that families in rural Bangladesh have shifted filial responsibilities between daughters and sons. Such shifts are occurring in a context of new demographic and economic realities that have been largely shaped by national policies and pressure from international organizations. Using qualitative interview data, this study examines how, in the context of declining family size, male labor migration, and increasing life expectancy, women and girls are expected to take on a larger share of filial responsibilities. While sons’ responsibilities narrow to include economic contributions through wage earning and remittances, expectations for daughters are expanding and may include earning a wage, as well as caring for both natal and marital relatives. This paper also seeks to problematize the conflation of fertility decline, poverty reduction, and women’s well-being by arguing that women’s empowerment is not a natural result of smaller families.
Applications of Sequence to Sequence Models for Technical Support Automation

Juniper Networks, Inc. offers hardware products and software services to its enterprise customers. Due to the nature of it’s business, Juniper Networks, Inc. is deeply invested in providing the best customer support and as part of the support automation team, our goal is to optimize the company’s efforts towards it. For this purpose, alongside other initiatives, we leverage deep learning based sequence to sequence models wherever we see fit. In this paper, we discuss two such models: a conversational chatbot to help answer some technical questions for our customers, and a text summarizer to condense the large text in our support tickets and other articles. These two models are designed using bi-directional recurrent neural network (Bi-RNN) architectures for content understanding and were customized to fit the domain-specific nature of our data. First, we discuss our efforts towards data preparation. Then, we explain our model design, customization and evaluation mechanisms. Finally, we provide the preliminary results and share the potential impact our models will have on our business. Our initial results have BLEU score of 0.21 for text summarizer which is 16% better than our baseline model. Our chatbot passed the eye-tests of our subject matter experts.
Using Academic Language to Level the Playing Field for English Language Learners in Physical Education: Part 2

The common core, with its emphasis on the development of English language art and mathematics skills and literacy, presents challenges for teachers of all subjects. Academic language is expected to be developed within each disciplinary area. In other words, educators are expected to identify the language demands of their discipline and prepare students to utilize the discipline-specific vocabulary and language function to effectively communicate within the content area. This article aims to address some of the challenging issues physical educators face in the process of implementing academic language in conjunction with promoting literacy among English-language learners (ELLs). It presents specific teaching strategies that can help “level the playing field” for ELLs while promoting academic language in physical education classes. Moreover, it provides ideas that can help reduce the disparities between ELLs and native speaker learners, and promote more opportunities for achievement for all students.
Negotiating the Professional in Media Representation: The Carnivalesque and Privatized Security Work

Security work is increasingly privatized under neoliberal governance, a trend that is not without controversy over legitimacy and ethics. Public interaction with and understanding of private security contractors is in part mediated by popular cultural representations. In particular, parodies of these organizations are significant for their ability to tell audiences what organizations and members are not. This paper examines representations of security work by looking at Paul Blart: Mall Cop as a parody that creates relief from official hierarchies of security using Bakhtinian carnival, by lowering security discourses to the level of the grotesque, non-professional body. However, parodies may also encourage public acceptance of privatization by showing private security workers to be more creative and efficient. Parodies of security work can serve as temporary relief from daily need to comply with security regimes, while also aligning privatized security work with discourses of professionalism and authority.
Impact of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on the Postoperative Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Liver Resection for Colorectal Liver Metastases: A Population-Based Propensity-Matched Analysis.

Background The role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the management of colorectal liver metastases remains controversial. We sought to investigate whether neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy contributes to clinically significant increases in postoperative morbidity and mortality using a population-based cohort. Study Design The American College of Surgeons NSQIP Targeted Hepatectomy Participant Use Files were queried from 2014 to 2016 to identify patients with colorectal liver metastases who underwent liver resection. Patients were stratified by receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy using propensity score matching. Univariate and multivariable analyses were used to characterize the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on perioperative morbidity and mortality. Results After propensity score matching, 1,416 (50%) patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy before hepatectomy and 1,416 (50%) underwent liver resection without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. There were no differences in age (60 vs 61 years), maximum tumor size (≤5 cm: 79% vs 80%, >5 cm: 21% vs 20%), resection type (partial hepatectomy: 69% vs 70%), simultaneous colectomy (9% vs 9%), or use of preoperative portal vein embolization (5% vs 5%) in those undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy compared with those who did not (all, p > 0.05). Overall 30-day postoperative morbidity (34% vs 33%), including rates of biliary fistula (6% vs 5%), post-hepatectomy liver failure (5% vs 5%), and mortality rates (0.8% vs 0.7%), were similar among patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy vs those who did not (all, p > 0.05). On multivariable analysis, receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was not associated with increased morbidity (odds ratio 1.07; 95% CI 0.90 to 1.27; p = 0.43) or mortality (odds ratio 1.09; 95% CI 0.44 to 2.72; p = 0.85). Conclusions In this propensity-matched population-based cohort study, the use of neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy was not associated with higher rates of complications, biliary fistula, post-hepatectomy liver failure, or mortality among patients with colorectal liver metastases undergoing liver resection.
Characterizing the Shape of Anatomical Structures with Poisson’s Equation

This paper presents a novel approach to analyze the shape of anatomical structures. Our methodology is rooted in classical physics and in particular Poisson’s equation, a fundamental partial differential equation [1]. The solution to this equation and more specifically its equipotential surfaces display properties that are useful for shape analysis. We demonstrate the solution of this equation on synthetic and medical images. We present a numerical algorithm to calculate the length of streamlines formed by the gradient field of the solution to this equation for 3D objects. We used the length of streamlines of equipotential surfaces to introduce a new function to characterize the shape of objects. A preliminary study on the shape of the caudate nucleus in Schizotypal Personality Disorder (SPD) illustrates the power of our method.
Antibiotics for acne vulgaris: using instagram to seek insight into the patient perspective.

Monitoring of public social media posts is an underutilized method to understand patients’ perspectives regarding their condition and treatment. We investigated information shared by Instagram user...
The Duration of Nerve Block from Local Anesthetic Formulations in Male and Female Rats.

It is unknown whether there are sex differences in response to free or encapsulated local anesthetics. We examined nerve block duration and toxicity following peripheral nerve blockade in male and female rats. We studied the local anesthetic bupivacaine (free or encapsulated) as well as tetrodotoxin, which acts on a different site of the same voltage-gated channel. Sensory nerve blockade was 158.5 [139–190] minutes (median [interquartile range]) (males) compared to 173 [134–171] minutes (females) (p = 0.702) following bupivacaine injection, N = 8 male, 8 female. Motor nerve blockade was 157 [141–171] minutes (males) compared to 172 [146–320] minutes (females) (p = 0.2786). Micellar bupivacaine (N = 8 male, 8 female) resulted in sensory nerve blockade of 266 [227–320] minutes (males) compared to 285 [239–344] minutes (females) (p = 0.6427). Motor nerve blockade was 264 [251–264] minutes (males) compared to 287 [262–287] minutes (females) (p = 0.3823). Liposomal bupivacaine (N = 8 male, 8 female) resulted in sensory nerve blockade of 240 [207–277] minutes (males) compared to 289 [204–348] minutes (females) (p = 0.1654). Motor nerve blockade was 266 [237–372] minutes (males) compared to 317 [251–356] minutes (females) (p = 0.6671). Following tetrodotoxin injection (N = 12 male,12 female) sensory nerve blockade was 54.8 [5–117] minutes (males) compared to 54 [14–71] minutes (females) (p = 0.6422). Motor nerve blockade was 72 [40–112] minutes (males) compared to 64 [32–143] minutes (females) (p = 0.971). We found no statistically significant sex differences associated with the formulations tested. In both sexes, durations of nerve block were similar between micellar and liposomal bupivacaine formulations, despite the micellar formulation containing less drug.
The ever-widening contexts of Konstantin Stanislavsky

Adopting and adapting Giorgio Strehler’s notion of treating a great play as a series of nesting boxes, I intend to examine the contexts of Stanislavsky’s life and work as Matryoshka dolls, ever wid...
Utility of Emergency Department Chest Imaging in Patients with Cancer: A Descriptive Study

Abstract Background The use of computed tomography (CT) has been scrutinized in emergency medicine, particularly in patients with cancer. Previous studies have characterized the rate of CT use in this population; however, limited data are available about the yield of this modality compared with radiography and its clinical decision-making effect. Objective To determine whether CT imaging of the chest increases identification of clinically significant results compared with chest radiography (CXR) in patients with cancer. Methods This was a retrospective chart review of patients with a history of solid tumors presenting to an emergency department in 2017. Patients who received both CXR and CT (or CT angiography) of the chest during their assessment were identified and the rate of clinically significant findings on imaging was compared. Clinical findings were further categorized as requiring nonurgent, urgent, or emergent attention. Descriptive statistics and chi-squared testing were performed between the 2 imaging modalities. Results From 839 patients meeting inclusion criteria, 287 were randomly sampled. The predominant malignancies were lung (32.4%), breast (13.9%), and head and neck cancer (13.6%). A greater number of patients had clinically significant findings identified on CT imaging (n = 222) compared with CXR (n = 108). Stratification upon urgency of these findings (nonurgent, urgent, or emergent) reveals a significant difference in all strata (p Conclusions Compared with CXR, CT imaging of the chest identified significantly more clinically relevant findings requiring attention and consequently affecting clinical decision making.
Impact of reported NSAID “allergies” on opioid use disorder in back pain

Background It is crucial to identify patients at highest risk for opioid use disorder (OUD) and to address challenges in reducing opioid use. Reported nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) allergies may predispose to use of stronger pain medications and potentially to OUD. Objective We sought to investigate the clinical impact of reported NSAID allergy on OUD in patients with chronic back pain. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of adults receiving care at a tertiary health care system from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2018. Back pain and OUD were identified using administrative data algorithms. We used propensity score matching and logistic regression to estimate the impact of self-reported NSAID adverse drug reactions (ADRs) on risk of OUD, adjusting for other relevant clinical information. Results Of 47,114 patients with chronic back pain, 3,620 (7.7%) had a reported NSAID ADR. In an adjusted propensity score–matched analysis, patients with NSAID ADRs had higher odds (odds ratio, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.07-1.67) of developing OUD as compared with those without NSAID ADRs. Additional risk factors for OUD included younger age, male sex, Medicaid insurance, Medicare insurance, higher number of inpatient and outpatient visits in the previous year, and comorbid anxiety and depression. Patients with listed NSAID ADRs also had higher odds of a documented opioid prescription during the study period (odds ratio, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.11-1.34). Conclusions Adults with chronic back pain and reported NSAID ADRs are at a higher risk of developing OUD and receiving opioid analgesics, even after accounting for comorbidities and health care utilization. Allergy evaluation is critical for potential delabeling of patients with reported NSAID allergies and chronic pain.
An adaptive Hessian approximated stochastic gradient MCMC method

Abstract Bayesian approaches have been successfully integrated into training deep neural networks. One popular family is stochastic gradient Markov chain Monte Carlo methods (SG-MCMC), which have gained increasing interest due to their ability to handle large datasets and the potential to avoid overfitting. Although standard SG-MCMC methods have shown great performance in a variety of problems, they may be inefficient when the random variables in the target posterior densities have scale differences or are highly correlated. In this work, we present an adaptive Hessian approximated stochastic gradient MCMC method to incorporate local geometric information while sampling from the posterior. The idea is to apply stochastic approximation (SA) to sequentially update a preconditioning matrix at each iteration. The preconditioner possesses second-order information and can guide the random walk of a sampler efficiently. Instead of computing and saving the full Hessian of the log posterior, we use limited memory of the samples and their stochastic gradients to approximate the inverse Hessian-vector multiplication in the updating formula. Moreover, by smoothly optimizing the preconditioning matrix via SA, our proposed algorithm can asymptotically converge to the target distribution with a controllable bias under mild conditions. To reduce the training and testing computational burden, we adopt a magnitude-based weight pruning method to enforce the sparsity of the network. Our method is user-friendly and demonstrates better learning results compared to standard SG-MCMC updating rules. The approximation of inverse Hessian alleviates storage and computational complexities for large dimensional models. Numerical experiments are performed on several problems, including sampling from 2D correlated distribution, synthetic regression problems, and learning the numerical solutions of heterogeneous elliptic PDE. The numerical results demonstrate great improvement in both the convergence rate and accuracy.
A Distributed Connectivity Maintenance Algorithm for a Network of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles Under Communication Constraints

This work presents a distributed connectivity maintenance algorithm for a multi-agent system consisting of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The vehicles in the network communicate through a time-division multiple-access (TDMA) protocol, where only one vehicle can broadcast its information at any time instant. The TDMA protocol presents a significant challenge in developing a connectivity maintenance algorithm, as the vehicles do not have access to the present positions of their neighbors. We consider a homogeneous network of UUVs that move in a two-dimensional plane with bounded linear and angular speeds. The algorithm presented here uses only local information from an agent's neighbors and provides motion constraints, which, if satisfied, ensure the connectivity of the network. We provide mathematical guarantees of network connectivity for the presented algorithm under suitable assumptions on each vehicle's motion planner and controller. Finally, we present simulation results to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
PUF-RAKE: A PUF-based Robust and Lightweight Authentication and Key Establishment Protocol

In this paper, we propose PUF-RAKE, a physically unclonable function (PUF) based lightweight, highly reliable authentication and key establishment scheme. The proposed PUF-RAKE is robust against masquerade, brute force, replay, and modeling attacks. In PUF-RAKE, we introduce an inexpensive yet secure stream authentication scheme inside the device which authenticates the server before the underlying PUF can be invoked. This prevents an adversary from brute forcing the device's PUF to acquire challenge-response pairs (CRPs) essentially locking out the device from unauthorized model generation. Additionally, we also introduce a lightweight CRP obfuscation mechanism involving XOR and shuffle operations. The security of PUF-RAKE has been formally verified. A prototype of the protocol has been implemented on two Xilinx Zynq 7000 system-on-chips. Observations, security analysis and results verify that the PUF-RAKE is secure against a probabilistic polynomial time adversary under both the unauthenticated link and authenticated link adversarial models while providing ~99% reliable authentication. In addition, PUF-RAKE provides a reduction of 60% and 72% for look-up tables (LUTs) and register count, respectively, in the programmable logic (PL) part of the Zynq 7000 as compared to a recently proposed approach while providing additional advantages.