cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Measuring Personal Exposure to Organophosphate Flame Retardants Using Silicone Wristbands and Hand Wipes

Organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs) are widely used as replacements for polybrominated diphenyl ethers in consumer products. With high detection in indoor environments and increasing toxicological evidence suggesting a potential for adverse health effects, there is a growing need for reliable exposure metrics to examine individual exposures to PFRs. Silicone wristbands have been used as passive air samplers for quantifying exposure in the general population and occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Here we investigated the utility of silicone wristbands in measuring exposure and internal dose of PFRs through measurement of urinary metabolite concentrations. Wristbands were also compared to hand wipes as metrics of exposure. Participants wore wristbands for 5 consecutive days and collected first morning void urine samples on 3 alternating days. Urine samples were pooled across 3 days and analyzed for metabolites of the following PFRs: tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), tris(1-chloro-2-isopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), and monosubstituted isopropylated triaryl phosphate (mono-ITP). All four PFRs and their urinary metabolites were ubiquitously detected. Correlations between TDCIPP and TCIPP and their corresponding urinary metabolites were highly significant on the wristbands (rs = 0.5-0.65, p < 0.001), which suggest that wristbands can serve as strong predictors of cumulative, 5-day exposure and may be an improved metric compared to hand wipes.
On publishing in an agency setting

Writing journal articles quite often becomes a low priority for public health professionals in a busy agency setting. Despite the obstacles, an agency setting offers many opportunities to enhance public health knowledge. Opportunities for publication in an agency setting are reviewed, with examples of citations from the published literature.
An Alternative Model Describing Children's Spatial Preferences

One of the more intriguing questions concerning the mathematical development of young children is how children perceive and conceptualize spatial figures. In particular, mathematics educators have focused on the child's recognition and discrimination applied to two dimensional figures, apparently because of the dominance of plane geometry in the school geometry curricula. Piaget and Inhelder (1967, 1971) hypothesize that children are initially able to deal only with topological properties of figures and only at later stages develop the necessary cognitive structures for perceiving Euclidean properties. Naturally, researchers have attempted to verify this hypothesis and results have been contradictory. For example, studies by Piaget and Inhelder (1963) and Thirion (1969) support Piaget's contentions, whereas studies such as those conducted by Jahoda, Deregowski, and Simbia (1974) and Martin (1976b) indicate that geometric conceptualization is dominant at all age levels (see Fuson, 1977, and Fuson & Love-Kunesh, Note 1, for further review of previous studies). Our attempt to understand some of these contradictions together with our own observations led us to propose an alternative explanation, or model, of children's perceptions of figures and to investigate the validity of this model. Several differences in past studies could account for the failure to replicate Piaget's findings consistently. Mathematical terms involving topological and geometric concepts have been used either inaccurately or in a vague manner. Differences may occur between haptic and visual tasks. Some studies focus on representations of figures in children's cognitive structures, whereas others, such as the present one, are limited to children's perceptions. Testing procedures have been inconsistent. Examination of children's drawings confounds psychomotor skills with cognitive skills. As a result of Martin's articles (1976a, 1976b) our attention became focused on testing procedures. The initial conjecture was that testing procedures and, indeed, the test itself could determine whether or not experimental results would support Piagetian theory. Secondly, unless one is very careful in the use of mathematical terms, inconsistent results may appear to arise due solely to differences or vagueness in terminology.
361 SMOKING CESSATION AMELIORATES PROGRESSION FROM EARLY TO ADVANCED TYPE 2 DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY.

Purpose To determine if smoking cessation ameliorates progression from early (microalbuminuria) to advanced (macroalbuminuria) nephropathy due to type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). Methods We recruited 92 subjects with DM2, 39 nonsmokers and 52 smokers, all with microalbuminuria defined as urine albumin (mg)-to-creatinine (g) ratio (alb/cr) 20 to 200 mg/g in a spot am specimen. Smokers underwent a 12-week smoking cessation intervention, including nicotine patch, oral bupropion, and weekly substance abuse counseling. Eleven of the 52 smokers successfully quit (21%). Therefore, three groups were compared: nonsmokers (NS, n = 39), smokers who continued smoking (S, n = 41), and smokers who quit (Quit, n = 11). All subjects were prescribed angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and then followed for 5 years with yearly measurements of urine alb/cr and plasma creatinine for estimated GFR (eGFR). Results There was no difference in initial urine alb/cr among the three groups. After ACEI, urine alb/cr was lower in NS (18.7 ± 4.0) than S (34.7 ± 4.7) and Quit (29.7 ± 4.7), p = .045. At 5 years, urine alb/cr was higher in S (99.2 ± 13.3) than NS (21.2 ± 1.8) and Quit (23.9 ± 2.3), p 200 mg/g), but none of the NS or Quit subjects did. Five-year eGFR was not different among groups. Conclusions The data show that despite ACEI, continued smoking promotes progression of DM2 nephropathy as measured by increasing urine alb/cr. Furthermore, the risk of nephropathy progression in DM2 after smoking cessation is comparable to that of nonsmokers. The data support the contention that smoking cessation ameliorates progression from early to advanced DM2 nephropathy.
INFORMAL, INQUISITORIAL, AND ACCURA TE: AN EMPIRICAL LOOK AT A HOUSING COURT EXPERIMENT

Substantive justice is often seen as elusive in courts dominated by low-income individuals. Complex court rules, coupled with pervasive lack of counsel, can make it difficult for the traditional adversary process to identify and redress legitimate grievances. This Article takes on the social problem of substandard housing and examines whether inquisitorial procedure has the potential to produce accurate outcomes in a tribunal dominated by the unrepresented.Relying on in-court observations of nearly 300 hearings, and a longitudinal review of nearly 75 cases, this Article surfaces the regularized procedures utilized by a purported “problem-solving” housing court, and theorizes that the inquisitorial features of judicially controlled investigation and enforcement may motivate landlords to repair substantiated housing code violations. This Article adds nuance to our understanding of informal justice by identifying the hidden procedural formalisms that may guide alternative decision-making processes. Furthermore, it evaluates the relationship of one iteration of experimental formalism to substantive justice, and suggests that inquisitorial procedures may be correlated with improved accuracy in case outcomes.
Synthesis of Nanoporous Metals, Oxides, Carbides, and Sulfides: Beyond Nanocasting.

ConspectusNanoporous metal-based solids are of particular interest because they combine a large quantity of surface metal sites, interconnected porous networks, and nanosized crystalline walls, thus exhibiting unique physical and chemical properties compared to other nanostructures and bulk counterparts. Among all of the synthetic approaches, nanocasting has proven to be a highly effective method for the syntheses of metal oxides with three-dimensionally ordered porous structures and crystalline walls. A typical procedure involves a thermal annealing process of a porous silica template filled with an inorganic precursor (often a metal nitrate salt), which converts the precursor into a desired phase within the silica pores. The final step is the selective removal of the silica template in either a strong base or a hydrofluoric acid solution. In the past decade, nanocasting has become a popular synthetic approach and has enabled the syntheses of a variety of nanoporous metal oxides. However, there is still ...
Population, Environment and Agriculture

A World Bank study of the linkages between rapid population growth, agricultural stagnation and environmental degradation in sub-Saharan Africa shows that these phenomena are mutually reinforcing. Rapid population growth is the principal exogenous factor which has stimulated the increase in environmental degradation, contributing to agricultural stagnation relative to population size. This is because population growth has been such that Africans have been unable to adapt their traditional agricultural land-use and wood-use practices fast enough to respond to the pressure of more people.
Participation in and Transformation of Gangs (and Gang Research) in an International Context: Reflections on the Eurogang Research Program

The chapters in this volume contribute insight and increased understanding of the dynamic processes in street gang participation and the evolving forms of these groups. Additional chapters address the implications of different gang definitions and describe patterns of gang activity and varieties of group organization. The research reported in this volume represents both qualitative and quantitative strategies, including several instances of cross-cultural comparisons as well as mixed methods approaches. Some of the chapters rely on single sites while others reflect the Eurogang emphasis on the need for multisite studies. Chapters in this volume draw from studies conducted in a variety of nations, including England, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, Venezuela, and the United States. This volume contributes to the evolving body of gang research in multiple regional, cultural, and methodological contexts.
Regional ecosystem simulation : A general model for simulating snow accumulation and melt in mountainous terrain

A general snow accumulation and melt model was developed to (1)determine how accurately snow accumulation and ablation can bemodeled over heterogeneous landscapes with routinely available climatologic, topographic, and vegetation data, and (2) improveestimates of annual forest snow hydrology for point and regionalcalculations of annual forest productivity. The snow model wasdesigned to operate within the Regional HydroecologicalSimulation System (RHESSys), a GIS based modeling system tomanage spatial data for distributed computer simulations onwatershed scales. One feature of the RHESSys Snow Model (RSM) isit can use satellite derived forest leaf area index (LAI) torepresent catchment forest cover; difficult to obtain in adequatecover and resolution by any other means. The model was testedover 3 water years (October to September) with data recorded by10 snow telemetry stations (SNOTEL) in 5 states ranging inmeso-climate and elevations from a coastal Oregon site (1067 m)to a continental Colorado site (3261 m). Predictions for the 10 sites were made with identicalparameter values and only site climate varied for all sites. Theaverage difference between observed and predicted snow depletiondates for all sites and water years was 6.2 days and 8 of the 30simulations were within ± 2 days (R2 = 0.91). Radiation melt wasthe dominate snow ablation component at the Colorado site wheresublimation was 10% (LAI = 0) to 20% (LAI = 6) ofsnow loss while air temperature was the dominate component at theOregon site with sublimation reduced to 1% (LAI = 0) to6% (LAI = 6) of snow loss. LAI had a greater effectdetermining snow depletion than site aspect. Aspect increased inimportance if the snow depletion occurred during early springwhen solar insolation differences between hillslopes is greaterthan in the late spring. An accurate prediction of daily snowpack water equivalent(SWE) was not a strong determinant for making an accurateprediction of snowpack depletion date. Predicted snowpackdepletion dates were more sensitive to timing when the snowpackreached an isothermal condition. Daily estimates of SWE were mostsensitive to correctly estimating snowfall from SNOTEL data. Thismeans that for purposes of determining the snow depletion dateswhich are useful for forest ecosystem modeling, tracking SWE isless important then triggering snowmelt. Comparisons ofsimulations to published snow depletion dates show that RSMpredicted the relative ranking and magnitude of depletion fordifferent combinations of forest cover, elevation, and aspect.
Big Data: Achieving Scale

I was once interviewed on a television program, and asked the difference between data and big data. After some thought, I gave them an answer which I will still hold to today: “size.”
Solder Mobility for High-Yield Self-Aligned Flip-Chip Assembly

Self-aligned flip-chip assembly with sub-micron accuracy is of particular importance to low-cost manufacturing of single-mode opto-electronic components. The concept of alignment via surface tension force of melted solder has been proposed over two decades ago and appears simple. Yet, its effective working into manufacturing requires solving a few fundamental issues. In prior work, we introduced the concept of solder reservoirs which provide a solder volume self-balancing mechanism to notably enhance self-alignment yield. In this paper, we show that the effectiveness of reservoirs is impeded when the solder wetting of pads or the solder mobility between pads and reservoirs is limited. We therefore studied a wide variety of metal stacks and identified candidates for substantial wetting and solder mobility improvement. We ranked the metal stacks for solder mobility using traditional wetting angles as well as speed of wetting along narrow tracks. First test parts, manufactured with the improved metal stacks, show the expected benefit in increased yield for chip alignment.
Austerlitz, Robert Paul (1923–1994)

Robert Austerlitz (1923–1994) was a linguistics professor at Columbia University (1958–1994). He achieved a rare breadth of knowledge of non-Indo-European languages – especially Uralic and Paleosiberian languages – and the types of research problems to which he applied himself were comparably various. His thinking, as reflected in his prolific publications, resists pigeonholing, although its strongest formal affinities are with American and European structuralism. He was a charismatic teacher whose courses focused on Hungarian, Finnish, and Ural-Altaic languages generally, morphology, phonetics, metrics, and field methods.
MR Fingerprinting with chemical exchange (MRF-X) to quantify subvoxel T1 and extracellular volume fraction

Background MR Fingerprinting (MRF) [1] offers a novel approach for quantifying extracellular volume (ECV) in a single scan without contrast agent. Whereas conventional parameter mapping assumes chemical exchange occurs much faster than the experiment time scale, usually on the order of T1, MRF measurements are acquired every TR (less than 12ms). This project investigates the feasibility of a new MRF acquisition termed MRF-X, which takes chemical exchange effects into account, to generate voxel-wise maps of ECV and T1.
Generation and Alkylation of α-Carbamyl Radicals via Organic Photoredox Catalysis.

Strategies for the direct C–H functionalization of amines are valuable as these compounds comprise a number of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and natural products. This work describes a novel method for the C–H functionalization of carbamate-protected secondary amines via α-carbamyl radicals generated using photoredox catalysis. The use of the highly oxidizing, organic acridinium photoredox catalyst allows for direct oxidation of carbamate-protected amines with high redox potentials to give the corresponding carbamyl cation radical. Following deprotonation, the resultant open-shell species can be intercepted by a variety of Michael acceptors to give elaborate α-functionalized secondary amines. The reaction proceeds under mild conditions without the requirement of exogenous redox mediators or substrate prefunctionalization. Additionally, we were able to showcase the utility of this methodology through the enantioselective synthesis of the indolizidine alkaloid, (+)-monomorine I.
Probing Free Multiply Charged Anions Using Photodetachment Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Multiply charged anions are common in the condensed phase, and their existence has been generally taken for granted. But until very recently, these species have only rarely been observed in the gas phase. A new experimental technique, using photodetachment photoelectron spectroscopy, electrospray, and ion-trap mass spectrometry, has been developed in the author's laboratory to probe multiply charged anions in the gas phase. In this article, the principles of this technique and some of the initial results will be presented and discussed. The difference between photodetachment of singly and multiply charged anions is emphasized. Photodetachment photoelectron spectroscopy is ideal to probe the chemical and physical properties of free multiply charged anions. Among the initial findings, the repulsive Coulomb barriers existing in multiply charged anions have been directly observed. The relationship between the intramolecular electron−electron repulsion and the potential barrier is elucidated, culminating in th...
Efficiency Analysis of Chemical-looping Fixed Bed Reactors integrated in Combined Cycle Power Plants

Abstract In this work, dynamic modeling is used as a tool to analyze the performance of chemical-looping combustion (CLC) integrated with combined cycle (CC) power plants. Fixed bed CLC reactors are incorporated into CC power plants. Efficiency improvements are achieved by optimizing the process design and managing CLC operating strategies. Specifically, this work presents the effect of operating variables on the performance of CLC-CC. The optimal CLC-CC power plant model has a time-averaged efficiency of 51.84%, power output of 223.6 MW, and CO2 capture efficiency of 96%. The main factor that limits plant efficiency is the maximum reactor temperature, which is constrained by the materials of oxygen carriers. Moreover, it is shown that the impact of the temperature of air fed to the CLC heat removal stage and the pressure ratio are more significant than other process variables.
Semi-competing risk model to predict perioperative and oncologic outcomes after radical cystectomy.

Background:To utilize a semi-competing risk model to predict perioperative and oncologic outcomes after radical cystectomy and to compare the findings with the univariate Cox regression model.Metho...
Collective shadows on the sociodrama stage

Jung was not interested in exploring group dynamics within the many dimensions of concrete social reality that the authors claim also contributes to how we are formed as individuals in addition to ...
Suppressing Li Metal Dendrites Through a Solid Li-Ion Backup Layer

The growing demand for sustainable and off-grid energy storage is reviving the attempts to use Li metal as the anode in the next generation of batteries. However, the use of Li anodes is hampered due to the growth of Li dendrites upon charging and discharging, which compromises the life and safety of the battery. Here, it is shown that lithiated multiwall carbon nanotubes (Li-MWCNTs) act as a controlled Li diffusion interface that suppresses the growth of Li dendrites by regulating the Li+ ion flux during charge/discharge cycling at current densities between 2 and 4 mA cm-2 . A full Li-S cell is fabricated to showcase the versatility of the protected Li anode with the Li-MWCNT interface, where the full cells could support pulse discharges at high currents and over 450 cycles at different rates with coulombic efficiencies close to 99.9%. This work indicates that carbon materials in lithiated forms can be an effective and simple approach to the stabilization of Li metal anodes.
Isolation and separation of Listeria monocytogenes using bacteriophage P100-modified magnetic particles

A bacteriophage-assisted magnetic separation method was developed for the isolation of Listeria monocytogenes from complex food matrices. The aim of this study is to understand the effect of phage immobilization methods and the magnetic particle sizes on the phage coupling and infectivity retention of the magnetic particles. In this study, bacteriophage P100-modified magnetic particles (PMMPs) were developed for the separation of L. monocytogenes from food matrices. Three sizes of magnetic particles (MP) (150 nm, 500 nm, and 1 μm) were used for phage immobilization via chemical and physical methods. The coupling ratio of phage was investigated, and the performance of each PMMP complex was evaluated by their L. monocytogenes capture efficiency. When compared to the chemical immobilization method, the physically immobilized PMMP complex achieved a higher capture efficiency initially, with excellent selectivity towards target bacteria. The PMMPs were further tested for selective isolation of L. monocytogenes using real food samples such as ground beef and whole milk.
Multi-class Bayes error estimation with a global minimal spanning tree

Henze-Penrose (HP) divergence has been used in many information theory, statistics and machine learning contexts, including the estimation of two-class Bayes classification error. Previous work has shown HP divergence can be directly estimated using the Friedman-Rafsky (FR) multivariate run test statistic. For the multi-class classification problem, HP divergence can also be used to bound the Bayes error by estimating the sum of pairwise Bayes errors between classes. In situations in which the dataset and number of classes are large, this approach is infeasible. In this paper, we present a new generalized measure that allows us to estimate the Bayes error rate without the need to compute pairwise estimates. We compare our new approach with the pairwise HP bound and the bound proposed by Lin [1], and show that our upper bound on Bayes error is tighter, while also having lower computational complexity.
Supereruption quartz crystals and the hollow reentrants

Author(s): Befus, KS; Manga, M | Abstract: Hollow reentrants in quartz phenocrysts from Yellowstone (western United States) caldera's Lava Creek Tuff are preserved vestiges of bubbles in the supereruption's pre-eruptive magma reservoir. We characterized the reentrants using a combination of petrographic techniques, synchrotron X-ray microtomography, and cathodoluminescence imagery. One or more reentrants occur in ~20% of quartz, and up to ~90% of those reentrants are hollow. The earliest-erupted parts of the Lava Creek Tuff have the most empty reentrants. The hollow reentrants provide direct, physical evidence for volatile saturation, exsolution, and retention in a magma reservoir. Quartz-melt surface tension permits bubbles to attach to quartz only when bubbles have been able to nucleate and grow in the melt. Prior to eruption, the Lava Creek Tuff existed as a bubbly, volatile-saturated magma reservoir. The exsolved volatiles increased magma compressibility, helping to prevent the ever-accumulating magma from reaching a critical, eruptive overpressure until it reached a tremendous volume.
Hearing screening outcome in neonatal intensive care unit graduates from a tertiary care centre in Singapore.

Background We aimed to analyse the outcome of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) and high-risk hearing screening in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) graduates in a tertiary care unit. Methods The hearing screen programme comprises a 2-stage automated auditory brainstem response protocol followed by a high-risk hearing screen at 3-6 months. This study is a retrospective study of NICU graduates born between April 2002 and December 2009. Data on hearing screening, audiological assessment, and management were extracted from a computerized data management system (HITRACK). Results Of 100,225 newborn infants, 2.9% were admitted to the NICU during the study period. The overall incidence of hearing loss (HL) of any type/severity was 35/1,000 infants. Of infants with HL, 92.4% had their first automated auditory brainstem response at/before 1 month of corrected age. The incidence of congenital permanent HL identified by the UNHS was 15.4/1,000. The corrected median age of diagnosis was 4.5 months (1-23.5 months). Of 2,552 NICU graduates who passed the UNHS, 75.5% were retested at 3-6 months of life. Twelve infants with permanent late-onset HL were identified, raising the overall incidence of permanent HL to 19.9/1,000; 1.1/1,000 had auditory neuropathy. Of the 92 infants with HL, 89 (96.7%) had multiple risk factors. Conclusions There is a high incidence of HL in NICU graduates; 22.6% were late in onset. An early rescreen in those who pass the UNHS is a beneficial step for this high risk population.
Understanding the policymaking process in developing countries: by William Ascher, Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press, 2017, 229 pp., $24.49 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-108-40551-5

The developmental divide among nations across the world has created complex policymaking dynamics. This is especially the case when looking at the policy process in relation to development assistan...
Parental education and child's verbal IQ in adoptive and biological families in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

This study compared adoptive children and matched, biological children to estimate the genetic and environmental effect of years of mothers' and fathers' education on children's verbal intelligence (VIQ), as assessed by knowledge of vocabulary words. Adoptive and biological adolescent children in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) were matched for sex, age, parental education, and ethnicity. The adolescents all resided with two parents. Structural equation modeling was employed using Mx to estimate the genetic and transmissible environmental components of the correlation between parental education and children's VIQ. The mother-child and father-child correlations in biological families were .41 and .36, respectively, vs .16 and .18 in adoptive families. As suggested by these correlations, both genetic and shared environmental influences were statistically significant in the Mx models. We conclude that parental education exerts a modest shared environmental effect, explaining no more than 3 to 4% of the variation in verbal intelligence.
Emerging applications of site-directed spin labeling electron paramagnetic resonance (SDSL-EPR) to study food protein structure, dynamics, and interaction

Abstract Background Specific interests in improving the functionality of food proteins as well as in protein‒food constituent interactions have resulted in a tremendous number of scientific papers. However, the fundamental mechanisms on protein structures and dynamics in different environments and conditions remain unknown, which hampers structure-based design of food proteins with predictable properties and desired functionalities. The technical barriers in probing structural basis of food protein functionality is one of the major barriers for such situation. Scope and approach The aim of this review article is to delineate the ability of site directed spin-labeling (SDSL) in combination with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to unravel food protein structure and dynamics in atomic levels. The review highlights the importance of food protein structures and dynamics in terms of their functionality in food systems. Detailed applications of SDSL-EPR in deciphering structural and dynamics information of biological proteins are provided. A few key areas that SDSL-EPR can help improve the understanding of the fundamental relationship between structure and functionality of food proteins are proposed. Lastly, the limitations of SDSL-EPR in food systems and the solutions are outlined. Key findings and conclusions SDSL-EPR offers exceptional advantages to study food protein structure, dynamics, and interactions. The adoption of SDSL-EPR may open up a new horizon on understanding food protein structure and dynamic at an atomic level. Unlike the current trial-and-error methods, the information gained by SDSL-EPR could help food scientist rational design food systems with desirable functionalities based upon the ability to predict how protein structure affects functionality.
Estimated number of N95 respirators needed for healthcare workers in acute-care hospitals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: Due to shortages of N95 respirators during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is necessary to estimate the number of N95s required for healthcare workers (HCWs) to inform manufacturing targets and resource allocation. METHODS: We developed a model to determine the number of N95 respirators needed for HCWs both in a single acute-care hospital and the United States. RESULTS: For an acute-care hospital with 400 all-cause monthly admissions, the number of N95 respirators needed to manage COVID-19 patients admitted during a month ranges from 113 (95% interpercentile range [IPR], 50-229) if 0.5% of admissions are COVID-19 patients to 22,101 (95% IPR, 5,904-25,881) if 100% of admissions are COVID-19 patients (assuming single use per respirator, and 10 encounters between HCWs and each COVID-19 patient per day). The number of N95s needed decreases to a range of 22 (95% IPR, 10-43) to 4,445 (95% IPR, 1,975-8,684) if each N95 is used for 5 patient encounters. Varying monthly all-cause admissions to 2,000 requires 6,645-13,404 respirators with a 60% COVID-19 admission prevalence, 10 HCW-patient encounters, and reusing N95s 5-10 times. Nationally, the number of N95 respirators needed over the course of the pandemic ranges from 86 million (95% IPR, 37.1-200.6 million) to 1.6 billion (95% IPR, 0.7-3.6 billion) as 5%-90% of the population is exposed (single-use). This number ranges from 17.4 million (95% IPR, 7.3-41 million) to 312.3 million (95% IPR, 131.5-737.3 million) using each respirator for 5 encounters. CONCLUSIONS: We quantified the number of N95 respirators needed for a given acute-care hospital and nationally during the COVID-19 pandemic under varying conditions.
How Powerful CFOs Camouflage and Exploit Equity-Based Incentive Compensation

While numerous studies have examined the impact that powerful CEOs have on their compensation and overall firm decisions, relatively little is known about how powerful CFOs influence their compensation and important firm financial reporting and operational outcomes. This is somewhat surprising given the critical role CFOs play in the financial reporting process of a firm. Using managerial power theory (Bebchuk and Fried in J Econ Perspect 17:71–92, 2003) and the theory of power and self-focus (Pitesa and Thau in Acad Manag J 56(3):635–658, 2013), we predict that powerful CFOs employ a two-part strategy to camouflage excessive incentive compensation above what efficient contracting would dictate. First, powerful CFOs use their power and influence to negotiate shorter incentive pay duration to maximize the present value of their performance—based compensation. Second, when their incentive equity compensation vests, we suggest that CFOs manage earnings to further enhance their personal income. Consistent with our theoretical expectations, we find higher levels of income-increasing accrual-based earnings management and real transactions management, a potentially unethical practice, in firms with powerful CFOs who have short pay durations. We discuss the implications of our analysis in the context of mitigating CFO power and managing the ethical environment “tone at the top.”
Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion in a COVID-19 Positive Patient

Retinal vein occlusions (RVOs), including central retinal vein occlusions (CRVOs) and branch retinal vein occlusions (BRVOs), are a common cause of morbidity in elderly patients. We present the case of a healthy 74-year-old female patient who initially presented with blurry vision in her left eye in the setting of a symptomatic COVID-19 infection. She was diagnosed with a branch retinal vein occlusion that did not immediately require treatment. Three months later, she again presented with worsening vision and was found to have cystoid macular edema (CME) secondary to the vein occlusion, thus was treated with an intravitreal dexamethasone implant. This case serves to highlight the growing evidence of increased thromboembolic risk associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the possible correlation of COVID-19 infections with ocular pathology, including retinal vein occlusions.
Vitamin D levels in Irish children with fractures: A prospective case-control study with 5 year follow-up.

Abstract Introduction Twenty-five-hydroxy-vitamin D3 (25-OH-vit D) is a prohormone that is essential for normal calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism. Understanding its role is an important component of the proper care of the pediatric orthopaedic patient. The aim of this study was to determine whether children in Ireland with fractures have increased prevalence of 25-OH-Vit D deficiency compared with age matched controls and to ascertain the relationship between a low 25-OH-vit D level and the incidence of fractures in Irish children. We hypothesised that children presenting to our centre following a fracture would have significantly lower 25-OH-vit D. Methods A prospective case–control study at a large urban tertiary referral academic hospital located in Dublin, Ireland was completed over a 14 month period from June 2014 to August 2015. A total of 116 subjects, distributed as cases (n = 58) and controls (n = 58) were included in this study. Whole blood (10 ml) was taken in two serum bottles from each patient. Serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D3 levels were measured. An age matched control group was generated from other children attending the hospital, who also had vitamin D levels measured for different clinical reasons. We followed up both the fracture and control group for the next 5 years to assess the repeat fracture rate. Results Fifty-eight patients with a fracture requiring operative intervention, were included in the study. Statistical analysis was performed comparing to 58 age and sex-matched controls. The mean vitamin D level for the fracture group was 63.2 nmol/L (SD = 27.3), which was higher than the mean of the controls (62.5 nmol/L) (SD = 21.3) (p = 0.86), but this difference was found not to be statistically significant in unadjusted analysis. There was no statistically significant difference in the number of patients classified with low serum Vitamin D levels ( Conclusion The results of this study show that children presenting to our institution with low energy fractures have a prevalence of 38% 25-hydroxy-vitamin D deficiency. This study included children from age 1 to 16 primarily Caucasian encompassing all fracture types resulting from accidental trauma. Our findings suggest that in an Irish pediatric population vitamin D status may impact fracture risk with more than one-third being deficient in this review.
Advances in activity-based diagnostics for infectious disease and microbiome health.

Abstract In the human body, pathogens and the endogenous microbiome produce enzymes that aid in replication and survival. The activity from these enzymes as well as energy-dependent transport processes can be used as functional biomarkers for pathogen identification, antimicrobial treatment monitoring, and surveillance of microbiome health. To produce visual and/or quantifiable readouts from this activity, concepts from chemical biology and nanomedicine have been used to develop signal-producing probes for patient samples or for direct administration in vivo. In the context of infection, activity-based diagnostics offer several potential advantages over current diagnostics including the ability to differentiate between active infection and sterile inflammation, which is made possible by targeting microbial enzymes with orthogonal activity to that of the host. In this review, we discuss new developments in the making of activity-based infection diagnostics and the beginnings of microbiome activity-based diagnostics.
Characterization of Particulate Emissions from In-Use Diesel Vehicles

Particulate emissions data are presented from a group of 19 in-use diesel automobiles. Five driving cycles and three fuel/lubricating oil combinations have been used to obtain particulate emissions data and also to collect particulate samples for chemical and bioassay characterization studies. Particulate samples are solvent extracted with dichloromethane to obtain the soluble organic fraction (SOF) of the emitted particulate. Particulate and SOF data are presented for emission/distance, emission/time and emission/fuel consumed basis by vehicle manufacture, driving cycle, and fuel/oil subcategory. Some SOF samples have been used in the bioassay test of Ames, and these results are presented for different vehicles and driving cycles. Particulate emissions, SOF emissions and bioassay activity results are presented in terms of mileage accumulation effects.
ELECTIONS Ethics in Government: Provide for the Applicability of Disclosure Provisions to Activities Relating to the Influencing of Certain Local Public Officers and Employees

The Act requires lobbyists to disclose expenditures made to any public officer intended to influence the passage of any ordinance or resolution. The Act subjects city and county officials to the same ethics requirements as state legislators.
A case study of performing OFDM kernels on a novel reconfigurable DSP architecture

In this paper we present Morpho Technologies' reconfigurable MS2 platform for handling key baseband processing of PHY layer OFDM kernels that are commonly implemented in ASIC structures for commercial standards such as 802.11a, 802.16 (WiMax) and military waveforms such as WNW. First, we present an overview of Morpho's MS2 platform architecture. MS2 is a highly optimized and efficient parallel processing solution designed to meet both the real-time baseband processing and ultra low power requirements for mobile solutions. Next, we describe the detailed implementation of the most computationally intensive kernels that constitute the critical components of OFDM. The flexibility of the MS2 solution empowers SoC designers to not only meet the current OFDM PHY layer requirements, but to create a platform that can accommodate future changes within these standards. From the military wireless communications point of view, having an efficient and low power OFDM solution is critical to support the JTRS programs for the next decade, Morpho's MS2 solution provides SoC designers with an avenue to solve this difficult problem
Returns to Welfare Under Welfare Reform: Early Patterns and Their Implications

Abstract The federally-imposed lifetime limit on cash assistance receipt compels program administrators to examine returns to welfare after an exit. We explore recidivism among a random sample of 2,665 Maryland families who left welfare between October 1996 and December 1997. Using administrative data, we compare the demographic characteristics, welfare histories, and work histories of recidivists and non-recidivists. Results indicate that most families do not return to welfare within a year. However, almost one-third do return, often within the first 30 days. This rarely investigated “administrative churning” phenomenon is important because of the federal time limit, the valuable agency resources which are consumed in handling churning cases and the possible negative consequences of churning on family well-being.
Lesions of the optic nerve

As experts on the central nervous system, neurologists are expected to be familiar with the many conditions that can result in visual loss arising from lesions of the optic nerve. The optic nerves are unique central nervous system structures in terms of surrounding anatomy, size, location, and blood supply; therefore, they are uniquely vulnerable to every pathological process that can affect the central and peripheral nervous systems, including inflammation, ischemia, compression, infiltration, toxic or hereditary metabolic dysfunction, trauma, and mechanical damage. This chapter highlights the importance of being able to identify the historical and clinical features that will enable neurologists to narrow down the broad differential diagnosis of optic nerve lesions. Distinguishing an optic neuropathy on the basis of history and clinical examination alone, however, can be difficult, especially when bilateral optic neuropathies are present. Specific ancillary tests, especially new imaging modalities, help further localization and differential diagnosis.
Mirror Neurons, the New Neuroscience, and the Law: Some Preliminary Observations

V.S. Ramachandran has written that we are in the midst of a new revolution of scientific thought: the neuroscience revolution. Since 1995, a group of scientists have studied what they refer to as "mirror neurons," certain nerve cells in the brain that enable a person to see the world from another person's perspective. These scientists believe that mirror neurons may provide a neurobiological explanation for precisely how humans empathize.This Essay first applies this insight to the role of empathy in judging. The concept of mirror neurons shows that the issue is not whether empathy has a role in judging, but rather how significant a role empathy actually plays. In reaching judicial decisions, "reason" and "emotion" complement, rather than oppose, one another. As Jonah Lehrer has stated, "Reason without emotion is impotent." Mirror neurons provide a tool for beginning a more sophisticated discussion of the nature of judging.The Essay then turns to how mirror neurons can aid in understanding the decision-making of juries. It considers a closing argument technique called "channeling," in which the lawyer pretends to actually be the victim in the case who is describing his personal pain and suffering. Mirror neurons suggest that the profound effect this technique can have on jurors may be less rhetorical than it is neurobiological. The Essay posits that the role played by mirror neurons may indeed suggest a scientific basis for Plato's argument in "The Republic" that all imitative poets should be banned from the city.The Essay concludes by encouraging legal theorists to consider the role neuroscience can play in legal reform.
Immigrant children in the age of educational reform

Immigrant children are the fastest growing subgroup among United States schoolchildren today. This paper explores how the new testing movement affects these students, many of which are English language learners.The passage of new federal laws mandating that all students be tested within one year of entrance into a U.S. school is refuted by long standing research. Studies have demonstrated that it takes five to seven years for students to attain the academic language necessary to achieve success in educational settings.This paper explores the instructional program options for immigrant students and advocates for changes in the current testing protocol for them.
New methods for detecting lineage-specific selection

So far, most methods for identifying sequences under selection based on comparative sequence data have either assumed selectional pressures are the same across all branches of a phylogeny, or have focused on changes in specific lineages of interest. Here, we introduce a more general method that detects sequences that have either come under selection, or begun to drift, on any lineage. The method is based on a phylogenetic hidden Markov model (phylo-HMM), and does not require element boundaries to be determined a priori, making it particularly useful for identifying noncoding sequences. Insertions and deletions (indels) are incorporated into the phylo-HMM by a simple strategy that uses a separately reconstructed “indel history.” To evaluate the statistical significance of predictions, we introduce a novel method for computing P-values based on prior and posterior distributions of the number of substitutions that have occurred in the evolution of predicted elements. We derive efficient dynamic-programming algorithms for obtaining these distributions, given a model of neutral evolution. Our methods have been implemented as computer programs called DLESS (Detection of LinEage-Specific Selection) and phyloP (phylogenetic P-values). We discuss results obtained with these programs on both real and simulated data sets.
Entrepreneurs as Social Others: How Collective Interests and Selflessness Affect Funding Success

Contemporary social theory assigns legitimacy to agents reflecting a transcending and universal purpose. By adopting the stance of rising above the self, entrepreneurs derive social authority and legitimate power from what Meyer (2010) refers to as Otherhood, or the shift in agency from the self to others. In this study, we explore how broad social conditions influence the construction of entrepreneurial opportunities and the mobilization of resources. Using crowdfunding data from technology projects, we find that the pursuit of a collective good and absence of self interest is a significant predictor of whether a project reaches its funding goal, controlling for quality considerations. We examine collective interests of two types, environmental and social. Our findings indicate that the effect of environmental interests is greater than those of social interests.
Palladium-mediated synthesis of novel meso-chiral porphyrins: cobalt-catalyzed cyclopropanation

Abstract A series of novel meso-chiral porphyrins were effectively synthesized from reactions of 5,15-dibromo-10,20-diarylporphyrins with readily available chiral alcohols and amides via palladium-mediated C–N and C–O bond formations. Cobalt complexes of these chiral porphyrins were prepared and shown to be effective catalysts for cyclopropanation of styrene with ethyl diazoacetate under mild and practical conditions, affording the desired cyclopropane ester as a trans-dominant form in excellent yields. Due to orientation and flexibility of the chiral appendages, only low enantioselectivity was observed.
Almost there: a new medium on the Web

In his famous article, Vannevar Bush (1945) envisioned memex (memory extension), a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. Memex stores, links, and retrieves annotated text, photographs, speech, video, and film recordings. One of its important functions is that it allows annotation and retrieval, or selection of multimodal information on the basis of semantic content. According to Bush, to facilitate content retrieval, there is a new profession of trailblazers, those who find a delight in the task of establishing useful trails through the enormous mass of the common record. At the beginning of the article, he predicted that the interface to memex would use speech recognition and understanding. By the end, he envisioned an interface that could detect the electric waveforms from our brain to record thoughts and dreams and transform them into retrievable memex documents. In my opinion, the Web will eventually evolve into a truly dynamic multimodal medium without its current bias for static presentations. This medium will be different from and coexist with print, radio, cinema, television, cable, and video rentals. One of the features of memex that will materialize on the Web is the availability of audio and video media that can be linked and retrieved in much the same way as hypertext is.