cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rapid, high-resolution measurement of leaf area and leaf orientation using terrestrial LiDAR scanning data

The rapid evolution of high performance computing technology has allowed for the development of extremely detailed models of the urban and natural environment. Although models can now represent sub-meter-scale variability in environmental geometry, model users are often unable to specify the geometry of real domains at this scale given available measurements. An emerging technology in this field has been the use of terrestrial LiDAR scanning data to rapidly measure the three-dimensional geometry of trees, such as the distribution of leaf area. However, current LiDAR methods suffer from the limitation that they require detailed knowledge of leaf orientation in order to translate projected leaf area into actual leaf area. Common methods for measuring leaf orientation are often tedious or inaccurate, which places constraints on the LiDAR measurement technique. This work presents a new method to simultaneously measure leaf orientation and leaf area within an arbitrarily defined volume using terrestrial LiDAR data. The novelty of the method lies in the direct measurement of the fraction of projected leaf area G from the LiDAR data which is required to relate projected leaf area to total leaf area, and in the new way in which radiation transfer theory is used to calculate leaf area from the LiDAR data. The method was validated by comparing LiDAR-measured leaf area to (1) 'synthetic' or computer-generated LiDAR data where the exact area was known, and (2) direct measurements of leaf area in the field using destructive sampling. Overall, agreement between the LiDAR and reference measurements was very good, showing a normalized root-mean-squared-error of about 15% for the synthetic tests, and 13% in the field.
High Temperature Thermochemical Energy Storage Using Packed Beds

Thermal energy storage units are vital for development of the efficient solar power generation systems due to fluctuating nature of daily and seasonal solar radiations. Two available efficient and practical options to store and release solar energy at high temperatures are latent heat storage and thermochemical storage. Latent heat storage can operate only at single phase change temperature. This problem can be avoided by some of the thermochemical storage systems in which solar energy can be stored and released over a range of high temperature by endothermic and exothermic reactions. One such reaction system is reversible reaction involving dehydration of Ca(OH)2 and hydration of CaO. This system is considered in the present study to model a circular fixed bed reactor for storage and release of heat at high temperatures. Air is used as heat transfer fluid (HTF) flowing in an annular shell outside the bed for charging and discharging the bed. The bed is filled with CaO/Ca(OH)2 powders with particles diameter of the order 5μm. Three dimensional transient model has been developed and simulations are performed using finite elements based COMSOL Multiphysics. Conservation of mass and energy equations, coupled with reaction kinetics equations, are solved in the three dimensional porous bed and the heat transfer fluid channel. Parametric study is performed by varying HTF parameters, bed dimensions and process conditions. The results are verified through a qualitative comparison with experimental and simulation results in the literature for similar geometric configurations.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
Methane Oxidative Coupling over Lithium Promoted Lanthanum-Titanate Oxide

Abstract The oxidative coupling of methane was studied using steady state and transient measurements over a series of lithium promoted lanthanum-titanate oxide catalysts. Increasing the lithium loading improves ethane and ethylene selectivity and reduces the combustion activity of the catalysts. The highest C 2 yield was observed for a 17% Li 2 O/La 2 O 3 •2TiO 2 catalyst, which gave a methane conversion of 18% with a C 2 hydrocarbons selectivity of around 75% at 800°C. XRD and BET experiments indicate that increasing the lithium loading creates different phases and lowers the surface area of the catalysts. The stability of the 17% Li20/La 2 O 3 •2TiO 2 was studied over 50 hours time-on-stream showing only a 2% decrease in the C 2 hydrocarbons yield, despite a 50% lithium loss as shown by XPS measurements. Transient, pulse and step-change experiments showed that lattice and adsorbed oxygen were responsible for methane activation.
50th Anniversary Perspective: Conducting/Semiconducting Conjugated Polymers. A Personal Perspective on the Past and the Future

It has been about 40 years since the field of organic conducting polymers was ignited by the demonstration of metallic conductivity in polyacetylene. A retrospective view of this research area suggests some areas remain ripe for discovery/innovation. The breadth of activities is too large to be comprehensive; hence, selected seminal, as well as some personal, contributions will be used to illustrate concepts and anecdotal ways to think about conducting polymer systems. This Perspective can serve as a tutorial for newcomers to the field and will also remind experts about results from the past. It begins with some history and simple views of electronic structure, with selected examples. Segmented polymers containing isolated redox units will be discussed as well as how these materials can be made to have high conductivity. Key examples illustrating the matching of redox potentials are transition metal hybrid structures. Interchain interactions are emphasized along with their role in determining the nature o...
Disaggregation of the 2010 UK Social Accounting Matrix to Report Household Income Quintiles

Social Accounting Matrices (SAM) are used as the main data source for Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models, which in turn can be used to simulate economic shocks and study their economy-wide impact. However, SAMs usually include highly aggregated categories of final consumers, therefore preventing the use of CGE models to study the impact of economic shocks on economic agents with specific characteristics. For this type of analysis, it is necessary to disaggregate the economic agent of interest in the SAM. This paper presents an approach by which it is possible to disaggregate the households in the UK SAM in quintiles based on their gross weekly income. The necessary steps to disaggregate the households are presented in detail, along with the supporting datasets and variables required to replicate the disaggregation approach for future SAMs.
Evidence-based decision-making: awareness, process and practice in the management classroom

Abstract In an increasingly information rich environment, it is important to teach students decision-making alongside information gathering and management methods. This paper examines the implementation of evidence-based decision-making in a first year introduction to management course at a large university in the Midwestern United States. Students learned decision awareness, decision-making process creation and decision practice alongside areas of management and basic business principles. Students perceived increased skill in decision-making, both individually and in groups. This venture has implications for others looking to help students not only learn experientially, but also improve critical thinking in practice.
Improving Efficiency and Mapping Surgical Procedures Using Lean Methods

Abstract The delivery of high-value and low-cost health care is an increasingly urgent directive of public health institutions. As national health expenditure becomes an increasingly higher proportion of the gross domestic product, governments and health care systems are trying to find ways to reduce the cost of health care without reducing the overall health of the population. Recently, Lean methodologies have been borrowed and adapted from automobile assembly lines to health care delivery. These methods have been used in places ranging from the clinic, to ambulatory surgery centers, to high-volume hospital operating rooms to improve the quality and efficiency of health care delivery while reducing costs.
Fibrinogen-derived peptide B beta 1-42 is a multidomained neutrophil chemoattractant

The formation and degradation of fibrin play a central role in hemostasis, but other activities have been associated with fibrin(ogen)-derived peptides, which suggests that products of fibrin(ogen) turnover may be involved in inflammation and wound healing. The present study was undertaken to determine whether the plasmic fibrinogen-derived peptide B beta 1-42 has effects on inflammatory cells and fibroblasts (FB). B beta 1-42 was found to be a potent chemotaxin for neutrophils (PMN) and FB, maximally stimulating PMN migration at 10(-9) mol/L peptide. Unlike the chemotactic factors f-Met-Leu-Phe and C5a, B beta 1-42 did not induce the release of lysosomal hydrolases and superoxide anion from PMN, nor did it stimulate directed movement of monocytes (MN). These features of B beta 1-42 resemble the properties of human fibrinopeptide B (hFpB), the 14-reside, thrombin-cleaveable fragment that constitutes the amino terminus of B beta 1-42, and suggested that the chemotactic effects of B beta 1-42 are mediated through its hFpB domain. Against this conclusion, however, were observations that (a) desensitization of PMN with 10(-7) mol/L hFpB ablated chemotaxis to hFpB without affecting chemotaxis to B beta 1-42; (b) antiserum to hFpB, which recognizes the B beta 1-14 sequence both free and bound to larger fragments of the B beta chain, blocked hFpB chemotactic activity but did not affect B beta 1-42-mediated chemotaxis; (c) desensitization of PMN with equimolar amounts of hFpB and beta 15-42 (10(-7) mol/L), the isolated carboxyterminal sequence of B beta 1-42 remaining after the removal of hFpB, completely inhibited B beta 1-42-mediated chemotaxis; and (d) beta 15-42 itself was chemotactic for PMN. These data indicate that PMN recognize several independent domains within the amino terminal region of the human fibrinogen B beta chain and that these biologic effects extend to mesenchymal cells.
BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction) and Beyond

The problem considered is that of predicting the value of an unobservable random variable w from the value of an observable random vector y. This problem is considered under each of four states of knowledge about the joint distribution of w and y, ranging from complete knowledge to “no” knowledge. Point predictors, estimators of the mean squared error of prediction, and interval predictors are presented for each case. Both frequentist and Bayesian approaches are discussed and relationships between the two are pointed out. Specifics are given for the prediction of a linear combination of the fixed and random effects in a mixed linear model. The results are illustrated by applying them to some animal breeding data.
On the Dynamics of Epitaxial Phase Transformations

The epitaxial growth of an oriented crystalline substance from a melt (or solution) onto a substrate (Liquid Phase Epitaxy-LPE) is a process of high scientific and technological interest.1 The reproducibility, structural quality and purity of crystals obtained via LPE depend critically on a number of growth parameters such as the temperatures of the solid and melt, temperature gradients (in the direction of growth and laterally), the rates of heat dissipation and the compositions. The growth parameters, coupled with specific material characteristics such as thermal conductivities, latent heat, segregation and diffusion coefficients and crystalline anisotropics of material properties govern the kinetics and dynamics of the solidification process and the characteristics of the eventual product.
Validation Of Interface System Architecture

In this research, an interface-driven system architecture is validated and then decomposed into interface subsystems. The system is modeled and simulated in order to validate the system architecture prior to design and implementation. In addition to its emphasis on interfaces between components and its partitioning ability, the method presented has the following advantages over other design and analysis techniques: (1) It lays the foundation of interfaces as the primary emphasis of requirements; thus, categorizing the objects to be developed for any design. (2) The method validates an interface-based system architecture by modeling and simulating it, providing feedback at the architectural and requirements levels. (3) It permits the development of subsystems separated by a minimum number of edges and minimum capacity utilization across the cuts. The flows on the edges are based on bits per second as specified in the system requirements.
The epidemiology of prescription fentanyl misuse in the United States.

Abstract Background US opioid overdose deaths continue to climb, with a 12.0% increase from 2016 to 2017. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has been a major contributor to opioid-related overdose deaths. While fentanyl-related overdose is driven by illicit fentanyl, little is known about individuals who misuse prescription fentanyl, which is also linked to elevated overdose and mortality risk. This work aimed to fill that gap through analyses of prescription fentanyl misuse correlates. Methods Data were from the 2015–16 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 114,043), a nationally representative survey of the non-institutionalized US population. Respondents were (all past-year): those misusing prescription fentanyl (PF); those misusing other (non-fentanyl) prescription opioids (NFPO); and population controls. Respondent groups were compared using multinomial regression on sociodemographics, physical health, mental health and substance use. The PF and NFPO misuse groups were compared on opioid misuse characteristics, using logistic regression. Results An estimated 4.4% misused NFPO, and 0.1% misused PF (past-year). Past-year heroin use was more common in those who misused PF (44.3%) than those who misused other NFPO (4.4%; relative risk ratio [RRR] = 7.1, 95%CI = 3.7–13.9) or population controls (0.1%, RRR = 35.1, 95%CI = 17.3–71.1). Non-alcohol substance use disorder (SUD) was similarly elevated in those who misused PF (78.7%) versus the other NFPO group (27.5%, RRR = 3.8, 95%CI = 1.8–8.2) or population controls (1.6%, RRR = 20.6, 95%CI = 9.4–45.5). Conclusions Respondents who misused prescription fentanyl were both more drug-involved generally and opioid-involved specifically; and likely need a combination of significant interventions and monitoring for their polysubstance use.
Stall-Quality Tradeoff for Cloud-based Video Streaming

Video streaming over distributed storage is considered where the video segments are encoded using an erasure code for better reliability. A two-stage probabilistic scheduling is proposed to determine the subset of servers to get the data, as well as one of the parallel streams from each chosen server. The selection of video quality is also chosen with a certain probability distribution. Based on this, we formulate an optimization problem to jointly optimize the convex combination of mean stall duration and average video quality for all requests. This non-convex problem is efficiently solved using an iterative algorithm. Numerical results show significant improvement in QoE metrics for cloud-based video as compared to the considered baselines.
Collatz polynomials: an introduction with bounds on their zeros

The Collatz Conjecture (also known as the 3x+1 Problem) proposes that the following algorithm will, after a certain number of iterations, always yield the number 1: given a natural number, multiply by three and add one if the number is odd, halve the resulting number, then repeat. In this article, for each $N$ for which the Collatz Conjecture holds we define the $N^{th}$ Collatz polynomial to be the monic polynomial with constant term $N$ and $k^{th}$ term (for $k > 1$) the $k^{th}$ iterate of $N$ under the Collatz function. In particular, we bound the moduli of the roots of these polynomials, prove theorems on when they have rational integer roots, and suggest further applications and avenues of research.
Electro-bending behavior of curved natural fiber laminated composites

Abstract Experiments are performed to understand the electro-bending behavior of conductive jute/epoxy curved composites for monitoring of damage under four-point bending. A well-connected electrical network in the laminated curved composite is obtained by wet flocking micro carbon fibers between laminates and dispersing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) within the matrix. By embedding only 0.1 wt% of CNTs into the composites, the effects of carbon fiber length and density on electro-bending behavior is studied. The normalized curved beam strength (curved beam strength/thickness) of composites marginally increased for a case of carbon fiber length of 350 µm and fiber density of 500 fibers/mm2 compared to composites with no carbon fibers, however for all other cases, it showed slight decrease. The electro-bending behavior of composites of carbon fiber length of 150 µm showed higher percentage resistance change both at crack initiation point as well as at failure of specimen compared to those of carbon fiber length of 350 µm. The longer fiber (350 µm) composites provided rich conductive network and formed new connections to compensate the increase in resistance due to damage growth.
Addressing Disability in CS for All

The NSF-funded AccessCSforALL is actively working to ensure K-12 students with disabilities are included in the CS for All movement. In Fall 2018, AccessCSforALL partnered with the CSforALL Consortium to encourage stakeholders in K-12 computer science education to make accessibility pledges to include students with disabilities in their programs. Over one hundred organizations pledged to take immediate steps to achieve accessibility within existing efforts and ensure that future efforts address accessibility within the design phase. In addition to working on the accessibility pledge, AccessCSforALL has developed an accessible version of Computer Science Principles (CSP) and in June 2018 trained teachers of blind and visually impaired students on this curriculum. AccessCSforALL aims to increase the successful participation of students with disabilities in high school computer science courses through three objectives: (1) Build the capacity of teachers who serve students with disabilities to teach AP CSP, (2) Create and have the College Board certify an accessible version of AP CSP and foster a community of engaged users, and (3). Expand our efforts in being a national resource for accessible K-12 computer science education. The work looks to answer two questions: (i) How can students with disabilities participate in AP CSP? and (ii) How well do students with disabilities perform in AP CSP? Focusing on students who are blind or visually impaired, this poster will explore our work, including lessons learned that are useful to teachers who have these students in their classes, to AP CSP curriculum providers, and to the College Board.
Innovation under ambiguity and risk.

We view innovation investment as a real option and explore the implications of ambiguity (Knightian uncertainty) and risk for innovation decisions. Our analysis uses a risk measure and a new outcome-independent measure of ambiguity. We find a consistently significant negative effect of ambiguity on R&D, patents, and citations supporting our theoretical notion. We also find a significant positive effect of risk on R&D, but the effect of risk on patents and citations is negative and significant. The different nature of R&D investments versus patent investments and citations may explain this difference. Ambiguity matters more for high-tech firms, consistent with intuition.
Airborne Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar: Antenna Aperture and Beam Forming Architecture

Radar performance depends on antenna characteristics, transmit power, transmit waveform and receiver design. Phased array radar (PAR) with solid-state amplifiers, attenuators and phase shifters uses additional signal processing schemes for achieving desired sensitivity, scan rate and data quality than in the case of a mechanically scanning radar that uses high-power klystron, magnetron or traveling wave tube transmitters. Active electronic scanning array (AESA) enables rapid scanning - the radar beam could be steered to any angular direction nearly instantly. Transmit and receive beam characteristics of AESA could be made independent of each other by an appropriate amplitude and/or phase weighting of the individual radiating element transmit and receive signals. Rapid steering of the antenna beam is suitable for beam multiplexing (BMX). BMX enables the collection of independent sample pairs of radar signals that reduce errors in radar measurements while providing rapid updates of scan volumes. Scan strategies for pencil beam and broad beam configurations are presented with regard to collecting reflectivity and radial velocity within a specified standard deviation of error. Beamforming radar architectures for pencil beam and broad beam configuration are described.
Do Female Occupations Pay Less but Offer More Benefits

Workers in predominantly female occupations have, on average, lower wages compared to workers in predominantly male occupations. Compensating differentials theory suggests that these wage differenc...
The kinetics of thermal decomposition and hot-stage microscopy of selected energetic cocrystals

The thermal decomposition of four energetic cocrystals composed of 4-amino-3,5-dinitropyrazole (ADNP)/diaminofurazan (DAF), 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT)/ 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane (CL20), 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazacyclooctane (HMX)/CL20, and 1-methyl-3,5-dinitro-1,2,4-triazole (MDNT)/CL20 were studied using simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), and hot-stage microscopy. The kinetic parameters of their thermal decomposition reaction were determined using the Kissinger and Ozawa kinetic analysis methods. Each cocrystal’s peak exothermic temperature (decomposition temperature), activation energy, and pre-exponential constant are reported. Furthermore, these parameters from each cocrystal were compared to the same parameters from the corresponding stoichiometric physical mixture in order to identify changes in behavior attributable to the cocrystallization process. For ADNP/DAF, the cocrystal shows an 8% increase in the peak exotherm temperature and a 11-13% decrease in peak activation energy as compared to its physical mixture. For TNT/CL20, this comparison shows a much smaller change in the peak exotherm temperature (
Feasibility of developing a Twitter journal club for hematology/oncology education.

11004Background: Medical trainees are increasingly utilizing social media platforms for professional development, networking and education. Twitter chats (TC) are a growing tool to engage health pr...
Closing the Border

In 2019, President Trump hinted that he was considering closing the border with Mexico. He cited the vast numbers of migrants approaching the southern border as a justification for closure, then pivoted to concerns about drug trafficking. Possibly emboldened by a victory in the 2018 “travel ban” case of Trump v. Hawaii, the President asserted a unilateral power to close the border. The general consensus among political leaders and economists was that closing the border would be an economic and political catastrophe, disrupting billions of dollars’ worth of goods while doing little to combat the asylum backlog or illegal narcotics trafficking. He soon backed off, with a one-year warning to Mexico that is fast approaching as of the publication of this Note. But the question remains: can he do it? This Note considers the question and concludes that while very brief or geographically limited closures are authorized as a matter of statute and constitutional doctrine, any indefinite, long-term, and expansive border closure would be statutorily unauthorized and give rise to meritorious due process claims by some categories of noncitizens. In between these two extremes, the permissibility of a closure would depend on the temporal and geographical scope of it, tracking general separation-of-powers principles.
Understanding the Effect of Interlayer on the Performance of All-Solid-State Li2s Batteries

Li−S batteries are considered a promising technology for next generation batteries, due to their high energy density and low cost of sulfur. The traditional liquid Li−S batteries, however, suffer from severe capacity fading and low Coulombic efficiency owing to processes occurring at the sulfur cathode. The electrochemical conversion reaction between S8 and Li2S involves a phase change where soluble lithium polysulfide intermediates are produced, causing so-called polysulfide shuttle phenomena. In order to mitigate the issues related to polysulfides, various approaches such as physical confinement of polysulfides or fabricating protective layer on Li anode were employed. However, the shuttle reaction still remains, affecting the cycling performance of the battery. One promising approach to proceed the Li−S battery chemistry without producing polysulfide intermediates is to utilize non-solvating electrolyte such as inorganic solid electrolytes (SE). The use of solid electrolyte eliminates the possibility of polysulfide dissolution, improving the energy efficiency of Li−S batteries. In addition, sulfide solid electrolyte such as Li7P­3S­11­ exhibits an ionic conductivity of ~10-3 S cm-1 comparable to that of the conventional 1 M ethereal electrolytes. Despite these advantages, the performance of all-solid-state Li−S battery (ASSLSB) incorporating inorganic solid electrolyte is much worse than Li−S cells with liquid electrolytes in terms of active material utilization and rate capability. The biggest challenge lies in constructing sufficient Li+ ion transport channel within the composite cathode, since SEs do not infiltrate into cathodes as liquid electrolytes. There have been considerable research efforts to improve the ionic conductivity of the cathode, such as ball-milling S8 (or Li2S), conductive carbon, and SE to prepare the composite cathode. However, only limited improvement was achieved on increasing active material utilization by simply ball-milling the three components. This is likely due to the poor physical contact between SE and cathode active material, leaving the active material electrochemically inactive (Figure 1a). In an effort to improve the interfacial contact and increase the capacity, we report a strategy of using an interlayer between the electrode/electrolyte interfaces (Figure 1b). Our solid-state cell with interlayers exhibits much higher capacity compared to that of bare sample without interlayers, achieving ~80% active material utilization at cycle 60 with dramatically reduced impedance relative to the bare cell. The interlayer in ASSLSB infiltrates into void space in composite cathode creating contact between the active material and SE resulting in high active material utilization. This increased contact leads to smaller cell impedance due to the decreased interfacial resistance. Additionally, the interlayer provides buffer space for volume contraction and expansion during electrochemical cycling, thereby preventing the physical delamination of cathode components. Figure 1
The Possible Detection of Cosmological Reionization Sources

We compare the available catalogs of z ≈ 6 galaxies in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field and in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey with the expected properties of the sources of cosmological reionization from our previous theoretical study. Our approach is based on the mean surface brightness of the sources required for reionization and depends on relatively few undetermined parameters. We find that the observed mean surface brightness of galaxies at z ≈ 6 is sufficient for reionization, provided that the sources are composed of hot metal-free or metal-poor stars, regardless of whether reionization occurs over a short or long interval of redshift. The broad agreement between the new observations and our predictions suggests that we may have detected the sources responsible for some or even all of the reionization of hydrogen.
The Association of Diabetes and Hyperglycemia on Inpatient Readmissions

Abstract Objective To evaluate the association between inpatient glycemic control and readmission in individuals with diabetes and hyperglycemia (DM/HG). Methods Two data sets were analyzed from fiscal years 2011 to 2013: hospital data using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes for DM/HG and point of care (POC) glucose monitoring. The variables analyzed included gender, age, mean, minimum and maximum glucose, along with 4 measures of glycemic variability (GV), standard deviation, coefficient of variation, mean amplitude of glucose excursions, and average daily risk range. Results Of 66 518 discharges in FY 2011-2013, 28.4% had DM/HG based on ICD-9 codes and 53% received POC monitoring. The overall readmission rate was 13.9%, although the rates for individuals with DM/HG were higher at 18.9% and 20.6% using ICD-9 codes and POC data, respectively. The readmitted group had higher mean glucose (169 ± 47 mg/dL vs 158 ± 46 mg/dL, P Conclusion Individuals with DM/HG have higher 30-day readmission rates than those without. Those readmitted had higher mean glucose, more extreme glucose values, and higher GV. To our knowledge, this is the first report of multiple metrics of inpatient glycemic control, including GV, and their associations with readmission.
Gamification for Family Engagement in Lifestyle Interventions: A Systematic Review

The majority of chronic conditions that plague the USA are modifiable by lifestyle change. Lifestyle interventions that incorporate family members for social support and that use game design elements to engage family members have the potential to improve upon traditional interventions, which have largely been unsustainable. Determining the populations where family member support in a lifestyle intervention are present and the extent of gamification of lifestyle intervention components that engage these family members is an important and underexplored area of work. A systematic review of lifestyle interventions involving family members were reviewed for game design elements using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. Game design elements related to engaged learning and motivational affordances from previous literature were included. Sixty-one studies met inclusion criteria. These studies reported on 50 independent interventions that were reviewed. Thirty-one of these interventions addressed lifestyle in those with a chronic condition, and 19 addressed lifestyle in those at high risk for chronic conditions. The majority of the lifestyle interventions included at least one game design element, yet overall there were limited elements utilized together. Compared with successful gamified programs that have greatly impacted a population's health behaviors, there were relatively a limited number of elements reported, particularly those that support social relatedness, such as meaningful storylines. Meaningfulness of the game design elements chosen and their arrangement was not apparent. Technology was under-utilized as a potential modality for intervention component delivery. Developing products to train researchers to properly apply game design elements to intervention components, as well as test their effectiveness, are areas for future research.
ARHGDIA Confers Selective Advantage to Dissociated Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have generated significant interest in the scientific community based on their potential applications in regenerative medicine. However, numerous research group...
mRNA Covid-19 Vaccines in Pregnant Women.

After Emergency Use Authorization was granted for the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna), persons at the highest risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (Cov...
Evaluating the perspectives of those with severe physical impairments while learning BCI control of a commercial augmentative and alternative communication paradigm

Purpose: Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) techniques can provide access to communication for individuals with severe physical impairments. Brain-computer interface (BCI) access tech...
War and Communities of Suffering: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North

States at war become quintessential states of exception, as Flanagan’s novel demonstrates. Japanese soldiers and Korean guards demonstrate imperial exceptionalism leading to war’s worst atrocities. A memorable counter-community emerges among the suffering Australians in the POW camp, with Gardiner at its center unifying the others around communal values of empathy, hope, and responsibility. After exploring Flanagan’s use of historical sources, the chapter shows how Gardiner demonstrates community, while Evans loses himself in becoming a symbol of exceptional Australia after the war. The chapter addresses formal implications: the novel’s fragmentation of time reflects the disruption of Western myths of coherent progress and reason in war, while its inclusive focus on multiple characters foregrounds the communities that coalesce amid war’s forced precarity.
Effects of Maximal Effort Running on Special Agents’ Loaded and Unloaded Drop Jump Performance and Mechanics

The purpose was to investigate the effect of load and fatigue on landing forces and mechanics. Thirteen Department of State special agents first completed drop jump testing, a maximal treadmill test, and another round of drop jump testing. During drop jump testing, agents performed 3 maximal effort drop jumps from 30 cm with body mass only (unloaded) or a 15 kg weight-vest (loaded). A force plate was used to collect force-time data, while two laptops were placed 3 m from the force plate from frontal and sagittal planes. Two-way analyses of variance were used to analyze the effect of load and fatigue on landing forces and Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) with alpha of p < 0.05. Dropping from 30 cm with 15 kg resulted in greater landing impulse, which was driven by increases in contact time. The loaded condition also resulted in lower jump height and reactive strength indexes. After the maximal graded treadmill test there were no further changes in drop jump ground reaction forces or performance. However, relative aerobic capacity was related to impulse changes following the treadmill test in unloaded (R2 = 0.41; p = 0.018) and loaded conditions (R2 = 0.32; p = 0.044). External loads of 15 kg increased impulse and contact time and resultantly decreased drop jump height and reactive strength indexes. It is encouraged that training protocols be aimed to concomitantly improve aerobic capacity and lower body power. Plyometric training with progressive overloading using external loads may be helpful, but further research is warranted.
Chronic intermittent intravenous immunoglobulin in heart transplant recipients with elevated donor-specific antibody levels

Donor-specific antibodies (DSA) are associated with antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) and poor patient survival. In heart transplant, the efficacy of intermittent intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) in reducing de novo DSA levels and treating AMR has not been characterized. We retrospectively studied a cohort of 19 patients receiving intermittent IVIg for elevated DSA and examined changes in DSA levels and graft function. Intermittent IVIg infusions were generally safe and well tolerated. Overall, 23 of 62 total DSA (37%) were undetectable after treatment, 21 DSA (34%) had MFI decrease by more than 25%, and 18 (29%) had MFI decrease by less than 25% or increase. The average change in MFI was -51% ± 71% (P < .001). Despite reductions in DSA, among the six patients (32%) with biopsy-confirmed AMR, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) decreased in five (83%) and cardiac index (CI) decreased in three (50%). Conversely, LVEF increased in 91% and CI increased in 70% of biopsy-negative patients. All six AMR patients were readmitted during treatment, four for confirmed or suspected rejection. IVIg infusions may stabilize the allograft in patients with elevated DSA and negative biopsies, but once AMR has developed does not appear to improve allograft function despite decreasing DSA levels.
Effect of organic loading on the microbiota in a temperature-phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD) system co-digesting dairy manure and waste whey

Temperature-phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD) has gained increasing attention because it provides the flexibility to operate digesters under conditions that enhance overall digester performance. However, research on impact of organic overloading rate (OLR) to microbiota of TPAD systems was limited. In this study, we investigated the composition and successions of the microbiota in both the thermophilic and the mesophilic digesters of a laboratory-scale TPAD system co-digesting dairy manure and waste whey before and during organic overloading. The thermophilic and the mesophilic digesters were operated at 50 and 35 °C, respectively, with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 days for each digester. High OLR (dairy manure with 5 % total solid and waste whey of ≥60.4 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/l/day) resulted in decrease in pH and in biogas production and accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in the thermophilic digester, while the mesophilic digester remained unchanged except a transient increase in biogas production. Both denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and Illumina sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene amplicons showed dramatic change in microbiota composition and profound successions of both bacterial and methanogenic communities. During the overloading, Thermotogae was replaced by Proteobacteria, while Methanobrevibacter and archaeon classified as WCHD3-02 grew in predominance at the expense of Methanoculleus in the thermophilic digester, whereas Methanosarcina dominated the methanogenic community, while Methanobacterium and Methanobrevibacter became less predominant in the mesophilic digester. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that digester temperature and pH were the most influential environmental factors that explained much of the variations of the microbiota in this TPAD system when it was overloaded.
Pyrvinium targets the unfolded protein response to hypoglycemia and its anti-tumor activity is enhanced by novel combination strategies

5713 We screened a compound library and identified pyrvinium pamoate, an old anthelminthic medicine, preferentially inhibiting anchorage-independent growth of cancer cells over anchorage-dependent growth (~10 folds), which was also recently reported by others to have anti-tumor activity (Panc-1 model) with selective toxicity against cancer cells under glucose starvation in vitro, but with unknown mechanism. While confirming its preferential cytotoxicity under glucose starvation, it has rather marginal overall anti-tumor activity as a monotherapy in several other xenograft tumor models tested. We found that it suppresses the transcriptional activation of GRP78 and GRP94 by glucose deprivation, or by 2-deoxyglucose (2DG, a glycolysis inhibitor), but not by tunicamycin or A23187. Other UPR pathways induced by glucose starvation, e.g. XBP-1, ATF4, were also found suppressed by pyrvinium. Constitutive expression of GRP78 via transgene, at least partially, protected cells from pyrvinium induced cell death under glucose starvation, suggesting that suppression of UPR is an important mechanism of pyrvinium mediated cytotoxicity under glucose starvation. We have performed two types of rational combination treatments to enhance anti-tumor activity: 1) pyrvinium with either Doxorubicin or Taxol, based on pyrvinium selectively potent against tumor hypoglycemic interior, and Doxorubicin or Taxol preferentially against the dividing cells in tumor exterior; 2) pyrvinium analog with 2DG that creates artificial hypoglycemic tumor sensitive to pyrvinium/analog. Both combinations demonstrated enhanced efficacy in vivo, supporting our mechanistic treatment concepts based on hypoglycemia and UPR.
Perturbation expansions for eigenvalues and eigenvectors for a rectangular membrane subject to a restorative force

Series expansions are obtained for a rich subset of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of an operator that arises in the study of rectangular membranes: the operator is the 2-D Laplacian with restorative force term and Dirichlet boundary conditions. Expansions are extracted by considering the restorative force term as a linear perturbation of the Laplacian; errors of truncation for these expansions are estimated. The criteria defining the subset of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions that can be studied depend only on the size and linearity of the perturbation. The results are valid for almost all rectangular domains.
The Lysozyme of Bacteriophage λ: I. PURIFICATION AND MOLECULAR WEIGHT

The lysozyme synthetized in Escherichia coli during the development of bacteriophage λ (λ-lysozyme) has been purified to homogeneity from either the whole cell just prior to lysis or from the lysate. The molecular weight of this protein was determined from its s20, w (2.06 S) and its D20, w (10.5 × 10-7 cm2·sec-1) as well as from sedimentation equilibrium data to be 17.9 × 103. Differences between the catalytic activities of λ-lysozyme and egg white lysozyme on a limited group of substrates have been observed.
Neutrality and Selection in Molecular Evolution: Statistical Tests

Whether a locus evolves neutrally or under the influence of natural selection is of great interest in molecular evolutionary study. Statistical tests can be used to test if the observed polymorphisms in a DNA sample are consistent with the prediction of neutral evolution. Keywords: neutrality test; natural selection; coalescent theory; DNA polymorphism
Amplitude Shift Keying

Amplitude shift keying (ASK) is one of the earliest and simplest digital modulations used in telecommunications. The simplest form of ASK is the on–off keying (OOK). To improve bandwidth efficiency, M-ary ASK (MASK) must be used. MASK can be coherently demodulated and noncoherently demodulated, and the former has a lower bit error probability but a more complex demodulator. The signal expression, power spectral density, block diagrams of modulators and demodulators (coherent and noncoherent), and bit error rate, are described in detail for each ASK scheme. Comparisons are made between various ASK schemes and between coherent MASK and the popular MPSK (M-ary phase shift keying). Advanced ASK-based modulation schemes, namely, QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) and coherent and noncoherent ASK-OFDM (orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing) are also briefly described. Keywords: amplitude shift keying; M-ary amplitude modulation; ASK modulation and demodulation, bit error rate (BER)
Crimes of Dissent: Civil Disobedience, Criminal Justice, and the Politics of Conscience. By Jarret S. Lovell

Crimes of Dissent: Civil Disobedience, Criminal Justice, and the Politics of Conscience. By Jarret S. Lovell. New York: New York University Press, 2009. 239 pp. $23.00 paper. Crimes of Dissent attempts to provide a broad overview of principled law-breaking through dissent by tracing the experiences of a subset of protesters who are serially arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience. As such, these activists typically expect to be arrested and prepare themselves and their affinity groups for arrests (sometimes by choreographing the arrest with authorities). Perhaps surprising to some, these protesters are not uniformly progressive; right-wing civil disobedience practitioners (e.g., pro-life activists who block clinics) are featured prominently in the book. This book takes on a number of distinct agendas. Theoretically, the book is arguing for a cultural criminology for dissent that that would see civil disobedience as principled law-breaking, or as a ''pure'' crime (see Chapter 3 for a discussion of characteristics of pure crime). Lovell's application of cultural criminology has three prongs. First, cultural criminology has generally tried to show how everyday behaviors are criminalized and to explain how law-breaking might help resolve ''psychic conflicts'' (p. 20) arising from tensions between cultural and moral beliefs on the one hand and legal and political restrictions on the other. By arguing for a specific brand of anarchism that champions individual moral responsibility over legality (pp. 43, 52), Lovell applies this tenet of cultural criminology to argue that ''many of the so-called crimes of dissent are in actuality cultural reactions'' to progressive or conservative political agendas (p. 20). Indeed, he argues that ''what society sometimes treats as criminal behaviors is later heralded as the starting points of justice'' (p. 206). Second, cultural criminology has focused on the pleasure that can result from law-breaking, and Lovell stresses the positive aspects of participating in civil disobedience, such as the ''pleasure to be derived from openly fighting the system'' (p. 20) and from ''the transgression of legal norms'' (p. 23). Finally, cultural criminology often locates lawbreaking within a subculture that supports legal transgression, and Lovell suggests that affinity groups and larger networks of activists create subcultures that support illegal forms of dissent. This book also has a clear normative dimension, advocating throughout for a particular brand of anarchism. Showing his cards fully, Lovell concludes the book noting that ''hopefully . . . through a discussion of anarchy, readers have gained a sense of the extent to which we as a citizenry have become (too) dependent on government and the legal system to reverse the injustices that it originally set in motion'' (p. …
The QSO-Tidal Connection

This review examines the various kinds of observational evidence that have been cited to support the notion that interactions and mergers between galaxies are often responsible for triggering the nuclear activity seen in QSOs. The main concerns in evaluating the evidence that has been presented to date are (1.) that the criteria used to define the presence of an interaction or merger are generally subjective, and (2.) the absence of suitable control samples. However, the fact that several independent lines of evidence point to the importance of interactions in galaxies with active nuclei make the case fairly strong in spite of these worries.
Non-destructive testing of cementitiously stabilized materials using ultrasonic pulse velocity test

In this paper, non-destructive testing of cementitiously stabilized materials (CSMs) was studied using ultrasonic pulse velocity instrumentation. Flexural strength and flexural modulus tests were conducted on CSMs and their constrained modulus were recorded. The effect of compaction, curing time, and binder content was evaluated. The results indicate that the P-wave velocity decreases with decrease in density, whereas P-wave velocity increases with increase in curing time and binder content. A strong relationship (R2 = 0.89) was observed between flexural strength and constrained modulus, while the relationship between flexural modulus and constrained modulus at 30% stress level was also high (R2 = 0.70). Non-destructive testing is thus proposed as a convenient and expedient method for determining the flexural properties of CSMs in comparison to destructive methods such as third-point bending beam tests.