cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
From Political to Material Inequality: Race, Immigration, and Requests for Public Goods

Studies of political participation typically analyze voting, contentious collective action, or membership in voluntary associations. Few scholars investigate a more mundane—but highly consequential—form of neighborhood politics: requests for basic city services. We conceptualize city service requests as a direct, instrumental contact with local government that alters the geographical distribution of public goods. We hypothesize that rates of service requests vary with the ethnic and immigrant composition of neighborhoods, due to differences in these communities’ expectations of local government. We test this hypothesis using administrative data from the City of Boston. We find neighborhoods with high concentrations of first-generation immigrants less likely to request services, relative to need. The concentration of African Americans, however, is associated with large increases in neighborhood service requests. We conclude with implications for the study of race, inequality, and political incorporation.
A case study on bagging, boosting and basic ensembles of neural networks for OCR

We study the effectiveness of three neural network ensembles in improving OCR performance: basic, bagging, and boosting. Three random character degradation models are introduced for training individual networks in order to reduce error correlation between individual network and to improve the generalization ability of neural networks. We compare the recognition accuracies of these three ensembles at various rejection rates. It is shown that although the boosting ensemble is slightly more accurate than the basic and bagging ensembles at zero rejection rate, the advantage of the boosting training over the basic and bagging ensembles quickly disappears as more patterns are rejected. Eventually the basic and bagging ensembles outperform the boosting ensemble at high rejection rates. Explanation of such a phenomenon is provided. We also apply the optimal linear combiner to each of the three ensembles to capture different error correlation characteristics of the three ensembles.
Two-Fluid Model of Biofilm Disinfection

We consider a dynamic model of biofilm disinfection in two dimensions. The biofilm is treated as a viscous fluid immersed in a fluid of less viscosity. The bulk fluid moves due to an imposed external parabolic flow. The motion of the fluid is coupled to the biofilm inducing motion of the biofilm. Both the biofilm and the bulk fluid are dominated by viscous forces, hence the Reynolds number is negligible and the appropriate equations are Stokes equations. The governing partial differential equations are recast as boundary integral equations using a version of the Lorenz reciprocal relationship. This allows for robust treatment of the simplified fluid/biofilm motion. The transport of nutrients and antimicrobials, which depends directly on the velocities of the fluid and biofilm, is also included. Disinfection of the bacteria is considered under the assumption that the biofilm growth is overwhelmed by disinfection.
Metabolic Hoof Horn Disease Claw Horn Disruption

Low-quality hoof hom is a frequent underlying cause of lameness in cattle. Because the lesions that are observed are the result of insults that affect horn production at the cellular level, the term claw horn disruption has been proposed to describe the disease process. Although claw hom disruption may result from multiple etiologies, the response of the keratinocytes is relatively nonspecific in that lesions often appear the same regardless of cause. To solve herd problems, the investigation of possible etiologies must be integrated with a basic understanding of the anatomic and physiologic features of hoof horn production.
Recognizing the Importance of Consumer Bargaining: Strategic Marketing Implications

Consumer bargaining is a global phenomenon operating, essentially, in every product category since time immemorial. With the recognition of exchange as central to marketing, it should have been one of the most developed areas of research but many scholars lacked interest in it. This has created a paucity of managerial implications. Over the last decade, consumer bargaining has flourished in the U.S. and firms have started not only coping with it but also encouraging it. In this work, we offer a framework of consumer bargaining, discuss its drivers of growth, offer responsive marketing strategies and areas for future research.
Two-Drug Treatment Approaches in HIV: Finally Getting Somewhere?

The advent of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly decreased AIDS-related morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, the benefits of ART are only realized through adherence to lifelong treatment. Though contemporary antiretroviral (ARV) drugs have fewer adverse effects in comparison to older ARV drugs, many agents are associated with negative or unknown long-term effects. There is increasing evidence that two-drug (dual-therapy) regimens may be an effective alternative to the currently recommended three-drug (triple-therapy) regimens. In this review, we provide a comprehensive and critical review of recently completed and ongoing trials of dual-therapy regimens in treatment-naive and treatment-experienced HIV-1-infected patients. We also review current HIV/AIDS society recommendations regarding dual therapy as well as future therapeutic possibilities.
Evidence for red fox (Vulpes vulpes) exploitation of anthropogenic food sources along an urbanization gradient using stable isotope analysis

As urban areas expand, wildlife show adaptations to urban ecosystems. We tested two hypotheses for urban populations of red fox (Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758)) in urban areas: the population press...
EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS OF DIPLOID-TETRAPLOID SPECIES OF TREEFROGS OF THE GENUS HYLA.

Several theories have been advanced to explain why polyploidy plays a lesser role in animal evolution than in that of plants. White (1973) favors the view that the prevalence of obligatory cross-fertilization is the principal barrier to bisexual polyploidy in animals. Bisexual polyploidy is unknown in amniote vertebrates, being precluded perhaps by the existence of well-developed chromosomal mechanisms of sex determination (Muller, 1925; Ohno, 1970; Jackson, 1976), but it has been a factor in the evolution of fishes and amphibians. Among amphibians, 12 bisexual polyploid species of anurans representing five families have been identified (Bogart and Tandy, 1976). Three of these are New World tetraploid species with morphologically similar diploid counterparts (Be?ak et al., 1970; Wasserman, 1970; Bogart and Wasserman, 1972; Batistic et al., 1975). The treefrog Hyla versicolor is tetraploid (2n = 48) and bisexual throughout its range in the eastern United States and Canada. Its distribution is largely allopatric with that of its diploid (2n = 24) sibling species H. chrysoscelis (Ralin, 1968, 1977; Bogart and Wasserman, 1972). As shown in Figure 1, H. versicolor occurs in the Northeast, the Appalachian region, the Great Lakes region, and in an area from southwestern Missouri south through eastern Oklahoma to south-central and eastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana. The range of H. chrysoscelis in the southern United States apparently is divided into western (central Texas) and eastern parts by the interposition of H. versicolor. The species are extensively sympatric in southern and extreme northwestern Wisconsin (Jaslow and Vogt, 1977), and they are known to occur together at localities in central Texas, southwestern Louisiana, eastern Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio, and Virginia, although the details of their distributions and the full extent of sympatry in these regions remain to be worked out. The species differ in mean values of some morphological characters (Johnson, 1966; Ralin, 1968), but chromosome number, cell size, and the pulse rate of the mating call (corrected for temperature) are the only known characteristics by which individuals may reliably be identified (Ralin, 1968, 1976b, 1977; Bogart and Wasserman, 1972). Diploid-tetraploid complexes like H. chrysoscelis and H. versicolor provide an opportunity to study the population genetic effects of relatively recent duplications of entire genomes. Here we survey electrophoretically demonstrable variation at structural gene loci and analyze phenotypic and inferred genotypic variation, frequency distributions of alleles, heterozygosity, and genetic similarity within and between populations. Hypotheses concerning the origin and evolution of the tetraploid species are considered, and the significance of polymorphism at structural gene loci in relation to the evolutionary potential provided by bisexual polyploidy is discussed.
From research to manufacture—The evolution of MOCVD

The article provides an overview of the manufacturing capabilities of metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technology and describes its application to the growth and fabrication of devices in three different material groups: AlGaAs/GaAs, AlInGaP, and AlGaN/GaN. Discussed are GaN blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), AlInGaP red and yellow LEDs, and AlGaAs/GaAs vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers and high-electron-mobility transistors. Based on these examples, the evolution of MOCVD technology from fundamental materials studies and advanced materials development through the early stages of pilot manufacturing and large-volume manufacturing capabilities is demonstrated.
Fluorine-18 radiochemistry, labeling strategies and synthetic routes.

Fluorine-18 is the most frequently used radioisotope in positron emission tomography (PET) radiopharmaceuticals in both clinical and preclinical research. Its physical and nuclear characteristics (97% β+ decay, 109.7 min half-life, 635 keV positron energy), along with high specific activity and ease of large scale production, make it an attractive nuclide for radiochemical labeling and molecular imaging. Versatile chemistry including nucleophilic and electrophilic substitutions allows direct or indirect introduction of 18F into molecules of interest. The significant increase in 18F radiotracers for PET imaging accentuates the need for simple and efficient 18F-labeling procedures. In this review, we will describe the current radiosynthesis routes and strategies for 18F labeling of small molecules and biomolecules.
The Cognitive Engineering of Everyday Activities

Cognitive engineers study complex systems in context Yet the same phenomena they observe in professional environments are also apparent in the everyday activities of people. In this paper, a case study is used to illustrate how the principles and theories employed to study complex cognitive systems are just as applicable for routine activities. The case study involves four people traveling from three different locations, meeting at an airport, and proceeding to a business meeting with a fifth person. Although the plan failed, the events surrounding the trip provide an opportunity to discuss cognitive engineering concepts such as planning and execution, replanning, coordination, and internal representations, The paper suggests that applying cognitive engineering methods to the study of everyday activities may provide valuable insights into more complex systems.
Thomson Scattering Studies in He and He/H2 Nanosecond Pulse Nonequilibrium Plasmas

Thomson scattering and kinetic modeling are used to study time evolution of electron density and electron temperature in a nanosecond pulse, diffuse filament electric discharge sustained between two spherical electrodes and operated at a low pulse repetition rate. The experiments have been done for three representative cases: (1) Helium, P=200 torr, discharge pulse energy 17 mJ/pulse; (2) Helium, P=100 torr, discharge pulse energy 0.6 mJ/pulse; and (3) 1% hydrogen in helium, P=100 torr, discharge pulse energy 0.8 mJ/pulse. In Case 1, peak electron number density and peak electron temperature are ne ≈ 3.5·10 15 cm -3 and Te ≈ 4 eV, respectively. The kinetic model predictions agree well with the temporal trends detected in the experiment (rapid initial rise of electron temperature and electron density during the discharge pulse and gradual decay in the afterglow), although peak electron temperature and electron density values during the pulse are somewhat overpredicted. Similar temporal trends, although at lower peak ne and Te, are observed at lower discharge pulse energies. The electron number density decay in a 1% H2 – He mixture is found to be much faster, by approximately a factor of 4, compared to helium at the same pressure and nearly the same discharge pulse energy. This is likely due to more rapid dissociative recombination of electrons in collisions with H2 + ions compared to dissociation recombination of electrons with He2 + ions. At these lower pulse energies, model predictions reproduce temporal trends fairly well, but overpredict peak electron density as well as the rate of electron cooling. D ow nl oa de d by I go r A da m ov ic h on F eb ru ar y 2, 2 01 4 | h ttp :// ar c. ai aa .o rg | D O I: 1 0. 25 14 /6 .2 01 413 58 52nd Aerospace Sciences Meeting 13-17 January 2014, National Harbor, Maryland AIAA 2014-1358 Copyright © 2014 by Andrew Roettgen. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission. AIAA SciTech
Parasites of Face Flies (Diptera: Muscidae) in South Central Nebraska

Field parasitism of the face fly, Musca autumnalis De Geer, by insect parasites and the nematode, Heterotylenchus autumnalis Nickle, was investigated in south central Nebraska. Four species of insect parasites were collected from face fly puparia: Aphaereta pallipes Say, Muscidifurax sp., Eucoila sp., and Aleochara sp. A. pallipes was found only during the first 4 wk of the study (6–24 June), whereas the other three parasites were intermittently found, at low levels, for the remainder of the study (24 June–26 September). Total seasonal insect parasitism averaged 4.3%. Seasonal parasitism by the nematode H. autumnalis averaged 5.8% and peaked at 18% on 9 September.
The Strategic Approaches for a New Typology of Firm Patent Portfolios

Patents play an important role for companies to achieve competitive advantage. There is an increased recognition of the importance of patent portfolios as a key to achieve competitive advantage as opposed to any one patent. Hence, some researchers suggest that the true values of patents lie in the aggregation of some related patents rather than their individual worth. In addition, as firms increase their technological diversification so too do their patent portfolios. On the basis of portfolio theory, we build a typology of four types of patent portfolios characterized on the dimensions of technology coherence and synergistic economic value: black, cloud, star and constellation portfolios. Then, according to the characteristics of each type of portfolio, we propose that different strategic approaches should be applied to manage them to achieve superior performance. Further, we suggest that different types of patent portfolios have different effects on firms’ long-term and short-term performances in dynamic environments. Our paper enriches our understanding of the role that patent portfolios play to achieve superior firm performance by linking the management of firm-level resources to value creation in uncertain environments; and also provides important insights into future trends in the patent portfolios strategy in dynamic environments.
Differential diagnosis: Trepanation

Trepanation is the scraping, cutting, or drilling of an opening (or openings) into the neurocranium. World surveys reveal that a number of ancient cultures experimented with cranial surgery, and that in some areas these practices continued into modern times. Archaeological discoveries of possible trepanations continue to be made, often from geographic areas or time periods from which the practice was not previously known. Unfortunately, most of these reports describe single crania with healed defects interpreted as trepanations. When evaluating a possible trepanation in a skull that lacks medical history or comes from an archaeological context where there is no other evidence that such operations were performed, a thorough differential diagnosis is essential. Identification of unhealed trepanations is a relatively straightforward exercise, since tool marks provide direct evidence of surgical intervention. A confident diagnosis is more difficult in healed defects of the skull, where the mechanism that produced an opening may be obscured by bone remodeling. There are many possible causes of defects of the skull vault, including congenital and developmental anomalies, trauma, infection, neoplasm, and taphonomic damage. For this reason, a careful differential diagnosis is essential for identifying surgical intervention and distinguishing it from cranial defects caused by other mechanisms.
I want to understand (what is happening to me)! Miguel Gutierrez Performs How to Be Okay in a Non-Utopia

Miguel Gutierrez’s body of choreographic work, developed in the post-9/11 decade, converses with theories that glimpse potential utopias in performance and in the concept of queerness. Gutierrez’s work is significant not just for envisaging desirable futures, but also for how its difficult aesthetics demonstrate, embody, and perform ways to be in and move through the non-utopias of now.
Protein Synthesis and Uptake by Isolated Cecropia Oocytes

A procedure has been developed for separating the oocytes and follicular epithelium-nurse cell complexes making up the vitellogenic ovarian follicle of the Cecropia moth. Both components remained viable during short-term in vitro incubation in female blood. Isolated epithelial cells were found by autoradiography to incorporate tritiated amino acids and to secrete a fixable, non-dialysable labelled material. Isolated oocytes incubated in a blood medium containing this tritiated, dialysed follicle cell product incorporated it in small cortical yolk bodies, presumably by pinocytosis. Quantitative perchloric acid-precipitation and scintillation counting indicated that the amount of labelled material incorporated by the oocytes increased with time. These results provide direct confirmation of a follicle contribution to the yolk. Isolated oocytes were also tested for their ability to incorporate labelled amino acids. Fixable label was observed autoradiographically throughout the oocyte cytoplasm, with the greatest concentration in the cortex, but little appeared in the yolk spheres. The amount of perchloric acid-precipitable amino acid in oocytes incubated in female blood increased with time for up to 2 h and then remained constant or decreased slightly. In medium that had been previously conditioned by follicle cells and dialysed, however, incorporation of labelled amino acid continued for at least 4 h. A possible interpretation of this result is that stimulation of pinocytosis by the epithelial cell products causes increased turnover of cell membrane and demands continued synthesis of new proteins. Labelled female blood proteins were not incorporated into yolk to an appreciable extent by isolated oocytes, even in the presence of follicle cell product. Perhaps extracellular preconcentration, as occurs in the intact follicle, is necessary for effective accrual of blood proteins. The female blood proteins did become associated with the oocyte cortex, however, and exhibited a higher affinity for the oocyte than male blood proteins. Thus preferential adsorption to the oocyte surface may be a component of the selection process in vitellogenesis.
Predictive value of angiotensin II blockade with (sarcosine-1, threonine-8) angiotensin II in renovascular hypertension.

Abstract Administration of an angiotensin II antagonist, (sarcosine-1, threonine-8) angiotensin II, was used to diagnose renovascular hypertension in 22 patients before renal revascularization or nephrectomy. Positive and negative responses to infusion occurred in 12 and 10 patients, respectively. Postoperatively, hypertension was cured in 13 patients, improved in 6 and unchanged in 3. The over-all accuracy of the infusion test in predicting the outcome of surgical therapy was 59 per cent, the false positive rate was 8.3 per cent and the false negative rate was 80 per cent. A similar high incidence of false negative results has been observed with differential renal vein plasma renin assays. The most accurate prediction of the blood pressure response to surgical therapy is obtained by considering multiple factors rather than a single test.
The Impact of Patient Web Portals on Readmissions Through IT Based Reminder Systems

Patient web portals can play an important role in alleviating rising healthcare costs. Portals can help patients to get reminders about conducting diagnostic tests and care regime after a hospital admission to reduce subsequent readmissions. This research in progress has the focus to investigate the effect of portal based health reminders on the unplanned hospital readmissions. We argue reminders would have a reducing effect on readmissions with each view of diagnostic test reminders. An empirical strategy is proposed that would use an archival data set through a medical provider. We discuss the contributions and practice of our findings.
Thyroglobulin Measurement in Fine-Needle Aspiration Improves the Diagnosis of Cervical Lymph Node Metastases in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Background Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is frequently associated with cervical lymph node metastases. Guidelines recommend performing ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for suspicious nodes to guide management. No specific recommendations are available for the use of FNA thyroglobulin assay (FNA-Tg). This study investigated the diagnostic value of performing FNAC and FNA-Tg.
Una adelfa en tierras extrañas: emblemática y misoginia en la «Comedia famosa de los guanches de Tenerife y conquista de Canaria»

El presente articulo explora el uso que Lope de Vega hace en su comedia Los guanches de Tenerife de uno de los emblemas incluidos en las Emblemas moralizadas (1599) de su amigo Hernando de Soto. El emblema en cuestion, que establece la relacion entre engano y mujer a traves del motivo de la adelfa, es utilizado por Lope en su comedia para representar el encuentro entre conquistadores espanoles e indigenas canarios y el miedo y la atraccion que produce en los primeros el contacto con las nuevas realidades de Tenerife. La agenda ideologica que suscrible la obra y el escenario idilico elegido para el encuentro hacen, sin embargo, que el contenido misogino del emblema quede atenuado en la adaptacion que Lope hace del mismo.
Assessing the Pitting Corrosion Resistance of Oilfield Nickel Alloys at Elevated Temperatures by Electrochemical Methods

Nickel alloys are broadly used in upstream oil and gas applications as a result of an advantageous set of properties including high mechanical strength accompanied by good ductility and toughness, ...
Errors That Are Common in Multiplication.

Are there any generalities an elementary teacher can keep in mind while conducting group instruction in the use of the multiplication algorithm? Are there certain kinds of multiplication mistakes many children make and, therefore, of which teachers should be aware? Cox (1975) has investigated the errors made by children in addition and subtraction examples. He has proposed the following classification system for computational errors.
Chapter 17 - Multiscale Statistical Process Control and Model-Based Denoising

A multiscale filtering approach that exploits the multivariate nature of measured process data and can denoise measurements with either deterministic or stochastic underlying signals is described in this chapter. This approach represents model-based denoising as a constrained Bayesian optimization problem. Information about the nature of the underlying variables is provided by selecting an appropriate distribution function for the prior probability and the process model is represented as the constraint. The multiscale model-based denoising approach is an error-in-variables approach and focuses on systems where the multivariate model is linear and describes a steady-state relationship between the variables. In addition, an introduction to the relevant notation and properties of wavelets is provided in the chapter. This is followed by the description of a general methodology for multiscale analysis, modeling, and optimization. This methodology provides greater insight into various multiscale approaches and permits the development of new multiscale methods. The technique of multiscale statistical process control (MSSPC) and some recent developments in this area are also described.
Infection Control in the Outpatient Setting

As healthcare continues to evolve, economic forces and technological advancements have facilitated the transition of healthcare delivery from acute care hospitals to a myriad of different outpatient care settings such as ambulatory surgery centers, physician offices, dialysis centers, home care, and other specialized settings (Friedman C, Barnette M, Buck AS et al, Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 20(10):695–705. doi:10.1086/501569, 1999). The number of outpatient visits and procedures continues to rise, with 929 million physician office visits occurring in the United States in 2012, or 301 visits per 100 persons (Ashman J, Hing E, Talwalkar A, NCHS data brief: variation in physician office visit rates by patient characteristics and state, 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db212.htm. Updated 2015. Accessed 01/14, 2016). Surgical procedures occurring in ambulatory surgical centers rose threefold between 1999 and 2005 and now represent 75% of all surgical procedures performed (Barie PS, JAMA 303(22):2295–2297. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.760, 2010). Outpatient oncologic care is also significant, with an estimated 1.1 million cancer patients per year receiving outpatient chemotherapy or radiation (Halpern MT, Yabroff KR, Cancer Investig 26(6):647–651. doi:10.1080/07357900801905519, 2008). Approximately 500,000 patients per year receive infusion therapy for maintenance hemodialysis, nutritional support, home intravenous antimicrobial therapy, or cancer chemotherapy in the outpatient setting (Williams DN, Rehm SJ, Tice AD, Bradley JS, Kind AC, Craig WA, Clin Infect Dis 25(4):787–801, 1997). While healthcare in the outpatient setting is on the rise, the overall number of inpatient hospital admissions is decreasing (35,522,000 in 2008 to 34,217,000 in 2012) (American Hospital Association. Fast facts on US hospitals. http://www.aha.org/research/rc/stat-studies/fast-facts.shtml. Updated 2015. Accessed 01/14, 2016. n.d.). These pivotal trends provide a major impetus to develop sound infection control processes and practices in the outpatient setting.
The Effect of Perioperative Cimetidine Administration on Time to Colorectal Cancer Recurrence.

Background Studies have reported that the perioperative use of cimetidine, a histamine type 2 receptor antagonist, in addition to chemotherapy in patients with lymph node-positive colorectal cancer (CRC) improves the survival. Study question To determine if time to CRC recurrence could be prolonged with cimetidine. Study design Cimetidine was prescribed to American Joint on Cancer Committee (AJCC) stage III CRC patients perioperatively. Tumor recurrence was defined as the time (in days) between tumor resection and CRC recurrence. Medical charts of patients diagnosed with CRC between 1996 and 2006 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria were patients with (a) AJCC stage III CRC, (b) who had undergone surgical resection of the tumor, and (c) who received chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil). Measures and outcomes AJCC stage III CRC patients who did and did not receive cimetidine as part of the treatment regimen were compared with respect to their clinical outcomes using univariate analysis and Kaplan-Meier modeling. Results Between 1996 and 2006, 38 patients met our inclusion criteria. Twenty-six percent (10/38) received perioperative cimetidine (mean daily dose, 750 mg; mean duration, 369 days; mean total cumulative cimetidine dose, 274,070 mg/d) in addition to chemotherapy. Time to recurrence and cancer deaths were prolonged in the chemotherapy plus cimetidine group compared with the group that received chemotherapy alone (mean ± SD: 1078 ± 290 vs. 446 ± 62; P = 0.03). In addition, we found a significant positive relationship between the duration of cimetidine therapy (days) and survival duration (correlation coefficient = 0.94, P = 0.02) and time until cancer recurrence (correlation coefficient = 0.99, P = 0.04). Moreover, there was a significant positive relationship between the total cumulative cimetidine dose and survival duration (correlation coefficient = 0.92, P = 0.03). Conclusions Prolonged duration of cimetidine may be superior to shorter courses in prolonging recurrence of CRC and thus survival.
Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry of Oxygen Sensitive Proteins

The protocol detailed here describes a way to perform hydrogen deuterium exchange coupled to mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) on oxygen sensitive proteins. HDX-MS is a powerful tool for studying the protein structure-function relationship. Applying this technique to anaerobic proteins provides insight into the mechanism of proteins that perform oxygen sensitive chemistry. A problem when using HDX-MS to study anaerobic proteins is that there are many parts that require constant movement into and out of an anaerobic chamber. This can affect the seal, increasing the likelihood of oxygen exposure. Exposure to oxygen causes the cofactors bound to these proteins, a common example being FeS clusters, to no longer interact with the amino acid residues responsible for coordinating the FeS clusters, causing loss of the clusters and irreversible inactivation of the protein. To counteract this, a double vial system was developed that allows the preparation of solutions and reaction mixtures anaerobically, but also allows these solutions to be moved to an aerobic environment while shielding the solutions from oxygen. Additionally, movement isn't limited like it is in an anaerobic chamber, ensuring more consistent data, and fewer errors during the course of the reaction.
Achieving super-resolution fluorescence imaging with focused spot illumination and non-negative inversions (Conference Presentation)

We demonstrate a new method for two-dimensional super-resolution fluorescence imaging. Our method achieves more than 2-fold resolution enhancement over the Rayleigh resolution limit simply with a focused illumination spot and non-negative least-squares inversions, and with practical photon budgets that can be supported by common fluorophores used for biological fluorescence microscopy.
Collecting duct principal, but not intercalated, cell prorenin receptor regulates renal sodium and water excretion.

The collecting duct is the predominant nephron site of prorenin and prorenin receptor (PRR) expression. We previously demonstrated that the collecting duct PRR regulates epithelial Na+ channel (ENa...
Lazy Learning: Classification Using Nearest Neighbors

In the next several Chapters, we will concentrate on various progressively advanced machine learning, classification and clustering techniques. There are two categories of learning techniques we will explore: supervised (human-guided) classi腶cation and unsupervised (fully-automated) clustering. In general, supervised classification aims to identify or predict predefined classes and label new objects as members of specific classes. Whereas, unsupervised clustering attempts to group objects into sets, without knowing a priori labels, and determine relationships between objects.
PD02-07 PROPHYLACTIC MIDURETHRAL SLINGS AT THE TIME OF PELVIC ORGAN PROLAPSE REPAIR SURGERY TO PREVENT DE-NOVO STRESS URINARY INCONTINENCE- A NEED TO REAPPRAISE?

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES:Prophylactic sling placement may prevent de-novo stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women undergoing pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery, however at the potential cost...
Electro-Thermal Simulation of Delta-Doped $\boldsymbol{\beta}$ -Ga 2 O 3 Field Effect Transistors

Gallium oxide has potential to emerge as a better alternative to wide bandgap materials such as GaN, SiC etc. for radio frequency and power electronics applications. It can achieve higher breakdown voltage and efficiency than GaN and SiC due to its significantly higher bandgap and Baliga's figure of merit. In this work, we have studied electrical and thermal characteristics of a delta-doped $\beta$ -Ga 2 O 3 Field Effect Transistor (FET). In this FET, a thin layer of Ga 2 O 3 is grown epitaxially on Fe doped semi-insulating Ga 2 O 3 substrate; all grown in (010) direction. First, a 2-D electro-thermal model is developed and numerically computed electrical characteristics are matched with the measurements. The Thermodynamic model in Sentaurus TCAD is used for these numerical simulations. Temperature profile and location of hot-spot in the device were determined. The maximum drain current of 154.4 mA/mm of channel width was predicted at drain-source voltage of 10 V and gate-source voltage of 2 V. The peak temperature of device computed using 2-D model is 475 K at this biased voltage just below the gate edge that is near the drain side. Second, a 3-D model was used to predict peak temperature more accurately. 3-D model predicts peak temperature at the specified bias condition to be 416 K. Thus, we highlighted that 2-D model over-predicts peak temperature. Finally, we explored two different passive cooling mechanisms– (1) replacement of substrate with a higher thermal conductivity substrate and (2) addition of a passivation layer on top of the semiconducting Ga 2 O 3 layer. First method is observed to be more effective in reducing the peak and overall temperature in the device.
Intra- and inter-rater reliability in the cross-sectional area of feline lumbar epaxial musculature evaluated via abdominal CT scan:

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the intra- and inter-rater reliability of epaxial muscle cross-sectional area measurement on feline CT images and to determine the relationship betwe...
Analysis of the changing patterns of seasonal flooding along the U.S. East Coast

Sea level rise (SLR) is causing acceleration in the frequency and duration of minor tidal flooding (often called “sunny-day” or “nuisance” flooding) along the U.S. East Coast. Those floods have a seasonal pattern that often follows the monthly mean sea level anomaly which peaks in September–October for stations between New York and south Florida. However, there are large differences between coasts: for example, over 75% of the minor floods occur during the fall in Florida, but during the spring and winter in Boston. Various data and forcing, such as tide gauge records, surface temperatures, winds, long-term tidal cycles, and the Gulf Stream flow, were analyzed to examine potential drivers and mechanisms that can contribute to the seasonal pattern of floods. The seasonal water temperature cycle, with maximum temperatures in August, could not by itself explain the seasonal sea level pattern, but two mechanisms that significantly correlate with the seasonal sea level and flooding patterns are the annual and semi-annual tidal cycles (correlation of ~ 0.97) and changes in the Gulf Stream (GS) flow (correlation of − 0.6; the GS shows a maximum decline in September–October during the period of peak flooding). The combination of the seasonal pattern of tropical storms and high coastal sea level can explain the high frequency of fall flooding along the Southeastern U.S. coasts, while winter storms have more influence on the northeastern coasts. In recent decades however, the seasonal pattern seemed to have shifted so that increased flooding is seen on the northeastern coasts during spring and summer, while in the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern coasts, a dramatic increase in flooding is seen almost exclusively during the fall. A long-term change in the mean zonal wind pattern along the coast can contribute to the recent shift in the seasonal flooding pattern. The study can help regional adaptation and resilience planning for flood-prone coastal cities and communities.
Reinforcement Learning for Adaptable Bandwidth Tracking Radars

In this article, 1 1 Portions of this work were presented at the 2018 IEEE Radar Conference [1] . we examine a cognitive radar that must coexist with communication systems. Specifically, we model a cognitive radar's adaptation to the communication system as a Markov decision process (MDP) and then apply reinforcement learning to solve the resulting optimization problem. More specifically, we learn the environment model and then apply policy iteration to determine the optimal policy. The radar environment consists of a single moving target and a communication system that uses the same bands as the radar. The communication system is modeled using several different transmission behaviors: constant, intermittent, triangular frequency sweep, sawtooth frequency sweep, frequency hop, pseudorandom frequency hop, and direction-dependent interference. We demonstrate how the MDP framework and reinforcement learning can be used to help the radar determine actions (i.e., transmission strategies) to maximize its own performance.
Pembrolizumab-Associated Hypoparathyroidism: A Single Case Report.

Abstract Objective To evaluate a case of pembrolizumab-induced hypoparathyroidism leading to hypocalcemia. Methods The diagnostic tests performed included calcium and parathyroid hormone level detection and calcium-sensing receptor gene analysis. Results A 71-year-old Caucasian man was diagnosed with stage IIIB adenocarcinoma of the lung and received radiation therapy but had no other exposure to radiation. Pembrolizumab 200 mg intravenous every 3 weeks was started 5 years after the initial diagnosis. The patient’s corrected calcium level was 9.2 mg/dL (normal, 8.5-10.5 mg/dL) at the start of pembrolizumab therapy. The calcium level after the 13th dose of pembrolizumab was 8.1 mg/dL (normal, 8.5-10.2 mg/dL), leading to endocrinology referral. The patient’s parathyroid hormone and corrected calcium levels after the 22nd dose were 4.3 mg/dL (normal, 14-72 pg/mL) and 6.5 mg/dL (normal, 8.5-10.2 mg/dL), respectively. He denied symptoms of latent tetany on presentation while on pembrolizumab for 15 months but complained of fatigue and weakness. The patient had no history of autoimmune diseases or neck injuries. Calcium-sensing receptor gene analysis was negative for genetic mutations. Immunotherapy-mediated hypoparathyroidism was diagnosed. He was treated with daily oral calcium carbonate (2000 mg), calcitriol 0.5 μg, 1 dose of calcium gluconate 2 g intravenous, and 3 doses of calcium chloride 1 g intravenous. His fatigue, weakness, and calcium levels improved with therapy. Conclusion Pembrolizumab treatment may have resulted in immune-mediated hypoparathyroidism, leading to hypocalcemia. It is important to report such cases to understand its presentation and timing in relation to pembrolizumab, which further facilitates its timely treatment.
Facilitating Factors in the Proper Identification of Acute Skin Failure: A Systematic Review.

Background Acute skin failure is a significant medical finding for both the critical care patient and the hospital. Proper identification is key to prevention and treatment, but diagnosis of acute skin failure in critical care patients is often missed. This diagnostic oversight may be due to a lack of knowledge about acute skin failure and its presentation. Objective To investigate the literature for facilitating factors that would ease the identification of acute skin failure for clinicians. Methods The research team conducted a systematic literature review via PubMed, CINAHL, and Academic Search Ultimate to collect data about acute skin failure and how it might be identified. Results Ten common facilitation themes around acute skin failure and its identification were found in the literature. In total, 110 examples of facilitating factors were identified. Conclusions There is little factual information available regarding the identification of acute skin failure, and the literature is lacking in this area overall. Acute skin failure may develop in the body in a number of ways, and understanding commonalities that occur in patients who experience acute skin failure and applying that information to patients in the future may assist identification.
Co-Exploration of Graph Neural Network and Network-on-Chip Design Using AutoML

Recently, Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have exhibited high efficiency in several graph-based machine learning tasks. Compared with the neural networks for computer vision or speech tasks (e.g., Convolutional Neural Networks), GNNs have much higher requirements on communication due to the complicated graph structures; however, when applying GNNs for real-world applications, say in recommender systems (e.g. Uber Eats), it commonly has the real-time requirements. To deal with the tradeoff between the complicated architecture and the high-demand timing performance, both GNN architecture and hardware accelerator need to be optimized. Network-on-Chip (NoC), derived for efficiently managing the high-volume of communications, naturally becomes one of the top candidates to accelerate GNNs. However, there is a missing link between the optimize of GNN architecture and the NoC design. In this work, we present an AutoML-based framework GN-NAS, aiming at searching for the optimum GNN architecture, which can be suitable for the NoC accelerator. We devise a robust reinforcement learning based controller to validate the retained best GNN architectures, coupled with a parameter sharing approach, namely ParamShare, to improve search efficiency. Experimental results on four graph-based benchmark datasets, Cora, Citeseer, Pubmed and Protein-Protein Interaction show that the GNN architectures obtained by our framework outperform that of the state-of-the-art and baseline models, whilst reducing model size which makes them easy to deploy onto the NoC platform.
Determining Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations in Liquid Cultures or on Solid Medium

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is the mainstay of tuberculosis drug development programs. In this chapter, we describe methods for determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration of compounds against Mycobacterium tuberculosis growing in liquid media as a function of carbon source, detergent, and environmental stress imposed by acidic pH as well as reactive nitrogen intermediates. Methods for determining the effect of bovine serum albumin in the growth medium on antimicrobial susceptibility are also described. Finally, we provide a method for antimicrobial susceptibility testing on agar medium.
Dynamic Network Analysis Demonstrates the Formation of Stable Functional Networks During Rule Learning

Variations in the functional connectivity of large-scale cortical brain networks may explain individual differences in learning ability. We used a dynamic network analysis of fMRI data to identify changes in functional brain networks that are associated with context-dependent rule learning. During fMRI scanning, naive subjects performed a cognitive task designed to test their ability to learn context-dependent rules. Notably, subjects were given minimal instructions about the task prior to scanning. We identified several key network characteristics associated with fast and accurate rule learning. First, consistent with the formation of stable functional networks, a dynamic community detection analysis revealed regionally specific reductions in flexible switching between different functional communities in successful learners. Second, successful rule learners showed decreased centrality of ventral attention regions and increased assortative mixing of cognitive control regions as the rules were learned. Finally, successful subjects showed greater decoupling of default and attention communities throughout the entire task, whereas ventral attention and cognitive control regions became more connected during learning. Overall, the results support a framework by which a stable ventral attention community and more flexible cognitive control community support sustained attention and the formation of rule representations in successful learners.
Against Piecemeal Skepticism

Rather than advancing a global skeptical hypothesis, Anthony Brueckner and Jon Altschul construct a skeptical strategy in which they posit a plurality of skeptical hypotheses for distinct propositions that someone claims to know. I show that such “piecemeal” skepticism fails, suggesting that the skeptic is better off sticking with a global skeptical hypothesis.
E-Man’s World

Warum stellen wir immer wieder fest, dass die jungen Forscher so viele geniale Ideen haben und schon am Ende der Dreisiger nicht mehr? Warum argern wir uns uber Erfindergrunder von Unternehmen, die ihren Stuhl nicht an richtige Superbauer-Manager abgeben wollen? Was sollen diese Menschen da noch? Wir schliesen gewohnlich resignierend, dass alles eben so sein muss, wie es ist. „Man kann nichts machen.“ Und ich habe Sie unter Umstanden ziemlich gut uberzeugt, dass Sie den Jugendwahn der E-Welt zumindest achselzuckend hinnehmen.
Polyribosomes of Escherichia coli BREAKDOWN DURING GLUCOSE STARVATION

Abstract Growing cells incubated in a medium lacking glucose undergo a rapid breakdown of polyribosomes to single 70 S ribosomes. This conversion is accompanied by a loss of protein-synthetic capacity in vivo and is inhibited by chloramphenicol, but not by puromycin. The conversion of polysomes to 70 S ribosomes, with a half-life of 1½ to 2½ min at 37°, appears to reflect a breakdown of messenger ribonucleic acid. The polysomes remaining during starvation remain the most active sites of protein synthesis.
Lower Circulating C1q/TNF-Related Protein-3 (CTRP3) Levels Are Associated with Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose C1q/TNF-related protein-3 (CTRP3) is a novel adipokine that lowers blood glucose levels, reduces liver triglyceride synthesis, and is protective against hepatic steatosis in diet-induced obese mouse models. We hypothesized that higher circulating serum levels of CTRP3 would be associated with a lean body mass index (BMI) and a more favorable metabolic profile in humans. The aim of this study was to investigate CTRP3 levels in lean individuals compared to obese individuals.
Predicting Adolescent Fear of Crime Through the Lens of General Strain Theory

This study examines the effect of neighborhood disorder and strain on adolescent fear of crime while controlling for demographic and contextual variables that have previously been demonstrated as having an association with fear of crime. Earlier work has suggested that feelings of powerlessness have a significant impact on fear of crime among adolescents; thus strain theory (derivatives of which deal with both perceptions of blocked opportunities and powerlessness to achieve positively valued goals) may impact fear of crime as well. Using data from self-report surveys of approximately 700 adolescents from a southeastern state, multiple regression analyses indicate that those adolescents who felt most “strained” had significantly higher levels of fear of crime than their counterparts. This relationship persisted even after controlling for known predictors of fear of crime. Explanations for these findings, as well as their ramifications for social policies and future research, are discussed.
Plasmon and phonon mechanisms of superconductivity in the layered high Tc copper-oxides

Abstract The high anisotropy of the new superconducting oxides leads to a number of unusual features of their plasmon spectrum such as a low frequency region crucial for the appearance of high Tc superconductivity. In our view Tc superconductivity arises from the coexistence of the phonon and non-phonon (plasmon) mechanisms. We have introduced a generalized Eliashberg equation in the presence of both phonon and plasmon channels and have studied the dependence of Tc on the parameters of the new superconducting materials. The key feature we identify for the occurrence of low-frequency collective excitations is the layered structure of all currently known classes of high Tc materials, which leads to peaks in the plasmon density of states at both upper and lower boundaries of the plasmon bands.