cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Signaling for Coercion: Exploring the Strategic Uses of Diplomacy, Actions, and the Media during the 2006 War in Lebanon

For decades, one of the cornerstones of International Relations scholarship has been its focus on deterrence, compellence, and other forms of coercion. Despite the centrality of this literature to the field, IR scholarship exploring the functional means by which signals are delivered for coercion is severely lacking. In an anarchic system, how can an actor convincingly demonstrate resolve, and therefore, prove its power to the decision makers of its adversary? Since no statements or actions can be considered unambiguous in anarchy, understanding the mechanics of how coercive messages are delivered is a key step in measuring the effectiveness of attempts at deterrence and compellence. This paper seeks to remedy this theoretical oversight, and to offer timely and practical guidance for practitioners, by providing a new model for explaining the relationship between signaling paths and the eventual success of coercion in war. Building primarily on the coercion literature, as well as on related work from the fields of political psychology and communications theory, this paper develops a model which traces the different outcomes associated with signals sent via actions, diplomacy, and public channels, and hypothesizes how the use of each of these three signaling paths can best be employed to maximize the probability of successful coercion in war. After an exploration of these theoretical questions, the explanatory value of the theory is demonstrated using examples gathered from the 2006 war in Lebanon.
Transitory Environmental Threat Alters Sexually Dimorphic Mate Preferences and Sexual Strategy

The Environmental Security Hypothesis (ESH) proposes that when the environment is less secure, people will show greater preference for mates with survival-promoting traits (Pettijohn and Jungeberg in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(9), 1186–1197, 2004). In this study, we manipulated perceived environmental security and measured preference for different body and face characteristics as well as attitudes toward long-term (LTM) and short-term mating (STM) strategies. Participants (N = 100) received a cover story designed to lead experimental, but not control, participants to believe they would be required to handle a poisonous snake. Participants then completed a measure of sociosexual orientation and selected the three opposite-sex face and body types that they found most attractive from image matrices depicting physical characteristics varying systematically across body and face shape. Female bodies varied in body fat and waist-to-hip ratio, and male bodies varied in muscle mass and waist-to-chest ratio. Face stimuli varied in masculine–feminine facial shape and masculine–feminine facial coloration. Results indicated that, compared to controls, men in the environmental-threat condition showed a preference for higher body fat, and women in the environmental-threat condition showed a preference for higher muscle mass and more masculine faces. These women also showed a more positive attitude toward STM, but not LTM. In line with the ESH, our findings predominantly support a context-specific pattern of mate preference and sexual strategies.
Airway inflammation induced by mechanical ventilation through multiscale modeling

Inflammation has been recognized as a major integral component for most of the acute and chronic diseases. Inflammation can be initiated within the body as an innate process or by external factors such as infections and trauma. Inflammation is a complex and dynamic process, and involves nonlinearity and stochasticity. Without the inflammation, the harmful stimuli cannot be removed and the healing process cannot occur. However, an over-expression or under-expression of inflammatory responses can lead to severe consequences, such as Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS), which is characterized by sequential organ failure. Acute lung injury (ALI) is typically one of the first manifestation of MODS. It can be triggered by external stimuli such as pathogens or from inflammatory mediators produced from various other processes ranging from other damaged organs or to blood transfusions to even the biomechanical forces of mechanical ventilation itself.© 2012 ASME
DNA repair protein dynamics through single-molecule fluorescence

Crystal structures of mismatch repair proteins bound to mismatched DNA reveal kinked DNA. With single molecule FRET we observed dynamic switching among different bent states, which suggests the dynamics of bending may influence mismatch repair.
Abstract 4942: Deletion of the asymmetry regulator Lgl1 contributes to tumor stemness and invasiveness.

In the developing and adult brain asymmetric cell division (ACD) maintains a balance between self-renewing and differentiated progeny of neural stem and progenitor cells. The WD protein lethal giant larvae 1 (Lgl1) regulates the distribution of polarity proteins in dividing cells and thereby establishes an axis of polarity, which is crucial for proper asymmetric divisions to occur (Baek et al. Mutat Res. 1999; 436; 131-6). Lgl, along with other asymmetry regulators, have been identified as a putative tumor suppressor gene in Drosophila. There remains debate as to whether disrupting ACD by itself is sufficient to cause tumor initiation by mammalian stem and progenitor cells. We have previously shown that expression of multiple asymmetry regulators is disrupted in human glioma (Sugiarto et al. Cancer Cell; 2011; 20; 320-340). Here we address our hypothesis that ACD defects are crucial for tumorigenesis, by delineating the role of Lgl1 in tumor initiation and progression. Using mouse neural stem cells (NSCs) isolated from genetically modified Lgl1lox/lox mice (Klezovitch et al. Genes Dev. 2004; 18; 559-71) we investigated the contribution of Lgl1 to various hallmarks of cancer in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate that loss of Lgl1 in mouse NSC and oligodendrocyte precursor cells disrupts ACD and increases the expression of early-stage precursor cell markers. Deletion of Lgl1 does not increase proliferation in vitro and deletion of Lgl1 alone does not transform cells transplanted into immunocompromised mice. However properties associated with a high-grade tumor, including invasiveness and stem cell marker expression, are increased when Lgl1 is deleted in the context of oncogenic EgfrVIII expression. Increase in tumor invasiveness has previously been demonstrated to be associated with an increase in stem cell marker expression (Molina et al. Neoplasia. 2010; 12; 453-63). Our data suggest that loss of asymmetry in tumor precursor cells blocks differentiation and contributes to tumor progression by increasing stemness and hence invasiveness. Citation Format: Robin G. Lerner, Loan Nguyen, Claudia Petritsch. Deletion of the asymmetry regulator Lgl1 contributes to tumor stemness and invasiveness. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4942. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4942
Research on the unified time service architecture in smart substation

This paper puts forward the ideas of refining PTP server state machine to improve the stability and using clustering PTP service architecture to improve the availability and scalability.A safe PTP service model and a fast external time source tracking mechanism are also discussed in the paper.It has reference value for the construction of unified time service platform in smart substations.
Using Research to Generate Advice for Women: Examples from Negotiation Research

The gender gaps in pay and authority are rooted in social structures and behaviors of both men and women. These gaps will not be closed by “fixing women” to fit into a man’s world. Nonetheless, women want research-based strategies that they can use to overcome the barriers they encounter to fair pay and career advancement. Negotiation is one academic field in which such advice is being generated. The chapter centers on three recommendations for women to enhance their career negotiations. They involve using knowledge about gender stereotypes, reducing sources of ambiguity that heighten the potential for disadvantageous gender effects, and employing negotiating strategies that help women improve their social and material outcomes. The chapter closes with directions for future research to develop more organizationally grounded perspectives on how women from diverse backgrounds negotiate their career paths.
Student Co-mentoring in Israeli and American Universities: Promoting Mutual Academic Success

This chapter describes a peer mentoring approach that was incorporated in two courses that were at the beginning and at the end stages of students’ higher education programs: Undergraduate freshmen and doctoral students. With the goal of providing students with academic and social support using student-to-student co-mentoring experiences, the students were divided into dyads or triads. The students were asked to function both as mentors and mentees throughout an academic semester with the purpose of engaging them in co-mentoring to better meet the challenges faced, either in transitioning from high school to college or in furthering the advancement in their doctoral programs. Students enjoyed the meaningful help received and given as co-mentors and found this opportunity fulfilling. The results suggest that effective mentors not necessarily need to be more experienced or more knowledgeable than their mentees as the research suggests, but a more important aspect of effective mentoring might be providing the opportunity for persons to help others, especially those who are in similar predicaments.
A Coupling of BEM and FEM for the Viscous Flow Problem

In this paper we present a combined boundary element method (BEM) and finite element method (FEM) scheme for treating the two-dimensional stationary viscous, incompressible fluid flow past an obstacle. The problem here can be formulated in terms of the dimensionless Navier-Stokes equations with a small parameter, the Reynolds number. This is a typical exterior singular perturbation problem in the sense that there is no solution to the reduced equations (that is, the equations when the parameter is zero) satisfying both the boundary condition and the condition at infinity. As is well known, because of the presence of small parameters, standard numerical schemes, without suitable modifications, are not, in general, applicable for single perturbation problems.
Clinical experience with planning, quality assurance, and delivery of burst-mode modulated arc therapy

"Burst-mode" modulated arc therapy (hereafter referred to as "mARC") is a form of volumetric-modulated arc therapy characterized by variable gantry rotation speed, static MLCs while the radiation beam is on, and MLC repositioning while the beam is off. We present our clinical experience with the planning techniques and plan quality assurance measurements of mARC delivery. Clinical mARC plans for five representative cases (prostate, low-dose-rate brain, brain with partial-arc vertex fields, pancreas, and liver SBRT) were generated using a Monte Carlo-based treatment planning system. A conventional-dose-rate flat 6 MV and a high-dose-rate non-flat 7 MV beam are available for planning and delivery. mARC plans for intact-prostate cases can typically be created using one 360° arc, and treatment times per fraction seldom exceed 6 min using the flat beam; using the nonflat beam results in slightly higher MU per fraction, but also in delivery times less than 4 min and with reduced mean dose to distal organs at risk. mARC also has utility in low-dose-rate brain irradiation; mARC fields can be designed which deliver a uniform 20 cGy dose to the PTV in approximately 3-minute intervals, making it a viable alternative to conventional 3D CRT. For brain cases using noncoplanar arcs, delivery time is approximately six min using the nonflat beam. For pancreas cases using the nonflat beam, two overlapping 360° arcs are required, and delivery times are approximately 10 min. For liver SBRT, the time to deliver 800 cGy per frac-tion is at least 12 min. Plan QA measurements indicate that the mARC delivery is consistent with the plan calculation for all cases. mARC has been incorporated into routine practice within our clinic; currently, on average approximately 15 patients per day are treated using mARC; and with the exception of LDR brain cases, all are treated using the nonflat beam.
Evaluation of central valley spring-run Chinook salmon passage through lower Butte creek using hydraulic modelling techniques.

River2D was used to develop a hydraulic model of an upstream passage impediment for adult spring-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) on Butte Creek, Tehama County, California. Topographic data were collected by using a total station, survey-grade real-time kinematic global positioning system, and terrestrial light detection and ranging. Stage-discharge relationships were developed at the upstream and downstream ends of the site to use as boundary conditions and to calibrate the 2D model. A pressure transducer was installed at the downstream boundary of the site to provide a time series of flow and water temperatures. Parameters of the hydraulic model were examined to assess upstream passage including minimum thalweg depth along the least width-limiting pathway, velocity, and water surface elevation above and below a jump, and flow partitioning between a split in the main flow paths through the site. The results of the River2D model were used to identify flow levels that met the minimum depth and width thresholds needed for adult spring-run Chinook salmon (SRCS) to migrate upstream through the study reach. A minimum passage depth criterion of 0.27 m was used for adult SRCS. Site-specific passage width criteria were derived from the literature for the study site and ranged from 0.3 to 0.9 m. Model results indicated that a flow of 3.40 cms met the depth criterion and the lower bound of the width criterion. A flow level of 6.8 cms met the depth criterion and the upper bound of the width criterion. Data from the VAKI Riverwatcher fish passage counting device installed just upstream of the study site were related to the stage/passage limiting width and water temperature monitoring data. The monitoring data and results of the predictive modelling will be used by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to recommend flow criteria that protect migrating adult SRCS. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Urothelial carcinoma of donor origin in a kidney transplant patient

Malignancy after transplantation is an uncommon multifactorial occurrence. Immunosuppression to prevent graft rejection is described as a major risk factor in malignancy development in the post-transplant state. Donor-derived malignancy is a rare reported complication. Herein, we review our patient history and discuss diagnostic strategies and the implications of immunosuppression for donor-derived malignancy. This is a 69-year-old man with post-renal-transplant urothelial carcinoma determined to be of donor origin. His course was complicated by BK virus at six years post-transplant; urothelial carcinoma was identified nine years post-transplant. Cystectomy was performed, but because of immunosuppression and underlying chronic kidney disease, the patient was considered ineligible for adjuvant chemotherapy. Two years after resection, screening MRI demonstrated retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy and a right upper pole mass in the transplanted kidney. Urine cytology confirmed the presence of malignant cells; FISH showed 2-8 copies of the X chromosome and no Y chromosome consistent with female origin of the malignant cells. CT-guided renal mass and paraaortic lymph node biopsies demonstrated that about 50 % of cells had an XY complement, while the remainder showed a XX genotype by chromosomal SNP microarray analysis. Immunosuppression was discontinued and the donor kidney removed. X/Y FISH of the urothelial carcinoma identified in the explanted kidney confirmed that the malignant cells were of female donor origin. Follow-up at 3, 6 and 12 months after discontinuation of immunosuppression and surgery demonstrated normalization of the lymphadenopathy and absence of new lesions. Immunosuppression is a major risk factor for development of malignancy in transplant recipients. Donor-derived malignancy can arise and current molecular studies allow an accurate diagnosis. Withdrawal of immunosuppression and surgical resection of the transplant kidney proved an effective treatment in our case.
COMPASS: A computational model to predict changes in MMSE scores 24-months after initial assessment of Alzheimer's disease

We present COMPASS, a COmputational Model to Predict the development of Alzheimer's diSease Spectrum, to model Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. This was the best-performing method in recent crowdsourcing benchmark study, DREAM Alzheimer's Disease Big Data challenge to predict changes in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores over 24-months using standardized data. In the present study, we conducted three additional analyses beyond the DREAM challenge question to improve the clinical contribution of our approach, including: (1) adding pre-validated baseline cognitive composite scores of ADNI-MEM and ADNI-EF, (2) identifying subjects with significant declines in MMSE scores, and (3) incorporating SNPs of top 10 genes connected to APOE identified from functional-relationship network. For (1) above, we significantly improved predictive accuracy, especially for the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) group. For (2), we achieved an area under ROC of 0.814 in predicting significant MMSE decline: our model has 100% precision at 5% recall, and 91% accuracy at 10% recall. For (3), "genetic only" model has Pearson's correlation of 0.15 to predict progression in the MCI group. Even though addition of this limited genetic model to COMPASS did not improve prediction of progression of MCI group, the predictive ability of SNP information extended beyond well-known APOE allele.
Mary Wollstonecraft’s conception of ‘true taste’ and its role in egalitarian education and citizenship

Is the possession of taste relevant to the practice of moral and political judgement? For Mary Wollstonecraft and many of her contemporaries, the formation of taste was increasingly significant for both ethics and politics. In fact, some of the key contributors to the debate, which I have termed the ‘politics of taste’, believed that fostering existing standards of taste promised a palliative to modern democratic ills that they diagnosed. Wollstonecraft is an immanent critic of such positions. Although she shares some of Edmund Burke’s and David Hume’s assumptions, she proposes dramatic revision of the extant model of refined taste driven by the spread of rational education. In this way, she attempts to rescue ‘true taste’ from its sentimental context – one permeated by false assumptions about femininity and class. For Wollstonecraft, ‘true taste’ must be the product of refined understanding. Only then can it be deemed a support rather than a hindrance to the practice of moral and political judgement. Alt...
Employing Metabolism to Improve the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is on pace to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death. The high mortality rate results from a lack of methods for early detection and the inability to successfully treat patients once diagnosed. Pancreatic cancer cells have extensively reprogrammed metabolism, which is driven by oncogene-mediated cell-autonomous pathways, the unique physiology of the tumor microenvironment, and interactions with non-cancer cells. In this review, we discuss how recent efforts delineating rewired metabolic networks in pancreatic cancer have revealed new in-roads to develop detection and treatment strategies for this dreadful disease.
Pre-Infusion Characteristics of the Predominant Cord Blood Unit Correlate with Hematopoietic Engraftment in the Setting of Non-Myeloablative Double Cord Blood Transplant (DCBT).

It is well established that delayed engraftment following transplant of single cord blood unit is mainly due to low CD34 cell dose. Protocols utilizing sequential infusion of two cord blood units increase the total dose of CD34 cells and lead to more rapid hematopoietic engraftment. One of the two cord bloods usually predominates. We assessed the effect of the pre-infusion variables of each cord blood unit on engraftment. Twenty-one patients with hematologic malignancies underwent non-myeloablative conditioning with fludarabine, mephalan and antithymocyte globulin. Two cord bloods, each a minimum 4/6 HLA match with the recipient and each other, were then infused sequentially 1 to 6 hours apart. GVHD prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil. Chimerism analysis of peripheral blood leukocytes was performed by PCR amplification of short tandem repeat loci. Four patients with less than 4 weeks of chimerism data due to death or failed engraftment were excluded. The logrank test, using median values as the cutoff, was used to determine the relationship between pre-infusion variables and time to engraftment. All exact p-values are based on two-sided tests. In all patients, a single cord blood predominated by 3 months post-infusion. In 13 out of 17 transplants (76%), the first cord blood infused predominated (p=.05). The median times for engraftment were 41 days (range: 21–55 days) for platelets >20000 (P20), 65 days (range: 34–91 days) for platelets > 100000 (P100) and 18 days (range: 15–34 days) for ANC>500. Total (cord1 + cord2) CD34 cells/kg (median: 1.9 x 10 5 ; range: 6.3 x 10 4 to 1.0 x 10 6 ) and total nucleated cells/kg (median: 4.02 x 10 7 ; range 2.98 x 10 7 to 5.27 x 10 7 ) infused did not affect engraftment. However, patients receiving greater than 1.1x 10 5 CD34/kg in the predominant unit (median: 1.1 x 10 5 ; range: 3.0x10 4 to 8.7x10 5 ) but not losing unit (median: 6.92 x 10 4 ; range: 8.3.0x10 3 to 7.4x10 5 ) had faster P100 (p=.042 versus p=0.54). The median storage time of the cord blood units infused was 1374 days (range: 272–3047 days). Faster P100 was observed when the predominant unit had a shorter storage time relative to the losing unit (median difference between units: 392 days, p=.03). Our study demonstrated that in the setting of non-myeloablative sequential DCBT, the majority of predominant units engrafted is the first one infused. The CD34 dose and storage time of the predominant unit are factors that can affect engraftment. Although only a small number of patients were studied, these results suggest that the capacity of stem cell niche may be limited and the quality of the cord blood unit occupying this niche can affect the speed of hematopoietic engraftment.
Multicultural Dimensions in Child Counseling Research: A Systematic Review

Asystematic review of child counseling research was conducted to examine how dimensions of cultural identity have been addressed with children. These dimensions included race, sex, disability, gend...
A General Feature Engineering Wrapper for Machine Learning Using \epsilon -Lexicase Survival

We propose a general wrapper for feature learning that interfaces with other machine learning methods to compose effective data representations. The proposed feature engineering wrapper (FEW) uses genetic programming to represent and evolve individual features tailored to the machine learning method with which it is paired. In order to maintain feature diversity, \(\epsilon \)-lexicase survival is introduced, a method based on \(\epsilon \)-lexicase selection. This survival method preserves semantically unique individuals in the population based on their ability to solve difficult subsets of training cases, thereby yielding a population of uncorrelated features. We demonstrate FEW with five different off-the-shelf machine learning methods and test it on a set of real-world and synthetic regression problems with dimensions varying across three orders of magnitude. The results show that FEW is able to improve model test predictions across problems for several ML methods. We discuss and test the scalability of FEW in comparison to other feature composition strategies, most notably polynomial feature expansion.
Risk Assessment in Small Renal Masses: A Review Article

The incidence of localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been steadily increasing, in large part because of the increased use of imaging. Optimizing the management of localized RCC has become one of the leading priorities and foremost challenges within the urologic-oncologic community. Adequate risk stratification of patients following the diagnosis of localized RCC has become meaningful in deciding whether to treat, how to treat, and how intensively to treat. This article characterizes the existing risk assessment models that can be useful as treatment decision aids for patients with localized RCC.
Palliative Care and Pain Management

Overview Palliative care is an essential component of comprehensive cancer care. Palliative care is given concurrently with other disease-modifying, life-prolonging, and curative therapy. Palliative medicine specialists focus on helping patients and their families with a variety of care needs including symptom control, psychosocial support, physician–patient communication, addressing care goals in relation to the patient's condition, prognosis, values, and preferences, as well as with transitions in care. Cancer patients often experience significant symptom distress either from the illness itself or from the associated treatments. The beneficial effects of palliative care have been well documented. When integrated into early oncologic care, palliative care is associated with a significant improvement in quality of life, depression, and survival. As such, palliative care should be given throughout the trajectory of cancer care whether during early stage disease in which the focus is on cure or in more advanced disease when the focus is on maximizing quality of life. Currently, national and international organizations have clinical guidelines that recommend palliative care be routinely integrated into comprehensive cancer care. Keywords: palliative care; supportive oncology; symptom management; pain; quality of life
Neural-Network Based Exploration in the Discovery and Design of Materials

Abstract In previous work we reported on materials design and property estimation using empirical or ordinal representation approaches (Pao et al., 1999, Pao et al., 2000). In this paper, we report in detail on a Basic Concepts approach, which combines some of the merits of both the ab initio quantum theoretic first principles approach and the commonly used empirical approach. We show that it is possible to establish mappings between sets of basic atomic characteristics and properties of materials systems formed from those constituent atomic species. Such mappings are implemented in neural networks and are trained using large bodies of high-quality well-filtered data. We also report on the adaptive extrapolation and exploration of such neural network mappings. Such exploration can be used to suggest likely compositions of new compounds that would have certain required properties. This is accomplished by a combined technique of neural networks and evolutionary search. The feasibility and the effectiveness of this method are illustrated with examples.
Population Size Does Not Predict Artifact Complexity: Analysis of Data from Tasmania, Arctic Hunter-Gatherers, and Oceania Fishing Groups

A mathematical model purporting to demonstrate that the interaction population size of a group of social learners is a primary determinant of the level of technological complexity achieved by the members of that group through imitation of the most skilled individual in the group has been proposed. Empirical validation of the model has been attempted with archaeological data from Tasmanian hunter-gatherers and ethnographic fishing data from Oceania, but these data do not support the model. Data from a wide variety of hunter-gatherer groups show, instead, that implement complexity varies with an interaction effect between risk and number of annual moves and not with the interaction population size. Data from the Polar (Inuit) Eskimo and the Angmaksalik Inuit on the east coast of Greenland show that complex implements were part of both group’s technological repertoire even though each had interaction population sizes limited to a few hundred individuals, in direct contradiction with predictions from the mathematical model. The problem with the model lies in an invalid assumption.
Two-Fiber Optical Channel Shared Protection Ring with 4×4 Thermal-Optic Switches

With the development of optical networks to meet the explosive traffic demand, there is an increasing need to perform network protection and restoration functions in the optical layer to simplify network designs and reduce network cost.
Cystic fibrosis patient registries: A valuable source for clinical research

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patient registries are valuable data sources for researchers studying the natural history, treatment paradigms, and long-term health outcomes of individuals with CF. In this review, we discuss the role of CF patient registries in facilitating comparative effectiveness research, particularly evaluating therapies and variation in health care delivery. We also discuss the limitations of registry-based research, particularly indication bias, as well as statistical methods that can be used to address these issues.
Effects of pipe size on horizontal two-phase flow: Flow regimes, pressure drop, two-phase flow parameters, and drift-flux analysis

Abstract This paper performs experimental studies to investigate the effects of pipe size on horizontal air–water two-phase flow in a wide range of flow configurations. Some of the major characteristic two-phase flow phenomena of interest include flow regime transitions, two-phase frictional pressure drop, local interfacial structures, and drift-flux analysis. Based on the experimental results obtained in two pipe sizes, the flow regime maps and the correlations for two-phase frictional pressure drop employed in conventional nuclear reactor system analysis codes (TRACE and RELAP) are evaluated. It is found that the flow regime maps in the codes incorrectly predict plug and slug flows as bubbly flow. Effects of pipe size on flow regime transitions are observed, while these effects are not reflected on the maps employed in the codes. The frictional pressure drop analysis suggests that the closure relations used in both TRACE and RELAP can be improved for horizontal two-phase flow. The local time-averaged two-phase flow parameters acquired by a four-sensor conductivity probe including void fraction, interfacial area concentration, bubble velocity, and bubble Sauter-mean diameter provide quantitative descriptions for the interfacial structures in different pipe sizes. It is found that increasing the pipe size tends to cause bubbles to be more concentrated near the top wall in bubbly flow. As a result, the bubble layer occupies a smaller portion of the flow area as pipe diameter increases. Based on the experimental database, drift-flux analysis using both the 〈〈vg〉〉 vs. 〈 j〉 and 〈α〉 vs. 〈β〉 methods is performed. The effect of pipe size on drift-flux analysis is found to be negligible. The global slip is found to be less than one, indicating that the gas phase moves slower than the liquid phase in horizontal bubbly flow. This analysis also provides a predictive method to estimate the void-weighted bubble velocity and void fraction, which can be predicted with an average percent difference of ±3.3% and ±3.1%, respectively.
HEROs: Design of a Mixed-Methods Formative Research Phase for an Ecocultural Intervention to Promote Healthy Eating and Activity Behaviors in Rural Families With Preschoolers

Abstract Objective To describe the mixed-methods formative research phase in the development of the Healthy Environments Study (HEROs), a technology-based, interactive family intervention to promote healthy eating and activity behaviors for young children in the home environment. Design A mixed-method iterative approach, using ecocultural theory as a framework, will guide the development of both quantitative and qualitative formative research assessments. Setting Rural eastern Colorado. Participants Low-income families (n = 200) with preschool-aged children enrolled at 6 Head Start/preschool centers. Main Outcome Measures Quantitative and qualitative methodologies will garner insights into 4 key topic areas: (1) food behaviors and environments (Remote Food Photography Method, parent focus group, and survey), (2) physical activity behaviors and environments (parent interview and survey), (3) mobile device use (parent survey and interview), and (4) daily life (ecocultural family interview and teacher/staff group discussions). Analysis Results will be interpreted in combination to allow for a holistic understanding of participant behaviors, beliefs, attitudes and values related to each of the 4 topic areas. Collectively, outcomes will provide a comprehensive picture of preschoolers' daily life and inform intervention design and strategies to enhance preschoolers' eating and activity behaviors in the home environment.
Synthesis and Characterization of Pyridine Compounds for Amperometric Measurements of Leukocyte Esterase

We introduce a new class of substrates (compounds I-III) for leukocyte esterase (LE) that react with LE yielding anodic current in direct proportion to LE activity. The kinetic constants Km and kcat for the enzymatic reactions were determined by amperometry at a glassy carbon electrode. The binding affinity of I-III for LE was two orders of magnitude better than that of existing optical LE substrates. The specificity constant kcat /Km was equal to 2.7, 3.8, and 5.8×105 m-1 s-1 for compounds containing the pyridine (I), methoxypyridine (II), and (methoxycarbonyl)pyridine (III), respectively, thus showing an increase in catalytic efficiency in this order. Compound III had the lowest octanol/water partition coefficient (log p=0.33) along with the highest topological surface area (tPSA=222 A2 ) and the best aqueous solubility (4.0 mg mL-1 ). The average enzymatic activity of LE released from a single leukocyte was equal to 4.5 nU when measured with compound III.
Stopping a Trial for Futility: The Cooperative New Scandinavian Enalapril Survival Study II

The Cooperative New Scandinavian Enalapril Survival Study II (CONSENSUS II) trial was designed to test the hypothesis that enalapril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, would reduce the risk of death in patients with an acute myocardial infarction. A sequential stopping rule that allowed for both early acceptance and early rejection of the null hypothesis, in the spirit of stochastic curtailment, was developed specifically for this trial. Very early in the trial the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee noticed an excess of mortality in the enalapril group. When this trend persisted, the committee first recommended protocol modifications, then termination of recruitment, and finally termination of the trial. The main reason was futility, as well as the possibility of harm, particularly in certain subgroups. This trial provides useful lessons regarding futility analyses, flexible monitoring rules, and the sponsor’s role on both the Data Monitoring Committee and the Steering Committee.
Actographs: Measurement of Insect Activity

A device used by Yeager and Swain (1934) to record locomotor activity of cockroaches was described as an “entomotograph,” a term suggested by O. E. Tauber. However, this term never caught on, and today devices are usually referred to as one or another type of actograph, a term consisting of a corruption of the words “activity,” meaning motion or the state of being active, and the combining form “-graph,” meaning something that writes or describes. So actographs are devices for recording activity.
The Influence of Experience on Recovery Following Brain Damage in Rodents: Hypotheses Based on Development Research

Our contribution to this workshop series is primarily a review of existing literature rather than a presentation of new experimental data. Our central concern is whether experience plays a role in recovery of behavioral function following demonstrable — usually experimentally-induced — brain damage. For the most part, this discussion is restricted to data from rodents and closely assumed species. The discussion focuses upon parallels between interactions of the environment with the developing brain and interactions of the environment with the damaged brain.
Ordered rate constitutive theories for non-classical thermoviscoelastic solids with memory incorporating internal and Cosserat rotations

This paper considers conservation and balance laws for non-classical solid continua in the presence of internal rotations ( $${}_i \pmb {\varvec{\varTheta }}$$ ) due to the Jacobian of deformation and Cosserat rotations ( $${}_e \pmb {\varvec{\varTheta }}$$ ) at each material point. In these balance laws, internal rotations are completely defined as functions of the displacement gradient tensor, but Cosserat rotations are additional three degrees of freedom at each material point. When these rotations are resisted by the deforming matter, conjugate moments are created. For thermoviscoelastic solids with memory, these result in additional energy storage, dissipation mechanism, and rheology. This paper presents a thermodynamically consistent derivation of constitutive theories for such solids based on the entropy inequality in conjunction with representation theorem. Material coefficients are derived and discussed. The constitutive theories are presented in the absence as well as in the presence of the balance of moment of moments as additional balance law for non-classical continuum theories, and the resulting theories are compared with classical continuum theories in which this balance law is not needed. Retardation moduli corresponding to the Cauchy stress tensor as well as the Cauchy moment tensor are derived. In this paper we only consider small strain, small deformation physics.
Night stepping: Fitbit cracks the case

The most common sleep disorders that can result in injurious or violent behaviors include REM sleep behavioral disorder, sleepwalking, comorbid parasomnias, sleep-related dissociative disorder, and...
Higher order analysis of gene correlations by tensor decomposition

Abstract This study advances our understanding of inter- and intra-pathways higher order signaling in the cellular system and it leads to new discovery of multiple intracellular structures in signal transduction pathways in yeast Saccharomyces. We present a new tensor decomposition algorithm in reconstructing the pathways based on higher correlations among genes that compose a cellular system. The higher order gene correlation (HOGC) analysis has the power to elucidate gene’s higher interaction dependencies which has been barely understood. Recent studies i.e. [24] have experimentally revealed that multiple signaling proteins, yet sometimes infinite, may assemble to meaningful structure to transmit a receptor activation information. In this paper we reveal 3-order genomic correlations among significant component of the cellular system. This is the first time such a systematic and computational model provided for analysis of higher order correlations among genes. We use new fast algorithm to formulate a genes × genes × genes × decorrelated rank-1 sub-tensors (complexes) which can be associated with functionally independent pathways. Then we model higher order tensor decomposition which is constructed by K tensors of genes × genes × genes. Each new tensor is constructed by an orthogonal projection of data signal onto a designated basis signal to keep common sub-tensors in both signals. Our model for decomposing tensor order-4 approximates series of tensors as linear components of deccorelated rank-1 sub-tensors over tensor of order-3 and rank-3 triplings among sub-tensors. The linear components represent intra-pathway in cell signaling and triplings implicate inter-pathways higher order signaling. Through structural studies of inter- and intra-higher order signaling pathways, we uncover different scenario that involves triple formation of signaling proteins into higher order signaling machines for transmission of receptor activation information to cellular responses.
Perioperative care of cannabis users: A comprehensive review of pharmacological and anesthetic considerations.

Abstract According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, marijuana continues to be the most common illicit recreational drug used in the US. Cannabis is associated with systemic reactions that potentially affect perioperative outcomes. We have reviewed the most important pharmacological aspects and pathophysiological effects that should be considered during the perioperative management of chronic cannabis/cannabinoids users. The synthetic analogues provide higher potency with increased risk for complications. High cannabinoid liposolubility favors rapid accumulation in fatty tissue which prolongs its elimination up to several days after exposure. The multi-systemic effects of cannabinoids and their pharmacological interactions with anesthetic agents may lead to serious consequences. Low doses of cannabinoids have been associated with increased sympathetic response (tachycardia, hypertension and increased contractility) with high levels of norepinephrine detected 30 min after use. High doses enhance parasympathetic tone leading to dose-dependent bradycardia and hypotension. Severe vascular complications associated with cannabis exposure may include malignant arrhythmias, coronary spasm, sudden death, cerebral hypoperfusion and stroke. Bronchial hyperreactivity and upper airway obstruction are commonly reported in cannabis users. Postoperative hypothermia, shivering and increased platelet aggregation have been also documented.
Estimation and Testing of Regression Coefficients in Cobb-Douglas and Other Models

The Cobb-Douglas production function often leads to situations in which the reduced form solutions for the inputs have elasticities of each input with respect to a given exogenous variable which are the same for all reduced form equations. This paper exploits this property to develop estimators that are in the spirit of full information maximum likehood (FIML) and to develop test statistics that are of the Student sort, provided that the reduced form errors have normal properties often used for analysis of this sort.
Effect of repeated rise and fall of water level on seepage-induced deformation and related stability analysis of Princeville levee

Abstract The Princeville levee, and flooding associated with Hurricanes Floyd and Matthew, is used as a case study in which the analyses are focused on the effect of repeated rise and fall of water levels (representing severe storm cycles) on the stability of the levee and the risk of failure. The analyses included strain-based and strength reduction approaches and are conducted using the finite element program Plaxis 2D. The limit equilibrium stability software “Slope/W” was also used for comparative study. The strain-based limit state approach considers the uncertainty of soil properties and is used to characterize the levee performance under repeated storm loading in terms of damage levels (or limit states). The strain-based analyses results show a progressive development of plastic shear strain zone within the levee as the number of storm cycles is increased. The accumulation of such shear strain leads to increasing the probability of exceeding a given performance limit state. As more flooding cycles are introduced, the shear strain values increase by a factor of 3.5 from cycle 1 to 6, and therefore reflect the increasing level of failure risk. In parallel, the deterministic stability factor of safety obtained from limit equilibrium method remains unchanged and slightly changes for strength reduction method with an increased number of rises and falls of the water level. The consideration of “rapid” drawdown conventionally used in limit equilibrium stability analyses (where no consideration for time is included), instead of more realistic rate based on drawdown hydrograph leads to conservative estimate of factor of safety. The analyses results demonstrate the increase in risk with repeated hydraulic loading.
Experience with Transonic Flow IE Computations

An integral equation method based on the full-potential equation for transonic flow calculations is presented. The full-potential equation is written in the moving frame of reference, in the form of the Poisson’s equation. The integral equation solution in terms of the velocity field is obtained by the Green’s theorem. The mixed nature of the transonic flow is treated by a type- difference scheme. The numerical solutions are obtained by a time-marching (if unsteady flows), iterative procedure. The computational examples presented in the present paper include steady and unsteady, two-dimensional (airfoil) and three-dimensional (wing) flows. The method of combining the integral equation solution with the finite-volume Euler solution is also presented. Through studying the method and their computational examples, the capabilities and limitations of the transonic integral equation method are discussed. Finally, the needs for further research is addressed.
Racial/ethnic discrimination and alcohol use disorder severity among United States adults

Abstract Background Racism, and resultant racial/ethnic discrimination is a ubiquitous social determinant of health that is linked to adverse alcohol-related outcomes. To our knowledge, no studies have examined whether manifestations of racial/ethnic discrimination increase risk of DSM-5 alcohol use disorder (AUD) severity levels. Methods Analyses were conducted among 17,115 racial/ethnic minority respondents of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol-Related Conditions III (NESARC-III), a cross-sectional survey fielded in 2012−2013. We used multinomial logistic regression to examine the associations between measures of racial/ethnic discrimination and past-year AUD severity levels following the DSM-5 definition, while adjusting for poverty thresholds set by the U.S. Census Bureau, and race/ethnicity (American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander; Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino). We also evaluated whether associations between discrimination and AUD severity varied by poverty status and race/ethnicity. Results Covariate-adjusted multinomial logistic regressions suggested that in comparison to those who did not experience discrimination, those who experienced discrimination had a 1.5-fold greater risk of mild AUD, a 1.6-fold greater risk of moderate AUD, and a 2.3-fold greater risk of severe AUD. We found no evidence to suggest that the strength of the association between racial/ethnic discrimination and AUD severity varied across race/ethnic group or poverty status. Conclusions Experience of racial/ethnic discrimination is associated with greater AUD severity in the U.S. regardless of one’s specific racial/ethnic group membership or poverty status. Strategies to reduce risk for severe AUD should include efforts to minimize the occurrence and impact of interpersonal and institutional racism.