cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Distribution systems state estimation using sparsified voltage profile

Abstract This paper exploits an electrical characteristic of distribution networks to cast the state estimation problem into a sparse vector recovery problem. In distribution networks, voltage differences between two buses of each line segment are much smaller than the infeed bus voltage. Therefore, the voltage profile signal can be sparsified with a difference transformation and recovered from only a few micro-phasor measurement units (μPMUs) using compressive sensing (CS) and l1 regularization. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified through the simulation results of a standard unbalanced distribution network, the IEEE 123-bus system, under different operation conditions. The method accurately estimates system states even with multiple bad current measurements. It also detects, identifies, and corrects bad voltage measurements. In addition, a problem of binary integer linear programming is solved to obtain and optimally place the minimum number of μPMUs necessary to provide a unique solution for the proposed state estimation formulation.
Methodological Factors in the Behavioral Analysis of Startle

It is common knowledge that for most organisms and for most stimulus modalities, almost any intense signal can elicit the rapid sequence of skeletal reactions that collectively constitute the overt startle reflex. Not so well known is the fact that with these same organisms and these same signals, almost any other stimulus can, if presented at an appropriate interval prior to the startle-eliciting stimulus, either prevent the elicited reflex or, at least in mammals, insure that it will occur with reduced amplitude. Since this effect occurs the very first time that the lead stimulus is presented, it is clear that it is not an example of classical conditioning or any other form of learning for that matter. In order to convey the idea that this effect entails a change in an elicited reaction, it has been described by the term, reflex modification.
Monte Carlo Model of National Wind-Tunnel Demand

Long-term (5-10 years out) projections of wind-tunnel testing demand for national-class facilities are notoriously difficult to generate given the variability of government aerospace agendas, plans, and programs. This paper presents a Monte Carlo model that decomposes the problem into two layers: the decadal likelihood of a program start and the wind-tunnel testing demands of various programs with 90% confidence intervals. Examples are provided to explain how this model could be applied to help inform decisionmakers of future wind-tunnel testing requirements and their likelihood.
Response of Primary Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Dermal Keratinocytes to Thermal Printer Materials In Vitro

Advancement in thermal three-dimensional printing techniques has greatly increased the possible applications of various materials in medical applications and tissue engineering. Yet, potential toxic effects on primary human cells have been rarely investigated. Therefore, we compared four materials commonly used in thermal printing for bioengineering, namely thermally printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, MED610, polycarbonate, and polylactic acid, and investigated their effects on primary human adult skin epidermal keratinocytes and bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs) in vitro. We investigated indirect effects on both cell types caused by potential liberation of soluble substances from the materials, and also analyzed BM-MSCs in direct contact with the materials. We found that even in culture without direct contact with the materials, the culture with MED610 (and to a lesser extent acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) significantly affected keratinocytes, reducing cell numbers and proliferation marker Ki67 expression, and increasing glucose consumption, lactate secretion, and expression of differentiation-associated genes. BM-MSCs had decreased metabolic activity, and exhibited increased cell death in direct culture on the materials. MED610 and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene induced the strongest expression of genes associated to differentiation and estrogen receptor activation. In conclusion, we found strong cell-type-specific effects of the materials, suggesting that materials for applications in regenerative medicine should be carefully selected not only based on their mechanical properties but also based on their cell-type-specific biological effects.
Chaetostomella undosa (Diptera: Tephritidae): biology, ecology, and larval description

A population of Chaetostomella undosa (Coquillett) was studied in association with its host plant, Cirsium cymosum (Greene) J. T. Howell, in northern California. C. undosa is univoltine and flies in between May and July. Average field longevity is from 5.7 to 10.5 days, and females lay about 2.8 eggs per day. Adults live up to 30 days in the field and 47 days in cages. In cages, lifetime fecundities ranged up to 240 eggs with an average oviposition rate of 5.3 eggs per day. Feeding by adults appears to be unnecessary for egg production. Precopulatory behavior is relatively simple, and postcopulatory behavior is distinctive. Females oviposit one or two eggs at a time into buds or open flower heads of the host. Larvae feed first in the seed-head receptacle and then in the stem and root crown, where they overwinter in diapause; they pupate the following spring. Larval mortality (mostly first instar) was about 75%. Although larval feeding often caused 100% seed loss, C. undosa's localized distribution, early flight time, and univoltine life history traits probably limit its impact on thistle populations. The egg, third instar, and pupa are described and illustrated. Additional new larval host plant records from Wyoming are Cirsium scariosum Nuttall and C. coloradoense (Rydberg) Cockerell. Other tephritids coexisting in the same host plants are Orellia occidentalis (Snow) and Paracantha gentilis Hering.
Robust and compact entanglement generation from diode-laser-pumped four-wave mixing

Four-wave-mixing processes are now routinely used to demonstrate multi-spatial-mode Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entanglement and intensity difference squeezing. Diode-laser-pumped four-wave mixing processes have recently been shown to provide an affordable, compact, and stable source for intensity difference squeezing, but it was unknown if excess phase noise present in power amplifier pump configurations would be an impediment to achieving quadrature entanglement. Here, we demonstrate the operating regimes under which these systems are capable of producing entanglement and under which excess phase noise produced by the amplifier contaminates the output state. We show that Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entanglement in two mode squeezed states can be generated by a four-wave-mixing source deriving both the pump field and the local oscillators from a tapered-amplifier diode-laser. This robust continuous variable entanglement source is highly scalable and amenable to miniaturization, making it a critical step toward the development of integrated quantum sensors and scalable quantum information processors, such as spatial comb cluster states.
Discussion for the Government Investment Project Management Model Based on The Theory of Institutional Change

Through using the theory of institutional change,this article seeks to study the government investment project management model.Such following problems are focused on: the major suppliers position of central government and local government during the government investment project management model changes,two ways of institutional change-induced change and forced change,importance of institutional change efficiency in the process of institutional innovation.
Using the iodized salt to reduce iodine deficiency disorders in Gaozhou city

Objective To valuation the impact of using iodized salt iodize to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders(IDD).Methods According to the geographical distribution,table salts were randomly sampled in Gaozhou,2010.400 children were examined for the degree of goiter,and the urinary iodine contents from 100 children aged 8～10 were measured.Results 288 salt samples were analyzed and 285(98.96%) were iodized salt.283 samples(98.26%) were qualified iodized salt.91 children had a urinary contents of iodine greater than 100 μg /L,and the median concentration of iodine was 290 μg /L.Only one child had Grade 1 goiter.Questionnaire type survey on IDD was conduction in 150 children and all of the children had the knowledge of goiter.Conclusion The use of iodized salt iodize in Gaozhou city has attained the national target.
The effect of endotoxin and endotoxin tolerance on inflammation induced by mycobacterial adjuvant.

Peptidoglycan, the substance in mycobacteria thought to be responsible for inducing adjuvant arthritis, and endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide or LPS) share many inflammatory properties. Since repeated administration of LPS produces tolerance, i.e., resistance to the toxic and inflammatory effects of LPS, we tested whether LPS and/or LPS tolerance might influence inflammation due to mycobacterial adjuvant. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with Escherichia coli LPS or saline intraperitoneally and then challenged with 100 micrograms killed Mycobacteria butyricum (adjuvant) in the footpad. A single dose of 100 micrograms LPS three or 24 hours before adjuvant markedly, but transiently, reduced the local footpad swelling that begins within hours of the adjuvant injection and histologically resembles a sterile abscess. Animals that received multiple doses of LPS and were therefore tolerant or animals that received LPS 72 hours before adjuvant demonstrated adjuvant-induced footpad swelling nearly equal to controls. The anti-inflammatory effect of LPS was transient since footpad swelling in all groups was nearly comparable six days after the adjuvant injection and LPS failed to inhibit consistently the arthritis that develops two or more weeks after adjuvant injection. These studies establish that LPS can markedly inhibit the prodrome of adjuvant arthritis (footpad swelling due to M. butyricum), that inhibition of this prodrome does not prevent the subsequent development of arthritis, and that LPS tolerance diminishes this anti-inflammatory effect of LPS.
Extra Long PR Intervals

This case review presents various manifestations of extra long PR intervals, an interesting form of atrioventricular (AV) block first described in 1977. All patients in this study had organic heart diseases and various combinations of multilevel conduction impairment. Perhaps the most common cause of chronic AV conduction impairment is the ill-defined degenerative and/or fibrotic damage to the intraventricular conduction system.
Disciplined Inconsistency with Consistency Types

Distributed applications and web services, such as online stores or social networks, are expected to be scalable, available, responsive, and fault-tolerant. To meet these steep requirements in the face of high round-trip latencies, network partitions, server failures, and load spikes, applications use eventually consistent datastores that allow them to weaken the consistency of some data. However, making this transition is highly error-prone because relaxed consistency models are notoriously difficult to understand and test. In this work, we propose a new programming model for distributed data that makes consistency properties explicit and uses a type system to enforce consistency safety. With the Inconsistent, Performance-bound, Approximate (IPA) storage system, programmers specify performance targets and correctness requirements as constraints on persistent data structures and handle uncertainty about the result of datastore reads using new consistency types. We implement a prototype of this model in Scala on top of an existing datastore, Cassandra, and use it to make performance/correctness tradeoffs in two applications: a ticket sales service and a Twitter clone. Our evaluation shows that IPA prevents consistency-based programming errors and adapts consistency automatically in response to changing network conditions, performing comparably to weak consistency and 2-10× faster than strong consistency.
Army ant invasions reveal phylogeographic processes across the Isthmus of Panama.

Female army ants cannot fly, making them very poor dispersers across water barriers. This dependence on terrestrial corridors motivated the investigation by Winston et al. (2017), published in this issue of Molecular Ecology, into the role of Panamanian isthmus formation in the diversification of Eciton army ants. Complete closure of this isthmus occurred around three million years ago (3 Ma), but it has also been hypothesized that earlier, temporary land connections facilitated additional colonization events between South and Central America over the past 13 million years or more. The phylogenomic and population genomic analyses by Winston et al. (2017) uncovered multiple incursions of Eciton lineages into Central America between 4 and 7 Ma. Their study contributes to a growing body of evidence arguing that transitory land bridges predating 3 Ma supported substantial intercontinental biotic exchange.
Fuel Provisioning for The Copper Industry in Islamic Period Southern Jordan

The focus of this project is the Middle Islamic period (1000–1400 AD) copper industry in the Faynan region of southern Jordan. Investigation of this industry—the last substantial phase of Faynan's ...
Orthographic Input and the Acquisition of German Final Devoicing by Native Speakers of English.

We present an artificial lexicon study designed to test the hypothesis that native English speakers experience interference from written input when acquiring surface voicing in German words. Native English speakers were exposed to German-like words (e.g., /ʃtɑit/ and /ʃtɑid/, both pronounced [ʃtɑit]) along with pictured meanings, and in some cases, their written forms (e.g., and ). At test, participants whose input included the written forms were more likely to produce final voiced obstruents when naming the pictures, indicating that access to the written forms in the input interfered with their acquisition of target-like surface forms. In a separate experiment, we attempted to moderate this negative impact of the written input by explicitly telling participants about the misleading nature of the words' written forms, with no beneficial effect on their pronunciation accuracy. Together these findings indicate a powerful influence of orthographic input on second language lexical-phonological development that is not readily overcome by a simple intervention.
Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS): Maintenance

Maintenance of therapy is essential not only to maintain control of pain for the individual patient but also to maintain the therapy for the collective neuromodulation industry and for clinical neuromodulators worldwide. Key concepts include electrical reprogramming, monitoring early for potential complications, and collection of objective outcome tools to assess efficacy of therapy.
Data-driven modeling of heavy oil viscosity in the reservoir from geophysical well logs

ABSTRACTViscosity is the most crucial fluid property on recovery and productivity of hydrocarbon reservoirs, more particularly heavy oil reservoirs. In heavy and extra heavy oil reservoirs e.g. bitumen and tar sands more energy is required to be injected into the system in order to decrease the viscosity to make the flow easier. Therefore, attempt to develop a reliable and rapid method for accurate estimation of heavy oil viscosity is inevitable. In this study, a predictive model for estimating of heavy oil viscosity is proposed, utilizing geophysical well logs data including gamma ray, neutron porosity, density porosity, resistivity logs, spontaneous potential as well as P-wave velocity and S-wave velocity and their ratio (Vp/Vs). To this end, a supervised machine learning algorithm, namely least square support vector machine (LSSVM), has been employed for modeling, and a dataset was provided from well logs data in a Canadian heavy oil reservoir, the Athabasca North area. The results indicate that the pr...
Pregnant and Postpartum Adolescents' Perceptions of the Consequences of Child Abuse

A study of 263 pregnant and postpartum indigent and minority teens was conducted in order to examine their perceptions of the consequences of child abuse and their own child abuse history. Teens identified drug and alcohol abuse and teen suicide as the most serious consequences of abuse. Interestingly, they did not identify pregnancy as a consequence. Twenty-seven percent reported a history of abuse. Identifying behavioral and emotional consequences of abuse is important because it affects both the well-being of the adolescent mother and her child. An experience of abuse and its behavioral consequences may interfere with a teen's ability to benefit from parenting intervention programs. Therefore, parenting programs may wish to consider the necessity of screening for a history of abuse as well as adding components on behavioral problems adolescent mothers are concerned about. Additionally, there is a need to reach out to pregnant, parenting and future parents in other settings such as prisons, psychiatric, and residential centers, since issues of abuse may coexist with other behaviors.
Extinction and the fossil record.

The author examines evidence of mass extinctions in the fossil record and searches for reasons for such large extinctions. Five major mass extinctions eliminated at least 40 percent of animal genera in the oceans and from 65 to 95 percent of ocean species. Questions include the occurrence of gradual or catastrophic extinctions, causes, environment, the capacity of a perturbation to cause extinctions each time it happens, and the possibility and identification of complex events leading to a mass extinction.
Heart rate variability and emotion regulation among individuals with obesity and loss of control eating.

Abstract Autonomic nervous system functioning, measured with heart rate variability (HRV), is associated with emotion regulation and likely contributes to binge eating. This study examined the link between HRV and binge eating severity and analyzed changes in HRV as a marker of emotion regulation in individuals with binge eating. Participants (n = 28) with obesity and loss of control eating reported overeating and loss of control episodes and completed an HRV assessment at rest and during a mental stressor. At rest, lower time-domain HRV was linked to more severe loss of control (SDNN B = −0.18, p = 0.03). Frequency-domain HRV was associated with more severe overeating (LFn B = 14.92, p = 0.03; HFn B = −14.81, p = 0.04). Frequency-domain HRV differed between resting and stressed conditions (p's
Identifying Design Rationale Using Ant Colony Optimization

Design rationale (DR), the reasons behind decisions made during design, can provide valuable insights into the decision-making process. This is especially valuable in software development, where systems are frequently repaired and extended over their lifetime.
Nanoemulsion-based delivery systems for testing nutraceutical efficacy using Caenorhabditis elegans: Demonstration of curcumin bioaccumulation and body-fat reduction.

The genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans shares many similarities with that of humans and so it is widely used as a model in pharmaceutical and nutritional studies. C. elegans has a small mouth and therefore very fine lipid particles are required to orally deliver hydrophobic nutraceuticals. In this study, a nanoemulsion-based delivery system was developed to deliver curcumin to C. elegans. Nanoemulsion were fabricated with different mean particle diameters (d32 = 150 nm and 300 nm), lipid types (Medium chain triglyceride, corn, and fish oil), and emulsifier types (Tween 80 and whey protein). The auto-fluorescence intensity of curcumin was used as an indicator of curcumin accumulation in C. elegans. The structure and composition of nanoemulsions had a significant influence on curcumin bioaccumulation in C. elegans. Curcumin bioaccumulation increased with increasing droplet size, was found to be higher in nanoemulsion containing corn oil compared with those containing fish oil or MCT, and was higher for droplets coated by whey protein than by Tween 80. The nematodes treated with curcumin-loaded nanoemulsions showed significantly reduced fat accumulation compared to the control group. This study could provide useful information to widen the application of C. elegans in research involving lipophilic compounds.
Development of an iterative validation process for a 30-day hospital readmission prediction index.

Purpose A study was conducted to determine if an iterative validation process could maintain or improve the discriminative and predictive capabilities of a 30-day hospital readmission prediction index over 2.5 years. Methods Patient admissions were retrospectively identified using the electronic medical record. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to assess model discrimination. Prediction index specificity, sensitivity, and positive and negative predictive values were also assessed. A rolling iterative validation process was developed in which patient admissions were divided into 3-month cohorts. Each cohort was analyzed individually and then included into the cumulative patient cohort and analyzed again. Results From 121,277 patient visits, an iterative validation approach maintained the discrimination (0.71 to 0.72), predictive validity, and overall accuracy (80.9% to 81.7%) of the 30-day readmission prediction index over 2.5 years. Index sensitivity and negative predictive value increased from baseline while specificity and positive predictive value remained largely unchanged. None of the assessed index parameters diminished or became less useful over the course of the study. Conclusion An internal iterative validation process based on frequentist statistics maintained the discriminative ability and accuracy of a readmission index over 2.5 years despite numerous changes in the variables associated with readmission in the patient population.
Spatial and temporal patterns of gene expression during neurogenesis in the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus

The sea urchin is a basal deuterostome that is more closely related to vertebrates than many organisms traditionally used to study neurogenesis. This phylogenetic position means that the sea urchin can provide insights into the evolution of the nervous system by helping resolve which developmental processes are deuterostome innovations, which are innovations in other clades, and which are ancestral. However, the nervous system of echinoderms is one of the least understood of all major metazoan phyla. To gain insights into echinoderm neurogenesis, spatial and temporal gene expression data are essential. Then, functional data will enable the building of a detailed gene regulatory network for neurogenesis in the sea urchin that can be compared across metazoans to resolve questions about how nervous systems evolved. Here, we analyze spatiotemporal gene expression during sea urchin neurogenesis for genes that have been shown to be neurogenic in one or more species. We report the expression of 21 genes expressed in areas of neurogenesis in the sea urchin embryo from blastula stage (just before neural progenitors begin their specification sequence) through pluteus larval stage (when much of the nervous system has been patterned). Among those 21 gene expression patterns, we report expression of 11 transcription factors and 2 axon guidance genes, each expressed in discrete domains in the neuroectoderm or in the endoderm. Most of these genes are expressed in and around the ciliary band. Some including the transcription factors Lv-mbx, Lv-dmrt, Lv-islet, and Lv-atbf1, the nuclear protein Lv-prohibitin, and the guidance molecule Lv-semaa are expressed in the endoderm where they are presumably involved in neurogenesis in the gut. This study builds a foundation to study how neurons are specified and evolved by analyzing spatial and temporal gene expression during neurogenesis in a basal deuterostome. With these expression patterns, we will be able to understand what genes are required for neural development in the sea urchin. These data can be used as a starting point to (1) build a spatial gene regulatory network for sea urchin neurogenesis, (2) identify how subtypes of neurons are specified, (3) perform comparative studies with the sea urchin, protostome, and vertebrate organisms.
Discussing Picturebooks Across Perceptual, Structural and Ideological Perspectives

Classroom discussions of multimodal texts, in particular historical fiction picturebooks, offer an interpretive space where readers are positioned to construct meanings in transaction with the written language, visual images, and design elements created by authors, illustrators and publishers (Serafini & Ladd, 2008; Sipe, 1999). This study was designed to better understand how readers navigated the multimodal landscape of historical fiction picturebooks and constructed meanings in transaction with the various semiotic resources made available in these multimodal texts.
Single cell chromatin accessibility reveals pancreatic islet cell type- and state-specific regulatory programs of diabetes risk

Genetic risk variants for complex, multifactorial diseases are enriched in cis-regulatory elements. Single cell epigenomic technologies create new opportunities to dissect cell type-specific mechanisms of risk variants, yet this approach has not been widely applied to disease-relevant tissues. Given the central role of pancreatic islets in type 2 diabetes (T2D) pathophysiology, we generated accessible chromatin profiles from 14.2k islet cells and identified 13 cell clusters including multiple alpha, beta and delta cell clusters which represented hormone-producing and signal-responsive cell states. We cataloged 244,236 islet cell type accessible chromatin sites and identified transcription factors (TFs) underlying both lineage- and state-specific regulation. We measured the enrichment of T2D and glycemic trait GWAS for the accessible chromatin profiles of single cells, which revealed heterogeneity in the effects of beta cell states and TFs on fasting glucose and T2D risk. We further used machine learning to predict the cell type-specific regulatory function of genetic variants, and single cell co-accessibility to link distal sites to putative cell type-specific target genes. We localized 239 fine-mapped T2D risk signals to islet accessible chromatin, and further prioritized variants at these signals with predicted regulatory function and co-accessibility with target genes. At the KCNQ1 locus, the causal T2D variant rs231361 had predicted effects on an enhancer with beta cell-specific, long-range co-accessibility to the insulin promoter, and deletion of this enhancer reduced insulin gene and protein expression in human embryonic stem cell-derived beta cells. Our findings provide a cell type- and state-resolved map of gene regulation in human islets, illuminate likely mechanisms of T2D risk at hundreds of loci, and demonstrate the power of single cell epigenomics for interpreting complex disease genetics.
“I had already made up my mind.” The impact of prior experience and health care perceptions on decision making in women with early-stage breast cancer.

228Background: Shared decision-making (SDM) occurs when informed patients partner with their oncologists to incorporate personal preferences into treatment. Even before engaging with an oncologist ...
Molecular Imaging: a Novel Tool To Visualize Pathogenesis of Infections In Situ

Molecular imaging is an emerging technology that enables the noninvasive visualization, characterization, and quantification of molecular events within living subjects. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a clinically available molecular imaging tool with significant potential to study pathogenesis of infections in humans. PET enables dynamic assessment of infectious processes within the same subject with high temporal and spatial resolution and obviates the need for invasive tissue sampling, which is difficult in patients and generally limited to a single time point, even in animal models. This review presents current state-of-the-art concepts on the application of molecular imaging for infectious diseases and details how PET imaging can facilitate novel insights into infectious processes, ongoing development of pathogen-specific imaging, and simultaneous in situ measurements of intralesional antimicrobial pharmacokinetics in multiple compartments, including privileged sites. Finally, the potential clinical applications of this promising technology are also discussed.
FDE as the One True Logic

The principal aim of this paper is to very briefly discuss one way in which FDE may be ‘the one true logic’ – an idea which neither Belnap nor Dunn have ever been keen to promote, but an idea which, properly understood, is worth having plainly on the table. After presenting the simple sense in which FDE may be plausibly thought of as the one true logic, I briefly rehearse a simple argument for thinking as much. (The argument is one I have advanced elsewhere (Beall, The simple argument for subclassical logic. In Juhl and Schechter (eds) Philosophical issues: philosophy of logic and inference (Annual Supplement to Nous). Wiley, 2018, Forthcoming) but it seems especially appropriate to repeat in this volume.) There are two other aims of this paper, one of which is to keep the paper very short. The last but not least aim is to honor the pioneering work of Belnap and Dunn on FDE and its philosophical applications. Let me say from the start that the paper necessarily fails to achieve its last aim, not for lack of aiming or even for poorly aiming; rather, the honor that both Belnap and Dunn deserve for their work is not something that this paper – perhaps any paper – can reflect. By my lights, their work on the topic (both mathematical and philosophical) is what we should all aspire to do. Both logic and its philosophy are vastly better for their efforts. (I also want to explicitly record a small personal note to both Professor Belnap and Professor Dunn. Some people make a lot of their ‘intellectual heritage’ or ‘family line’ in PhDs and so forth. I’m not one of those people. Still, if one looks carefully beyond the exact letters of my ‘lineage’, one sees that I learned a lot of my logical background – though perhaps not logical proclivities – from Gary Hardegree, who gained much of his own logical background from Professor Dunn, who in turn gained valuable logical background from Professor Belnap. As a personal note to Nuel and Mike: thank you both. You remain, in so many ways, key sources in my intellectual development. (I’m sorry for the deviant turn that my own views have taken!))
Use of fully covered self-expanding metal stents for benign biliary etiologies: a large multi-center experience.

BACKGROUND Fully-covered self-expandable metal stents (FCSEMS) have been used in benign biliary diseases although reported data is limited. These devices are most commonly used to treat biliary leaks, strictures, or both. The aim of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of FCSEMS in treating benign biliary disease and recognize the associated complications. METHODS We performed a multicenter longitudinal retrospective cohort study of patients with benign biliary disease needing FCSEMS between 2011 and 2016. Descriptive statistics were performed using SPSS version 24 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA) and continuous variables were presented as mean±standard deviation. RESULTS 75, 57% M/43% F, with a mean age of 58.5±14.9 years, were included. 64 (85%) had benign strictures, 7 patients had leaks, and 4 patients had both a leak and a stricture. Chronic pancreatitis was the most common cause of BBS (47%) and cholecystectomy was the most common cause of leaks. FCSEMS placement was technically successful in all patients. Four patients died of unrelated causes. A recurrent stricture was observed in 24 (32%) of the patients. Recurrent strictures were most commonly seen in patients with chronic pancreatitis 12/35 (34%). Stent migration occurred in 8/75 patients (10.7%). Seven patients (9.3%) had adverse events, acute pancreatitis (N.=4) was most common. CONCLUSIONS FCSEMS are safe and effective for treating biliary strictures and leaks. We report decreased rates of stent migration compared to previous studies. Prospective studies are needed to compare plastic stents with FCSEMS, determine optimal stent in-dwell times and cost effectiveness of FCSEMS.
Inappropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shocks in repaired tetralogy of fallot patients: Prevalence and electrophysiological mechanisms.

Abstract Background Patients with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) are at increased risk for sudden cardiac death, often undergo implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation at younger ages, and are at greater risk of experiencing inappropriate shocks. We investigated occurrences of ICD shocks in TOF patients to identify prevalence, characteristics associated with inappropriate shocks, and therapeutic interventions after inappropriate shocks. Methods Records of patients with repaired TOF and ICD implantation who were followed at Columbia University Irving Medical Center between 1/1/2000 and 5/1/2019 were analyzed. Results 44 patients with repaired TOF and ICD implantation were reviewed. Mean age at implantation was 39 ± 13 years. Eight (18%) patients received both appropriate and inappropriate shocks, 6 (14%) received only appropriate shocks, and 3 (7%) received only inappropriate shocks. Three patients received inappropriate shocks for sinus tachycardia, 7 for atrial arrhythmias, and 1 for noise artifact. Inappropriately shocked patients had lower beat per minute (bpm) cutoff values for ICD therapy (mean = 162 ± 24 bpm vs. 182 ± 16 bpm, p = 0.007). After inappropriate shocks, 1 patient underwent lead replacement, 1 had the VT cutoff increased, and 6 were treated with medications. Conclusions One quarter of TOF patients with ICDs experienced inappropriate shock therapy, the timing of which was most often clustered within the first two years after implant or years later. Lower shock therapy zones were associated with increased risk for inappropriate shocks, and the majority of inappropriate shocks resulted from atrial arrhythmias with rapid ventricular response. Treatments for inappropriate shocks included increasing VT therapy bpm and rhythm and/or rate control medications.
A rational approach to identifying effective combined anticoronaviral therapies against feline coronavirus

Abstract Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), caused by a genetic mutant of feline enteric coronavirus known as FIPV, is a highly fatal disease of cats with no currently available vaccine or FDA-approved cure. Dissemination of FIPV in affected cats results in a range of clinical signs including cavitary effusions, anorexia, fever and lesions of pyogranulomatous vasculitis and peri-vasculitis with or without central nervous system and/or ocular involvement. There is a critical need for effective and approved antiviral therapies against coronaviruses including FIPV and zoonotic coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19. With regards to SARS-CoV-2, preliminary evidence suggests that there may be potential clinical and pathological overlap with feline coronaviral disease including enteric and neurological involvement in some cases. We have screened 89 putative antiviral compounds and have identified 25 compounds with antiviral activity against FIPV, representing a variety of drug classes and mechanisms of antiviral action. Based upon successful combination treatment strategies for human patients with HIV or hepatitis C virus infections, we have identified combinations of drugs targeting different steps of the FIPV life cycle resulting in synergistic antiviral effect. Translationally, we suggest that a combined anticoronaviral therapy (cACT) with multiple mechanisms of action and penetration of all potential anatomic sites of viral infection should be applied towards other challenging to treat coronaviruses, like SARS-CoV-2. Author summary We have screened 89 compounds in vitro for antiviral activity against FIPV. The putative antiviral activity of these compounds was either purported to be a direct effect on viral proteins involved in viral replication or an indirect inhibitory effect on normal cellular pathways usurped by FIPV to aid viral replication. Twenty-five of these compounds were found to have significant antiviral activity. Certain combinations of these compounds were determined to be superior to monotherapy alone.
Delay Information in Virtual Queues: A Large-Scale Field Experiment on a Ride-Sharing Platform

The growing adoption of virtual queues in the service and retail industries has been greatly accelerated by COVID-19 due to the requirement of social distancing In collaboration with a major ride-sharing platform, we study how the wait time information (WTI) given by the service provider impacts customers' abandonment behavior in virtual queues;the study was conducted through a large-scale randomized field experiment that included 1,425,745 rides: one-third of the rides received a neutral WTI, one-third received a more optimistic WTI shorter than the neutral WTI (hence less frequent updates), and one-third received a pessimistic WTI (hence more frequent updates) We find both the magnitude of the initial WTI and the update frequency of the WTI have a significant impact on customer abandonment Specifically, when adjusting the initial WTI by 1 minute, it did not impact customer abandonment We show that this may be because the magnitude effect of the initial WTI is cancelled out by the opposite update-frequency effect However, when adjusting the WTI by more than 1 minute, the magnitude effect becomes dominant: when comparing the pessimistic WTI of 4 minutes with the neutral initial WTI of 2 minutes, 5 minutes with 3 minutes, and 8 minutes with 5 minutes, customers’ likelihood to abandon increases by 6 2%, 14 1%, and 19 6%, respectively Similar but opposite effects are found when comparing the optimistic WTI with the neutral WTI We discuss how firms can use our findings and insights to design and operate better virtual queues
Aggregate Market Reaction to Earnings Announcements

This analysis identifies a distinct immediate announcement period negative relation between earnings announcement surprises and aggregate market returns. Such a relation implies that market participants use earnings information in forming expectations about expected aggregate discount rates and, specifically, that good earnings news is associated with a positive shock to required returns. Consistent with this interpretation we find that Treasury bond rates and implied future inflation expectations respond directly to earnings news. We also find some evidence that the negative relation between earnings news and market return persists beyond the immediate announcement period, suggesting that market participants do not immediately fully impound these future market return implications of aggregate earnings news.
Electrochemical Biosensor for Markers of Neurological Esterase Inhibition.

A novel, integrated experimental and modeling framework was applied to an inhibition-based bi-enzyme (IBE) electrochemical biosensor to detect acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors that may trigger neurological diseases. The biosensor was fabricated by co-immobilizing AChE and tyrosinase (Tyr) on the gold working electrode of a screen-printed electrode (SPE) array. The reaction chemistry included a redox-recycle amplification mechanism to improve the biosensor’s current output and sensitivity. A mechanistic mathematical model of the biosensor was used to simulate key diffusion and reaction steps, including diffusion of AChE’s reactant (phenylacetate) and inhibitor, the reaction kinetics of the two enzymes, and electrochemical reaction kinetics at the SPE’s working electrode. The model was validated by showing that it could reproduce a steady-state biosensor current as a function of the inhibitor (PMSF) concentration and unsteady-state dynamics of the biosensor current following the addition of a reactant (phenylacetate) and inhibitor phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride). The model’s utility for characterizing and optimizing biosensor performance was then demonstrated. It was used to calculate the sensitivity of the biosensor’s current output and the redox-recycle amplification factor as a function of experimental variables. It was used to calculate dimensionless Damkohler numbers and current-control coefficients that indicated the degree to which individual diffusion and reaction steps limited the biosensor’s output current. Finally, the model’s utility in designing IBE biosensors and operating conditions that achieve specific performance criteria was discussed.
Spatial Mapping of Evoked Brain Potentials and EEGs to Define Population State Variables

In the 1950s the brain was conceived as a collection of “centers” for the storage and release of stereotypic behaviors, such as feeding, respiration, shivering, sleep, rage, fear, and sexual activity. The experimental strategy for localization of the center for a specific behavior was three-fold: focal ablation to abolish it; focal stimulation to reproduce it; and electrical recording with a depth electrode to observe the neural activity that drove it. This phrenological conception still governs a large proportion of neurobehavioral research. To a large extent it is the main principle used to guide the use of new techniques for brain imaging by fMRI, SPECT, PET, and related methods for measuring metabolic activity and blood flow in brains of subjects engaged in specific behaviors. The aim is to identify complex cognitive functions with the locations colored spots on 2D projections of brain images. Owing to its simplicity this conception has widespread appeal, but it poorly serves thinking about brain organization and activity, and it led me into a series of failed predictions (Freeman 1961a).
NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)

Keywords: mental health; psychopathology; abnormal; biomarker; diagnosis; impairment; mental disorder; nosology; psychiatry
Some Comments on Cross-Validation

A new variant of cross-validation, called full cross-validation, is proposed in order to overcome some disadvantages of the traditional cross-validation approach in general regression situations. Both criteria may be regarded as estimates of the mean squared error of prediction. Under some assumptions including normally distributed observations, the cross-validation criterion is shown to be outperformed by the full cross-validation criterion. Analogous modifications may be applied to the generalized cross-validation method, providing a similar improvement. This leads to the recommendation of replacing the traditional cross-validation techniques by the new ones for estimating the prediction quality of models or of regression function estimators.
Systems of Difference Equations

In the last chapter, we concerned ourselves with linear difference equations, namely, those equations with only one independent and one dependent variable. Since not every situation that we will encounter will be this facile, we must be prepared to deal with systems of more than one dependent variable.
Critical levels of mineral oil affecting the absorption of vitamin A.

Summary In order to evaluate the effect of the administration of mineral oil in different doses and in different modes on the absorption of vitamin A and carotene, the plasma vitamin A level and carotenoid level was followed during experimental periods of four weeks on a borderline vitamin A diet on which the plasma vitamin A level remains fairly constant. The study was based on 66 patients for 115 periods. 1.On a diet containing a vitamin A potency of 2500 I.U. (given mostly in the form of carotene) the average of the vitamin A levels remained constant, whereas on diets containing 1500 I.U. a significant drop of the average levels was noted, on diets containing 3000 I.U. the level, if anything, showed a tendency to rise. 2.On a 2500 I.U. vitamin A potency diet, administration of 30 cc. of mineral oil mixed into the noon meal (6.8%) led to a drop of the plasma vitamin A level whereas 5 cc. (1.1%) were without effect. 3.Ten cc. of mineral oil t.i.d. mixed into breakfast, lunch and dinner was associated with a marked drop of the vitamin A level. Five cc. given similarly was associated with a moderate drop, whereas 2.5 cc. was not associated with any decrease. 4.On a diet containing 3000 I.U. of vitamin A, administration of 30 cc. of mineral oil with the meal also reduced the plasma vitamin A level. 5.Thirty cc. of mineral oil, the usual therapeutic dose given at bedtime independent of meals, was without effect. 6.The previously reported interference with absorption of vitamin A or carotene by administration of mineral oil close to mealtimes has been confirmed. However, the presence of a critical level has been demonstrated (2.5 cc. t.i.d.) below which this interference appears insignificant.
Studies on the acid secretion that occurs during injury to the gastric mucosa.

When pouches of the oxyntic glandular mucosa in dogs were irrigated with 4 mm dithiothreitol in acid solution the mucosa shed plasma and secreted acid. There was a linear relationship between the net addition of H+ to the lumen and the amount of plasma shed, suggesting that the mechanisms of acid secretion and plasma shedding were closely related. Atropine, metiamide, and PGE2 only partially inhibited the acid secretion. The three drugs also reduced the plasma shedding and may be useful in the management of protein-losing gastropathy in man.
Nutrient chemistry and hydrology of interstitial water in brackish tidal marshes of Chesapeake Bay

Abstract Nutrient concentrations in interstitial water were measured throughout the year in two brackish tidal marshes differing in elevation and vegetation. At all sites, sulfate to chloride ratios were lowest during the fall. In contrast, dissolved ammonia, phosphate, organic nitrogen, and organic phosphorus concentrations did not vary seasonally but differed among sample sites. These nutrients were generally enriched in interstitial water relative to tidal water and those that were most enriched declined in concentration with increasing proximity to creeks. In the low elevation marsh, flow of interstitial water towards creek banks was traced with Rhodamine WT dye. Consequent seepage of interstitial water into the creek of the low marsh was estimated from continuous monitoring of water table heights and from measurements of hydraulic conductivity. The estimated seepage could account for a portion, probably less than half, of the tidal export of dissolved nutrients from the low marsh.
A particle-based model for predicting the effective conductivities of composite electrodes

Abstract This paper develops particle-resolved simulations to predict conductivity within porous composite electrodes. Hundreds of spherical particles (order fractions of a micron) are packed randomly into a cubical region (order of a few microns), using two alternative packing algorithms. The composite structures include both ion-conducting and electron-conducting particles. The particle network is discretized using tetrahedral meshes that fully resolve the interiors of the particles and their intersections. Charge-conservation equations are solved to predict current through the network. These simulations are used to derive the effective conductivities that are required for macroscale simulations at length scales much larger than the particle scale. Because the microstructures are synthesized via random particle packing, multiple realizations are needed to deliver statistically invariant results. The results show that a few hundred particles with a few hundred realizations is sufficient. Predicted coordination numbers, percolation probabilities, and three-phase-boundary lengths are consistent with percolation theory, but the predicted effective conductivities are significantly smaller than those predicted with conventional percolation theory. By adjusting the Bruggeman factor from the conventional value of 1.5–3.5 brings the percolation-theory prediction for effective conductivity in line with the fully resolved results.