cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Atomic force microscopy-guided fractionation reveals the influence of cranberry phytochemicals on adhesion of Escherichia coli

Cranberry juice has been long used to prevent infections because of its effect on the adhesion of the bacteria to the host surface. Proanthocyanidins (PACs) comprise of one of the major classes of phytochemicals found in cranberry, which have been extensively studied and found effective in combating adhesion of pathogenic bacteria. The role of other cranberry constituents in impacting bacterial adhesion haven't been studied very well. In this study, cranberry juice fractions were prepared, characterized and tested for their effect on the surface adhesion of the pathogenic clinical bacterial strain E. coli B78 and non-pathogenic control E. coli HB101. The preparations tested included crude cranberry juice extract (CCE); three fractions containing flavonoid classes including proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins and flavonols; selected sub-fractions, and commercially available flavonol glycoside, quercetin-3-O-galactoside. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to quantify the adhesion forces between the bacterial surface and the AFM probe after the treatment with the cranberry fractions. Adhesion forces of the non-pathogenic, non fimbriated lab strain HB101 are small (average force 0.19 nN) and do not change with cranberry treatments, whereas the adhesion forces of the pathogenic, Dr adhesion E. coli strain B78 (average force of 0.42 nN) show a significant decrease when treated with cranberry juice extract or fractions (average force of 0.31 nN, 0.37 nN and 0.39 nN with CCE, Fraction 7 and Fraction 4 respectively). In particular, the fractions that contained flavonols in addition to PACs were more efficient at lowering the force of adhesion (average force of 0.31 nN–0.18 nN between different sub-fractions containing flavonols and PACs). The sub-fractions containing flavonol glycosides (from juice, fruit and commercial quercetin) all resulted in reduced adhesion of the pathogenic bacteria to the model probe. This strongly suggests the anti adhesive role of other classes of cranberry compounds in conjunction with already known PACs and may have implications for development of alternative anti bacterial treatments.
A new era in hypertension therapy. Protecting patients from premature cardiovascular disease.

PreviewAlthough the cause of hypertension in most patients is unknown, many patients have coexisting risk factors that may contribute to the disease. According to Dr Kaplan, the key to effective treatment is an individualized approach that maximizes blood pressure control by addressing each patient's profile of risk factors. In this article, he discusses various coronary risk factors and recommends appropriate drug and nondrug therapies.
Practical Use of Higher Order Asymptotics for Multiparameter Exponential Families

Recently developed asymptotics based on saddlepoint methods provide important practical methods for multiparameter exponential families, especially in generalized linear models. The aim here is to clarify and explore these. Attention is restricted to tests and confidence intervals regarding a single parametric function which can be represented as a natural parameter of a full rank exponential family. Excellent approximations to exact conditional inferences are often available, in terms of simple adjustments to the signed square root of the likelihood ratio statistic
Self-Care Disparities Among Adults with Type 2 Diabetes in the USA

Suboptimal glycemic control is more common among non-Hispanic Blacks (NHBs) and Hispanics than non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs). Disparities in the performance of self-care behaviors may contribute to this. To synthesize knowledge on current self-care disparities, we reviewed studies from January 2011–March 2016 that included NHWs, NHBs, and Hispanics with type 2 diabetes in the USA. Self-care behaviors included diet, exercise, medications, self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), self-foot exams, and not smoking. Of 1241 articles identified in PubMed, 25 met our inclusion criteria. These studies report consistent disparities in medication adherence. Surprisingly, we found consistent evidence of no disparities in exercise and some evidence of reverse disparities: compared to NHWs, Hispanics had healthier diets and NHBs had more regular SMBG. Consistent use of validated measures could further inform disparities in diet and exercise. Additional research is needed to test for disparities in self-foot exams, not smoking, and diabetes-specific problem solving and coping.
Functional semelparity drives population dynamics and endangers a peripheral population

Abstract Despite increased risk of extinction through stochastic events, peripheral populations are conservation priorities as the distribution of endangered species tends to contract to the periphery of historic ranges rather than toward the core. Trailing-edge populations and mountain isolates, which may become more common as climate change drives range shifts, are an important realm of inquiry and contain important reserves of genetic variation. We use long-term monitoring data from the southernmost population of a widespread species to test the hypothesis that peripheral populations display distinct demographic profiles from core populations. The red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) is predicted to recede from its southern border in response to climate-induced habitat change. We estimate key demographic parameters for this endangered population using survival and reproduction schedules and compare the dynamics to core populations of this and related species. This peripheral population exhibits higher adult mortality, and suffers associated impacts on reproductive output, which results in a demography distinct from core populations and phylogenetically similar species. Poor adult survival, similar to a population that experiences extremely high hunting pressure, has resulted in this normally iteroparous species becoming functionally semelparous at the periphery. Understanding differences in demographic function between peripheral and core populations is key if management strategies are to be effective in supporting continued persistence of at risk populations in the face of range shifts of species or habitats driven by environmental change.
Updated Estimates of Ectopic Pregnancy among Commercially and Medicaid-Insured Women in the United States, 2002-2013.

OBJECTIVES To update trends in the rates of ectopic pregnancy, to compare rates of ectopic pregnancy between commercially insured and Medicaid-insured women, and to assess the differences in rates of ectopic pregnancy by different measures of ectopic pregnancy. METHODS We analyzed data from 2002 to 2013 using the Truven Health MarketScan Commercial and Medicaid Claims Database. We limited the study population to women aged 15 to 44 years with any pregnancy in each year. Pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy were identified by clinical services with diagnostic or procedural codes. Ectopic pregnancy was measured in two ways: diagnosed and treated compared with diagnosed only; pregnancy was measured in two ways: any pregnancy compared with pregnancy with delivery. RESULTS We did not observe a substantial trend in the rate of ectopic pregnancy from 2002 to 2013. The rate of diagnosed and treated ectopic pregnancy substantially increased by age: 0.29% in women aged 15 to 19 years and 0.89% in women aged 40 to 44 years among the commercially insured population and 0.23% and 0.85% among the Medicaid-insured population, respectively. The rate of ectopic pregnancy also varied by the different methodologies used to estimate rates. CONCLUSIONS The rate of ectopic pregnancy is relatively low and stable for women of reproductive age in the United States. Our findings highlight that it is important to clearly define the numerator and denominator in the measure of ectopic pregnancy rates.
Non-Traditional Stable Isotopes: Retrospective and Prospective

Traditional stable isotope geochemistry involves isotopes of light elements such as H, C, N, O, and S, which are measured predominantly by gas-source mass spectrometry (Valley et al. 1986; Valley and Cole 2001). Even though Li isotope geochemistry was developed in 1980s based on thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) (Chan 1987), the real flourish of so-called non-traditional stable isotope geochemistry was made possible by the development of multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) (Halliday et al. 1995; Marechal et al. 1999). Since then, isotopes of both light (e.g., Li, Mg) and heavy (e.g., Tl, U) elements have been routinely measured at a precision that is high enough to resolve natural variations (Fig. 1). The publication of RIMG volume 55 ( Geochemistry of Non-Traditional Stable Isotopes ) in 2004 was the first extensive review of Non-Traditional Stable Isotopes summarizing the advances in the field up to 2003 (Johnson et al. 2004). When compared to traditional stable isotopes, the non-traditional stable isotopes have several distinctive geochemical features: 1) as many of these elements are trace elements, their concentrations vary widely in different geological reservoirs; 2) these elements range from highly volatile (e.g., Zn and K) to refractory (e.g., Ca and Ti); 3) many of these elements are redox-sensitive; 4) many of them are biologically active; 5) the bonding environments, especially for the metal elements, are different from those of H, C, N, O and S; and finally, 6) many of these elements have high atomic numbers and more than two stable isotopes. These features make the different elements susceptible to different fractionation mechanisms, and by extension, make them unique tracers of different cosmochemical, geological and biological processes, as highlighted throughout this volume. Figure 1 Non-traditional stable isotope systems covered in this volume. Figure 2 The terrestrial isotopic variation vs. the relative mass difference for non-traditional …
Role of Diastolic Stress Testing in the Evaluation for Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Simultaneous Invasive-Echocardiographic Study.

Background: Diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is challenging and relies largely on demonstration of elevated cardiac filling pressures (pulmonary capillary wedge pressure). Current guidelines recommend use of natriuretic peptides (N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide) and rest/exercise echocardiography (E/e′ ratio) to make this determination. Data to support this practice are conflicting. Methods: Simultaneous echocardiographic-catheterization studies were prospectively conducted at rest and during exercise in subjects with invasively proven HFpEF (n=50) and participants with dyspnea but no identifiable cardiac pathology (n=24). Results: N-Terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide levels were below the level considered to exclude disease (≤125 pg/mL) in 18% of subjects with HFpEF. E/e′ ratio was correlated with directly measured pulmonary capillary wedge pressure at rest ( r =0.63, P r =0.57, P 14) improved sensitivity (to 90%) and thus negative predictive value, but decreased specificity (71%). Conclusions: Currently proposed HFpEF diagnostic guidelines on the basis of resting data are poorly sensitive. Adding exercise E/e′ data improves sensitivity and negative predictive value but compromises specificity, suggesting that exercise echocardiography may help rule out HFpEF. These results question the accuracy of current approaches to exclude HFpEF on the basis of resting data alone and reinforce the value of exercise testing using invasive and noninvasive hemodynamic assessments to definitively confirm or refute the diagnosis of HFpEF. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique Identifier: NCT01418248.
A 2/3-octave-spanning three spectral band splitter on a Si 3 N 4 photonic integrated circuit platform

We demonstrate a three spectral band splitter that separates the wavelength bands of 1292nm, 1550nm and 1937nm. The device is fabricated using silicon nitride photonic integrated circuit platform. Optical characterization shows <3 dB loss for the three channels, and 11 ∼ 30 dB inter-channel crosstalk.
Towards a Situated Liberatory Aesthetic Thought

ABSTRACTThe following response is divided in two parts. The first addresses some general issues about my Latin American Philosophy: From Identity to Radical Exteriority (Vallega, Alejandro. 2014. Latin American Philosophy: From Identity to Radical Exteriority. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press), which was the topic of a session at the 2015 meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP). The second takes up in depth a point from each speaker: the question of developing “situated thought” as a way to undo and overcome the exclusion of non-Westernized thought and experience (raised by Marcia Sa Cavalcante Schuback); and the introduction of a “decolonial aesthetics” and an “aesthetic of liberation” as fundamental for decolonizing thought and opening spaces from other senses of existence, knowledge, and intersubjectivity (raised by Omar Rivera).
Big Bank Boards: The Case for Heightened Administrative Enforcement

Traditional mechanisms for monitoring management behavior in the form of shareholder derivative claims of breach of fiduciary duty are not well suited to the task of monitoring bank managers’ effectiveness in ensuring banks’ safety and soundness. Moreover, the power of bank regulators to address lax management through administrative enforcement powers is limited, especially when evaluated in the context of Congress’ vision, as reflected in the passage of Dodd-Frank, of enhanced supervision of large banks. In particular, the fact that negligent or grossly negligent behavior does not implicate the agencies’ power to remove a bank director undermines Dodd-Frank’s system of enhanced supervision of large banks. This article considers big bank director liability in the context of the enhanced supervisory regime and uses the JPMorgan London Whale debacle to illustrate the importance of strong administrative enforcement.
Current Treatments for Surgically Resectable, Limited‐Stage, and Extensive‐Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

The prevalence of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has declined in the U.S. as the prevalence of tobacco use has declined. However, a significant number of people in the U.S. are current or former smokers and are at risk of developing SCLC. Routine histological or cytological evaluation can reliably make the diagnosis of SCLC, and immunohistochemistry stains (thyroid transcription factor-1, chromogranin, synaptophysin, and CD56) can be used if there is uncertainty about the diagnosis. Rarely do patients present with SCLC amendable to surgical resection, and evaluation requires a meticulous workup for extra-thoracic metastases and invasive staging of the mediastinum. Resected patients require adjuvant chemotherapy and/or thoracic radiation therapy (TRT), and prophylactic cranial radiation (PCI) should be considered depending on the stage. For limited-stage disease, concurrent platinum-etoposide and TRT followed by PCI is the standard. Thoracic radiation therapy should be started early in treatment, and can be given twice daily to 45 Gy or once daily to 60-70 Gy. For extensive-stage disease, platinum-etoposide remains the standard first-line therapy, and the standard second-line therapy is topotecan. Preliminary studies have demonstrated the activity of immunotherapy, and the response rate is approximately 10-30% with some durable responses observed. Rovalpituzumab tesirine, an antibody drug conjugate, has shown promising activity in patients with high delta-like protein 3 tumor expression (approximately 70% of patients with SCLC). The emergence of these and other promising agents has rekindled interest in drug development in SCLC. Several ongoing trials are investigating novel agents in the first-line, maintenance, and second-line settings. Implications for practice This review will provide an update on the standard therapies for surgically resected limited-stage small cell lung cancer and extensive-stage small cell lung cancer that have been investigated in recent clinical trials.
Ambidextrous Knowledge Acquisition Using IM: The Role of Social Capital and Interactivity

Although Instant Messaging (IM) systems are considered as a knowledge acquisition and sharing tool in organizations, little empirical research has examined this role of IM. This study investigates ...
An End-to-End Deep Learning Approach to Simultaneous Speech Dereverberation and Acoustic Modeling for Robust Speech Recognition

We propose an integrated end-to-end automatic speech recognition (ASR) paradigm by joint learning of the front-end speech signal processing and back-end acoustic modeling. We believe that “only good signal processing can lead to top ASR performance” in challenging acoustic environments. This notion leads to a unified deep neural network (DNN) framework for distant speech processing that can achieve both high-quality enhanced speech and high-accuracy ASR simultaneously. Our goal is accomplished by two techniques, namely: (i) a reverberation-time-aware DNN based speech dereverberation architecture that can handle a wide range of reverberation times to enhance speech quality of reverberant and noisy speech, followed by (ii) DNN-based multicondition training that takes both clean-condition and multicondition speech into consideration, leveraging upon an exploitation of the data acquired and processed with multichannel microphone arrays, to improve ASR performance. The final end-to-end system is established by a joint optimization of the speech enhancement and recognition DNNs. The recent REverberant Voice Enhancement and Recognition Benchmark (REVERB) Challenge task is used as a test bed for evaluating our proposed framework. We first report on superior objective measures in enhanced speech to those listed in the 2014 REVERB Challenge Workshop on the simulated data test set. Moreover, we obtain the best single-system word error rate (WER) of 13.28% on the 1-channel REVERB simulated data with the proposed DNN-based pre-processing algorithm and clean-condition training. Leveraging upon joint training with more discriminative ASR features and improved neural network based language models, a low single-system WER of 4.46% is attained. Next, a new multi-channel-condition joint learning and testing scheme delivers a state-of-the-art WER of 3.76% on the 8-channel simulated data with a single ASR system. Finally, we also report on a preliminary yet promising experimentation with the REVERB real test data.
Deformation Texture of Body-Centered Cubic Metal Wires

The deformation texture of drawn body-centered cubic wires of s brass, iron, molybdenum, niobium, and tantalum is essentially a single [110] fiber as predicted by theory.5
Granular Computing Based Data Mining In the View of Rough Set

Granular computing (GRC) is an umbrella term to cover any theories, methodologies, techniques, and tools that make use of granules(i.e., subsets of a universe) in problem solving. The philosophy of granular computing has appeared in many fields, and it is likely playing a more and more important role in data mining. Rough set theory is a very important paradigms of granular computing, are often used to process vague information in data mining. In this chapter, based on the opinion of data is also a format for knowledge representation, a new understanding for data mining, domain-oriented data-driven data mining (3DM), is introduced at first. Its main idea is that data mining is a process of knowledge transformation. Then, the relationship of 3DM and GrC, especially from the view of rough set is discussed. Then, some examples are used to illustrate how to solve real problems in data mining using granular computing. Combining rough set theory, a flexible way for processing incomplete information systems is introduced firstly. Then, a high efficient attribute reduction algorithm is developed by translating set operation of granules into logical operation of bit strings with bitmap technology. Finally, two rule generation algorithms are introduced, and experiment results show that the rule sets generated by these two algorithms are simpler than other similar algorithms.
Methotrexate: historical aspects

In the early 1940s, folic acid was isolated and found to cure some patients with megaloblastic anemia that did not respond to vitamin B12. As acute leukemia in children had some morphological features that resembled megaloblastic anemia, patients with acute leukemia were treated with folic acid or folate conjugates (polyglutamated forms of folic acid). These proved ineffective and, in fact, were thought to accelerate the disease. The subsequent demonstration by Heinle and Welch [1] that a diet-induced deficiency of folic acid caused a decrease in the leukemia cell count, stimulated efforts, primarily by the Lederle group, to synthesize analogs of folic acid. One of these, aminopterin or 4-aminopterolylglutamic acid, proved to be a powerful antagonist that was shown by Farber et al. [2], in a landmark paper, to produce remissions in children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). With this discovery, and the demonstration by Huggins and Hodges that estrogens caused regressions in prostate cancer [3], and that nitrogen mustard caused regressions in patients with lymphoma [[4], the modern era of chemotherapy was born in the 1940’s.
Design and implementation of an intranet dashboard.

Healthcare organizations are complex systems and well served by efficient feedback mechanisms. Many organizations have invested in data warehouses; however there are few tools for automatically extracting and delivering relevant measures to decision makers. This research study resulted in the design and implementation of an intranet dashboard linked to a data warehouse
The role of autosomal cell apoptosis regulator genes in human spermatogenesis.

Immunohistochemical analysis of the expression of the autosomal apoptosis regulator genes, BAX, bc1-2, p53, and cyclic-AMP responsive element modulator (CREM) in testis biopsies from infertile men demonstrated that BAX, bcl-2, and p53 immunoreactivity was absent irrespective of seminiferous tubule histology. In contrast, cell-specific CREM immunoreactivity in round spermatids, with complete absence of CREM in patient biopsies showing spermatocyte maturation arrest and Sertoli cell only, was evident, suggesting a possible role of autosomal genes in the regulation of apoptosis in human spermatogenesis regulation.
Mathematics and The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games plot features a dystopian future in which twelve outer districts are oppressed by a centralized capital. The story focuses on the heroism of a sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss and how she tries to rise above the oppression that she experiences. It also features a special lottery and other twists that are sources of mathematical interest. This essay focuses on some of the mathematical issues raised by The Hunger Games in an eort
Food in Anthropology

The study of food in anthropology has followed two overlapping paths: food and culture studies and nutritional anthropology. Anthropologists who focus on food and culture emphasize the social and symbolic dimensions of food to gather insights about power, gender, class, cultural ideology, and cultural identity. They look at food exchanges in families, between men and women, among social groups, and especially in feasts and religious rituals. They use structuralist, functionalist, and materialist approaches. Nutritional anthropologists use a bio-cultural perspective to study breast-feeding, hunger, malnutrition, disease, household dynamics, and human evolution. They combine ethnographic observations with data on dietary composition and health. Food and culture studies and nutritional anthropology complement each other and reveal the power of anthropological holism.
Human Performance in Interpreting Robot-Generated 2d and 3d Maps:

Robust mapping capabilities are a critical technology for intelligent robotic systems. They can (1) provide valuable information to human and robot teammates without requiring prior knowledge or experience and (2) enable other, higher-level behaviors, such as autonomous navigation and exploration. To maximize interpretability, a map must be coherent, accurate, and displayed in an intuitive fashion. However, maps inherently require a large amount of computational resources. Therefore, it is beneficial to determine the minimum amount of information that must be provided to a user to meet the specific mission requirements. The purpose of this study is to evaluate human performance on visual tasks using 2D and 3D maps generated from laser point cloud data. In a within-subjects study, 20 participants were tasked with locating and identifying objects, doorways, and windows in a two-story building. The characterizations made herein could ultimately influence how map data from robotic assets are shared and displayed.
COMPUTERIZED SIGNATURE DISCRIMINATION OF ABOVE-LESION EMG TO ACTIVATE FUNCTIONAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION OF PERIPHERAL LOWER EXTREMITY NERVES OF COMPLETE PARAPLEGICS*

The paper describes first patient results for a microcomputer based signature discrimination of raw EMG obtained by surface electrodes located at the erector spinae above the level of the lesion of a T-6 and of a T-10 spinal cord complete lesion (total) paraplegic. It is shown that 4 distinct and repeatable signatures can be easily discriminated to activate all 4 basic functions (stand up, sit down, right-leg-up-then-down, left-leg-up-then-down) of primitive walking as produced by functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the intact peripheral nerves of the patient's lower extremities. The EMG signatures are each generated when the patient produces with his trunk above the lesion the phantom movement that would have produced the corresponding lower-extremity function of a non-paraplegic. Total activation delay is of 0.3 seconds, using a Motorola 68000 microprocessor. Signature discrimination is via comparing the parameters of a 4'th order pure-autoregressive statistical model of the raw EMG's time series, and its sample variance, this model being the one whose error relative to the true signal is white noise and hence free of linearly-retrievable information. The EMG signature discrimination system above has been interfaced with Dr. Kralj's FES system. Presently, the stand-up and sit-down functions have been successfully and repeatedly executed by one of the patients above via the EMG signature discrimination command of the FES system.
Atomistic simulations of shock compression of single crystal and core-shell Cu@Ni nanoporous metals

We have performed systematic molecular dynamics simulations to study the deformation behavior of a single crystal structure and a core-shell Cu@Ni nanoporous (NP) structure under shock loading for a wide range of shock intensities. Our results suggest that the core-shell structure exhibits less volume compression than the single crystal NP structure by virtue of its enhanced mechanical strength and associated interfacial strain-hardening under shock loading. The core-shell NP structure also demonstrates an increased shock-energy absorption efficiency of around 10.5% larger than the single crystal NP structure because of its additional Cu/Ni interface. The mechanisms of shock-induced deformation are observed to vary greatly with shock intensity. Pores are observed to collapse partially in both NP structures at very low shock intensity, up≤0.15 km/s. Complete collapsing of the pores through plastic deformation followed by direct crushing and formation of internal jetting and hot-spot have been observed at higher shock intensities. The evolution of microstructure and the underlying mechanisms operating at different shock intensity regimes have been investigated in this article. At a shock pressure of ∼6.05 GPa, i.e., up=0.75 km/s, the shock-induced deformed microstructure of both NP structures recovered through dynamic recrystallization. The postshock dynamic recrystallization has been observed to be mediated through rapid relaxation of shear stress followed by atomic rearrangements.
Molecular Beam Epitaxy and High Pressure Studies of van der Waals Magnets

Author(s): O'Hara, Dante Jamal | Advisor(s): Tom, Harry; Kawakami, Roland K | Abstract: Van der Waals (vdW) magnets provide an exciting opportunity for exploring two-dimensional (2D) magnetism for next generation scientific and technological advances. While previously realized in 3D ultrathin films where the magnetism is stabilized via substrate-assisted magnetic anisotropy, recent reports have shown intrinsic ferromagnetism at low temperatures (l 60 K) in isolated µm-sized flakes mechanically exfoliated from a bulk single-crystal down to a single-atomic layer. This opens up the possibility to truly study magnetism in free-standing 2D layers without direct effects from the underlying substrate and being intrinsically susceptible to surface effects such as atomic adsorbates, electrostatic gating, and proximity-induced phenomena. This dissertation examines the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth and characterization of new 2D magnets, monolayers of MnSe2 and VSe2, that show ferromagnetic ordering above room temperature. Growth on different substrates and varying the substrate temperature during growth affects the growth mode and morphology of the deposited 2D magnet and also affects the measured magnetization. Direct atomic and magnetic imaging via scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) show stable 2D magnetic layers.Due to the lack of dangling bonds at the surface of these 2D magnets, applying external epitaxial strain is a challenge. Later in this dissertation, the magnetic, electronic, and structural properties of vdW-layered, Fe-deficient Fe3−xGeTe2 are systematically investigated by he application of high pressure. Fe3GeTe2 is of particular interest due to its high Curie temperature, Tc, strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and tunable magnetic properties depending on the concentration of Fe and its thickness. Electrical and magneto-transport measurements show a suppression in Tc with an increasing pressure up to 20 GPa. The decrease in Tc is due to the lattice shrinkage from pressurization which leads to a weakening of the exchange interaction. These observations showcase the tunability in vdW magnets via pressure which can complement other external stimuli such as chemical doping, making them candidates for future spintronic, electronic and photonic devices.
UNIQUE PRESENTATION OF CARCINOID HEART DISEASE

Carcinoid heart disease usually manifests from endocardial carcinoid plaque deposition due to excess circulating hormones secreted. Metastatic carcinoid to the heart is rare and commonly mimics other tumors. We describe an asymptomatic patient found to have metastatic carcinoid to the left
A novel approach to measuring student engagement while using an augmented reality sandbox

Augmented reality (AR) sandboxes are useful tools in helping students develop a three-dimensional understanding of topographic maps and landforms. Research on the AR sandbox indicates that students...
Blood component utilization in COVID-19 patients in New York City: Transfusions do not follow the curve.

Background Blood suppliers and transfusion services have worked diligently to maintain an adequate blood supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our experience has shown that some COVID-19 inpatients require transfusion support; understanding this need is critical to blood product inventory management. Study design and methods Hospital-wide and COVID-19 specific inpatient blood product utilization data were collected retrospectively for our network's two tertiary academic medical centers over a 9-week period (March 1, 2020-May 2, 2020), when most inpatients had COVID-19. Utilization data were merged with a COVID-19 patient database to investigate clinical demographic characteristics of transfused COVID-19 inpatients relative to non-transfused ones. Results Overall, 11 041 COVID-19 patients were admitted and 364 received blood product transfusions for an overall transfusion rate of 3.3%. COVID-19 patients received 1746 blood components in total, the majority of which were red blood cells. COVID-19 patients' weekly transfusion rate increased as the pandemic progressed, possibly reflecting their increased severity of illness. Transfusion was significantly associated with several indicators of severe disease, including mortality, intubation, thrombosis, longer hospital admission, lower hemoglobin and platelet nadirs, and longer prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times. As the pandemic progressed, institutional adherence to transfusion guidelines improved for RBC transfusions compared to prior year trends but did not improve for platelets or plasma. Conclusion There is a need to closely monitor the blood product inventory and demand throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as patients' transfusion needs may increase over time. Daily or weekly trending of patients' clinical status and laboratory values may assist blood banks in inventory management.
Describing Building Materials and Products

To consider sustainable initiatives and evaluation methods for green building materials, it is important to first define what building materials and products are. Characteristics include material makeup, application or use, product type, and performance capability. It is also important to understand if a building material is a commodity or a proprietary product. This often establishes whether a raw material’s origins can be traced. Additionally, the way a product is chosen, its country of origin, and what sector the product represents can all affect its sustainable impacts.
Spark effects on compression ignition of PRF95 direct injection spray in a constant volume combustion chamber

Abstract In this study, spark assisted compression ignition (SACI) combustion was investigated using PRF95 (a low reactivity high octane reference fuel of common commercial gasoline), a mixture of 95% isooctane (by volume) and 5% n-heptane (by volume) with a RON of 95 and compared with pure compression-ignition without spark. Characteristics like the cumulative heat release (CHR) and the heat release rates (HRR) were studied using pressure data from experiments conducted in a constant volume combustion chamber (CVCC). The combustion process was visualized with a high speed imaging technique. Tests were conducted to understand the effects of ambient oxygen concentration and temperatures on the heat release and combustion flame developments while controlling other factors. From the experiments it is evident that the peak heat release rate increases initially and then decreases with the increase in the ambient temperature and the highest peak heat release rate appears around 650–700 K. The peak heat release rate timing decreases with the increase of the ambient temperature or oxygen level. Under a low ambient temperature, the oxygen level plays a major role in affecting the peak heat release rate. Under lower oxygen levels, the flame becomes weaker, the ignition delay becomes longer, and the combustion process takes more time to complete. Proper spark timing can help advance the peak HRR and shorten ignition delay, but this effect becomes minor when the ambient temperature increases. For the current high octane low reactivity fuel, auto-ignition can be achieved for all the investigated ambient temperature and oxygen levels. But it is noticed that a spark is necessary for low ambient oxygen and low ambient temperature to achieve proper combustion.
Long-term effects of opioid overdose prevention and response training on medical student knowledge and attitudes toward opioid overdose: A pilot study

Abstract Background Medical settings provide ideal opportunities to identify patients with substance use disorders and provide harm reduction and treatment resources. Medical students often volunteer in the community and can spend substantial time with patients, serving as touchpoints. Accordingly, medical schools have begun training in harm reduction. Initial studies show such training acutely improves knowledge, but sustained effects remain unclear. This pilot study explored longer-term impacts of Opioid Overdose Prevention and Response Training (OOPRT) on medical student knowledge about opioids, overdose, and naloxone. Methods Students completed a survey about knowledge of opioid use disorder, overdoses, and attitudes towards patients. This included Opioid Overdose Knowledge (OOKS) and Opioid Overdose Attitudes (OOAS) scales. A subset of students was invited to attend OOPRT and complete a post-training survey. All who completed the baseline survey were invited to complete a 6-month follow-up. We analyzed long-term training effects on OOKS and OOAS scores. Results 89 students completed baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys; of these, 22 received training. OOPRT yielded significant improvements in knowledge of signs of opioid overdose (F(2,38) = 18.04, P Conclusions This study demonstrates immediate efficacy of OOPRT in improving opioid overdose knowledge and attitudes and sustained changes at 6 months, compared to standard undergraduate medical curricula alone. Future research with larger sample sizes is underway to validate these preliminary findings and examine the difference in attitudes and knowledge retention over time. Given that students report interest in receiving OOPRT and consider it worthwhile, systematic study is warranted.
Defective Patent Deference

The Supreme Court’s implicit deference to the Office of the Solicitor General in patent cases is well documented: What the Solicitor General requests, the Solicitor General typically receives. But we know far less about how the Solicitor General arrives at these preferred policy positions, or why the Solicitor General comes to advocate for some outcomes over others. This is problematic. In practically every other corner of the administrative state, an agency earns substantial deference to its views only where robust procedural protections attend to the policymaking process, where the agency’s outcome reflects its substantive expertise, and where the agency may, through presidential removal and election, be held politically accountable for its policy choices. Not so in patent law. The Patent Office has never claimed to exercise any substantive rulemaking power. Meanwhile, the Solicitor General develops and advocates for patent policy outcomes, but behind closed doors, without deep internal expertise, and under the time constraints of appellate litigation. These shortcomings (among others) suggest that we should re-examine the Solicitor General’s influence over patent policy in favor of alternate interpretive practices that improve Executive Branch decisionmaking. And they counsel in favor of several reforms — most importantly, to the policymaking power of the Patent Office.
Towards a Quantified Network Portrait of a Population

Computational network analysis has enabled researchers to investigate patterns of interactions between anatomical regions of the brain. Identification of subnetworks of the human connectome can reveal how the network manages an interplay of the seemingly competing principles of functional segregation and integration. Despite the study of subnetworks of the human structural connectome by various groups, the level of expression of these subnetworks in each subject remains for the most part largely unexplored. Thus, there is a need for methods that can extract common subnetworks that together render a network portrait of a sample and facilitate analysis of the same, such as group comparisons based on the expression of the subnetworks in each subject. In this paper, we propose a framework for quantifying the subject-specific expression of subnetworks. Our framework consists of two parts, namely subnetwork detection and reconstructive projection onto subnetworks. The first part identifies subnetworks of the connectome using multi-view spectral clustering. The second part quantifies subject specific manifestations of these subnetworks by nonnegative matrix decomposition. Positivity constraint is imposed to treat each subnetwork as a structure depicting the connectivity between specific anatomical regions. We have assessed the applicability of the framework by delineating a network portrait of a clinical sample consisting of children affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and a matched group of typically developing controls (TDCs). Subsequent statistical analysis on the intra- and inter-subnetwork connections, revealed decreased connectivity in ASD group between regions of social cognition, executive functions, and emotion processing.
Voting for Policy, Not Parties: How Voters Compensate For Power Sharing

Part I. Voting for Policy: 1. Introduction: institutional sources of voter choice 2. A theory of compensatory vote Part II. Empirical Evidence: How Voters Compensate for Diffusion of Power: 3. Compensatory vote in parliamentary democracies 4. Balancing strong (and weak) presidents 5. Compensatory vote in federations: evidence from Germany Part III. Conclusion and Theoretical Implications: 6. Summary, extensions, and implications.
The Old, the Ignorant, and the Downright Shameful: A Study of the Parties and Circumstances of Early American Cases that Shaped the Legal Doctrine of Unconscionability

It has long been held that if a contract is unconscionable in its terms, equity will not enforce it. But what exactly unconscionability encompasses is not easily described. In one of the earliest and most famous descriptions of unconscionability, Lord Hardwicke explained, "an unconscionable bargain is one such as no man in his senses and not under delusion would make on the one hand, and as no honest and fair man would accept on the other." One contract scholar described unconscionability as whatever the court can't stomach. Although these two descriptions provide some guidance, they are far from conclusive and serve only to provide a general theme of the doctrine. In the modern era, much scholarly ink has been spilt attempting to uncover and clarify the doctrine of unconscionability. This paper proposes that unconscionability is a doctrine about fairness, and the ultimate success or failure of a case involving the doctrine generally hinges on the status of the parties and their relationship with one another. After reviewing a number of pre-UCC cases, I have categorized the early unconscionability cases into three groups. They include, "the old," "the ignorant," and "the shameful." These characterizations accurately represent three groups of cases that courts have generally been willing to declare unconscionable if there is a hint of unfairness or undue influence. "The Old" represents cases in which an unfair advantage or undue influence has been exerted against a widow or an elderly person, thereby resulting in an unconscionable agreement. "The Ignorant" generally refers to cases in which a trusting person, or as described by the court, an ignorant person, has been taken advantage of by another who was in a confidential relationship with the ignorant individual. Typically, this group involves agreements between lawyers and their clients. And finally, "the Shameful" group represents cases in which the parties have reached an agreement, but the court is simply unwilling to enforce the contract because the result would be extremely harsh or oppressive. Notions of fairness and undue influence underlie the early American unconscionability cases. Although undue influence is a separate contractual defense, the courts, while exploring and developing the doctrine of unconscionability, relied on it in determining whether a particular contract was enforceable. As was also evident from the cases I explored, each court framed unconscionability in different terms. Instead of an explicit, objective definition, courts analyzed the parties and the circumstances of each case to determine if unconscionability existed. This approach established the foundation for a flexible doctrine aimed at preserving justice and preventing harsh and oppressive outcomes.
Purification and Properties of l-3-Aminobutyryl Coenzyme A Deaminase from a Lysine-fermenting Clostridium

Abstract The lysine-fermenting Clostridium SB4 is shown to contain high levels of a new deaminase (EC 4·3·1·X) that converts l-3-aminobutyryl coenzyme A reversibly to crotonyl-CoA and ammonia. The enzyme has been purified 470-fold to near homogeneity in 45 % yield. The specific activity of the purified enzyme for deamination is 370 µmoles per min per mg of protein at 26°. The deaminase is highly substrate specific. It deaminates only the l isomer of 3-aminobutyryl-CoA. Crotonyl pantetheine is aminated about 10 % as fast as crotonyl-CoA, whereas acrylyl pantetheine and tiglyl-CoA are aminated very slowly. Hydroxylamine can substitute for ammonia in the amination of crotonyl-CoA. In the presence of hydroxylamine and crotonyl-CoA, the enzyme catalyzes the release of coenzyme A without forming an hydroxamate. The second product of the reaction is postulated to be 3-methyl-5-isoxazolidinone. The equilibrium constant for deamination of l-3-aminobutyryl-CoA at pH 7.2 is 1.2 x 10-2 m, corresponding to a δG'0 of 2.65 Cal per mole. The enzyme is inhibited by thiol group reagents and is protected from this inhibition by crotonyl-CoA, indicating the presence of an essential thiol group near the crotonyl-CoA, binding site. Treatment with carbonyl reagents or sodium borohydride does not inhibit the enzyme. Several other kinetic properties are reported. The molecular weight of the deaminase is estimated by gel filtration to be 64,000. The enzyme appears to be involved in the pathway of lysine degradation in Clostridium SB4.
Minority Lending and the Subprime Foreclosure Crisis

The current mortgage foreclosure crisis is presumably related to lax lending policies pursued by financial institutions that extended mortgages to borrowers with questionable credit. These so-called subprime mortgage loans were disproportionately offered in minority communities. Accordingly, some economists argue that the crisis is the result of government regulations, which facilitate mortgage access to minorities. Lenders are profit maximizers and regulations supposedly force them to engage in suboptimal behavior by extending credit to unworthy minorities. However, I find that, while subprime mortgage lending is higher in minority areas, the estimated mortgage foreclosure rate is lower in these areas. This evidence is inconsistent with the contention that regulations encouraging lending in minority areas contribute to the subprime foreclosure crisis. It instead indicates that the loan pricing process is biased against minorities, with lenders charging interest rates in minority areas that are not commensurate with the risk profiles of these areas’ residents. On average, moving from the bottom decile to the top decile of minority representations increases a county’s subprime lending by about 25.25%, but reduces the estimated subprime foreclosure rate by about 27.25%. I find no indication that the minority effect could be due to correlated omitted variables. Further analyses are suggestive of some form of irrational statistical discrimination, whereby unfamiliarity with minorities and stereotyping induce biases in lenders’ assessments of borrowers’ creditworthiness.