cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Theory of One-Dimensional Ionic and Solitary Wave Conduction in Potassium Hollandite

Potassium hollandite is an ionic conductor which exhibits one dimensional character in the sense that the mobile ions move in one dimensional channels provided by the remaining ions in the crystal [1]. There is a theorem which states that the conductivity of a one dimensional conductor should be zero if it has impurities, because all the states of the current carrier are localised [2]. The reason for this can be roughly understood on the basis of the following simple picture: if the distribution of impurities is represented by a row of n potential barriers, each with reflection coefficient R1, the transmission coefficient for a particle incident on this n barrier system approaches zero in the thermodynamic limit when all coherence effects between barriers are neglected (which is good for random impurities). In fact, the mean free path (i.e. the distance through the system of barriers over which the wave function of a particle incident on the barriers drops to a small fraction of its incident value) is (C R1)−1 where C is the number of impurities per unit length and R1 is the transmission coefficient of one barrier. For the potential barrier $$Vo{(1 + {e^{\chi /b}})^{ - 1}}$$ where Vo is the barrier height and b its width, the reflection coefficient is given by $${R_1} = {[\frac{{\sinh \pi {{({k_1} - {k_2})}^b}}}{{\sinh \pi {{({k_1} + {k_2})}^b}}}]^2} \approx {e^{ - 4\pi {k_2}b}}$$ for k1b and k2b>>1, where $${k_1} = {(2mE)^{\frac{1}{2}}}/h$$ $${k_2} = {[2m(E - Vo)]^{\frac{1}{2}}}/h$$ where E and m are the incident particle energy and mass [3]. For m equal to the potassium ion mass, the mean free path is already ≈0.1 mm when E−Vo = 10−4eV. That is, the potassium ions are essentially classical and travel over the barriers without reflection. The apparent resistenceless current flow implied by this result does not occur for the high concentrations of potassium ions actually found in potassium hollandite because the ions can dissipate momentum by particle-particle scattering in which momentum is not conserved because of the lattice potential due to the other ions.
When and how much do average forecasts improve predictive accuracy

A composite forecast combines two or more individual forecasts into a single estimate by way of a number of different averaging schemes. The easiest way to combine forecasts is through using a simple average. In this paper, the authors show that in many instances the simple average of individual forecasts approximates the optimal combining scheme. Results are expressed in terms of the probability that a composite forecast will improve upon an individual forecast.
The evolutionary genetics of adaptation: a simulation study.

It is now clear that the genetic basis of adaptation does not resemble that assumed by the infinitesimal model. Instead, adaptation often involves a modest number of factors of large effect and a greater number of factors of smaller effect. After reviewing relevant experimental studies, I consider recent theoretical attempts to predict the genetic architecture of adaptation from first principles. In particular, I review the history of work on Fisher's geometric model of adaptation, including recent studies which suggest that adaptation should be characterized by exponential distributions of gene effects. I also present the results of new simulation studies that test the robustness of this finding. I explore the effects of changes in the distribution of mutational effects (absolute versus relative) as well as in the nature of the character studied (total phenotypic effect versus single characters). The results show that adaptation towards a fixed optimum is generally characterized by an exponential effects trend.The situation to which these studies point is not one of a large number of genes all with more or less equal effect. It seems, rather, that a small number of genes with large effects are responsible for most of the response, the remainder of the response being due to a larger number of loci with small effects.D. S. Falconer (1981)
What web browsing reveals about your health

Advertisers can learn a lot from our digital footprints, including about our health. Timothy Libert and colleagues argue that we need to tighten restrictions on such data for marketing purposes while looking at their potential to improve health
Eosinophils and IL-4 Support Nematode Growth Coincident with an Innate Response to Tissue Injury

It has become increasingly clear that the functions of eosinophils extend beyond host defense and allergy to metabolism and tissue regeneration. These influences have strong potential to be relevant in worm infections in which eosinophils are prominent and parasites rely on the host for nutrients to support growth or reproduction. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism underlying the observation that eosinophils promote growth of Trichinella spiralis larvae in skeletal muscle. Our results indicate that IL-4 and eosinophils are necessary for normal larval growth and that eosinophils from IL-4 competent mice are sufficient to support growth. The eosinophil-mediated effect operates in the absence of adaptive immunity. Following invasion by newborn larvae, host gene expression in skeletal muscle was compatible with a regenerative response and a shift in the source of energy in infected tissue. The presence of eosinophils suppressed local inflammation while also influencing nutrient homeostasis in muscle. Redistribution of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) and phosphorylation of Akt were observed in nurse cells, consistent with enhancement of glucose uptake and glycogen storage by larvae that is known to occur. The data are consistent with a mechanism in which eosinophils promote larval growth by an IL-4 dependent mechanism that limits local interferon-driven responses that otherwise alter nutrient metabolism in infected muscle. Our findings document a novel interaction between parasite and host in which worms have evolved a strategy to co-opt an innate host cell response in a way that facilitates their growth.
Abstract P021: Association of Blood Lactate with Carotid Atherosclerosis: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Carotid MRI Study

Aim: Elevated blood lactate, a marker of decreased oxidative capacity, may be associated with high levels of oxidized LDL and consequent atherosclerosis. We assessed the association between elevated blood lactate and carotid atherosclerosis in a sample of 1496 adults, aged 60 - 82 years, in the general population. Methods: Maximum wall thickness of the internal carotid artery (MICA) was measured using gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 1496 participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Blood lactate was categorized into quartiles (Q1: 9.2 mg/dl). Results: Mean age was 70.3 years; 56% were women and 19% were African American. Higher lactate quartile was associated with greater odds of having MICA above the median (Odds ratio for Q1: 1.00, Q2: 1.06, Q3: 1.24 and Q4: 1.36; p for trend Conclusion: Blood lactate is associated with internal carotid artery maximum wall thickness, a marker of carotid atherosclerosis. Attenuation of the association with adjustment for triglyceride/HDL ratio, a marker of insulin resistance, suggests that lactate’s association with wall thickness may be mediated through insulin resistance, at least in part.
On a suspension of nearly spherical colloidal particles under large-amplitude oscillatory shear flow

The dynamics of a dilute, monodisperse suspension of nearly spherical particles that undergo Brownian rotations in an oscillatory simple shear flow is quantified, as a paradigm for large-amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) rheology of complex fluids. We focus on the ‘strongly nonlinear’ regime of LAOS, defined by and , where is a dimensionless shear rate (or Weissenberg number) and is a dimensionless oscillation frequency (or Deborah number). We derive an asymptotic solution for the long-time periodic orientation probability density function of the particles. Our analysis reveals that the orientation dynamics consists of ‘core’ regions of rapid oscillation (on the time scale of the inverse of the shear-rate amplitude), separated by comparatively short ‘turning’ regions of slow evolution when the imposed flow vanishes. Uniformly valid approximations to the shear stress and normal stress differences (NSDs) of the suspension are then constructed: the non-Newtonian contribution to the shear stress, first NSD and second NSD, decays as , and , respectively, at large . These stress scalings originate from the orientation dynamics at the turning regions. Therefore, it is the occasions when the flow vanishes that dominate the rheology of this paradigmatic complex fluid under LAOS.
The IMF and Troika’s Greek Bailout Programs: an East Asian view

This paper examines the current financial and economic crisis in Greece from a perspective of the East Asian Financial Crisis. The paper traces some of the distinctive features of the ongoing economic crisis in Greece, comparing them with those of the financial crisis in East Asia in late 1990s. This comparative analysis of the origin and process of the current Greek crisis shows that the aggravation of the Greek economic situation is primarily due to the IMF and the Troika’s misguided bailout conditionality, just as the IMF’s bailout programs in East Asia severely damaged many East Asian economies, 17-18 years ago. The paper draws some policy lessons from this comparison and proposes a series of common reform agenda. These include (1) a reversal of myopic financial liberalization and of the relegation of fiscal and monetary authorities to a supranational entity, (2) a need of international extension of the US Chapter 11 bankruptcy provision to sovereign states, (3) a creation of an effective international lender of last resort, and (4) a complete overhaul of the existing austerity-oriented bailout conditionality in favor of inclusive development-oriented criteria.
Modeling Source Water TOC Using Hydroclimate Variables and Local Polynomial Regression.

To control disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation in drinking water, an understanding of the source water total organic carbon (TOC) concentration variability can be critical. Previously, TOC concentrations in water treatment plant source waters have been modeled using streamflow data. However, the lack of streamflow data or unimpaired flow scenarios makes it difficult to model TOC. In addition, TOC variability under climate change further exacerbates the problem. Here we proposed a modeling approach based on local polynomial regression that uses climate, e.g. temperature, and land surface, e.g., soil moisture, variables as predictors of TOC concentration, obviating the need for streamflow. The local polynomial approach has the ability to capture non-Gaussian and nonlinear features that might be present in the relationships. The utility of the methodology is demonstrated using source water quality and climate data in three case study locations with surface source waters including river and reservoir sourc...
Iterative Gain Enhancement in an Algorithmic ADC

This paper presents a 14.9-bit 3.57-MS/s algorithmic ADC that uses iterative gain enhancement, a technique that uses multiple clock phases to increase the effective op-amp gain in a switched-capacitor circuit. Using an op-amp that gives only 30-dB loop gain in a feedback circuit without gain enhancement, application of the iterative gain enhancement technique boosts the loop gain to 81 dB. The algorithmic ADC uses a capacitor sharing and scaling technique, which saves power and reduces errors. The ADC has an active area of 0.75 $\text{mm}^{2}$ in 0.25- $\mu\text{m}$ CMOS and dissipates 16.2 mW. Iterative gain enhancement increases the SNDR from 44.6 dB to 78.5 dB and the SFDR from 45.9 dB to 96.2 dB. Reducing the number of gain-enhancement iterations for the LSBs increases the conversion rate from 3.57 MS/s to 4.65 MS/s with only minor performance degradation.
Superconductivity in Granular Snx (SiO2)100-x Thin Films

The resistivity of sputter deposited Snx (SiO2)100-x films has been measured for Sn concentration x between 50 and 90 atomic percent. Films with more than 53 percent Sn are superconducting at low temperatures with transition temperatures slightly above that of bulk Sn. The enhancement is 0.11 K for the 90 percent film, increasing to 0.24 K in the 55 percent film. As the metal concentration decreases, the transition region broadens, with the resistance beginning to decrease about 1 K above the transition in the highest resistance films. The films remain superconducting in substantial magnetic fields. In the 55 percent film, a magnetic field of 1 T reduces the transition temperature by 1 K and a field greater than 2 T is needed to eliminate superconductivity. At the largest field of 6 T, there is no sign of superconductivity in any sample, and the resistances increase down to the lowest temperatures measured (100 mK).
Testing the Consistency of Attribute Meaning in Empirical Concept Testing

The problems of accurately gauging the public's perception of a new product or service and their preferences for alternative designs of the new product are problems constantly being faced by corporate and government organizations. Often because of the costs involved or the possibility of alerting competition to the details of a new idea, it is not always practical actually to build prototypes and let sampled individuals and test market communities respond to the actual goods or service. The organization with such a product, be it a magnetic stove or a new public transportation system, has a critical need for information on how the eventual customer perceives alternative formulations of the product or service and the customer's current preference or ranking of the alternatives. To obtain generalizable information, an organization usually generates what it hopes is an all encompassing set of attributes that describe the alternatives. In practice the number of attributes employed in marketing concept testing is usually nontrivial (n > 10) [1]. Since one doesn't really believe a person thinks in terms of 10 or more independent dimensions in evaluating a product or service concept, an approach, consistent with some psychological theories, is to reduce the attribute space into a more manageable number of variables. Two general sets of psychometric techniques for accomplishing this purpose have been proposed in the marketing literature. First, there are the multidimensional scaling techniques (MDS). The second method is a covariance analysis approach commonly called factor analysis. Utilizing one of these two general approaches the researcher attempts to identify underlying or "latent" factors. These underlying factors often serve as an aid to the researcher in reducing the original extensive list of attributes to a subset of relatively independent attributes which become inputs to a choice model. Alternative concepts can then be compared in terms of a choice model. For example, there is the standard linear multi-attribute attitude model which has
A Numerical Study of an Off-Stoichiometric Flame on Propellant Combustion

Presented is an unsteady propellant model and results for a quasi-homogenous mixture. This model is used in the understanding of the oscillatory burning characteristics of a propellant containing two ingredients with different kinetic parameters with an off-stoichiometric flame. Ammonium perchlorate and HTPB were used as a basis for the kinetic parameters to represent pocket propellant formulations. The model is a solution to both the energy and species equations in the solid and gas phases. The propellants were simulated to be burning at 20 atm and perturbed by an oscillating pressure field. Simulations were performed on propellants with oxidizer fuel ratios of 95/5, 90/10, 80/20, and 70/30. The first three cases only showed what is thought to be a classic thermal relaxation response. However, he results indicate that for the fuel rich propellant (oxidizer fuel ratio of 70/30) that a strong natural response around 40 Hz was present at this pressure. Other simulations were used to determine that the composition of the gas phase varied over time as well as the heat feedback to the surface. The natural instability is thought to occur due to a heat feedback loop between the solid and gas phased due, in part, to the off stoichiometric premixed flame.
Floors and Toilets: Association of Floors and Sanitation Practices with Fecal Contamination in Peruvian Amazon Peri-Urban Households.

Over two billion people worldwide lack access to an improved sanitation facility that adequately retains or treats feces. This results in the potential for fecal material containing enteric pathogens to contaminate the environment, including household floors. This study aimed to assess how floor type and sanitation practices impacted the concentration of fecal contamination on household floors. We sampled 189 floor surfaces within 63 households in a peri-urban community in Iquitos, Peru. All samples were analyzed for colony forming units (CFUs) of E. coli, and households were evaluated for their water, sanitation, and hygiene characteristics. Results of multivariate linear regression indicated that households with improved sanitation and cement floors in the kitchen area had reduced fecal contamination to those with unimproved sanitation and dirt floors (Beta: −1.18 log10 E. coli CFU/900 cm2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −1.77, −0.60). Households that did not versus did share their sanitation facility al...
Sartre and Marcel on Embodiment: Re-evaluating Traditional and Gynocentric Feminisms

In recent years, the celebrated works of Simone de Beauvoir and Shulamith Firestone, once required readings in feminist philosophy courses, have come under rigorous attack by a new generation of feminist philosophers who ascribe to the position known as gynocentrism.1 Gynocentric feminists challenge the basic philosophical assumptions Beauvoir makes in The Second Sex, assumptions that Beauvoir openly admits to have taken from Jean- Paul Sartre’s early writings. As one critic observes, ‘The Second Sex suffers from its author’s “rather uncritical... embrace [of] Sartre’s brand of Existentialist philosophy”’? To be sure, the gynocentric feminists’ attack on Beauvoir and her followers is ultimately an attack on Sartre’s philosophy, particularly on his theory of embodiment which is predicated on his overall ontology of freedom. They fault Sartre for employing a male-centred model that glorifies male consciousness and activity. According to them, it is an inadequate model, which not only fails to account for women’s unique embodied experience, but devalues it. Contending that traditional feminist writings are infected by the same male bias found in the existentialist phenomenology identified with Sartre, gynocentric feminists set out to reclaim women’s experience by grounding feministtheory in an ontology of female embodiment, one that exalts the difference in women’s reproductive biology. This chapter is an attempt to assess the positions that set apart the two generations of feminists, focusing specifically on the different ontologies that underlie them.
A Review of Recent Advances in Research on Extreme Heat Events

Reviewing recent literature, we report that changes in extreme heat event characteristics such as magnitude, frequency, and duration are highly sensitive to changes in mean global-scale warming. Numerous studies have detected significant changes in the observed occurrence of extreme heat events, irrespective of how such events are defined. Further, a number of these studies have attributed present-day changes in the risk of individual heat events and the documented global-scale increase in such events to anthropogenic-driven warming. Advances in process-based studies of heat events have focused on the proximate land-atmosphere interactions through soil moisture anomalies, and changes in occurrence of the underlying atmospheric circulation associated with heat events in the midlatitudes. While evidence for a number of hypotheses remains limited, climate change nevertheless points to tail risks of possible changes in heat extremes that could exceed estimates generated from model outputs of mean temperature. We also explore risks associated with compound extreme events and nonlinear impacts associated with extreme heat.
A Pedigree-Based Map of Recombination in the Domestic Dog Genome

Meiotic recombination in mammals has been shown to largely cluster into hotspots, which are targeted by the chromatin modifier PRDM9. The canid family, including wolves and dogs, has undergone a series of disrupting mutations in this gene, rendering PRDM9 inactive. Given the importance of PRDM9, it is of great interest to learn how its absence in the dog genome affects patterns of recombination placement. We have used genotypes from domestic dog pedigrees to generate sex-specific genetic maps of recombination in this species. On a broad scale, we find that placement of recombination events in dogs is consistent with that in mice and apes, in that the majority of recombination occurs toward the telomeres in males, while female crossing over is more frequent and evenly spread along chromosomes. It has been previously suggested that dog recombination is more uniform in distribution than that of humans; however, we found that recombination in dogs is less uniform than in humans. We examined the distribution of recombination within the genome, and found that recombination is elevated immediately upstream of the transcription start site and around CpG islands, in agreement with previous studies, but that this effect is stronger in male dogs. We also found evidence for positive crossover interference influencing the spacing between recombination events in dogs, as has been observed in other species including humans and mice. Overall our data suggests that dogs have similar broad scale properties of recombination to humans, while fine scale recombination is similar to other species lacking PRDM9.
Invisible Asians: Korean American adoptees, Asian American experiences, and racial exceptionalism

Kim Park Nelson’s Invisible Asians explores Korean adoptees’ experiences in a transnational context. It depicts for the reader the full circle of transnational adoption from Korea (birth country) t...
Association of early onset myasthenia gravis in Newfoundland dogs with the canine major histocompatibility complex class I.

Abstract Acquired Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder whose development in humans has been associated with the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) or Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA). There is a form of early onset MG (EOMG) in Newfoundland dogs that mimics the clinical presentation in humans and appears to have familial inheritance. Genotyping of three classical Dog Leukocyte Antigen (DLA) class II genes, DLA-DRB1 , DLA-DQA1 and DLA-DQB1, in 16 Newfoundlands with EOMG and 46 unaffected Newfoundlands, identified DLA-DQB1 *00301 (p-value = 0.0051 OR: 7.41) as a risk locus for the development of EOMG in this breed. In order to further investigate the extent of the association to the entire MHC region, 208 additional SNPs were genotyped in two phases. Both a risk locus for EOMG to the DLA class I (chr12: 458483–506460) and a protective locus for EOMG susceptibility that extends outside of the DLA class I (chr12: 89701–475348) were identified. Four additional dog breeds with an elevated risk for the development of MG were SNP genotyped, but no shared or significant associations were found. MHC involvement in canine MG disease manifestation overlaps with loci identified in human studies and highlights the value of dogs as a model for genetic studies of naturally occurring diseases.
Performance of osteoporosis self-assessment tool in detecting low bone mineral density in menopausal women

Background The osteoporosis self-assessment tool (OST) is a simple screening tool to assess risk of osteoporosis and to select high risk women for dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) examination. This study aimed to evaluate OST performance in detecting low bone mineral density (BMD) in menopausal women. Methods A cross-sectional study involving 60 menopausal women aged 50-65 years. The OST score was calculated from: [weight (kg) – age (yr)] x 0.2. Subjects were classified by OST score into low risk (OST ³2) and high risk (OST -1) and low BMD (T-score £-1). Independent t-test was used to compare subject characteristics between OST groups. Diagnostic performance of OST was evaluated by measuring sensitivity, specificity, positive & negative predictive value (PPV, NPV), positive & negative likelihood ratio (PLR, NLR) and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC). Significance was set at p<0.05. Results Subject characteristics and BMD between groups were significantly different (p<0.05). Most subjects (44/73.3%) had high risk of low BMD (OST < 2). Low BMD (T score £-1) was found in 43 subjects (71.7%) at L1-L4, 41 subjects (68.3%) at femoral neck, and 37 subjects (61.7%) at total hip. Diagnostic performance of OST was significant at total hip BMD (sensitivity=0.946, AUC=0.777). Conclusion We conclude that use of the OST score in menopausal women is effective and has adequate sensitivity and specificity. The highest diagnostic performance of OST is on total hip BMD.
Microfabricated single-lens Shack-Hartmann light angle sensor

We demonstrate the fabrication and testing of a microfabricated light sensor that can detect the light direction within a ±30° cone. The sensor consists of a quad silicon photodiode array formed on a p+ well. The photodiode array is covered with a microfabricated 287 μm-high light blocking cap containing a 500 μm diameter ball lens. The lens focuses light onto the quad array producing different light intensities on the photodiodes depending on the direction of the incoming light, resembling the behavior of light through a single Shack-Hartmann lenslet array. The detector shows a light responsivity of 0.21 μA/μW at 405 nm.
Effects of pre-analytical heat treatment in factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitor assays on FVIII antibody levels.

Introduction The use of pre-analytical heat treatment (PHT) with the Nijmegen-Bethesda assay (NBA) for inhibitors to factor VIII (FVIII) can remove/destroy infused or endogenous FVIII from patient plasma samples, allowing testing of recently infused patients with haemophilia. Two PHT methods have been described as follows: heating to 56°C for 30 minutes and heating to 58°C for 90 minutes. Data examining the effects of PHT on anti-FVIII IgG4 , the antibodies known to correlate most closely with the presence of FVIII inhibitors, are limited. Aim To assess the effect of PHT on the levels of detectable anti-FVIII IgG4 . Methods Nijmegen-Bethesda assay-positive specimens were incubated at 56, 58 or 60°C for 90 minutes, and anti-FVIII IgG4 was measured by fluorescence immunoassay (FLI) at 30-minute intervals. The effects of PHT on the ability of recombinant FVIII (rFVIII) to inhibit detection of patient antibodies by FLI was also examined to assess the stability of rFVIII under the various PHT conditions tested. Results Levels of anti-FVIII IgG4 showed little change following incubations at 56°C (mean 101% of original value at 30 minutes and 100% at 60 minutes) but decreased upon exposure to 58°C (mean 85% at 30 minutes and 66% at 60 minutes). In addition, heating to 56°C effectively decreased the ability of rFVIII to block antibody binding compared to unheated rFVIII. Conclusion The optimal temperature for PHT in the FVIII NBA is 56°C. Higher temperatures may lead to loss of inhibitory antibodies.
Knot Theory. By Charles Livingston

(1995). Knot Theory. By Charles Livingston. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 102, No. 8, pp. 755-757.
Reflected Light Microscopy of Industrial Minerals

The use of reflected light microscopy to study industrial minerals has been largely overlooked and neglected. Industrial minerals are much darker than ore minerals, and this property has tended to dissuade most microscopists from studying industrial minerals in polished sections under reflected light. Furthermore, the reflectance (R) values for most industrial minerals are not listed in standard reference works. The most useful property of industrial minerals for their identification under reflected light is their reflectance (R). The reflectance of most industrial minerals ranges from 3 to about 9. This range is similar to Portland cement clinker phases and brighter than coal macerals. This communication provides reflectance values for some of the common industrial minerals, and provides some examples of the character of industrial minerals as viewed under reflected light.
Learning How to Plan and Instantiate a Plan in Multi-Agent Coalition Formation

We propose an innovative two-step learning approach to planning-instantiation for multi-agent coalition formation in dynamic, uncertain, real-time, and noisy environments. The first step learns about the planning of a coalition to improve its quality, adapting to the real-time and environmental requirements.The second step learns about the instantiation of the plan to improve the formation process, taking into account uncertain and dynamic behaviors of the peer agents.Decomposing the approach into two steps allos for modularity and flexibility in learning: learning how to plan a coalition is strategic while learning how to instantiate a plan is tactical.Our approach employs a case-based reinforcement learning (CBRL) framework.
Clinician opioid prescribing practices and patient utilization of prescribed opioids in pediatrics.

Objective: Little is known regarding clinician prescribing of opioid medications and of patient use of prescribed opioid medications in pediatrics. The authors sought to learn more about pediatric clinician opioid prescribing practices and patient utilization and disposal of prescribed opioids. Design: Cross-sectional, observational study. Setting: Tertiary care pediatric healthcare center. Participants: Pediatric clinicians who prescribe opioid medications and parents of children prescribed an opioid medication. Main Outcome Measures: Clinicians were surveyed about opioid prescribing practices for acute pain management in children, and parents were asked about utilization and disposal of prescribed opioids. Results: Most clinician respondents (64 percent) reported prescribing opioid medications to manage acute pain. The typical length of opioid prescriptions was limited to 7 days (93 percent). Parents reported a high prevalence of leftover opioid medications (86 percent). Most (59 percent) did not dispose of the remaining medication. Conclusions: Targets for intervention to reduce unnecessary opioid exposure in youth are identified.
Ring-shear studies of till deformation: Coulomb-plastic behavior and distributed strain in glacier beds

A ring-shear device was used to study the factors that control the ultimate (steady) strength of till at high shear strains. Tests at a steady strain rate and at different stresses normal to the shearing direction yielded ultimate friction angles of 26.3 and 18.6° for tills containing 4% and 30% clay-sized particles, respectively. Other tests at steady normal stresses and variable shear-strain rates indicated a tendency for both tills to weaken slightly with increasing strain rate. This weakening may be due to small increases in till porosity. These results provide no evidence of viscous behavior and suggest that a Coulomb-plastic idealization is reasonable for till deformation. However, viscous behavior has often been suggested on the basis of distributed shear strain observed in subglacial till. We hypothesize that deformation may become distributed in till that is deformed cyclically in response to fluctuations in basal water pressure. During a deformation event, transient dilation ofdiscrete shear zones should cause a reduction in internal pore-water pressure that should strengthen these zones relative to the surrounding till, a process called dilatant hardening. Consequent changes in shear-zone position, when integrated over time, may yield the observed distributed strain.
Age and factors associated with self-clean intermittent catheterization in patients with spina bifida.

Purpose The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) to determine the age when a child with spina bifida (SB) will most likely transition from caregiver clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) to self-CIC, and 2) to identify factors associated with self-CIC in children older than that age. Methods This is a retrospective, single-institution cohort study of individuals with SB. Data were collected prospectively as part of the National Spina Bifida Patient Registry. For Aim 1, we identified all individuals who perform self-CIC and who had a documented transition from caregiver-CIC. We then determined the age of transition to self-CIC. For Aim 2, we compared individuals over age 10 years (age cutoff determined by Aim 1) who use self-CIC to those who use caregiver-CIC to determine what variables were associated with self-CIC. Results From our SB population, 206 individuals used self-CIC. Of these, 64 patients had documented ages of transition from caregiver- to self-CIC. 46 (71.9%) and 56 (87.5%) patients had transitioned to self-CIC by 10 and 14 years, respectively. For Aim 2, we used age 10 as a cutoff, based on the findings from Aim 1, and found that 287/696 patients were ⩾ 10 years and using CIC. Factors independently associated with lower likelihood of self-CIC were thoracic spinal lesions (odds ratio (OR) 0.45) and Medicaid insurance (OR 0.24). Conclusions The ages at self-CIC transition vary, although most patients transition by age 10. Thoracic-level spinal lesions and Medicaid insurance are associated with lower odds of self-CIC.
Is early operative treatment for wound complications beneficial for preventing major component revision after TKA? A systematic review

Abstract Background Wound complications following TKA can progress to deep infection and compromise implant survivorship and clinical outcomes. However, it remains unclear whether early wound complications must undergo immediate surgical debridement or whether a trial of conservative treatment provides comparable outcomes. This study evaluates the rates of subsequent return to the operating room, deep infection, major reoperations and implant survivorship for early versus delayed operative management of superficial wound complications following TKA. Materials and methods We performed a systematic review of the literature indexed on PubMed and Embase and identified 14 studies which reported implant survivorship and deep infection rates following TKA wound complications. The data were aggregated to compare rates of secondary return to the OR, deep infection, and explants in patients with superficial wound complications following TKA managed with either early operative intervention versus conservative treatment. Results The mean time to operative intervention was 17.7 days in the early operative group, compared to 12.8 days in the conservative management group. Rates of subsequent deep prosthetic joint infection were similar between the 2 groups (9.2% vs 5.2%, RR = 1.79, p = 0.098). However, there was a significant decrease in subsequent return to the OR for patients undergoing early surgical debridement compared to delayed surgical intervention (12.1% vs. 19.9%, RR = 0.609, p = 0.049). There were no significant differences between groups in terms of major revision rate (9.2% vs 4.6%, RR = 2.01 p = 0.053) or implant survivorship (95.7% vs. 95.4%, RR = 1.00, p = 0.869). Conclusions In wound complications following TKA, short delays in surgical management did not affect the overall rates of deep infection, major revision surgery, or implant survivorship. However, initial conservative treatment was associated with higher failure rates requiring subsequent return to the OR. We recommend that surgeons have a low threshold to return to the OR for early aggressive management of wound complications following TKA.
Medical Oncology: Planning Considerations and Practices

This is a chapter covers the factors that the head and neck medical oncologist takes into account when first seeing a patient with head and neck cancer and deciding on a course of treatment. Treatment options need to be individualized and one must often weigh the expected outcome and companion risks with each treatment strategy. This effort is best accomplished by a multidisciplinary team that composed of a head and neck surgeon, medical oncologist, and a radiation oncologist. A staging work-up is performed that includes panendoscopy with biopsy, CT scan or MRI of the neck, and PET scan. The decision to perform primary surgery vs. chemoradiotherapy depends of factors such as: primary site, stage, ease and accessibility of resection, and acceptable functional and cosmetic results. The decision to perform post-op adjuvant radiation +/− chemotherapy depends on risk of recurrence based on the presence or absence of high risk pathological features such as positive margins or lymph node involvement and extracapsular extension (ECE) of disease. For locally advanced disease (stages III and IV) definitive chemoradiation therapy, not primary surgery is often employed. Additionally, the strategy of induction chemotherapy followed by definitive radiation +/− concurrent chemotherapy may be chosen. For recurrent disease, treatment options include salvage surgery, reirradiation +/− chemotherapy, palliative chemotherapy, or supportive care alone. Finally, targeted therapy with cetuximab is effective or one may consider participation in a clinical trial.
Markov Duels

Markov duels are a general class of stochastic duels in which each weapon has Markov-dependent fire, that is, the outcomes of shots by each weapon form a Markov process. This paper develops duel models for the situation in which the outcomes form a finite stationary Markov chain and both weapons have an unlimited supply of ammunition, fire at constant intervals of time, and duel until one is killed. Based on these assumptions, the probability of a given side winning the duel is obtained for two sets of starting conditions: 1 both weapons begin with unloaded weapons and have tactical equity, and 2 one weapon has the advantage of surprise and can fire y rounds at the other before the two-sided duel begins, where y is a random variable with a geometric distribution. The mean and variance of the number of rounds to kill a passive target are also derived and two example duels are solved. Finally, methods are indicated for obtaining the solution to a Markov duel between weapons having exponential firing times and either fixed, limited ammunition supplies or infinite supplies.
The Conceptual Content of Particle-Verb Schemas

This chapter is devoted to exploring the meaning of the Verb + Particle syntax, namely the conceptual content of particle-verb schemas. The Motion Event, the State Change Event, and the Aspect Event proposed by Talmy (Toward a cognitive semantics, Volumes II. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2000) are argued to be able to account for the conceptual content of particle-verb schemas. The Motion Event is the prototype, and the State Change Event and the Aspect Event are metaphorically extended from the prototype. Thus, the particle component in the verb-particle construction, respectively, designates the Path of motion, State Change, and Aspect in the three types of events, giving rise to three semantic groups of particle verbs, i.e., directional, resultative, and aspectual. In the CL view, the inventory of linguistic knowledge is characterized as a complex but structured mental network consisting a myriad of symbolic units that co-exist and are interrelated with one another through various types of relationships. This chapter concludes with a description of the mental representation of English particle verbs and a diagram to sketch the major aspects of the mental network, justifying the scope of this study, i.e., a systematic analysis of the semantics and syntax of particle verbs as proposed in this book.
Capitalist agriculture and the creation of the circular migrant: Understanding COVID-19’s impact on internal migrants in India

COVID-19 has affected the internal migrants in India badly. When the government announced a lockdown with a 4-hour notice, millions of these migrants, who were a part of the vast unorganized labor ...
Scaling up experiments to reduce educational inequality

For educational researchers, Al-Ubaydli et al. raise a crucial question: How can the science of scaling experimental innovations contribute to school improvement? By assessing how particular innovative programs work, why, for whom and under what conditions, experimenters test theories: about how children and youth learn, about how adults can collaborate to create the required learning opportunities and about how policy can supply the required incentives and resources to support such effective collaboration. My focus in this response article thus shifts from the perspective of innovators who hope to scale their interventions to the perspective of practitioners who face the challenge of adopting, adapting or borrowing ideas from experimental studies and harmonizing those ideas with expert clinical judgment.
Pressure Analysis in Dynamic Handwriting for Forgery Detection.

Handwritten signatures are extensively used over many fields for processing transactions and contracts. Online (dynamic) handwritten signatures have been used as a way of identification and there has also been intensive research done on distinguishing genuine signatures from forgeries for over past 40 years. However, dealing with high-skilled forgeries still remains a challenge. Therefore, handwritten signatures have not been used for authentication in electronic systems. Unlike static signatures, online handwritten signatures contain dynamic features and are able to identify individuals with more precision. The pressure value recorded during the online signature process has been a crucial information for automatic signature verification systems. In addition, the pressure an individual applies to mouse is also shown to enable continuous authentication. This paper focuses on the analysis of the pressure patterns during the process of dynamic signature. Comparing the pressure values for genuine signatures and skilled forgeries allows us to detect forgery while having the minimal information about the genuine signature. This fact significantly decreases the need of storing very sensitive biometric information with the potential to make the process writer independent.
Clinician response time for positive blood culture results in a pediatric ICU

Abstract Introduction Positive blood cultures guide clinicians to prescribe specific therapy based on in vitro susceptibility. Delays in appropriate antibiotic therapy increase morbidity associated with positive blood culture. Hypothesis Time from clinician notification of positive blood culture to administration of targeted antimicrobial therapy should follow Surviving Sepsis guidelines. Methods Study setting was a 44 bed pediatric ICU. Data were extracted from the pharmacy database and the medical records of pediatric ICU patients with positive blood culture. Source, time blood culture was obtained, time of clinician notification of positive result, and administration time of first dose of new antimicrobial was captured. Results 174 positive blood cultures from 111 PICU patients were examined. Antimicrobials were changed after the positive culture in 51 (49%) patients. The new antibiotic was administered in an average of 6 h 35 min from clinician notification. Conclusions We demonstrated a delay from clinician notification of positive culture to new antibiotic administration.
Uridine-cytidine kinase. Purification from a murine neoplasm and characterization of the enzyme.

Abstract Uridine-cytidine kinase, which catalyzes the phosphorylation of uridine or cytidine to the respective nucleoside monophosphate, has been purified 250-fold from extracts of acetone powders from the murine mast cell tumor P815. The purification procedure involved chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, ammonium sulfate fractionation, and separation on hydroxyapatite. When assayed at 37 °C, the activity of the enzyme for the uridine substrate was twice that for cytidine, and this ratio remained essentially constant throughout the purification. The requirement of the reaction for a divalent cation could best be met by magnesium or manganese, but several other metals could partially substitute. The enzyme had a broad pH optimum around 6.5–7.0. The purified enzyme had a broad specificity for phosphate donor, but ATP and dATP were the most effective. With ATP as donor, uridine, cytidine, 5-fluorouridine, 6-azauridine, and 5-azacytidine were phosphorylated by the enzyme, but thymine riboside, deoxyribosides and cytosine arabinoside did not serve as substrates.
Heparin Induces Differentiation of CD1a+ Dendritic Cells from Monocytes: Phenotypic and Functional Characterization

Dendritic cells (DCs) play important roles in initiation and regulation of immune responses. DCs derived from human monocytes can be classified according to presence of CD1a molecules. Although CD1a+ DCs can be prepared from monocytes in media containing GM-CSF, IL-4, and FCS, it has been reported that CD1a+ DCs could not be easily obtained from monocytes using media containing human serum or plasma. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that heparin can reliably induce differentiation of CD1a+ DCs from monocytes with or without autologous serum or plasma. The development of CD1a+ DCs is heparin concentration dependent (0-50 U/ml). Comparing with CD1a- DCs developed without heparin, CD1a+ DCs express higher CD40 and CD80 and lower CD86. Both CD1a+ and CD1a- DCs express similar levels of HLA-DR. CD80, CD86, HLA-DR, and CD40 are proportionally up-regulated when both types of DCs are stimulated with LPS or LPS plus IFN-gamma. The effect of heparin is neutralized by heparin-binding proteins, such as protamine sulfate, platelet factor-4, and beta-thromboglobulin. Functionally, heparin-treated DCs respond to LPS or LPS plus IFN-gamma with higher IL-10 and less IL-12 production than heparin-untreated DCs. Heparin-treated DCs are more potent in priming allogeneic and autologous CD4+ T cells to proliferate and to produce both type 1 and type 2 cytokines. The results of our study show that CD1a+ DCs can be prepared from monocytes ex vivo without using xenogeneic serum and may be used for immunotherapy.
Thiamine Deficiency in Infancy

Investigators at Tel Aviv University, Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital, Schneider Children's Medical Center, and other centers in Israel report the clinical presentation of acute encephalopathy in 11 children and the long-term sequelae of 8 who initially survived an episode of thiamine deficiency.
Dynamics of Rotating Thunderstorms

The history of investigation of rotating thunderstorms is briefly reviewed with emphasis on the recent results from comparisons of observations by Doppler radar and three-dimensional numerical simulations. The development of rotation is shown to depend on the tilting into the vertical of horizontal vorticity associated with mean shear. The concept of helicity as a quasi-conserved variable allows further insight into the process. It is suggested that rotating storms are unusually persistent and efficient because helical flow resists turbulent decay.
Analysis and compression of facial animation parameter set (FAPs)

In this paper, a new representation of FAPs based on principal component analysis is proposed. Based on this compact representation, a FAPs compression scheme is designed. A facial expression recognition algorithm using recurrent neural network is also investigated. The inputs to the network are the most significant components of this new data representation. Experimental results show that computational complexity is reduced and expressions can be correctly recognized even with changed sampling rate.