cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Photoluminescence Investigation of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 Thin Films

Photoluminescence (PL) excited at 1.7K with a N 2 -Laser (3.679eV) was used to investigate defect related electron-hole recombination transitions in ferroelectric PZT thin films. The interaction of doping, heat treatment, and hydrogen with the defect related PL spectrum has been studied. Donor/acceptor related transitions between 3.0 and 3.5eV and deep trap transitions between 2.0 and 2.6eV have been found. Certain heat treatments produce high densities of deep trap transitions in Pb(Zr 0.48 Ti 0.52 )0 3 thin films but not in 6% La doped PZT; different treatments are neccessary to produce similar deep trap transitions in the doped films. Hydrogen anneals eliminate the strongest deep trap transition at 2.15eV in both undoped and La-doped PZT films; however the donor/acceptor transitions are affected differently. Correlation with electrical properties seems to indicate the expected result: smaller defect densities are associated with better electrical performance.
Use of 2,3-butanedione monoxime to estimate nonmechanical VO2 in rabbit hearts.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of partitioning myocardial O2 consumption (VO2) into mechanical and nonmechanical components in the whole heart preparation using a negative inotrope, 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM), which has been reported to have a selective effect on the contractile proteins in a low concentration range (< 6 mM). In six isolated bovine red blood cell-perfused rabbit hearts, VO2 and force-time integral (FTI) were measured during infusion of varying concentrations of BDM at a constant left ventricular volume chosen such that control left ventricular peak isovolumic pressure was approximately 100 mmHg. The VO2-FTI relation with BDM concentrations < or = 5 mM was highly linear (median r = 0.98). Its VO2-axis intercept at zero FTI had a positive value (mean 23% of control, 0.014 ml O2.beat-1 x 100 g-1). To confirm the selective effect of BDM on the contractile proteins, the intracellular free Ca2+ transient was measured with the fluorescent indicator indo 1 in three isolated buffer-perfused rabbit hearts. The amplitude of the Ca2+ transient was not altered by BDM at concentrations < or = 10 mM, although left ventricular developed pressure was markedly depressed. This finding indicates that BDM < or = 10 mM does not affect excitation-contraction coupling. We conclude that the VO2-axis intercept value of the VO2-FTI relation during BDM infusion in a low concentration range represents VO2 for nonmechanical energy utilization. The BDM method to partition VO2 into mechanical and nonmechanical components is thus feasible in the whole rabbit heart.
Culture and Identification of Dermatophytes

Introduction/Background Dermatophytes am members of the genera Trichophyton, Microsporum, and Epidermophyton. They are closely related filamentous fungi that regularly invade the nails, the hair, and the stratum comeum, the outermost layer of the skin. This trait is due to the organisms’ unique capacity to obtain nutrients from keratin, which is a primary component of these materials. The lesion that forms at the site of dematophyte invasion is the result of the host reaction to the enzymes released by the fungus during its digestive process. The term “dermatophyte” literally means “skin plant,” and although the documented use of the word did not appear until 1882 (l), the infections they cause have existed for hundreds of thousands of years. To this day dermatophytes are among the most common infectious agents of humans and are found among all peoples throughout the world. The most infectious elements of the dermatophytes are the arthroconidia that are formed in vivo (2). The infection (commonly known as ringworm or tinea) is transmitted by direct contact or by contact with inanimate objects (fomites) contaminated with the organism. Materials from lesions may remain infectious for long periods (greater than a year). Tbe conidia formed in vitro are not the agents of natural infection but can also initiate disease (3). The highly infectious characteristic of these organisms requires laboratory personnel to take extreme care in processing specimens suspected of containing dermatophytes and in handling the organisms that grow on cultures. Dermatophytes can be divided into three major groups on the basis of their natural habitat and host preferences (4): (i) anthropophilic species, which make humans their primary host and rarely infect lower animals, (ii) zoophilic species, which make lower animals their primary hosts, but can also infect humans; (iii) geophilic species, which live as saprophytes in soil and occasionally infect humans or lower animals. The natural preferred ecology of the etiologic agent of human infection is clinically significant, as the fungi that are geophilic or zoophilic tend to produce more marked skin reactions than those that are anthropophilic (5). Generally, tbe less inflammatory infections are the more chronic ones (6).
COGNITION, METACOGNITION, AND ACHIEVEMENT OF COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

This study examined the way successful college stu- dents with LD compensated for their deficits in phonological processing. Successful was defined as average or above-average grades in college coursework. The study compared the cognitive and metacognitive performance of students with and without LD (N=40). Although achievement levels for both groups were comparahle, students with LD scored significantly lower than stu- dents without LD in word reading, processing speed, semantic processing, and short-term memory. Differences were also found between groups in self-regulati on and number of hours of study- ing. Results showed that students with LD compensated for their processing deficits by relying on verbal abilities, learning strate- gies, and help seeking.
Trends in incidentally identified thyroid cancers over a decade: a retrospective analysis of 2,090 surgical patients.

The aim of this study was to describe trends in the incidence of incidental thyroid cancers and compare their characteristics with clinically presenting cancers. We performed a retrospective review of patients with thyroid cancer who underwent thyroid surgery from 2003 to 2012. Patients’ initial presentation was categorized as incidental (on imaging or final surgical pathology) or clinical (palpable or symptomatic) cancer. Characteristics of incidental and clinical cancers were compared. Of the 2,090 patients who underwent thyroid surgery, 680 (33 %) were diagnosed with cancer. One hundred ninety (28 %) were incidental cancer, of which 101 were detected on imaging studies and 89 were detected on analysis of the surgical pathology specimens. The incidence of thyroid cancer increased by 7.6-fold from 2003 to 2012. The proportion of incidental cancers on imaging did not increase, but incidental cancers found on pathology steadily increased from 6 % in 2003 to 20 % in 2012. 84 % of the cancers were papillary cancer, and the proportion of papillary cancer was similar for both clinical and incidental cancers. Clinical cancers were larger than incidental cancers on imaging (2.2 vs. 1.8 cm, p = 0.02). Incidental cancers on imaging were less likely to have lateral compartment nodal metastases (7 vs. 13 %, p < 0.001). Thyroid cancer diagnoses have increased at our institution, but the proportion of incidental cancers identified on imaging relative to clinical cancers has been stable over a decade and is not the sole explanation for the observed increase in thyroid cancer diagnoses. Incidental cancers on imaging are smaller in size and less likely to have lateral compartment nodal metastases than clinical cancers.
Evolving use of radiotherapy and radiosurgery in the treatment of pituitary adenomas

Conventional external beam radiotherapy has been historically employed in the treatment of pituitary adenomas either as a single modality or following suboptimal surgical resection. However, with the widespread adoption of the trans-sphenoidal surgery, the role of radiation therapy has been limited to cases deemed resectable or in those with subtotal resections. Advances in radiotherapy have improved the dose distribution to the pituitary mass while minimizing the volume of normal tissues receiving doses of radiation near or exceeding their inherent tolerances, permitting radiation oncologists to migrate from simple 2D radiation planning to 3D planning. Fractionated radiosurgery, linear-accelerator/gamma source-based radiosurgery, or image-guided/intensity-modulated radiotherapy is now commonly employed. Long-term follow-up data demonstrate excellent progression-free survival and local control along with few complications for all radiation treatment modalities whether employed as monotherapy or following subtotal resection.
The Genome of Pseudomonas fluorescens Strain R124 Demonstrates Phenotypic Adaptation to the Mineral Environment

ABSTRACT Microbial adaptation to environmental conditions is a complex process, including acquisition of positive traits through horizontal gene transfer or the modification of existing genes through duplication and/or mutation. In this study, we examined the adaptation of a Pseudomonas fluorescens isolate (R124) from the nutrient-limited mineral environment of a silica cave in comparison with P. fluorescens isolates from surface soil and the rhizosphere. Examination of metal homeostasis gene pathways demonstrated a high degree of conservation, suggesting that such systems remain functionally similar across chemical environments. The examination of genomic islands unique to our strain revealed the presence of genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, aromatic carbon metabolism, and carbon turnover, confirmed through phenotypic assays, suggesting the acquisition of potentially novel mechanisms for energy metabolism in this strain. We also identified a twitching motility phenotype active at low-nutrient concentrations that may allow alternative exploratory mechanisms for this organism in a geochemical environment. Two sets of candidate twitching motility genes are present within the genome, one on the chromosome and one on a plasmid; however, a plasmid knockout identified the functional gene as being present on the chromosome. This work highlights the plasticity of the Pseudomonas genome, allowing the acquisition of novel nutrient-scavenging pathways across diverse geochemical environments while maintaining a core of functional stress response genes.
Specific absorption rates (SARs) induced in head tissues by microwave radiation from cell phones

The cellular/mobile phone industry has been reluctant to disclose SAR values to the public in the past. The decision by the Cellular Telecommunication Industry Association (CTIA) to require manufacturers to disclose SARs emerged after it became clear that SAR information was going to appear on the FCC Web site in a user-friendly form. It was also prompted by a British government panel's call, on May 11, 2000, for the SAR of each mobile phone to be printed on the box in which the phone is sold. The wireless telephone industry is concerned about how the public may use the SARs, because, according to one industry source, "SARs by themselves may be misleading and variations in SARs do not represent a variation in safety." Indeed, SAR values can vary as a function of the carrier frequency-for example, 850 or 1900 MHz, used to transmit the telephone message-or how the handset is held. The article presents some insights into SAR, what it is, how is it determined, and what it means.
Reflections on Competition and Nature Sports

Over the past several years, I have been arguing that nature sports such as surfing, backcountry skiing, and mountaineering are best described as sports in which athletes interact dynamically with natural features rather than compete with other humans. This article is part of a larger attempt to trace the implications of that view. Specifically, I consider the relationship between nature sports and competition. To this purpose, I address three separate, but related topics: First, I reply to Leslie Howe’s article, ‘On Competing Against Oneself, Or, I Need to Get a Different Voice in My Head’, in which she argues that there is a version of self-competition that is central to nature sports. Second, I argue that adapting nature sports to fit into formal competitive frameworks is problematic because, when we do so, the focus shifts from athletes interacting with natural features to athletes using natural features to outdo other athletes. And third, I argue that nature sports may seem competitive because the in...
Prospects for a Vaccine to Prevent Bacterial Sepsis

The development of vaccines against common bacterial diseases has been the ultimate goal of medical researchers since the first recognition of microbial pathogens as a cause of human disease in the late 19th century. Some vaccines against bacterial exotoxins have been remarkably successful (e.g., the tetanus toxoid vaccine and diphtheria toxoid vaccine). Tetanus and diphtheria have been virtually eliminated from developed countries largely as the result of universal immunization policies. Other bacterial vaccines directed against specific microbial pathogens (e.g., Vibrio cholerae, M. Tuberculosis, S, pneumoniae) have been less successful; nonetheless, they have made a significant impact on the morbidity and mortality related to these bacterial pathogens worldwide [1].
Aortitis, periaortitis, and retroperitoneal fibrosis, as manifestations of IgG4-related systemic disease

Purpose of reviewIn last few years, there have been significant advances in our understanding of a newly recognized condition known as IgG4-related systemic disease. This review will focus on IgG4-related systemic disease as a cause of thoracic aortitis, inflammatory abdominal aortic aneurysm or per
Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Aerogel Silica on Parallel Computers

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of porous silica, in the density range 2.2 - 0.1 g/cm3, are carried out on a 41,472 particle system using two- and three-body interatomic potentials. Calculated results for fractal dimension and small-angle neutron scattering data are in good agreement with neutron scattering experiments. Results for structural correlations reveal crossovers from the short- to intermediate range (< 8 A) and fractal to large-scale regime (10 ~ 100 A). The MD program simulations are carried out on distributed-memory MIMD computers using a domain-decomposition algorithm. The algorithm employs the linked-cell- list method and separable three-body force calculation. The force calculation is accelerated by the multiple-time-step method. The parallel algorithm is highly efficient (parallel efficiency = 0.974), as it involves only 3 % communication overhead.
The occurrence of a hypogeous ascomycete in the northern chihuahuan desert

Sporocarps of the hypogeous ascomycete Carbomyces emergens Gilky were collected in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, at the entrance to the Jornada Experimental Range, 25 km NNE of Las Cruces, New Mexico on March 13, 1985. The site consisted of coppiced dunes vegetated with Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt., Prosopis glandulosa Torr., and several spring flowering annuals, Lepidium lasiocarpum Nutt., and Lesquerella gordonii (Gray) Wats. The interdune spaces were generally devoid of vegetation. The ascocarps were discovered 2-5 cm below the soil surface in and around recent rodent digs located in the interdune areas. Dried specimens were subsequently discovered on the soil surface (April 10, 1985) in the ecotone between the Larrea tridentata (DC.) Cov. and the Bouteloua eriopoda (Torr.) Torr. vegetation zones of the Jorada Long Term Ecological Research site, located on the New Mexico State University college ranch, 15 km north of the original collection area. Ascocarps (FIG. 1) were subglobose, ovoid to irregular (0.5-2.1 x 0.8-2.0 cm diam), cream to honey yellow in color, and produced singularly and in clusters. Glebal mass was white when im-
Examining intent to die and methods for nonsuicidal self-injury and suicide attempts

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is linked to suicidal behavior and future suicide attempts, but the process of NSSI-to-suicide attempts remains unclear. Additionally, little is known about how having a history of NSSI may relate to reports of intent to die during a suicide attempt. The current study examined methods of NSSI and suicide attempts, as well as intent to die, in a sample of 1,232 young adults, 54 of whom reported at least one suicide attempt. Cutting and overdose were the predominant methods of NSSI and suicide attempts, respectively, with the two often co-occurring. Individuals with both NSSI and suicide attempt history were significantly more likely to report an intent to die than those with suicide attempt history only.
The Relationship Between Pupil' s Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and Family Factors

Objective To explore the relationship between pupil's attention deficit hyperactive disorder(ADHD) and family factors, and to provide evidence for ADHD prevention.Methods Two hundred and three ADHD children were 1 :1 matched to the normal according to age and gender. A questionnaire surrey was conducted on them about family factors to ADHD, data were sent into Logistic Regression Model. Results There were 8 factors correlated to pupil'sADHD, such as father's smoking, father's drinking, father's hyperaclivity in childhood, abnormal relations between husband and wife,mother's spiritual hurt in pregnant, labor occupation of father, mother s blood type, twins or not. Conclusion Pupil s ADHD is closely related with factors of family
Examining the Analysis of Dynamical Sonic Ecosystems: in Light of a Criterion for Evaluating Theories

This paper presents two possible approaches used in analyzing electroacoustic music works as applied to a special type of interactive performance system: the dynamical sonic ecosystem, which can be considered ‘ecosystemic’. These theories of analysis are then examined in relation to Matthew Brown’s ‘six criterion for evaluating theories’ and their usefulness for analysis, in regards to their ability to qualify a work as ecosystemic. Although both approaches are shown to have merit in their ability to increase understanding of a particular work, only the technique that analyzes the process of composing interactions is found to be capable of the necessary requirements needed to work towards building a theory of ecosystemics, in the same way that there exists a theory of tonality.
Proximal Femoral Deformity: Bent but Not Broken

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) in proximal femoral deformity represents a relatively uncommon challenge. Proximal femoral deformity is classified depending on the etiology and location and geometry of the deformity. Classification by etiology includes developmental processes, previous trauma, or previous surgery (osteotomy or THA). The latter, previous surgery, is the most common cause of femoral deformity.
A Better Model for Task Assignment in Server Farms: How Replication can Help

An age-old problem in the design of server farms is the choice of the task assignment policy. This is the algorithm that determines how to assign incoming jobs to servers. Popular policies include Round-Robin assignment, Join-the-Shortest-Queue, Join-Queue-with-Least-Work, and so on. While much research has studied assignment policies, little has taken into account server-side variability -- the fact that the server we choose might be temporarily and unpredictably slow. We show that when server-side variability dominates runtime, replication of jobs can be very beneficial. We introduce the Replication-d algorithm that replicates each arrival to d servers chosen at random, where the job is considered "done" as soon as the first replica completes. We provide an exact closed-form analysis of Replication-d.We next introduce a much more general model, one which takes both the inherent job size distribution and the server-side variability into account. This is a departure from traditional queueing models which only allow for one "size" distribution. We propose and analyze a new task assignment policy, Replicate-Idle-Queue (RIQ), which is designed to perform well given these dual sources of variability.
Immunogenicity Assessment of Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonists in the Clinical Laboratory

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists are increasingly used for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Immunogenicity of these drugs poses therapeutic challenges such as therapeutic failure and adverse effects in a number of patients. Evaluation of clinical nonresponsiveness includes laboratory testing for drug concentrations and detecting the presence of antidrug antibodies. CONTENT: This review provides an overview of the immunogenicity of TNF antagonists and testing methodologies currently available for measuring antidrug antibody response, which decreases treatment efficacy and may result in therapeutic failure. This review summarizes methodologies such as binding assays, including ELISA and HPLC-based homogenous mobility shift assay, as well as functional cell-based assays such as reporter gene assay. Furthermore, based on the laboratory findings of testing for antidrug antibody response, as well as serum drug concentrations, an algorithm is provided for interpretation, based on the current available literature and guidelines, which may aid in determining optimal therapy after treatment failure. SUMMARY: Laboratory testing methodologies for measuring serum concentrations of TNF inhibitors and antidrug antibodies are clinically available. These methods provide an evidence-based, personalized approach for the workup of patients showing treatment failure, which saves time and resources, and contributes to improved patient care.
The United States Police-Shooting Database: A Multi-Level Bayesian Analysis of Racial Bias in Police Shootings at the County-Level in the United States, 2011-2014

Several months ago, Kyle Wagner began an open source campaign to compile all records of police-involved shootings in the United States since 2011, in the U.S. Police-Shooting Database (USPSD). In this paper, we use a geographically resolved, multi-level Bayesian analysis of the initial data to investigate the extent of racial bias in the shooting of American civilians by police officers. We investigate county-specific relative risk outcomes as a function of the interaction of: 1) whether the suspect was armed or unarmed, and 2) the race/ethnicity of the suspect. As has been previously described for decades, we find evidence of significant bias in the killing of unarmed black Americans relative to unarmed white Americans. However, in contrast to previous work that relied on the FBI's Supplemental Homicide Reports, which were constructed from self-reported cases of police-involved homicide, we are able to provide and analyze a data set that is unbiased by the actions of the police whose behaviors we seek to understand. As such, this data should be of broad interest to researchers investigating the structural drivers of racial-bias in police-involved shootings.
Critical Role of CIB1 in Endothelial Cell Function and In Vivo Ischemia-Induced Angiogenesis.

Abstract CIB1, a 22kDa EF-hand containing calcium binding protein, was originally identified in a yeast two-hybrid screen as a binding partner for the cytoplasmic tail of the platelet integrin αIIb. CIB1 also associates with a number of kinases and modulates their activity, suggesting that CIB1 is an important regulatory molecule. Recently, we found that CIB1 is expressed in multiple endothelial cell (EC) types. We therefore tested the role of CIB1 in EC function in vitro, and in angiogenesis both ex vivo and in vivo. To test the role of CIB1 in EC function in vitro, we reduced endogenous CIB1 levels in ECs by RNA interference with an shRNA-delivered by lentivirus. CIB1 depletion significantly decreased EC haptotaxis on fibronectin and EC vascular tube formation on growth factor-reduced Matrigel. Treatment with FGF-2, an angiogenic factor, did not counter the observed inhibition of haptotaxis and tube formation by shRNA against CIB1. However, CIB1 overexpression enhanced FGF-2-induced EC haptotaxis relative to control cells. Similarly, ECs derived from CIB1 null mice exhibited a significant decrease in haptotaxis, tube formation, and proliferation compared to ECs isolated from wild-type littermate controls. In ex vivo aortic ring and tibialis anterior muscle culture assays, CIB1 null cultures supplemented with serum or FGF-2 demonstrated reduced blood vessel sprouting compared to wild-type littermate control cultures. Finally, in vivo assays for hyperoxic retinal angiogenesis and hind-limb induced-ischemia revealed a decrease in post-ischemia retinal neovascularization and Doppler hind-limb blood perfusion recovery, although developmental retinal angiogenesis in CIB1 null mice appeared normal. In conclusion, these findings support a critical role for CIB1 in EC function that appears to be important for ischemia-induced angiogenesis.
Simple EMG-driven musculoskeletal model enables consistent control performance during path tracing tasks

Consistent, robust performance is critical for the utility and user-acceptance of neurally-controlled powered upper limb prostheses. We preliminarily evaluated the performance consistency of an electromyography (EMG)-driven controller based on a two degree-of-freedom musculoskeletal hand model, whose simplified structure is more practical for real-time prosthesis control than existing, complex models. Parameters of four virtual muscles were computed by numerical optimization from an able-bodied subject's kinematic and EMG data collected during wrist and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) flexion/extension movements. The subject attempted to trace a series of paths of different complexity (straight and curved) with the fingertip of a virtual hand displayed on a computer screen; the straight-path tracing tasks were repeated on a second test day to evaluate performance consistency over time. The subject's tracing accuracy during the tasks was consistent both between tasks of varying complexity (i.e. straight vs curved) and between test days when tracing the straight paths. Additionally, task duration, straightness, and smoothness did not significantly differ between the two straight-path test days. The consistent performance between days was achieved even with a very short (∼15 seconds) calibration period to re-normalize EMG. The subject also coordinated movements of the wrist and MCP joints simultaneously during the task, much like with healthy, intact limb movement. Our promising results suggest that a musculoskeletal model-based controller may provide consistent and effective performance across a range of operating conditions, making it potentially practical for prosthesis control. Further research is needed to determine whether musculoskeletal model-based control (1) is effective for executing real-world tasks, and (2) can be extended to populations with neuromuscular impairment (e.g. amputation).
Using conceptual depth criteria: addressing the challenge of reaching saturation in qualitative research

Saturation remains a problematic concept within the field of qualitative research, particularly with regard to issues of definition and process. This article sets out some of the common problems with saturation and, with reference to one research study, assesses the value of adopting a range of ‘conceptual depth criteria’ to address problems of definition and process when seeking to establish saturation within a grounded theory approach. It is suggested that the criteria can act as a test to measure the progress of the theoretical sampling and thus ascertain the readiness of the research for the final analytical stages and theory building. Moreover, the application of ‘conceptual depth criteria’ provides the researcher with an evaluative framework and a tool for producing a structured evidence base to substantiate choices made during the theoretical sampling process.
Является ли состояние неформальных институтов в России серьезным препятствием для укрепления институтов свободы и собственности? Дополнительные материалы (Are Russian Informal Institutions Shaped by Authoritarian Rule Tradition Prevents Establishment of Efficient Safeguards for Personal Liberty and Private Property? Supplemental Materials)

Russian Abstract: Несовместимость глубоко укорененных неформальных институтов и институтов, ограничивающих власть и полномочия правительства, гарантий экономических и политических свобод, собственности является сильным и часто используемым аргументом против попыток их внедрения в России. Исторические сопоставления и анализ релевантных социологических, демографических данных подтверждает обоснованность опасений. В то же время показывает, что ситуация далеко не безнадежна и, в принципе, корректируема. Дополнительные материалы содержат релевантные данные социологии (опросы), демографической статистики а также некоторые рекомендации на переходный период к частной поставке смешанных общественных благ. English Abstract: Local customs (informal institutions) allegedly incompatible with Rule of Law, personal liberties and private property is the strongest argument against new attempt to transplant these institutions in the Russia. Here we explore its validity in two ways. We try to compare Russian institutions with countries which succeeded to adopt some of above mentioned institutions: Germany, Japan, India, Spain. Then we observe data of public opinion surveys (regarding basic values, private property, freedoms and liberties). We also tried to interpret some demographic and criminal statistics dynamics as indications of the state of informal institution. Eventually we arrived to conclusions, that informal institutions and popular beliefs could damage the efficiency of adoption of basic safeguards for liberty and property, but this problems are quite comparable to problems of countries taken for comparison in their initial, pre-reform conditions. Civic society development in Russia shows growing maturity of the people and gradually growing demand for advanced institutions. The initial condition for reforms are far from perfect but nor grave, not incompatible with future successes. Supplemental materials contain relevant sociological and demographic data and policy advice draft for transition to the private (mainly non-profit) provision of mixed public goods.
Pharmacological interventions for psychosis in Parkinson's disease patients.

Introduction: Psychosis is a common problem for people treated for Parkinson’s disease. The syndrome is quite stereotypic, with hallucinations being the most common, followed by delusions. While th...
Data Flow Modeling and Implementation

In this chapter, we will learn how to create data flow models, and how to implement those models in hardware and software. Unlike C programs, data flow models are concurrent: they can express activities that happen simultaneously. This property makes data flow well suited for a parallel hardware implementation as well as a sequential software implementation.
Clues to the X-ray emission mechanisms in flat radio spectrum AGNs

Clues to the X-ray emission mechanisms in flat radio spectrum AGNs arise from comparing radio, optical, and X-ray luminosities for a sample of 80 known-redshift radio-selected AGNs for which the radio luminosity is dominated by flat-spectrum compact-core emission. The X-ray spectral luminosity lies on average above an extrapolation from lower frequencies for all the QSOs, despite a range in optical polarization and activity. Such an X-ray “excess” is often interpreted as support for the presence of a Compton-scattered component. In contrast, for the BL Lac objects, the X-ray spectral luminosity on average lies on the extrapolation from lower frequencies. This is particularly interesting in view of evidence that the X-ray emission of BL Lac objects may be unbeamed while the radio emission is beamed. If the 80 sample sources are assumed to be preferentially beamed towards the observer in radio emission, because of their radio selection, a test supports the X-ray emission also being beamed. However, the BL Lac sub-sample is too small for the test to be applied to it alone.
Administering Tax Complexity Versus Simplicity

This Essay was written for a symposium entitled Tax System Complexity, held in Prato, Italy on September 29-30, 2014. Symposium essays sought to understand, assess, and address tax system complexity and issues related thereto. The Essay describes the U.S. tax system's expansion from its original function of raising revenue to fund government operations to include administering a variety of social welfare and regulatory programs, including but not limited to tax expenditures. The Essay then considers how this expansion of the tax system's scope undermines the case for tax exceptionalism from general legal requirements, principles, and norms that govern how federal government agencies in the U.S. pursue their missions.
Psychological well-being in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans: Risk and protective factors.

Objective Much research on military veterans has focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other negative outcomes, with few studies of positive outcomes. This study focused on psychological well-being (PWB) in relation to PTSD symptoms and the additional risk factors of sleep problems and depression, as well as a protective factor, self-regulation. Method Two hundred thirty-eight student veterans completed questionnaires online, with 115 completing follow-up questionnaires 2 months later. Results Path analyses revealed significant associations of PWB with depression and self-regulation in expected directions within and across time points. Links of overall PWB with PTSD and sleep were mostly small and nonsignificant, but some differences were found for distinct domains of PWB. Finally, a significant interaction revealed that the negative association of baseline PTSD with 2-month PWB grew stronger as levels of self-regulation increased. Conclusions This finding may indicate that higher scores on our measure of self-regulation reflected emotional overcontrol and rigidity, but further research that attempts to replicate these findings is needed. Overall, findings support the need for examining a broader set of risk and protective factors predictive of outcomes in veterans who served during the recent era of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
MALTA: A calculator for estimating the coverage with shRNA, CRISPR, and cDNA libraries

Abstract Genetic screens using shRNA, CRISPR, or cDNA libraries rely on adequately transferring the library into cells for further assay. These libraries can have many different elements and each element can be present at different copy numbers within a given pooled library. Calculating how many recipient cells are needed to adequately sample all or most of the different elements within a library is important, especially if one wants to compare the outcomes of different genetic screens that rely on accurately reproducing the starting population of library-containing cells. Here we present a simple application that starts with a list of library elements and their abundance and calculates the minimum sampling number to achieve full transfer of the library to an acceptor cell population to a user-specified level of probability. Users can adjust several input parameters including designating a subpopulation over which the calculation is made. Finally, the program performs a series of Monte Carlo simulations of a user-specified number of picks to produce an empirically determined distribution of each library element.
On the Structural Premises of Conditioned Closure

The complicated organization of the excitation at different levels of the brain during conditioned and unconditioned reflex activity has been discovered by series of investiga-tions of the last time. This organization of central interrelationships is changed in a process of settling and stabilizing of conditioned reflexes. Still more scientists in the last years deny one universal mechanism of conditioned closure, which could be realized through strongly fixated apparatus of the cortex and the subcortical structures.
Motivating Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Gross Motor-skill Assessments

Assessment is the foundation of providing appropriate services and developing effective lesson plans for physical education. If assessment results do not truly represent a child's ability level, th...
Give Me a Database and I Will Raise the Nation-State

This paper draws on an ethnographic study of Aadhaar, India’s biometrics-based national identification infrastructure, to investigate how members of its design team conceptualised and understood th...
Customizable and scalable fuzzy join for big data

Fuzzy join is an important primitive for data cleaning. The ability to customize fuzzy join is crucial to allow applications to address domain-specific data quality issues such as synonyms and abbreviations. While efficient indexing techniques exist for single-node implementations of customizable fuzzy join, the state-of-the-art scale-out techniques do not support customization, and exhibit poor performance and scalability characteristics. We describe the design of a scale-out fuzzy join operator that supports customization. We use a locality-sensitive-hashing (LSH) based signature scheme, and introduce optimizations that result in significant speed up with negligible impact on recall. We evaluate our implementation on the Azure Databricks version of Spark using several real-world and synthetic data sets. We observe speedups exceeding 50X compared to the best-known prior scale-out technique, and close to linear scalability with data size and number of nodes.
On the Expected Completion Time of Diffusion Activity Networks (DiAN)

Traditionally, uncertainties in activity durations have been modelled as random variables with corresponding probability distribution functions. These latter are assumed to be known a priori. In reality estimates of activities’ “remaining work cbntents” as well as their duration vary dynamically over time, with divergent variability as the planning horizon extends into the future. To capture this dynamic nature of the estimates, we model the activity as diffusion processes.
The development of an indirect computed tomography lymphography protocol for sentinel lymph node detection in head and neck cancer and comparison to other sentinel lymph node mapping techniques

Identification of metastatic disease critically impacts the care and prognosis of patients with neoplasia. Multiple techniques exist for identifying the sentinel or first lymph node(s) that receive draining tumour lymph. Identification of the sentinel lymph node enables accurate tissue sampling for determination of lymphatic metastasis. The aims of this study were to develop a computed tomography (CT) protocol for identifying the sentinel lymph node in dogs with tumours of the head and neck. In addition, indirect CT lymphography was compared to lymphoscintigraphy and vital dye injection to determine which technique more reliably identified the sentinel lymph node. CT indirect lymphography using intratumoral injection of iodinated contrast identified draining lymphatic vessels in eight of 18 dogs and identified the sentinel lymph node in five of 18 dogs. CT indirect lymphography employing four-quadrant peritumoral injection of iodinated contrast identified draining lymphatic vessels in 18 of 20 dogs and identified the sentinel lymph node in 11 of 20 dogs. Vital dye injection and lymphoscintigraphy identified the sentinel lymph node in 17 of 18 and 20 of 20 dogs, respectively. Identified sentinel lymph nodes were either ipsilateral or bilateral to the primary tumour. Both CT techniques were found to be safe and simple. Peritumoral injection has the greatest promise for the detection of sentinel lymph nodes in various head and neck cancers using CT, while lymphoscintigraphy had the greatest success of the compared techniques.
Accurate closed-form solution of the SIR epidemic model.

An accurate closed-form solution is obtained to the SIR Epidemic Model through the use of Asymptotic Approximants (Barlow et al., 2017). The solution is created by analytically continuing the divergent power series solution such that it matches the long-time asymptotic behavior of the epidemic model. The utility of the analytical form is demonstrated through its application to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Magnetic alignment of grains

This paper reviews mechanisms that have been proposed to account for alignment of dust grains in diffuse clouds and in dense clouds. The mechanisms that have proved inadequate are considered, including alignment by nonmagnetic and magnetic processes. The results thus far favor the Davis-Greenstein mechanism, in which paramagnetic relaxation of spinning grains removes components of rotation perpendicular to the magnetic field. Polarization measurements showing the alignment of grains in cool dense clouds are discussed.
Optimal Joint Partitioning and Licensing of Spectrum Bands in Tiered Spectrum Access under Stochastic Market Models

We consider the problem of partitioning an entire band into M channels of equal bandwidth, and then further assigning these M channels into $P\leq M$ licensed channels and M–P unlicensed channels. Licensed channels can be accessed both for licensed use and opportunistic use while unlicensed channels can be accessed only for opportunistic use. The access to licensed channels follows a tiered structure, where licensed use has a higher priority than opportunistic use. We address the following question in this paper. Given a market setup, what values of M and P maximize the net spectrum utilization of the entire bandwidth? This abstract problem is highly relevant in practical scenarios, e.g., in the context of partitioning the recently proposed Citizens Broadband Radio Service band. If M is too high (low), it may decrease (increase) spectrum utilization due to limited (wastage of) channel capacity. If P is too high (low), it will not incentivize the wireless operators who are primarily interested in licensed (unlicensed) channels to join the market. These trade-offs are captured in the optimization problem which is modeled as a two-stage Stackelberg game consisting of the regulator and the wireless operators. We design an algorithm to solve the Stackelberg game in order to find the optimal M and P. We use this algorithm to obtain interesting numerical results that suggest how the optimal values of M and P change with different market settings.
The Incremental Development of the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Intellectual Property

In November 2000, a few years after the Asian Financial Crisis, Premier Zhu Rongji announced China's interest in developing a free trade area with ASEAN within a decade. Since then, the two trading powers have established a framework agreement as well as agreements on trade in goods, trade in services and investment. They have also developed memoranda of understanding on cooperation in the fields of agriculture, sanitation and phytosanitation, intellectual property, and standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment. Taken together, these instruments help build the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) to serve important economic, geopolitical and strategic goals.This chapter focuses on the cooperation between ASEAN and China in the intellectual property arena. It begins by recounting the historical development of ACFTA. It also briefly examines the provisions in the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Intellectual Property. The chapter then discusses the ongoing intellectual property norm-setting activities in Asia, focusing in particular on the negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. It further explores China's potentially changing approach to negotiating free trade agreements. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of a strategic intellectual property partnership between ASEAN and China.
Personal identity is social identity

The question of the identity or persistence of the self through time may be interesting for philosophers, but it is hardly a burning question for most individuals. On the other hand, the question of who I am, what or who I take myself to be, can be a vital, even burning question for most of us at some time in our lives. This is the notion of personal identity I take up in this paper. It is an identity that is not pre-given a priori but is always in some sense an open question, never completely decided. Here the narrative conception of self is relevant, since it is often a question of what story or kind of story my identity instantiates. This notion of personal identity is inherently temporal, but not in the sense of temporal persistence but of temporal coherence of past, present and future. And here the question of personal identity is inevitably social, since it is largely a question of what group I identify myself with, what social role I take myself to embody. And what complications occur when I identify myself with more than one group? Here many social conflicts and also intrapersonal conflicts have their source. My topic thus turns on ideas of personal identity that are reflected in the popular expressions “identity crisis” and “identity politics.”
THE EFFECT OF CEMENT ADDITIVES IN PVC MATERIALS

The aim of the present paper is to show the effect of cement modifier behaviors in PVC materials. The PVC and the Portland cement are important materials in the industrial area. It can reach excellent properties if mixing the two materials with each other. The cement worked as filler in PVC, as shown the mechanical tests. The oxygen index was determined, accordingly the result show higher oxygen index value. That means the blend shows higher fire resistance comparing to neat PVC. The cement worked as a structural modifier, it caused modification in the blends structure and properties. From the mechanical tests, such as impact-, tensile-, flexural- and hardness tests the blend gives similar mechanical properties to neat PVC. The research presented in this paper shows that the cement mixed with PVC shows higher stability, fire resistance and similar mechanical properties as rigid PVC.
Pay-to-Win in Video Games: Microtransactions and Fairness Concerns

Microtransactions for functional items bring mixed results for game publishers. It is not clear why microtransactions are successful with FIFA 20 and Clash of Clans, but not with Star Wars Battle Front II. The effects of players’ fairness concerns on a publisher’s strategy are investigated. A publisher can either bundle a game and add-on (functional item) or offer the add-on separately through microtransactions. Players who do not buy the add-on in the microtransactions scenario have fairness concerns. While microtransactions exist in various video games, there is little research on economic implications of this monetization mechanism. Players’ fairness sensitivity and add-on power contribute to fairness concerns. We find that when both players’ fairness sensitivity and add-on power are low enough, the publisher should use the microtransactions (unbundling) strategy. Otherwise, the publisher should bundle. Previous results in the literature suggest that the publisher should bundle if the correlation in valuations is low enough. More interestingly, when both fairness sensitivity and add-on power are high enough, the publisher should always prefer bundling, regardless of the correlation in valuations. In addition, the threshold of the add-on power, above which bundling is optimal, is non-increasing in fairness sensitivity. Both microtransactions and bundling strategies can create win-win situations for both the publisher and players. Even though the microtransactions strategy creates fairness concerns, using this strategy can be beneficial to society if properly implemented. Our results help to explain successes and failures of different selling strategies and provide guidance for future publishers in the video games industry.