cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Winter oilseed production for biofuel in the US Corn Belt: opportunities and limitations

Interest from the US commercial aviation industry and commitments established by the US Navy and Air Force to use renewable fuels has spurred interest in identifying and developing crops for renewable aviation fuel. Concern regarding greenhouse gas emissions associated with land-use change and shifting land grown for food to feedstock production for fuel has encouraged the concept of intensifying current prominent cropping systems through various double cropping strategies. Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) and field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) are two winter oilseed crops that could potentially be integrated into the corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean [(Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cropping system, which is the prominent cropping system in the US Corn Belt. In addition to providing a feedstock for renewable aviation fuel production, integrating these crops into corn–soybean cropping systems could also potentially provide a range of ecosystem services. Some of these include soil protection from wind and water erosion, soil organic C (SOC) sequestration, water quality improvement through nitrate reduction, and a food source for pollinators. However, integration of these crops into corn–soybean cropping systems also carries possible limitations, such as potential yield reductions of the subsequent soybean crop. This review identifies and discusses some of the key benefits and constraints of integrating camelina or field pennycress into corn–soybean cropping systems and identifies generalized areas for potential adoption in the US Corn Belt.
Abundance and Feeding of Homalodisca coagulata (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae) on Vitis Genotypes in North Florida

Abstract The abundance of Homalodisca coagulata (Say) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) was examined in north Florida from 2001 to 2003 on the following Vitis genotypes: V. rotundifolia Michx. (cultivars ‘Carlos’, ‘Early Fry’, ‘Regale’, and ‘Noble’), V. rupestris Scheele. (cultivars ‘St. George’ and ‘Constancia’), V. simpsoni Munson (cultivar ‘Pixiola’), V. champini Planch. (cultivars ‘Dogridge’ and ‘Ramsey’), and V. vinifera L. (cultivars ‘Chardonnay’, ‘Chenin blanc’, and ‘Exotic’). The mean number of adult H. coagulata was less than two per vine per day during 2001 and was lowest on V. rotundifolia cultivars. During June/July 2002, the number of leafhoppers varied between 2 per vine per day on V. rotundifolia cultivars and 10–20 per vine per day on the other Vitis genotypes. The distribution of H. coagulata was examined from June to September 2002 and during August 2003 in relation to the primary organic nutrients (19 amino acids, 7 organic acids, and 3 sugars) in xylem fluid. The concentrations of most amino a...
Revisiting Bangham's law of adsorption-induced deformation: changes of surface energy and surface stress.

When fluids are adsorbed on a solid surface they induce noticeable stresses, which cause the deformation of the solid. D. H. Bangham and co-authors performed a series of experimental measurements of adsorption-induced strains, and concluded that physisorption causes expansion, which is proportional to the lowering of the surface energy Δγ. This statement is referred to as the Bangham effect or Bangham's law. However, it is known that the quantity that controls the deformation is actually the change in surface stress Δf rather than surface energy Δγ, but this difference has not been considered in the context of adsorption-induced deformation of mesoporous materials. We use the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) theory to derive both values and show the difference between them. We find the condition when the difference between the two vanishes, and Bangham's law is applicable; it is likely that this condition is satisfied in most cases, and prediction of strain based on Δγ is a good approximation. We show that this is the case for adsorption of argon and water on Vycor glass. Finally, we show that the difference between Δγ and Δf can explain some of the experimental data that contradicts Bangham's law.
The Effect of Chloramphenicol on Human Leukocyte Phagocytosis and Respiration

SummaryThe respiratory burst associated with phagocytosis can be significantly inhibited by high concentrations of chloramphenicol without impairment of phagocytosis perse. The impaired respiratory burst reflects decreased activation of the HMP shunt probably through the mechanism of enzyme inhibition.
Physics with Gammasphere

The technical properties of the GAMMASPHERE array are reviewed. A list of physics topics that have been studied with GAMMASPHERE stand-alone or in combination with auxiliary devices is presented. A few highlights are discussed and they include: i) the observation of superdeformation in mass 60, ii) one-step links in the superdeformed bands in194Hg and iii) the cosmic-ray chronometer54Mn.
The effects of intraperitoneal injections of adrenalin on the partition of nitrogen in the urine of dogs

Underhill and Closson have shown that the subcutaneous injection of adrenalin chlorid solutions into dogs is not attended by any significant change in the proportion of the urea, ammonia and creatinin nitrogen of the urine.In our work we used two specimens of the colorless adrenalin chloride, 1:1000, of Parke, Davis and Co. They were purchased in the open market. Each was tested for its pressor action at the conclusion of the corresponding injection experiments and was then found to be practically as active as ever.The metabolism experiments were carried out by the methods in use in this laboratory.Intraperitoneal injection of adrenalin chloride solutions was without effect on the proportions of nitrogen in the forms of urea, ammonia, creatin and creatinin, purins and allantoin.In one adrenalin injection period of eighteen days, a total of 62 C.C. of a I :10,000 adrenalin solution was given intraperitoneally and in another injection period of six days a total of 29 C.C. of a I :1OOO adrenalin chloride sol...
Added Value in Financial Institutions: Risk or Return?

In this issue, two books are reviewed which offer differing views regarding adding value in financial markets or institutions: Robert Haugen, The Inefficient Stock Market (2nd edition, Pearson Education [2002]) and Emmanuel Acar, ed., Added Value in Financial Institutions (Pearson Education [2001]).
Analysis on Voltage Problems of Small Hydropower Stations in Shimian County of Sichuan Province

The research is made here on the existing problems of small hydropower stations in Shimian County of Sichuan Province.After the theoretical analysis and mathematical model construction,it is concluded that the small hydropower station connected to the power distribution network would have major influence on the system voltage,so the system optimization should be done in the connecting position and capacity,so as to meet the requirements of voltage quality.
Research on Zero Offset of Short Circuit Current Occurred in Circuit Breaker for 500 kV AC Transmission Line

During the switching-off of fault current in 500 kV transmission line by circuit breaker,the arc can only be extinguished at the zero-crossing point of fault current,and the zero offset of fault current will make the burden of switching-off fault current heavier and lead to the damage of circuit breaker.Taking the actual fault of a certain 500kV AC circuit breaker near Yimin converter station for example,the mechanism and conditions of occurring zero offset of short circuit current during the reclosure of AC transmission line,in which the single-phase permanent fault happened,are theoretically analyzed and simulated,and the judgment threshold for it is obtained;it is pointed out that when the fault condition occurs in the region where power plants are located,the occurrence probability of zero offset in the circuit breakers for corresponding transmission lines is higher;the impacts of different reclosing time of circuit breaker for AC transmission line on short circuit current flowing through circuit breaker are analyzed.Meanwhile,based on existing function setting of reclosure equipments for AC transmission lines in Yimin region,an anti-failure strategy to avoid the zero offset of short circuit current flowing through circuit breaker is proposed.
Frequency response of transparent condensed phase media to femtosecond optical pulses

Time domain optical spectroscopies are generally discussed in terms of time-dependent driving and response functions. Although the frequency content of an optical pulse is implicitly considered in any time domain representation of an optical experiment, the interaction of the different Fourier components of the pulse with the medium is rarely considered explicitly, either formally or phenomenologically, in the interpretation of temporal data.
Fabrication of a Conductometric Sensor for Crevice Corrosion Studies

Microfabricated crevice corrosion samples have been employed in experiments that provided important information necessary for developing an accurate, comprehensive, and reliable crevice corrosion model. Acquiring real-time spatial information of crevice corrosion is also essential in analyzing corrosion processes. Integration of arrays of solid-state microsensors, such as conductometric sensors, pH and other ion concentration potentiometric sensors, into the crevice corrosion samples will allow for in-situ real-time data acquisition. In the present work, crevice corrosion samples with conductometric sensor arrays are made using the techniques developed for thin film semiconductor processing and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication. The crevice corrosion testing sample is constructed by coupling a crevice former to a crevice substrate and has a uniform crevice gap. A conductometric sensor array built on a silicon wafer is incorporated into the crevice former. Each of these sensors is composed of a pair of thin film gold electrodes, which enables in-situ spatial conductivity analysis of crevice corrosion. Information about metal ion concentration and active chemistry inside the crevice can also be obtained.
‘We are not farmers’: Dilemmas and prospects of residential suburban cultivators in contemporary Dar es Salaam, Tanzania*

Today, a majority of citizens of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, participate in suburban and exurban growth and development much like urbanites throughout the world. Unlike the garden suburbs of North America or Europe, Dar es Salaam's suburban residents often engage in multiple income-generating activities, the most common and conspicuous of which are cultivation and animal husbandry. The presence of urban farming has suggested that Dar es Salaam's residents represent peasants incrementally transitioning to urban life. This article however, contends that everything from the varieties of cultivation, access to land and water, to the definition of what it means to be a farmer is shaped by decentralised private interests controlling access to land and resources in suburban neighbourhoods. The varieties of cultivation and animal husbandry instead reflect socioeconomic class distinctions emerging from a new suburban political economy, enabling a clearer perspective on the prospects of cultivators as these suburban districts transform.
Melt densification of polymeric powder beds filled with natural fibres

An experimental study ofthe melt densification of polyethylene powders filled with natural fibres is presented. The aim was to understand the underlying principles applicable to the consolidation of thermoplastic polymer-natural fibre systems processed by rotational moulding. This process has been developed at POLYCOM and has been reported previously in the literature. A sintering oven with PID-controlled temperature was equipped with a stereo microscope and image acquisition facilities. Sintering sequences were studied using image analysis procedures. Initial studies with two kinds of polymer particle and one type of fibre were carried out in order to identify some of the governing processes. Other studies included the use of multi-particle beds with many fibres having different concentrations, and the measurement of powder permeability and density. The influence of sintering temperature and time on the sintered specimens' density is also reported. Natural fibres induce voids in the sintered specimens and retard coalescence between the polymer particles. The experimental results were in good agreement with previous data obtained from the rotational and compression moulding of natural fibre reinforced thermoplastics.
Introducing the Sequestration Hypothesis

Aging of the coronary intima sometimes induces SMC’s to fabricate excessive collagenous matrix materials around themselves. Could this fabrication be the usual rate limiting step governing the evolution toward atheroma?
Aortic valve fibroelastoma: a rare cause of stroke

The prevalence of primary cardiac tumours varies from 0.02% to 0.45%. Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma (CPF) is a rare tumour diagnosed incidentally on imaging. The clinical manifestations result from thromboembolisation and include transient ischaemic attack, stroke and sudden cardiac death. We present a patient aged 57 years with CPF arising from the aortic valve. The patient presented with right hemiparesis due to acute stroke. He received tissue plasminogen activator with complete resolution of neurological symptoms. Echocardiography revealed a broad-based, gelatinous, non-mobile mass on the left aortic cusp. The tumour was excised sparing the aortic valve. The patient recovered rapidly without any complications. The histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of CPF. A review of the literature suggests that CPF is a rare but treatable cause of stroke. The course is not clear and there are no tumours or patient-related characteristics which could predict the risk of thromboembolisation. Surgical treatment is definite and is relatively safe.
Deficiency In Stress Response Gadd45a and Gadd45b Alters MAPK Kinase Signaling Leading to Functional Defects In Innate Immune Responses of Neutrophils and Macrophages In Vitro and In Vivo

Abstract Abstract 927 Stress sensor GADD45 proteins modulate p38-NF-Kb and JNK signaling; which play major roles in leukocyte activation and innate immunity. We have previously documented that GADD45a-deficient and GADD45b-deficient mice exhibit impaired responses to hematological stress, including acute stimulation with inflammatory cytokines (Gupta et. al, Oncogene. 25:5537, 2006). Whether GADD45 genes modulate myeloid compartment function, notably the response of macrophages & granulocytes to inflammatory stress, remains largely unexplored. Data obtained thus far indicate that bone marrow (BM) derived neutrophils and macrophages lacking GADD45 family members exhibit defects in chemotaxis towards inflammatory stimuli. BM derived neutrophils and macrophages lacking GADD45 family members were also observed to exhibit defects in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon treatment with LPS (500ng/mL) in vitro. Furthermore, BM derived macrophages from mice lacking GADD45a and GADD45b were found to be defective in phagocytosis and cellular adhesion upon stimulation with LPS (500ng/mL) in vitro. Additionally, it was observed that BM derived neutrophils and macrophages lacking GADD45 family members exhibit defects in inflammatory cytokine secretion in response to activation with LPS. Notably, GADD45a, GADD45b & GADD45g null mice injected intraperitoneally with sublethal doses of LPS were significantly more susceptible to septic shock compared to wt mice, showing significantly increased morbidity. Moreover at 18 hrs. post-injection, the spleens of KO mice harbored apoptotic foci in the white pulp, identified as tingible body macrophages ingesting dying cells. To dissect the signaling pathways involved, MAPK specific chemical inhibitors were used to correlate MAPK signaling alteration to defects in innate immune responses of neutrophils and macrophages lacking GADD45a or GADD45b. LPS stimulated wt neutrophils treated with MAPK inhibitors exhibited defects in signaling and innate immune responses mimicking neutrophils and macrophages lacking GADD45a or GADD45b. Collectively, these novel data provide evidence to show that deficiency in GADD45a and GADD45b leads to functional defects in the myeloid innate immune responses of neutrophils and macrophages in vitro and in vivo. These findings increase our understanding of innate immunity and have the potential to contribute towards development of novel approaches to clinical treatment of sepsis. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Governing citizen use of brain stimulation technologies: what role for scientists?

Colton Smith’s 2017 essay provides an informative history of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and its use in research and clinical settings. More importantly, he also discusses a grow...
Towards generative emotions in games based on cognitive modeling

Procedural Content Generation (PCG) accomplishes feats that once would be considered magic, creating near-infinite amounts of unique levels, worlds, objects and other content for games. Yet, despite this near magical quality, generated content is often found to have a sameness to it. After a short time it loses the interest of players. Many procedurally generated games, such as No Man's Sky, have disappointed customers in this sense. We argue that one important cause is generated content fails to create an emotional connection with players. Emotions help in keeping players engaged with game content [7] and thereby improve the gameplay experience. Among the many emotions players experience in games, surprise is perhaps the most important for PCG. Surprise intensifies other emotions [9] and it lies at the origin of humor, strategy and problem solving [15]. Thus, surprise helps to increase player enjoyment and engagement with games. So far, PCG in games has produced surprise by accident of chance. PCG systems which intentionally create surprising moments, in a controllable way, can play an important role in increasing engagement and interest in games.
Some Sage Suggestions

The esteemed editors of this series assume that those of an advanced age (me) are also wise (who, me?). That is a questionable assumption. At an earlier time, there was an empirical literature on this topic, in part conducted by Paul Baltes, although I do not know the final conclusions. But if there is an age-wisdom relation, it is correlational and it may not be that increasing age (experience) increases wisdom, but rather that the wise are more likely to survive. The latter explanation is consistent with a biological (Darwinian) viewpoint. If that is the case, then the editors could also invite younger people if they were able to identify (measure) wisdom. Also, it is likely that the age-wisdom relation is not linear but rather curvilinear such that wisdom increases with age, peaks, and then is followed by a lowering along with other cognitive declines due to the aging process. That perhaps describes my current state, hopefully before the decline, so it is unfortunate that the editors did not start this series many years ago and invite me at that time (making the very questionable supposal that I passed their wisdom test). Download the PDF and read more. . .
Polypoid Endometriosis Presenting as a Renal Cortical Tumor

A 41-year-old female patient presented with left-sided flank pain and gross hematuria temporally unrelated to her menstrual cycle. Abdominal computed tomography scan showed a large left-sided solid, enhancing kidney mass radiographically consistent with renal cell carcinoma. Following surgical resection, histopathological examination revealed polypoid endometriosis. Polypoid endometriosis is rare and mimics a neoplasm clinically, radiographically, and on gross examination. Patients with polypoid endometriosis often present with symptoms related to mass effect rather than classic endometriosis hallmark symptoms such as dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, and cyclic abdominal pain. Treatment includes surgical resection.
On Predication and Logical Syntax

This is the right time to acknowledge my intellectual debt to Yehoshua Bar-Hillel. But I will also take the opportunity to voice a complaint of long standing. Bar-Hillel’s work on categories has influenced me since 1961. But it should have influenced me earlier. Had Yehoshua sent me his work in the fifties, or sent me to it, he would have saved me a year and a half of hard and anxious labor. When he finally showed me his dissertation on syntactic categories he more than confirmed my own animadversions to the prevailing doctrine of category structure. When I received it I saw immediately that my criticism of the standard and uncritically held theory had been thoroughly and decisively anticipated by Bar-Hillel. The fact that Yehoshua had not known of my efforts to do what he had already done does not (somehow) exonerate him. To the contrary. Let me then put on record that Bar-Hillel was the first philosopher ever to formulate with any precision and generality the problem of categorial predicability. The problem is a fundamental one and Bar-Hillel’s achievement is of permanent importance. I should add that his simple and elegant statement of the problem was better than mine, even though I suspect it did not take him eighteen months to arrive at it.
Tezacaftor for the treatment of cystic fibrosis

INTRODUCTION Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common, life-limiting autosomal recessive disease in Caucasians, and is caused by defects in production of the CFTR ion channel. Until recently, there were no available treatments targeting the disease-causing defects in CFTR but newly developed CFTR modulators are changing the course of disease in CF. The newest modulator, tezacaftor, is a CFTR corrector that was recently approved by the FDA to be used in combination with the first approved CFTR potentiator, ivacaftor. Areas covered: A detailed review of the clinical trials and published literature, focusing on safety and efficacy, leading to the approval of tezacaftor in CF. Expert commentary: Recent trials have demonstrated that the combination of tezacaftor-ivacaftor is a slightly superior combination to its predecessor, lumacaftor-ivacaftor, with respect to an increase in FEV1, adverse event profile, and drug-drug interactions. It is also approved for a large number of non-F508del, residual function mutations that are predicted to respond based on in vitro testing. The horizon for continued improvements in CFTR-targeted treatments is promising, with three-drug combinations currently in Phase 3 clinical trials, and other drugs with novel mechanisms of action being studied. Within the next 5 years, the vast majority of patients with CF are expected to have a modulator approved for their genotype.
Three Current Account Balances: A

Three large current account imbalances -- one deficit (the United States) and two surpluses (Japan and the Euro area) -- are subjected to a minimalist structural interpretation. Though simple, this interpretation enables us to assess how much of each of the imbalances require a real exchange rate adjustment. According to the estimates, a large part of the U.S. current account deficit (nearly 2 percentage points of the 2004 deficit of 5 1/2 percent of GDP) will undergo an adjustment process that involves real depreciation in its exchange rate. For Japan, a little more than 1 percentage point (of GDP) of the current account surplus is found to require an exchange rate movement (real appreciation) as the surpluses adjust down. For the Euro area, less than half a percentage point of its current account surplus is found to require an adjustment via real appreciation.
Recommending Deployment Strategies in Crowdsourcing Platforms

We initiate the study of how to recommend deployment strategies to the task designers in crowdsourcing platforms. The work proposes the first ever optimization based formalism of the task deployment strategies based on different parameters that the task designers have in mind during deployment and present principled algorithms that are designed using computational geometry techniques.
MRI and CT Guided Cryoablation for Intracranial Extension of Malignancies along the Trigeminal Nerve.

Objectives To describe the technical aspects and early clinical outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided tumor cryoablation along the intracranial trigeminal nerve. Design This study is a retrospective case review. Setting Large academic tertiary care hospital. Participants Patients who underwent MRI-guided cryoablation of perineural tumor along the intracranial trigeminal nerve. Main Outcome Measures Technical success, pain relief, local control. Results Percutaneous MRI-guided cryoablation of tumor spread along the intracranial portion of the trigeminal nerve was performed in two patients without complication, with subsequent pain relief, and with local control in the patient with follow-up imaging. Conclusions Percutaneous MRI-guided cryoablation is a feasible treatment option for malignancies tracking intracranially along the trigeminal nerve.
Memes, narratives and the emergent US–China security dilemma

All major theoretical approaches that explain the growing rivalry between the United States (US) and China share a common prediction: as tensions develop, the US and China will each construct a mas...
Mathematical expression for the capacitance of coplanar strips

Abstract Knowledge of the capacitance for the coplanar arrangement of long conducting strips is relevant for transmission lines and micro-antenna design for communications and medical applications. More generally, the evaluation of capacitances for non-trivial geometries is of continuous interest in electrostatics since the dawn of the discipline. The problem of finding an exact mathematical expression for the capacitance of coplanar conducting strips has not been solved. The purpose of this article is to show the corresponding derivation and its solution. The method used here starts from the charge density at the electrodes from the solution of the electrostatic integral equation, and subsequently computes the total charge and bias voltage at each electrode, from which the expression for the capacitance follows. The main result is an exact analytical expression for the capacitance as a function of the strips width and their separation. Moreover, the capacitance is found to depend non-trivially only on a single lumped dimensionless parameter that can be written in terms of the width and the separation of the strips. To gain insight into the dependence of the capacitance on geometrical parameters, we evaluate the analytical expression and also compare it with limiting standard geometries.
Collecting Data to Facilitate Change

Data collection and analysis are central to all quality improvement initiatives. However, there is often a lack of understanding about the different ways data can be collected and why one mode of data collection should be selected over another. In this article, a framework is provided to help quality improvement teams identify and define the data to be collected. This is followed by a discussion of the different modes of data collection. Examples are provided to help illustrate each mode of data collection. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of each mode are described.
Gender Bias in SME Lending : Experimental Evidence from Turkey

Gender disparities in small and medium-size enterprise lending exist around the world and impede the growth of millions of women-led firms. This paper examines a potential driver of these disparities: gender-biased loan officers. Officer bias is measured through a novel loan application experiment conducted with 77 loan officers in Turkish banks. The analysis finds that 35 percent of the loan officers are biased against female applicants, with women receiving loan amounts $14,000 lower on average compared with men. Experience in the banking sector can attenuate this bias, with each year of experience reducing gender biased loan allocations by 6 percent. The results suggest that loan officers may use gender bias as a heuristic device given limited information and risk aversion. Helping newly recruited and lesser experienced loan officers to better discern loan application quality may thus improve financing of business loans to women and reduce gender gaps in entrepreneurship.
Reaction Network Viewer (ReNView): An open-source framework for reaction path visualization of chemical reaction systems

Abstract Reaction Path Analysis (RPA) is an essential tool in identifying the key reaction pathways that drive chemical transformations of complex reaction networks. In this work, an open-source, standalone reaction path visualizer has been developed for complex reaction systems. The reaction path visualizer generates a graphical representation of the reaction network based on reaction fluxes that enables identification of dominant reaction pathways and mechanism reduction. The visualizer generates network and species visualizations given the output of a microkinetic model. The python code employed for the visualizer can easily be integrated with any chemical kinetics solver. The efficacy of the visualizer is demonstrated through three case studies.
Linguistic Typology Features from Text: Inferring the Sparse Features of World Atlas of Language Structures

The use of linguistic typological resources in natural language processing has been steadily gaining more popularity. It has been observed that the use of typological information, often combined with distributed language representations, leads to significantly more powerful models. While linguistic typology representations from various resources have mostly been used for conditioning the models, there has been relatively little attention on predicting features from these resources from the input data. In this paper we investigate whether the various linguistic features from World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS) can be reliably inferred from multi-lingual text. Such a predictor can be used to infer structural features for a language never observed in training data. We frame this task as a multi-label classification involving predicting the set of non-mutually exclusive and extremely sparse multi-valued labels (WALS features). We construct a recurrent neural network predictor based on byte embeddings and convolutional layers and test its performance on 556 languages, providing analysis for various linguistic types, macro-areas, language families and individual features. We show that some features from various linguistic types can be predicted reliably.
Dynamic Modeling of the Effects of Site Placement on Environmental Suitability: A Theoretical Example from Northwest Morocco

This paper offers a new numerical approach to model the effects of archaeological site placement and population density on environmental suitability using two ecological models, the Ideal Free Dist...
Racial/ethnic and gender disparities in substantiation of child physical and sexual abuse: Influences of caregiver and child characteristics

Abstract In the U.S., Black and Latinx children are significantly more likely to be referred to child protectives services for physical and sexual abuse compared with White and non-Latinx children. There are data indicating child physical abuse substantiation disparities for these cases, as well. The present study tested for disparate responses to minority children with reports of child physical and sexual abuse and examined how child and caregiver characteristics influence whether a case is substantiated. National level data from 3,440,182 unique cases were used from the 2016 National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (all U.S. cases of reported maltreatment). Child race was influential on substantiation decisions, with White and non-Latinx children being significantly more likely to have their cases substantiated than all other racial and ethnic groups; this effect was more pronounced for physical abuse than sexual abuse. Additionally, a unique subset of child and caregiver characteristics influenced child physical and sexual abuse outcomes; these factors differed somewhat between racial groups. Differentiated patterns of risk by type of abuse indicate the importance of separating out types of maltreatment in research aiming to better understand what contributes to child abuse case substantiation. Trainings and prevention efforts such as implicit bias awareness interventions for caseworkers and professionals who work with children are potentially warranted.
Stability in effects of different smoking-related polygenic risk scores over age and smoking phenotypes.

Abstract Purpose Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for smoking behavior largely fail to consider the demonstrated developmental change in genetic influence over age and stage of smoking behaviors. Additionally, few studies have examined how stage-specific smoking PRSs (e.g. for initiation vs. smoking heaviness) generalize to other stages of risk. The current study examines the stability of PRS effects over age, and how specifically calibrated PRSs associate with other smoking phenotypes. Methods 7228 participants were from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, who had calculated PRSs for two smoking phenotypes, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) smoking initiation status, and cigarettes per day (CPD). Four time-varying effects models estimated associations between both PRSs and four smoking phenotypes (CDC status, cigarettes/day on smoking days, any past-30 day smoking, and past-30 day daily smoking) over adolescence and young adulthood. Findings The time-varying effects models demonstrated that both PRSs significantly associated with all four phenotypes age. PRS effects were similar, in both odds ratios and the overlap of 95 % confidence intervals. There were increases in PRS associations with quantity of smoking over age, and a decrease in PRS effects over age for the CDC smoking status phenotype over early to late adolescence. Conclusions Smoking PRSs can be robust predictors of smoking behavior over age. However, the lack of differentiation between specific PRSs and multiple smoking phenotypes, as well as the added contribution of both PRSs to explaining genetic variance, indicates a need to reconceptualize phenotypic measurement used to calibrate smoking PRSs.
Effects of respiratory disease on Kele piglets lung microbiome, assessed through 16S rRNA sequencing.

Background and Aim Due to the incomplete development of the immune system in immature piglets, the respiratory tract is susceptible to invasion by numerous pathogens that cause a range of potential respiratory diseases. However, few studies have reported the changes in pig lung microorganisms during respiratory infection. Therefore, we aimed to explore the differences in lung environmental microorganisms between healthy piglets and piglets with respiratory diseases. Materials and Methods Histopathological changes in lung sections were observed in both diseased and healthy pigs. Changes in the composition and abundance of microbiomes in alveolar lavage fluid from eleven 4-week-old Chinese Kele piglets (three clinically healthy and eight diseased) were studied by IonS5™ XL sequencing of the bacterial16S rRNA genes. Results Histopathological sections showed that diseased pigs displayed more lung lesions than healthy pigs. Diseased piglets harbored lower bacterial operational taxonomic units, α-diversity, and bacterial community complexity in comparison to healthy piglets. Taxonomic composition analysis showed that in the diseased piglets, the majority of flora was composed of Ureaplasma, Mycoplasma, and Actinobacillus; while Actinobacillus, Sphingomonas, and Stenotrophomonas were dominant in the control group. The abundance of Ureaplasma was significantly higher in ill piglets (p<0.05), and the phylogenetic tree indicated that Ureaplasma was clustered in Ureaplasma diversum, a conditional pathogen that has the potential to affect the swine respiratory system. Conclusion The results of this study show that the microbial species and structure of piglets' lungs were changed during respiratory tract infection. The finding of Ureaplasma suggested that besides known pathogens such as Mycoplasma and Actinobacillus, unknown pathogens can exist in the respiratory system of diseased pigs and provide a potential basis for clinical treatment.
Anatomy of the Breast

Breast aesthetics are determined by volume, soft tissue composition and distribution, shape/contour, tissue elasticity, location and appearance of the nipple-areolar complex, and proportionality of the breast with respect to the thoracic wall and the body. Thorough and comprehensive understanding of breast anatomy is critical for the safe and reliable performance of breast aesthetic procedures and to minimize complications. Knowledge of breast vascular supply, innervation, and chest wall muscular anatomy ensures the preservation of breast tissue and flap viability, nipple sensation, and functionality, respectively, while knowledge of breast landmarks ensures reproducible aesthetic outcomes. As there is substantial inter-patient and intra-patient variability in breast shape and size, breast modifications via augmentation mammoplasty, reduction mammoplasty, or mastopexy to improve aesthetic appearance should be individualized.
Inhibition of the Vesicular Glutamate Transporter (VGLUT) with Congo Red Analogs: New Binding Insights.

The vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT) facilitates the uptake of glutamate (Glu) into neuronal vesicles. VGLUT has not yet been fully characterized pharmacologically but a body of work established that certain azo-dyes bearing two Glu isosteres via a linker were potent inhibitors. However, the distance between the isostere groups that convey potent inhibition has not been delineated. This report describes the synthesis and pharmacologic assessment of Congo Red analogs that contain one or two glutamate isostere or mimic groups; the latter varied in the interatomic distance and spacer properties to probe strategic binding interactions within VGLUT. The more potent inhibitors had two glutamate isosteres symmetrically linked to a central aromatic group and showed IC50 values ~ 0.3–2.0 μM at VGLUT. These compounds contained phenyl, diphenyl ether (PhOPh) or 1,2-diphenylethane as the linker connecting 4-aminonaphthalene sulfonic acid groups. A homology model for VGLUT2 using d-galactonate transporter (DgoT) to dock and identify R88, H199 and F219 as key protein interactions with Trypan Blue, Congo Red and selected potent analogs prepared and tested in this report.
Topology-Mediated Enhanced Polaron Coherencein Covalent Organic Frameworks

We employ the Holstein model for polarons to investigate the relationship among defects, topology, Coulomb trapping, and polaron delocalization in covalent organic frameworks (COFs). We find that intra-sheet topological connectivity and pi-column density can override disorder-induced deep traps and significantly enhance polaron migration by several orders of magnitude in good agreement with recent experimental observations. The combination of percolation networks and micropores makes trigonal COFs ideally suited for charge transport followed by kagome/tetragonal, and hexagonal structures. By comparing the polaron spectral signatures and coherence numbers of large 3D frameworks having a maximum of 180 coupled chromophores, we show that controlling nanoscale defects and the location of the counter anion is critical for the design of new COF-based materials yielding higher mobilities. Our analysis establishes design strategies for enhanced conductivity in COFs which can be readily generalized to other classes of conductive materials such as metal-organic frameworks and perovskites.
Backside Polyethylene Wear in Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty.

Abstract Background Aseptic loosening from implant-associated osteolysis in reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) may contribute to premature implant failure. While articular side polyethylene (PE) damage has been well-documented in the literature, no studies to date have investigated backside wear in RSA. The aims of this investigation were to: (1) document and compare the damage between the backside and articular surface in explanted RSA components, (2) assess whether certain quadrants have a greater propensity for damage, and (3) report the most common mode(s) of backside PE damage. Methods Twenty-one RSA humeral liners retrieved during revision procedures between 2005 and 2014 were included for analysis. The mean time between implantation and extraction was 16 months (10 days–88 months). Diagnoses at the time of revision included dislocation (10), infection (4), mechanical failure (3), loosening (2), and unknown (2). Liners were examined under light microscopy (x10-30 magnification) and damage on the articular and backside of the liner surface was graded using the modified Hood score. The location and damage modality were compared between the articular side and backside of the implant. Results Damage was noted on the articular surfaces of all 21 liners and on the backside surface of 20 liners. The total damage in all the quadrants was higher on the articular surface than on the backside of the component, with a mean difference in total quadrant damage scores of 11.74 ± 3.53 (p Conclusions This short-term retrieval study demonstrated that backside polyethylene damage occurs on the humeral component of RSA implants. There was greater damage to the articular side of the liner but wear to the backside was present in almost all liners. The clinical importance of backside wear in RSA and its overall contribution to PE particulate disease and osteolysis needs further investigation.
Multimodal Semi-Supervised Learning for 3D Objects.

In recent years, semi-supervised learning has been widely explored and shows excellent data efficiency for 2D data. There is an emerging need to improve data efficiency for 3D tasks due to the scarcity of labeled 3D data. This paper explores how the coherence of different modelities of 3D data (e.g. point cloud, image, and mesh) can be used to improve data efficiency for both 3D classification and retrieval tasks. We propose a novel multimodal semi-supervised learning framework by introducing instance-level consistency constraint and a novel multimodal contrastive prototype (M2CP) loss. The instance-level consistency enforces the network to generate consistent representations for multimodal data of the same object regardless of its modality. The M2CP maintains a multimodal prototype for each class and learns features with small intra-class variations by minimizing the feature distance of each object to its prototype while maximizing the distance to the others. Our proposed framework significantly outperforms all the state-of-the-art counterparts for both classification and retrieval tasks by a large margin on the modelNet10 and ModelNet40 datasets.
Averting a North American biodiversity crisis

In the midst of an ongoing sixth mass extinction ( 1 ), more than 40% of all amphibians are threatened ( 2 ). Chytridiomycosis, an emerging infectious disease (EID) caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( Bd ), has been more devastating than any infectious wildlife disease recorded, with >200 amphibian species collapsing to or near extinction ( 3 ). Recently, a new infectious chytrid fungal pathogen from Asia and specific to salamanders ( 4 ), Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans ( Bsal ), has been described ( 5 ). With no effective means to control spread of Bsal once it is established in wild host populations, Bsal invasion of North America could lead to rapid epizootic (wildlife epidemic) declines and extinctions in the world's richest and most diverse salamander fauna. We demonstrate the likelihood of Bsal introduction to North America via international trade, the likelihood of species being exposed to Bsal , and the potential impact of species exposure to Bsal. This presents a unique opportunity for wildlife management officials and the international amphibian trade community to prevent the spread of this deadly pathogen and to develop and implement rapid risk assessments and international responses to EIDs in wildlife.
Case 2 Reemergence of the Repressed (Postpolio)

Elise was one of those unfortunate enough to have contracted polio during the epidemic in the early 1950s. She was fortunate, however, that she was left with no obvious disability, except some muscle weakness. Now, 30 years later, at the age of 43, Elise began to experience increasing muscle weakness, pain in her joints, and a general aching in her body, not unlike the flu. The polio had left her with a mild scoliosis, and the weakening muscles were unable to prevent the gradually increasing curvature of the spine that threatened to crush her heart and lungs.
Tax Credits for Debt Reduction: A Proposal

The incentives for domestic investment in debtor countries are influenced by the terms of their external obligations and by the system of taxation utilized to provide government revenue for debt payments. It is well known that existing debt contracts could be altered to improve the incentives for investment but this has proven difficult to accomplish, perhaps because individual creditors have incentives not to agree to such changes. In this paper we show that a simple tax credit scheme that can be implemented unilaterally by the debtor government can overcome at least some of the inefficiencies caused by existing debt contracts.
South-South Cooperation and Export

We study the possibility of cartel formation among primary exporters who face an inelastic world demand for their exports. The phenomenon of immiserizing export growth appears as a non-cooperative equilibrium in a two-country export game. With infinite repetitions of the one shot game, we show that `different country size' will be detrimental to the sustenance of the collusive behavior needed for eliminating the possibility of immiserization.
Medullary thyroid carcinoma

Unlike most other carcinomas arising from the follicular cell of the thyroid, medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a malignancy with neuroendocrine features, derived from the parafollicular C cell, which is of ectodermal neural crest origin. In most studies, MTC represents 3–12% of thyroid cancers, the majority of which are sporadic. However, in approximately 25–30% of cases, MTC is inherited, and is associated with one of three familial syndromes: multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndrome type 2A, MEN type 2B, and familial MTC (Table 10.1). In contrast to sporadic cases of MTC, germline RET proto-oncogene mutations are often detected in inherited cases, which may facilitate early diagnosis.
Extraction of landmarks and features from virtual colon models

The colon is a very complicated structure with a large number of distortions and bends. Landmarks and features serve as tools to guide colon flattening and to assist in the study of the colon surface segment by segment. Identification of feature points and landmarks is also useful for the registration of colon surfaces. In this paper, we present methods for identifying the locations of the taeniae coli and the four major flexures which form the prominent anatomic landmarks on the colon surface. The colon surface is cut open along these landmarks, and the segments obtained can be used for study of the surface of the colon. We define new feature points on the flattened colon surfaces and use well-established graph-based algorithms for their detection. We demonstrate the results showing the extracted landmarks and the detected features.