cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Efficient Binary-Decision-Diagram-Based Approach for Network Reliability and Sensitivity Analysis

Reliability and sensitivity analysis is a key component in the design, tuning, and maintenance of network systems. Tremendous research efforts have been expended in this area, but two practical issues, namely, imperfect coverage (IPC) and common-cause failures (CCF), have generally been missed or have not been fully considered in existing methods. In this paper, an efficient approach for fully incorporating both IPC and CCF into network reliability and sensitivity analysis is proposed. The challenges are to allow multiple failure modes introduced by IPC and to cope with multiple dependent faults caused by CCF simultaneously in the analysis. Our methodology for addressing the aforementioned challenges is to separate the consideration of both IPC and CCF from the combinatorics of the solution, which is based on reduced ordered binary decision diagrams (ROBDD). Due to the nature of the ROBDD and the separation of IPC and CCF from the solution combinatorics, our approach has a low computational complexity and is easy to implement. A sample network system is analyzed to illustrate the basics and advantages of our approach. A software tool that we developed for fault-tolerant network reliability and sensitivity analysis is also presented.
Neural networks for nonlinear servomechanism

A study is made of the servomechanism problem in unknown stable nonlinear systems. With a neural network as an identifier of the input-output characteristics of the plant, an error-feedback controller that achieves tracking with all states remaining bounded is designed. The controller is applicable to uncertain systems. >
Computerized documentation and community health nursing students

Background/Objective: Proficiency in computerized documentation systems is an essential element of most areas of nursing practice today. Community health is one example of an area of nursing practice where computerized documentation systems help in the provision of high quality care. Nursing students must learn the basic principles of and begin to participate in the practices of computerized nursing documentation. It is, therefore, the responsibility of nursing faculty to promote student involvement in this important process. Methods: Two different faculty experiences with students participating in computerized nursing documentation were described using different electronic systems, a notebook computer system and a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) system. Results/Conclusions: After reviewing the results of this descriptive experience, it is recommended that before students participate in computerized documentation, they receive written instructions. Sample charts, practice under direct faculty and staff guidance, and standardizing the learning experience are imperative. Educating the student in a technological environment is no longer optional for nurse faculty as the accurate documentation, transmission and management of data assures that the best practices are maintained, the proper billing of visits can be ensured, and the communication between the nursing student and community health nurses, as well as all members of the multi-disciplinary team is fostered.
Sterile-active neutrino oscillations and shortcuts in the extra dimension

We discuss a possible new resonance in active-sterile neutrino oscillations arising in theories with large extra dimensions. Fluctuations in the brane effectively increase the path-length of active neutrinos relative to the path-length of sterile neutrinos through the extra-dimensional bulk. Well below the resonance, the standard oscillation formulas apply. Well above the resonance, active-sterile oscillations are suppressed. We show that a resonance energy in the range of 30--400 MeV allows an explanation of all neutrino oscillation data, including LSND data, in a consistent four-neutrino model. A high resonance energy implies an enhanced signal in MiniBooNE. A low resonance energy implies a distorted energy spectrum in LSND, and an enhanced ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ depletion from a stopped-pion source. The numerical value of the resonance energy may be related back to the geometric aspects of the brane world. Some astrophysical and cosmological consequences of the brane-bulk resonance are briefly sketched.
From Colors and Guns to Caps and Gowns? The Effects of Gang Membership on Educational Attainment:

Objectives:This study examined the effects of adolescent gang membership on educational attainment over a 12-year period. A broader conceptualization of gang membership—as a snare in the life course—is used to study its noncriminal consequences.Method:Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 and propensity score matching were used to assess the cumulative and longitudinal effects of gang membership on seven educational outcomes, including educational attainment in years and six educational milestones. After adjusting for nonrandom selection into gangs, youths who joined a gang were compared annually to their matched counterparts from 1998 to 2009.Results:Selection-adjusted estimates revealed disparities between gang and nongang youth in education attainment. Youth who joined gangs were 30 percent less likely to graduate from high school and 58 percent less likely to earn a four-year degree than their matched counterparts. The effects of gang membership on educational attainment were statis...
Muscle Oxygen Saturation Improves Diagnostic Association Between Initial Vital Signs and Major Hemorrhage: A Prospective Observational Study

Objectives During initial assessment of trauma patients, vital signs do not identify all patients with life-threatening hemorrhage. We hypothesized that a novel vital sign, muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2), could provide independent diagnostic information beyond routine vital signs for identification of hemorrhaging patients who require packed red blood cell (RBC) transfusion. Methods This was an observational study of adult trauma patients treated at a Level I trauma center. Study staff placed the CareGuide 1100 tissue oximeter (Reflectance Medical Inc., Westborough, MA), and we analyzed average values of SmO2, systolic blood pressure (sBP), pulse pressure (PP), and heart rate (HR) during 10 minutes of early emergency department evaluation. We excluded subjects without a full set of vital signs during the observation interval. The study outcome was hemorrhagic injury and RBC transfusion ≥ 3 units in 24 hours (24-hr RBC ≥ 3). To test the hypothesis that SmO2 added independent information beyond routine vital signs, we developed one logistic regression model with HR, sBP, and PP and one with SmO2 in addition to HR, sBP, and PP and compared their areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC AUCs) using DeLong's test. Results We enrolled 487 subjects; 23 received 24-hr RBC ≥ 3. Compared to the model without SmO2, the regression model with SmO2 had a significantly increased ROC AUC for the prediction of ≥ 3 units of 24-hr RBC volume, 0.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75–0.91) versus 0.77 (95% CI, 0.66–0.86; p < 0.05 per DeLong's test). Results were similar for ROC AUCs predicting patients (n = 11) receiving 24-hr RBC ≥ 9. Conclusions SmO2 significantly improved the diagnostic association between initial vital signs and hemorrhagic injury with blood transfusion. This parameter may enhance the early identification of patients who require blood products for life-threatening hemorrhage.
M*: A Complete Multirobot Path Planning Algorithm with Optimality Bounds

Multirobot path planning is difficult because the full configuration space of the system grows exponentially with the number of robots. Planning in the joint configuration space of a set of robots is only necessary if they are strongly coupled, which is often not true if the robots are well separated in the workspace. Therefore, we initially plan for each robot separately, and only couple sets of robots after they have been found to interact, thus minimizing the dimensionality of the search space. We present a general strategy called subdimensional expansion, which dynamically generates low dimensional search spaces embedded in the full configuration space. We also present an implementation of subdimensional expansion for robot configuration spaces that can be represented as a graph, called M*, and show that M* is complete and finds minimal cost paths.
Use of Metagenomic Shotgun Sequencing Technology To Detect Foodborne Pathogens within the Microbiome of the Beef Production Chain

Foodborne illnesses associated with pathogenic bacteria are a global public health and economic challenge. The diversity of microorganisms (pathogenic and nonpathogenic) that exists within the food and meat industries complicates efforts to understand pathogen ecology. Further, little is known about the interaction of pathogens within the microbiome throughout the meat production chain. Here, a metagenomic approach and shotgun sequencing technology were used as tools to detect pathogenic bacteria in environmental samples collected from the same groups of cattle at different longitudinal processing steps of the beef production chain: cattle entry to feedlot, exit from feedlot, cattle transport trucks, abattoir holding pens, and the end of the fabrication system. The log read counts classified as pathogens per million reads for Salmonella enterica,Listeria monocytogenes,Escherichia coli,Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium spp. (C. botulinum and C. perfringens), and Campylobacter spp. (C. jejuni,C. coli, and C. fetus) decreased over subsequential processing steps. Furthermore, the normalized read counts for S. enterica,E. coli, and C. botulinumwere greater in the final product than at the feedlots, indicating that the proportion of these bacteria increased (the effect on absolute numbers was unknown) within the remaining microbiome. From an ecological perspective, data indicated that shotgun metagenomics can be used to evaluate not only the microbiome but also shifts in pathogen populations during beef production. Nonetheless, there were several challenges in this analysis approach, one of the main ones being the identification of the specific pathogen from which the sequence reads originated, which makes this approach impractical for use in pathogen identification for regulatory and confirmation purposes.
Effect of acute intermittent hypoxia on motor function in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury following ibuprofen pretreatment: A pilot study

Introduction: Acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) enhances lower extremity motor function in humans with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). AIH-induced spinal plasticity is inhibited by systemic inflammation in animal models. Since SCI is frequently associated with systemic inflammation in humans, we tested the hypothesis that pretreatment with the anti-inflammatory agent ibuprofen enhances the effects of AIH.Methods: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover design was used. Nine adults (mean age 51.1 ± 13.1 years) with chronic motor-incomplete SCI (7.7 ± 6.3 years post-injury) received a single dose of ibuprofen (800 mg) or placebo, 90 minutes prior to AIH. For AIH, 9% O2 for 90 seconds was interspersed with 21% O2 for 60 seconds. Maximal voluntary ankle plantar flexion isometric torque was assessed prior to, and at 0, 30, and 60 minutes post-AIH. Surface electromyography (EMG) of plantar flexor muscles was also recorded.Results: Torque increased significantly after AIH at 30 (P ...
Investigation of Semi-Insulating Cs2Hg6S7 and Cs2Hg6-xCdxS7 Alloy for Hard Radiation Detection

A new method is described to synthesize the semiconductor Cs2Hg6S7 and its alloy with Cd. Using the as-synthesized material, large single crystals have been grown by the Bridgman method under an improved set of crystal growth parameters. In addition, Cd alloying in the form of Cs2Hg6–xCdxS7 (x = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, etc.) as well as doping with In, Cl was investigated and the influence on the electronic properties was studied. Cd alloying increases the band gap of Cs2Hg6S7 from 1.63 to 1.84 eV. Doping with In and Cl however creates electron carriers and changes p-type samples of Cs2Hg6S7 into n type. A 30-fold increase in the resistivity of the single crystals from 2 × 106 to 0.65 × 108 Ω cm has been achieved. The carrier mobility-lifetime product of the Cs2Hg6S7 crystals has been increased to 1.7 × 10–3 cm2/V for electrons (μτ)e and 2.4 × 10–3 cm2/V for holes (μτ)h (HgCl2 doped). The measured (μτ)e value is comparable to the commercial CdZnTe crystal while the (μτ)h is 10 times higher. Detection of Ag X-ray ...
The Etiology of Partisan Competition

In this inquiry, we focus upon the question, “Why are political parties more competitive in some states than they are in others?” We have measured partisan competition as the closeness between the two major political parties in the results of state-level elections, and we have chosen to analyze elections in American states in the 1970s. To account for variations among the states on the dimension of partisan competitiveness, we formulate and present four discrete lines of reasoning—including socio-demographics, urbanization, diversity, and the strength of party organizations. We test each of these avenues of explanation in turn, always taking into account the watershed between North and South in partisan competition. The results vindicate the utility of our general approach, although we do find that each of the four modes of explanation is wanting in some respect. In a full-blown multivariate context, we report that educational levels and urbanization do influence variations among states in partisan competition. Equally compelling and perhaps more interesting, the strength and activism of local party organizations in the states profoundly affect political competitiveness, even when we take stark regional differences into consideration.
Application of holistic nursing care in pediatric operation room nursing and to children patients′ NRS,VRS and prognosis′impact analysis

Objective To analyze application of holistic nursing care in pediatric operation room nursing and to children patients′ prognosis′ impact analysis.Methods From December 2009 to December 2011,children patients were treated in Children's Hospital of Xuzhou City of Jiangsu Province.80 cases of children who needed for surgery were selected,in which 40 patients were in the operating room nursing care work throughout the holistic nursing care,as the observation group; remaining 40 patients were in the operating room nursing care requirements implemented only with general care,apply effects with the holistic nursing care in pediatric operating room were observed and compared,and differences in the degree of postoperative pain in children were observed through number rating scale(NRS),complained of pain grading(VRS).Results The observation group′s vary satisfied rate was 35.00%(15/40),with a total satisfaction rate of 97.50%(39/40),which were significantly higher than the control group of 17.50%(7/40),82.50%(33/40).The differences were statistically significant(all P 0.05); pain ratings in the observation group had 24 cases of children with mild pain(60.0%,24/40),severe pain in only 3 cases(7.5%,3/40),pain degree was better than the control group,the results was statistically significant(P 0.05).Conclusion Holistic nursing care is scientific and comprehensiveness,which can effectively relieve postoperative pain in children,and get highly recognized by their parents.
NAVAL PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENT: AN APPLICATION OF LINEAR-QUADRATIC PENALTY METHODS

ABSTRACT The problem of optimally (re)allocating Navy personnel to permanent stations is compounded by several considerations: budgetary requirements, staffing of positions by occupation groups or ranks, and maintaining an acceptable level of readiness. The problem can be formulated as a transportation problem with side constraints. An additional, non-network, variable measures the readiness level. However the resulting mathematical programs are very large - up to 66,000 variables and 36,000 constraints including 5,400 non-network inequalities. In this paper we report on an application of the Linear-Quadratic Penalty (LQP) method to solve this large scale problem. It is therefore possible to exploit the structure of the embedded transportation problem. The algorithm solves efficiently, and to a high degree of accuracy, models that would not be solved with a general purpose solver. Hence, the model can be used for strategic planning decisions. Further work on the CRAY Y-MP supercomputer illustrates the use of vector computers for solving the Naval personnel scheduling problem in a way that makes it useful for operational planning purposes.
lodine-125 Implantation in the Management of Localized Prostatic Carcinoma

SUMMARY Iodine-125 implantation has proved to be a safe and technically feasible means of delivering radiation therapy to the prostate. Local control of the prostatic neoplasm appears to be achieved in the majority of patients, although the criteria of tumor control leave open the question of whether or not the tumor has been locally destroyed by the treatment. Nevertheless, the local control rate, within the limitations of response definitions, implies either that implantation of 1–125 has some effect on local tumor control or that the local growth of prostatic tumors is often extremely protracted. Failure of 1–125 implantation appears to be related primarily to antecedent regional or undetected distant metastases. This technique is applicable to a far larger proportion of patients with localized prostatic cancer than is radical prostatectomy by virtue of its use in patients with stage B or small stage C lesions. However, external radiation therapy is clearly applicable to the largest patient population, since it may be used in patients with bulky stage C tumors who are unsuitable for implantation. Iodine-125 implantation has far less attendant morbidity when compared with other treatment modalities that are presently available and preserves the functional integrity of the pelvic organs. The ultimate role of 1–125 implantation in the management of localized prostatic carcinoma is yet to be determined, but the 1–125 technique has produced results that are comparable, stage for stage, to those noted for alternative measures of treatment within the limitations of available follow-up information. However, in the absence of control data, the relative contributions of the natural history of the disease and of the specific treatment to the results achieved remain uncertain.
Biological Distance, Migrants, and Reference Group Selection in Forensic Anthropology

Abstract Migration through the United States/Mexico border has helped to create a growing population of authorized and unauthorized Latin Americans within the United States. In the 1980s through the early 2000s, forensic anthropologists in the Southwestern United States and Florida saw the majority of Latin Americans in their casework—authorized or unauthorized. In more recent years, the growing population labeled Hispanic, coming from various countries within Latin America, has settled in areas all over the United States, making it important to understand the biological variation of these groups for forensic anthropological practice. This chapter focuses on the use of biological distance to better understand the biological variation of these migrants and to further explore biological relationships of migrants who die along the border.
Implicit finite volume and discontinuous Galerkin methods for multicomponent flow in unstructured 3D fractured porous media

Abstract We present a new implicit higher-order finite element (FE) approach to efficiently model compressible multicomponent fluid flow on unstructured grids and in fractured porous subsurface formations. The scheme is sequential implicit: pressures and fluxes are updated with an implicit Mixed Hybrid Finite Element (MHFE) method, and the transport of each species is approximated with an implicit second-order Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) FE method. Discrete fractures are incorporated with a cross-flow equilibrium approach. This is the first investigation of all-implicit higher-order MHFE-DG for unstructured triangular, quadrilateral (2D), and hexahedral (3D) grids and discrete fractures. A lowest-order implicit finite volume (FV) transport update is also developed for the same grid types. The implicit methods are compared to an Implicit-Pressure-Explicit-Composition (IMPEC) scheme. For fractured domains, the unconditionally stable implicit transport update is shown to increase computational efficiency by orders of magnitude as compared to IMPEC, which has a time-step constraint proportional to the pore volume of discrete fracture grid cells. However, when lowest-order Euler time-discretizations are used, numerical errors increase linearly with the larger implicit time-steps, resulting in high numerical dispersion. Second-order Crank–Nicolson implicit MHFE-DG and MHFE-FV are therefore presented as well. Convergence analyses show twice the convergence rate for the DG methods as compared to FV, resulting in two to three orders of magnitude higher computational efficiency. Numerical experiments demonstrate the efficiency and robustness in modeling compressible multicomponent flow on irregular and fractured 2D and 3D grids, even in the presence of fingering instabilities.
A laboratory investigation on the effects of unsaturated bonds and chain lengths of different biodiesel feedstocks on carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane emissions under low-temperature combustion

Abstract Biodiesel fuel is produced from various types of feedstock and as a result, its chemical composition and exhaust emissions may vary depending on the feedstock type. In this study, combustion of three biodiesel fuels derived from soybean methyl ester (SME), waste cooking oil (WCO), and tallow oil (TO) was carried out separately in a combustion chamber to better understand the effects of feedstock type on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and methane (CH 4 ) emissions under low-temperature combustion (LTC) and fuel-rich conditions. Additionally, blended biodiesel fuels, B20 and B50, with ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) of these biodiesel fuels were examined. From the impact of different biodiesel feedstocks on combustion parameters, linear relationships were observed between the fuels and the peak combustion temperature and pressure (R 2 values ranging from 0.82 to 0.98). ULSD showed the highest emission of CO and the lowest emissions of CO 2 and CH 4 among the other fuels. Compared to ULSD, it was found that the use of pure biodiesel fuels reduced the CO and enhanced CO 2 emissions by a factor of 1/3 and 3, respectively. Biodiesel fuel with a high degree of unsaturation and high portion of long methyl esters such as SME appeared to produce more CO and less CO 2 emissions than those with low degrees of unsaturation and short chain lengths (WCO and TO). It is thought that the length of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) affects the emissions because shorter chains, which contain less unsaturated structures, have the high oxygen-to-carbon ratio.
The KCC3 cotransporter as a therapeutic target for peripheral neuropathy

The SLC12A family of K-Cl cotransporters mediates the tightly coupled and electroneutral movement of K+ and Cl- across plasma membranes. In the brain and spinal cord, KCC2 (SLC12A5) plays a key rol...
Abstract 890: Effects of Lewis lung carcinoma on trabecular microstructural changes in wild-type and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 deficient mice fed a high-fat diet

Bone is a major target organ of metastasis. The present study investigated the effects of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) on trabecular microstructural changes, using tomographic analysis, in distal femur and lumbar 4 vertebra from LLC-bearing wild-type and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) deficient mice (C57BL/6J background) fed the AIN93G diet or a high-fat diet; a group of AIN93G-fed non-tumor-bearing wild-type mice were used as controls. Compared to AIN93G-fed non-tumor-bearing wild-type mice, LLC significantly reduced bone volume fraction (BV/TV), connective density (Conn.D), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and bone mineral density (BMD) and significantly increased trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) in distal femurs of AIN93G-fed wild-type mice. In high-fat diet-fed mice, compared to the AIN93G-fed ones, LLC resulted in significantly greater reductions BV/TV, Conn.D, Tb.N and BMD and significantly greater increases in structure model index (SMI) and Tb.Sp. Deficiency in PAI-1, compared to wild-type mice, significantly increased BV/TV, Conn.D, Tb.N and significantly reduced SMI. In vertebra, LLC resulted in similar trabecular changes compared to the non-tumor-bearing wild-type controls, the high-fat diet reduced BV/TV and BMD and increased SMI, whereas PAI-1 deficiency did not affect trabecular microstructure in vertebrae. These results demonstrated (1) that LLC is detrimental to trabecular bone which may make it more vulnerable to malignant invasion, (2) that high-fat diet enhances LLC-induced trabecular deterioration and (3) that the improvement in trabecular microstructure by PAI-1 deficiency indicates that PAI-1 may play a role in trabecular microarchitectural deterioration during malignant progression. Citation Format: Lin Yan. Effects of Lewis lung carcinoma on trabecular microstructural changes in wild-type and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 deficient mice fed a high-fat diet. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 890. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-890
Impact of climate change on U.S. building energy demand: Financial implications for consumers and energy suppliers

Abstract Based on the impacts of climate change on U.S. building energy consumption, we quantify the financial implications to consumers and suppliers at finer space (state) and time (monthly) scales than previously reported. For the U.S. as a whole, we find building energy costs decrease by ∼7 billion $/year in the residential sector, while costs increase by ∼2.2 billion $/year in the commercial sector. For cold-weather states (e.g., Vermont), there are residential energy savings of up to 340 $/year, while warmer states (e.g., Florida) see increased residential energy costs of up to 231 $/year per household. The increased summertime cooling demand poses important questions for the electricity supply system. Electricity reserve margins fall below 10% in all North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) regions by the end of this century. In order to maintain a reliable electricity supply, an additional 80.6 gigawatt (GW) of capacity is needed, which we estimate to cost between 19.2 and 72.1 billion $/year for construction and operation. These estimates are also sensitive to changes in population distribution. Compared to a 2010 population distribution, results based on a 2090 population distribution show reduced savings nationally.
Anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy in awake transcervical injection laryngoplasty

Objective Vocal fold movement impairment (VFMI) due to neuronal injury occurs in 20% to 30% of surgeries in the region of the aortic arch. Early injection laryngoplasty can aid with postoperative pulmonary toilet in these high-risk cardiovascular patients. The purpose of this study is to determine whether continuing antiplatelet and anticoagulation therapy during awake transcervical injection laryngoplasty surgery is safe, and if there is any increase in bleeding complications in these patients. Methods This is a retrospective review of patients undergoing awake injection laryngoplasty surgery for VFMI between 2013 and 2016 at a tertiary academic center specializing in aortic and mediastinal diseases. Records were reviewed for patients regarding baseline antiplatelet or anticoagulation therapy, and whether these medications were stopped or continued preoperatively. The primary outcome was bleeding complications. Results Of the 95 surgeries reviewed, 44 (46%) were performed for patients on antiplatelet therapy, and 71 (75%) for patients on anticoagulation therapy. None of the patients on antiplatelet therapy had their treatment discontinued. Of the patients on anticoagulation, 13 (16.4%) had their therapy held prior to surgery. There was no observed difference in bleeding complications between patients who were continued on antiplatelet or anticoagulation treatment versus those whose therapy was withheld. Conclusion These results suggest that patients undergoing awake transcervical injection laryngoplasty for VFMI can be maintained on antiplatelet or anticoagulation therapy without increased risk of bleeding. Further larger studies are needed to confirm these findings. Level of evidence 4. Laryngoscope, 127:1850-1854, 2017.
Analysis of the factors that influence the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring System

To evaluate factors that can influence the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Score (FNAS). Retrospective analysis of 367 patients admitted to two level IV neonatal intensive care units. Linear mixed effects models were developed to evaluate daily census, time of the day, and day of the week as fixed effect predictors. The degree of influence that nurses had on FNAS variability was also estimated. Bivariate analyses showed that daily census and the time of day have significant influence on the FNAS in institution 1, with minimal clinical significance. The proportion of variation in the FNAS attributable to differences in nurses was of 9.8% and 5.1% for institutions 1 and 2, respectively (P<0.0001). The minimal influences of extraneous factors on the FNAS support the clinical utility of the scoring system in the assessment and management of infants with Neonatal Abstinence Score.
Positive and negative gain exceeding unity magnitude in silicon quantum well metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors

Intrinsic gain (AV) measurements on Si quantum well (QW) n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistors show that these devices can have |AV| > 1 in quantum transport negative transconductance (NTC) operation at room temperature. QW NMOS devices were fabricated using an industrial 45 nm technology node process incorporating ion implanted potential barriers to define a lateral QW in the conduction channel under the gate. While NTC at room temperature arising from transport through gate-controlled QW bound states has been previously established, it was unknown whether the quantum NTC mechanism could support gain magnitude exceeding unity. Bias conditions were found giving both positive and negative AV with |AV| > 1 at room temperature. This result means that QW NMOS devices could be useful in amplifier and oscillator applications.
Affective reactivity to daily stress and 20-year mortality risk in adults with chronic illness: Findings from the National Study of Daily Experiences.

Objective Daily stress processes have been previously linked to health-related outcomes, but implications for longevity remain unclear. The present study examined whether daily stress exposure and/or affective responses to daily stressors predicted mortality risk over a 20-year period. Based on the hypothesis that chronic illness confers vulnerability to deleterious effects of stress, we also examined whether its presence accentuated the association between daily stress processes and later mortality risk. Method Participants were 1,346 middle-aged adults from the survey of Midlife Development in the United States who also completed the National Study of Daily Experiences. Participants reported on their experiences of stress and affect for 8 consecutive evenings, and mortality data were collected over the next 20 years, using the National Death Index and other methods. Results There was a positive association between total number of stressors experienced across days and mortality risk. There was also a positive association between increases in negative affect on stressor days relative to nonstressor days and risk for mortality. The presence of a chronic illness moderated this association such that negative affective reactivity predicted mortality risk among individuals with at least one chronic illness but not among otherwise healthy individuals. This association was independent of sociodemographic characteristics, typical levels of negative affect on nonstressor days, and total number of endorsed stressors. Conclusion These results suggest that greater increases in negative affect in response to stress in everyday life may have long-term consequences for longevity, particularly for individuals with chronic illness. (PsycINFO Database Record
Oxalate induces mitochondrial dysfunction and disrupts redox homeostasis in a human monocyte derived cell line

Abstract Monocytes/macrophages are thought to be recruited to the renal interstitium during calcium oxalate (CaOx) kidney stone disease for crystal clearance. Mitochondria play an important role in monocyte function during the immune response. We recently determined that monocytes in patients with CaOx kidney stones have decreased mitochondrial function compared to healthy subjects. The objective of this study was to determine whether oxalate, a major constituent found in CaOx kidney stones, alters cell viability, mitochondrial function, and redox homeostasis in THP-1 cells, a human derived monocyte cell line. THP-1 cells were treated with varying concentrations of CaOx crystals (insoluble form) or sodium oxalate (NaOx; soluble form) for 24 h. In addition, the effect of calcium phosphate (CaP) and cystine crystals was tested. CaOx crystals decreased cell viability and induced mitochondrial dysfunction and redox imbalance in THP-1 cells compared to control cells. However, NaOx only caused mitochondrial damage and redox imbalance in THP-1 cells. In contrast, both CaP and cystine crystals did not affect THP-1 cells. Separate experiments showed that elevated oxalate also induced mitochondrial dysfunction in primary monocytes from healthy subjects. These findings suggest that oxalate may play an important role in monocyte mitochondrial dysfunction in CaOx kidney stone disease.
The local TV station as an organizational self: Promoting corporate image via Instagram

Television stations are increasingly using social media platforms for a variety of reasons. This study examined more than 4,300 visuals posted to the Instagram sites of 383 local TV stations in the...
Spatial optimization of operationally relevant large fire confine and point protection strategies: model development and test cases

This study introduces a large fire containment strategy that builds upon recent advances in spatial fire planning, notably the concept of potential wildland fire operation delineations (PODs). Multiple PODs can be clustered together to form a “box” that is referred as the “response POD” (or rPOD). Fire lines would be built along the boundary of an rPOD to contain a large fire. Assets such as communities and infrastructure within an rPOD could be protected through “point zone protection.” We develop a mixed integer program model to optimally aggregate PODs into an rPOD with an objective of coordinating containment and point protection to maximize net value change under different fire weather scenarios and resource availability constraints. This optimization framework leverages emerging fire risk assessment and response planning methods by considering factors that drive selection of the optimal rPOD including fire-related benefits and losses, the fire line construction effort required to contain fire, and t...
A bias–variance trade-off governs individual differences in on-line learning in an unpredictable environment

Decisions often benefit from learned expectations about the sequential structure of the evidence. Here we show that individual differences in this learning process can reflect different implicit assumptions about sequence complexity, leading to performance trade-offs. For a task requiring decisions about dynamic evidence streams, human subjects with more flexible, history-dependent choices (low bias) had greater trial-to-trial choice variability (high variance). In contrast, subjects with more history-independent choices (high bias) were more predictable (low variance). We accounted for these behaviours using models in which assumed complexity was encoded by the size of the hypothesis space over the latent rate of change of the source of evidence. The most parsimonious model used an efficient sampling algorithm in which the range of sampled hypotheses represented an information bottleneck that gave rise to a bias–variance trade-off. This trade-off, which is well known in machine learning, may thus also have broad applicability to human decision-making. Glaze et al. show that individual variability in learning from noisy evidence involves a bias–variance trade-off that is best explained by a model using a sampling algorithm that approximates optimal inference.
Performing Disunion: The Coming of the Civil War in Charleston, South Carolina

This book traces how and why the secession of the South during the American Civil War was accomplished at ground level through the actions of ordinary men. Adopting a micro-historical approach, Lawrence T. McDonnell works to connect small events in new ways - he places one company of the secessionist Minutemen in historical context, exploring the political and cultural dynamics of their choices. Every chapter presents little-known characters whose lives and decisions were crucial to the history of Southern disunion. McDonnell asks readers to consider the past with fresh eyes, analyzing the structure and dynamics of social networks and social movements. He presents the dissolution of the Union through new events, actors, issues, and ideas, illuminating the social contradictions that cast the South's most conservative city as the radical heart of Dixie.
Disruption of learning on a non-native phonetic contrast by a brief practice break

What is required for long-lasting learning of a non-native phonetic contrast? Do principles from fine-grained discrimination learning apply? Discrimination learning often requires extensive practice within a day for performance to improve across days, and a 30-minute break midway through practice can disrupt that learning. Thus it appears that trials must integrate to a learning threshold in a transient memory store in order for durable discrimination learning to occur. We asked whether this same principle applies in phonetic-contrast learning. To do so, we trained monolingual speakers on a non-native phonetic contrast along a voice-onset-time (VOT) continuum. Those who engaged in a single continuous practice session on day 1 reached above chance accuracy on day 2 while classifying the non-native phoneme. In contrast, when day-1 practice included a 30-minute break halfway through training, day-2 performance was at chance. These results suggest that for phoneme learning, as for discrimination learning, lon...
The failure of intravenously injected fat to produce cholic acid in the dog.

Whipple and his coworkers (1) reported several years ago that the taurocholic acid excretion of the dog was probably related to protein metabolism. These workers fasted bile fistula dogs and found a low taurocholic acid concentration in the bile, which decreased still more when carbohydrate was fed (2). This was attributed to a protein-sparing action of the carbohydrate, which made less protein available for bile acid synthesis by decreasing endogenous protein metabolism. Feeding high protein diets (3) caused a rise in bile salt, output, as did alcohol-extracted meat. A high cholesterol diet, fed as egg yolk, failed to produce extra bile salt excretion. Jacobi, Zuckerman, and Kogut (4) have recently reviewed the literature with respect to bile excretion on carbohydrate, protein, or fat, diets. Most of the experiments described measured only bile volumes. The experiments of Whipple (l-3) were the only ones in which bile salt excretion was determined. It is generally accepted that bile salts play a part in the absorption of fat, (5). If an animal has a bile fistula, it is obvious that the fats of its diet, cannot be normally absorbed. Whipple’s experiments measuring the power of an animal to produce bile salts from high fat, diets cannot be interpret.ed quantitatively, for no measure of the fat actually reaching the blood stream is available. To overcome this difficulty, injection of fat directly
Laetoli Revisited: Renewed Paleontological and Geological Investigations at Localities on the Eyasi Plateau in Northern Tanzania

Laetoli, one of the key paleontological and paleoanthropological localities in Africa, is renowned for the recovery of fossil remains of early hominins belonging to Australopithecus afarensis and for the remarkable trails of hominin footprints. In addition, the faunas from the Upper Laetolil Beds (3.63–3.85 Ma) and Upper Ndolanya Beds (2.66 Ma) are from time periods that are generally poorly represented at other paleontological sites in East Africa. Fossils from these stratigraphic units provide important insights into the faunal and floral diversity during the Pliocene, and they serve as reliably dated reference faunas for comparison with other Plio-Pleistocene sites in Africa. The paleoecology of Laetoli is unusual for early hominin sites in East Africa in the absence of evidence for extensive or permanent bodies of water, and in having habitats that are reconstructed as being less densely wooded. Therefore, Laetoli provides key evidence for interpreting the possible diversity of hominin habitat preferences and for understanding ecological changes in East Africa during the Pliocene. The main goal of renewed fieldwork at Laetoli, starting in 1998, was to recover additional fossil hominid specimens and to obtain more detailed contextual information on the paleontology, geology, dating, and paleoecology. The substantially expanded fossil collections have added significantly to our understanding of the systematics and paleobiology of Pliocene East African faunas. The recovery of new Australopithecus afarensis specimens from the Upper Laetolil Beds has contributed information on the morphology, variation and evolutionary status of this taxon. Fossil hominins have been recovered for the first time from the Upper Ndolanya Beds. These include the first specimen of Paranthropus aethiopicus to be recovered from outside the Turkana Basin, and one of the oldest securely dated specimens definitively attributable to this taxon.
Cost of ectopic pregnancy management: surgery versus methotrexate * †

Objective To estimate the potential annual cost savings of methotrexate (MTX) therapy for ectopic pregnancy (EP) at our institution and nationally. Design Retrospective. Setting San Francisco General Hospital. Patients All patients treated for EP in 1991. Interventions Medical records and billing statements were reviewed. Main Outcome Measures Direct costs were determined from billing statements, and indirect costs were estimated based on published data. Potential annual national cost savings from MTX treatment were then extrapolated using national statistics on the incidence of EP. Results Fifty EPs were treated with an average direct cost of $7,972 per case. Direct and indirect costs totaled>$500,000. Fifteen (30%) of the cases would have been eligible for MTX treatment with a resultant cost savings of>$160,000. The potential annual national cost savings would be in excess of $280 million. Conclusions If preliminary findings suggesting the effectiveness of MTX as an alternative therapy for EP are confirmed, appropriate use of MTX will not only reduce morbidity but also the substantial cost.
Hofbauer Cells: Their Role in Healthy and Complicated Pregnancy

Hofbauer cells are placental villous macrophages of fetal origin that are present throughout pregnancy. Although Hofbauer cell populations are antigenically and morphologically heterogeneous, their epigenetic, antigenic, and functional profiles most closely resemble alternatively activated macrophages or what are referred to as M2a, M2b, M2c, and M2d polarity subtypes. Consistent with an M2-like profile, these cells play an important role in placental development including vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. During placental inflammation Hofbauer cells may produce pro-inflammatory cytokines or mediators that damage the villous cell barrier, and induce fibrotic responses within the villi as a continuum of chronic inflammation. However, to date, there is no evidence that Hofbauer cells become classically activated or adopt an M1 polarity phenotype that is able to kill microbes. To the contrary, their predominant M2 like qualities may be why these cells are ineffective in controlling most TORCH infections. Moreover, Hofbauer cells may contribute to vertical transmission of various pathogens to the fetus since they can harbor live virus and serve as reservoirs within the placenta. The goal of this review is to summarize what is currently known about the role of Hofbauer cells in normal and complicated pregnancies that involve immunologic disorders, inflammation, and/or infection.
Arguments supporting and opposing legalization of safe consumption sites in the U.S

Abstract Background Safe consumption sites are spaces where people can legally use pre-obtained drugs under medical supervision and are currently in operation in Canada, Australia and Western Europe. These sites are effective in reducing opioid overdose mortality and other harms associated with opioid use, such as HIV infection, and increasing drug treatment entry. Various U.S. communities are considering establishing safe consumption sites, however, only 29% of U.S. adults support their legalization. This purpose of this study is to assess what types of arguments resonate with the public in support of and opposition to legalizing safe consumption sites to combat the opioid epidemic. Methods A public opinion survey of U.S. adults in July-August 2017 (N = 1004) used a probability-based sample of respondents from a large, nationally representative online panel. The survey examined the public’s perception of the strength of common arguments offered in support of and opposition to legalizing safe consumption sites. Arguments were identified through a detailed scan of news media coverage, public reports, and advocacy materials. Results The national sample of U.S. adults rated all arguments opposing legalization of safe consumption sites as stronger than any of the arguments supporting legalization. The most highly rated opposing arguments were that public funds were better spent on addiction treatment, and that sites were allowing illegal activity and encouraging people to use drugs. The highest rated arguments supporting legalization were that safe consumption sites were a better alternative than arresting people for using drugs, they would reduce HIV and hepatitis C by encouraging safe injection practices, and that they would lower emergency department admission and hospitalization costs. Conclusion Legalization of this evidence-based harm reduction approach in U.S. communities will be difficult to advance without public education to confront persistent myths that safe consumption sites encourage drug use and do not facilitate treatment access.
Creating a Team Foundation

Athletes are more likely to follow guidelines and rules that they themselves created. This article provides a model process for establishing team guidelines related to rules and roles. In this team exercise the head coach acts as the facilitator/mediator, while all decisions ultimately come from the players.