cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Talk of Class The Discursive Repertoires of White Working- and Upper-Middle-Class College Students

Discourses of social class are an important object of study because how people talk about social class can translate into how they act on the basis of social class. Using data from sixty in-depth interviews with white college students from working- and upper-middle-class backgrounds at two institutions of higher education, I explore college students’ social class awareness, whether they think that social class matters, and how they construct symbolic boundaries. I find that whereas there are some similarities in how working- and upper-middle-class students talk about social class, differences ultimately emerge whereby working-class respondents construct social class as a more salient issue. Moreover, in contrast to earlier research, both upper-middle- and working-class students construct symbolic boundaries vis-a-vis those above them in the stratification system. This pattern suggests some possible implications for processes of social reproduction.
Buckling instability in liquid crystalline physical gels.

In a nematic gel we observe a low-energy buckling deformation arising from soft and semisoft elastic modes. We prepare the self-assembled gel by dissolving a coil–side-group liquid-crystalline polymer–coil copolymer in a nematic liquid crystal. The gel has long network strands and a precisely tailored structure, making it ideal for studying nematic rubber elasticity. Under polarized optical microscopy we observe a striped texture that forms when gels uniformly aligned at 35 °C are cooled to room temperature. We model the instability using the molecular theory of nematic rubber elasticity, and the theory correctly captures the change in pitch length with sample thickness and polymer concentration. This buckling instability is a clear example of a low-energy deformation that arises in materials where polymer network strains are coupled to the director orientation.
A New Early Miocene Species of Pogonias (Teleostei: Sciaenidae) Based on Otoliths from California

Abstract A new species of early Miocene croaker of the genus Pogonias (Perciformes: Sciaenidae) from the marine upper Olcese Sand, southeastern San Joaquin Valley, Kern County, California is described based on saccular ( = sagittae) otoliths. This is the first fossil record of the genus Pogonias from the eastern Pacific Rim. It is hypothesized that this new species of Pogonias or its ancestor emigrated from the Gulf Stream of the western Atlantic into the eastern Pacific via the Panama seaway during or prior to the late early Miocene.
Some Simple Optimal Tests in Multivariate Analysis

The class of tests reviewed in this paper pertains mainly to standard hypothesis testing problems in multivariate analysis. The tests are simple in that they are combinations of familiar univariate tests. In the multivariate context they are asymptotically equivalent to the B-optimal likelihood ratio tests; and even in small to moderate size samples they compare well with the B-optimal tests in terms of the power. Their construction and optimality are reviewed using common problems such as MANOVA, testing complete independence with a special emphasis on the sphericity hypothesis. The applicability of the method of test construction for developing solutions to less standard problems, for example those involving missing data or restricted parametric spaces, is outlined. Its possible role in constructing robust tests is indicated.
ANALYTICAL STUDY OF A FORWARD MOVING ANNULAR JET

Abstract The results of a preliminary analysis of the effects of forward motion on the velocity distribution and the shape of an annular jet in ground proximity are presented herewith. It is shown that the effect of forward motion on an annular jet can be found numerically by using a perturbation theory. The distorted shape of the annular jet in forward motion is compared to that of the hovering jet. No comparison between analytical and experimental results is made because of the absence of adequate test data.
Canola integration into semi-arid wheat cropping systems of the inland Pacific Northwestern USA

The inland Pacific Northwestern USA (iPNW) wheat-producing region has a diversity of environments and soils, yet it lacks crop diversity and is one of the few semi-arid wheat-growing regions without significant integration of oilseeds. Four major agroecological zones, primarily characterised by water availability, feature distinctly different fallowed and annually cropped systems, each presenting different challenges and opportunities to integrate winter and spring canola. Although major interests in regional energy crops and rotational diversification spurred feasibility research on iPNW canola food, feed and fuel production in the 1970s, commercial canola adaptation has lagged behind other semi-arid wheat regions for various socioeconomic, ecophysiological and agronomic reasons. New federal crop insurance policies will reduce economic risks in new crop adaptation, and oilseed processing facilities are creating new local markets. Although canola management largely relies on wheat farm equipment, agronomic approaches require strategic adjustments to account for physiological differences between canola and cereals including seed size, seedling morphology and responses to temperature extremes. Climate change predictions for the region threaten to exacerbate current hot and dry summers and research aims to develop and adapt flexible winter and spring canola-based systems to regional water and temperature stressors in each zone. Adaptation will require novel planting, fertilisation and weed control strategies to successfully establish improved winter canola cultivars in hot dry summers that survive cold winters, and spring canola cultivars direct-seeded in cool wet springs. The adaptation of winter and spring canola will somewhat mirror the rotational placement of winter and spring cereals within each zone. Economic analysis of oilseed break crop benefits such as weed and disease control will help to demonstrate the medium-term economic benefits of crop diversification to support the growth of a regional canola industry in the iPNW.
Novel Role of Bone Marrow Stem Cells in Systemic Disease

Identifying neural, hormonal, renal, and vascular mechanisms that cause system hypertension has led to the development of diagnostics, drugs, and devices for the treatment of hypertension during the past many decades. These successes have led to a decrease in the rate of stroke and contributed to the decrease in cardiovascular disease in the general population. However, in spite of the new discoveries, 20% of patients diagnosed with hypertension remain hypertensive with an increase in risk of cardiovascular disease.1 There is ample evidence that the central nervous system is altered by hypertension. The precise mechanisms of how all the various systems interact to cause hypertension still remain unclear. Article, see p 178 Organs most often associated with hypertension include the vasculature, the kidney, and the brain. Inflammatory cells are present in these organs with hypertension. In the vasculature, accumulation of inflammatory cells in the perivascular adipose tissue of the vessels is noted in hypertension.1 Sympathetic nerves innervate the perivascular adipose tissue which has confounded our ability to identify the link between the inflammation and sympathetic nerve activation. In and around glomeruli of the kidney, there is extensive perivascular infiltration of leukocytes in kidneys and hearts of transgenic rats harboring the human renin and angiotensinogen genes. Theuer et al2 demonstrated the role of nuclear factor-kB–mediated inflammation in blood pressure elevation and its effect on the end organ damage. In this issue, Santisteban et al3 extend our understanding of …
A Flexure-Based Bi-Axial Contact-Aided Compliant Mechanism for Spinal Arthroplasty

A healthy spinal disc is capable of 3 degrees of rotation and has a force-deflection response that helps to stabilize the spine. Age or trauma can cause the stability of the spine to decrease. Spinal fusion, the current surgical treatment of choice, stabilizes the spine by rigid fixation, reducing spinal mobility at the cost of increased stress at adjacent levels. This paper introduces a compliant mechanism that has the potential to closely mimic the physiological motion profile of the natural spinal disc. Compliant mechanisms have properties that make them well suited for spinal implants that restores the range of motion and the forcedeflection response of the spine. This paper presents an introduction to the biomechanics of the spinal disc, reviews the state of the art in spinal care, and proposes the use of the Flexure-based Bi-Axial Contact-aided (Flex-BAC) compliant mechanism as a spinal arthroplasty device (artificial disc). The Flex-BAC compliant mechanism offers the potential to restore both the kinematics and kinetics of a damaged spinal disc. The disc provides the ability to eliminate wear through rolling. An overview of the device and a preliminary kinematic and kinetic analysis are given.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Functional Evaluation of Soft Tissue Insertions to Bone

Soft tissue insertions into bone are of critical importance in transmitting forces from ligaments and tendons to bone, and thus are crucial in joint stability and musculoskeletal motion. Despite their importance, there exists no established experimental method for rigorously determining their function. Previous studies [1–3] have established the pull-out test as the standard method of evaluating the mechanical function of soft-tissue insertions, however, as this method tests response at a single orientation it may not capture the overall function of soft-tissue insertions.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Normal myocardial perfusion imaging in the presence of significant coronary artery stenosis

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the factors which might result in normal myocardial perfusion imaging in the presence of significant coronary artery stenosis.Methods One hundred and thirty-three patients[mean age of(59±10)years,98 men,35 women]who underwent coro- nary angiography and myocardial perfusion SPECT were retrospectively analyzed.Results Forty-six (35%)patients performed adequate bicycle exercise testing and achieved more than 85% of their predicted maximal heart rates;while 87(65%)patients did not.Eighty-four(63%)patients had single coronary stenosis,31(23%)two-vessel and 17(13%)three-vessel diseases.The difference in stenosis severity a- mong the vessels in 13(76%)cases with three-vessel diseases was not more than 20%.There were totally 202 coronary artery stenosis:93(46%)in left anterior descending coronary artery(LAD),52(26%)left circumflex coronary artery(LCX),52(26%)right coronary artery(RCA)and 5(2%)left main coronary artery(LM)disease.Eighty-six(43%)vessels had 50%～70% stenosis,100(49%)70%～90% and 16(8%)more than 90%.Conclusion Normal myocardial perfusion imaging with significant coronary ar- tery stenosis can probably due to inadequate exercise,single vessel disease and mild to moderate stenotic le- sion.
Ethics, Technology, and Values

Robert C. Solomon in Morality and the Good Life (1) gives a traditional philosophical definition of ethics as a set of “theories of value, virtue, or of right (valuable) action.” Johnson elaborates Solomon’s definition by defining ethics as a set of theories “that provide general rules or principles to be used in making moral decisions and, unlike ordinary intuitions, provides a justification for those rules” (2). The word “ethics” comes from an ancient Greek word eche (1), which means character. Every human society, whether civilized or primitive, practices ethics because every society attaches a value, on a continuum of good to bad, right to wrong, to an individual’s actions according to where that individual’s actions fall within the domain of that society’s rules and canons. An individual’s actions collectively define that individual’s character and thus a set of good actions denotes good character and vice versa. There are many different kinds of ethical theories, and within each theory there may be different versions of that theory.
Swelling and Thermal Transitions of Polyelectrolyte Multilayers in the Presence of Divalent Ions

The effects of CaCl2, MgCl2, and Na2SO4 on the swelling response and the thermal transition of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PDAC/PSS) layer-by-layer (LbL) assemblies are investigated. For MgCl2 and CaCl2, two swelling regimes are observed depending on the salt concentration of the overlying solution. Below 0.17 M MgCl2 or CaCl2, swelling appears to arise from electrostatic repulsion within the multilayer. Above 0.17 M MgCl2 or CaCl2, the multilayer swells linearly with the concentration of the overlying solution due to doping; the degree of swelling in this linear regime depends on the hydration shell of the doping ions. Alternatively, swelling with no concentration dependence was observed for Na2SO4. Unlike the swelling behavior, the thermal transition temperature observed in hydrated films shifts to higher temperatures with increasing concentration of Na2SO4. However, when hydrated with CaCl2 or MgCl2 solutions, the transition remains relatively constant within error. R...
A Chemoenzymatic Strategy for Imaging Cellular Phosphatidic Acid Synthesis.

Phosphatidic acid (PA) is a potent lipid secondary messenger, the synthesis of which is tightly regulated in both space and time. Established tools for detecting PA involve ex vivo analysis and do not provide information on the subcellular locations where this lipid is synthesized. Here, a chemoenzymatic strategy for imaging sites of cellular PA synthesis by phospholipase D (PLD) enzymes is reported. PLDs were found to be able to catalyze phospholipid head-group exchange with alkynols to generate alkyne-labeled PA analogues within cells. Subsequent fluorophore tagging through Cu-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition enabled both visualization by fluorescence microscopy and quantification by HPLC. Our studies revealed several intracellular sites of PLD-mediated PA synthesis. We envision applications of this approach to dissect PA-dependent signaling pathways, image PLD activity in disease, and remodel intracellular membranes with new functionality.
Changes in plasma CXCL4 levels are associated with improvements in lung function in patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy for systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease

Increased circulatory levels of the chemokine CXCL4 have been associated with the presence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in an observational study of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between baseline CXCL4 level and extent of ILD in the context of a randomized controlled trial and to determine whether changes in CXCL4 levels in response to immunosuppression are associated with future progression of SSc-ILD. A total of 142 SSc-ILD patients from Scleroderma Lung Study (SLS) II were randomized in a double-blind, parallel-arm trial, to receive mycophenolate (MMF) for 2 years or oral cyclophosphamide (CYC) for 1 year followed by 1 year of placebo. Plasma CXCL4 levels were measured at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months in SLS II participants (N = 136) and at a single time point in healthy controls (N = 67). A mixed-effects model evaluated the relationship between change in CXCL4 levels and SSc-ILD progression. The primary outcome was the course of the forced vital capacity. Baseline CXCL4 levels were significantly higher in SSc-ILD patients compared with healthy controls (2699 ± 1489 ng/ml vs 2233 ± 1351 ng/ml (mean ± SD); P = 0.019). However, no significant correlations were identified between CXCL4 levels and extent of ILD at baseline, as measured by the forced vital capacity, diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide, or radiographic extent of ILD. Plasma CXCL4 decreased significantly from baseline to 12 months in all patients (CYC: P < 0.001; MMF: P = 0.006) with no between-treatment differences (CYC vs MMF). Patients with the largest decline in CXCL4 levels during the first 12 months had an improved course of forced vital capacity %-predicted from 12 to 24 months (P = 0.040), even after adjusting for baseline disease severity and treatment arm assignment. Levels of CXCL4 were higher in patients with SSc-ILD compared with controls and decreased in all patients treated with immunosuppressive therapy. While CXCL4 levels were not correlated with extent of ILD at baseline, changes in CXCL4 at 12 months predicted future progression of SSc-ILD from 12 to 24 months. These findings suggest that intermediate-term changes in CXCL4 may have predictive significance for long-term progression of SSc-ILD in patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00883129 . Registered 16 April 2009.
Towards a Conceptual Model for Cognitive-Intensive Practices

Different conceptual data models in the literature are either geared towards the description of low-level features of media content or to more abstract and complex conceptual representations. A lesser number attempt to cover both purposes, i.e. to support both low-level aspects and high-level concepts in a single reasoning process. However, these models lack the needed expressiveness to represent cognitive-intensive activities, which are tightly based on production and consumption of knowledge present in multimedia content and commonly relate concepts at arbitrary abstraction levels. This work aims to contribute to a better understanding of how it could be possible to model the knowledge "flow" in such activities, which may include the collaboration of different cognitive systems (human and software) and interaction with devices, software interfaces, and real objects.
Mind-Body Training for At-Risk Populations: Preventive Medicine at its Best.

This article is a companion to “Transcendental meditation and reduced trauma symptoms in female inmates: A randomized controlled pilot study,” available at: www.thepermanentejournal.org/issues/2017/6290-meditation.html, and on page 39 and to “Reduced trauma symptoms and perceived stress in male prison inmates through the Transcendental Meditation program: A randomized controlled trial,” available at: www.thepermanentejournal.org/issues/2016/fall/6227-incarcerated-healthcare. html and in the Fall 2016 issue of The Permanente Journal.
Label propagation in big data to detect remote access Trojans

Remote Access Trojans (RATs) provide cyber criminals with unlimited access to infected endpoints. Using the victim's access privileges, they can access and steal sensitive business and personal data including intellectual property and, personally identifiable information. However due to attack evolution, targeted attacks utilize modified versions of known signatures, which means that IDS rules that only match the known signature can be bypassed. In this paper, we propose a semi supervised approach that uses ensemble based label propagation to discover infected RAT packets in large unlabeled data. Our approach is trained on a small sample of labeled instances that usually characterize massive network datasets. Our approach is implemented using Apache Spark where we are able to demonstrate the effective discovery of such Trojans in massive amounts of data. We compare our approach to traditional signature based intrusion detection systems and clearly show that our approach is promising in the domain of cyber security in predicting large sets of unlabeled data using few labeled samples.
Nonlinear–nonquadratic optimal and inverse optimal control for stochastic dynamical systems

Summary In this paper, we develop a unified framework to address the problem of optimal nonlinear analysis and feedback control for nonlinear stochastic dynamical systems. Specifically, we provide a simplified and tutorial framework for stochastic optimal control and focus on connections between stochastic Lyapunov theory and stochastic Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman theory. In particular, we show that asymptotic stability in probability of the closed-loop nonlinear system is guaranteed by means of a Lyapunov function that can clearly be seen to be the solution to the steady-state form of the stochastic Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation and, hence, guaranteeing both stochastic stability and optimality. In addition, we develop optimal feedback controllers for affine nonlinear systems using an inverse optimality framework tailored to the stochastic stabilization problem. These results are then used to provide extensions of the nonlinear feedback controllers obtained in the literature that minimize general polynomial and multilinear performance criteria. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reliability and Relationship to Retention of Assessing an Acquisition Rate for Sight Words With Kindergarten Students

Teaching children too many words during a lesson reduces retention. The amount of new information a student can successfully rehearse and recall later is called acquisition rate (AR), which has bee...
Revisiting hypermedia space in the era of the Islamic State

Hypermedia space—the notion that discrete media technologies connect to create a communicative space with multiple access points and socio-political uptakes—has now become a commonplace to the exte...
Mechanistic Studies of Copper-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydroboration of Alkenes

Mechanistic studies of the copper-catalyzed asymmetric hydroboration of vinylarenes and internal alkenes are reported. Catalytic systems with both DTBM-SEGPHOS and SEGPHOS as the ligands have been investigated. With DTBM-SEGPHOS as the ligand, the resting state of the catalyst, which is also a catalytic intermediate, for hydroboration of 4-fluorostyrene is a phenethylcopper(I) complex ligated by the bisphosphine. This complex was fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The turnover-limiting step in the catalytic cycle for the reaction of vinylarenes is the borylation of this phenethylcopper complex with pinacolborane (HBpin) to form the boronate ester product and a copper hydride. Experiments showed that the borylation occurs with retention of configuration at the benzylic position. β-Hydrogen elimination and insertion of the alkene to reform this phenethylcopper complex is reversible in the absence of HBpin but is irreversible during the catalytic process because reaction with ...
Loss aversion and social security: a general equilibrium approach

Introducing an intertemporal model of loss aversion, I study the role of social security in determining intergenerational redistribution when consumers have reference-dependent preferences with loss aversion. Using a unified social security model in which different social security plans are specified via different degrees of fundedness, I examine the effect of the transition from a less funded system to a more funded one on savings, consumption, and capital accumulation for an OLG production economy. A general equilibrium analysis shows that the direction of intertemporal equilibrium is dependent on how the total savings responds to the interest rate change, but the effect of the payroll tax on capital accumulation is ambiguous. By deriving closed-form solutions, I find that an increase in fundedness intensity unambiguously increases capital accumulation in steady states, while the tax effects on consumption and savings are not conclusive. Moreover, simulation exercises show that when consumers are prone to over-consume because they care more about the contemporaneous gain utility, the fully funded system may help the individuals smooth out their lifecycle consumption.
Total Ankle Arthroplasty: Comparing Perioperative Outcomes When Performed at an Orthopaedic Specialty Hospital Versus an Academic Teaching Hospital.

BACKGROUND The number of total ankle arthroplasties (TAAs) performed in the United States has risen significantly in recent years, as has utilization of orthopaedic specialty hospital (OSH) to treat healthy patients undergoing elective surgery. The purpose of this study was to compare postoperative outcomes following TAA at an OSH when compared with a matching population of patients undergoing TAA at an academic teaching hospital (ATH). METHODS We identified all TAA from January 2014 to December 2014 at the OSH and January 2010 to January 2016 at the ATH. Each OSH patient was manually matched with a corresponding ATH patient by clinical variables. Outcomes analyzed were length of stay (LOS), 30-day readmissions, mortality, reoperation, and inpatient rehabilitation utilization. RESULTS There were 40 TAA patients in each group. OSH and ATH patients were similar in age, body mass index, age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index, and gender. Average LOS for TAA at the OSH was 1.28 ± 0.51 compared with 2.03 ± 0.89 (P < .001) at the ATH. There were no OSH patients readmitted within 30 days, compared with 2 ATH patients readmitted (5.0%; P = .15). Two OSH patients (5.0%) and 2 ATH patients (5.0%; P = 1.00) required reoperation. There were no mortalities in either group. There were no OSH patients requiring transfer. CONCLUSIONS Primary TAA performed at an OSH had significantly shorter LOS when compared with a matched patient treated at an ATH with no significant difference in readmission or reoperation rates and may offer a potential source of significant health care savings. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE Level III: Retrospective cohort study.
Metastasis to the Posterior Fossa

Posterior fossa metastasis represents a common and challenging clinical situation for the neurosurgical oncologist and interdisciplinary neuro-oncological teams. More than 30% of cancer patients develop brain metastasis, with the incidence increasing as systemic therapies offer longer survival for many cancer patients. Furthermore, as brain imaging techniques improve and become more widely available, solitary and multiple metastases are being discovered more frequently. Patients with posterior fossa metastasis may be asymptomatic or may present with focal or diffuse neurological deficits from space-occupying lesions compressing the brainstem or cranial nerves. The treating physician must take into account the patient’s disease state and the location and number of metastases to plan surgical, radiosurgical, or fractionated radiotherapeutic intervention. Comprehensive anatomical knowledge of the posterior fossa is crucial. En bloc, gross total resection of the tumor along with its gliotic pseudocapsule is the favored technique when possible. Since the 1920s, radiation therapy has helped patients with significant neurological dysfunction due to metastatic cancer. More recently, stereotactic radiosurgery has found favor as upfront treatment or as an adjuvant after surgical excision. Whole-brain radiation therapy can also be considered when SRS may be less effective because of higher numbers of metastases. Thus, treatment of patients with intracranial metastasis is optimized with an evidence-based approach combined with knowledge of the cerebellar and posterior fossa anatomies and surgical techniques.
Future loss of Arctic sea-ice cover could drive a substantial decrease in California’s rainfall

From 2012 to 2016, California experienced one of the worst droughts since the start of observational records. As in previous dry periods, precipitation-inducing winter storms were steered away from California by a persistent atmospheric ridging system in the North Pacific. Here we identify a new link between Arctic sea-ice loss and the North Pacific geopotential ridge development. In a two-step teleconnection, sea-ice changes lead to reorganization of tropical convection that in turn triggers an anticyclonic response over the North Pacific, resulting in significant drying over California. These findings suggest that the ability of climate models to accurately estimate future precipitation changes over California is also linked to the fidelity with which future sea-ice changes are simulated. We conclude that sea-ice loss of the magnitude expected in the next decades could substantially impact California's precipitation, thus highlighting another mechanism by which human-caused climate change could exacerbate future California droughts.
Genital Autoinoculation with Vaccinia: A Look at Two Cases.

Introduction Smallpox, or vaccinia, has been eradicated worldwide as a disease; however, it may be weaponized and is thus a required immunization when military members deploy to certain parts of the world. Materials and methods We report two unusual cases of genital autoinoculation following smallpox vaccination. Results Both patients' lesions resolved without sequelae within 20 d. Conclusions We advocate for thorough education on this potential vaccination adverse event. These cases highlight the importance of a broad differential diagnosis when dealing with vulvar lesions, particularly in our military population.
Anxiety sensitivity and attentional bias to threat interact to prospectively predict anxiety.

The purpose of the present study was to examine anxiety sensitivity, attentional bias to threat (ABT), and the aggregate influence of these constructs as prospective predictors of anxiety. Particip...
A loop closure hierarchy to improve the robustness of a wearable vision+inertial navigation system

Critical for the design and development of future space exploration mission vehicles is the effective quantification of astronaut 3D movement and orientation within a long-duration microgravity environment. The International Space Station (ISS) provides a unique opportunity to capture and quantify the architectural layout and 3D space utilization in a microgravity environment from the astronauts living and working there. The design and architecture of future space exploration vehicles requires critical information gathered from the ISS human-system operational environment in order to provide a minimum net habitable volume (NHV) for these systems. This paper extends previous work, which evaluated multiple data selects collected from walking specified routes and performing representative “tasking” in the ISS mockup in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (SVMF) at Johnson Space Center. Previous work evaluated Draper's Mischief algorithm, a robust vision+inertial algorithm that includes online sensor-timing error estimation, rigorous parameter optimization, and tuning for many operational environments and use cases to improve the robustness. Draper has developed a more robust state estimation algorithm, Smoothing And Mapping With Inertial State Estimation (SAMWISE), which replicates the vision+inertial navigation capability of the Mischief algorithm, but is capable of additionally incorporating “loop-closure” measurements. In this paper, we describe a two-tier loop-closure hierarchy. The first tier constrains short-duration movements such as gazing back and forth or hover-in-place modes to reduce estimator drift during short-duration but rapid motions. The second tier uses a landmark database to bound the long-duration drift, effectively decoupling the position error of the estimator from usage time when operating within a bounded environment. By leveraging the high-accuracy odometry output of SAMWISE when generating the landmark database, we avoid the need for any time-consuming survey or mapping process prior to operation in a new environment. We present results demonstrating that a landmark database generated by estimating a trajectory from a short traverse through a representative environment can be used to bound the error growth for subsequent and much longer trajectories.
The Zincins: Collagen Fiber Processing and Degradation

This chapter discusses the zinc-containing metalloendoproteinases. These enzymes remodel the stroma during development and around tissues that have been injured or stressed. Section 1 describes the three major classes of metalloproteases, their metal ion cofactors, their functions in biology, and the metzincin catalytic mechanism in procollagen and stromal protein processing. Section 2 describes the astacin and adamalysin metzincin subclasses and how they process procollagen to tropocollagen. Section 3 describes the matrilysin metzincin subclass and their roles in collagen and stromal tissue degradation and in enamel synthesis.
A Phenomenography of Educators’ Conceptions of Curriculum: Implications for Next Generation Curriculum Theorists’ Contemplation and Action

Doctoral curriculum seminars are important contexts to engage educators in reflective practice for transformation of thought and practice. Thus, a semester-long curriculum and instruction doctoral seminar course in an urban mid-western university was used to study a group of educators’ qualitatively differing conceptions of curriculum. As part of the assignment, all twelve educators maintained a self-reflective journal to explore their and their peers’ evolving conceptions of curriculum. Based on journal recordings, they submitted two reflective papers, each five pages long. Thus, for this research study, twenty-four papers were collected and subjected to phenomenographic analysis. Phenomenography is a qualitative approach which depicts what and how people within the same community of practice experience, perceive, conceptualize, and understand a particular phenomenon. Based on educators’ reflections, three descriptive categories of curriculum were depicted, all focusing on student learning. The study implied that twenty-first-century curriculum theorists, as part of their task, should engage educators to reflect on curriculum related to student learning; document, interpret, and represent educators’ voices on curricular issues; and become part of their curricular lives as they explore and question curriculum for their professional growth.
Evaluation of age of death in Niemann-Pick disease, type C: Utility of disease support group websites to understand natural history.

Abstract Niemann-Pick disease, type C (NPC) is a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease affecting the visceral organs and the central nervous system. The age of initial presentation varies from fetal to adult onset, although childhood onset is most common. The life expectancy for the full spectrum of NPC patients is not well defined, and it is unknown if current supportive care impacts the natural history. In order to assess age of death for a large cohort of NPC patients, we “crowd-sourced” age and year of death from information posted on disease support group website memorial walls. We analyzed data from 338 individuals who died between 1968 and 2018. In addition to age of death, gender can be inferred from given names and photographs. The median age of death was 13 years with a range from 0.1–69 years. Although sex significantly affects survival of NPC1 mutant mice, we did not observe a gender dependent survival difference in NPC patients. Median age of survival across time increased between the earliest patients and the most recently deceased patient; however, we found no significant change in survival over the last 20 years. These data suggest that supportive medical care has not impacted survival in the recent past and provides support for the use of historic controls in evaluating therapeutic interventions.
Viewpoints from Science, Industry and the Public in the State of New York

Surveys of the acid rain physical science literature are available. A few aggregate economic estimates of environmental damage and a number of economic cost studies of reducing emissions and assessing acid rain damages to micro-environments have been made. Yet, little has been done in evaluating public opinion. This study deals with three aspects: ° Interviews with natural resource based businesses in New York where it was found that they are cognizant of the acid rain literature but are waiting for the university community to document the acid rain damage to their industry. ° A survey of New York households concerning acid rain where it is believed that acid rain is a serious problem. Those interviewed were willing to spend $300 per year on its reduction. ° Lastly, a proposal was developed to tie Canadian surplus hydro-electric power exports to New York sulfur emission reductions. The hydro-electric power sales would guarantee a market for Canada and reduce electricity costs in New York while permitting manufacturers and public utilities to minimize the cost of reducing sulfur emissions.
A movement theory of adjunct control

It has recently been argued (Landau 2017) that control in temporal and rationale adjuncts may be either syntactic ‘Obligatory Control’ (OC) or non-syntactic ‘Non-Obligatory Control’ (NOC), in contrast to previous assumptions that adjunct control is strictly OC. Here I demonstrate that this OC/NOC duality does not extend to all adjuncts. I outline claims that Landau would have to make in order to accommodate the wider distribution of OC and NOC in adjuncts, but argue that the account still struggles. I offer an alternative within the Movement Theory of Control.
Environmental performance and corporate cash holdings

This study examines the impact of environmental performance on corporate cash holdings. Following Cho and Patten (2007), we use ratings of bad environmental activities (i.e. environmental concerns)...
Real-time Infrastructure-to-Vehicle Communication using RF-Triggered Wireless Sensors

An infrastructure-to-Vehicle (I2V) communication framework enables autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles to localize and detect the presence of infrastructure markers like lane-dividers, stop signs or structural health information which can enrich the information captured by cameras and LIDAR systems to enhance the driving experience. However, the key challenge in designing electronic tags for an I2V platform is making them operate in embedded conditions while being able to communicate wirelessly with low latencies that can support real-time interfacing. In this regard, we propose hybrid RFID sensors that are battery-powered and integrated with a RF trigger element that can be selectively triggered using an appropriate RF signature. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate the functionality of a hybrid-powered prototype in controlled operating conditions and validate the power consumption and latency using these prototypes, which were assembled using commercial-off-the-shelf components. The measurement results demonstrate triggering distances of 1 m can be achieved at driving speeds of at-least 40 km h−1, and the operational lifespan of the tag is estimated to be greater than 20 years.
Psychological and Physiological Acoustics: From sound to sensation

The area of psychological and physiological acoustics encompasses a wide and multidisciplinary range of topics. It is concerned with questions of what happens to sound once it enters the auditory system, and how sound is processed to facilitate communication and navigation. Topics include the biomechanics of the middle and inner ear; the neuroscience of the auditory nerve, brainstem, and cortex; and behavioral studies of auditory perception and cognition. This presentation will provide an overview of some of the many areas currently under investigation, ranging from basic questions about the neural representations of different sound features to clinical applications, such as the development and improvement of hearing aids, as well as cochlear, brainstem, and even midbrain implants that bypass the peripheral auditory system to provide some hearing to people with profound hearing loss. [Work supported by NIH Grant No. R01 DC012262.]The area of psychological and physiological acoustics encompasses a wide and multidisciplinary range of topics. It is concerned with questions of what happens to sound once it enters the auditory system, and how sound is processed to facilitate communication and navigation. Topics include the biomechanics of the middle and inner ear; the neuroscience of the auditory nerve, brainstem, and cortex; and behavioral studies of auditory perception and cognition. This presentation will provide an overview of some of the many areas currently under investigation, ranging from basic questions about the neural representations of different sound features to clinical applications, such as the development and improvement of hearing aids, as well as cochlear, brainstem, and even midbrain implants that bypass the peripheral auditory system to provide some hearing to people with profound hearing loss. [Work supported by NIH Grant No. R01 DC012262.]
Ecological Relationships in the Serengeti National Park

The use of camera traps in animal ecology has transformed the field by allowing a greater quantity of detailed observations with limited human interference. One of largest camera trap studies published to date is from the Serengeti National Park (SNP) in Tanzania, East Africa which deployed 225 camera traps and obtained over 1.2 million pictures. This paper will focus primarily on the top predator of the Serengeti, the lion, and how it affects and is affected by prey, subordinate predators and the dramatic shift in the seasons. I asked the following three questions to better understand species relationships in the SNP: 1) Do the seasons in the SNP have an effect on the RAB of lions? 2) Does the presence or absence of lions have an effect on the RAB of hyenas in the wet season? 3) Does the presence/absence of Thompson gazelles (Eudorcas thomsonii) and impalas (Aepyceros melampus) in the wet season have an effect on the RAB of lions? During the dry and wet season of 2012 in the SNP there did not appear to be a change in the relative abundance of lions (Fig. 1), nor did lion relative abundance affect hyenas. The lions might possibly alter their diet during the dry seasons to include non-migratory species and choose not to change their territory on a season to season basis. Based on these findings research should focus on how the lions adapt to the changes in prey abundance during the wet and dry season. This preliminary analysis of the ecological dynamics of lions and associated species in the SNP is intriguing and yet raises significantly more questions than it has answered. Additional research surrounding the effects of yearly migration on the lions home territory, diet, and species interactions should be investigated more thoroughly, to greater understand the ecological relationships in the SNP. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=153 SRC="FIGDIR/small/895409v1_fig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (12K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1808f9corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15453beorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@145e6ceorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@341460_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOFigure 1.C_FLOATNO The relative abundance of lions in the dry and wet season in the Serengeti National Park observed by162 camera traps during 2012. Lion relative abundance (RAB) is given in units of the number of events in 100 trap nights. RAB values were determined by using motion censored cameras to identify the presence of a Lion and then disregarding all sightings for a 30-minute period following initial observation. This sighting/identification was referred to as an event. The total number of events for each camera was calculated and divided by the number of trap nights the camera was operational. The value was then multiplied by 100 to give the number of events per 100 trap nights. P-value > 0.05. C_FIG
Electronic Health Record Time Among Outpatient Physicians: Reflections on the Who, What, and Why.

Overhage and McCallie add to a growing number of studies that quantify the amount of time outpatient physicians spend using EHRs. The editorialist discusses the findings and the questions these dat...
Cryoablation: A promising non-operative therapy for low-risk breast cancer.

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of cryoablation for early-stage low-risk breast cancer without tumor resection. Methods Women diagnosed with ER+, PR+, and HER2-infiltrating ductal carcinomas ≤1.5 cm were treated with cryoablation. The non-surgical procedure used a Visica® 2 Treatment System with ultrasound guidance for ablation of the tumor with a 1 cm margin. Patients were monitored at 6-month intervals by MRI, mammogram, and ultrasound. Results Twelve patients with unifocal breast cancer were treated with cryoablation for local control without follow-up tumor resection. All patients received adjuvant endocrine therapy, and none had radiation. The median follow-up was 28.5 (range = 4–41) months with 11 patients having at least one six-month follow-up. All imaging modalities showed complete ablation of target zone 11/11 (100%). Four patients (33.3%) have been followed up for ≥ 2 years with no local failure or residual disease. Conclusion Cryoablation of early-stage low-risk (ER+, PR+, and HER2-) breast cancer is a safe alternative to surgery.
An Application of Causal Forest in Corporate Finance: How Does Financing Affect Investment?

Answering a causal question with results extendable outside of a narrow sample is challenging. Regression discontinuity design (RDD) provides causal results with strong internal, but weak external, validity. We introduce a novel machine learning technique, causal forest, into the corporate finance literature because it has several benefits over RDD, including greater precision and extendibility of results. We revisit a well-known RDD setting in corporate finance, debt covenant violations. We show that this RDD framework recovers an overly-large treatment effect of default on investment because firms can manipulate the accounting ratios lenders use to define default thresholds. In contrast to previous literature that shows an economically significant decline in investment following a technical default, we find, on average, no change in investment. Intuitively, this result makes sense because firms that can manipulate their default status will only choose to default if there are no consequences to default. For these firms, which comprise the majority of our sample, the treatment effect of default on investment will be zero. We show that causal forest's ability to recover heterogeneous treatment effects is key to reconciling disparate findings in the debt covenant literature. Causal forest can be a broadly useful empirical technique for answering causal questions.
Large artery stiffness and brain health: insights from animal models

There are no effective treatments available to halt or reverse the progression of age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand the underlying mechanisms of disease etiology and progression to identify novel therapeutic targets. Age-related changes to the vasculature, particularly increases in stiffness of the large elastic arteries, are now recognized as important contributors to brain aging. There is a growing body of evidence for an association between greater large artery stiffness and cognitive impairment among both healthy older adults and patients with Alzheimer's disease. However, studies in humans are limited to only correlative evidence, whereas animal models allow researchers to explore the causative mechanisms linking arterial stiffness to neurocognitive dysfunction and disease. Recently, several rodent models of direct modulation of large artery stiffness and the consequent effects on the brain have been reported. Common outcomes among these models have emerged, including evidence that greater large artery stiffness causes cerebrovascular dysfunction associated with increased oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling. The purpose of this mini-review is to highlight the recent findings associating large artery stiffness with deleterious brain outcomes, with a specific focus on causative evidence obtained from animal models. We will also discuss the gaps in knowledge that remain in our understanding of how large artery stiffness affects brain function and disease outcomes.
Financial Prominence and Financial Conditions: Risk Factors for 21st Century Corporate Financial Securities Fraud in the United States

Following the global financial crisis wrought by fraudulent activities of prominent US companies and considering the field’s lack of understanding about precursors to such vast corporate illegaliti...