cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What and When of Cognitive Aging

Adult age differences have been documented on a wide variety of cognitive variables, but the reasons for these differences are still poorly understood. In this article, I describe several findings that will need to be incorporated into eventual explanations of the phenomenon of cognitive aging. Despite common assumptions to the contrary, age-related declines in measures of cognitive functioning (a) are relatively large, (b) begin in early adulthood, (c) are evident in several different types of cognitive abilities, and (d) are not always accompanied by increases in between-person variability.
The magnetic structure of AuMn

Abstract The results are reported of room-temperature magnetic torsion measurements on a single crystal of the t 1 phase of the tetragonal, antiferromagnetic compound AuMn. It is found that the magnetic torsion resulting from an external field is dependent on the displacement of domain walls. The domain walls are assumed to result from localized pinning of the magnetization at random sites throughout the crystal. The torsion measurements are consistent with a magnetic structure in which the Mn magnetic moments align ferromagnetically in a-a planes, with adjacent planes antiferromagnetically aligned. The sublattice magnetization is found to lie along an a-axis. A uniaxial anisotropy field H a 1 = 39,800 Oe favoring alignment of the spin direction in the a-a plane is calculated from classical dipolar interactions. The torsion measurements indicate that the in-plane anisotropy field H A 2 stabilizing the magnetization direction against rotation in the a-a plane is larger than 120 Oe. The roomtemperature susceptibility difference χ ⊥ −χ ∥ is found to be approximately 9·5 × 10 −5 .
Characterization of paracrystalline inclusions in chinese hamster oocytes and early embryos

Paracrystalline inclusions, readily visible with light microscopy, were found to be present in ovarian oocytes (beginning with unilaminar follicles), ovulated ova, and preimplantation embryos of the Chinese hamster. These inclusions appeared to be aggregates of finer filamentous structures visible only with electron microscopy. The use of various histochemical techniques suggested that the paracrystals were composed of protein with little or no lipid associated with them. Autoradiographic studies using 3H-uridine and enzymatic studies did not support the hypothesis that the paracrystalline inclusions were composed of RNA masked by a crystalline protein lattice.
On Learnable Mechanism Design

Computation is increasingly distributed across open networks and performed by self-interested autonomous agents that represent individuals and businesses. Given that these computational agents are often in situations of strategic interaction, it is natural to turn to economics for ideas to control these systems. Mechanism design is particularly attractive in this setting, given its focus on the design of optimal rules to implement good systemwide outcomes despite individual self-interest. Yet these rich computational environments present new challenges for mechanism design, for example, because of system dynamics and because the computational cost of implementing particular equilibrium outcomes is also important. We discuss some of these challenges and provide a reinterpretation of the mathematics of collective intelligence in terms of learnable mechanism design for bounded-rational agents.
Education as a tool for addressing the extinction crisis: Moving students from understanding to action

Human activity is leading to mass species extinctions worldwide. Conservation biology (CB) courses, taught worldwide at universities, typically focus on the proximal causes of extinction without teaching students how to respond to this crisis. The Extinction of Species 360 course has been taught yearly each fall semester to several hundred students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for over two decades. In 2007 the instructor and five teaching assistants combined principles driving extinctions, based on traditional lectures and discus- sion sections, with action-oriented education targeting individual consumer habits, to a group of 285 students. Students learn the science underpinning conservation efforts, as evidenced by highly significant learning (<.001) gains in a 22 question survey in every measured category, and also make direct and immediate changes in their lifestyle and consumption habits. This course succeeded in each of its three primary goals: a) informed students about the value of and threats to biodiversity, similar to traditional CB courses, b) emphasized our personal role (as consumers) in perpetuating the extinction crisis and c) facilitated activities to reduce our impact and help alleviate the crisis. The results suggested students learned CB concepts and understood biodiversity's value, increased their awareness of the connection between personal consumption and extinction, and reduced their collective ecological footprints. Furthermore, students complemented their learning and multiplied the potential for consumption reduction, by participating in action-based activities. Such academic courses can provide a rigorous treatment of the direct and indirect causes of extinction while developing a student's sense of personal empowerment to help slow the extinction crisis. Rev. Biol. Trop. 58 (4): 1115-1126. Epub 2010 December 01.
Diffusivity of Cu2+ in calcium alginate gel beads

A linear absorption model (LAM) is used to describe the process of metal binding to spherically shaped biopolymers particles. The LAM was solved using a numerical algorithm which calculates diffusivities of metal ion in biopolymer gels. It assumes attainment of rapid metal-biopolymer binding equilibrium accompanied by rate limiting diffusion of the metal ions through the gel. The model was tested using batch experiments in which copper (Cu(2+)) binding with calcium alginate beads was investigated. Biopolymer density in the beads was varied between 2% and 5%. The diffusion coefficient of Cu(2+) calculated from the LAM ranged from 1.19 x 10(-9) to 1.48 x 10(-9) m(2) s(-1) (average 1.31 +/- 0.21 x 10(-9) m(2) s(-1)), independent of biopolymer density. The LAM has theoretical advantages over the shrinking core model (shell progressive model). The latter calculated an unreasonable exponential increase in the diffusion coefficient as density of alginate polymer in the bead increased.
Overlapping swarm intelligence for training artificial neural networks

A novel overlapping swarm intelligence algorithm is introduced to train the weights of an artificial neural network. Training a neural network is a difficult task that requires an effective search methodology to compute the weights along the edges of a network. The backpropagation algorithm, a gradient based method, is frequently used to train multilayer feed-forward networks. Gradient based methods might not always lead to a globally optimal solution of the network. On the other hand, training algorithms based on evolutionary computation have been used to train multilayer feed-forward networks in an attempt to overcome the limitations of gradient based algorithms with mixed results. This paper introduces an overlapping swarm intelligence technique to train multilayer feedforward networks. The results show that OSI method performs either on par with or better than the other methods tested.
Stratigraphy and structural evolution of Southern Mare Serenitatis: A reinterpretation based on Apollo Lunar Sounder Experiment data

Two subsurface reflecting horizons have been detected by the Apollo Lunar Sounder Experiment (ALSE) in the southern Mare Serenitatis which appear to be regolith layers more than 2 m thick, and are correlated with major stratigraphic boundaries in the southeastern Mare Serenitatis. The present stratigraphic boundaries in the southeastern Mare Serenitatis. The present analysis implies that the lower horizon represents the interface between the earliest mare unit and the modified Serenitatis basin material below. The depth of volcanic fill within Serenitatis is highly variable, with an average thickness of mare basalts under the ALSE ground track of 1.6 km. Comparisons with the Orientale basin topography suggests that a major increaae in load thickness could occur a few km basinward of the innermost extent of the traverse. The history of volcanic infilling of Mare Serenitatis was characterized by three major episodes of volcanism.
Immunophenotypic Characterization of T-Cell Prolymphocytic Leukemia

Objectives: To review clinical data, cytogenetic findings, and flow cytometric analysis in 20 patients with T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL), a rare, aggressive, mature T-cell leukemia with poor prognosis and short survival. Methods: Using multiparameter flow cytometry with a large combination of antibodies, we summarize the immunophenotypic features of T-PLL, including unusual immunophenotypic variants, and illustrate immunophenotypic clues that may help distinguish this entity from other T-cell malignancies. Results: By flow cytometry, T-PLL is characterized by a postthymic mature T-cell immunophenotype with a variety of abnormalities that usually allow distinction from other mature T-cell leukemias. Conclusions: Although definitive diagnosis of T-PLL requires a systemic approach with integration of clinical data, morphology, immunophenotype, cytogenetics/fluorescence in situ hybridization, and molecular features, our results indicate immunophenotyping by multiparameter flow cytometry greatly facilitates diagnosis and assists with subclassification of this mature T-cell leukemia.
Washington State, USA

Washington State’s diverse ecosystems have been under intense pressure from extractive industries such as logging, fishing, and mining for at least a century. While these extractive economies have declined in recent years, only small, isolated patches of intact habitat remain in the densely populated Puget lowlands in western Washington and the heavily farmed and grazed Columbia Plateau in the east. The need to maintain and restore habitat connectivity has therefore become a primary driver of conservation science and action across Washington. As the climate changes, there will be an even greater need for connectivity across this fragmented landscape to enable species range shifts. Lessons from an effort to integrate climate change into a statewide habitat connectivity assessment suggest that a strong mandate for addressing climate change, engagement of diverse constituencies, and alignment of disparate efforts are critical for successful adaptation planning and action.
Dispersion of a tracer in the deep Gulf of Mexico

A 25 km streak of CF3SF5 was released on an isopycnal surface approximately 1100 m deep, and 150 m above the bottom, along the continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico, to study stirring and mixing of a passive tracer. The location and depth of the release were near those of the deep hydrocarbon plume resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil well rupture. The tracer was sampled between 5 and 12 days after release, and again 4 and 12 months after release. The tracer moved along the slope at first but gradually moved into the interior of the Gulf. Diapycnal spreading of the patch during the first 4 months was much faster than it was between 4 and 12 months, indicating that mixing was greatly enhanced over the slope. The rate of lateral homogenization of the tracer was much greater than observed in similar experiments in the open ocean, again possibly enhanced near the slope. Maximum concentrations found in the surveys had fallen by factors of 104, 107, and 108, at 1 week, 4 months, and 12 months, respectively, compared with those estimated for the initial tracer streak. A regional ocean model was used to simulate the tracer field and help interpret its dispersion and temporal evolution. Model-data comparisons show that the model simulation was able to replicate statistics of the observed tracer distribution that would be important in assessing the impact of oil releases in the middepth Gulf.
Phosphatase activity and ion levels associated with normal and abnormal skeletogenesis in the fetal rat.

SUMMARY Limbs from rat fetuses exposed to the alkyiating agent chlorambucil on day 14 of gestation undergo abnormal skeletogenesis (Brummett & Johnson, 1979). The abnormal developmental sequences are manifest as marked disruption of chondrogenesis and ossification. The present study examines some of the biochemical factors normally related to initial mineralization and their possible alteration during teratogenesis. The specific activities of the acid, alkaline and pyro-phosphatases were determined for normal and abnormal (drug-treated) fetal rat limbs during days 15-17 of gestation, the period of cartilage-model calcification. This was done to determine if altered enzymatic activity leading either to depressed localized phosphate levels or hydroxyapatite crystal growth inhibition would account for the decreased calcification. The level of alkaline phosphatase increased dramatically (sixfold in 3 days), in association with normal cartilage formation. In the abnormal limbs, this rise was only half as great. Pyrophosphatase and acid phosphatase activity in both normal and abnormal limbs did not change over the 3-day period. The normal concentrations of ions critical to calcification, i.e. phosphate, calcium and magnesium, were determined for maternal serum, amniotic fluid, whole fetuses and fetal limbs. Mean phosphate and calcium levels increased slightly in the limbs with increasing gestational age. The ion levels in drug-treated fetuses were within normal limits except in amniotic fluid where phosphate was increased significantly on day 17. Also the protein concentration in the fluid was elevated on day 16 and 17.
Polyimides and Copolyimides with Low Dielectric Constant, Low Moisture Absorption, and Low Coefficient of Thermal Expansion for use as Interlayer Dielectrics

The mechanical, thermal, electrical and moisture absorption properties of a series of fluorinated, highly rod-like polyimides and copolyimides are reported. Copolymerization with appropriate flexibilizing comonomers resulted in improved elongations versus those of the highly rod-like homopolymers while maintaining, to a large extent,the other desirable properties of the backbone. These materials are considered prime candidates for interlayer dielectric due to their excellent combination of properties.
Removal of trace quantities of cadmium from aqueous iodide solutions by ion flotation

Cadmium ions react with the collector, ethylhexadecyldimethylammonium bromide (EHDABr) to form a surface active sublate which can be removed from aqueous iodide solutions by ion flotation. A typical ion flotation procedure involves passing air through a 250-ml solution containing 5 ppm Cd2+, 0.120 MI− and 1×10−3M EHDABr at a flow rate of 20 ml/min for 2 hrs. The procedure is simple and efficient. Chromium, copper and zinc ions do not interfere under the experimental conditions.
A Precious Mirror for Governing the Peace: A Primer for Empress Dowager Cixi

The vilified Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) of late Qing China remains a symbol of national humiliation and weakness in modern Chinese historiography. Scholars attribute Cixi’s “rule behind the curtains” responsible for the ultimate decline of the Qing dynasty and its capitulatory peace with foreign powers. This article revisits the conditions that enabled Cixi’s rise to power during the Tongzhi reign (1861–75) and argues that Hanlin academicians regarded her as a potentially capable regent upon whom they could count to manage state affairs in the best interests of the Tongzhi emperor. This article also argues that Cixi acquired her political vocabulary from her Hanlin lecturers who compiled a unique primer for their patroness – the Zhiping baojian (A precious mirror for governing the peace) – on female regency in China’s imperial past.
Theoretical and Pragmatic Framework For Outsourcing Of IT Services

Since previous research in the information technology (IT) field focused on successes and failures of IT outsourcing (ITO) by organizations, this paper investigates the critical success factors (CSF) for IT outsourcing in the existing global environment. It is intended to provide assistance for the consideration of business professionals and IT managers when they make, examine or evaluate ITO decisions. Fifty four IT outsourcing CSFs were identified through an extensive literature review research. Some of the factors were utilized more frequently than others, while some CSFs have been given more importance than other by IT researchers. A 2-part theoretical framework (conceptual and pragmatic) was developed to aid the process of ITO decision making by IT managers in the global environment. The theoretical framework was developed based on existing research focusing on information technology, information systems, ERP, and IT outsourcing research. The conceptual CSF theoretical framework developed was based on six broad factors of concern, namely: strategic, the organisational situation, information quality, work quality, IT management scope and user requirements & satisfaction factors. A general decision making cycle consists of seven stages has been proposed. The pragmatic CSF model (framework) developed in this paper consists of critical management factors important to manage the ITO relationship effectively and attributes that affects the ITO relationships of client and vendor. At the end of the paper, measures and metrics of IT outsourcing performance were discussed with some proposed examples and tools.
A Methodology for Determining Standard of Care Status for a New Surgical Procedure: Hand Transplantation.

BACKGROUND Hand allotransplantation was initially criticized as unethical and unlikely to succeed. The results proved to be better than anticipated, now raising the issue of whether hand transplantation is the standard of care. The purpose of this article is to outline a reasonable methodology for determining whether a surgical procedure is the standard of care, and then to apply that methodology to hand transplantation. METHODS Publications on ethics and definitions of medical (not legal) standard of care were reviewed. All hand transplantations completed in the United States were evaluated regarding their status as experimental, standard of care, or both. Then, the stakeholders, physicians, public insurers, and regulators were examined to determine whether they accepted hand transplantation as the standard of care. Utility and incremental cost-utility ratio were determined. Hand transplantation was considered the standard of care when stakeholders were using, insuring, and regulating the procedure. RESULTS The public expresses a desire for hand transplantation. A minority of surgeons consider the procedure the standard of care. Ethical committees, institutional review boards, and scholarly articles deem the procedure ethical. A series of institutions have carried out the procedure with a record of successes. Some institutions perform the surgical procedure as the standard of care. Scholarly work demonstrates beneficial outcomes. Some commercial and federal government insurers are willing to cover the cost of the procedure. Utility determination justifies the procedure. There are no incremental cost-utility ratio analysis studies that justify the procedure. CONCLUSION Hand transplantation is moving from acceptance as an ethical surgical experiment to the standard of care.
Eosinophils and IL-33 Perpetuate Chronic Inflammation and Fibrosis in a Pediatric Population with Stricturing Crohn's Ileitis.

Background: Fibrostenosis and stricture are well-recognized endpoints in Crohn’s disease (CD). We hypothesized that stricturing CD is characterized by eosinophilia and epithelial IL-33. We proposed that eosinophil exposure to IL-33 would perpetuate inflammatory chronicity and subsequent fibrostenosis. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 74 children with inflammatory and stricturing ileal CD comparing clinicopathological features to immunohistochemical measures of eosinophilia and IL-33. To scrutinize eosinophil patterns, we developed a novel eosinophil peroxidase score encompassing number, distribution, and degranulation. Human eosinophils and intestinal fibroblasts were cultured with IL-33 and IL-13, and inflammatory and remodeling parameters were assessed. Antieosinophil therapy was also administered to the Crohn’s-like ileitis model (SAMP1/SkuSlc). Results: Our novel eosinophil peroxidase score was more sensitive than H&E staining, revealing significant differences in eosinophil patterns, comparing inflammatory and stricturing pediatric CD. A significant relationship between ileal eosinophilia and complicated clinical/histopathological phenotype including fibrosis was determined. IL-33 induced significant eosinophil peroxidase secretion and IL-13 production. Exposure to eosinophils in the presence of IL-33, “primed” fibroblasts to increase proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-a, IL-1b, and IL-6), eosinophil-associated chemokines (CCL24 and CCL26), and IL-13Ra2 production. Production of fibrogenic molecules (collagen 1A2, fibronectin, and periostin) increased after exposure of “primed” fibroblasts to IL-13. Epithelial-IL-33 was increased in pediatric Crohn’s ileitis and strongly associated with clinical and histopathological activity, ileal eosinophilia, and complicated fibrostenotic disease. SAMP1/SkuSlc eosinophil-targeted treatment resulted in significant improvements in inflammation and remodeling. Conclusions: Our study of specimens from pediatric patients with ileal CD linked eosinophil patterns and IL-33 to fibrosis and suggested that these may contribute to the perpetuation of inflammation and subsequent stricture in pediatric CD.
Politics beyond Persons: Political Theory and the Non-human

Contesting the assumptions that orient political life has been the business of political theory at least since Socrates. Countless dogmas have been disabled over the years by the prick of the philosopher’s pen—and by the public critique and political action it inspired. Today the vanguard of the field is challenging what is perhaps the oldest, deepest, and most entrenched dogma of all: the idea that political standing applies exclusively to persons, and that humanity’s unrestrained exercise of power over the natural world is perfectly legitimate. Environmental political theory has been contesting these assumptions for some time, and our contemporary ecological problems, from climate change to superbugs to resource depletion, are now forcing the field as a whole to take notice.1 To challenge the human exploitation of nature is not only to disrupt the boundaries of our political communities and the structure of our political institutions but to problematize virtually every aspect of life in modern society. What we eat and wear and do for work, what we buy and sell and build, where we live and travel and are buried – everything about our lives today depends on the rapacious instrumentalization of the earth. The assumption that the earth is for us, and hence that we have a legitimate title to exercise unlimited power over it, is so pervasive as to be invisible. It is constitutive of our political life, and it structures all the things we do within our political communities, but we never think about it. Our dogmatic slumber has been deep and relatively untroubled in this regard. Yet the assumption rests on beliefs that have been evacuated of authority, some for a long time. The first is
On the consistency of scale among experiments, theory, and simulation

Abstract. As a tool for addressing problems of scale, we consider an evolving approach known as the thermodynamically constrained averaging theory (TCAT), which has broad applicability to hydrology. We consider the case of modeling of two-fluid-phase flow in porous media, and we focus on issues of scale as they relate to various measures of pressure, capillary pressure, and state equations needed to produce solvable models. We apply TCAT to perform physics-based data assimilation to understand how the internal behavior influences the macroscale state of two-fluid porous medium systems. A microfluidic experimental method and a lattice Boltzmann simulation method are used to examine a key deficiency associated with standard approaches. In a hydrologic process such as evaporation, the water content will ultimately be reduced below the irreducible wetting-phase saturation determined from experiments. This is problematic since the derived closure relationships cannot predict the associated capillary pressures for these states. We demonstrate that the irreducible wetting-phase saturation is an artifact of the experimental design, caused by the fact that the boundary pressure difference does not approximate the true capillary pressure. Using averaging methods, we compute the true capillary pressure for fluid configurations at and below the irreducible wetting-phase saturation. Results of our analysis include a state function for the capillary pressure expressed as a function of fluid saturation and interfacial area.
Thermal imaging with ultrasound reflex transmission methods

Results were recently presented [1] demonstrating the feasibility of applying an ultrasound phase-contrast method for determining temperature change in water from a thermal plume in a through-transmission arrangement. Here we present results from reflex transmission measurements of steady-state heating from a HIFU transducer in a tissue phantom. A 1.68-MHz focused transducer interrogated the phantom and a near-acoustically transparent hydrophone was scanned throughout the sound field to obtain the reflection from the back surface of the phantom. The output from a 1.088-MHz HIFU transducer was interleaved with the diagnostic field to induce a steady-state temperature change in the phantom. Two hydrophone scans were performed to obtain the reflex transmission signal before and during heating. The sound fields were numerically backprojected to the region of heating, integrated along the propagation axis, and tomographically reconstructed to obtain the phase change, from which the sound speed and temperature change was determined. Temperature rises of 42degC were tested. The reconstructed temperature rise was within 2degC of the temperature rise obtained with magnetic resonance thermal imaging techniques. Due to the lengthy acquisition time, the temperature rise was necessarily steady-state, but the method is adaptable to dynamic heating measurements. Thermal lensing effects are visible in the images, but may be corrected for by applying a moving average filter. The result is a method which can visualize the temperature change over a spatial region sufficient for monitoring thermal ablation treatments.
Deep pathway analysis incorporating mutation information and gene expression data

We propose a new way of analyzing biological pathways in which the analysis combines both transcriptome data and mutation information and uses the outcome to identify routes of aberrant pathways potentially responsible for the etiology of disease. Each pathway route is encoded as a Bayesian Network which is initialized with a sequence of conditional probabilities which are designed to encode directionality of regulatory relationships encoded in the pathways, i.e. activation and inhibition relationships. First, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our model through simulation in which the model is able to discern patients in Test Group from ones in Control Group. Second, we apply our model to analyze the Breast Cancer data set, available from TCGA, against some pathways available from KEGG. Our experiment with this published data reaffirms the claims reported from the original breast cancer PAM50 subtype study. Our model can further analyze the patients of each subtype based on the identified route of aberration. For example, our analysis shows that complex biological process patterns are presented for HER2+ patients potentially suggesting our method's use for producing refined subtyping. We manage to find commonly perturbed pathway routes for HER2+ patients. We claim such “deep” pathway analysis could be very useful in designing a personalized therapy.
Conviction Integrity Units Revisited

“Conviction Integrity Unit” has become a brand name that has good public relations value for an elected official. But what does it really mean? Is it just a fashion accessory, a flashy but empty appellation intended to convey the idea that the office is extremely serious about correcting wrongful convictions and holding its own members accountable for errors or acts of misconduct, but really is not? Is conviction integrity nothing more than a passing fad, a nebulous slogan without real meaning that is good for propaganda purposes, but will not bring about any serious change in the way business is done in American criminal justice system? Or does the interest in “conviction integrity” signal something qualitatively different: a movement toward a post-conviction non-adversarial process for reinvestigating potential miscarriages of justice, which involves prosecutors, innocence organizations, and defense lawyers working together in a joint search for the truth; a recognition of ethical and ultimately constitutional obligations to disclose material evidence of innocence post-conviction; and an adoption of procedures, such as “root cause analysis” and “sentinel review,” that are hallmarks of a “just culture” approach to organizational management? The jury is plainly out on those questions. This article provides a history explaining how CIUs evolved, sets forth best practices for putting together a CIU in a granular fashion relying on both practical observations and learning from cognitive science. It is written from the point of view of a "participant observer" since the author has been involved in the development of many CIUs and worked with them on cases that resulted in exoneration's.
Investigating methotrexate toxicity within a randomized double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial: Rationale and design of the Cardiovascular Inflammation Reduction Trial-Adverse Events (CIRT-AE) Study

Abstract Background The role of low dose methotrexate (LDM) in potential serious toxicities remains unclear despite its common use. Prior observational studies investigating LDM toxicity compared LDM to other active drugs. Prior placebo-controlled clinical trials of LDM in inflammatory conditions were not large enough to investigate toxicity. The Cardiovascular Inflammation Reduction Trial (CIRT) is an ongoing NIH-funded, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of LDM in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. We describe here the rationale and design of the CIRT-Adverse Events (CIRT-AE) ancillary study which aims to investigate adverse events within CIRT. Design CIRT will randomize up to 7000 participants with cardiovascular disease and no systemic rheumatic disease to either LDM (target dose: 15–20mg/week) or placebo for an average follow-up period of 3–5 years; subjects in both treatment arms receive folic acid 1mg daily for 6 days each week. The primary endpoints of CIRT include recurrent cardio vascular events, incident diabetes, and all-cause mortality, and the ancillary CIRT-AE study has been designed to adjudicate other clinically important adverse events including hepatic, gastrointestinal, respiratory, hematologic, infectious, mucocutaneous, oncologic, renal, neurologic, and musculoskeletal outcomes. Methotrexate polyglutamate levels and genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms will be examined for association with adverse events. Summary CIRT-AE will comprehensively evaluate potential LDM toxicities among subjects with cardiovascular disease within the context of a large, ongoing, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. This information may lead to a personalized approach to monitoring LDM in clinical practice.
RGB-D Sensor for Facial Expression Recognition in AAL Context

This paper investigates the use of a commercial and low-cost RGB-D sensor for real-time facial expression recognition in Ambient Assisted Living Context. Since head poses and light conditions could be very different in domestic environments, the methodology used was designed to handle such situations. The implemented framework is able to classify four different categories of facial expressions: (1) happy, (2) sad, (3) fear/surprise, and (4) disgust/anger. The classification is obtained through an hybrid-based approach, by combining appearance and geometric features. The HOG feature descriptor and a group of Action Units compose the feature vector that is given as input, in the classification step, to a group of Support Vector Machines. The robustness of the approach is highlighted by the results obtained: the average accuracy for fear/surprise is the lowest with 85.2%, while happy is the facial expression better recognized (93.6%). Sad and disgust/anger are the facial expression confused the most.
Using Qualtrics Panels to Source External Auditors: A Replication Study

ABSTRACT The use of Qualtrics Panels to source external financial statement auditors presents an innovative and efficient way of gathering these somewhat difficult to obtain experimental participan...
Prenatal Development of Sleep-Wake Patterns in Sheep

Summary: Chronic intrauterine monitoring of electrocortical activity, eye move­ ments, and electromyographic activity of the nuchal muscles has permitted the use of established polygraphic criteria to study the ontogenetic development of organized sleep-wake patterns in the fetal lamb in utero, Sixty-five polygraphic recordings obtained from 21 fetal lambs ranging from 112 to 144 days of gestation (term = 145 days) were analyzed. The results show that the transition from disorganized to organized behavioral state patterns occurs at -115-120 days (0.8 term). The physiologic characteristics of the arousal, quiet sleep (QS), and REM sleep (REMS) states are qualitatively similar to those in the adult. There is initially a high proportion of REMS (> 50%), with only 11 % time spent in arousal. The direct transition from arousal to REMS without a QS period is frequently seen in the fetus at all ages. Quantitative changes in the distribution of behavioral states continue throughout gestation. There is a significant decrease in the incidence of REMS, with a small increase in arousal and QS. The duration of QS and REMS episodes increases with age until a steady level is achieved by 130 days. There is also an increase in the frequency of occurrence of arousal periods, with no change in episode duration. Key Words: Sleep---Electroencephalogram-Fetus-Mat­ urational changes-Fetal movements.
Mathematical Modeling of HCV Infection and Treatment

In the last decade, viral kinetic modeling has played an important role in the analysis of HCV RNA decay after the initiation of antiviral therapy. Models have provided a means of evaluating the antiviral effectiveness of therapy and of estimating parameters, such as the rate of virion clearance and the rate of loss of HCV-infected cells, and they have suggested mechanisms of action for both interferon-alpha and ribavirin. The inclusion of homeostatic proliferation of infected and uninfected hepatocytes in existing viral kinetic models has allowed prediction of most observed HCV RNA profiles under treatment, for example, biphasic and triphasic viral decay and viral rebound to baseline values after the cessation of therapy. In addition, new kinetic models have taken into consideration the different pharmacokinetics of standard and pegylated forms of interferon and have incorporated alanine aminotransferase kinetics and aspects of immune responses to provide a more comprehensive picture of the biology underlying changes in HCV RNA during therapy. Here, we describe our current understanding of the kinetics of HCV infection and treatment.
High-density lipoprotein lifts the “dark web” cast by neutrophils

In a recent publication, in Circulation , Westerterp and co-workers (1) reveal novel mechanisms for how NLRP3 inflammasome activation enhances atherosclerosis and further show that high-density lipoprotein (HDL) counteracts this activation.
Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise

AbstractWith the rise of religious diversity, Eboo Patel contends that America’s civil religion narrative is due for an update. However, he asks whether it is elastic enough to include the contributions of Muslim Americans as it once did for Catholics, who were also viewed with great suspicion for a time. To expand our national religious story beyond its Judeo-Christian legacy, Patel asserts that new symbols and stories will need to be embraced. Patel believes that there is much at stake: Without the contributions of diverse religious communities, America will fail to realize the founding fathers’ aspirations for a vibrant democracy, and our legacy of religious diversity will be one of weakness rather than strength. Readers interested in how to address and enhance religious diversity, particularly on contemporary American campuses, will find Patel’s work particularly helpful.
Pterygoid muscle abscess secondary to parapharyngeal space lymphadenitis

We describe the case of a young boy with severe clinical symptoms which mimicked several findings consistent with a peritonsillar abscess (PTA). After the patient exhibited no improvement with medical management, imaging revealed an intramuscular medial pterygoid abscess secondary to parapharyngeal space lymphadenitis. This is the first reported case of a patient with a medial pterygoid abscess secondary to lymphadenitis. We also describe a minimally invasive surgical approach for incision and drainage of the abscess that has not previously been described in the literature.
Current situation, causes, and countermeasures to NIP vaccine shortages in Guangzhou, China.

From 2017 to 2018, Guangzhou experienced a shortage in 3–6 types of National Immunization Program (NIP) vaccines. To evaluate the current situation and causes of the NIP vaccine shortage, we analys...
Laboratory Characterization of Asphalt Binders Containing a Chemical-Based Warm Mix Asphalt Additive

Different technologies, namely foamed asphalt, synthetic waxes, zeolites, and chemical additives, are used to produce warm mix asphalt (WMA). This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of using different amounts of an amine-based chemical WMA additive on the rheology, performance grade (PG), and moisture-induced damage potential of an asphalt binder (PG 58-28). Superpave specifications were used to evaluate the rheological properties and PG of the asphalt binder. Also, a mechanistic approach-based on the surface free energy (SFE) method was used to evaluate the moisture-induced damage potential of the asphalt binder combined with commonly used aggregates in an asphalt mix. It was found that the dynamic viscosity of the asphalt binder was not significantly affected after blending it with the WMA additive. It was also observed that the Superpave high-temperature PG and the rutting factor did not reduce by an increase in the WMA additive content. However, the continuous low-temperature PG of the asphalt binder decreased with an increase in the amount of WMA additive. Furthermore, it was found that the fatigue resistance increased after blending the binder with the WMA additive. The SFE results of the asphalt binder revealed that the WMA additive used in this study reduced the moisture-induced damage potential of the asphalt mixes. However, the extent of this improvement was found to largely depend on the aggregate type. The outcomes of this study are expected to help better understand the influence of amine-based chemical WMA additives on rheological and long-term performance of asphalt mix.
When Are Vaccine Mandates Appropriate

Vaccine refusal is a serious public health problem, especially in the context of diseases with potential to spark global pandemics, such as Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This article examines whether and when compelling vaccination through mandates and criminalization, for example, are appropriate. It argues that some legal approaches are ethical when they preserve social stability, trust in government, therapeutic research opportunities, or when they diminish disease severity.
α-Synuclein-targeted nanoparticles

Abstract α-Synuclein aggregation and oligomerization plays a pivotal role in Parkinson's disease (PD) pathology. Although voluminous studies have been focused on the vital role of α-synuclein in the pathophysiology of multifarious neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and PD, yet the functional activities of α-synuclein are elusive. A notable number of nanotechnological studies have shown the pivotal role of multifarious nanoparticles in PD diagnosis and treatment. This chapter throws light on merits and demerits of currently used nanoparticles. It also emphasizes potential future perspectives.
Machine Learning to Predict Mortality and Critical Events in COVID-19 Positive New York City Patients

Abstract Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has become the deadliest pandemic in modern history, reaching nearly every country worldwide and overwhelming healthcare institutions. As of April 20, there have been more than 2.4 million confirmed cases with over 160,000 deaths. Extreme case surges coupled with challenges in forecasting the clinical course of affected patients have necessitated thoughtful resource allocation and early identification of high-risk patients. However, effective methods for achieving this are lacking. In this paper, we use electronic health records from over 3,055 New York City confirmed COVID-19 positive patients across five hospitals in the Mount Sinai Health System and present a decision tree-based machine learning model for predicting in-hospital mortality and critical events. This model is first trained on patients from a single hospital and then externally validated on patients from four other hospitals. We achieve strong performance, notably predicting mortality at 1 week with an AUC-ROC of 0.84. Finally, we establish model interpretability by calculating SHAP scores to identify decisive features, including age, inflammatory markers (procalcitonin and LDH), and coagulation parameters (PT, PTT, D-Dimer). To our knowledge, this is one of the first models with external validation to both predict outcomes in COVID-19 patients with strong validation performance and identify key contributors in outcome prediction that may assist clinicians in making effective patient management decisions. One-Sentence Summary We identify clinical features that robustly predict mortality and critical events in a large cohort of COVID-19 positive patients in New York City.
TIME-DOMAIN FEEDBACK CONTROL OF DISTRIBUTED PARAMETER SYSTEMS USING APPROXIMATE MODELS—AN OPERATIONAL APPROACH

Employing Mikusinski operational methods, estimates are obtained for the magnitude difference between the closed-loop transient responses of a distributed plant and its approximation.
Predictors of Readmission and Prolonged Length of Stay After Cervical Disc Arthroplasty.

STUDY DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to assess which factors increase risk of readmission within 30 days of surgery or prolonged length of stay (LOS) (≥2 days) after cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Several studies have shown noninferiority at mid- and long-term outcomes after cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) compared to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion ACDF, but few have evaluated short-term outcomes regarding risk of readmission or prolonged LOS after surgery. METHODS Demographics, comorbidities, operative details, postoperative complications, and perioperative outcomes were collected for patients undergoing single level CDA in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database. Patients with prolonged LOS, defined as >2 days, and readmission within 30 days following CDA were identified. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify risk factors for prolonged LOS and readmission. RESULTS A total of 3221 patients underwent single level CDA. Average age was 45.6 years (range 19-82) and 53% of patients were male. A total of 472 (14.7%) experienced a prolonged LOS and 36 (1.1%) patients were readmitted within 30 days following surgery. Predictors of readmission were postoperative superficial wound infection (odds ratio [OR] = 73.83, P < 0.001), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification (OR = 1.98, P = 0.048), and body mass index (BMI) (OR = 1.06, P = 0.02). Female sex (OR = 1.76, P < 0.001), diabetes (OR = 1.50, P = 0.024), postoperative wound dehiscence (OR = 13.11, P = 0.042), ASA class (OR = 1.43, P < 0.01), and operative time (OR = 1.01, P < 0.001) were significantly associated with prolonged LOS. CONCLUSION From a nationwide database analysis of 3221 patients, wound complications are predictors of both prolonged LOS and readmission. Patient comorbidities, including diabetes, higher ASA classification, female sex, and higher BMI also increased risk of prolonged LOS or readmission.Level of Evidence: 3.
Understanding Scanner Utilization With Real-Time DICOM Metadata Extraction

Understanding system performance metrics ensures better utilization of the radiology resources with more targeted interventions. The images produced by radiology scanners typically follow the DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) standard format. The DICOM images consist of textual metadata that can be used to calculate key timing parameters, such as the exact study durations and scanner utilization. However, hospital networks lack the resources and capabilities to extract the metadata from the images quickly and automatically compute the scanner utilization properties. Thus, they resort to using data records from the Radiology Information Systems (RIS). However, data acquired from RIS are prone to human errors, rendering many derived key performance metrics inadequate and inaccurate. Hence, there is motivation to establish a real-time image transfer from the Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) to receive the DICOM images from the scanners to research clusters to conduct such metadata processing to evaluate scanner utilization metrics efficiently and quickly. This paper analyzes the scanners’ utilization by developing a real-time monitoring framework that retrieves radiology images into a research cluster using the DICOM networking protocol and then extracts and processes the metadata from the images. Our proposed approach facilitates a better understanding of scanner utilization across a vast healthcare network by observing properties such as study duration, the interval between the encounters, and the series count of studies. Benchmarks against using the RIS data indicate that our proposed framework based on real-time PACS data estimates the scanner utilization more accurately. Furthermore, our framework has been running stable and performing its computation for more than two years on our extensive healthcare network in pseudo real-time.