cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abundance and density estimation of the American black bear population in central Georgia

Abstract The Central Georgia Population (CGP) is the least abundant and most geographically isolated American black bear (Ursus americanus) population in Georgia, USA. We used DNA-based spatially explicit capture–recapture techniques to estimate density and abundance of bears in the CGP. We sampled bear hair over 2 8-week periods during the summers of 2012 and 2013 and recorded capture histories of individual bears identified via microsatellite genotyping. Population density for females was 0.123 bears/km2 (SE = 0.018) and 0.152 bears/km2 (SE = 0.024) in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Male bear density was 0.109 bears/km2 (SE = 0.015) to 0.088 bears/km2 (SE = 0.013) during the same years. Derived estimates of abundance of female bears was 125.4 (SE = 18.3) in 2012 and 154.9 (SE = 24.3) in 2013. Male bear abundance was 111.3 (SE = 15.2) and 89.8 (SE = 12.9) for 2012 and 2013, respectively. Based on these estimates and the isolated nature of the CGP, we recommend continued monitoring of demographic parameters...
“Who are we Online?” Approaches to Organizational Identity in Social Media Contexts

In the last year the conversation about organizing and organizations in digital contexts has seen theoretically valuable additions. This paper presents a contribution to this dialogue, looking at the strict separation between a functionalist, social constructionist, and postmodern perspective on organizational identity in the social media context. Through semi-structured interviews with social media marketing professionals who engage daily in the representation of their organizations online, and the concept of identity work as an interpretive lens, this article shows how the very discourse of organizational identity has changed as a result of the persistent, public, editable, and immediate context of social media platforms. The somewhat rigid theoretical approaches to organizational identity might be conflated in practice.
Supervision and Regulation in the Context of Financial Liberalization: Bolivia, Mexico, and Colombia

This paper examines the regulatory framework for microfinance in three countries: Mexico, Bolivia, and Colombia, each with very different experiences in financial reform, financial crisis, and microfinance. It explores the impact of financial reform and crisis on the choices regulatory authorities have made about microfinance, and in turn, explores how these choices have affected the character of the microfinance industry in each country. It also addresses the elements of good microfinance regulation, beginning with the financial sector environment needed to advance microfinance and continuing with preparation of supervisors and specific norms adapted for microfinance. These topics are illustrated by comparing experiences and policies on the three subject countries.
A Qualitative Study on Home Modification of Rural Caregivers for People with Dementia

ABSTRACTThis study asserts that in order to enhance functionality of home modification, caregivers need specific training by professionals before environmental changes create confusion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the beliefs and attitudes of caregivers regarding the effects of environments on the independence of a family member with dementia living in the home. Using a phenomenological approach to gather narrative information about caregiving and the home environment, semi-structured interview questions were conducted with six caregivers in a rural Midwestern county. Two main themes emerged from the caregiver perceptions regarding attitudes about the physical environment: (a) change within the home creates confusion in the care recipient; and (b) there are few changes in the home that will increase the independence of a person with dementia. The findings of the study resulted in a deeper understanding of caregivers’ attitudes about the physical environment and their resistance to environ...
Cost effectiveness of adherence to IDSA/ATS guidelines in elderly patients hospitalized for Community-Aquired Pneumonia

Adherence to guidelines for the treatment of hospitalized elderly patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has been associated with improved clinical outcomes. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of adherence to guidelines for the treatment of CAP in an elderly hospitalized patient cohort. Data from an international, multicenter observational study for patients age 65 years or older hospitalized with CAP from 2001 to 2007 were used to estimate transition probabilities for a multi-state Markov model traversing multiple health states during hospitalization for CAP. Empiric antibiotic therapy was classified as adherent, over-treated, and under-treated according to 2007 Infectious Disease Society of America/American Thoracic Society IDSA/ATS guidelines. Utilities were estimated from an expert panel of active clinicians. Costs were estimated from a tertiary referral hospital and adjusted for inflation to 2013 US dollars. Costs, utilities, and transition probabilities were all modeled using probability distributions to handle their inherit uncertainty. Cost-effectiveness analysis was based on the first 14 days of hospitalization. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) were analyzed separately from those admitted to the ward. Sensitivity analyses with regards to time frame (out to 30 days hospitalization), cost estimates, and willingness to pay values were performed. The model parameters were estimated using data from 1635 patients (1438 admitted to the ward and 197 admitted to the ICU). For the ward model, adherence to antibiotic guidelines was the dominant strategy and associated with lower costs (−$1379 and −$799) and improved quality of life compared to over- and under-treatment. In the ICU model, however, adherence to guidelines was associated with greater costs (+$13,854 and + $3461 vs. over- and under-treatment, respectively) and lower quality of life. Acceptance rates across the willingness to pay ranges evaluated were 42–48 % for guideline adherence on the ward and 61–64 % for over-treatment on the ICU. Results were robust over sensitivity analyses concerning cost and utility estimates. While adherence to antibiotic guidelines was the most cost-effective strategy for elderly patients hospitalized with CAP and admitted to the ward, in the ICU over-treatment of patients relative to the guidelines was the most cost-effective strategy.
The Expected Impact of Automatic Escalation of 401(k) Contributions on Retirement Income

The Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006 allows employers to automatically enroll workers in the company's 401(k) plan and to automatically increase a worker's 401(k) contribution to coincide with a raise or a work anniversary -- though the employee can decline both enrollment and the increase. To qualify for nondiscrimination protections, automatic (or default) contributions must be at least 3 percent in the first year and increase regularly. The provision was added in an attempt to boost 401(k) accounts, the primary vehicle for worker retirement savings. This paper uses data from the 2007 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS), fielded several months after the enactment of PPA, which asked workers how high they would allow their default 401(k) contributions to go. The result is a first approximation for the expected impact of automatic escalation under the PPA safe harbors for a number of different assumptions about worker and employer reactions.
The Domestic Politics of Protecting Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism Poland’s, Lithuania’s, and Romania’s Secret Detention Centers and Other East European Collaboration in Extraordinary Rendition

Three countries in Eastern Europe, Poland, Lithuania, and Romania, hosted secret detention sites for the benefit of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) interrogation program from about 2002 t...
Mechanistic Pathways for the Polymerization of Methylol-Functional Benzoxazine Monomers

The polymerization mechanism of methylol-functional benzoxazine monomers is reported using a series of monofunctional benzoxazine monomers synthesized via a condensation reaction of ortho-, meta-, or para-methylol–phenol, aniline, and paraformaldehyde following the traditional route of benzoxazine synthesis. A phenol/aniline-type monofunctional benzoxazine monomer has been synthesized as a control. The structures of the synthesized monomers have been confirmed by 1H NMR and FT-IR. The polymerization behavior of methylol monomers is studied by DSC and shows an exothermic peak associated with condensation reaction of methylol groups and ring-opening polymerization of benzoxazine at a lower temperature range than the control monomer. The presence of methylol group accelerates the ring-opening polymerization to give the ascending order of para-, meta-, and ortho-positions in comparison to the unfunctionalized monomer. Furthermore, rheological measurements show that the position of methylol group relative to b...
Numerical Study of the Impact of Manifold and Microchannel Geometry on Flow Uniformity and Pressure Characteristics Within a Parallel Microchannel Array

Flow uniformity between individual channels within a microchannel array can be a significant factor affecting the performance of laminated-sheet chemical microreactors and micro-heat exchangers. Small dead volume and low residence time through the manifold are also typically favorable in these applications. In the specific application where mass transfer is desired between membrane-separated layers of microchannels, the use of shallow microchannels is important for achieving effective diffusion but negatively impacts the flow distribution among the channels. However, by implementing a thoughtful manifold design the manifold volume can be minimized while maintaining flow uniformity. In this study, numerical modeling is used to quantitatively investigate the impact of the geometry of the manifold and the structural parameters of the microchannels on desired uniformity and pressure drop within the low-Reynolds number system. The CFD tool COMSOL is used for the simulations.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Competition, facilitation, seed distribution and the origin of patches in a Patagonian steppe

The Pataxonian steppe is composed mainly of shrubs and tussock grasses organized in two types of patches: scattered grass tussocks in a matrix of bare soil and shrubs, each surrounded by a dense ring of grass tussocks. We analyzed the variation of competition, facilitation, and seed distribution through space and time as major driving forces in the development of this patch structure. Emergence and survival of grass seedlings increased with distance from shrubs when the ring of grasses was left intact. On the contrary, when the ring of grasses was experimentally removed, seedling survival decreased with distance from the shrub. Differences in root density, soil water potential, and evaporation accounted for these patterns (...)
When the Dream Is Waking——Analyses the Nostalgia Tactic of The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a very important novel in American .It showed great nostalgia component. Here nostalgia not only means individual tactic, but also means society criticize tactic. It let us compose poetry in the memory, and devise reverse thought and criticize to modern society.
Cardiovascular safety of ADHD medication treatments.

There are several important issues regarding the manner in which medications are tested prior to their release and monitored after approval that must be appreciated in considering issues related to cardiovascular safety of medication treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults. First, patients treated in clinical trials are not necessarily representative of those seen in practice settings, as specific inclusion/exclusion criteria in studies limit a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social factors that could potentially introduce confounds related to the collection and/or interpretation of efficacy, tolerability, and safety data. However, many of these factors are present in patients treated in clinical practice. In addition, the manner in which medications are administered in clinical trials does not necessarily replicate the way they are used in the community. Often, there are differences in titration schemes and dosing options. Also, in clinical trials, drugs are rarely studied in combination, although they are often used in this manner in practice settings. Further, Phase III clinical trials (at least in psychiatry) often do not enroll a large enough sample to evaluate infrequently occurring adverse events. Rather, the predominance of information regarding rare side effects is derived from voluntary reports made after a drug comes to market—and therefore likely under-reports the phenomenon. Finally, information regarding drug safety that comes to practitioners in the form of medication warnings or advisories may reflect concerns that extend beyond the strict interpretation of clinical trials data. These and other issues represent major obstacles in attempting to fully understand issues related to safety and tolerability of medication in “real world” settings.
Characterization of supraglottic phonation in children after airway reconstruction.

Objectives: We examined select acoustic (signal type), aerodynamic, and perceptual measures and associated surgical data in a cohort of children who were endoscopically identified as using supraglottic phonation after undergoing airway reconstruction. Methods: Twenty-one children (4 to 18 years of age) who were seen in the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center for Pediatric Voice Disorders and identified as using supraglottic phonation were included in this study. According to standard protocol, each of these children underwent acoustic, aerodynamic, and perceptual analyses and laryngeal imaging. Their medical records were reviewed for surgical history. Results: Four primary supraglottic compression patterns and 3 distinct sound sources for voice were identified. Signal type classification revealed that 20 of 21 voice signals were either type II or type III. Signal type was moderately associated with compression pattern (p = 0.01). No statistically significant findings were found in testing the Consensus Auditory Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) Overall Severity score against compression patterns and vibration source. The mean Strain scores for participants who used a combined source of vibration were significantly higher than for those who used their ventricular folds. Conclusions: The compensatory compression patterns and alternate sources of vibration used by these children resulted in moderate to severe dysphonias. How children compensate after undergoing airway reconstruction has important implications for behavioral and surgical interventions aimed at improving voice quality. Not all aspects of traditional voice evaluation are suitable for this population.
Harvesting Energy by Flow Included Motions

Marine hydrokinetic (MHK ) energy is clean, renewable, and available worldwide. It comes in two forms: vertical in waves and horizontal in currents, tides, and rivers. Apart from a few major ocean currents, most of the ocean currents have flow speeds less than 3 kn and most rivers have speeds less than 2 kn, making harvesting of their MHK energy by steady-lift technologies (turbines) challenging. Horizontal MHK energy can also be harnessed using alternating-lift technologies (ALT s). Fish utilize alternating lift to propel efficiently in water either as individuals or in schools. Engineered structures – bluff bodies, such as circular cylinders and prisms, or slender bodies like hydrofoils – may generate alternating lift in quasi-steady uniform flows. When these structures have scale-relevant flexibility, severe flow–structure interaction (FSI ) phenomena may be induced. In typical engineering applications, FSI phenomena are destructive and, thus, avoided by design or suppressed using excessive damping or appendages. If FSI are instead enhanced, they may result in vigorous flow-induced motion (FIM ) of the body, leading to the conversion of MHK energy to potential and kinetic energy in a mechanical oscillator. Hydrofoils can harvest MHK energy through flutter – a well-studied and understood form of instability. On the other hand, bluff bodies, such as circular or rectangular cross-section cylinders, may exhibit several forms of FIM, individually or in schools that have been studied extensively but still are not well understood for either suppression or enhancement. Those FIMs are vortex-induced vibration (VIV ), galloping, buffeting, and gap flow in multibody interactions. When enhanced, they convert MHK energy to mechanical energy with high-power density (power-to-weight ratio) even from low-speed horizontal flows. This chapter presents an overview of the concepts of ALTs, the underlying physical principles, the available experimental and computational methods for studying the relevant FIM, the research challenges that have been overcome and those lying ahead, field-deployment progress, technology development, and bench marking.
Abstract 61: MR Perfusion to Determine the Status of Collaterals in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: Look Beyond Perfusion Time-maps

Purpose: Collateral flow is an independent predictor of reperfusion and infarct size in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). MR perfusion time-maps show delayed perfusion but unable to differ...
Coagulation and Sedimentation

By assuming initially monodisperse system of particles or nuclei, chance of collisions leading to 1, 2, 3, etc, aggregated particles is computed according to procedure used by Smoluchowski; effect of settling is ignored by assuming process is very fast; discussion of general law of settling of dilute as well as highly concentrated suspensions.
Discrimination between safe and unsafe stimuli mediates the relationship between trait anxiety and return of fear

Individuals with anxiety disorders show deficits in the discrimination between a cue that predicts an aversive outcome and a safe stimulus that predicts the absence of that outcome. This impairment...
Disparities in Health Care Utilization and Functional Limitations Among Adults With Serious Psychological Distress, 2006–2014

Objective:This study compared health care access, utilization, and functional indicators among adults with and without serious psychological distress (SPD) in the years surrounding implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).Methods:Adults ages 18 to 64 from the 2006–2014 National Health Interview Survey (N=207, 853) were examined on 11 access, utilization, and functional indicators: health insurance coverage (health coverage), insufficient money for medications, delay in health care (delay in care), insufficient money for health care, visiting a doctor ten or more times in the past 12 months, change in place of health care, change in place of health care due to insurance, limitations in ability to work, limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs), insufficient money for mental health care, and having seen a mental health care provider.Results:Multivariate models that were adjusted for health coverage and sociodemographic characteristics indicated that compared with adults ...
The Online Student Connectedness Survey: Evidence of Initial Construct Validity

The Online Student Connectedness Survey (OSCS) was introduced to the academic community in 2012 as an instrument designed to measure feelings of connectedness between students participating in online degree and certification programs. The purpose of this study was to examine data from the instrument for initial evidence of validity and reliability and to establish a nomological network between the OSCS, the Classroom Connectedness Survey (CCS), and the Community of Inquiry Survey (COI), which are similar instruments in the field. Results provided evidence of factor validity and reliability. Additionally, statistically and practically significant correlations were demonstrated between factors contained in the OSCS and established instruments measuring factors related to student connectedness. These results indicate that for the sample used in this study, the OSCS provides data that are valid and reliable for assessing feelings of connection between participants in online courses at institutions of higher learning.
Thermal fluctuations and effective bending stiffness of elastic thin sheets and graphene: A nonlinear analysis

Abstract The study of statistical mechanics of thermal fluctuations of graphene—the prototypical two-dimensional material—is rendered rather complicated due to the necessity of accounting for geometric deformation nonlinearity. Unlike fluid membranes such as lipid bilayers, coupling of stretching and flexural modes in solid membranes like graphene leads to a highly anharmonic elastic Hamiltonian. Existing treatments draw heavily on analogies in the high-energy physics literature and are hard to extend or modify in the typical contexts that permeate materials, mechanics and some of the condensed matter physics literature. In this study, using a variational perturbation method, we present a “mechanics-oriented” treatment of the thermal fluctuations of elastic sheets such as graphene and evaluate their effect on the effective bending stiffness at finite temperatures. In particular, we explore the size, pre-strain and temperature dependency of the out-of-plane fluctuations, and demonstrate how an elastic sheet becomes effectively stiffer at larger sizes. Our derivations provide a transparent approach that can be extended to include multi-field couplings and anisotropy for other 2D materials. To reconcile our analytical results with atomistic considerations, we also perform molecular dynamics simulations on graphene and contrast the obtained results and physical insights with those in the literature.
Underwater pipeline impact localization using piezoceramic transducers

Reports indicated that impact events accounted for 47% of offshore pipeline failures, which calls for impact detection and localization for subsea pipelines. In this paper, an innovative method for rapid localization of impacts on underwater pipelines utilizing a novel determination technique for both arrival-time and group velocity (ATGV) of ultrasonic guided waves with lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers is described. PZT transducers mounted on the outer surface of a model pipeline were utilized to measure ultrasonic guided waves generated by impact events. Based on the signals from PZT sensors, the ATGV technique integrates wavelet decomposition, Hilbert transform and statistical analysis to pinpoint the arrival-time of the designated ultrasonic guided waves with a specific group velocity. Experimental results have verified the effectiveness and the localization accuracy for eight impact points along a model underwater pipeline. All estimations errors were small and were comparable with the wavelength of the designated ultrasonic guided waves. Furthermore, the method is robust against the low frequency structural vibration introduced by other external forces.
Modeling and simulation of GaN step-up power switched capacitor converter

This paper discusses a proposed DC-DC switched capacitor converter for low voltage electronic products. The proposed converter is a two-level power switched capacitor (PSC) which is a boost converter. The suitability to convert a voltage into four times higher than its input is one of the converter’s objectives. Because of the proposed two-level PSC consist of eight switches and five capacitors, it occupies a small area of the electronic products. The eight switches were selected to be GaN transistors to maintain the efficiency at high rated power or high temperatures. The LTSpice simulator was used to test the proposed model. Since the design contains semiconductor elements such (GaN transistor), then 10% error is a reasonable variance between the mathematical and simulation results.
Quantitative Approximation by Fractional Generalized Discrete Singular Operators

In this article, we study the fractional generalized smooth discrete singular operators on the real line, the univariate and non-univariate cases, regarding their convergence to the unit operator with fractional rates in the uniform norm. The related established inequalities involve the higher order moduli of smoothness of associated right and left Caputo fractional derivatives of engaged function. Furthermore we produce fractional Voronovskaya type results giving the fractional asymptotic expansion of the basic error of our approximation. We give applications and show that our operators are not in general positive.
Globalization and commoditization: The transformation of the seafood market

Abstract The seafood market has changed dramatically in recent decades. Increased trade has created a global market for groups of species with similar characteristics, and the number of species that are becoming part of these global market segments continue to grow. Increased trade and stagnating landings of wild fish has also facilitated the rapid growth of the aquaculture industry and made it the world's fastest growing food production technology. The growth in aquaculture has been sufficient to also increase the per capita consumption of seafood globally. These two factors have allowed scale, modern logistics and marketing practices to be used also for seafood, increasingly commoditizing the main species groups.
Advanced Room-Acoustics Decay Analysis

Schroeder’s integration method broke the new ground in classical architectural acoustics. Schroeder’s integration method yields sound energy decay functions from room impulse responses. For reverberation time estimation based on a parametric model, a nonlinear regression method has been proposed. The nonlinear regression method yields reverberation time estimates, insensitive to background noise and the upper limit of integration. Recent interest in acoustically coupled-volume systems has prompted new challenges in analyzing sound energy decay characteristics, which are more complicated than just single-rate decays. This chapter will demonstrate a suitable framework for this room-acoustics application using Bayesian inference and the Schroeder’s integration as the foundation of the advanced model-based energy decay analysis. Based on the Schroeder’s integration, two levels of inference, decay order selection and decay parameter estimation, are discussed in details.
Self Aligned Aluminum Selective Emitter for n-type Si Cells

We show a method for making a self-aligned selective emitter by annealing aluminum grid lines above the SiAl eutectic temperature, and study the recombination properties using lifetime measurements. The dark saturation current density at the metal contact (J0,metal) is determined as a function of minority carrier density using photoconductive decay. After annealing at 600 °C, J0,metal decreases from 1800 fA cm-2 to 500 fA cm-2 at an injection level of 1E15 cm-3. This value of J0,metal would correspond to a very low emitter recombination contribution of ~10 - 25 fA cm-2 for a front metal grid with area coverage of 2 - 5%. In addition, J0,metal is found to be injection dependent. A low contact resistivity of ~0.1 mOhm cm-2 is obtained from transmission line measurement (TLM).
Fully-Integrated Charge Pump Design Optimization for Above-Breakdown Biasing of Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes in 0.13- $\mu$ m CMOS

A design methodology for an area-optimized integrated charge pump is described suitable for on-chip high-voltage reverse bias of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). The high-voltage generation block is implemented in a general-purpose 0.13- $\mu \text{m}$ CMOS process and is capable of generating a maximum regulated output voltage of 17.7 V from an input of 1.8 V. An ON–OFF regulation scheme with dynamic charging and discharging capability of the charge pump provides fast recovery of the output bias voltage during SPAD transients, where overshoot and undershoot must both be corrected during active quench and reset. Following a SPAD avalanche current pulse, the measured transient recovery time is 500 ns from a 150-mV overshoot and a 500-mV undershoot to reach 99% of steady-state output. The implemented SPAD bias generation system occupies 0.175-mm2 chip area, without requiring an off-chip load capacitor.
Exploiting Typicality for Selecting Informative and Anomalous Samples in Videos

In this paper, we present a novel approach to find informative and anomalous samples in videos exploiting the concept of typicality from information theory. In most video analysis tasks, selection of the most informative samples from a huge pool of training data in order to learn a good recognition model is an important problem. Furthermore, it is also useful to reduce the annotation cost, as it is time-consuming to annotate unlabeled samples. Typicality is a simple and powerful technique, which can be applied to compress the training data to learn a good classification model. In a continuous video clip, an activity shares a strong correlation with its previous activities. We assume that the activity samples that appear in a video form a Markov chain. We explicitly show how typicality can be utilized in this scenario. We compute an atypical score for a sample using typicality and the Markovian property, which can be applied to two challenging vision problems: 1) sample selection for learning activity recognition models and 2) anomaly detection. In the first case, our approach leads to a significant reduction in manual labeling cost while achieving similar or better recognition performance compared with a model trained with the entire training set. For the latter case, the atypical score has been exploited in identifying anomalous activities in videos, where our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework over other recent strategies.
Software diversity for cyber resilience: percolation theoretic approach

We investigated how software diversity is related to network resilience measured by the size of the giant component (i.e., the largest cluster in the network), which often represents connectivity-based network resilience implying high network availability. We proposed a software diversity metric based on the concept of the eigenvector centrality metric, which measures a node's software diversity based on its neighbor's software diversity. In order to examine the relationship between software diversity and the network resilience through the extensive simulation experiments, we conducted comprehensive performance analysis by comparing our proposed software diversity adaptation schemes with two existing counterparts, including graph coloring and no adaptation baseline model, under two different network models, ER random network and BA scale-free network.
Living in an Art Community

What the way of working and living was like in the building before the rent strike and what it became as people began to see the possibilities of a self-declared “art building” is investigated here. Daily routines, sharing and communing but not a socialist or capitalist utopia. With a memoir by David Westley Richardson.
Superatomic nature of alkaline earth metal–water complexes: the cases of Be(H2O)0,+4 and Mg(H2O)0,+6

Beryllium– and magnesium–water complexes are shown to accommodate peripheral electrons around their Be2+(H2O)4 and Mg2+(H2O)6 cores in hydrogenic type orbitals. The lowest energy state of these tetra- and hexa-coordinated complexes possess one (cationic species) and two electrons (neutral species) in a pseudo spherical s-orbital, and populate p-, d-, f-, and g-type orbitals in their low-lying excited electronic states. High level quantum chemical calculations are performed to study the electronic structure of these complexes belonging to the category of solvated electrons precursors (SEPs). The observed Aufbau principle is in harmony with the previously introduced series for metal–ammonia complexes. In the current study we are able to expand the previously proposed shell model of SEPs beyond the 2d level. The observed shell model for Mg(H2O)6+ is found to be 1s, 1p, 1d, 2s, 2p, 1f, 2d, 3s, and 1g. The stability of the Be(H2O)0/+m and Mg(H2O)0/+n systems with m = 1–4 and n = 1–6 is also examined and the higher stability of metal–ammonia SEPs over metal–water SEPs is explained in terms of the metal–ligand binding energies, hydrogen bonding, and the activation energy barrier leading to H2 release.
Specific Heat of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ , 0 <= δ <= 0.2: Concentrations of Paramagnetic Centers and Values of Other Parameters as Functions of δ

The concentrations of paramagnetic centers and the values of other parameters, including the Debye temperature and the coefficient of the zero-field, temperature-proportional term, are reported as functions of {delta} . The concentration of paramagnetic centers does increase with increasing {delta} but, in striking contrast with the widely held expectation that the increase would be comparable to the increase in the concentration of O vacancies, it is as much as 2thinspthinsporders of magnitude smaller. A new expression for the specific heat that takes into account the presence of spin-2 as well as spin-(1)/(2) paramagnetic centers gives an accurate representation of the experimental data. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society }
Modified Solution Combustion Synthesis (SCS) of Nickel Oxide, NiO sphere clusters using glucans and sodium salts: Application for electrocatalytic decomposition of urea

Abstract The application of metabolites from the modern clinic (patient care environments including hospitals and medical facilities) has become an important part of energy research as these materials are readily available at low-cost and are non-toxic to handle in large quantities for catalyst development in the chemical industry. A modified Solution Combustion Synthesis (SCS) route was utilized in the preparation of nickel oxide, NiO nanomaterials using Dextran/Trisodium Citrate Dihydrate and Dextran/Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose (Na-CMC). The catalysts were then applied towards the electrocatalytic decomposition of urea, a metabolite from human and animal urine for Direct Urea Fuel Cell (DUFC) technology. Results from the catalysis demonstrated that the sample prepared via Dextran/Trisodium Citrate Dihydrate had the greatest Electroactive Surface Area (ESA) of 146 c m 2 m g , potentially a result of the well-defined clusters produced using the citrate coordinating species to produce individual particles.
Degradation of Alzheimers Amyloid-beta by a Catalytically Inactive Insulin Degrading Enzyme

Insulin-degrading-enzyme (IDE) is a key target to treat type-2 diabetes, and also known to clear Alzheimers amyloid-beta (Abeta). However, the development of catalytically inactive IDE mutant (E111QIDE) could risk Abeta clearance. Here, we demonstrate Abeta degradation by E111QIDE and the removal of zinc from the toxic Abeta-Zn complex enabling proteolysis by IDE. Fluorescence and NMR results show delays in Abeta aggregation by both wild-type and E111QIDE in their zinc-bound and unbound states. Diffusion NMR and LC-MS revealed the delayed kinetics is due to Abeta degradation. Remarkably, IDEs exhibited no proteolysis against zinc bound Abeta species as evidenced from high-speed AFM, electron microscopy, chromatography and NMR. On the other hand, zinc removal from the Zn-Abeta complex enabled the proteolysis by IDEs. These findings highlight the role of zinc in switching on/off the proteolysis of Abeta and urge the development potent zinc chelators as a strategic alternative therapeutic for AD.
Spirituality, religion, and anxiety disorders

Abstract This chapter outlines a conceptual framework to explain conflicting results in the scientific literature concerning relationships between spirituality, religion (S/R) and anxiety disorders. On the one hand, behavioral aspects of S/R such as attendance of religious services, frequency of prayer, and the like, tend to be spuriously related to symptoms of anxiety. Some studies have found positive associations, others have found negative correlations, still others have found no connection at all, and effect sizes are relatively small across the board. On the other hand, internal facets of S/R such as beliefs, attitudes and motivations tend to have much stronger and consistent associations with anxiety. Positive beliefs such as greater faith and trust in God, secure religious attachment, intrinsic religious motivation, and religious gratitude, are robustly associated with lower levels of anxiety, with medium to large effect sizes. Conversely, negative S/R beliefs and attitudes such as punishing-God appraisals, anger and mistrust towards God, insecure/avoidant attachment to God, and extrinsic religious motivation, all predict greater anxiety symptoms with clinical as well as statistical significance. This chapter reviews the extant literature on S/R and anxiety through this conceptual framework, and discusses clinical implications to better equip mental health professionals in how to care for anxious patients who have spiritual/religious needs.
Repeat transesophageal echocardiography in infective endocarditis: An analysis of contemporary utilization.

Background Current guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) recommend repeating transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in three to five days if there is high suspicion of IE despite an initial TEE that was negative. This recommendation, however, is based on limited published data. Objectives This investigation attempts to identify specific factors that prompted repeat TEE and evaluate the yield of IE-related findings demonstrated by repeat TEE as compared to initial or prior TEE. Methods A retrospective cohort who had at least one repeat TEE during an index hospitalization or initial course of antimicrobial therapy for IE between January 2014 and September 2018. We assessed the impact of repeat TEE on IE diagnosis and patient management and included a comparative analysis of patients with initial TEE only. Results Overall, 59 (44.7%) of 132 IE patients underwent repeat TEE. In a comparative analysis that involved patients who had undergone an initial TEE only versus those who had repeat TEE, male gender (P = .029) and presence of a prosthetic valve or annuloplasty ring (P = .017) were significantly associated with repeat TEE. Importantly, 8 (17.4%) of repeat TEE were critical for IE diagnosis, 8 (17.4%) impacted antimicrobial management, and 11 (23.9%) supported cardiovascular surgical intervention. Conclusions From a population-based cohort of incident IE cases, repeat TEE was more frequently (44.7%) done in patients with suspect or proven IE and associated complications than anticipated. Repeat TEE remains pivotal in a contemporary practice that involves critical aspects of IE diagnosis and management.
Cascading Failures in Internet of Things: Review and Perspectives on Reliability and Resilience

In the Internet of Things (IoT), various devices operate collaboratively in collecting data, relaying information to one another, and processing information intelligently. Due to interactions and dependencies between the IoT devices, the malfunction of one device may trigger a cascade of unexpected and often undesired state changes of other devices, introducing or accelerating catastrophic cascading failures. Understanding the causes of cascading failures and modeling their behavior and effects is crucial for guaranteeing the reliability of IoT systems and delivering the desired quality of service. This article systematically reviews cascading failures modeling and reliability analysis methodologies, as well as mitigation strategies for building the resilience of IoT systems against cascading failures. The review covers diverse IoT applications, from smart grids to smart homes, from sensor networks to IoT cloud computing, and from transportation networks to interdependent infrastructure networks. Opportunities and open research issues are also discussed in relation to restrictions of the current cascading failure models and methods, and potential new technologies and complexity of the constantly evolving IoT systems.
Response rate and local recurrence after concurrent immune checkpoint therapy and radiotherapy for non–small cell lung cancer and melanoma brain metastases

BACKGROUND Prior literature has suggested synergy between immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) and radiotherapy (RT) for the treatment of brain metastases (BrM), but to the authors' knowledge the optimal timing of therapy to maximize this synergy is unclear. METHODS A total of 199 patients with melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer with BrM received ICT and RT between 2007 and 2016 at the study institution. To reduce selection biases, individual metastases were included only if they were treated with RT within 90 days of ICT. Concurrent treatment was defined as RT delivered on the same day as or in between doses of an ICT course; all other treatment was considered to be nonconcurrent. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess time to response and local disease recurrence on a per-metastasis basis, using a sandwich estimator to account for intrapatient correlation. RESULTS The final cohort included 110 patients with 340 BrM, with 102 BrM treated concurrently and 238 BrM treated nonconcurrently. Response rates were higher with the use of concurrent treatment (70% vs 47%; P < .001), with correspondingly lower rates of progressive disease (5% vs 26%; P < .001). On multivariable analysis, concurrent treatment was found to be associated with improved time to response (hazard ratio, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.18-2.63 [P = .006]) and decreased local recurrence (hazard ratio, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.23-0.78 [P = .006]). This effect appeared to be greater for melanoma than for non-small cell lung cancer, although interaction tests were not statistically significant. Only 1 of 103 metastases which had a complete response later developed disease progression. CONCLUSIONS Concurrent RT and ICT may improve response rates and decrease local recurrence of brain metastases compared with treatment that was nonconcurrent but delivered within 90 days. Further study of this combination in prospective, randomized trials is warranted.
Revealing Unfairness in social media contributors’ attention to vulnerable urban areas during disasters

Abstract Emerging influential contributors (EICs) on social media platforms—meteorologists, news reporters, journalists, and employees of public sector agencies—play a pivotal role in disaster public information and warning by consistently disseminating disaster situational information public. However, the fairness in Emerging Influential Contributors' (EICs') attention to different urban areas when posting disaster situational information has not been examined. It is unknown whether vulnerable communities where low-income, minority, and older individuals live are omitted from the content of posts made by EICs. The study used tweets from Houston, Texas, related to Hurricane Harvey to test the proposed approaches and examine the existence of bias in the content of social media posts made by EICs. This study first formulated the problem by identifying its correspondence with the well-explored areas of fairness assessment and then proposed two fairness assessment methods for evaluation of fair information dissemination on social media. This study's findings show that biases exist in the amount of attention given to areas in which vulnerable populations in the content of posts made by EICs on Twitter to inform about disaster situations. Such biases negatively affect the representativeness of social media content disseminated by EICs to inform emergency response and relief efforts. This study's outcomes address important knowledge gaps related to fairness in disaster informatics and information dissemination biases in online social networks during crises.
Randomized clinical trial investigating the effect of consistent, developmentally-appropriate, and evidence-based multisensory exposures in the NICU.

OBJECTIVE Evaluate the effect of a manualized multisensory program, applied across NICU hospitalization, on infant and parent outcomes. STUDY DESIGN Seventy parent-infant dyads (born ≤32 weeks gestation) in a Level IV NICU were randomized at birth to the multisensory program or standard-of-care. Parents in the multisensory group administered prespecified amounts of age-appropriate, evidence-based sensory interventions to their infants each day during NICU hospitalization according to the Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE) program. RESULTS Infants who received the SENSE program had more lethargy on the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) (p = 0.05), even after controlling for medical and social risk (p = 0.043), and had higher Communication scores on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (p = 0.04) at 1-year corrected age, but this relationship failed to reach significance after controlling for medical and social risk (p = 0.12). CONCLUSION The SENSE program shows promise for improving outcomes, but more research with larger sample sizes is needed.
Varieties of regulatory regimes

This paper presents an empirical account of the diversity of regulatory developments over the past fifty years, and provides a theoretical framework for understanding this diversity. We build upon the "varieties of capitalism" and the "regulatory capitalism" literatures which provide methods for exploring institutional diversity, and hypotheses about the causes of regulatory diversity. We build a theory of political entrepreneurship under fiscal constraints that expands Stigler's (1971) account of the demand and supply of regulations by including deficit finance and public opinion in the analysis. This framework (a) allows the creation of country-specific analytic narratives, and (b) provides a fuller account of government crowding-out and crowding-in effects, showing how the crowding-out in can occur across the entire structure of production.
The Border Wall Emergency Declaration—Power Grab or Culmination of Expansive Presidential Authority?

On Friday, February 15, 2019, President Donald Trump issued his long-awaited national emergency declaration concerning the U.S.-Mexican border, namely, to unlock billions for the construction of the wall. Lawmakers’ initial reactions were — at best — cautious, if not alarmed, by the latest executive action. Shifting appropriations via presidential decree raises obvious separation-of-powers concerns, as discussed further below. But even more pragmatically, “many lawmakers in both parties regard the prospect of a [P]resident shifting billions of dollars of funding into a new project as a worrisome precedent even if the courts uphold the plan” (Allen & Clark 2019). Countless pieces undoubtedly will interrogate the proclamation and its legal implications over the months and years to come, but this essay offers a starting point and a first-run analysis. The following explores the general theoretical and doctrinal frameworks for understanding the bounds of executive power, especially as it relates to the countervailing authority of Congress. This essay concludes by applying both theoretical and doctrinal lessons to the border wall proclamation, finding it unlikely to be overturned if and when it reaches the Supreme Court — at least not in its entirety. A range of interrelated concerns are further explored, suggesting avenues for further research and analysis.
Twists in the Tale of the Aging Yeast

Aging limits the number of divisions available to cells and the chronological life span of nondividing cells. In his Perspective, [Rine][1] discusses recent findings that caloric restriction, SIR2 , and its molecular cousins, play conserved roles in aging. However, expectations of a simple unified model linking caloric restriction and aging through Sir2 protein's NADcofactor are now on hold. [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/310/5751/1124