cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Radiation of a Line Source Over a Half-Plane Located at the Interface Between Isorefractive Media

The boundary-value problem of the radiation of an electric or magnetic line source in the presence of a perfectly conducting half-plane located at the planar interface that separates two isorefractive media is solved exactly in the phasor domain.
Herbert Hoover and the Development of Commercial Aviation, 1921–1926

Between 1921 and 1926, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover took an active role in shaping the relationship between the federal government and the fledgling commercial aviation industry. In this article, Professor Lee shows how Hoover, drawing largely on a form of American corporatism, prompted the industry to formulate answers to its own problems through trade associations, groups which would then cooperate with government to implement those solutions. Such thinking was an important ingredient in the Air Commerce Act of 1926, the first federal law regulating commercial aviation.
A Binomial Identity Derived from a Mathematical Model of the World Series

(1975). A Binomial Identity Derived from a Mathematical Model of the World Series. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 227-228.
Influence of burner setting angles on combustion behavior of pulverized coal-fired boiler

Combining with the project examples, the influence of burner setting angles on the combustion behavior of pulverized coal-fired boiler is analyzed. It is found that smaller deviation of setting angle will lead to bigger combustion problems sometimes. The difference of combustion behaviors between the same type boilers with same capacity and burners in a power plant is often related to the maintenance quality and setting angles of burners, to which should be given enough attention. For the bigger difference of combustion behaviors between the same type boilers, the countermeasures should be mapped out according to the actual situations.
Applications of Integration

This chapter discusses the applications of anti-differentiation, consumers' and producers' surplus, simple and compound interest, and various annuities. Both the methods of anti-differentiation and definite integration are useful in analyzing certain economic models. The business analyst can gain valuable information by applying these techniques. There are two types of problems—those arising from marginal considerations, for example, finding cost and revenue functions, and those involving the calculation of definite integrals having economic significance, for example, consumers' and producers' surplus and continuous compounding. An annuity is a sequence of equal payments made after equal intervals of time. Monthly mortgage payments or quarterly instalment payments both form annuities. The period of time between two successive payments of an annuity is called the payment interval. The entire period of time from the beginning of the first payment interval to the end of the last payment interval is called the term of the annuity. A simple annuity is one whose payment interval coincides with the interest conversion period. An annuity whose payments are made at every instant is called a continuous annuity. It is most practical to consider the flow of money such as the income of a public transportation system to be a continuous annuity. The chapter discusses the simple annuities, general annuities, and continuous annuities.
RANK‐Independent Osteoclast Formation and Bone Erosion in Inflammatory Arthritis

Objective Proinflammatory molecules promote osteoclast-mediated bone erosion by up-regulating local RANKL production. However, recent evidence suggests that combinations of cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) plus interleukin-6 (IL-6), induce RANKL-independent osteoclastogenesis. The purpose of this study was to better understand TNF/IL-6–induced osteoclast formation and to determine whether RANK is absolutely required for osteoclastogenesis and bone erosion in murine inflammatory arthritis. Methods Myeloid precursors from wild-type (WT) mice or mice with either germline or conditional deletion of Rank, Nfatc1, Dap12, or Fcrg were treated with either RANKL or TNF plus IL-6. Osteoprotegerin, anti–IL-6 receptor (anti–IL-6R), and hydroxyurea were used to block RANKL, the IL-6R, and cell proliferation, respectively. Clinical scoring, histologic assessment, micro–computed tomography, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were used to evaluate K/BxN serum–transfer arthritis in WT and RANK-deleted mice. Loss of Rank was verified by qPCR and by osteoclast cultures. Results TNF/IL-6 generated osteoclasts in vitro that resorbed mineralized tissue through a pathway dependent on IL-6R, NFATc1, DNAX-activation protein 12, and cell proliferation, but independent of RANKL or RANK. Bone erosion and osteoclast formation were reduced, but not absent, in arthritic mice with inducible deficiency of RANK. TNF/IL-6, but not RANKL, induced osteoclast formation in bone marrow and synovial cultures from animals deficient in Rank. Multiple IL-6 family members (IL-6, leukemia inhibitory factor, oncostatin M) were up-regulated in the synovium of arthritic mice. Conclusion The persistence of bone erosion and synovial osteoclasts in Rank-deficient mice, and the ability of TNF/IL-6 to induce osteoclastogenesis, suggest that more than one cytokine pathway exists to generate these bone-resorbing cells in inflamed joints.
Team Communication as a Collaborative Process

Communication channels can reveal a great deal of information about the effectiveness of a team. This is particularly relevant for teams operating in performance settings such as medical groups, military squads, and mixed human-robot teams. Currently, it is not known how various factors including coordination strategy, speaker role, and time pressure affect communication in collaborative tasks. The purpose of this paper is to systematically explore how these factors interact with team discourse in order to better understand effective communication patterns. In our analysis of a corpus of remote task-oriented dialogue (CReST corpus), we found that a variety of linguistic- and dialogue-level features were influenced by time pressure, speaker role, and team effectiveness. We also found that effective teams had a higher speech rate, and used specific grounding strategies to improve efficiency and coordination under time pressure. These results inform our understanding of the various factors that influence team communication, and highlight ways in which effective teams overcome constraints on their communication channels.
An Automated Mechanism for Early Screening and Diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy in Human Retinal Images

Diabetic retinopathy is a disease that is a primary cause of blindness among diabetes patients. A regular screening of patients with diabetes is important to enable early intervention. The focus of this paper is on designing a robust and computationally efficient automated system to assist in the early screening and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy for early treatment. Digital analysis and mathematical morphology operations are implemented appropriately to detect and locate different features and lesions in fundus retinal images. One of our goals here is to detect bright lesions and dark retinal feature. Bright lesions consist of exudates and optic disc, dark retinal features consist of hemorrhages, blood vessels, and microaneurysms in retinal images of the human retina. The system algorithm was extensively evaluated on a database of 89 images with the corresponding experts (ophthalmologists) manually highlighted ground truth images. An image by image visual evaluation yields 84% success rate for exudates detection with a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 80%. For hemorrhages detection the success rate is 81% with a sensitivity of 83% and specificity
Eurozone at 15: A Monetary Union Without Growth?

In 2015, the eurozone had been in and out of recession for seven years and had slipped into deflation. This case presents a brief history of the eurozone and allows students to consider the growth prospects for the union. Is the eurozone damned to a decade of economic contraction? Or is the worst behind it? Excerpt UVA-GEM-0136 Rev. Jan. 7, 2016 Eurozone at 15: A Monetary Union Without Growth? [T]he centrifugal forces across the euro area remain serious and are pulling down growth everywhere. —The International Monetary Fund (IMF) On January 1, 2015, Lithuania—one of the fastest-growing economies in the European Union (EU) since 2008—became the 19th country to join the eurozone. In doing so, it gave up its currency (the lita) and ceded its ability to conduct monetary policy to the European Central Bank (ECB). It also joined a union—a union that Pope Francis likened to an elderly and haggard grandmother—whose economy, amazingly, had contracted since 2008 (Figure 1). Figure 1. Eurozone real GDP index (2010 = 100). Source: ECB Statistical Data Warehouse, sdw.ecb.europa.eu/home.do (accessed Jan. 1, 2015). . . .
Environmental determinants of Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) oil content in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract Gulf Menhaden ( Brevoortia patronus ) are a species of commercial and ecological importance in the northern Gulf of Mexico, provisioning the second largest fishery by weight, in the United States, and providing critical ecosystem services in the coastal region. The recruitment and productivity dynamics of the stock are influenced by a suite of environmental factors but an understanding of the factors that determine individual variation in oil content (an indicator of an individual’s commercial value to the fishery and its dietary value to predators) has not been well described. In this work I describe the temporal dynamics of oil content and determine the demographic characteristics that provide predictive power to describe annual contrasts. I relate the predicted patterns in oil yield to a suite of seasonal environmental data series including: the magnitude of spring Mississippi River discharge, spring wind vectors, and the preceding winter El Nino conditions. Two uncorrelated (r = 0.06, p = 0.81) population-level predictor variables were identified that have explanatory power to describe temporal patterns in oil content (L kg −1 ); a weight-at-length power function parameter ( a ) and the von Bertalanffy asymptotic fork length ( L ∞ , mm FL): L kg −1 = − 0.158 − 0.026* a − 0.00163* L ∞ (p R 2 = 0.42). Analysis of the impacts of environmental variables on the oil content of Gulf Menhaden was evaluated comprehensively in a Bayesian framework by transforming the observed oil content information from two sources to a common scale. Parameters relating oil content to spring Mississippi River discharge and the preceding winter (December–February) El Nino Southern Oscillation index resulted in sample distributions from the posterior where zero was outside the 95% credible interval. This work contributes to the understanding of Gulf Menhaden as a prey species in the Gulf of Mexico and indicates that the value of the species to both the fishery and predators exhibits relatively large inter-annual variability controlled, in part, by seasonal environmental conditions.
The Movement of Pollutants into the Body

Understanding the relationship between the environment and health requires at least a brief introduction to the structure (anatomy) and function (physiology) of the body. Since this book is directed towards issues of environmental health science as these relate to human health risk analysis, it’s natural to focus on the human body in discussing the details of the biological system. This is the approach taken here. Still, the general ideas, and even many of the biological details, apply to essentially all vertebrates and to many invertebrates of interest in environmental health science.
“American Public Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics: The Genesis of the China Lobby in the United States, and how Missionaries Shifted American Foreign Policy between 1938 and 1941”

The China Lobby in the United States attracted much scholarly attention after 1945, yet it found its footing in the late 1930s and played a critical role in re-shaping American public opinion prior to World War II . Historians have devoted relatively little time to investigating this earlier period. The overwhelming majority of China’s lobbyists during these early years were American missionaries who the Chinese government often funded and managed. This article examines the role of two of those missionaries—Frank and Harry Price—and their American Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression. It relies on research in Taiwan, China, and in archives across the United States. The author also has interviewed members of the Price family, as well as former associates of Frank Price in the United States, Taiwan, and China. The evidence this article presents demonstrates that while difficult to quantify, the Price brothers played a crucial role in helping to re-shape American public opinion about China between 1938 and 1941.
The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children

Alison Gopnik. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016. x and 302 pp., notes, bibliography, index. $17.00 paper (ISBN 978-0-374-22970-2).Geographers have been interested in child development ...
Characterization of Four Medical Nebulizer Systems

Medical nebulizers offer quick and efficient drug delivery via the lungs to target tissues, with reduced systemic effects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate four MABIS nebulizer systems bas...
Growth Plate (Physeal) Injuries

The paediatric skeleton is very different in composition to that of an adult. The bones are more elastic and there is the presence an unfused physeal growth plate (the physis) meaning that the paediatric skeleton will respond differently to trauma. This chapter will review the injuries that occur around the physis or growth plate and their potential complications. To understand the role of the growth plate it is important to have an understanding of normal bone growth and maturation.
Bayesian Variable Selection for Fractional Factorial Experiments with Multilevel Categorical Factors

The Bayesian approach to fractional factorial experiments is useful for its ability to identify difficult-to-spot interaction effects in experiments with complex aliasing. However, experiments using this approach have consisted either of two-level factors or factors with quantitative levels with priors that cannot be used in experiments with multilevel categorical levels. A simple multivariate normal prior is presented that is a natural extension of the prior used for two-level factors. Its effectiveness is demonstrated by reanalyzing two multilevel factorial experiments with complex aliasing.
Cryo-EM structure of the NLRC4CARD filament provides insights into how symmetric and asymmetric supramolecular structures drive inflammasome assembly.

Inflammasomes are supramolecular signaling platforms integral to innate immune defense against invading pathogens. The NOD-like receptor (NLR) family apoptosis inhibitory protein (NAIP)·NLR family caspase-recruiting domain (CARD) domain-containing 4 (NLRC4) inflammasome recognizes intracellular bacteria and induces the polymerization of the caspase-1 protease, which in turn executes maturation of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and pyroptosis. Several high-resolution structures of the fully assembled NAIP·NLRC4 complex are available, but these structures do not resolve the architecture of the CARD filament in atomic detail. Here, we present the cryo-EM structure of the filament assembled by the CARD of human NLRC4 (NLRC4CARD) at 3.4 A resolution. The structure revealed that the helical architecture of the NLRC4CARD filament is essentially identical to that of the downstream filament assembled by the CARD of caspase-1 (casp1CARD), but deviates from the split washer-like assembly of the NAIP·NLRC4 oligomer. Our results suggest that architectural complementarity is a major driver for the recognition between upstream and downstream CARD assemblies in inflammasomes. Furthermore, a Monte Carlo simulation of the NLRC4CARD filament assembly rationalized why an (un)decameric NLRC4 oligomer is optimal for assembling the helical base of the NLRC4CARD filament. Together, our results explain how symmetric and asymmetric supramolecular assemblies enable high-fidelity signaling in inflammasomes.
Sexual health in young women with metastatic breast cancer: The state of the science.

223Background: The incidence of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in women under 40 is increasing. Sexual health is a key element of quality of life (QOL) and is impacted by MBC. While those searching the Internet receive primarily anecdotal information, the state of the science around MBC and sexual health for young women appears to be limited. Methods: Four databases were searched for English language articles: PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, and Sociological Abstracts.Search topics included sexual health, sexual activity, intimacy, gender identity, sexual orientation, body image, and/or intimate partner relationships among young women with MBC. Results: 598 studies were reviewed; 9 met selection criteria. Four studies were included on body image and sexual activity: 2 reported a correlation between young age and poor body image; in a third, no relationship was found for women 30-49; in the fourth, among patients with metastatic or localized disease, women < 45 placed greater importance on body image or changes ...
The Blood and Marrow Transplant Time out: Application of Universal Protocol As a Model to Improve Patient Selection-Suitability to Improve Allogeneic 1-Year Survivals

Topic Significance & Study Purpose/Background/Rationale Patients being considered for allogeneic Blood and Marrow Transplant (Allo-BMT) undergo rigorous evaluations of which can influence Allo-BMT plan and outcomes. The goal of this project was to improve the patient selection process prior to admission for Allo-BMT. The process was modeled after the Universal Protocol (UP) used prior to surgery. UP is a National Patient Safety Goal, supported by Joint Commission, Institute of Medicine, and World Health Organization. Our center aimed to standardize the approach to determine patient suitability and treatment plan with the goal of improving 1-year survival. A UP approach was employed prior to BMT to secure consensus on patient suitability and treatment plan. Methods, Intervention, & Analysis A 1-page comprehensive BMT-Time Out (BMT-TO) checklist was created with critical domains selected to provide programmatic workflow (Figure 1). All Allo-BMT recipients underwent systematic BMT-TO reviews through progressive handoffs beginning July 2016. Checklists were audited monthly for completeness and adherence to standard operating procedures. Blood Marrow Transplant Information Patient System ("bmTIPS™") generated Allogeneic Transplant Intake Dashboard (ATID) reports, providing real-time numerical data on intake distribution patterns (Figure 2). The 2017 Allo-BMT 1-year survival data reported by Center for Blood and Marrow Transplant Research(CIBMTR) were used to set confidence levels and forecast CY18,19 projected 1-year survivals. Findings & Interpretation ATID for calendar years (CY)13,14, and 15, showed acceptance rates at presentation of 92%(n=98), 94%(n=105), and 77%(n=89), respectively. ATID for CY16, 17, 18 after implementation of BMT-TO showed lower acceptance rates: 83%(n=89), 86%(n=92), 85%(n=72), respectively. CIBMTR results showed improvement in our center's Allo-BMT 1-year survival rates with use of BMT-TO checklist (Figure 3): CY14(64%/reported); CY15=64%(n=45/reported); CY16=78%(n=28/reported); CY17=89%(n=37/predicted). Discussion & Implications Implementation of systematic review of patient selection-suitability data and BMT treatment plans using structured BMT-TO checklist before Allo-BMT, correlated with improved allogeneic 1-year survivals. Further evaluation and validation of the BMT-TO form is warranted.
Tibiofibular syndesmosis in asymptomatic ankles: initial kinematic analysis using four-dimensional CT

AIM To evaluate the reliability of ankle syndesmotic measurements and their changes during active motion using four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) examination in asymptomatic ankles. MATERIALS AND METHODS 4DCT was performed on both ankles of patients with signs and symptoms of unilateral ankle instability. Ankles from the asymptomatic side of 10 consecutive patients were included in this analysis. Five ankle syndesmotic measurements were adopted from the available literature and performed by two fellowship-trained foot and ankle surgeons: (1) syndesmotic anterior distance (SAD); (2) syndesmotic posterior distance (SPD); (3) syndesmotic translation (ST); (4) syndesmotic tibiofibular angle (STFA); and (5) ankle tibiofibular angle (ATFA). A Monte Carlo simulation was also performed to obtain exact p-values with 99% confidence intervals. RESULTS Excellent interobserver reliability was observed among the two readers for four out of five measurements (intra-class correlation coefficients [ICC]: 0.767–0.995, p CONCLUSIONS Reliable quantitative kinematic assessment of ankle syndesmosis can be performed using 4DCT examination. Syndesmotic measurements remain unchanged during ankle motion except for the syndesmotic translation, which tends to decrease during plantar flexion.
The Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium: 10 Years Later

In 2009, the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC, www.cpicpgx.org), a shared project between Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base (PharmGKB, http://www.pharmgkb.org) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was created to provide freely available, evidence-based, peer-reviewed, and updated pharmacogenetic clinical practice guidelines. To date, CPIC has published 23 guidelines (of which 11 have been updated), covering 19 genes and 46 drugs across several therapeutic areas. CPIC also now provides additional resources to facilitate the implementation of pharmacogenetics into routine clinical practice and the electronic health record. Furthermore, since its inception, CPIC's interactions with other resources, databases, websites, and genomic communities have grown. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the progress of CPIC over the past 10 years.
Physician perceptions of a multidisciplinary endocarditis team.

Infectious endocarditis is a highly morbid infection that requires coordination of care across medical and surgical specialties, often through the use of a multidisciplinary team model. Multiple studies have demonstrated that such conferences can improve clinical outcomes. However, little is known about physicians’ impressions of these groups. We surveyed 126 (response rate of 30%) internal medicine, infectious diseases, cardiology, and cardiac surgery providers 1 year after the implementation of an endocarditis team at the University of Michigan. Ninety-eight percent of physicians felt that the endocarditis team improved communication between specialties. Additionally, over 85% of respondents agreed that the group influenced diagnostic evaluation, reduced management errors, increased access to surgery, and decreased in-hospital mortality for endocarditis patients. These results suggest that multidisciplinary endocarditis teams are valued by physicians as a tool to improve patient care and serve an important role in increasing communication between providers.
Mixing Rates and Bottom Drag in Bering Strait

AbstractThree shipboard survey lines were occupied in Bering Strait during autumn of 2015, where high-resolution measurements of temperature, salinity, velocity, and turbulent dissipation rates wer...
Power and Energy in Electric Circuits

Calculating the flow of power and the transfer of energy is vital to the understanding of circuit behavior. Sustainability engineering demands maximum efficiency. Therefore, finding power losses relative to power delivery is vital in the design process. In addition, power losses typically translate into heat, which can pose risks to users of the electric device and lead to temperature-related device failure as well.
Stevens-Johnson Syndrome: A Perplexing Diagnosis

Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis is a spectrum of mucocutaneous reactions that can occur due to drug reactions, infections with Mycoplasma pneumonia, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), cancer, and genetics. Stevens-Johnson syndrome involves less than 10% of the body surface, while toxic epidermal necrolysis involves greater than 30%. The most common site of the lesions is mucocutaneous surfaces such as the eyes and oral cavity. Our patient was a 44-year-old female who presented to the emergency department with concerns for pain in her eyes, hands and feet, rash, and sore throat. Her rash worsened during the initial hospitalization. This case emphasizes the importance of pattern recognition of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, as this is a rare but serious condition that must be recognized and treated appropriately. The reaction is most commonly due to medications; however, a thorough history and physical exam are vital to diagnosing this potentially fatal condition.
Fulminant Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension

The goal of this review is to describe the presenting features of fulminant idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) and outline the multimodal approach to its treatment. Venous sinus stenting may be an appropriate alternative to optic nerve sheath fenestration or cerebrospinal fluid shunting in select patients with fulminant IIH. Prompt surgical intervention maximizes the chance of visual recovery in patients with fulminant IIH. “Fulminant IIH” is defined as intracranial hypertension with no secondary cause, severe vision loss within 4 weeks of symptom onset, and progressive vision loss over days. Rapid recognition of the fulminant phenotype of IIH by emergency department physicians, neurologists, and ophthalmologists is critical. Without appropriate triage and rapid medical and surgical intervention, patients with fulminant IIH are at high risk for profound, permanent vision loss. Prompt surgical intervention with optic nerve sheath fenestration, cerebrospinal fluid shunting, or venous sinus stenting minimizes the chance of poor visual outcome. If a delay is anticipated, serial lumbar punctures or temporary cerebrospinal fluid drainage and medical therapy may forestall irreversible vision loss.
Calibration of the compact mid-wave imaging system (CMIS), a candidate for low-cost, low SWaP instrument for weather satellites

We report on the calibration of the Compact Midwave Imaging Sensor (CMIS) which has been developed by The Johns Hopkins University - Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL) under a grant from the NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO). At the heart of the CMIS instrument is a newly-developed high operating temperature (HOT) detector made from III-V compounds in a Type II Superlattice design. The instrument is sensitive to 3 particular bands in the IR spectrum which have been noted for their usefulness in determining cloud coverage and temperatures. The bands used were centered at 2.25 μm, 3.75 μm and 4.05 μm. The focal plane array (FPA) was based on the FLIR ISC0405 640×512 pixel readout integrated circuit with 15 μm square pixels. The CMIS design included a 5 zone “butcher block” filter placed in close proximity to the FPA and refractive optical elements contained inside the barrel of the cold shield such that the optics were cooled to approximately the same temperature as the FPA. A small-size, low-power closed-cycle cooler was used to maintain the FPA and the optics at a temperature of 150 K, at which the dark current was low enough to allow integration times longer than 50 ms for cold background scenes. JHU/APL developed the camera control electronics (CCE) and data processing unit (DPU) for running the FPA, performing image processing functions on the data and storing it in memory. The CCE and DPU were designed for possible use on an orbital payload but for the airborne flight the commercial versions of some of the parts specified for spaceflight were used. This paper will describe the laboratory calibration procedures and results.
Self-Sensing of Dielectric Elastomer Tubular Actuator with Feedback Control Validation

The need to measure accurately the movement and behavior of the soft material without external sensors in tight spaces has led scientists to design soft actuators that have compact self-sensing mechanisms. Dielectric elastomer (DE)materials, a category of electroactive polymers, are able to provide such properties since dielectric elastomers (DEs) have built-in sensing and actuation mechanisms. In this paper, a self-sensing mechanism without the need of using external devices to measure displacement is developed for a (dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA). By superimposing actuation and probing voltages and applying them to the DE tube, the actuation voltage activates the movement of the DE tube while the probing voltage excites the sensing current. Using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to filter a given probing frequency, the capacitance can be extracted from the sensing current and probing voltage during each time window. With the relationship between displacement and the capacitance of the DE tube, one can estimate the movement online and achieve self-sensing without an external sensor. To validate this self-sensing approach, a tubular DE actuator is designed and fabricated. A physics-based self-sensing model is developed and validated by experiments. In feedback control validation, the displacement of the actuator was controlled using a proportional-integral controller with the capacitance change measured with a high probing frequency as the self-sensing mechanism component of the actuator. The self-sensing signal was used as a feedback signal in the closed-loop control system which guilds the DE tubular actuator to track a reference signal without external displacement sensor. The experimental results have successfully validated the self-sensing of the DE actuator in feedback control.
Computer-aided synthesis of cost-effective perovskite crystals: an emerging alternative to silicon solar cells

One of the ways that scientists and engineers have come up to harness solar power is by inventing photovoltaics. Perovskite, which is one of the most promising materials for solar cell fabrication, has gained much attention in recent years due to its exceptional increase in performance. However, the most challenging issue that has been prevalent is the stability of perovskite solar cells. Perovskite crystal has a general formula of ABX3, where A and B are cations, and X is an anion. The Goldschmidt’s tolerance factor and the octahedral tolerance factor are the stability criteria that have to be satisfied by a crystal, for it to be considered a perovskite. Also, there are different combinations of site-A cations, site-B cations, and site-X anions that can give rise to a perovskite crystal. There is, therefore, the need to synthesize perovskite crystals which satisfy these tolerance factors to guarantee stability at a minimum bearable cost. In this paper, we present an optimization problem, where we formulate an objective function to determine site-A cation, site-B cation, and site-X anion that minimize the cost of perovskite crystal synthesis subject to the octahedral and Goldschmidt’s tolerance factors to assure stability. We further present three case studies based on this optimization approach. The results indicate that the optimal perovskite crystal structure is ammonium–magnesium–formate with a cost of 0.1784 ($/g), while the percentage variation in cost from the first-best combination to the second-best is 19.24%. Optimal selection of ions using computational tools for computer-aided synthesis of perovskite solar cells
An Unusual Presentation of Adult-Onset Still's Disease in a Patient with Recurrent Pleural and Pericardial Effusions

Adult-Onset Still's Disease (AOSD) usually presents with a salmon-colored skin rash and arthralgias. However, it can also be present with pleural and pericardial effusions. These effusions are often misdiagnosed as having an infectious etiology because AOSD usually present with fever, leukocytosis, elevated inflammatory markers, procalcitonin and CRP. There is usually a delay in giving steroids until the exclusion of all infectious etiologies, including extensive workups. Herein, we present a case report of AOSD in a patient with recurrent pleural and pericardial effusions, with no skin rashes or joint pain. Patient initially presented with fever, pleural and pericardial effusions, which was then treated as pneumonia with parapneumonic effusions. Patient returned for the second time with shortness of breath, productive cough, and fever, with no resolutions of pleural and pericardial effusions. Patient was found to have an extremely high ferritin levels, whereby a diagnosis of AOSD was made after excluding infection, malignancy and other rheumatological disorders based on the Yamaguchi criteria. AOSD is a rare disease with unusual presentation and diagnosis is often delayed. This case aimed to raise awareness among physicians of the multifaceted presentation of AOSD.
Psychosis-spectrum experiences linked to specific psychotherapy readiness domains among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents.

AIM Early psychosocial treatment for psychosis-spectrum symptoms has been linked to positive outcomes, whereas delayed treatment is associated with poorer prognosis. Thus, there is a critical need to bolster psychotherapy engagement efforts, particularly among high-risk groups and during high-risk periods, in order to maximize recovery. This study explores the relation between psychosis-spectrum symptoms and psychotherapy readiness among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents, a foundational step for developing more effective psychotherapy engagement approaches for this population. METHODS Adolescents (n = 704; 12-18 years) who were admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit completed the Readiness for Psychotherapy Index (RPI), a psychosis-spectrum questionnaire (PRIME Screen), and a brief diagnostic interview at intake. Correlational patterns and regression analyses were used to explore associations between variables. RESULTS The PRIME Screen was negatively associated with the RPI Openness subscale and positively associated with the Distress subscale, beyond the effects of demographics (ie, age, sex, race) and psychiatric diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS Results indicate that the RPI probes multiple facets of psychotherapy readiness that have unique associations with psychosis-spectrum experiences. Adolescents with higher PRIME scores endorsed greater mental health-related distress and lower levels of openness to psychotherapy. These psychotherapy readiness factors warrant further exploration, as they may be significant barriers or facilitators to engaging adolescents with psychosis-spectrum symptoms in much needed early treatment services.
Gendered Complications of COVID-19: Towards a Feminist Recovery Plan

COVID-19 exposed the limitations in the current economic system on public and private support for gender equity and the intersecting impact of gender, race, and class in that lack of support. Women of color, particularly those who are Black, Latina, or Native American, were at the intersection of the inequities in the pandemic economy. The catalogue of COVID-19’s impact covers all aspects of women’s lives: work, family, education, health, reproduction, mental and physical well-being, and leisure. This Article argues that COVID-19 has complex implications for gender equality and gender equity as state and local governments, the federal government, and private actors focus on recovery plans. The negative effects of the pandemic include hundreds of thousands of deaths, lingering health complications for many who have contracted the virus, massive economic disruption and loss for individuals, families, and communities, and the exacerbation of structural inequalities in areas ranging from children’s education to women’s status. The creative policy responses prompted by the devastating impact of COVID-19 provide promise for building a more transformative and equitable future. Indeed, while a return to the status quo might be possible, developing a roadmap to resilience provides an opportunity to address the gender inequities in our social infrastructure—if there is political will to follow that roadmap. Proposing a feminist recovery plan, this Article focuses on a set of issues relating to pre-existing gender inequities concerning work and family, including the gender pay gap, the child care crisis, and the disproportionate role of women—particularly, women of color—in providing essential but undervalued care work.
Contrastive Distillation on Intermediate Representations for Language Model Compression

Existing language model compression methods mostly use a simple L_2 loss to distill knowledge in the intermediate representations of a large BERT model to a smaller one. Although widely used, this objective by design assumes that all the dimensions of hidden representations are independent, failing to capture important structural knowledge in the intermediate layers of the teacher network. To achieve better distillation efficacy, we propose Contrastive Distillation on Intermediate Representations (CoDIR), a principled knowledge distillation framework where the student is trained to distill knowledge through intermediate layers of the teacher via a contrastive objective. By learning to distinguish positive sample from a large set of negative samples, CoDIR facilitates the student's exploitation of rich information in teacher's hidden layers. CoDIR can be readily applied to compress large-scale language models in both pre-training and finetuning stages, and achieves superb performance on the GLUE benchmark, outperforming state-of-the-art compression methods.
Asymptomatic and Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections After BNT162b2 Vaccination in a Routinely Screened Workforce.

This study aims to describe an association between the Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) vaccine and decreased risk of symptomatic and asymptomatic infections with SARS-CoV-2 in hospital employees.
A construction process simulation Web service

We explore the potential of construction process simulation as a Web service. This Web service, or Web based application, exploits the high accessibility characteristic of the Web, to support easier information exchange and peer collaboration. Two concepts are discussed and presented. One Web based prototype called "interactive simulation system (ISS)" allows a user unfamiliar with simulation concepts to evaluate construction process productivity (Kim, 2000). A second prototypical Web service called Web CYCLONE is built upon CYCLONE (Halpin, 1973; Halpin and Riggs, 1992) methodology and provides the power of simulation to all user levels, novice or professional. The framework of Web CYCLONE is a three-leveled structure, namely novice, intermediate and advanced level, in that each level caters to user needs depending upon the level of sophistication of the user. An asphalt paving operation simulation model is used to demonstrate each prototypical system.
Coenzyme A dithioesters: synthesis, characterization and reaction with citrate synthase and acetyl-CoA:choline O-acetyltransferase.

Acyl dithioesters of CoA have been synthesized by transesterification. The α-hydrogens have a spectrally determined pKa of 12.5 ± 0.14. The hydroxide catalyzed enolization rate is estimated to be 600 M−1·s−1. The absorbance of the dithioester, λmax = 306 nm, can be used to monitor both the condensation and transesterification reactions that use CoA-Ac as a substrate. For citrate synthase at pH 7.4 Vmax = (4.0 ± 0.4) · 10−4 s−1 and Km = 53 ± 7.5 μM, which are 2·10−6 and 3.3-times the Vmax and Km values observed for CoAS-Ac, while for Ac-CoA:choline O-acetyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.6) at pH 7.0 Vmax = (1.1 ± 0.2) · 10−2 μmol·s−1·(mg protein)−1 and Km = 83 ± 33 μM, which are 0.077 and 10-times the values observed with CoAS-Ac, respectively. The CoA dithioesters are stable at low pH, but hydrolyze with a second-order rate constant of 8.2·10−2 M−1·s−1 at pH 11.4. The spectral properties of these dithioesters should allow these analogs to be used as probes of the structure of enzyme bound intermediates.
Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein (COMP): A Biomarker of Arthritis

Arthritis is a chronic disease with a significant impact on the population. It damages the cartilage, synovium, and bone of the joints causing pain, impairment, and disability in patients. Current methods for diagnosis of and monitoring the disease are only able to detect clinical manifestations of arthritis late in the process. However, with the recent onset of successful treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, it becomes important to identify prognostic factors that can predict the evolution of arthritis. This is especially critical in the early phases of disease so that these treatments can be started as soon as possible to slow down progression of the disease. A valuable approach to monitor arthritis would be by measuring biological markers of cartilage degradation and repair to reflect variations in joint remodeling. One such potential biological marker of arthritis is cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP). In various studies, COMP has shown promise as a diagnostic and prognostic indicator and as a marker of the disease severity and the effect of treatment. This review highlights the progress in the utilization of COMP as a biomarker of arthritis.
Comparative study of the properties of the purified internal and external invertases from yeast.

The properties of purified preparations of the internal and external invertases of yeast, designated by their location relative to the cell membrane, show similarities and marked disparities. The molecular weight and the specific activity of the internal enzyme are similar to those of the protein moiety of the external, but their amino acid compositions differ. The external invertase contains cystine or cysteine, and the internal enzyme does not, but neither is activated by cysteine. If the disparities in amino acid composition reflect enzymes that are aggregates of different subunits, at least one of which is identical in the two enzymes, the close similarities of all the other properties would then suggest a precursor-product relationship. The internal enzyme contains little or no carbohydrate, whereas the external invertase is a glycoprotein containing 50% mannan and 3% glucosamine. The latter probably links the protein with the carbohydrate moiety. Both invertases have the same Km for sucrose and raffinose, and neither shows an appreciable transferase activity. The pH optimum for enzymatic activity is the same, but their pH-stability curves differ, the internal invertase showing reversible inactivation at acid pH. The internal invertase has a higher mobility than the external in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at pH 6.8 and 8.6. The enzymes are immunologically related, and sucrose-negative mutants lack both external and internal invertase activity.
Phoenix: privacy preserving biclustering on horizontally partitioned data

Emerging business models require organizations to collaborate with each other. This collaboration is usually in the form of distributed clustering to find optimal customer targets for effective marketing. This process is hampered by two problems (1) Inability of traditional clustering algorithm in finding local (subspace) patterns in distributed data and (2) Privacy policies of individual organizations limiting the process of information sharing. In this paper, we propose an efficient privacy preserving biclustering algorithm on horizontally partitioned data, referred to as Phoenix, which solves both of these problems. It assumes a malicious adversary model which is more practical than commonly employed semihonest adversary model. It is shown to outperform traditional K-means clustering algorithm in identifying local patterns. The distributed secure implementation of the algorithm is evaluated to be very efficient both in computation and communication requirements.
Personal-Fitness Instructor: Gross Negligence Case

A personal trainer dropped a 145-pound barbell on the plaintiff's face while assisting the plaintiff during a bench-press movement. The plaintiff contended that the personal trainer's actions established gross negligence and that the fitness center was grossly negligent in its failure to properly educate its trainers on proper safety techniques.
Oxidation and Reduction of Halogen‐containing Compounds

The sections in this article are Introduction Anodic Processes Halogenated Alkanes Alicyclic Halides Aryl Halides Cathodic Processes Halogenated Alkanes Halogenated Alkenes and Alkynes Benzyl Halides Alicyclic Halides Aryl Halides Acyl and Phenacyl Halides Aliphatic α-Halocarbonyl Compounds Halogenated Heterocyclic Compounds Catalytic Reduction of Carbon–Halogen Bonds
Multiple promoters and induction by heat shock of the gene encoding the alternative sigma factor AlgU (sigma E) which controls mucoidy in cystic fibrosis isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Overproduction of the exopolysaccharide alginate causes mucoid colony morphology in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and is considered a major virulence determinant expressed by this organism during chronic respiratory infections in cystic fibrosis. One of the principal regulatory elements governing conversion to mucoidy in P. aeruginosa is AlgU, an alternative sigma factor which is 66% identical to and functionally interchangeable with sigma E from Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. sigma E has been implicated in the expression of systems enhancing bacterial resistance to environmental stress. In this study, we report that the gene encoding AlgU is transcribed in wild-type nonmucoid P. aeruginosa from multiple promoters (P1 through P5) that fall into three categories: (i) the P1 and P3 promoters, which display strong similarity to the -35 and -10 canonical sequences of sigma E promoters and were found to be absolutely dependent on AlgU; (ii) the P2 promoter, which was less active in algU mutants, but transcription of which was not completely abrogated in algU::Tcr cells; and (iii) the transcripts corresponding to P4 and P5, which were not affected by inactivation of algU. Introduction of E. coli rpoE (encoding sigma E) or algU into P. aeruginosa algU::Tcr strains restored P1 and P3 transcription and brought the P2 signal back to the wild-type level. The AlgU-dependent promoters P1 and P3 were inducible by heat shock in wild-type nonmucoid P. aeruginosa PAO1. At the protein level, induction of AlgU synthesis under conditions of extreme heat shock was detected by metabolic labeling of newly synthesized proteins, two-dimensional gel analysis, and reaction with polyclonal antibodies raised against an AlgU peptide. Another AlgU-dependent promoter, the proximal promoter of algR, was also found to be induced by heat shock. Under conditions of high osmolarity, growth at elevated temperature induced alginate synthesis in the wild-type nonmucoid P. aeruginosa PAO1. Cumulatively, these results suggest that algU itself is subject to complex regulation and is inducible by extreme heat shock, that the alginate system is a subset of the stress-responsive elements controlled by AlgU, and that AlgU and, by extension, its homologs in other organisms (e.g., sigma E in S. typhimurium) may play a role in bacterial virulence and adjustments to adverse growth conditions.