cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Zeno’s Paradox of Measure

Zeno of Elea is perhaps best known for his four paradoxes of motion: The Dichotomy, Achilles and the Tortoise, The Arrow, and the Stadium. These are, however, supporting pieces in a grand argument against plurality whose keystone is Zeno’s paradox of measure.1Adolf Grunbaum has, on several occasions,2called attention to the importance of this paradox, and explained how the standard measure-theoretic resolution of it became possible only after Cantor’s theory of infinite sets.
Reframing Human Enhancement: A Population Health Perspective

The dominant understandings on human enhancement, such as those based on the therapy-enhancement distinction or transhumanist views, have been focused on high technological interventions directly changing biological and physical features of individuals. The individual-based orientation and reductionist approach that dominant views of human enhancement take have undermined the exploration of more inclusive ways to think about human enhancement. In this perspective, I argue that we need to expand our understanding of human enhancement and open a more serious discussion on the type of enhancement interventions that can foster practical improvements for populations. In doing so, lessons from a population health perspective can be incorporated. Under such a perspective, human enhancement focus shifts from changing the biological reality of individuals, to addressing environmental factors that undermine the optimal performance of individuals or that can foster wellness. Such a human enhancement perspective would be consistent with a population health approach, as it pursues more equitable and accessible interventions, on the path to addressing social inequality. Human enhancement does not need to be only about high-technological interventions for a selected group of individuals; rather it should be a continuous project aiming to include everyone and maximize the public benefit.
eSense: BioMimetic Modeling of Echolocation and Electrolocation using Homeostatic Dual-Layered Reinforcement Learning

This research explores different approaches to finding a moving target in a grid world through reinforcement learning. One well known method for implementing reinforcement learning is the SARSA-λ algorithm. The traditional SARSA-λ algorithm is inefficient at finding a moving target because it relies only on the learned values of a stationary Q-table. While this works in static environments (e.g., finding optimal routes through a challenging environment to a stationary goal). The proposed solution to this problem is eSense. eSensex is a dual-layered, dynamic, homeostatic SARSA-λ algorithm with eligibility traces. It gives the AI a temporal sense (so it knows what is around it) to aid in the learning process. The dual-layered descriptor signifies that there are actually two grids in place, one for the navigation within the environment and another one that tracks the area surrounding the agent. Because this second grid moves around on the environment grid, it is dynamic. Additionally, the target the agent is pursuing is also moving, so it is also dynamic. Additionally, since this second grid is centered around the agent it is homeostatic (centered around the agent). Finally, the eligibility traces provide enhanced learning within this environment by providing more feedback per iteration (i.e., more states are updated each iteration). This enhanced configuration has helped eSense learn the target's tendencies while still relying on the Q-table to guide it away from walls and other obstacles. This layered approach provides an improvement to the standard SARSA-λ approach.
Pit initiation on nitinol in simulated physiological solutions.

Inclusions appear to play a crucial role in the initiation of pitting on nitinol, but the reason remains unclear. Furthermore, it has not been established whether the type of inclusion is a central factor. In this study, potentiodynamic polarization together with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to provide more insight into the initiation of pits on electropolished nitinol wire. Corrosion was limited to a single primary pit on each of the few wire samples that exhibited breakdown. The pit contained numerous Ti2NiOx inclusions, but secondary pits that developed within the primary pit provided evidence that these inclusions were the sites of pit initiation. Although several theories have been proposed to account for pit initiation at inclusions in mechanically polished and electropolished nitinol, titanium depletion in the adjacent alloy matrix appears to provide the most viable explanation. The key factor appears to be the size of the inclusion and therefore the extent of titanium depletion in the alloy matrix. The type of inclusion evidently plays a secondary role at most. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2017.
Measuring the small-scale matter power spectrum with high-resolution CMB lensing

We present a method to measure the small-scale matter power spectrum using high-resolution measurements of the gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). To determine whether small-scale structure today is suppressed on scales below 10 kiloparsecs (corresponding to $M\ensuremath{\le}{10}^{9}\text{ }\text{ }{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$), one needs to probe CMB-lensing modes out to $L\ensuremath{\approx}35,000$, requiring a CMB experiment with about 20 arcsecond resolution or better. We show that a CMB survey covering 4,000 square degrees of sky, with an instrumental sensitivity of $0.5\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{arcmin}$ at 18 arcsecond resolution, could distinguish between cold dark matter and an alternative, such as 1 keV warm dark matter or ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$ fuzzy dark matter with about $4\ensuremath{\sigma}$ significance. A survey of the same resolution with $0.1\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{arcmin}$ noise could distinguish between cold dark matter and these alternatives at better than $20\ensuremath{\sigma}$ significance; such high-significance measurements may also allow one to distinguish between a suppression of power due to either baryonic effects or the particle nature of dark matter, since each impacts the shape of the lensing power spectrum differently. CMB temperature maps yield higher signal-to-noise than polarization maps in this small-scale regime; thus, systematic effects, such as from extragalactic astrophysical foregrounds, need to be carefully considered. However, these systematic concerns can likely be mitigated with known techniques. Next-generation CMB lensing may thus provide a robust and powerful method of measuring the small-scale matter power spectrum.
Interface Shear Response of JSC-1A, GRC-3, and JSC-Mars1 Regolith Simulants

AbstractThe response of soil–structure interfaces is of primary importance for the construction and design of infrastructure because all loads, whether static or dynamic, are transferred to the gro...
Racial/ethnic disparities in US college students’ experience: Discrimination as an impediment to academic performance

Objective and Participants: Using data from 69,722 US undergraduates participating in the spring 2015 National College Health Assessment, we examine racial/ethnic differences in students’ experienc...
Getting Students to Say What They Are Not Supposed to Say: The Challenges and Opportunities in Teaching About Race in a College Classroom

This chapter addresses the challenges instructors face when teaching about race in the college classroom. By using concrete examples from inside the classroom, the chapter provides suggestions and ideas about how to get students to talk openly and honestly about race. One of the biggest challenges is finding ways to create a space within the classroom where students can say what they believe they are not supposed to say. Our students have grown up in a racialized society and many believe there are certain opinions and beliefs about race that should not be discussed. Finding ways to allow students to share these opinions and beliefs about race as well as their own racialized experiences provides an important opportunity to help students learn about race in ways that have the potential to stay with students well after the course has ended. The chapter ends with a discussion about white privilege and colorblindness and the importance of including these topics in courses about American race relations.
Gehoekt en toch verschroefd

In het vorige nummer van TP beschreef collega Frank Andriessen de voordelen van verschroeven van een kroon ten opzichte van cementeren. Maar niet altijd is verschroeven mogelijk omdat het implantaat onder een hoek staat. De afgelopen twee jaar is echter een concept ontwikkeld om het schroefkanaal met een hoek ten opzichte van de abutmentschroef vorm te geven middels speciaal hiervoor ontwikkelde inbus-/torxschroevendraaiers. In dit artikel wil ik laten zien dat met het gehoekte schroefgat de indicatie om implantaatprothetiek te verschroeven enorm verruimd kan worden. Dit vereenvoudigt de klinische procedures, reduceert de kans op cementgerelateerde implantaatcomplicaties en verlaagt ook de kosten van het prothetische gedeelte.
Sequential Imaging and Volumetric Analysis of an Intracerebral C6 Glioma by Means of a Clinical MRI System

In this study, using high resolution coils; implanted growing rat brain tumors were imaged sequentially with 3-D measurements generated by means of a clinical magnetic resonance imaging system (CMRI) and commercially available wrist coil. Ten female Sprague–Dawley rats were used, eight were implanted with C6 rat glioma cells and two served as controls. The images that were used for the three-dimensional (3-D) measurements were obtained from T1 weighted post contrast sequences. A commercially available computer work station with 3-D image analysis software was used to generate the tumor volumes. In addition to the rat studies a mouse was included to see if the resolution would be adequate for imaging very small brains. Six rats had brain tumor growth after transplantation and two rats did not have any tumor growth, however, their images were similar to the controls animals. Tumor volumes varied widely among the implanted rats. The number of implanted tumor cells had no direct relationship to developing tumor volumes. This study demonstrates that high resolution images of a rat brain tumor can be obtained from a CMRI system using a commercially available wrist coil which is capable of imaging two rats at the same time or even a mouse brain. A commercially available computer work station was able to generate the tumor volumes. The ability to image brain tumor and generate volume measurements over time has potential for animal research.
A Review of Solute Effects on the Elastic Moduli of BCC Transition Metals

The measured values of the elastic shear moduli C44 and C’ in bcc transition metals and their bcc solid solutions are reviewed with reference to the influence of the number of electrons in the unfilled d shells. Whereas a classical Fuchs model based on electrostatic and overlap exchange repulsion alone predicts anistropy ratios, C44/C’, much greater than unity, measurements show that the band structure contribution causes a smooth but very marked decrease in C44/C’ with the e/a ratio increasing from 4.2 to 5.5. From 5.5 < e/a < 6.3 the C44/C’ ratio increases, indicating that the maximum band structure effect occurs at the same e/a range where singularities are observed in other electronic properties of these solid solutions. This behavior makes it possible to predict the influence of solute additions on the individual moduli as well as in their ratio.
Group Theoritic Classification of Conservation Laws in Elasticity

Although Noether’s celebrated theorem relating symmetry groups and conversation laws for system arising from variational principles has been available for over sixty years, and despite the well –acknowledged importance of group theory in the study of elasticity, for historical reasons I do not fully understand there has never been a systematic classification of general symmetry groups and their associated conservation laws for even the simplest elastic materials. In fact, not until the work of Gunther, [7], and Knowles and Sternberg, [10], was even a limited variant of Noether’s general theorem applied in this subject. This is especially surprising in that the relevant techniques are completely constructive, amenable to straight-forward computational methods. In this note, the basic theory underlying Noether’s theorem will be outlined, and illustrated by some recent applications to elasticity, work which is very much still in progress. It is a pleasure to thank John Ball for sparking my interest in applying these general techniques to elasticity, and to all organizers of the NATO/LMS institute for a most enjoyable and productive conference.
The Role of Intelligent Agents in Advanced Information Systems

In this presentation we review the current ongoing research within George Mason University's (GMU) Center for Information Systems Integration and Evolution (CISE). We define characteristics of advanced information systems, discuss a family of agents for such systems, and show how GMU's Domain modeling tools and techniques can be used to define a product line Architecture for configuring NASA missions. These concepts can be used to define Advanced Engineering Environments such as those envisioned for NASA's new initiative for intelligent design and synthesis environments.
Selection bias in prenatal care use by Medicaid recipients.

Objective: This study examines whether four types of selection bias in estimates of the effectiveness of prenatal care utilization for improving birthweight occur in a population of economically disadvantaged women. Methods: We categorized adequacy of prenatal care use using the Adequacy of Prenatal Care Utilization Index (APNCU) and the Revised-GINDEX for 142,381 Medicaid recipients who gave birth to a live, singleton infant in Washington State (1994–1998). Multinomial logistic regression was used to model categories of adequacy of prenatal care use as functions of variables chosen to indicate high- or low-risk status. A series of linear regression models were estimated to quantify the magnitude and direction of any bias in the effects of prenatal care on birthweight that could be attributed to accounting for each risk covariate. Results were examined for patterns of risk, prenatal care use, and estimation bias equated with the four selection processes. Results: We found modest evidence of adverse, favorable, confidence, and estrangement selection biases. The overriding effect, relative to low prenatal care use, was overestimation of the adequate care coefficient by 8.68 g with the APNCU, and underestimation by 3.36 g with the R-GINDEX because of competing confidence and estrangement selection biases. Relative to intensive use, the effect of adequate care on birthweight was underestimated (17.58 g with the APNCU; 13.34 g with the R-GINDEX) because of adverse selection bias and a small countervailing favorable selection process. Conclusions: The underestimation of birthweight associated with prenatal care noted in prior studies appears to result from multiple selection processes working in different directions. Understanding selection processes can help the assessment of the contribution of prenatal care to birth outcomes and development of appropriate programs and policies.
Increasing prevalence of assisted living as a substitute for private-pay long-term nursing care

Objective Given the tremendous growth in assisted living (AL) over the past 20 years, it is important to understand how expansion has affected the demand for long-term care (LTC) provided in nursing homes (NHs). We estimated the effect of a change in county-level AL beds on the prevalence of private-pay residents and private-pay resident days at the NH-level. Data sources National census of large AL providers (25+ beds), and Minimum Data Set combined with Medicare enrollment records and claims from 2007 and 2014. Study design Retrospective longitudinal analysis of LTC markets. Principal findings Mean AL beds per county increased from 285 to 324, while NHs exhibited a decrease in private-pay residents (20.1 to 17.7 percent) and resident days (21.3 to 17.5 percent). An increase of 1,000 AL beds at the county level is associated with a reduction of 0.44 percentage points in private-pay resident days but is not significantly associated with percent of private-pay residents. Conclusions These results suggest that increases in AL capacity have potentially allowed NH residents to delay or decrease their privately financed lengths of stay. As demand for AL continues to grow, it will be important to assess the effects on other LTC sectors.
Keep It Cool

It was a scorching summer day in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Nate McFarland, director of communications at Generation 180, was losing sleep. One month ago, Generation 180, a nonprofit organization, had launched its first nationwide initiative, “Keep It Cool” (KIC). The objectives of KIC were to leverage consumer participation in encouraging retailers to reduce energy waste and to spread the idea that energy should be consumed responsibly. At the core of the initiative was a “chatbot” built in Facebook's Messenger app that enabled consumers to trigger an anonymous email encouraging store owners to close their doors when they were running air conditioning. Finding and engaging the right consumers in a cost-effective manner was of utmost importance. McFarland was fixated on lowering the “cost per click” of his Facebook campaigns and driving traffic to Generation 180's website. To do this, he needed to know how best to engage people. Was KIC more relevant to men or to women? Were there some populations that seemed more excited about this initiative than others? Was he targeting the right interest groups using the Facebook ad platform? This case is suitable for courses covering decision analysis, statistics, business analytics, and marketing analytics. Excerpt UVA-QA-0898 Rev. Aug. 29, 2018 Keep It Cool It was a scorching summer day in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Nate McFarland (MBA '16, Darden School of Business), director of communications at Generation 180, was coming off another sleepless night. This time he could not blame his two-month-old son for the lack of sleep, as it was Facebook that was causing his anxiety. One month ago, Generation 180, a nonprofit organization, had launched its first nationwide initiative, “Keep It Cool” (KIC). The objectives of KIC were twofold: to leverage consumer participation in an effort to encourage retailers to reduce energy waste, and to spread the idea that energy was a resource that should be consumed responsibly. At the core of the initiative was a “chatbot” built in Facebook's Messenger app that enabled consumers to easily trigger an anonymous email to a specific store (Exhibit1). The email would encourage the store owners to close their storefront doors when they were running the air conditioning. Because of this strategy, finding and engaging the right consumers in a cost-effective manner was of utmost importance. The early results were mixed, but McFarland was fixated on lowering the “cost per click” (CPC) of his Facebook campaigns. He wanted to drive traffic to Generation 180's website, as that was the first step in engaging consumers with the KIC initiative. To do this, he needed to know how best to engage people. Was KIC more relevant to men or to women? Were there some populations that seemed more excited about this initiative than others? Was he targeting the right interest groups using the Facebook ad platform? Generation 180 . . .
Three-Fraction Intracavitary Accelerated Partial Breast Brachytherapy: Early Provider and Patient-Reported Outcomes of a Novel Regimen

Purpose To report early adverse events and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) of 3-fraction intracavitary catheter-based partial breast brachytherapy (ICBB). Materials and Methods Eligible women ≥50 years of age with ≤2.5-cm, lymph node–negative invasive or in situ breast cancer underwent breast-conserving surgery and placement of a brachytherapy applicator. ICBB was initiated on the second weekday after surgery and prescribed to 21 Gy in 3 once-daily fractions. Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 4.0; 10-point linear analog scale assessment; the PRO version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events; and the Harvard Breast Cosmesis Scale were used for provider and patient-reported assessments. Results Seventy-three women were treated for invasive (79%) or in situ (21%) breast cancer. The median time to completion of surgery and radiation therapy was 6 days. After 14-months median follow-up, 2 patients (3%) had developed breast infections that resolved with oral antibiotics. There was no other treatment-associated adverse event grade ≥2. The grade 1 seroma rate at 3 months was 20%, which dropped to 8% at 12 months; no events required intervention. At 12 months, 91% of patients reported an overall quality of life score as ≥8 of 10, and patient-reported cosmesis was good or excellent in 95%. All patients are alive without relapse at the last follow-up. Conclusions Three-fraction ICBB is associated with low rates of early provider and patient- reported adverse events and compares favorably with early outcomes of more protracted ICBB regimens, including twice-daily (3.4 Gy × 10) fractionation studied in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-39. Further investigation is warranted.
Zeolite-loaded aerogel as a primary vacuum sorption pump in planetary instruments

Zeolite-loaded aerogel (ZLA) getters were devised and developed for maintaining vacuum in the Seismic Experience for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument on the NASA InSight mission to Mars. The ZLA are very lightweight compound materials (~ 0.1 g/cm3) with tunable density and high surface area (~ 500 m2/g), capable of maintaining high vacuum (HV, < 10−3 mbar) for extended periods of time at room temperature without any maintenance or consumption of power. Low temperatures, such as the surface environments on Mars and the icy worlds, enhance the ZLA adsorption by orders of magnitude, extending their capacity to the deep HV range sustainable over multi-year missions. Selective adsorption properties for species of interest can be further enhanced by cation exchange (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Pd2+, etc.) prior to the zeolite incorporation in the material. The sol–gel process was formulated to produce homogeneously dispersed micron-sized zeolite particles embedded in the aerogel matrix. The ZLA liquid precursor can be cast in practically any shape prior to the formation of the solid wet gel, which is then dried supercritically. The resulting mesoporous aerogel network provides excellent molecular transport to the zeolite particles. For particle sensitive instruments such as SEIS, the ZLA adsorbers can be isolated by sub-micron filters without noticeable effects on their performance.
Institutions and Policy Choices: The New Left in Brazil

In the early 2000s Brazil, under the leadership of socialist administrations, embarked on an ambitious project to recapture the commanding heights of the economy, reverting the pro-market approach of the 1990s. However, in contrast to other Latin American countries that opted for re-nationalization of former state-owned enterprises (SOEs), Brazil did not, opting instead to rely on existing SOEs to implement the government’s objectives. Why was this the case? We answer this question by arguing that the institutional framework faced by Brazil’s Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) governments, together with the PT’s ideological inclinations and public opinion pressures, shaped their strategy of reliance on SOEs. Specifically, the PT governments in Brazil faced significant institutional limitations, which, together with a sympathetic public opinion, made the use of existing SOEs, rather than re-nationalizations, the best available vehicle for the pursuit of ideological goals.
Non-equilibrium Bio-Molecular Unfolding Under Tension

We explore how the force-mediated unfolding of simple DNA systems, despite occurring far from equilibrium, can reveal information about equilibrium free energies. The Jarzynski equality from nonequilibrium statistical physics is introduced and adapted to study the folding of DNA hairpins, validating that such techniques can be profitably applied with oxDNA coarse-grained simulations.
Abstract 707: Cortical-bone Stem Cell Therapy Alters the Inflammatory Response After Myocardial Infarction

Ischemic heart diseases like myocardial infarction are the largest contributors to cardiovascular disease world-wide. The resulting cardiac cell death impairs function of the heart and can lead to ...
Fostering Cognitive Change in Cognitive Therapy of Depression: An Investigation of Therapeutic Strategies

There is little evidence regarding which therapist strategies promote cognitive change in cognitive therapy (CT) of depression. Drawing from a sample of CT patients, we selected two consecutive sessions for which patients reported markedly different amounts of cognitive change (CC; i.e., a low and high cognitive change session). We then investigated whether four observer-rated psychotherapy process variables differentiated high and low CC sessions. Our analyses focused on 62 patients with large session-to-session differences in self-reported CC. Results from single predictor models showed the therapeutic alliance and therapists’ use of cognitive methods predicted high versus low CC session type. In a model including multiple predictors, only cognitive methods remained significant. These findings are consistent with the view that cognitive methods promote CC in CT.
Method for evaluating 3D display systems based on perceived retinal image

Previous analysis of 3D display systems hardly provides assessment of the perceived retinal image quality and the ability to render depth and stimulate a proper accommodative response. Moreover, few works ever provide the analysis of 3D displays for the users with eye refractive errors. To solve those problems, in this paper, we present a general framework where a schematic eye model is implemented as an integral part of 3D display systems to characterize the perceived retinal image and visual responses. By utilizing this framework, we demonstrate the retinal image results for natural viewing and stereoscope for both normal vision and 1 diopter myopia condition.
Effect of astragalus on immune function in premature infants

Objective To investigate the effect of astragalus on immune function in premature infants.Methods Eighty four preterm infants who had been hospitalized from June to December 2010 and who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into treatment group ( n=37 ) and control group ( n=38 ),9 of whom withdrew from the study.The treatment group received oral astragalus particles of 2 g twice daily,while the control group received the same amount of warm water.Blood specimens were collected before treatment and on days 3,7,and 14 to detect CD4+ count,CD4+/CD8+,serum levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ.and so was SIgA level in feces.Results Before treatment and on days 3and 7,serum levels IL-2 and IFN-γ did not differ sigificantly between the two groups.However,with the progress of experiment,levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ in the treatment group[( 40.12 ± 9.41 ),( 228.79 ± 45.10 )pg/ml] were significantly higher than that in the control group [( 31.53 ± 8.46 ),( 205.16 ± 38.75 )pg/ml,( P ＜ 0.05 )].The fecal SigA level did not differ significantly between the two groups before treatment and on day 3 ( P＞ 0.05 )and was significantly higher in the treatment group[( 1.96 ± 0.58 ),( 2.65 ± 0.60 ) μ mol/L] than in the control group [( 1.48 ± 0.51 ),( 1.89± 0.62 ) μ mol/L on days 7 and 14 ( P ＜ 0.05 ).The CD4+ T cell percentage and CD4+ / CD8+ ratio did not differ statistically before treatment and on days 3 and 7 and were not increased until day 14,the CD4+ T cell percentage and CD4+/ CD8+ ratio in the treatment group ( 61.76 ± 6.33,3.52 ± 0.69 ) were significantly higher than that in the control group ( 56.34 ± 8.46,3.02 ± 0.74,P＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions Astragalus has a positive effect on immune function in premature infants. Key words: Astragalus; Premature infants; Immune function
Non-contact microfluidic mechanical property measurements of single apoptotic bodies.

Abstract Background Cells exchange information by secreting micro­ and nanosized extracellular vesicles (EVs), ranging from exosomes (30–100 nm) to apoptotic bodies (ABs, 1–5 μm). There is still much to understand about fundamental EV biological, physical, and chemical properties before clinical applications can be developed. EV mechanical properties have only been measured with atomic force microscopy (AFM) with its problematic adhesion and hard substrate effects. To understand EV mechanical behavior in less extreme mechanical conditions relevant to blood flow and many soft tissue environments, a non-contact measurement technique is needed. Methods We measured the mechanical properties of single microscale ABs derived from human blood plasma using non-contact microfluidics. EVs were gently stretched in extensional flow, similar to a traditional tensile test, and a linear mechanical model was applied to estimate mechanical stiffnesses from the observed stretching. Results The effective shear elastic modulus of ABs in non-contact flow conditions is approximately 5.6 ± 0.5 Pa, 7 orders of magnitude lower than previously reported AFM-measured biological exosome stiffnesses and 200 times smaller than suspended cells. Conclusions Apoptotic bodies are very soft in fluid environments and exhibit lower effective stiffnesses than suspended cells. By measuring ABs in a natural fluid environment and low-force regime without hard probes and surfaces, we achieved closer agreement with linear mechanical theory and therefore more accurate stiffness measurements. General significance AFM manufacturers and users should consider implementing new mechanical models to interpret AFM force indentation curves so that accurate extracellular vesicle mechanical properties can be extracted.
Delineating the Capacity Fading Mechanisms of Na(Ni0.3Fe0.4Mn0.3)O2 at Higher Operating Voltages in Sodium-ion Cells

Increased interest in alternatives to lithium-ion batteries has led to promising work on sodium-ion batteries, particularly with layered oxide cathode materials. For practical applications, however...
Ventriculoperitoneal shunt complications in an adult population: A comparison of various shunt designs to prevent overdrainage.

Background Overdrainage after cerebrospinal fluid diversion remains a significant morbidity. The hydrostatic, gravitational force in the upright position can aggravate this. Siphon control (SC) mechanisms, as well as programmable and flow regulating devices, were developed to counteract this. However, limited studies have evaluated their safety and efficacy. In this study, direct comparisons of the complication rates between siphon control (SC) and non-SC (NSC), fixed versus programmable, and flow- versus pressure regulating valves are undertaken. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed over all shunt implantations from January 2011 to December 2016 within the Houston Methodist Hospital system. Complication rates within 6 months of the operative date, including infection, subdural hematoma, malfunction, and any other shunt-related complication, were analyzed via Fisher's exact test, with P < 0.05 regarded as significant. Subgroup analyses based on diagnoses - normal pressure hydrocephalus (HCP), pseudotumor cerebri, or other HCP - were also performed. Results The overall shunt-related complication rate in this study was 19%. Overall rates of infection, shunt failure, and readmission within 180 days were 3%, 11%, and 34%, respectively. No difference was seen between SC and NSC groups in any complication rate overall or on subgroup analyses. When comparing fixed versus programmable and flow- versus pressure-regulating valves, the latter in each analysis had significantly lower malfunction and total complication rates. Conclusions Programmable and pressure regulating devices may lead to lower shunt malfunction and total complication rates. Proper patient selection should guide valve choice. Future prospective studies may further elucidate the difference in complication rates between these various shunt designs.
Quantifying the Backlog of Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Cases: Predicting the Impact of COVID-19.

BackgroundTotal hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are two high-volume procedures that were delayed due to COVID-19.Questions/PurposesTo help strategize an effective return to...
Post-Selection Inference via Algorithmic Stability

Modern approaches to data analysis make extensive use of data-driven model selection. The resulting dependencies between the selected model and data used for inference invalidate statistical guarantees derived from classical theories. The framework of post-selection inference (PoSI) has formalized this problem and proposed corrections which ensure valid inferences. Yet, obtaining general principles that enable computationally-efficient, powerful PoSI methodology with formal guarantees remains a challenge. With this goal in mind, we revisit the PoSI problem through the lens of algorithmic stability. Under an appropriate formulation of stability---one that captures closure under post-processing and compositionality properties---we show that stability parameters of a selection method alone suffice to provide non-trivial corrections to classical z-test and t-test intervals. Then, for several popular model selection methods, including the LASSO, we show how stability can be achieved through simple, computationally efficient randomization schemes. Our algorithms offer provable unconditional simultaneous coverage and are computationally efficient; in particular, they do not rely on MCMC sampling. Importantly, our proposal explicitly relates the magnitude of randomization to the resulting confidence interval width, allowing the analyst to tune interval width to the loss in utility due to randomizing selection.
Finite Element Simulation Analysis of Three-phase Bridge Arm Reactor of Modular Multilevel Converter

As an important part of modular multilevel converter (MMC), the reactor at the bridge arm of the converter is an essential component in its topology. During the operation of MMC, because the capacitor voltage on each phase bridge arm is not equal, it is easy to cause the unbalanced voltage of bridge arm, and finally lead to the unequal DC current component in the three-phase bridge arm. The unbalance of DC component can easily lead to excessive magnetic bias of one phase in three-phase reactor, and then cause the unbalance of AC component in three-phase bridge arm, and finally lead to zero sequence circulating current inside the bridge arm. The zero sequence circulating current enters the DC side and intensifies the fluctuation of voltage, current and power at DC side. In this paper, the finite element method is used to simulate and analyze the suppression effect of three-phase bridge arm reactor on the second harmonic circulating current under the condition of unbalanced DC component, which provides a theoretical basis for the design and selection of MMC bridge arm reactor.
The fifty most cited publications in shoulder arthroplasty research

IntroductionFrequency of citation provides one quantitative metric of the impact that an article has on a given field. The purpose of this study was to evaluate characteristics of the 50 most cited...
Freedom from Thirst: A Right to Basic Household Water

In the United States the idea that household water for drinking and basic hygiene is a constitutional right has seldom been embraced. The U.S. Constitution does not directly mention water. The United States even abstained from the United Nations vote to recognize an international human right to water in 2010. With the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop, this article suggests a roadmap for recognizing the constitutional status of household water for drinking and basic hygiene. In Part I of this article, I offer a snapshot of the treatment of household water in times of economic hardship, suggesting that there are deep roots for according water a special status. In Part II, I trace the trajectory of the right to water in the international human rights context, where over time, water’s significance and unique qualities overcame objections that the right was not explicitly articulated in founding international law documents. Part III examines the status of the right to water as a matter of comparative law, looking at foreign constitutional provisions and case law to understand the potential scope of the legal right. Part IV applies these lessons to drinking water in the domestic state and federal constitutional contexts. I conclude that access to basic drinking water is not only an international human right, but should also be a recognized federal constitutional right, as a component of the substantive due process protections of life and liberty.
Postnatal causes and severity of persistent pulmonary Hypertension of Newborn.

Background & Objective: Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) is described as severe respiratory failure along with hypoxaemia. PPHN is known to be linked with high morbidity and mortality around the world. This study was planned to determine the postnatal causes and assess the severity of persistent pulmonary hypertension of newborn in babies presenting to the Children’s Hospital, Multan. Methods: This observational study was conducted at the Department of Paediatric Cardiology, The Children Hospital &Institute of Child Health, Multan, Pakistan from July to December 2019. A total of 122 confirmed cases of PPHN admitted having gestational age above 34 weeks were enrolled. Demographic data of the newborns was recorded along with maternal medical history, pregnancy status and postnatal causes of PPHN. Severity of PPHN was also recorded. Results: Out of a total of 122 cases of PPHN, 81 (66.3%) were male. Majority, 78 (64.0%) had gestational age above 37 weeks. Mode of delivery as cesarean section was noted in 70 (57.4%). Meconium aspiration syndrome 52 (42.6%), birth asphyxia 48 (39.3%), respiratory distress syndrome 23 (18.8%) and sepsis 33 (27.0%) were found to be the commonest causes of PPHN. Severe PPHN was found to be the most frequent, noted among 63 (51.6%) while Moderate PPHN was observed in 40 (32.8%) and Mild PPHN in 19 (15.6%). Morality was noted among 26 (21.3%) of cases. Conclusion: Meconium aspiration syndrome, birth asphyxia and respiratory distress syndrome were the commonest postnatal causes of PPHN. Severe PPHN was found to be the most frequent form of PPHN. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.5.2218 How to cite this:Arshad MS, Adnan M, Anwar-ul-Haq HM, Zulqarnain A. Postnatal causes and severity of persistent pulmonary Hypertension of Newborn. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(5):1387-1391. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.5.2218 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Color the quark «muon»

We propose that the leptons are quarks. Unstable baryonic quarks must also exist. A specific scheme based on the Han-Nambu model is presented. Conservation of the quantum numbers is obtained in all processes except the purely nonleptonic ones.
ATPase activity of TyrR, a transcriptional regulatory protein for sigma 70 RNA polymerase.

The TyrR protein of Escherichia coli is the chief transcriptional regulator of several genes essential for aromatic amino acid biosynthesis and transport. It was established in previous studies that this protein binds ATP, that the TyrR.ATP complex has enhanced affinity for tyrosine, and that the susceptibility of the TyrR protein to hydrolysis by trypsin is altered by ATP. Here we show that the TyrR protein has ATPase activity, which is stimulated by tyrosine. In this respect the TyrR protein resembles the transcriptional activator NtrC. The NtrC protein contains an internal polypeptide segment, 220 amino acid residues in length, with a high degree of identity to the TyrR protein, that contains the presumptive ATPase catalytic center.
Intracranial complications of congenital dermal sinuses.

Ten patients are presented in whom intracranial extension of a congenital dermal sinus was disclosed by operation. The complications of this lesion include infection in the form of meningitis, abscess formation and osteomyelitis as well as hydrocephalus due to obstruction of the spinal fluid pathways. In unexplained meningitis, the entire midline area of skin over the neural axis should be examined carefully for evidence of a dermal sinus opening. Whenever a dimple or subcutaneous mass is found in the midline of the scalp, RGs should be examined carefully for an underlying skull defect. When such a defect exists, intracranial exploration is indicated. Surgical treatment previous to development of intracranial infection is relatively simple and should be rewarded by complete cure. Excision after infection has occurred is difficult and the results in this group have been poor.
The Spatial and Temporal Distribution of ”Brown Tide“ in Eastern Long Island

Long Island embayments are generally shallow, vertically well mixed, and exhibit characteristics that allow them to be categorized as “bloom sensitive waters” as described by Paerl (1988): they are horizontally distinct water masses that reach relatively warm temperatures during the summer months, have an enhanced allochthonous organic and inorganic nutrient loading, an adequate availability of terrigenously supplied essential metals, sediments suitable for harboring non-vegetative cells, algal-bacterial and algal-micrograzer synergisms which enhance nutrient cycling, selective macrograzer activities, and high incident photosynthetically active radiation. In addition, flushing and circulation, in many instances, is severely limited by their morphology.
The End of At-Will Employment? The “”Color-Blind” Standard of Intent to Discriminate

In Ricci v. DeStefano, the New Haven firefighters case, the Supreme Court decided as a matter of law that New Haven had committed intentional disparate treatment discrimination against some of the white testtakers when it did not use the results of a promotion test because its use would have resulted in an adverse effect on black and Latino testtakers. A careful reading of Ricci establishes how it has a significant potential impact on all disparate treatment cases. Because liability was established simply on the fact that New Haven knew the racial consequences of deciding not to use the test scores, the Court has logically extended what amounts to a “color-blind” standard from the Court’s earlier decisions challenging affirmative action plans to Title VII disparate treatment cases. This article develops how this “color-blind” standard applies as an easy way to establish the intent to discriminate element in all disparate treatment cases, whether in “reverse” discrimination cases like Ricci or in cases brought by members of racial minorities. With such an easy to prove standard for proving what had been the challenging intent to discriminate element in disparate treatment cases, it has become relatively easy for plaintiffs to prove discrimination whenever the employer knows the race of the affected workers. This reduces significantly the significance of the close to universal state law that presumes employment is at-will.This view of Ricci appears quite surprising because the decision was supported by the conservative wing of the Court. Nevertheless, it would be a return to the separate-but-equal standard of Plessy v. Ferguson if the Court failed to extend its Ricci analysis to disparate treatment claims of race discrimination brought by members of racial minority groups if it continued to view Ricci as good law. Even as conservative as the present Court is, that should be an unthinkable result. Further, reading Ricci as broadening the use of disparate treatment discrimination is consistent with the approach that the Court, through opinions by Justice Kennedy, has developed the earlier anti-animus jurisprudence to attack laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation. Finally, the application of the Ricci approach to proving intent to discriminate is justified since employment discrimination persists despite 50 years of application of Title VII. Given the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere, that persistence flows from the broad existence and effect of implicit bias.
Blind Separation of Acoustic Signals

This chapter presents an overview of criteria and algorithms for the blind separation of linearly mixed acoustic signals. Particular attention is paid to the underlying statistical formulations of various approaches to the convolutive blind signal separation task, and comparisons to other blind inverse problems are made. Several algorithms are described, including a novel algorithm that largely maintains the spectral content of the original mixtures in the extracted source signals. Numerical experiments are also provided to explore the behaviors of the algorithms in real-world blind signal separation tasks.
Galanin and Epilepsy

Neuroanatomical localization and physiological properties of galanin suggest that the peptide may be involved in the regulation of seizures. Indeed, administration of galanin receptor agonists into brain areas pertinent to the initiation and propagation of epileptic activity attenuated seizure responses under conditions of animal models of epilepsy; pharmacological blocking of galanin receptors exerted proconvulsant effects. Functional deletion of both galanin and galanin type 1 receptor genes produced transgenic mice with either spontaneous seizure phenotype, or with enhanced susceptibility to seizure stimuli. At the same time, overexpression of galanin in seizure pathways, using both transgenic and virus vector transfection techniques, hindered the epileptic process. Galanin exerts anticonvulsant effects through both type 1 and type 2 receptors, with distinct downstream signaling cascades. Several synthetic agonists of galanin receptors with optimized bioavailability have been synthesized and inhibited experimental seizures upon systemic administration, thus opening an opportunity for the development of galanin-based antiepileptic drugs.
The Engineered Death [Spectral Lines]

This is not only a parable about technology and progress. This is also a true story. When I was a boy, my mother contracted an incurable cancer called Hodgkin’s disease. At a hospital in Manhattan, in New York City, ingenious medical engineers and doctors bombarded her with radiation—at far higher levels, and for far longer, than most experts at that time recommended. Only my father knew of the severity of her illness. My mother kept that from others. I began to grasp the situation when our grandmother came to care for my brother, sister, and me while my mother stayed in the hospital. Through the prism of my 10-year-old mind, I concluded that something terrible had happened for us to endure Grandma’s strange cooking and hot temper. To our family’s delight, our mother’s disease vanished. She remained cancer-free. In time, she could say aloud that in the mid-1960s she was among the first Hodgkin’s patients to be cured in the United States. She could also describe her anxious encounters with the bulky and fearsome radiation equipment that, guided by her innovative doctors, had saved her life.
A REVIEW OF SELECTED WORKS ON CRACK IDENTIFICATION

We give a short survey of some of the results obtained within the last 10 years or so concerning crack identification using impedance imaging techniques. We touch upon uniqueness results, continuous dependence results, and computational algorithms.