cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Terror, Terrain, and Turnout: The 2002 Midterm Election

Contrary to a great deal of the postelection commentary, the results of the 2002 midterm congressional elections were neither surprising nor historically anomalous. Neither did they signal an end to the national partisan stalemate exposed by the 2000 elections. (1) Rather, the election results, summarized in Table 1, were entirely consistent with models treating midterm elections as referenda on the administration and economy, and they reflected once again the distinct, evenly-balanced partisan divisions in the electorate that solidified during the Clinton administration.
Evaluation of replacement protocols and modifications to TCP to enhance ASC Wide Area Network performance.

Historically, TCP/IP has been the protocol suite used to transfer data throughout the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) community. However, TCP was developed many years ago for an environment very different from the ASC Wide Area Network (WAN) of today. There have been numerous publications that hint of better performance if modifications were made to the TCP algorithms or a different protocol was used to transfer data across a high bandwidth, high delay WAN. Since Sandia National Laboratories wants to maximize the ASC WAN performance to support the Thor's Hammer supercomputer, there is strong interest in evaluating modifications to the TCP protocol and in evaluating alternatives to TCP, such as SCTP, to determine if they provide improved performance. Therefore, the goal of this project is to test, evaluate, compare, and report protocol technologies that enhance the performance of the ASC WAN.
Evaluation of canisters for measuring emissions of volatile organic air pollutants from hazardous waste incineration.

Regulation to control air emissions of toxic organic compounds require the collection and analysis of effluent gas from low level sources such as hazardous waste incinerators. The standard SW- 846 ...
Relationship between Body Mass Index, C-Peptide, and Delta-5-Desaturase Enzyme Activity Estimates in Adult Males

Obesity, in particular abdominal obesity, alters the composition of plasma and tissue fatty acids (FAs), which contributes to inflammation and insulin resistance. FA metabolism is modulated by desaturases and may affect adipokine and insulin secretion. Therefore, we examined relationships between adipokines, a marker of insulin production, and plasma FA desaturase enzyme activity estimates (EAEs) in obesity. Plasma phospholipid (PPL) FAs were isolated from 126 males (ages 48 to 65 years), derivatized, and analyzed using gas chromatography. Delta-6 desaturase (D6D) and delta-5 desaturase (D5D) EAEs were calculated as the ratio of PPL 20:3/18:2 and 20:4/20:3, respectively. In body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) adjusted polytomous logistic regression analyses, PPL FAs and FA desaturase EAEs were associated with C-peptide and adiponectin. Individuals with elevated D6D EAEs were less likely (OR 0.33) to have serum adiponectin concentrations > 5.37 μg/mL, compared with adiponectin concentrations ≤ 3.62 μg/mL. Individuals with increased D5D EAEs were less likely (OR 0.8) to have C-peptide concentrations ≥ 3.32 ng/mL, and > 1.80 and ≤ 3.29 ng/mL, compared with those with C-peptide ≤ 1.76 ng/mL. The proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α) was positively associated with C-peptide, but TNF- α was not associated with the D5D EAE. C-peptide and adiponectin concentrations are associated with specific PPL FAs and FA desaturase EAEs. The relationship between C-peptide concentrations and D5D EAEs remained significant after adjusting for BMI, WC, and TNF-α. Thus, future research should investigate whether D5D inhibition may occur through a C-peptide mediated pathway.
See Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Sarah Palin Run? Party, Ideology, and the Influence of Female Role Models on Young Women:

Previous research suggests that women’s descriptive representation may have a role-model effect on young women, encouraging them to greater levels of political participation. Using data from the Monitoring the Future Survey and the National Survey of Political and Civic Engagement of Young People, we examine whether highly visible female role models like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Sarah Palin, and viable female candidates for governor and senator had a role-model effect on young women. At the national level, we find some evidence of a role-model effect resulting from the election of Speaker Pelosi and the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton, but the effects are largely concentrated among young women who are Democratic and liberal. We find little evidence that Sarah Palin’s vice-presidential run had a role-model effect on young women, regardless of party or ideology. Our state-level analysis of viable female gubernatorial and senatorial candidates finds that role-model effects on young women ...
Flexible planning of transmission system with large wind farm based on multi-scenario probability

The probability distribution of wind farm power output is simulated with Monte Carlo method.Based on the multi-scenario probability method, the uncertain factors,such as wind farm power output,load change and economy,are described by scenario analysis and probability calculation.The objective functions are distinguished based on the probability of scenario occurrence.With the maximum overload rate of single line as the criterion of flexible constraint and the overload situations of both single line and whole lines considered,the overload situations in steady state and N-1 accident conditions are analyzed respectively.As the attitudes of different deciders toward the line overload rate in N-1 accident condition are distinguished by the weights,the decider-oriented flexible planning scheme of power transmission system with large-scale wind farm can be quickly and accurately achieved,meeting the actual needs of project much better.Simulation of Garver 6-bus system shows its feasibility.
Preparation of Graphite Coating on Nickel Substrate by Molten Salt Electrolysis

Graphite coating was prepared on nickel cathode by electrochemical reduction of carbonate ion in Li F-Li2CO3 molten salt. The electrochemical behavior of carbonate ion was investigated using cyclic voltammetry. The influences of temperature and deposition potential on surface morphology of the coating were studied by scanning electron microscopy and the property of the coating was analyzed. The results showed that the electrochemical reduction of carbonate ion to form carbon is an irreversible process. The cathode coating deposited at 690 ℃ and- 1. 5 V is jagged combined between the carburized layer and nickel substrate. The surface of coating prepared at- 1. 1 V has a spherical particles appearance,while the surface of coating prepared at- 1. 7 V appears a whisker structure. The corrosion potential of nickel in 3. 5% Na Cl solution increases by 739 m V because of the formation of graphite coating.
The Use of Fluoroscopy

Urodynamic studies assess the functionality of the lower urinary tract (bladder and urethra) by measuring pressure and flow. The diagnostic accuracy of urodynamics can be increased by the addition of fluoroscopy, which allows radiologic assessment of the anatomy of the lower urinary tract in real time. Synergistic assessment of lower urinary tract anatomy and function with fluoroscopy and urodynamics, respectively, provides the most comprehensive evaluation of the lower urinary tract. When both urodynamics and fluoroscopy are combined, the study is referred to as a videourodynamic study (VUDS).
Obedience: Ancient and Modern

Knowing when to disobey legitimate authority is an acute problem for those who live in modernity’s wake. The political and social requirement to obey government must be weighed against the knowledge that this fundamental requirement of civilized societies can lead, indeed has lead, to some of the worst crimes committed against human beings. While the chapters that follow will consider the theoretical resources available for disobeying authority and justifying disobedience, here we will examine the dilemma of obedience.
MoS2 as a co-catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production from water

Solar-to-hydrogen conversion based on photocatalytic water splitting is a promising pathway for sustainable hydrogen production. The photocatalytic process requires highly active, inexpensive, and earth-abundant materials as photocatalysts. As a presentative layer-structured transition metal dichalcogenides, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is attracting intensive attention due to its unique electro and photo properties. In this article, we comprehensively review the recent research efforts of exploring MoS2 as a co-catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production from water, with emphasis on its combination with CdS, CdSe, graphene, carbon nitride, TiO2, and others. It is shown that MoS2–semiconductor composites are promising photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution from water under visible light irradiation.
Fracture surface characterization of concrete

The objective of this paper is to characterize fracture surfaces of concrete, with varying maximum aggregate sizes d max , by utilizing the concept of fractal geometry. Three different aggregate sizes (d max = 37.5 mm, 18.9 mm and 4.7 mm) of crushed limestone were used. A promising new non-destructive approach to evaluate fractal dimension, as a measure of fracture surface roughness, is presented. The fractal dimension D of the fracture surface was shown to increase monotonically with the increase in d max . Fractal dimension D of the fracture surfaces was found in a range of 2.10-2.22.
Number of Transmit Antennas Detection Using Time-Diversity of the Fading Channel

Detection of the number of transmit antennas plays an important role in the design of adaptive multiantenna wireless communication systems. This paper develops a detection algorithm based on second- and fourth-order statistics of the received signal and time-varying nature of the wireless channel. In contrast to existing feature-based algorithms, the proposed algorithm does not require a priori information about the transmitted signals, such as coding scheme, modulation type, and pilot patterns. Unlike information-theoretic algorithms, it does not require the number of receive antennas to be larger than that of transmit antennas. In fact, the proposed algorithm is capable of operating with a single receive antenna even for large numbers of transmit antennas. The performance analysis of the proposed algorithm is provided, and the results are verified through simulations. The algorithm exhibits a good performance over a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios, and is robust to the carrier frequency and timing offsets.
Managing Groin Wounds after Infrainguinal Vascular Procedures: Examining the Reoperative Events and Complication Profile of Muscle Flap Reconstruction.

Background The literature has been void of large outcome studies detailing the efficacy and complication profile of muscle flap reconstruction of complex groin wounds. Furthermore, a first-line choice for muscle flap selection remains unclear. The aim of this study is 2-fold: (1) to examine the complication profile and associated risk factors following muscle flap coverage and (2) to provide a compared efficacy analysis of the sartorius muscle flap (SMF) versus the rectus femoris flap (RFF) in the treatment of wounds following an infrainguinal vascular procedure. Methods A retrospective review of records was performed on all patients undergoing complex groin wound reconstruction from January 2005 to September 2014. Results A total of 201 flaps were performed on 184 patients. There were no sentinel bleeding events through the course of graft salvage or perioperative morbidity beyond local wound complications. Coronary artery disease (P = 0.049), dyslipidemia (P < 0.001), diabetes (P = 0.047), and history of multiple prior infrainguinal procedures (P = 0.029) were associated with increased complications following groin wound reconstruction. There was no statistically significant difference in complications in comparing the RFF versus the SMF (27.9% vs. 38.9% respectively; P = 0.109). There was no significant difference in the rates of graft salvage in comparing the RFF versus the SMF (21.6% vs. 16.1%, respectively; P = 0.459). Conclusions Muscle flap coverage can be safely employed for vascular graft salvage. Medical comorbidities and multiple prior infrainguinal procedures are predictive of perioperative complications. The SMF and RFF demonstrated equivocal rates of complications and graft salvage. Given that the RFF risks increased functional morbidity and necessitates a second donor site, the SMF may be considered as an effective first-line approach for reconstruction of complex groin wounds.
Highly Stretchable and Wearable Strain Sensor Based on Printable Carbon Nanotube Layers/Polydimethylsiloxane Composites with Adjustable Sensitivity

Strain sensors that are capable of monitoring complex human motions with high accuracy are highly desirable for developing wearable electronics. This paper reports the fabrication of highly stretchable and sensitive multidirectional strain sensors with tunable strain gauge factors by employing a digitally controlled printer to incorporate carbon nanotube (CNT) layers into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. The fabricated sensors exhibit a high stretchability (up to 45%) and sensitivity with a gauge factor of 35.75. The gauge factors could be easily modulated by tuning the number of CNT printing cycles to accommodate diverse requirements. The cyclic loading–unloading test results revealed that the composite strain sensors exhibited excellent long-term durability. Particularly, in this work, for the first time, human-motion-induced strain was measured by a motion capture system and compared with the strain data obtained from the fabricated strain sensors. The deviation of strains measured by composite ...
Potentially traumatic events in youth with and at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Aim Previous research has demonstrated a strong association between early trauma exposure and the development of psychotic symptoms. However, few of these studies have included young adolescents and children. This study investigated rates and number of potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs) among typically developing youth (TD; n = 21), youth at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR; n = 38), and youth with a psychotic disorder (PD; n = 28) between 7 and 18 years of age. CHR participants were further evaluated to determine whether a history of PTEs was associated with prodromal symptom severity. Methods Study group inclusion was determined by structured interviews. Trauma history was assessed using the post-traumatic stress disorder module of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version. CHR participants with vs without a history of PTEs were compared on severity of prodromal symptoms. Results CHR and PD participants reported significantly higher rates and numbers of PTEs than TD participants. Contrary to expectations and prior research, CHR participants with vs without a history of PTEs did not differ in prodromal symptom severity. Explanations and implications for the findings are discussed. Conclusions These findings suggest that the relationship between trauma and the development of psychotic symptoms extends to children and adolescents as young as 7 years of age. This study underscores the importance of screening for trauma exposure among youth seeking treatment for psychotic symptoms.
Anesthesiology Effect of Intravenous Sedation on the Outcome of Transvaginal Oocyte Retrieval: A Comparative Study of Propofol- and Methohexital-Based Techniques

This study retrospectively compares patients who underwent outpatient transvaginal follicle aspiration with either a propofol- or methohexital-based intravenous sedation technique. Data collected f...
Modeling and Managing Uncertainty in Process Planning and Scheduling

Uncertainty appears in all the different levels of the industry from the detailed process description to multisite manufacturing. The successful utilization of process models relies heavily on the ability to handle system variability. Thus modeling and managing uncertainty in process planning and scheduling has received a lot of attention in the open literature in recent years from chemical engineering and operations research communities. The purpose of this chapter is to review the main methodologies that have been developed to address the problem of uncertainty in production planning and scheduling as well as to identify the main challenges in this area. The uncertainties in process operations are first analyzed, and the different mathematical approaches that exist to describe process uncertainties are classified. Based on the different descriptions for the uncertainties, alternative planning and scheduling approaches and relevant optimization models are reviewed and discussed. Further research challenges in the field of planning and scheduling under uncertainty are identified and some new ideas are discussed.
Effect of a Minimal Spacing between Inhomogeneities on the Effective Moduli of Isotropic Plates with Circular Inhomogeneities

An interaction factor is used to characterize the effect of the interactions among inhomogeneities on the effective moduli. Many circular samples of plates are generated using a random number generator. When randomly generating a sample, a minimal spacing between inhomogeneities is set. Then, simulations using FEM are carried out to check the effect of the minimal spacing on the interaction factor. FEM results show that the interaction factor decreases as the minimal spacing increases.
The complex entanglement of Hippo-Yap/Taz signaling in tumor immunity

The Hippo-Yap/Taz pathway, originally identified as a central developmental regulator of organ size, has been found perturbed in many types of human tumors, and linked to tumor growth, survival, evasion, metastasis, stemness, and drug resistance. Beside these tumor-cell-intrinsic functions, Hippo signaling also plays important immune-regulatory roles. In this review, we will summarize and discuss recent breakthroughs in our understanding of how various components of the Hippo-Yap/Taz pathway influence the tumor immune microenvironment, including their effects on the tumor secretome and immune infiltrates, their roles in regulating crosstalk between tumor cells and T cells, and finally their intrinsic functions in various types of innate and adaptive immune cells. While further research is needed to integrate and reconcile existing findings and to discern the overall effects of Hippo signaling on tumor immunity, it is clear that Hippo signaling functions as a key bridge connecting tumor cells with both the adaptive and innate immune systems. Thus, all future therapeutic development against the Hippo-Yap/Taz pathway should take into account their multi-faceted roles in regulating tumor immunity in addition to their growth-regulatory functions. Given that immune therapies have become the mainstay of cancer treatment, it is also important to pursue how to manipulate Hippo signaling to boost response or overcome resistance to existing immune therapies.
Microporous and hollow carbon spheres derived from soft drinks: Promising CO2 separation materials

Abstract In this work, we demonstrate that a simple hydrothermal treatment followed by pyrolysis of regular and diet soft drinks can generate well-defined carbon structures including solid and hollow spheres with a high degree of microporosity. These materials show high and selective CO 2 adsorption with a capacity up to 4.65 mmol g −1 at 0 °C and 1 bar depending on the particular soft drink used as the precursor. Isosteric heats of adsorption ranged from 22.3 kJ mol −1 to 29.2 kJ mol −1 which suggests a relatively low regeneration energy for ease of re-use. Carbon dioxide adsorption cycles were repeated for ten cycles with no loss of capacity confirming the reusability of the carbon. We also explore the effect of artificial sweeteners on the morphology and CO 2 interaction of the resulting carbon materials. These results show that waste soft drinks can be used to create high-value, porous carbon materials for applications such as carbon capture.
Beyond CLIP: advances and opportunities to measure RBP-RNA and RNA-RNA interactions.

RNA is an essential player in almost all biological processes, and has an ever-growing number of roles in regulating cellular growth and organization. RNA functions extend far beyond just coding for proteins and RNA has been shown to function in signaling events, chromatin organization and transcriptional regulation. Dissecting how the complex network of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and regulatory RNAs interact with their substrates within the cell is a real, but exciting, challenge for the RNA community. Investigating these biological questions has fueled the development of new quantitative technologies to measure how RNA and RBPs interact both locally and on a global scale. In this review, we provide an assessment of available approaches to enable researchers to select the protocol most applicable for their experimental question.
The Cross Section of Monetary Policy Announcement Premium

Using the expected option-implied variance reduction to measure the sensitivity of stock returns to monetary policy announcement surprises, this paper shows that monetary policy announcements require significant risk compensation in the cross section of equity returns. We present evidence that our sensitivity measure captures the exposure of stock returns with respect to growth rate expectations. We develop a parsimonious equilibrium model in which FOMC announcements reveal the Federal Reserve's interest rate target, which affects the expected growth rate of the economy. Our model accounts for the dynamics of implied variances and the cross section of the monetary policy announcement premium realized around FOMC announcement days.
A Step-Up Approach to Infected Abdominal Fluid Collections: Not Just for Pancreatitis.

Background: More than 145,500 abdominal abscesses occur annually in the U.S. Percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) is the primary treatment for clinically significant intra-abdominal collections (IACs), but only approximately 90% of all IACs are treatable with PCD. This leaves a significant number of patients facing long courses of management, including multiple interventions. Minimally invasive debridement techniques are now employed regularly for the treatment of infected necrosis caused by acute pancreatitis. We describe the use of minimally invasive videoscopic debridement techniques employed as part of a "step-up" approach to resolve IACs of other etiologies that are unresponsive to PCD. Methods: Data of all patients undergoing this procedure at a tertiary referral academic center from 2015 to 2017 after failure of different PCD techniques were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Four men and two women, mean age 54.6 years (range 26-70 years), with refractory IACs (mean drainage time 91.3 days; mean number of drainage procedures 4.6) following a variety of surgical interventions and inflammatory conditions underwent either video-assisted retroperitoneal debridement or sinus tract endoscopic debridement with a rigid or flexible endoscope. Technical success was achieved in all cases, and clinical success was observed in five cases. No immediate procedural complications were detected. The mean hospital stay and post-procedure drainage times were 5.5 and 25.2 days, respectively. There were no recurrent IACs. Conclusion: Minimally invasive debridement techniques can safely resolve IACs refractory to standard PCD techniques. Employment of these techniques as part of a step-up approach may reduce the morbidity and duration of drainage for the thousands of patients treated annually who have refractory IACs, whatever their etiology.
53 Transcriptomic profiles of uniform populations of in vivo-produced spherical, ovoid, or tubular porcine embryos during the initiation of elongation

Signalling interactions among littermate porcine conceptuses during embryo elongation can alter the expression of genes that are essential in promoting successful embryo elongation. Understanding the differential expression of critical genes from uniform littermate conceptuses as they undergo the initiation of elongation can help identify critical pathways and genes to facilitate improved synchronization of embryo elongation and birthweight uniformity. The objective of this study was to identify differential gene expression from uniform porcine conceptuses as they transition through spherical (S), ovoid (O), and tubular (T) morphologies during the initiation of elongation in vivo. White crossbred gilts (n = 22) were bred at oestrus (designated as Day 0 of gestation) and harvested at Day 9, 10, or 11 of gestation to obtain corresponding uniform populations of each embryo morphology. Reproductive tracts were immediately collected and flushed with 40 mL of RPMI-1640 medium. Based on morphology, embryos were assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) uniform S (n = 8); (2) uniform O (n = 8); or (3) uniform T (n = 6) in which at least 80% of the embryos within each litter corresponded to the latest stage morphology. RNA-Seq was performed from 22 libraries constructed from a single in vivo-produced embryo from the uniform populations of S, O, or T embryos. Differentially expressed genes (DEG) and pathway analysis were evaluated using DESEqn 2 and iPathwayGuide, respectively. For the S vs. O comparison, 5726 DEG and 7 pathways were significantly enriched, including ribosome biogenesis, spliceosome, pyrimidine metabolism, RNA polymerase, one carbon pool by folate, ECM-receptor interaction, and MAPK signaling pathways. For the S vs. T comparison, 5914 DEG and 7 pathways were significantly enriched, including ribosome biogenesis, DNA replication, pyrimidine metabolism, cell cycle, mismatch repair, spliceosome, and one carbon pool by folate pathways. Interestingly, most of the transcripts in pathways involving DNA processing, nucleotide metabolism, transcription, and post-transcriptional modifications were upregulated in S embryos compared with O and T embryos. For the O vs. T comparison, only 20 DEG were identified and no pathways were found to be significant after FDR adjustment. These data illustrate dramatic changes in the transcriptomes from pre-elongation stage S embryos compared with transitional stage O and T embryos, and provide putative genes and pathways involved in internal signals for the initiation of embryo elongation in pigs. The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Funding was provided by USDA-NIFA-AFRI grant no. 2017-67015-26456.
On the Capacity Region of the Three-Receiver Broadcast Channel With Receiver Message Cognition

This paper investigates the three-receiver (Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 ) discrete memoryless (DM) broadcast channel (BC) for eight receive message cognition settings in which the weakest receiver Y 3 knows the message intended for the intermediate receiver Y 2 , Y 2 may or may not know the message intended for Y 3 , and the strongest receiver Y 1 knows none, one, or both of the messages intended for receivers Y 2 and Y 3 . For these eight settings, but for the Gaussian BC, the capacity regions were obtained previously by Asadi et al. In this paper, we establish the capacity regions for all eight cases for the class of less noisy DM BCs, thereby lifting the previously known capacity results from the Gaussian BC to the less noisy BC. To further expand the optimality results to strictly larger classes of broadcast channels, we propose a coding scheme that includes rate-splitting and indirect decoding, techniques not needed for the less noisy or Gaussian BCs, for four of the eight message cognition cases in which receiver Y 2 knows the message intended for Y 3 , and show that this more general scheme achieves capacity without requiring that receiver Y 2 be stronger than Y 3 in any sense (and when Y 1 knows the message intended for Y 2 , Y 1 is not required to be stronger than Y 2 either whereas when Y 1 does not know the message intended for Y 2 it is assumed that Y 1 is more capable than Y 2 ) whereas it is assumed that Y 1 is less noisy than Y 3 in all four cases. Moreover, the converse proof for the second set of capacity results require both the Nair-Wang information inequality and the Csiszar sum lemma.
Response to Peeters and Schmunde: Toward More Clarity in the Use of the Terms Assessment and Program Evaluation.

We appreciate the comments from Peeters and Schmunde[1][1] regarding: the difficulties in using the terms assessment and program evaluation , and the utility of using qualifiers prior to the term assessment (eg, student learning outcomes assessment, institutional effectiveness assessment[2][2]) as a
The Dialects of Spanish: A Lexical Introduction

Spanish is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world, and there is extensive lexical variation between its numerous dialects. This book, the first of its kind, focuses uniquely on the origin, diversity, and geographic distribution of portions of the lexicon. The hundreds of words analysed – related to food, clothing, vehicles, and certain miscellaneous items – provide a representative study not only of the many etymological routes by which they have entered the Spanish language over time, but of the considerable diatopic variety which they display across the different Spanish-speaking nations and regions. Representative maps are provided to illustrate several instances of these astounding dialectal differences. This variation is also discussed in terms of its evident link to the historical developments of Spanish. Providing a compelling overview of lexical variety in the Spanish-speaking world, this book will interest anyone who wants to delve into the richness of this fascinating language.
Intra-and Interpersonal Factors Buffer the Relationship between Food Insecurity and Mental Well-Being among Middle Schoolers.

Background Food insecurity (FI) is a significant predictor of feelings of isolation in children, as well as suicide ideation and depression. Using a census of public middle school-aged children, we seek to determine whether FI is associated with suicide ideation and feelings of hopelessness and how individual and school community factors can alleviate or exacerbate this relationship. Methods We analyzed data from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey, conducted statewide by the Vermont Department of Health and administered to all public middle schoolers (N = 13,648). Questions were asked about FI, suicidal thoughts, feelings of hopelessness, perceptions of teaching and community care, physical activity, breakfast consumption, and demographics. Bivariate and cross-tabular analyses were conducted in SPSS, and regressions and Sobel tests were conducted in STATA. Results Results show that FI is associated with decreases in psychological well-being as measured by suicide ideation and feelings of hopelessness in students. However, students who reported eating breakfast regularly, feeling connected to their community or having a positive relationship with a teacher had significantly lower instances of suicide ideation and hopelessness. Conclusion Suicide prevention programs should focus on enhancing community connection and student-teacher relationships and increasing funding for breakfast programs in schools.
Resilience-Oriented DG Siting and Sizing Considering Stochastic Scenario Reduction

In this paper, a fuel-based distributed generator (DG) allocation strategy is proposed to enhance the distribution system resilience against extreme weather. The long-term planning problem is formulated as a two-stage stochastic mixed-integer programming (SMIP). The first stage is to make decisions of DG siting and sizing under the given budget constraint. In the second stage, a post-extreme-event-restoration (PEER) is employed to minimize the operating cost in an uncertain fault scenario. In particular, this study proposes a method to select the most representative scenarios for the SMIP. First, a Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) is introduced to generate sufficient scenarios considering random fault locations and load profiles. Then, the number of scenarios is reduced by the K-means clustering algorithm. The advantage of scenario reduction is to make a trade-off between accuracy and computational efficiency. Finally, the SMIP is solved by the progressive hedging algorithm. The case studies of the IEEE 33-bus and 123-bus test systems demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in reducing the expected energy not served (EENS), which is a critical criterion of resilience.
Learning Robust Agents for Visual Navigation in Dynamic Environments: The Winning Entry of iGibson Challenge 2021.

This paper presents an approach for improving navigation in dynamic and interactive environments, which won the 1st place in the iGibson Interactive Navigation Challenge 2021. While the last few years have produced impressive progress on PointGoal Navigation in static environments, relatively little effort has been made on more realistic dynamic environments. The iGibson Challenge proposed two new navigation tasks, Interactive Navigation and Social Navigation, which add displaceable obstacles and moving pedestrians into the simulator environment. Our approach to study these problems uses two key ideas. First, we employ large-scale reinforcement learning by leveraging the Habitat simulator, which supports high performance parallel computing for both simulation and synchronized learning. Second, we employ a new data augmentation technique that adds more dynamic objects into the environment, which can also be combined with traditional image-based augmentation techniques to boost the performance further. Lastly, we achieve sim-to-sim transfer from Habitat to the iGibson simulator, and demonstrate that our proposed methods allow us to train robust agents in dynamic environments with interactive objects or moving humans. Video link: this https URL
Drug removal by continuous arteriovenous haemofiltration. A review of the evidence in poisoned patients.

Several recent reviews have described the principles and clinical findings regarding haemoperfusion and haemodialysis in the removal of intoxicating drugs (Bennett et aI. 1987; Blye et al. 1984; Cutler et al. 1987; Winchester et al. 1977). This correspondence will primarily address drug removal by haemofiltration, a therapy ignored in earlier works. The role of haemofiltration to remove intoxicating drugs is not yet defined. This review will describe how drug removal by haemofiltration (convective transport) differs from that of haemoperfusion (sorbent-binding) or dialysis (diffusive transport). What is known about the convective transport of drugs is almost exclusively limited to therapeutic agents, but the principles can be extrapolated to other settings. Direct comparisons of extracorporeally facilitated drug removal (EFDR) techniques are scarce (Pauls et al. 1984) or anecdotal.
Mathematical Model of High School Dropout: Parental Involvement and Peer Interactions

In 2012, more than 3 million students dropped out from high school. At this pace, we will have more than thirty million Americans without a high school degree by 2022. Recent data (The National Center for Education Statistics, 2012) shows increasing trends in dropout rates. This problem is a result of complex social processes that affects the future of our young men and women. Despite the policies and recommendations by school boards and governments,the dropout has been unmanageable by many school districts. In this research, we have developed and analyzed a mathematical model that includes multiple interacting mechanisms that affects the dynamics of dropouts in high schools. The model analysis suggests social influences on and off campus and parental guidance are two factors that can significantly affect the dropout rates in high schools.Furthermore, parental guidance is found to be a significant factor only under a low level of negative social influence within the school.However, if the negative social influence increases beyond a critical value, parental involvement becomes negligible.
Fundamental Motor Skills and School-Aged Individuals with Visual Impairments: a Review

The purpose of this paper was to review the published research literature on fundamental motor skills (FMS) for school-aged individuals with visual impairment by describing study characteristics and major findings of the extant literature. Keyword searchers were used to identify articles from electronic databases published between 1982 and 2014. Eleven articles met all inclusion criteria, and relevant data were extracted from them. Of the 11 studies, six were comparative, two were correlational, two were validation studies, one was descriptive, and none were interventions. Major findings suggest that, in comparison to peers without disabilities, those with visual impairments tend to perform significantly greater delays in FMS.
Diversity and invasion within a predator community: impacts on herbivore suppression

Summary 1. Management strategies to enhance ecosystem services in agroecosystems often seek to increase predator biodiversity. Invaders commonly dominate predator communities in agricultural landscapes, however, and the impacts of exotic predators on native predators and ecosystem services are largely unknown. Exotic predators may complement native predator diversity and enhance herbivore suppression, or they may disrupt herbivore suppression through predator interference. 2. We examined the impacts of a dominant exotic predator within the diverse predator community of a California vineyard. Interactions between the exotic wandering spider Cheiracanthium mildei, its closest native ecological homologue (the wandering spider Anyphaena pacifica) and a native spider displaying a different hunting mode (the cobweb-weaving spider Theridion melanurum) were tested in a manipulative field experiment, with the grape leafhopper Erythroneura elegantula acting as a shared herbivore prey source. 3. We found that the exotic wandering spider suppressed both grape leafhoppers and other unmanipulated leafhopper species that were present in cages. Native spiders had little or no impacts on leafhopper suppression. Thus, C. mildei appears to drive predatory impacts in this system, although evidence also indicated that it is limited by intraspecific interactions. The superior predatory ability displayed by this spider may be shared by other invasive predators that dominate agroecosystems. 4. Despite its effects on leafhoppers, C. mildei negatively impacted a range of spider species, including A. pacifica, T. melanurum, and other unmanipulated native spiders. These impacts are likely to have been mediated through intraguild predation. The wandering hunting mode of C. mildei may have facilitated its role as an intraguild predator. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results highlight the sometimes conflicting aims of biological control and conservation. Here, a dominant invasive predator increased ecosystem services but also caused declines in numbers of native predators. As disturbed conditions in agroecosystems are likely to put invasive predators at an adaptive advantage, efforts to conserve biodiversity in agricultural landscapes should focus on shifting the outcomes of species interactions to favour native species.
Public Attitudes Towards Space Science

Astronomy and space science, including their associated basic research activities, enjoy broad popular backing. People generally support them, and say that they follow their results with interest. This article summarizes some of the detailed results of public surveys in the United States, focusing on popular opinions and attitudes, and the somewhat paradoxical finding that despite being interested and supportive, people are often ignorant about the basic facts. I explore some of the reasons for the popularity of space science, and suggest ways of justifying space science research in the broader context of science research. I argue that vigorous and innovative education and outreach programs are important, and can be made even more effective.
Biochemical characterization of a novel high-affinity and specific plasma kallikrein inhibitor

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Kallikrein acts on high molecular weight kininogen (HK) to generate HKa (cleaved HK) and bradykinin (BK). BK exerts its effects by binding to B2 receptors. The activation of B2 receptors leads to the formation of tissue plasminogen activator, nitric oxide (NO) and prostacyclin (PGI2). An elevated kallikrein-dependent pathway has been linked to cardiovascular disease risk. The aim of this study was to investigate whether our novel plasma kallikrein inhibitor abolishes kallikrein-mediated generation of BK from HK and subsequent BK-induced NO and PGI2 formation, thereby influencing endothelial pathophysiology during chronic inflammatory diseases. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Kinetic analysis was initially used to determine the potency of PF-04886847. Biochemical ligand binding assays, immunological methods and calcium flux studies were used to determine the selectivity of the kallikrein inhibitor. In addition, the effect of PF-04886847 on BK-induced relaxation of the rat aortic ring was determined in a model of lipopolysaccharide-induced tissue inflammation. KEY RESULTS Evidence was obtained in vitro and in situ, indicating that PF-04886847 is a potent and specific inhibitor of plasma kallikrein. PF-04886847 efficiently blocked calcium influx as well as NO and PGI2 formation mediated through the BK-stimulated B2 receptor signalling pathway. PF-04886847 blocked kallikrein-induced endothelial-dependent relaxation of isolated rat aortic rings pre-contracted with phenylephrine. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS PF-04886847 was shown to be the most potent small molecule inhibitor of plasma kallikrein yet described; it inhibited kallikrein in isolated aortic rings and cultured endothelial cells. Overall, our results indicate that PF-04886847 would be useful for the treatment of kallikrein-mediated inflammatory disorders.
Reticuloendotheliosis virus REV-T(REV-A)-induced neoplasia: development of tumors within the T-lymphoid and myeloid lineages.

Abstract Infection of 1-day-old chicks with reticuloendotheliosis virus strain T induces a neoplastic disease that kills the chicks 7 to 14 days postinfection. In association with reticuloendotheliosis-associated virus (REV-A), reticuloendotheliosis virus T (REV-T) induces tumors that are predominantly immunoglobulin M (IgM) negative. We examined a variety of REV-T(REV-A)-induced tumors and tumor-derived cell lines and concluded that the principal IgM-negative tumors that develop in REV-T(REV-A)-infected chicks are neither pre-B or pre-B-pre-T but rather mature T lymphoid and myeloid. Without exception, the immunoglobulin heavy- and light-chain loci were in germ line configuration. Furthermore, the cell lines expressed neither sterile transcripts of the heavy- or light-chain immunoglobulin genes nor elevated levels of c-myb, two characteristics associated with murine pre-B lymphomas. Cell lines were also examined by using monoclonal antibodies for expression of a variety of cell surface markers expressed on B lymphocytes and/or T lymphocytes and/or myeloid cells. These reagents defined two types of IgM-negative tumor cell lines, one CIa+ CT-3+ (T lymphoid) and the other CIa+ CT-3-. By using the same approaches, tumor development was examined following REV-T(REV-A) infection at 1 and 3 weeks post-hatching of cyclophosphamide-treated chicks shown to be devoid of B-lymphoid cells. Again, the tumors that developed were either CIa+ CT-3+ (T lymphoid) or CIa+ CT-3-. Furthermore, the frequency and rate with which IgM-negative tumors developed in cyclophosphamide-treated chicks were not different from those observed in normal chicks. In 3-week-old cyclophosphamide-treated chicks, the presence of CIa+ CT-3- tumors bearing hematopoietic lineage markers, such as CLA-3 and 5M19, are most likely to have been derived from cells within the myeloid lineage.
Structure of the Troponin Complex: Implications of Photocross-Linking of Troponin I to Troponin C Thiol Mutants

Ca2+ regulation of vertebrate-striated muscle contraction is initiated by conformational changes in the Ca(2+)-binding protein troponin C (TnC) and subsequent changes in the interaction of TnC with the inhibitory protein TnI. We have constructed mutants of rabbit skeletal muscle TnC in which natural Cys-98 was replaced by Leu, and a single Cys residue was introduced at position 12 (TnC12) or 89 (TnC89). Cys residues of mutant TnCs were derivatized with 4-maleimidobenzophenone and photocross-linked to TnI in binary TnC.TnI complexes. After digestion with CNBr or proteases, cross-linked peptides were purified and sequenced. TnC12 cross-linked at or near TnI Met-134 in a region known to be sensitive not only to occupancy of the regulatory Ca(2+)-binding sites of TnC but also to the contractile state of the thin filament. TnC89 cross-linked to TnI(108-113) in the inhibitory region. Taken together with earlier findings, these results indicate that in the TnC.TnI complex, both domains of TnC, as well as the linker region between them, make contact with the inhibitory region of TnI. Our data also indicate that the N- and C-terminal domains of TnC interact with opposite ends of the TnI inhibitory region.
Influence of wind stress and ambient flow on a high discharge river plume

[1] The response of a high discharge river plume to an alongshore ambient flow and wind forcing is studied with a three-dimensional numerical model. The study extends prior model studies of plumes by including (1) a very large volume discharge (14,000 m3 s−1, about twice the maximum used in other models), (2) ambient flow in a direction opposite to that of the propagation of coastally trapped waves, and (3) a sequence of wind direction reversals. The magnitude of the ambient flow, wind stress, estuary width, and river outflow are based on typical values for the Columbia River on the Washington coast. The model results challenge two longstanding notions about the Columbia plume; first, that plume orientation is in a relatively stable southwest position in summer. For example, with average discharge conditions (7000 m3 s−1) a summertime downwelling event can erode the southwestward plume and advect it to the north of the river mouth over several days. Second, the plume is not always unidirectional; branches can occur both upstream and downstream of the river mouth simultaneously. The model also provides an explanation for the observation that the plume rarely tends southward during the winter season; in contrast to summer conditions the rotational tendency of the plume and the ambient flow are in the same direction, so that wind stress must be be significant (>1.4 dynes cm−2 for at least 2 days) to reverse the plume direction. Distinct anticyclonic freshwater pools form in modeled plumes both north and south of the river mouth under steady forcing conditions when ambient flow is present. The scale of modeled pools is consistent with features observed in the Columbia plume.