cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Graph-based path planning for mobile robots

In this thesis, questions of navigation, planning and control of real-world mobile robotic systems are addressed. Chapter II contains the first contribution in this thesis, which is a modification of the canonical two-layer hybrid architecture: deliberative planning on top, with reactive behaviors underneath. Deliberative is used to describe higher-level reasoning that includes experiential memory and regional or global objectives. Alternatively, reactive describes low-level controllers that operate on information spatially and temporally immediate to the robot. In the traditional architecture, information is passed top down, with the deliberative layer dictating to the reactive layer. Chapter II presents our work on introducing feedback in the opposite direction, allowing the behaviors to provide information to the planning module(s). The path planning problem, particularly as it as solved by the visibility graph, is addressed first in Chapter III. Our so-called oriented visibility graph is a combinatorial planner with emphasis on dynamic re-planning in unknown environments at the expensive of guaranteed optimality at all times. An example of single source planning---where the goal location is known and static---this approach is compared to related approaches (e.g. the reduced visibility graph). The fourth chapter further develops the work presented in the Chapter III; the oriented visibility graph is extended to the hierarchical oriented visibility graph. This work directly addresses some of the limitations of the oriented visibility graph, particularly the loss of optimality in the case where obstacles are non-convex and where the convex hulls of obstacles overlap. This results in an approach that is a kind of middle-ground between the oriented visibility graph which was designed to handle dynamic updates very fast, and the reduced visibility graph, an old standard in path planning that guarantees optimality. Chapter V investigates path planning at a higher level of abstraction. Given is a weighted colored graph where vertices are assigned a color (or in other words class) that indicates a feature or quality of the environment associated with that vertex. The question is then asked, ''what is the globally optimal path through this weighted colored graph?" We answer this question with a mapping from classes and edge weights to a real number, and use Dijkstra's Algorithm to compute the best path. Correctness is proven and an implementation is highlighted.
Associations between at-risk alcohol use, substance use, and smoking with lipohypertrophy and lipoatrophy among patients living with HIV.

Abstract To examine associations between lipohypertrophy and lipoatrophy and illicit drug use, smoking, and at-risk alcohol use among a large diverse cohort of persons living with HIV (PLWH) in clinical care. 7,931 PLWH at six sites across the United States completed 21,279 clinical assessments, including lipohypertrophy and lipoatrophy, drug/alcohol use, physical activity level, and smoking. Lipohypertrophy and lipoatrophy were measured using the FRAM body morphology instrument and associations were assessed with generalized estimating equations. Lipohypertrophy (33% mild, 4% moderate-to-severe) and lipoatrophy (20% mild, 3% moderate-to-severe) were common. Older age, male sex, and higher current CD4 count were associated with more severe lipohypertrophy (p values <.001–.03). Prior methamphetamine or marijuana use, and prior and current cocaine use, were associated with more severe lipohypertrophy (p values <.001–.009). Older age, detectable viral load, and low current CD4 cell counts were associated wit...
Danger Talk: Sexual Error and the Limits of Thought: An Introduction

ABSTRACTThis article introduces a set of essays on the theme “Danger Talk: Sexual Error and the Limits of Thought.” To situate the essays, the author explains the original context for the essays: a 2016 forum at New York University (NYU) co-sponsored by NYU’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality and the journal Studies in Gender and Sexuality.
Education in times of environmental crises: teaching children to be agents of change edited by Ken Winograd

Humanity faces an ecological crisis on a global scale involving complex socio-scientific issues that assuredly warrant inclusion in science education (Kelly, 2014). Education in times of environmen...
Back to the History

An 82-year-old man presented to the emergency department with a 6-month history of worsening back and left hip pain. The pain did not radiate down his legs, but it occasionally woke him from sleep, was worse after activity, and was not relieved by bending forward.
Identity Work, Techniques of Neutralization, and Deviance: Exploring the Relationship Among Older Adult Gamblers

This study investigates the value of techniques of neutralization in understanding how people involved in marginal to widely deviant behaviors perform identity work. Based on 33 in-depth interviews with older adult gamblers, we show how techniques of neutralization are used to align personal and social identities. We describe the techniques of neutralizations our participants use along a continuum of gambling involvement, showing how techniques differ in variety and content and are contingent on larger narratives about appropriate behaviors, identities, and selves operating in contemporary society. Our research helps to refine sociologists' understandings of relationships between levels of involvement in deviant behaviors and identity work.
Minimally invasive therapies in the treatment of bone malignancies

In the past three decades many investigators have tried to apply thermally-mediated ablative procedures for the treatment of musculoskeletal neoplasms. Much of this preliminary work has been performed in animal models and small limited clinical studies. These studies have shown the techniques of cryosurgery, microwave, and radioffequency (RF) to have some utility in specific clinical situations and specific tumors . To date the most widely utilized techniques are cryosurgery in the operative setting of malignant or locally recurrent neoplasms without cross-sectional image guidance and percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of osteoid osteomas with computed tomographic (CT) guidance. This paper will briefly review the various thermallymediated techniques. Since RF ablation is currently the only minimally invasive modality being applied to bone tumors the specifics of RF ablation in the treatment of benign and malignant tumors will be the primary focus of discussion.
In vitro performance of DIAGNOdent laser fluorescence device for dental calculus detection on human tooth root surfaces

Abstract Objective This study assessed the reproducibility of a red diode laser device, and its capability to detect dental calculus in vitro on human tooth root surfaces. Material and methods On each of 50 extracted teeth, a calculus-positive and calculus-free root surface was evaluated by two independent examiners with a low-power indium gallium arsenide phosphide diode laser (DIAGNOdent) fitted with a periodontal probe-like sapphire tip and emitting visible red light at 655 nm wavelength. Laser autofluorescence intensity readings of examined root surfaces were scored on a 0–99 scale, with duplicate assessments performed using the laser probe tip directed both perpendicular and parallel to evaluated tooth root surfaces. Pearson correlation coefficients of untransformed measurements, and kappa analysis of data dichotomized with a >40 autofluorescence intensity threshold, were calculated to assess intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility of the laser device. Mean autofluorescence intensity scores of calculus-positive and calculus-free root surfaces were evaluated with the Student’s t -test. Results Excellent intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility was found for DIAGNOdent laser autofluorescence intensity measurements, with Pearson correlation coefficients above 94%, and kappa values ranging between 0.96 and 1.0, for duplicate readings taken with both laser probe tip orientations. Significantly higher autofluorescence intensity values were measured when the laser probe tip was directed perpendicular, rather than parallel, to tooth root surfaces. However, calculus-positive roots, particularly with calculus in markedly-raised ledges, yielded significantly greater mean DIAGNOdent laser autofluorescence intensity scores than calculus-free surfaces, regardless of probe tip orientation. DIAGNOdent autofluorescence intensity values >40 exhibited a stronger association with calculus (36.6 odds ratio) then measurements of ≥5 (20.1 odds ratio) when the laser probe tip was advanced parallel to root surfaces. Conclusions Excellent intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility of autofluorescence intensity measurements was obtained with the DIAGNOdent laser fluorescence device on human tooth roots. Calculus-positive root surfaces exhibited significantly greater DIAGNOdent laser autofluorescence than calculus-free tooth roots, even with the laser probe tip directed parallel to root surfaces. These findings provide further in vitro validation of the potential utility of a DIAGNOdent laser fluorescence device for identifying dental calculus on human tooth root surfaces.
From first-to third-order social change in development engineering: A case study

Drawing inspiration from the psychological literature on social change [e.g., 1, 2], we classify approaches to development engineering into three categories based on the depth, sustainability, and scalability of the resultant change within a community. In this context, we define “first-order change” as charity or direct service, in which a donor meets the immediate needs of a beneficiary; we define “second-order change” as empowerment of individuals to meet their own needs; and we define “third-order change” as empowerment of a community to tackle the underlying causes of their needs. These three levels of change are explored through a case study of a multi-year project to address the lack of reliable and affordable lighting in a rural village in the Philippines. The project has been undertaken by an interdisciplinary team of undergraduates and faculty at the University of California, San Diego, in partnership with Gawad Kalinga, a Philippines-based poverty-reduction NGO. The project has evolved through three phases corresponding to the three orders of change. The first phase consisted of designing and deploying a single, large solar street lamp, which only provided light to a small portion of the village. In the second phase, the team taught several villagers how to fabricate portable and affordable solar “tiki torch” lamps using local materials and skills. Building on the success of phase two, the team is now assisting the village in establishing a community-owned social enterprise to manufacture the solar “tiki torch” lamps and market them to surrounding communities. Based on results from this case study, the following generalized guidelines are offered to aid development engineers in achieving more sustainable outcomes, shared prosperity, and self-determination among target beneficiaries through third-order change: 1) adopt a “searcher” mindset, 2) think big, build small, 3) build capacities, not things, 4) move beyond basic needs, and 5) reflect and iterate.
Ultraviolet Observations of Rapidly Rotating B-Type Stars

Evidence of anomalous C—N abundances in the atmospheres of six rapidly rotating B-type stars has been found from an LTE analysis of ultraviolet line spectra obtained by Copernicus. Such anomalies are in the direction (carbon depletion, nitrogen enhancement) predicted by Paczynski (1971), but the extent of the anomaly grows toward earlier spectral type, contrary to Paczynski’s predictions.
Etanercept in rheumatology

Robust efficacy results have been demonstrated for etanercept in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. The safety of etanercept is discussed elsewhere. Etanercept therapy represents a rational, mechanism-based targeted approach to the treatment of rheumatic diseases for which the cytokine TNF-α plays an important role.
Tapeworms of Minor Medical Importance

Hymenolepis nana is commonly found in human populations throught the world. 1 This cyclophyllidean tapeworm was identified as a pathopen by Bilharz2 in 1852 during an autopsy of a child. It in now known to be a cosmopolitan parasite. Hymenolepis nana is small, measuring 34–45 mm in length. The adult consists of 150–200 proglottids and lives loosely attached to the wall of the small intestine.
Injection of Molten Solder (IMS) Technology for Solder Bumping on Wafers, Ceramic/Organic/Flexible Substrates, and Si Via Filling from Fine Pitch to Large Pitch

We developed a tool of molten solder injection which is able to form solder bumping on wafers, ceramic/organic substrates, flexible circuits, and Si via filling from fine pitch to large pitch. One tool has capabilities of solder bumping on wafers from 15 microns diameter to larger than 1000 microns diameter, bumping on organic substrates from flip chip pre-solder to BGA size, soldering on flexible circuits with < 25 microns width of circle and square shape, and via filling of Si wafer with various via diameters. Also, this tool enables the change of solder composition to be very easy and fast because simple switch of the solder injection head allows to change the solder composition like switching an ink cartridge in an inkjet printer. The solder injection tool head contains a reservoir of molten solder of desired composition and a slot through which the molten solder is injected with an optimized combination of pressure and temperature. The solder injection slot of the head is configured in the portion of compliant material and low friction material such that this combination provides good wiping characteristics as well as allowing the IMS head to better track surface topography of an organic substrate. This paper will review key attributes of the molten solder injection tool and discuss differences in the processes required for each different applications of solder bumping on Si wafers and ceramic/organic/flexible substrates as well as filling solder into Si vias. We will describe data of 200mm wafer bumping results with different bump diameters and shape, solder bumping results on organic and ceramic substrates, soldering on flexible circuits, and via filling results of Si. Also, solder alloy flexibility of this technology has been demonstrated from low melting temperature Pb-free solders to high melting temperature Pb-free solders.
Association of sleep with neurobehavioral impairments during inpatient rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury

Background Sleep disturbance is a common sequela after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Many of the impairments following TBI may be exacerbated by impaired sleep-wake cycle regulation. Objectives To investigate the relationship between total sleep time (TST), measured by wrist actigraphy and observational sleep logs, and neurobehavioral impairments during inpatient rehabilitation after TBI. Methods Twenty-five subjects undergoing inpatient rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury were included. TST was measured using wrist actigraphy and observational sleep logs. Neurobehavioral impairments were assessed using the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale-Revised (NRS-R), a multidimensional clinician-based assessment. Results Of 25 subjects enrolled, 23 subjects completed the study. A significant negative correlation was found between total NRS-R and TST calculated by observational sleep logs (r = -0.28, p = 0.007). The association between total NRS-R and TST, as calculated by actigraphy, was not significantly correlated (R = -0.01, p = 0.921). Conclusions Sleep disturbance during inpatient rehabilitation is associated with neurobehavioral impairments after TBI. TST measured by actigraphy may be limited by sleep detection algorithms that have not been validated in certain patient populations. Considerations should be made regarding the feasibility of using wearable sensors in patients with cognitive and behavioral impairments. Challenges regarding actigraphy for sleep monitoring in the brain injury population are discussed.
A short history of ONR ice camps: 1978–1994

The Office of Naval Research sponsored Arctic field programs almost every year from 1978 to 1994 during the height of the Cold War. Almost all of them had an acoustics component coupled with observations for physical oceanography, geoacoustics, plate tectonics, ice mechanics, and used both active and passive methods. In 1978, these started with emphasis on basin reverberation and ended in 1994 with trans Arctic Ocean tomography. They had acronyms from CANBARX (Canadian Basin), FRAM I—IV, MIZEZ (Marginal Ice Zone), PRUDEX (Prudoe Bay) CEAREX and SIMI/TAP (Sea Ice Mechanics/Trans Arctic Propagation). The author was the chief scientist for most of these programs and will provide an overview of ONR's efforts in the Arctic during the Cold War. [Work supported by ONR.]
Does it Matter What We Drink? Beverage Type Preference Predicts Specific Alcohol-Related Negative Consequences Among College Students.

AbstractBackground: College student substance use has been a problem for many years. In particular, heavy alcohol consumption can create issues with academics, social relationships, and overall fun...
Optimization and evaluation of an in vitro model of PEG-mediated fusion of nerve cell bodies.

Abstract Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a cell membrane fusogen (de StGroth et al., 1980; Hoehn et al., 1978 [2]; Pontecorvo et al., 1975 [3]). In clinical application PEG allows some axonal fusion in peripheral nerve repairs, resulting in retention of some mobility and sensation during the regeneration process and reducing muscular atrophy. Several manuscripts exist concerning in vivo models of PEG fusion, while there is a distinct lack of in vitro studies. This study optimizes an experimental in vitro PEG fusion procedure in B35 rat neuroblastoma cells, through alteration of PEG and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) concentrations and utilizes flow cytometry for assessment. The optimized procedure was then tested on B104-1-1 cells, a mouse neuroblastoma line expressing P2X7R, to validate our in vitro procedure/model against previous in vivo testing of P2X7R modulators, Brilliant Blue FCF (FCF) and bzATP. In brief, two cell populations were differentially stained, mixed, pre-treated (if applicable) and PEG-fused. Initial optimization generated the highest fusion rates with 70% PEG + 0% DMSO. Subsequent testing of the model with FCF and bzATP proved that assessment over time is required when evaluating potential modulators of PEG fusion. Our conclusion, at 72 h post PEG fusion, is that the optimized procedure is suitable for initial candidate testing of modulators of PEG fusion. In vitro experiments with FCF and bzATP corroborated previous in vivo findings and confirmed that DMSO is not required to aid PEG fusion in the in vitro model. The development of this cellular based in vitro model will be invaluable as a substitute for initial assessment of chemical modulators of PEG fusion.
Predictors of treatment response in colorectal high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas (HGNEC): A single institution experience.

690Background: Colorectal high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas (HGNEC) are aggressive tumors; treatment options consist of cis/carboplatin and 5FU-based chemotherapy. To date, choice of systemic th...
Side-information-aided Noncoherent Beam Alignment Design for Millimeter Wave Systems

Designing efficient and robust beam alignment strategies for millimeter wave (mmWave) systems is important for overcoming training overheads and practical hardware impairments. In this work, we leverage side information in the form of prior knowledge of the angular support of the propagation channel (direction information) to design a compressive sensing (CS) based beam alignment algorithm. Existing CS based channel estimation approaches assume perfect phase information of the measurements, which is not the case with the low-cost off-the-shelf mmWave phased arrays. Instead, we develop a two-stage algorithm where we use the magnitude of measurements (aka non-coherent measurements); using phase retrieval (PR) followed by sparse recovery, we estimate the channel gain across various (quantized) spatial angles. To validate the proposed algorithm, we develop a fully reconfigurable mmWave testbed with custom-made 2-bit phased arrays. We perform a careful calibration to the phased arrays, thus enabling generations of precise desired beam patterns. Our implementation and real experiments validate both the proposed algorithm and calibration process by demonstrating consistency between the experimental results and the theoretical analysis.
Moving Upstream: The Effect of Tobacco Clean Air Restrictions on Educational Inequalities in Smoking Among Young Adults

Education affords a range of direct and indirect benefits that promote longer and healthier lives and stratify health lifestyles. We use tobacco clean air policies to examine whether policies that apply universally-interventions that bypass individuals' unequal access and ability to employ flexible resources to avoid health hazards-have an effect on educational inequalities in health behaviors. We test theoretically informed but competing hypotheses that these policies either amplify or attenuate the association between education and smoking behavior. Our results provide evidence that interventions that move upstream to apply universally regardless of individual educational attainment-here, tobacco clean air policies-are particularly effective among young adults with the lowest levels of parental or individual educational attainment. These findings provide important evidence that upstream approaches may disrupt persistent educational inequalities in health behaviors. In doing so, they provide opportunities to intervene on behaviors in early adulthood that contribute to disparities in morbidity and mortality later in the life course. These findings also help assuage concerns that tobacco clean air policies increase educational inequalities in smoking by stigmatizing those with the fewest resources.
Diffusion-Weighted and Intravoxel Incoherent Motion MRI of the pregnant cervix as a tool to monitor cervical ripening

Background and Hypothesis: Preterm delivery is a major source of infant morbidity and mortality and is difficult to predict. The process of cervical ripening prior to delivery has known histologic changes including breakdown of collagen and increasing water content. It is hypothesized that the diffusion of water, which can be measured on MRI, will increase as the cervical water content increases. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is a form of MRI that measures the random Brownian motion of water molecules (represented as the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)). Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) MRI further subdivides the ADC into microcapillary perfusion (D*) and diffusion (D). We hypothesize that as the pregnant cervix ripens near delivery, diffusion of water within the cervix (ADC and D) will increase without changes in the capillary perfusion (D*). We sought to determine the relationship between ADC, D*, D, gestational age, and time to delivery in a cohort of volunteer pregnant females. Experimental Design or Project Methods: DWI and IVIM MR studies from a cohort of 45 volunteer pregnant females with no known underlying fetal anomalies were examined. Subglandular and stromal cervix thickness and cervical length were measured along with the ADC, D*, and D of the subglandular and stromal cervix. Gestational history and delivery information was documented. Results: Subglandular ADC inversely correlated with time to delivery (r=-0.393, p=0.052). Although not significant, subglandular D revealed a trend of increasing with increased gestation age (r=0.261, p=0.149). Subglandular ADC also varied inversely with thickness of the subglandular cervix (r=-0.352, p=0.047). Subglandular D* varied inversely with maternal age (r=-0.380, p=0.028). Conclusion and Potential Impact: Our data support the hypothesized trend of increased diffusion of water within the cervix with unchanged capillary perfusion as a normal pregnancy progressed throughout the second and third trimesters. This study suggests that diffusion measures (ADC and D) follow a predictable progression during the course of a normal pregnancy and have the potential to provide a means of predicting preterm labor in the setting of preterm cervical ripening.
Transcriptomic analysis of monocytes from HIV-positive men on antiretroviral therapy reveals effects of tobacco smoking on interferon and stress response systems associated with depressive symptoms

Tobacco smoking induces immunomodulatory and pro-inflammatory effects associated with transcriptome changes in monocytes and other immune cell types. While smoking is prevalent in HIV-infected (HIV+) individuals, few studies have investigated its effects on gene expression in this population. Here, we report whole-transcriptome analyses of 125 peripheral blood monocyte samples from ART-treated HIV+ and uninfected (HIV−) men enrolled in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) (n = 25 HIV+ smokers, n = 60 HIV+ non-smokers, n = 40 HIV− non-smoking controls). Gene expression profiling was performed using Illumina HumanHT-12 Expression BeadChip microarrays. Differential expression analysis was performed with weighted linear regression models using the R limma package, followed by functional enrichment and Ingenuity Pathway analyses. A total of 286 genes were differentially expressed in monocytes from HIV+ smokers compared with HIV− non-smokers; upregulated genes (n = 180) were enriched for immune and interferon response, chemical/stress response, mitochondria, and extracellular vesicle gene ontology (GO) terms. Expression of genes related to immune/interferon responses (AIM2, FCGR1A-B, IFI16, SP100), stress/chemical responses (APAF1, HSPD1, KLF4), and mitochondrial function (CISD1, MTHFD2, SQOR) was upregulated in HIV+ non-smokers and further increased in HIV+ smokers. Gene expression changes associated with smoking in previous studies of human monocytes were also observed (SASH1, STAB1, PID1, MMP25). Depressive symptoms (CES-D scores ≥ 16) were more prevalent in HIV+ tobacco smokers compared with HIV+ and HIV− non-smokers (50% vs. 26% and 13%, respectively; p = 0.007), and upregulation of immune/interferon response genes, including IFI35, IFNAR1, OAS1-2, STAT1, and SP100, was associated with depressive symptoms in logistic regression models adjusted for HIV status and smoking (p < 0.05). Network models linked the Stat1-mediated interferon pathway to transcriptional regulator Klf4 and smoking-associated toll-like receptor scaffolding protein Sash1, suggesting inter-relationships between smoking-associated genes, control of monocyte differentiation, and interferon-mediated inflammatory responses. This study characterizes immune, interferon, stress response, and mitochondrial-associated gene expression changes in monocytes from HIV+ tobacco smokers, and identifies augmented interferon and stress responses associated with depressive symptoms. These findings help to explain complex interrelationships between pro-inflammatory effects of HIV and smoking, and their combined impact on comorbidities prevalent in HIV+ individuals.
Standard Drug Concentrations in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

In 2003, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (currently known as The Joint Commission [TJC]), introduced the concept of standardization and limitation of the quantity of drug concentrations available within an organization on a national level through National Patient Safety Goal 3b: “Improve the safety of using high-alert medications.” Organizations were directed to transition over to standardized concentrations for all pediatric and neonatal patients. TJC later incorporated drug concentrations in the elements of performance to meet compliance with Medication Management Standard. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) also endorses standardized medication concentrations as integral to the utilization of smart pump technologies. Individual pediatric institutions have developed home-based standard drug concentrations and incorporated them into their usual medication processes. The most common approaches have been to target the most frequently ordered infusion drugs or a particular subset of the pediatric population. The ultimate achievement of the development of one set of concentrations that would be used nationally or even globally has proven more challenging. A large barrier to utilization of standard concentrations in the pediatric population is concern for fluid overload particularly in lower weight infants.
Implementation of Targeted Total Body Irradiation as a Bone Marrow Transplant Conditioning Regimen: A Review

Many hematologic malignancies require hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) during their course of treatment. Total body irradiation (TBI) has an important role in patients undergoing HCT. TBI induces immunosuppression to prevent the rejection of donor marrow. TBI is also used to eradicate malignant cells in sanctuary organs that are not reached by chemotherapy drugs. However, combined with chemotherapy, TBI is associated with significant toxicities. Targeted TBI has been shown to be able to reduce doses to normal organs, which predicts for reduced toxicities compared with standard TBI. Since the first total marrow irradiation (TMI) patient using intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) on Helical TomoTherapy was treated in 2005, many studies have been conducted and published. In this article, we review the practical aspects of targeted TBI implementation starting from patient positioning, immobilization, CT simulation, target delineation, plan optimization, dosimetry comparison, and quality assurance to treatment delivery. Recommendations on practical implementation to deliver targeted TBI are made with the intent to improve the planning and treatment process and to establish consistent and comparable treatment standards among institutions.
The effect of quench agent on urine bioassay for various radionuclides using Quantulus TM 1220 and Tri-Carb TM 3110

Following a radiological or nuclear incident, the National Response Plan has given the Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the responsibility for assessing population’s contamination with radionuclides. In the public health response to the incident, valuable information could be obtained in a timely and accurate manner by using liquid scintillation counting techniques to determine who has been contaminated above background for alpha and beta emitting radionuclides. The calibration plays a major role in this process therefore, knowing the effect of quench agents on calibration is essential.
Modeling of oxide semiconductors for power electronic devices (Conference Presentation)

In this talk, I will highlight our recent efforts in modeling Ga2O3 and other oxide materials and devices for application in power electronics. First, I will show the results of techno-economic analysis of the manufacturing cost of Ga2O3 wafers, supporting their projected cost advantage compared to SiC and GaN [1] Next, I will describe finite element analysis of electrical and thermal performance of vertical Ga2O3 transistors reported in literature, comparing MOSFET to FinFET device architectures [2]. Finally, I will summarize the findings of first-principles computational search for wide band gap semiconductors with high figures of merit and large thermal conductivity, highlighting new oxide material candidates for power electronic applications [3]. [1] Joule 3, 1 (2019) [2] ECS Journ. Sol. St. Sci. Tech. 8 Q3202 (2019) [3] Energy Environ. Sci. (2019) DOI: 10.1039/c9ee01529a
Perturbative proximity between supersymmetric and nonsupersymmetric theories

I argue that a certain perturbative proximity exists between some supersymmetric and nonsupersymmetric theories (namely, pure Yang-Mills and adjoint QCD with two flavors, ${\mathrm{adjQCD}}_{{N}_{f}=2}$). I start with $\mathcal{N}=2$ super--Yang-Mills theory built of two $\mathcal{N}=1$ superfields: vector and chiral. In $\mathcal{N}=1$ language, the latter presents matter in the adjoint representation of $\mathrm{SU}(N)$. Then, I convert the matter superfield into a phantom one (in analogy with ghosts), breaking $\mathcal{N}=2$ down to $\mathcal{N}=1$. The global SU(2) acting between two gluinos in the original theory becomes graded. Exact results in thus deformed theory allow one to obtain insights in certain aspects of nonsupersymmetric gluodynamics. In particular, it becomes clear how the splitting of the $\ensuremath{\beta}$ function coefficients in pure gluodynamics, ${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{1}=(4\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{3})N$ and ${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{2}=(6\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{3}){N}^{2}$, occurs. Here, the first terms in the braces (4 and 6, always integers) are geometry related, while the second terms ($\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{3}$ in both cases) are bona fide quantum effects. In the same sense, ${\mathrm{adjQCD}}_{{N}_{f}=2}$ is close to $\mathcal{N}=2$ SYM. Thus, I establish a certain proximity between pure gluodynamics and ${\mathrm{adjQCD}}_{{N}_{f}=2}$ with supersymmetric theories. (Of course, in both cases, we loose all features related to flat directions and Higgs/Coulomb branches in $\mathcal{N}=2$.) As a warmup exercise, I use this idea in the two-dimensional CP(1) sigma model with $\mathcal{N}=(2,2)$ supersymmetry, through the minimal heterotic $\mathcal{N}=(0,2)\ensuremath{\rightarrow}$ bosonic CP(1).
Survival of Young Versus Old Patients With Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Meta‐Analysis

OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS To assess whether young patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) demonstrate worse oncologic outcomes than older patients after definitive therapy. STUDY DESIGN Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS A medical librarian composed a search strategy to identify relevant studies in Medline, Embase, Scopus, and other major databases (Prospero registration number CRD42019127974). Inclusion criteria were adults with histologically diagnosed OCSCC that underwent treatment, comparator groups with an age cutoff of 40 years old, and reported survival outcomes. Articles were excluded if they contained patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma or patients treated for palliative intent. Overall survival hazard ratios were analyzed with a meta-analysis. RESULTS There were 23,382 patients with OCSCC that were treated with definitive therapy from 22 included studies. The pooled cohort contained 2,238 (10%) patients ≤40 years of age. Oral tongue was the most common subsite in both the younger (n = 1,961, 91%) and older (n = 18,047, 88%) cohorts. The majority of OCSCCs were either T1 or T2, representing 859 (80%) malignancies in younger patients and 8,126 (77%) malignancies in older patients. A meta-analysis of nine studies demonstrated that younger patients did not experience worse survival outcomes than older patients (hazard ratio = 0.97, 95% confidence interval = 0.66-1.41). CONCLUSIONS Young adults with OCSCC experienced similar oncologic outcomes as older patients with OCSCC after definitive treatment. Until compelling evidence demonstrates clinically relevant differences between these two cohorts, their approach to management should be similar. Future studies should consider comorbidities and using age 40 as a standard age cutoff to provide more uniform data moving forward. Laryngoscope, 131:1310-1319, 2021.
Reducing the Teleoperator’s Cognitive Burden for Complex Contact Tasks Using Affordance Primitives

Using robotic manipulators to remotely perform real-world complex contact tasks is challenging whether tasks are known (due to uncertainty) or unknown a priori (lack of motion waypoints, force profiles, etc.). For known tasks we can integrate and utilize Affordance Templates with a selective compliance jogger to remotely perform high dimensional velocity/force tasks - such as turning valves, opening doors, etc. Affordance Templates (ATs) contain virtual visual representations of task-relevant objects and waypoints for interacting with visualized objects. Operators and/or developers align pre-defined ATs with real-world objects to complete complex tasks, potentially reducing the operator’s input dimension to a single initiation command. In this work, we integrate a compliant controller with existing ATs to reduce the operator’s burden by 1) reducing the dimension of commanded inputs, 2) internally managing contact forces even for complex tasks, and 3) providing situational awareness in the task frame. Since not all tasks can be modeled for general teleoperation, we also introduce Affordance Primitives which reduce the command dimensionality of complex spatial tasks to as low as 1-dimensional input gestures as demonstrated for this effort. To enable reduction of the command input’s dimension, the same compliant jogger used to robustly handle uncertainty with ATs is used with Affordance Primitives to autonomously maintain force constraints associated with complex contact tasks. Both Affordance Templates and Affordance Primitives - when used in tandem with a compliant jogger - provide a safe, intuitive, and efficient teleoperation system for general use including using primitives to easily develop new Affordance Templates from newly completed teleoperation tasks.
Implantable loop recorder for augmenting detection of new-onset atrial fibrillation after typical atrial flutter ablation.

Background Patients with typical atrial flutter (AFL) undergoing successful cavotricuspid isthmus ablation remain at risk for future development of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF). Conventional monitoring (CM) techniques have shown AF incidence rates of 18%–50% in these patients. Objectives To evaluate whether continuous monitoring using implantable loop recorders (ILRs) would enhance AF detection in this patient population. Methods Veteran patients undergoing AFL ablation between 2002 and 2019 who completed at least 6 months of follow-up after the ablation procedure were included. We compared new-onset AF detection between those who underwent CM and those who received ILRs immediately following AFL ablation. Results A total of 217 patients (age: 66 ± 9 years; all male) participated. CM was used in 172 (79%) and ILR in 45 (21%) patients. Median follow-up duration after ablation was 4.1 years. Seventy-nine patients (36%) developed new-onset AF, which was detected by CM in 51 and ILR in 28 (30% vs 62%, respectively, P Conclusion Patients undergoing AFL ablation remain at an increased risk of developing new-onset AF, which is detected sooner and more frequently by ILR than by CM. Improving AF detection may allow optimization of rhythm management strategies and anticoagulation in this patient population.
Compromise reaching mechanisms in multi-group/multi-player negotiation processes

We consider a situation in which multiple decision-makers who are partitioned into two or more distinct groups are asked to recommend a uniform course of action which is drawn from a finite and explicit set of potential alternatives. We present group-level and player-level mechanisms to reach a compromise decision under such circumstances. The group-level mechanism is based on the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence, whereas the player-level mechanism employs a set-product operation that aggregates the individual decisions over a certain space of committees. Previous research established that the two mechanisms are isomorphic, which, in the context addressed, implies that they yield the same compromise decision. However, unlike the Dempster-Shafer theory, which was criticized for lack of external validity, the set-product mechanism has plausible properties in the context of group decision making. With that in mind, the authors seek to: report about an interesting relationship between group decision research and AI methods to manage uncertainty; and build a foundation for an inter-disciplinary research that exploits this linkage. >
Exploration History and the Circulation of Knowledge

The circulation of knowledge is a central theme in exploration history scholarship, covered in works specifically on the theme and also broached in countless studies not dedicated specifically to i...
Learning from the primary literature of animal behavior

Abstract Reading the primary literature is a skill that requires analysis, evaluation, and problem-solving. Primary literature is written using specific conventions—organization, format, and terminology—that make the style fairly consistent. Practice will help you become an effective reader of articles in a variety of scientific journals. This activity introduces you, step by step, to the process of carefully reading and interpreting primary scientific literature.
Orthotopic heart transplant in a pediatric patient with mixed connective tissue disease

BACKGROUND Patients with autoimmune inflammatory syndromes such as mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and systemic lupus erythematosus have previously been considered marginal candidates for orthotopic heart transplant (OHT). METHODS A retrospective chart review was completed for this case report. RESULTS We present the case of an 11-year-old girl with known MCTD who developed congestive heart failure refractory to medical therapy and underwent OHT. CONCLUSIONS Despite her autoimmune condition, this patient has not experienced antibody-mediated rejection post-transplant and her inflammatory symptoms have greatly improved.
Expert Failure in the Entangled Deep State

The Austrian school of economics made an epistemic critique of Soviet-style central planning (Mises 1920; Hayek 1935; Boettke 1998). The theory of expert failure also leads to an epistemic critique of central planning, which is an extreme form of the rule of experts. Central planning entailed many of the causes of expert failure discussed in this volume. The planning committee had a monopoly on planning advice. The state was the monopsonistic buyer of expert opinions on planning. There was often a leader who was a Big Player with a parochial interest in the planning advice given. There was no entry, rivalry, simple redundancy, or synecological redundancy. Planning experts chose for the people rather than merely advising them. These experts were generally more interested in avoiding perceived error – or execution – than in providing good advice. Therefore, their sympathies and incentives were not aligned with the general welfare. The planning process was a complex, tightly coupled system, and the economy being planned was complex, uncertain, and indeterminate. The failure of Soviet-style central planning is a direct implication of information choice theory. Considering the largely “Austrian” origins of the theory I have tried to develop in this volume, it not surprising that it leads to an epistemic critique of central planning. It may be less obvious that it leads to an epistemic critique of what I shall call the “entangled deep state.” EXPERT FAILURE AND AMERICA'S ENTANGLED DEEP STATE I will argue that the “military–industrial complex,” “national security state,” or “deep state” in the United States is a real phenomenon. It is a form of the rule of experts and thus invites expert failure. Unlike some other salient discussions of the deep state, however, I will emphasize here the multiplicity of competing, parochial, and inconsistent interests at work in the American deep state. My critique of the deep state will be epistemic . Although I uphold the values of freedom and equality, the theory of expert failure is meant to be value-free in the Weberian sense that it does not require, assume, propound, or advocate any values. Like any other human product, it is, of course, value- motivated . Writing this book had for me a value greater than the activities it displaced. And, unsurprisingly, the value system supporting my preference includes a preference for liberty over tyranny, equality over hierarchy.
Transcription as embodied entextualization: Process, transformation, authority

Abstract This article analyzes transcription as a form of knowledge production, distinguishing between the role of transcription as a tool and the contingent nature of transcription as a process. It uses the lens of embodied entextualization, or the culturally specific ways bodies are incorporated into as well as produce texts ( Cavanaugh 2017 ), to illuminate the interdiscursive process of transcription and how it is shaped by social factors such as race, gender, politics, and class. I do so by presenting and analyzing text-objects from my own research on language ideologies and language shift in northern Italy at various stages of entextualization, highlighting the multiple choices that shape transcription and how such choices are in turn shaped by a number of factors often invisible in the final, or at least public, versions of these texts that circulate the most widely. Transcripts such as the ones I discuss endure as evidence, in published and other forms, even as intertextual gaps punctuate their interdiscursive reproduction across instantiations. This work raises questions about the role of transcripts as evidence, their authority, and their varying ontological statuses as text objects in order to further conversations about how scholarship about language in use may be reflexively undertaken.
Reflections on Title VII from the Standpoint of Customer Preference and Management Prerogative

Although the Supreme Court has interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit even facially neutral employment practices that disproportionately affect members of groups protected by that statute, recent court decisions evidence a trend away from that standard in sex discrimination cases when employers raise the de fenses of customer preference and management prerogative. In re ligious discrimination cases, however, the courts, with some excep tions, have forced employers to meet the statutory standard of demon strating that they have reasonably accommodated their employees? religious observances or that they would suffer undue hardship in at tempting to do so. The author concludes that a similar burden should be placed on employers who raise the defenses of customer preference and management prerogative to charges of sex discrimination.
NON-EQUILIBRIUM TISSUE DISTRIBUTIONS OF URANIUM AND THORIUM FOLLOWING INHALATION OF URANIUM ORE BY RATS

Abstract If each radioactive daughter comprising the uranium decay chain is considered individually, those daughter products such as 230 Th having unusually high pulmonary retention may contribute to a lower calculated permissible limit for uranium ore than that based solely on the levels of insoluble natural uranium. To determine whether such a lower limit is valid from a hazard viewpoint it is necessary to know whether a given daughter, 230 Th, does indeed have a high retention when inhaled with the parent radionuclide as a constituent of uranium ore dust. Both single and repeated exposures of rats to high grade (25 % U 3 O 8 ) pitchblende ore resulted in increasing thorium-to-uranium ratios in the lungs with increasing times post-exposure. Highly sensitive analytical procedures (allowing precise measurements on 10 μg of ore) have shown significant departures from initial equilibrium levels as little as one week after three 2-hr exposures, rising to a ratio of nearly three after 8 weeks. During repeated exposures occurring over two months a gradual rise in mean thorium-to-uranium ratios to 2×5 was observed, in spite of the repeated deposition of fresh ore (in secular equilibrium). This ratio was found to be about nine in the lungs of animals sacrificed four months after the last exposure. These data suggest a preferential retention of thorium in the lungs. Analyses of bronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes have also shown selective accumulation of thorium, while initial uranium concentrations in the kidneys were higher than those of thorium. Femurs and livers also accumulated higher thorium radioactivities.