cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bubble nucleation mechanisms of liquid droplets superheated in other liquids

Abstract An investigation was made into the mechanism of nucleating a vapor bubble at a liquid—liquid interface. Depending on the magnitudes of the surface tensions of both liquids and of the interfacial tension, nucleation occurs totally in one of the liquid phases or at the interface. In the usual case, i.e., when a volatile liquid is superheated in a nonvolatile liquid, this means that the nucleation occurs homogeneously in the superheated liquid, at the interface, or by blowing bubbles into the nonvolatile liquid. In this paper we derive an expression for the rate of bubble formation at a liquid—liquid interface and also extend nucleation theory to describe the phenomena of bubble blowing nucleation. To test our theoretical predictions, experiments were made in which small droplets of n-pentane were superheated in ethylene glycol (homogeneous nucleation), and small droplets of water were superheated in a fluorinated ether, Freon E-9, (bubble blowing nucleation).
WiSP: A protocol for overcoming MAC overheads using packet size dependent channel widths

In this paper, we propose to reduce the effect of rate-independent MAC overheads in random access protocols by partitioning the transmission channel spectrum into a narrow channel and a wide channel. The narrow channel is used for transmitting the short packets (approximately 100 bytes long) and the wide channel is used for transmitting the longer packets. We intend to use multiple radios, one each for the different channel partitions. Narrow width channels have a reduced capacity, which lowers the maximum transmission rate achievable on these channels. As a result, the channel wastage due to the rate-independent MAC overheads can be reduced. We propose a protocol called WiSP (channel Width Selection based on Packet size) to estimate the appropriate channel widths depending on the relative traffic load involving short and long packets in the network. We evaluate our protocol using extensive simulations and demonstrate its effectiveness in achieving higher throughputs. We propose our algorithm to complement the frame aggregation (an existing approach that aggregates multiple packets to be sent in a single transmit opportunity) technique. We show that there are scenarios during which the frame aggregation can perform poorly, and show that our proposed algorithm can provide a good performance even in those situations when used along with frame aggregation.
The tradition of penitentials in Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxonists have often referred to a ‘penitential tradition’ in Old English literature, the poetry in particular, without establishing a connection between that tradition and the administrative sources on which it rested. Especially in the later Anglo-Saxon period, the time of AElfric and Wulfstan, the literature pertaining to penance was extensive. It included handbooks of penance or ‘penitentials’, homilies about penitential practice and liturgical texts of various kinds, among them instructions for confessors, prayers for penitents and rites of public penance. Whether this material should be called ‘literature’ is an open question, but certainly its relevance to penitential themes in Old English poetry needs to be examined. Before we can grasp the significance of the ‘penitential tradition’ for either the literary or the social history of Anglo-Saxon England, it would seem necessary to understand better than we now do the sources and affiliations of the legislative texts, the penitentials in particular, which governed the practice of penance.
Annual report on access to and utilization of health care for children and youth in the United States--2000.

Objective.—This report provides an update on insurance coverage, use of health care services, and health expenditures for children and youth in the United States. In addition, the report provides information on variation in hospitalizations for children from a new 22-state hospital discharge data source. Methods.—The data on insurance coverage, utilization, and expenditures come from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The data on hospitalizations come from the Database for Pediatric Studies, which is part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Both data sets have been prepared by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Results.—Few changes in insurance coverage occurred between 1996 and 1998. About two thirds of American children are covered by private insurance and 19% by public sources; the remaining 15% are uninsured. Of the 71.5% of children who have at least 1 doctor's office visit, the average number of visits was 3.9, but this ranged from 2.7 among the uninsured to 4.2 for those with private insurance. Slightly more than half of children had a prescription, and these averaged 5.4 prescriptions. The majority of children (85%) incur medical expenditures, averaging $1019 for children with any expenditure. Private health insurance was by far the largest payer of medical care expenses for children, even more so than among the general population. However, nearly 21% of expenditures for children's health care were paid out of pocket by children's families. The data also show substantial differences in average length of hospitalization across states, ranging from 2.7 to 4.0 days, and rates of hospital admission through the emergency department, which vary across states from 9% to 23%. Injuries are a major reason for hospitalization, accounting for 1 in 6 hospital stays among 10- to 14-year-olds. In the 10–17 age group, 1 in 7 hospital stays are due to mental disorders. Among 15- to 17-year-olds, more than one third of all hospital stays are related to childbirth and pregnancy. Conclusion.—Children's use of health care services varies considerably by what type of health insurance coverage they have. Expenditures for children entail a substantial out-of-pocket component, which may be quite large for children with major health problems and which may represent a significant burden on lower-income families. Substantial variation in hospitalization exits across states.
Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Implications of Abnormal Coverage

In recent times, there has been evidence of abnormal Directors and Officers liability (D&O) insurance purchase by the firms. Although D&O coverage is necessary to protect the directors and officers from the rising lawsuit risk, the motivation for carrying abnormal coverage is not clear. In this article, we examine the implications of providing excessive protection to the directors and officers on managerial behavior and firm performance. We use firm reporting and investment activity to examine managerial behavior and firm’s profitability to examine firm performance. For a sample of U.S. firms from 2004 to 2008, our results show that abnormal D&O insurance is positively associated with aggressive reporting, aggressive investment activity, and abnormal profit performance. Our results hold even after controlling for endogeneity and serial correlation in the data.
Educar a niñas y niños de clase media en Santiago: capital cultural y segregación socioterritorial en la formación de mercados locales de educación

Many researchers have studied residential and educational segregation processes without considering the relationship between them. This article explores how middle class parents select schools in the municipalities of Nunoa and La Florida (Santiago, Chile). Nunoa is an upper middle-class municipality with a large number of elite private schools; while La Florida has a newer middle class, a higher poverty rate, and many charter schools. Based on in-depth interviews with 77 parents, this article finds that in Nunoa parents choose elite private schools and reject charter or public schools. In contrast, parents in La Florida select charter schools as a way to avoid the dangers associated with public schools. The results have important implications for debate on residential and school segregation.
The Fox Guarding the Henhouse?: Recusal and the Procedural Void in the Court of Last Resort

This article points out the uniquely flawed nature of the Supreme Court's handling of recusal matters. The ripples generated by the Supreme Court's defective method disrupt the substantive standards of recusal for all courts in its wake. Further, the lack of adequate procedural safeguards injures public perceptions of the Court's impartiality. Ultimately, the article sets forth concrete proposals for meaningful reform of the Supreme Court's recusal process. Recent events have stirred controversy about the Supreme Court's recusal procedure, which permits the recusal decision to be left solely up to the individual justice. This one-element "procedure" catapults the implicated justice into a treacherous position, namely to be the sole judge in his or her own case. There is no review. No opinion required. The article provides three ready examples to demonstrate procedural defects and their consequences: (i) Justice Scalia's participation in a duck-hunting trip attended by Vice President Cheney during the pendency of the Cheney case, (ii) extrajudicial comments regarding the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance in the Newdow case, and (iii) familial and partisan connections in Bush v. Gore. The article analyzes the defects with an explication of the relevant laws and principles related to recusal of federal judges and justices. Nowhere but the Supreme Court are the stakes as high or the procedures so lax. Solutions are necessary to secure the integrity of the Supreme Court, ensure respect for the Rule of Law, and strengthen substantive recusal mandates. Accordingly, the article recommends the adoption of a review process as well as a substitute justice mechanism.
Experimentally Verified Transient Models of Data Center Crossflow Heat Exchangers

Heat exchangers are key components that are commonly used in data center cooling systems. Rear door heat exchangers, in-row coolers, overhead coolers and fully contained cabinets are some examples of liquid and hybrid cooling systems used in data centers. A liquid to liquid heat exchanger is one of the main components of the Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU), which supplies chilled water to the heat exchangers mentioned above. Computer Room Air Conditioner (CRAC) units also consist of liquid to air cross flow heat exchangers. Optimizing the energy use and the reliability of IT equipment in data centers requires Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools that can accurately model data centers for both the steady state and dynamic operations. Typically, data centers operate in dynamic conditions due to workload allocations that change both spatially and temporally. Additional dynamic situations may also arise due to failures in the thermal management and electrical distribution systems. In the computational simulation, individual component models, such as transient heat exchanger models, are therefore needed. It is also important to develop simple, yet accurate, compact models for components, such as heat exchangers, to reduce the computational time without decreasing simulation accuracy.In this study, a method for modeling compact transient heat exchangers using CFD code is presented. The method describes an approach for installing thermal dynamic heat exchanger models in CFD codes. The transient effectiveness concept and model are used in the development of the methodology. Heat exchanger CFD compact models are developed and tested by comparing them with full thermal dynamic models, and also with experimental measurements. The transient responses of the CFD model are presented for step and ramp change in flow rates of the hot and cold fluids, as well as step, ramp, and exponential variation in the inlet temperature. Finally, some practical dynamic scenarios involving IBM buffer liquid to liquid heat exchanger, rear door heat exchanger, and CRAC unit, are parametrically modeled to test the developed methodology. It is shown that the compact heat exchanger model can be used to successfully predict dynamic scenarios in typical data centers.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
The Propagation of a Nonuniform Magnetohydrodynamic Shock Wave Into a Moving Monatomic Fluid

Summary An initially uniform magnetohydrodynamic shock wave of arbitrary strength propagates through a channel which consists of two portions of which one has uniform cross-sectional area while the other is of varying cross-sectional area. It is assumed that the flow in the nonuniform section in front of the shock is initially a uniform state and no perturbations (due to the area variations) of this flow reach the shock until the area variation is encountered. When the shock enters the nonuniform section, it is perturbed, the shock strength altered and the subsequent flow is nonisentropic. In addition to the perturbation due to the effect of the area variations on the initially uniform upstream flow, there are two further contributions—viz., a permanent perturbation caused directly b}^ the area changes and a transient disturbance— which propagates with true sonic speed with respect to the flow behind the shock, due to reflections of the permanent perturba­ tion at the shock. Expressions for these various contributions are obtained. The results presented include as special cases propaga­ tion of a nonuniform conventional gas dynamic shock into a moving nonconducting fluid and propagation of a nonuniform hydromagnetic shock wave into a stationary fluid.
Invasive Anolis sagrei on St. Vincent and Its Potential Impact on Perch Heights of Anolis trinitatis

Abstract. The lizard genus Anolis (Polychrotidae) is essentially ubiquitous in the West Indies, with most species confined to one island bank. However, human-mediated transport of materials, plants, and animals has introduced species across natural boundaries, sometimes with deleterious effects on native anoles. Among the most recent introductions is Anolis sagrei on St. Vincent. We investigated the distribution of introduced populations and evaluated possible effects on perch heights of native anoles (A. griseus and A. trinitatis) at a site where all three species occur. We found little evidence that A. sagrei has affected either native species. Perch heights of A. trinitatis in the presence of A. sagrei were comparable to those found in habitats where A. sagrei did not occur. However, we suggest continued monitoring of this exotic on St. Vincent to evaluate potential long-term impact on native species and to determine whether any effects will extend beyond heavily altered low-elevation sites.
Adaptivity helps for testing juntas

We give a new lower bound on the query complexity of any non-adaptive algorithm for testing whether an unknown Boolean function is a k-junta versus e-far from every k-junta. Our lower bound is that any non-adaptive algorithm must make[EQUATION]queries for this testing problem, where c is any absolute constant
Donor Properties of a New Class of Guanidinate Ligands Possessing Ketimine Backbones: A Comparative Study Using Iron

Addition of 1 equiv of LiN═CtBu2 or LiN═Ad (Ad = 2-adamantyl) to the aryl carbodiimide C(NDipp)2 (Dipp = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl) readily generates the lithium ketimine-guanidinates Li(THF)2[(X)C(NDipp)2] (X = N═CtBu2 (1-tBu), N═Ad (1-Ad)) in excellent yields. These new ligands can be readily metalated with iron to give the N,N′-bidentate chelates [{(X)C(NDipp)2}FeBr]2 (X = N═CtBu2 (5-tBu), N═Ad (5-Ad)), in which the ketimines behave as noncoordinating backbone substituents. In an effort to understand the potential electronic contributions of the ketimine group to the ligand architecture, a thorough structural and electronic study was conducted comparing the features and properties of 5-tBu and 5-Ad to their guanidinate and amidinate analogues [{(X)C(NDipp)2}FeBr]2 (X = iPr2N (6), tBu (7)). Solid-state structural analyses indicate little electronic contribution from the N-ketimine nitrogen atom, while solution-phase electronic absorption spectra of 5-tBu and 5-Ad are qualitatively similar to the amidinate c...
Effects of Host Age, Virus Dosage, and Temperature on the Infectivity of a Nucleopolyhedrosis Virus Against Velvetbean Caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis , Larvae

The inter-instar susceptibility of the velvetbean caterpillar to a nucleopolyhedrosis virus was quantitated. Analysis of response curves revealed a 930-fold range in susceptibility between the most sensitive and the most resistent individuals in these larval populations. The LD50 values for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th instars were 103, 432, 682, and 4100 polyhedra/larva, respectively. At 26.7°C the virus replicated efficiently in all larval instars. Virus replication was slower at lower temperatures (15.6°C, 21.1°C) but the cumulative virus mortality at these these temperatures were similar fo that achieved at 26.7°C. Incubation at higher temperatures (32.2°C), however, caused a 30–50% less virus mortality than occurred at lower temperatures.
Non-invasive Optical Response to Electrical Stimulation in Peripheral Nerves

We report non-invasive optical measurements on the sural nerve of a human subject during electrical stimulation. We observed a fast optical response (time scale of 10-100 ms) associated with electrical stimulation of the nerve.
Project Delivery Method Performance for Public School Construction: Design-Bid-Build versus CM at Risk

AbstractThe construction of public schools is a complex endeavor due to the involvement of multiple and diverse parties, funding and budgetary concerns, and statutory limitations imposed by local, state, and federal agencies, all of which serve to increase project risk. Project delivery methods using distinctive procedures to manage the design and construction process have been developed to reduce risk and improve project performance. To increase the probability of successful project outcomes, those responsible for public school construction require conclusive delivery method performance data. Completed in 2014, this two-year study used actual construction documents from 137 southeastern public schools to analyze and determine project delivery method cost, time, quality, and claims performance. The analysis indicated that performance of the Design-Bid-Build (DBB) method was significantly superior across all cost metrics, whereas the Construction Manager at Risk (CM at Risk) method produced higher levels o...
Characterizing Biofilm Extracellular Matrices with Mechanical Measurement Techniques

Bacterial biofilms are multicellular communities of bacteria that form on surfaces. They consist of bacteria embedded in a gel-like extracellular matrix. Bacillus subtilis is a soil bacterium that is a model for biofilm formation with an extracellular matrix that is composed primarily of polysaccharides and amyloid fibers. In fresh media, B. subtilis cells undergo a transition from swimming to matrix producing and form robust biofilms. Over time these films disintegrate and lose their mechanical integrity. This mechanical weakening is believed to be due to changes in the structure of the extracellular matrix, but little is known regarding how the structure of the extracellular matrix changes as the biofilm ages. We use a combination of chemical and rheological characterization techniques as well as time-resolved swelling measurements to follow changes in the extracellular matrix with time. We find that B. subtilis biofilm swelling is osmotically driven by the concentrated polysaccharide polymer and can be modeled with Fickian diffusion. These results could provide insight into biofilm removal strategies.
Sleep deprivation in the rat. XIX: Effects of thyroxine administration

Chronic total sleep deprivation (TSD) in the rat produces an initial elevation and then declining body temperatures, increasing metabolic rate and eventual death. Because TSD rats will engage in warming behavior, one hypothesis is that the metabolic increase is an unsuccessful attempt at warming to combat a lethal hypothermia. However, TSD rats also undergo weight loss and progressive deterioration of skin and fur, suggesting TSD-induced pathological catabolic activity, possibly secondary to increased metabolic rate, that could be lethal. To evaluate these alternatives, the metabolic rate of rats was increased by thyroxine (T 4 ) treatment while subjecting them to TSD. Compared to TSD rats not given T 4 , they had higher metabolic rates, higher body temperatures and reduced warming behavior, but their survival period was 37% shorter. Thus, it is unlikely that hypothermia is the cause of death in TSD rats. Weight and appearance declined more rapidly in T 4 -treated rats, but at the same proportions of survival time, skin pathology and decline in appearance were less evident in T 4 -treated rats than in TSD rats not given T 4 . Thus, there is some doubt whether a general pathological catabolic process is the cause of death. It is also possible that a specific morbid process normally reversed by sleep was accelerated by T 4 administration.
How to Use Young and Morgan’s

Young and Morgan’s The Navajo Language is a comprehensive and multifaceted work of considerable significance to scholars and students of Navajo and Athabaskan alike, as well as researchers in the language sciences. We have only begun to understand and appreciate its value and scope beyond its important role in documenting the Navajo language. However, despite its being well-organized and intuitive, the volume is quite dense and not well laid out visually. Unless one is familiar with its structure and assumptions, its density can make it difficult to use. This chapter is intended as a tutorial on the 1987 version of The Navajo Language, and is best used with a copy of the 1987 edition in hand. I have included a tutorial chapter because of the significance of The Navajo Language to the study of Athabaskan in general and to this monograph in particular.
Second Language Writing

This article focuses on the rapidly growing field of second language writing. It (1) sketches the context for the field and define its basic terms; (2) provides brief historical accounts of the development of the field and its parent disciplines, applied linguistics and composition studies; (3) discusses the field's current status with regard to its philosophical, theoretical, and political foundations and its inquiry practices; (4) gives an account of practical matters such as assessment and instructional contexts and topics; (5) examines the field's trajectory in terms of (inter)disciplinarity, professionalism, and inclusivity; and (6) provides a reference list of resources for further inquiry.
Fluorometric assay of α-chymotrypsin

The enzymic hydrolysis by α-chymotrypsin of the substrates, N-acetyl-l-tryptophan ethyl ester and N-acetyl-l-tyrosine ethyl ester, was followed by means of fluorescence whose intensity increased threefold and fourfold per mole, respectively, as substrate was transformed into amino acid. The assay by fluorescence was several orders of magnitude more sensitive than the assay by differential absorption spectra of these substances and was in agreement with it in those concentration regions where both methods overlap. To maintain linearity between concentration and fluorescence intensity, the concentration of substrate should be no greater than 10−4M. In such solutions the rate of ester hydrolysis could be followed with the enzyme at 10−11M.
Down the ‘Forbidden Path’: Villette

In spite of very different ideas on the question raised in the foregoing epigraph, Harriet Martineau and William Makepeace Thackeray came to remarkably similar conclusions concerning what being a woman meant to Charlotte Bronte: her obsession with sexual love. Thackeray, in a letter of 1853 to a friend about Villette, characterized Charlotte as ‘the poor little woman of genius! … I can read a great deal of her life as I fancy in her book and see that rather than have fame, rather than any other earthly good or mayhap heavenly one, she wants some Tomkins or another to love her and be in love with.’1 So much for Villette.
Permitting Efficiency in Storm Water Effluent Compliance

In Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. County of Los Angeles, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit addressed the issue of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit violations under the Clean Water Act. Environmental organizations brought suit against the County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District after the District published monitoring station reports identifying 140 separate exceedances of permit limitations. Even though the defendants’ monitoring station was located downstream from other permittees, the defendants were held liable as a matter of law for the violations because the permit clearly stated that the monitoring station data would be used to determine permittee compliance. This Comment argues that the Ninth Circuit’s analysis was correct, and further that preliminary testing for the monitoring station as well as more frequent monitoring and reporting will clarify liability.
Trials that fail to show advantages of 3D navigation in spine surgery—is it the technology or the trial?

Ruatti et al . have published a randomized study comparing computer-navigated and conventional pedicle screw placement. It was a single-center study although with six different surgeons. The procedures were also divided into open and percutaneous, although allocation was not randomized and presumably was up to the surgeon. The percutaneous group also included vertebroplasty/kyphoplasty procedures, in addition to screw placement. The outcome measures were: (I) screw malposition rates; (II) screw insertion time; and (III) radiation exposure.
Asystole During Direct Laryngoscopy for Vocal Fold Injection in a Healthy Patient.

Summary Objectives This study aims (1) to present a case of asystole during direct laryngoscopy in an otherwise healthy patient at an outpatient surgery center and (2) to review literature on cardiac complications, specifically asystole and bradycardia, during direct laryngoscopy. Methods A 67-year-old woman with no prior cardiac history underwent induction with succinylcholine and remifentanil for direct laryngoscopy and vocal fold augmentation. During suspension laryngoscopy, the patient became asystolic, and advanced care life support measures were started. The patient regained a cardiac rhythm after chest compressions and epinephrine and was transferred to a tertiary care hospital for further treatment. She remained intubated overnight, requiring pressors, and regained normal cardiac function over the next few days. Results A structured literature review uncovered few reports of asystole during suspension laryngoscopy. Although bradycardia is common during suspension laryngoscopy, likely secondary to stimulation of afferent visceral sensory parasympathetic fibers of the vagus nerve, asystole is rare. Conclusions Cardiac complications are possible in otolaryngologic surgery, especially with activation of the oculocardiac or trigeminocardiac reflexes. Asystole during direct laryngoscopy, although rare, is not always predictable from medicine or cardiac risk indices. Awareness, rapid recognition, and early implementation of advanced care life support are crucial to avoid further complications.
Tunnel magnetoresistance of π-cyclopentadienyl complexes of the main group elements

Abstract Spin current in π-cyclopentadienyl (Cp) complexes of the main group elements have been studied by the first-principles method of density functional theory. The characteristics of spin current were examined by using a model of Cp-metal complex, sandwiched between ferromagnetic electrodes. Spin currents were varied by changing the main group element. The Cp complex of the p-block main group elements showed a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect at a low bias voltage, while that of the s-block main group elements did not show this effect. This is because the spin-filtering effect under a parallel alignment of ferromagnetic electrodes is deeply linked to the TMR effect. The bonding state between the Cp ring and the metal atom, whether covalent or ionic bond, was the important factor responsible for the TMR effect.
RADIATION DAMAGE FROM DIFFERENT PARTICLE TYPES

In the 1960s and 70s, heavy ion irradiation was being developed for the purpose of simulating neutron damage in support of the fast breeder reactor program. [1-3] Ion irradiation and simultaneous He injection have also been used to simulate the effects of 14 MeV neutron damage in conjunction with the fusion reactor engineering program. Lately, the application of ion irradiation (defined here as any charged particle, including electrons) to the study of neutron irradiation damage is being revisited by the light water reactor community in an effort to solve the irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) problem. [4-6], as additionally, ion irradiation is being used to understand performance in reactor pressure vessel steels, Zircaloy fuel cladding, materials for advanced reactor concepts in the GenIV program and materials for the advanced fuel cycle initiative, AFCI. While the environment plays a role in IASCC, the appearance of a “threshold” fluence demonstrates that the observed behavior is strongly related to irradiation-induced changes in the alloy that may involve microstructural changes, microchemical changes, transmutation, or some synergistic combination of these effects.
Reaction of CO2 with UO3 Nanoclusters.

Adsorption of CO2 to uranium oxide, (UO3)n, clusters was modeled using density functional theory (DFT) and coupled cluster theory (CCSD(T)). Geometries and reaction energies were predicted for carbonate formation (chemisorption) and Lewis acid–base addition of CO2 (physisorption) to these (UO3)n clusters. Chemisorption of multiple CO2 moieties was also modeled for dimer and trimer clusters. Physisorption and chemisorption were both predicted to be thermodynamically allowed for (UO3)n clusters, with chemisorption being more thermodynamically favorable than physisorption. The most energetically favored (UO3)3(CO2)m clusters contain tridentate carbonates, which is consistent with solid-state and solution structures for uranyl carbonates. The calculations show that CO2 exposure is likely to convert (UO3)n to uranyl carbonates.
2D nanoelectronics: From graphene to silicene and beyond

This research work describes progress towards 2D nanoelectronics based on atomic sheets such as graphene, M0S2, black phosphorus, silicene and related materials. These diverse 2D nanomaterials can afford a wide range of device capabilities including low-power transistors, high-speed devices, zero-power switches, and wearable sensors. In addition, silicene, the atomically-thin equivalent of bulk silicon is predicted to be a topological insulator and in conjunction with related Xene sheets, can enable low-energy topological bits as a paradigm-shift for computation.
The relationship of lung function with ambient temperature

Background Lung function is complex trait with both genetic and environmental factors contributing to variation. It is unknown how geographic factors such as climate affect population respiratory health. Objective To determine whether ambient air temperature is associated with lung function (FEV1) in the general population. Design/Setting Associations between spirometry data from two National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) periods representative of the U.S. non-institutionalized population and mean annual ambient temperature were assessed using survey-weighted multivariate regression. Participants/Measurements The NHANES III (1988–94) cohort included 14,088 individuals (55.6% female) and the NHANES 2007–12 cohort included 14,036 individuals (52.3% female), with mean ages of 37.4±23.4 and 34.4±21.8 years old and FEV1 percent predicted values of 99.8±15.8% and 99.2±14.5%, respectively. Results After adjustment for confounders, warmer ambient temperatures were associated with lower lung function in both cohorts (NHANES III p = 0.020; NHANES 2007–2012 p = 0.014). The effect was similar in both cohorts with a 0.71% and 0.59% predicted FEV1 decrease for every 10°F increase in mean temperature in the NHANES III and NHANES 2007–2012 cohorts, respectively. This corresponds to ~2 percent predicted difference in FEV1 between the warmest and coldest regions in the continental United States. Conclusions In the general U.S. population, residing in regions with warmer ambient air temperatures was associated with lower lung function with an effect size similar to that of traffic pollution. Rising temperatures associated with climate change could have effects on pulmonary function in the general population.
Ca2+-Independent Autophosphorylation of Postsynaptic Density-Associated Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase

A major protein in the postsynaptic density fraction is α-CAM kinase II, the α-subunit of the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase. Autophosphorylation of the postsynaptic density-associated CaM kinase II is likely to be a crucial event in the induction of activity-dependent synaptic modification. This study focuses on the regulation and consequences of Ca2+-independent autophosphorylation of the enzyme. In isolated postsynaptic densities, a sub-stochiometric level of autophosphorylation in the presence of Ca2+ is sufficient to trigger maximal Ca2+-independent autophosphorylation of α-CaM Kinase II. A major fraction of the sites phosphorylated in the absence of Ca2+ can be dephosphorylated by the endogenous phosphatase activity in the preparation. Ca2+-independent autophosphorylation is correlated with a drastic decrease in calmodulin binding to postsynaptic densities. This may represent a physiological mechanism that lowers the calmodulin trapping capacity of the organelle, thus increasing the availability of calmodulin to other elements within a spine.
Black–White Differences in Willingness to Participate and Perceptions About Health Research: Results from the Population-Based HealthStreet Study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in Funding section. Some of the vital information is missing in the Funding as well as the article note was not included in the published article. The complete funding information and the missed article note are presented with this erratum.
Addressing paternalism with patients' rights: unintended consequences.

A bioethicist discusses how the need for patient autonomy and patients' rights can be fulfilled through strong patient-physician communication. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Social Worries and Difficulties: Autism and/or Social Anxiety Disorder?

In this chapter, we explore the phenotypic overlap between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), mechanisms through which social anxiety might arise in a person with ASD, and clinical considerations for differential and dual diagnosis. We consider social anxiety diagnostically as well as dimensionally, given the debate about the validity of co-occurring SAD in ASD, the fairly nascent state of the research on the topic, and recent explication in our diagnostic nosology on differentiation between and dual diagnosis of SAD and ASD (APA 2013). Social anxiety is a common clinical concern among people diagnosed with ASD; its presence is often inferred from behavioral manifestations rather than expressed cognitions (e.g., worries about failure or peer judgment). There are many unknowns with respect to how best to assess, diagnose, and treat social anxiety in individuals with ASD. Nonetheless, in summarizing the extant research, we provide specific recommendations for further research in this area and suggestions for evidence-based assessment and treatment.
Aids and Reproductive Health: Women’s Perspectives

As a disease among women, HIV/AIDS was largely invisible until the late 1980s. During that decade, most work on the disease was done in North America, Western Europe, and Oceania, where the clinical, research, and policy focus was on the adult male whose source of infection was most likely to be homosexual contact or intravenous drug use. Only a fraction of the available research dollars was spent on investigations of heterosexual and perinatal transmission, and few women were recruited into clinical trials funded by private or public agencies (1).
Label free thrombin detection in presence of high concentration of albumin using an aptamer-functionalized nanoporous membrane

Abstract Nanoporous alumina membranes have become a ubiquitous biosensing platform for a variety of applications and aptamers are being increasingly utilized as recognition elements in protein sensing devices. Combining the advantages of the two, we report label-free sensitive detection of human α-thrombin by an aptamer-functionalized nanoporous alumina membrane using a four-electrode electrochemical cell. The sensor response to α-thrombin was determined in the presence of a high concentration (500 μM) of human serum albumin (HSA) as an interfering protein in the background. The sensor sensitivity was also characterized against γ-thrombin, which is a modified α-thrombin lacking the aptamer binding epitope. The detection limit, within an appreciable signal/noise ratio, was 10 pM of α-thrombin in presence of 500 μM HSA. The proposed scheme involves the use of minimum reagents/sample preparation steps, has appreciable response in presence of high concentrations of interfering molecules and is readily amenable to miniaturization by association with existing-chip based electrical systems for application in point-of-care diagnostic devices.
Toward a system where workforce planning and interprofessional practice and education are designed around patients and populations not professions

Traditional workforce planning methodologies and interprofessional education (IPE) approaches will not address the significant challenges facing health care systems seeking to integrate services, eliminate waste and meet rising demand within fixed or shrinking budgets. This article describes how New Zealand's workforce planning approach could be used as a model by other countries to move toward needs-based, interprofessional workforce planning. Such an approach requires a paradigm shift to reframe health workforce planning away from a focus on shortages toward assessing how to more effectively deploy and retrain the existing workforce; away from silo-based workforce projection models toward methodologies that recognize professions' overlapping scopes of practice; and away from a focus on traditional health professions toward including both health and social care workers. We propose that IPE must develop new models of learning that are delivered in the context of practice. This will require a shift from today's predominant focus on preparing students in the pipeline to be collaboration-ready to designing clinical practice environments that support continuous learning that benefits not just learners, but patients, populations, and providers as well. We highlight the need for improved data and methods to evaluate IPE and call for better collaboration between health workforce planners and IPE stakeholders.
Greenland can't go green

The Arctic is melting fast. The world needs to wake up to just how fast, and what the impacts will be, says Adam Vaughan
A Viral Model of Product Adoption with Antagonistic Interactions

In this paper, we extend a viral model for product adoption which takes into account how an agent's (or subpop-ulation's) opinion affects the decision to adopt a product or not. Here the coupled adoption opinion model considers the case where the opinion dynamic evolves over a signed network, which captures antagonistic interactions between agents. These signed networks capture a more realistic class of opinion behaviors and lead to a rich set of adoption behaviors for the coupled model. The equilibria of this model are characterized and some stability properties of these equilibria are discussed. Further behavior of the coupled model is studied via simulation.
Knowledge-Based Tradeoff Hyperplanes for Head and Neck Treatment Planning.

Purpose To develop a tradeoff hyperplane model to facilitate tradeoff decision-making before inverse planning. Methods and Materials We propose a model-based approach to determine the tradeoff hyperplanes that allow physicians to navigate the clinically viable space of plans with best achievable dose–volume parameters before planning. For a given case, a case reference set (CRS) is selected using a novel anatomic similarity metric from a large reference plan pool. Then, a regression model is built on the CRS to estimate the expected dose–volume histograms (DVHs) for the current case. This model also predicts the DVHs for all CRS cases and captures the variation from the corresponding DVHs in the clinical plans. Finally, these DVH variations are analyzed using the principal component analysis to determine the tradeoff hyperplane for the current case. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, 244 head and neck cases were randomly partitioned into reference (214) and validation (30) sets. A tradeoff hyperplane was built for each validation case and evenly sampled for 12 tradeoff predictions. Each prediction yielded a tradeoff plan. The root-mean-square errors of the predicted and the realized plan DVHs were computed for prediction achievability evaluation. Results The tradeoff hyperplane with 3 principal directions accounts for 57.8% ± 3.6% of variations in the validation cases, suggesting the hyperplanes capture a significant portion of the clinical tradeoff space. The average root-mean-square errors in 3 tradeoff directions are 5.23 ± 2.46, 5.20 ± 2.52, and 5.19 ± 2.49, compared with 4.96 ± 2.48 of the knowledge-based planning predictions, indicating that the tradeoff predictions are comparably achievable. Conclusions Clinically relevant tradeoffs can be effectively extracted from existing plans and characterized by a tradeoff hyperplane model. The hyperplane allows physicians and planners to explore the best clinically achievable plans with different organ-at-risk sparing goals before inverse planning and is a natural extension of the current knowledge-based planning framework.
Evaluating Partial Series Childhood Vaccination Services in a Mobile Clinic Setting

This study aims to evaluate the cost-benefit of vaccination services, mostly partial series administration, provided by a mobile clinic program (MCP) in Houston for children of transient and low-income families. The study included 469 patients who visited the mobile clinics on regular service days in 2 study periods in 2014 and 836 patients who attended vaccination events in the summer of 2014. The benefit of partial series vaccination was estimated based on vaccine efficacy/effectiveness data. Our conservative cost-benefit estimates show that, compared with office-based settings, every dollar spent on vaccination by the MCP would result in $0.9 societal cost averted as an incremental benefit in regular service days and $3.7 during vaccination-only events. To further improve the cost-benefit of vaccination services in the MCP, decision-makers and stakeholders may consider improving work efficiency during regular service days or hosting more vaccination events.
On Sampled Reinforcement Learning in Wireless Networks: Exploitation of Policy Structures

Reinforcement learning is a classical tool to solve network control or policy optimization problems in unknown environments. In order to learn the optimal policy correctly, the classical $Q$ -learning algorithm requires sufficient visits to all state-action pairs, resulting in the need for a large number of observations in the presence of a large state-action space. Nevertheless, complexity reduction can be achieved by exploiting the particular structure of the optimal policy. A sampled reinforcement learning algorithm is proposed, where the optimal policy is estimated only for a subset of states; a machine learning technique, as well as a graph signal processing approach, are applied for policy interpolation for unvisited states. A policy refinement algorithm is further proposed to improve the performance of policy interpolation. Performance analysis and bounds are also provided for the proposed policy sampling and interpolation algorithms. Numerical experiments on a single link wireless network with a large state space show that the sample $Q$ -learning algorithm with policy interpolation achieves a much faster runtime with negligible performance loss compared to classical $Q$ -learning.
Anesthesia analgesia in the amygdala

General anesthetics during surgery are presumed to block pain by dampening brain activity and promoting loss-of-consciousness. A new study shows that anesthetics activate an endogenous analgesia neural ensemble in the central nucleus of the amygdala.
E-083 A quantitative and qualitative analysis of #radialfirst conversations on twitter

Background Trans-radial access for neuro-endovascular procedures has gained popularity in recent years, driven in part by social media. The approach was adopted and modified from that used by interventional cardiology. This study analyzes Twitter conversations regarding this topic using the popular hashtag #RadialFirst. Materials and Methods Twitter was evaluated for public content pertaining to all trans-radial access. We conducted a mixed-method analysis that includes a quantitative examination of all social media metrics (no. of tweets, mentions, retweets, locations, word count) and a qualitative evaluation of tweets for thematic analysis. Results Between January 2013 and February 2020, there were 100,531 tweets from 100 countries using the hashtag #RadialFirst. These tweets had an overall impression of 218 million and were retweeted 75,000 times by 13,103 users. More than 60% of tweets carried media materials (e.g. wrist image, angiographic runs) but only 14% of tweets had a link to an article. USA (17%) and the UK (4.2%) had the highest numbers of tweets. Physicians authored 84% of the tweets and interventional cardiologists accounted for 94% of the top 100 influencers for the hashtag. Tweets showed steady increase in numbers over time and coincided later with the appearance of a new hashtag for neuro-intervention, #RadialForNeuro. Five prominent themes emerged from the coded data: sharing cases, providing operative tips, requesting information, highlighting adverse events, and tweets related to commercial endorsements. Conclusion This study is the first to provide insight into Twitter communications regarding trans-radial access. These findings highlight the impact of Twitter in disseminating the technique, and the role of social media in education and refinement of technical approaches. Disclosures N. Alotaibi: None. P. Harker: None. F. Robertson: None. J. Vranic: None. M. Koch: None. C. Stapleton: None. T. Leslie-Mazwi: None. A. Patel: None.