cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Systemic SIRT1 insufficiency results in disruption of energy homeostasis and steroid hormone metabolism upon high-fat-diet feeding

SIRT1 is a highly-conserved NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylase that plays essential roles in the regulation of energy metabolism, genomic stability, and stress response. Although the functions of SIRT1 in many organs have been extensively studied in tissue-specific knockout mouse models, the systemic role of SIRT1 is still largely unknown as a result of severe developmental defects that result from whole-body knockout in mice. Here, we investigated the systemic functions of SIRT1 in metabolic homeostasis by utilizing a whole-body SIRT1 heterozygous mouse model. These mice are phenotypically normal under standard feeding conditions. However, when chronically challenged with a 40% fat diet, they become obese and insulin resistant, display increased serum cytokine levels, and develop hepatomegaly. Hepatic metabolomic analyses revealed that SIRT1 heterozygous mice have elevated gluconeogenesis and oxidative stress. Surprisingly, they are depleted of glycerolipid metabolites and free fatty acids, yet accumulate lysolipids. Moreover, high-fat feeding induces elevation of serum testosterone levels and enlargement of seminal vesicles in SIRT1 heterozygous males. Microarray analysis of liver mRNA indicates that they have altered expression of genes involved in steroid metabolism and glycerolipid metabolism. Taken together, our findings indicate that SIRT1 plays a vital role in the regulation of systemic energy and steroid hormone homeostasis.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL CLUSTERS FOR THE DIFFUSION OF OPINIONS AND BELIEFS IN INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

Opinions and beliefs are essential ingredients in the diffusion of innovation. We present a framework to model and simulate diffusion processes of opinions and beliefs in interpersonal communication networks. We introduce an algorithm to create stylized networks with attributes of real-world interpersonal communication networks. We also introduce a simple, but expandable model for simulating the dynamics of the diffusion processes of opinions and beliefs. We apply network multi-agent simulations to show the importance of local clusters of connected agents for keeping opinions and beliefs endemic in a social system. We also argue that due to the structure of interpersonal networks, these local clusters have the capability to propagate opinions and ideas into the entire system.
Optical properties of Zn0.5Cd0.5Se thin films grown on InP by molecular beam epitaxy

We report photoluminescence (PL) and reflectivity measurements of Zn0.5Cd0.5Se epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on InP substrates. The low-temperature PL spectra are dominated by asymmetric lines, which can be deconvoluted into two Gaussian peaks with a separation of ,8 meV. The behavior of these peaks is studied as a function of excitation intensity and temperature, revealing that these are free exciton (FE) and bound exciton emission lines. Two lower energy emission lines are also observed and assigned to the first and second longitudinal optical phonon replicas of the FE emission. The temperature dependence of the intensity, line width, and energy of the dominant emission lines are described by an Arrhenius plot, a Bose ‐ Einstein type relationship, Varshni’s and Bose ‐Einstein equations, respectively.
Perfusion CT and acute stroke imaging: Foundations, applications, and literature review

Multimodal CT features prominently in the rapidly evolving field of acute stroke triage, with perfusion CT applications at the forefront of many clinical research efforts. Perfusion CT offers a time sensitive and widely practicable assessment of cerebral hemodynamics and parenchymal viability that is key in acute stroke management. The following article reviews perfusion CT foundations and technical considerations while highlighting recent modality advances and frontline clinical applications. Ischemic penumbra and other prognostic imaging biomarkers are discussed in the context of results of recent clinical trials (MR-RESCUE, IMS III, Tenecteplase, etc.), with an emphasis on evidence based image guided stroke triage.
Experimental evaluation of application performance with 802.11 PHY rate adaptation mechanisms in diverse environments

We examine the impact of physical layer rate adaptation mechanisms on the performance of real applications over 802.11 wireless links in diverse channel environments. Our evaluations are based on a testbed with real wireless devices equipped with commodity 802.11 hardware and a hardware channel emulator. We consider two different and well-known 802.11 rate adaptation mechanisms (Onoe and SampleRate) and study their performance under several realistic workloads, including multimedia streaming and Web browsing. We observe that the application performance with different rate adaptation mechanisms is dependent on the specific tradeoffs these mechanisms make at the link layer in an application-oblivious manner between improving throughput and limiting frame loss. More importantly, their relative performance for a given workload is quite sensitive to the channel quality and environment. These observations highlight the importance of choosing the rate selection strategy adaptively in an application and channel aware manner
Integration of speech recognition and natural language processing in the MIT VOYAGER system

The MIT VOYAGER speech understanding system is an urban exploration and navigation system that interacts with the user through spoken dialogue, text, and graphics. The authors describe recent attempts at improving the integration between the speech recognition and natural language components. They used the generation capability of the natural language component to produce a word-pair language model to constrain the recognizer's search space, thus improving the coverage of the overall system. They also implemented a strategy in which the recognizer generates the top N word strings and passes them along to the natural language component for filtering. Results on performance evaluation are presented. >
Hypnosis and behavioral treatment in a worksite smoking cessation program

Abstract In the initial study, 48 subjects of the total (N = 63) ultimately used, were assigned to one of three treatments: (a) four hypnotic sessions with a booster, (b) two hypnotic sessions, or (c) two hypnotic and two behavioral sessions with a booster. A follow-up group was later recruited composed of 15 subjects who received four hypnotic sessions and a booster session with less time between sessions. The results indicated no difference in smoking cessation 6 months after treatment regardless of the frequency, length between sessions, or addition of behavioral methods. Successful subjects were more educated, less able to utilize their imagination, and had fewer smokers at home.
ENHANCEMENT OF ANTIBIOTIC ACTIVITY OF COLICINE K AND ALTERATION OF SEROLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF COLICINE K AND ENDOTOXINS

Hemoglobin, its chains, and myoglobin enhance the antibiotic activity of colicine K. These proteins also interact with colicine K and other O antigens to alter their serological activity. The hemoglobin proteins did not alter the serological activities of three Pneumococcus polysaccharides or T4 bacteriophage DNA antigens but did alter the antigenic activity of fetuin. Interaction of hemoglobin and colicine K resulted in a retardation of colicine K antibiotic moiety as measured by gel filtration but did not affect the gel filtration properties of the lipopolysaccharide moiety.
Multiuser Detection of Sparsely Spread CDMA

Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is the basis of a family of advanced air interfaces in current and future generation networks. The benefits promised by CDMA have not been fully realized partly due to the prohibitive complexity of optimal detection and decoding of many users communicating simultaneously using the same frequency band. From both theoretical and practical perspectives, this paper advocates a new paradigm of CDMA with sparse spreading sequences, which enables near-optimal multiuser detection using belief propagation (BP) with low-complexity. The scheme is in part inspired by capacity-approaching low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes and the success of iterative decoding techniques. Specifically, it is shown that BP-based detection is optimal in the large-system limit under many practical circumstances, which is a unique advantage of sparsely spread CDMA systems. Moreover, it is shown that, from the viewpoint of an individual user, the CDMA channel is asymptotically equivalent to a scalar Gaussian channel with some degradation in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The degradation factor, known as the multiuser efficiency, can be determined from a fixed-point equation. The results in this paper apply to a broad class of sparse, semi-regular CDMA systems with arbitrary input and power distribution. Numerical results support the theoretical findings for systems of moderate size, which further demonstrate the appeal of sparse spreading in practical applications.
The somatic marker hypothesis: A neural theory of economic decision

Modern economic theory ignores the influence of emotions on decision-making. Emerging neuroscience evidence suggests that sound and rational decision making, in fact, depends on prior accurate emotional processing. The somatic marker hypothesis provides a systems-level neuroanatomical and cognitive framework for decision-making and its influence by emotion. The key idea of this hypothesis is that decision-making is a process that is influenced by marker signals that arise in bioregulatory processes, including those that express themselves in emotions and feelings. This influence can occur at multiple levels of operation, some of which occur consciously, and some of which occur non-consciously. Here we review studies that confirm various predictions from the hypothesis, and propose a neural model for economic decision, in which emotions are a major factor in the interaction between environmental conditions and human decision processes, with these emotional systems providing valuable implicit or explicit knowledge for making fast and advantageous decisions.
On optimal freeway ramp control policies for congested traffic corridors

This paper examines the conditions for which ramp metering can be beneficial to the overall system in terms of travel time savings for a simple traffic corridor that consists of a freeway and a set of parallel arterials connected by entrance ramps. The focus is on analyzing state and control relationships to arrive at general analytical results regarding optimal metering policies, rather than on either developing specific control algorithms or solving a specific application. The analysis is concerned with the general behavior of the system under ramp control and traffic diversion. The analysis assumes that time-varying traffic demands that originate from various locations are destined for a single location and that the freeway is uniformly congested throughout the control period. Under these assumptions, some general results are obtained regarding the effectiveness of ramp metering for various traffic diversion propensities and differentials between freeway and arterial traffic conditions. It is shown that the optimal ramp control policies are determined by the magnitudes of two co-state vectors that depend on traffic conditions on the freeway and its alternative, and the drivers diversion propensity. The results of two limiting cases imply that when the freeway is uniformly congested ramp control is counter-productive unless diversion occurs, and where drivers have a high propensity to divert, the optimal policy is dependent on the travel speed on the freeway alternative and on the wave speed of backward propagating waves on the freeway.
Evaluation comparing multiple treatments with a 2-msec and 10-msec alexandrite laser for hair removal.

Background and Objectives There are a variety of different laser hair removal systems currently available. There are also systems with identical emitted wavelengths; yet their emitted pulse durations vary. There are few data comparing these systems in an objective manner. Study Design/Materials and Methods Fourteen subjects received three treatments with two different pulse duration 755-nm alexandrite lasers. Paired anatomic sites were treated three times with both a 2-msec and a 10-msec system. Subjects were evaluated prior to laser treatment and 6 months after the three treatments with manual hair counts and incidence of complications. Results The average percentage of hair reduction was 33.1% for the 2-msec-pulse duration and 33.9% for the 10-msec-pulse duration alexandrite laser. No cutaneous pigmentary changes or scarring was noted 6 months after the final treatment. Conclusion The alexandrite laser is effective in removing unwanted hair. There was no difference in response between a 2-msec and a 10-msec alexandrite laser. Lasers Surg. Med. 25:223–228, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Fractionalization of the curl operator and its electromagnetic application

The author shows that the fractional curl operator can have interesting application in extending the principle of duality in electromagnetism to "fractional" duality. Physical principles behind this novel concept of fractional duality are discussed, and it is shown how an electromagnetic problem can be "continuously" evolved into its dual problem using the mathematical tool of fractional curl operator.
Sulfur poisoning of nickel methanation catalysts: I. in situ deactivation by H2S of nickel and nickel bimetallics

The effects of exposure to dilute H/sub 2/S during reaction on the methanation activity of alumina-supported nickel, cobalt, and nickel bimetallic catalysts in powder, pellet, and monolith form were investigated. Results of activity tests at 525/sup 0/K, 1 atm, and a space velocity of 30,000 hr/sup -1/ with 10 ppM H/sub 2/S in the reactant stream show that cobalt and most nickel bimetallic catalysts are not significantly more or less sulfur tolerant than nickel; Ni-MoO/sub 3/, however, is more active before, during, and after exposure to H/sub 2/S. The data also indicate that monolithic catalysts are significantly more sulfur resistant than either powder or pellet catalysts. All of these catalysts, however, are completely deactivated within a period of 2 to 3 days under the conditions investigated. During reaction in the presence of H/sub 2/S, there is an exponential decrease in activity accompanied by a gradual breakthrough of the poison. Less sulfur is adsorbed on the catalyst during reaction than would be if equilibrium adsorption occurred. Data showing the roles of temperature, gas composition, and catalyst geometry in the poisoning process and the results of regeneration experiments are presented and discussed. 8 figures, 3 tables.
Radiation-induced Aggregation of Bovine Pancreatic Ribonuclease

SummaryPurified bovine pancreatic ribonuclease in aqueous solution at a concentration of 10 mg per millilitre aggregated when exposed to 60Co gammaradiation. Aggregation was demonstrated by Sephadex chromatography. The aggregation process was inhibited by oxygen and by chemical protective agents. In the presence of oxygen, partially oxidized, partially-active ribonuclease was formed during irradiation. In the absence of oxygen, aggregated, enzymically-inactive protein was produced. 3,3′-guanidinopropyl disulphide (GPD) completely inhibited the aggregation process. Aggregation of irradiated ribonuclease was observed in solutions of ph 1 to 8. Irradiation of lyophilized, dry ribonuclease failed to produce aggregate. Fragmentation products from irradiated protein were not observed with Sephadex G-25 chromatography. Performic-acid-oxidized ribonuclease also formed aggregates upon irradiation. Total amino-acid analysis of the aggregate indicated that one lysine residue of the enzyme was chemically altered in t...
Education and Its Discontents

Education in the humanities is in a crisis. There is at the very least a general malaise, at the worst a sense of hopelessness. This is not a superficial problem, but a deep one, rooted in western culture itself but especially far-reaching in the form it takes in the U.S. The problem is a “Hydra” with many heads, and it seems when one is cut off, two grow back. The more immediate problem is that "bureaucratic reason" and a desire for "measurable goals and objectives" have penetrated the university system, and online education has proven fruitful field for bureaucratic learning. The underlying problem is that the very virtues of modernity – liberty and science – have in fact become its vices. Liberty has ended up being something enjoyed by the financial "1%" while science and technology have resulted in a materialistic and quantitative view of the human person which has the effect of suffocating personal, qualitative life – the very life that the humanities seek to nurture. The way out requires a reaffirmation of what is fundamentally human, transcending all measurement.
Human conflicts and the food, energy, and water nexus: building collaboration using facilitation and mediation to manage environmental disputes

The food, energy, and water nexus represents the interaction of three complicated systems, each of which alone provides plenty of fodder for human conflict. In the USA, environmental laws typically address conflicts arising within each system. For example, the Clean Water Act primarily focuses on controlling end-of-pipe water pollution. However, it is less effective in reducing water pollution from nonpoint sources, which requires intensive collaboration of both public and private entities to address. Sector-based regulatory regimes also have similar limitations in the food and energy systems. Once these three systems are considered together, the implications of policies, plans, and projects on natural resources become difficult to untangle. This paper discusses the benefits and challenges of managing environmental disputes through facilitation and mediation, where a neutral third party is engaged to help design and manage a constructive problem-solving process. An examination of how mediation in particular has been used to address conflicts of different scales in the USA suggests that the use of third-party neutrals should be considered more widely in collaborative efforts to handle conflict at the food, energy, and water nexus. The aid of a neutral third party could greatly enhance the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement and creativity under scientific, legal, and political uncertainties. Dispute resolution processes can also accelerate the creation of productive relationships between citizens, scientists, and non-governmental and governmental agencies to foster innovative and lasting solutions to meet the food, energy, and water needs of the future.
Pure Thought is Better Yet

(1985). Pure Thought is Better Yet. The College Mathematics Journal: Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 14-16.
Transition Zone Theory of Crystal Growth and Viscosity

Crystal growth and viscous relaxation are known to be activated processes, albeit inadequately described by transition state theories. By considering a transition zone and accounting for the Kauzmann-type temperature dependence of configurational entropy we here develop transition zone theory (TZT). Entropic and enthalpic activation probabilities scale with the cooperativity of the reactant, and the attempt frequency prefactor (kBT/h) is scaled by a characteristic phonon wavelength equal to twice the lattice constant for crystal growth, and the speed of sound squared for viscous relaxation. TZT accurately describes the temperature-dependent crystal growth rates and viscosity of diverse materials over the entire temperature ranges Tg to Tm and Tg to Tc, respectively, and affords a detailed mechanistic understanding of condensed matter reactions similar to that afforded to molecular chemistry by the Eyring equation.
Promoting Behavioral Variability in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Literature Review

Repetitive behavior is a hallmark feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and can have adverse consequences related to social stigma and low rates of skill acquisition. Basic research suggests that variability, or the extent to which one response differs from previous responses, is amenable to antecedent and consequence manipulations. This article describes the concept of variability, synthesizes the findings of 14 recent studies on interventions to increase the variability of behavior in individuals with ASD, and proposes preliminary guidelines for practitioners that focus on building response repertoires, implementing contingencies to produce and maintain variability, and incorporating prompts to vary responding.
Accelerating the Convergence and Reducing the Variance of Path Integral Calculations of Quantum Mechanical Free Energies by Using Local Reference Potentials.

We present two new methods to accelerate the convergence of Feynman path integral calculations of thermodynamic partition functions. The first enhancement uses information from instantaneous normal mode (INM) calculations to decrease the number of discretized points necessary to represent the Feynman paths and is denoted the local generalized Pitzer–Gwinn (LGPG) scheme. The second enhancement, denoted harmonically guided variance reduction (HGVR), reduces the variance in Monte Carlo (MC) calculations by exploiting the correlation between the sampling error associated with the sum over paths at a particular centroid location for the accurate potential and for the INM approximation of a model potential, the latter of which can be exactly calculated. The LGPG scheme can reduce the number of quadrature points required along the paths by nearly an order of magnitude, and the HGVR scheme can reduce the number of MC samples needed to achieve a target accuracy by more than an order of magnitude. Numerical calcula...
Reconciling the Discrepancies between Crystallographic Porosity and Guest Access As Exemplified by Zn-HKUST-1

There are several compounds for which there exists a disconnect between porosity as predicted by crystallography and porosity measured by gas sorption analysis. In this paper, the Zn-based analogue of Cu3(btc)2 (HKUST-1), Zn3(btc)2 (Zn-HKUST-1; btc = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) is investigated. Conventional analysis of Zn-HKUST-1 by powder X-ray diffraction and gas sorption indicates retention of crystalline structure but negligible nitrogen uptake at 77 K. By using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, a densified surface layer preventing the entry of even small molecular species into the crystal framework is revealed. The material is shown to have inherent surface instability after solvent removal, rendering it impermeable to molecular guests irrespective of handling and processing methods. This previously unobserved surface instability may provide insight into the failure of other microporous coordination polymers to exhibit significant porosity despite crystal structures indicative of regular,...
Management of advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the penis.

SUMMARY In some parts of the world, SCC of the penis represents a significant health problem. Although in the early stages it can be cured by surgery, it is often advanced at the time of presentation and many patients refuse surgery. Once the lymph nodes are involved with tumor, the prognosis is poor, with a 5-year survival of 10% to 30%. 7 Because of the high associated morbidity and mortality, effective means of treating this disorder must be developed. As shown by the studies outlined earlier in the article, SCC of the penis is responsive to many cytotoxic agents and is also a radiosensitive tumor. Some of the agents active in this disorder are outlined in Table 1. These agents include bleomycin, methotrexate, cisplatin, and 5-FU. Using the combined-modality approach with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery, many patients with advanced disease have achieved a clinical remission with long survivals. Further work with larger sample sizes and randomized comparisons between the available regimens need to be performed in order to determine the optimal therapy for this disease. In addition, studies with new agents and radiation and surgical techniques need to be performed so that we may continue to improve our rates of long-term remission from this disease.
Hormone-Releasing Silastic Intrauterine Devices: Effect of Provera-Releasing Intrauterine Devices on two Species of Primates*†

Silastic intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs) 13 mm long and 1.07 mm in diameter could be inserted easily into patas monkey uteri which, like human uteri, expelled them. Addition of 10% Provera to these devices did not reduce the expulsion rate significantly in our study. Control devices had no effect on cycle length in rhesus monkeys. After insertion, the active IUDs frequently caused a delay in onset of menstruation; however, cycles did occur with the device in situ, and normal-length cycles were resumed following removal of the device. A short period of rapid release (almost 35% of the total amount) of Provera from the device was followed by a longer period of sustained release of low levels of the hormone. Even 9 mug/day were sufficient to maintain a decidual reaction in the endometrium of the rhesus monkey. The drug could not be detected in the blood stream at 3,6, or 12 hours in patas monkeys or at 1 or 2 months in rhesus monkeys and so may never have reached the systemic circulation. Devices currently under study in baboons catain Provera or one of three other steroids to determine whether these compounds improve retention rates as well as meet the other two criteria set for the ideal IUD incorporation, for unless we meet this first criterion we can never achieve, let alone test, the others.
Slavery & Antislavery in Spain’s Atlantic Empire. Edited by Josep M. Fradera and Christopher Schmidt‐Nowara. (New York, NY: Berghahn Books, 2013. Pp. xi, 328. $120.00.)

Spain was the first European power to introduce slavery into the Americas. However, its colonies did not become significant plantation economies, and Spain itself did not directly participate in th...
Growth Model Selection and its Application for Characterizing Life History of a Migratory Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) Population

Abstract Five growth models were evaluated for their effectiveness in characterizing growth of an isolated population of bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, undergoing a long term cessation of harvest (1994–2005) in the North Fork Clearwater River, Idaho, above Dworshak Dam. To explore the dynamics of growth in migratory bull trout, one of the models, the von Bertalanffy model, was also fitted based on age estimates derived from annuli and growth increments on pelvic fin ray sections for three juvenile outmigration age groups. Among five growth models evaluated, four models fitted to the age-length data described the fish growth for ages 3 to 11 comparably well. Only a model that exhibited positive growth acceleration as age progressed fitted the data less effectively. Growth was significantly (P < 0.001) related to the age of outmigration from natal streams (1–3 years). Migratory bull trout were found to reach maturation at ages 4–6; the common age-4 maturation was younger than most comparable studies. A...
Abstract 289: Peripheral Arterial Disease and Vulnerability to Cardiovascular Events: Data from the Heart and Soul Study

Objectives: Among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), those with comorbid peripheral arterial disease (PAD) have a greater vulnerability to cardiovascular (CV) events than those with CAD alone. It is unclear why the presence of PAD predisposes patients with CAD to adverse CV outcomes. In a prospective cohort study of patients with CAD, we evaluated potential mechanisms that might explain the adverse CV outcomes associated with PAD. Methods: We evaluated 1020 patients with stable CAD who were recruited from 2000-2002 and followed for an average of 7.2 ± 2.6 years. Incident PAD events were adjudicated based on physician diagnosis, radiological imaging and/or need for PAD surgery. We used Cox proportional hazards models to evaluate the association between development of PAD events (entered as a time-dependent covariate) and subsequent risk of cardiovascular (CV) events (myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular event, revascularization) or death based on detailed review of medical records. Models were adjusted for traditional cardiovascular risk factors (age, race, sex, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, kidney function, inflammation) and self-reported history of PAD at baseline. Results: Among the 1020 patients, 67 patients developed incident PAD events during the follow-up period. Patients who developed PAD events had a higher risk of subsequent CV events and death compared to those who did not develop PAD (Figure). After adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors and self-reported history of PAD, development of PAD events remained associated with an 84% increased risk of subsequent cardiovascular events [adjusted HR 1.84, 95% CI 1.15, 2.96, p=0.01] and an 89% increased risk of death [adjusted HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.30-2.74, p=0.0009]. Only a small portion of this association was explained by baseline differences in levels of IL-6, TNF-alpha and fibrinogen. Conclusions: In a contemporary cohort of patients with CAD, development of incident PAD was associated with adverse CV outcomes. The increased risk of CV events was not explained by shared risk factors or inflammation. Further research is necessary to understand how the presence of PAD increases risk of subsequent CV events.
The integrals determining orientational order in liquid crystals by x-ray diffraction revisited

ABSTRACTThe orientational distribution function f(β) relative to the average orientation direction or director of liquid crystals and related materials can be obtained from the angular variation of the diffracted x-ray intensity distribution I(θ) of the wide-angle or equatorial arcs. The two quantities f(β) and I(θ) are related by an integral equation. Two different integral equations, one by Kratky and the other by Leadbetter and Norris describing the same phenomena, are the basis of the analyses. There has been discussion of which of the equations is correct; however, the form first derived by Kratky is correct. In this paper, solutions to the Kratky form of the equation are presented. Analytical, closed-form expressions for for n = 0, 1, 2 and 3 are presented. These allow calculation of the first three non-zero orientational order parameters. Experimental data are analysed using solutions to the Kratky kernel and the often used Leadbetter–Norris kernel as a series and in integral form, and the method o...
103 Racial disparities in pedestrian deaths in the united states, 1999–2015

Purpose Racial disparities in violent injury are well documented but disparities in injuries from non-violent means are less studied. Nearly 5000 pedestrians are killed by motor vehicles annually in the US and 1 50 000 are injured. We examined whether racial disparities exist in pedestrian deaths. Methods/Approach Using CDC annual mortality data, 1999–2015, each death was classified into one of five mutually exclusive racial/ethnic categories: White, Black/African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Latino. Individuals categorised as Latino were not included in any other group. Deaths missing race/ethnicity were excluded. We compared death rates between racial groups annually and across the rural-urban continuum using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Given substantial geographic segregation, we separately analysed those counties with â‰¥10 deaths among multiple racial/ethnic groups. Results We identified 49 494 pedestrian deaths over 17 years. The overall average pedestrian death rate was 1.4/100,000 population per year, with a decline from 1.8 in 1999 to 1.0 in 2015. The median death rate was lowest for Asians, at 0.8/100,000 (IQR=0.6–1.0), followed by Whites, at 0.9 (IQR=0.7–1.0). Blacks and Latinos had similar mortality rates at 1.4 (IQR=1.0–1.5) and 1.2 (IQR=0.9–1.6) respectively. Native Americans had the highest rate of pedestrian death at 2.6 (IQR=2.4–2.9); p=0.0001. Although death rates varied across urbanisation levels, disparities were consistent. Seventy-three U.S. counties had ¥10 pedestrian deaths among Blacks, Latinos and Whites. In these counties, the median death rate was 1.2 for Whites (IQR=0.8–1.5), 1.4 (IQR=1–2.1) for Blacks, and 1.4 (IQR=1.0–1.9) for Latinos; p=0.011. Conclusions Significant racial disparities in pedestrian death rates exist even in racially diverse counties and were not accounted for by urbanisation. Significance and Contributions to Injury and Violence Prevention Science Having identified these disparities, future studies can target prevention efforts by identifying social, environmental and geographic contributors, as well as those areas of the country accounting for greatest disparity burden.
Genetic Aspects of Vascular Malformations

The identification of genomic and somatic mutations in patients with vascular anomalies has greatly contributed to our understanding of the pathogenesis of these disorders. Recognition of family pedigrees led to the discovery of causative genes in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), mucosal venous malformations, cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), capillary malformation-arteriovenous malformation (CM-AVM), glomovenous malformations, PTEN hamartoma syndromes, and many lymphedema-related conditions. The discovery of somatic mutations in capillary malformations (GNAQ) and overgrowth syndromes (AKT1 in Proteus syndrome, PIK3CA in CLOVES, and other overgrowth syndromes) corroborates the theory that somatic mosaicism is causative in these disorders. This chapter will provide the historic background of the discovery of genetic mutations in vascular malformations and discuss the differences between and importance of understanding genomic and somatic mutations.
The Female Detective, Neurodiversity, and Felt Knowledge in Engrenages and Bron/Broen:

The neurodiverse female detective in transnational crime dramas embodies complex ways of seeing the gender-based violence these series frequently contain. This detective both orients and disrupts their narrative and visual fields with what I will argue is her surveilling yet troubled look. She inhabits the longstanding transnational tradition of the male defective detective and derives from two recent Anglo-European generic staples: female-led crime dramas and neurodiverse protagonists. In her, gender trouble in the look and its object meet up with the problem of the norm. Beginning with the example of Engrenages (Spiral, 2005) and then focusing on autism spectrum detective Saga Noren (Sofia Helin) in Bron/Broen, this article considers how the generic familiars and innovations vested in this character alter the dynamics of the gaze, recast the significance of empathy and justice, and enable violence, gender, and everyday social norms to be unsettled in potentially feminist ways.
Considerations in Qualitative Research Reporting: A Guide for Authors Preparing Articles for Sex Roles

Qualitative inquiry is frequently used to deepen understanding, improve empathy, and inspire social change, making it particularly appropriate for researchers using feminist, critical or other frameworks that encourage readers to consider issues of power and privilege. Gender researchers using qualitative inquiry are able to select from within a multitude of qualitative approaches to address the purpose of any given research study. The availability of so many approaches makes it challenging to provide one set of “best practices” for qualitative inquiry. The purpose of the present paper is to address this challenge by providing a combination of general and approach-specific guidelines for authors who aspire to write qualitative original research articles for publication in Sex Roles. I begin by providing broad guidelines, follow with approach-specific considerations, and finish the paper with advice related to common practices in qualitative research reporting. I also provide a sample of authoritative sources authors might wish to consult and cite in their research papers.
Economic and Sociological Views of Industries, Firms, and Jobs

At least since Weber, some sociologists have focused on topics lying on the border between their field and economics. Of the 13 chapters in this volume, 10 may be classified this way. The remaining 3—the chapters by Averitt, Lang and Dickens, and Williamson—represent a more unusual genre: economists working the other side of the border. However, such efforts also have a history that dates back more than 50 years, to the work of John Commons and the institutional economists (see Williamson, Chapter 8).
Efficient Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells to Endothelial Cells

Endothelial cells (ECs) line the interior surface of blood and lymphatic vessels, and play a key role in a variety of physiological or pathological processes such as thrombosis, inflammation, or vascular wall remodeling. Human-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs)-derived ECs provide a new opportunity for vascular regeneration and serve as a model to study the mechanism and to screen for novel therapies. We use developmental cues in a monolayer differentiation approach to efficiently generate mesoderm cells from iPSCs via small-molecule activation of WNT signaling in chemically defined medium for 4 days, and subsequent EC specification using vascular endothelial growth factor and fibroblast growth factor for another 4 days. After 8 days of differentiation, mature ECs are further purified using magnetic-activated cell sorting for the EC surface marker CD144. These ECs exhibit molecular and cellular characteristics consistent with native ECs, such as expression of specific surface markers, formation of tube-like structures and acetylated low-density lipoprotein uptake. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Texture Analysis Using Multiresolution Analysis for Ultrasound Tissue Characterization

There is a growing demand in the meat industry for a quantitative method of grading beef carcasses. Commercially available beef in the United States is graded subjectively by-certified United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors. This is done by visually determining the amount and distribution of intramuscular fat (IMFAT) or marbling in the ribeye muscle. A method for estimating quality attributes (such as marbling) in live animals would help cluster feedlot cattle into outcome groups for more effective marketing.
Support and Centrality: Learning Weights for Knowledge Graph Embedding Models

Computing knowledge graph (KG) embeddings is a technique to learn distributional representations for components of a knowledge graph while preserving structural information. The learned embeddings can be used in multiple downstream tasks such as question answering, information extraction, query expansion, semantic similarity, and information retrieval. Over the past years, multiple embedding techniques have been proposed based on different underlying assumptions. The most actively researched models are translation-based which treat relations as translation operations in a shared (or relation-specific) space. Interestingly, almost all KG embedding models treat each triple equally, regardless of the fact that the contribution of each triple to the global information content differs substantially. Many triples can be inferred from others, while some triples are the foundational (basis) statements that constitute a knowledge graph, thereby supporting other triples. Hence, in order to learn a suitable embedding model, each triple should be treated differently with respect to its information content. Here, we propose a data-driven approach to measure the information content of each triple with respect to the whole knowledge graph by using rule mining and PageRank. We show how to compute triple-specific weights to improve the performance of three KG embedding models (TransE, TransR and HolE). Link prediction tasks on two standard datasets, FB15K and WN18, show the effectiveness of our weighted KG embedding model over other more complex models. In fact, for FB15K our TransE-RW embeddings model outperforms models such as TransE, TransM, TransH, and TransR by at least 12.98% for measuring the Mean Rank and at least 1.45% for HIT@10. Our HolE-RW model also outperforms HolE and ComplEx by at least 14.3% for MRR and about 30.4% for HIT@1 on FB15K. Finally, TransR-RW show an improvement over TransR by 3.90% for Mean Rank and 0.87% for HIT@10.
Diagnosing Diverticulitis: Balancing Cost, Efficiency, and Safety. Can I Make This Diagnosis by Clinical Assessment Alone? What Is the Role of Imaging?

Diverticulitis is a disease affecting over 70% of Americans over the age of 80. It is defined as an inflammation of an outpouching of the colon and episodes range in severity from mild pain and leukocytosis to peritonitis and septic shock. Clinical assessment alone has limited value in the acute care setting. Current recommendations for the evaluation of the patient with signs and symptoms of diverticulitis include laboratory studies and computed tomography (CT) for diagnosis and risk stratification.
Shear-driven motion of Mg { 10 1 ¯ 2 } twin boundaries via disconnection terrace nucleation, growth, and coalescence

Twin nucleation and growth are prevalent plastic deformation mechanisms in hexagonal close-packed metals such as Mg. For twin growth to occur, the interfaces that border the twinned domain must migrate and the kinetics associated with this process are yet to be fully explained. Thus, the objective of this study is to characterize the relationship between the kinetics of the ${10\overline{1}2}$ twin boundary in pure Mg in the stress-driven regime, and the nucleation, growth, and coalescence of disconnection terraces that serve as the mechanisms for migration. This problem is addressed via atomistic simulations adopting both two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) simulation geometries, and a model for the velocity of the ${10\overline{1}2}$ twin boundary as a function of temperature and shear stress is proposed. This study shows that the kinetics of ${10\overline{1}2}$ twin boundary migration must be addressed using 3D models, as 2D simulations do not properly capture disconnection terrace nucleation and growth processes, demonstrated via differences in activation volumes and energies. Importantly, simulations reveal an autocatalytic terrace nucleation mechanism as playing a role in twin growth, where nucleation of a new terrace is dependent on the growth of existing terraces on the twin plane.
Characterizing SLAM Benchmarks and Methods for the Robust Perception Age

The diversity of SLAM benchmarks affords extensive testing of SLAM algorithms to understand their performance, individually or in relative terms. The ad-hoc creation of these benchmarks does not necessarily illuminate the particular weak points of a SLAM algorithm when performance is evaluated. In this paper, we propose to use a decision tree to identify challenging benchmark properties for state-of-the-art SLAM algorithms and important components within the SLAM pipeline regarding their ability to handle these challenges. Establishing what factors of a particular sequence lead to track failure or degradation relative to these characteristics is important if we are to arrive at a strong understanding for the core computational needs of a robust SLAM algorithm. Likewise, we argue that it is important to profile the computational performance of the individual SLAM components for use when benchmarking. In particular, we advocate the use of time-dilation during ROS bag playback, or what we refer to as slo-mo playback. Using slo-mo to benchmark SLAM instantiations can provide clues to how SLAM implementations should be improved at the computational component level. Three prevalent VO/SLAM algorithms and two low-latency algorithms of our own are tested on selected typical sequences, which are generated from benchmark characterization, to further demonstrate the benefits achieved from computationally efficient components.
On behaviour and scaling of small repeating earthquakes in rate and state fault models

With abundant seismic data for small repeating earthquakes, it is important to construct a dynamic model that can explain various aspects of related observations. In this work, we study small repeating earthquakes on a fault governed by rate- and state-dependent friction laws. The earthquakes occur on a velocity-weakening patch surrounded by a much larger velocity-strengthening region. The whole fault is subject to long-term tectonic loading. The model with a circular patch and the aging form of rate- and state-dependent friction laws has been shown to reproduce the scaling of recurrence time versus seismic moment for small repeating earthquakes in a previous study. Here we investigate the behaviour of small repeating earthquakes in related models under different scenarios, including several forms of the state evolution equations in rate- and state-dependent friction laws, rectangular velocity-weakening patch geometries, quasi-dynamic versus fully dynamic representation of inertial effects and 2-D versus 3-D simulations. We find that the simulated scalings between the recurrence time and seismic moment for these different scenarios is similar while differences do exist. We propose a theoretical consideration for the scaling between the recurrence time and seismic moment of small repeating earthquakes. For patch radii smaller than or comparable to the full nucleation size, the scaling is explained by the increase of seismic to aseismic slip ratio with magnitude. For patch radii larger than the full nucleation size, the scaling is explained by the model in which the recurrence time is determined by the earthquake nucleation time, which is in turn determined by the time for aseismic slip to penetrate the distance of the full nucleation size into the patch. The obtained theoretical insight is used to find the combinations of fault properties that allow the model to fit the observed scaling and range of the seismic moment and recurrence time.
Predicting Human Grasp Locations on Cup Handles by Using Deep Neural Networks to Infer Heat Signatures from Depth Data

In automated assisted living where a robot assists a human to interact with physical objects, an important challenge is for a robot to understand where humans are likely to grasp objects, so that the robot can present the object to a user in the most tenable configuration. In this paper, we present an approach that uses encoder-decoder convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to predict human grasp location on cup handles. The primary challenge addressed by our work is that object occlusion induced by the human hand prevents direct imaging of grasp location. Our approach uses the insight that once the object is released, the hand leaves a heat signature on the object surface due to the temperature differences between the human body and the ambient environment. Our CNNs learn a mapping between images obtained from traditional depth sensors as input and heat signatures of grasp locations imaged using a thermal camera as output. Given the depth image of a novel cup, our approach uses the trained network to predict the grasp probability distribution over the cup. Using a leave-one-cup-out approach, we obtain a mean absolute pixel-wise prediction error of 5.67 on 17 cups imaged from 7 orientations.