cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ACL, PCL, and Medial-Sided Injuries of the Knee

The optimal strategies to treat the multiligament injured knee remain controversial. While it is generally accepted that the cruciate ligaments are best managed with reconstruction, there is a paucity of data to help guide management of the MCL in the multiligament injured knee. Treatment of the MCL may be influenced by surgical timing, injury pattern, and location. It remains debatable whether or not the MCL requires surgery in this setting, and if surgery is deemed necessary, whether repair or reconstruction would yield better outcomes. Based on the Schenck classification, an ACL/ PCL/MCL injury falls into the Type III category. The surgical anatomy of the medial side of the knee including the bony attachment sites is the key to successful ligament repair and/or reconstruction.
Canalicular Bile Flow and Bromosulfophthalein Transport Maximum: The Effect of a Bile Salt-Independent Choleretic, Sc-2644

Both taurocholate and β-(2, 4-diamethoxy-5-cyclohexylbenzoyl) propionic acid (SC-2644) produce an increase in bile flow and an equivalent increase in the biliary clearance of erythritol. Only the former, however, produces an increase in bromosulfophthalein (BSP) transport maximum and an increase in the fraction of unconjugated dye appearing in bile. We conclude that the taurocholate-dependent changes in BSP excretion are not attributable to the associated choleresis, but instead represent a specific effect of the bile acid. From the present experiments, it is not possible to determine whether an effect of taurocholate on the membrane transport of BSP or micellar sequestration of dye in the canalicular lumen is the more important mechanism, but indirect evidence is reviewed which suggests that alterations in the intracellular conjugation of BSP do not account for the bile acid-dependent changes in BSP transport maximum.
Traditions of Tolerance: The Long-Run Persistence of Regional Variation in Attitudes towards English Immigrants

This article builds on existing studies of the long-run persistence of geographical variation in tolerance towards other ethnicities. Using English data, the study tests whether the persistent characteristic is an attitude towards a specific ethnic group, or is an underlying cultural trait of which the attitude towards a specific group is just one expression. It finds evidence for the latter, identifying geographical variation in anti-immigrant sentiment in the twenty-first century that is correlated with patterns of immigrant settlement in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, despite the fact that modern immigrant groups are quite different from those in the Middle Ages.
Thirty Years of Hardiness Validational Research and Practice

The measure of the hardy attitudes has gone through several improvements, and is now an 18 item scale called the Personal Views Survey III-R. Research has shown that the test is a valid indicator of commitment, control, and challenge, which together constitute the hardy attitudes. This test is a positive predictor of various indices of performance and health, and a negative predictor of strain and denial and avoidance, in working adults and college students. The hardy attitudes test has also been shown to be a positive predictor of the hardy strategies of problem-solving coping, socially-supportive interactions, and beneficial self-care. These hardy strategies have also been shown to be positive predictors of performance and health. Also, the hardy attitudes are better predictors of performance and health than are optimism, religiosity, and well-being. Research has also shown that hardiness can be learned, especially through parental encouragement and assistance of their young.
Isolation and microbiologic differentiation of Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis and Klebsiella ozaenae in cases of chronic rhinitis.

Isolation of the causative microorganisms in a case of rhinoscleroma and a case of ozena is reported. K. rhinoscleromatis and K. ozaenae were differentiated on the basis of their biochemical and serologic properties. The feasibility and importance of the identification of these microorganisms in the hospital laboratory are discussed.
Prolonged Febrile Seizures and their Management

Investigators at Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, and three other medical centers in Israel, obtained data, prospectively, on all children presenting in the emergency departments from January 2008 to March 2010 with prolonged febrile seizures.
Conceptualizing the Carceral Turn: Neoliberalism, Racism, and Violation

This article considers the turn to punishment in neoliberalism, and the hardening it marks in the criminal justice system, education, and public life. Examining tensions between neoliberalism’s doc...
The Effect of Temperature on the Frequency of Beat of the Grasshopper Heart

The effect of temperature on the rate of beat of the adult insect heart apparently has not been studied previously. However, there have been two investigations concerning the heart beat of nymphal cockroaches. Fries (1927) found a µ value of 12,500 for the heart of intact Blatta orientalis nymphs between 10° and 38°C. Steiner (1932) found that the heart beat of Periplaneta americana nymphs gives values of about 12,000 between 15° and 30°C in the intact animals, about 9,000 in decapitated but otherwise intact animals, and various values between 5,800 and 11,300 in decapitated animals in which the heart and / or ventral nerve cord had been severed in the mid region of the body.
The Morphology of the Ovipositor of Draeculacephala

The ovipositor of Draeculacephala mollipes (Say) is carried in a longitudinal receptacle (Pl. I, Fig. 8, a) in the caudoventral part of the abdomen. It consists of two pairs of chitinous valvulae (Pl. I, Figs. 1 and 2), which have come to lie mostly in the same caudocephalic plane. The anterior pair (Pl. I, Fig. 1), arising from the seventh sternite, has assumed the lateral or outer position and embraces most of the median pair (Pl. I, Fig. 2), which articulates with the eighth sternite. A third pair of valvulae (Pl. II, Figs. 1,1) serves only as a sheath for the ovipositor proper, and arises from the eighth segment behind the posterior or median valvulae. A set of muscles (Pl. I, Fig. 8, c, c) near the apex of the abdomen probably serves to open the receptacle along its ventral edge and permits the ovipositor to assume its functioning position.
10. Basic Income: A Remedy for a Sick Labor Market?

Given the low job creation of recent years, the persistence of poverty, and stagnating wages for so many, it is time to think of cash grants to Americans, according to the author. He offers us a historical review of past proposals and some practical new ideas of his own.
The Selection of Southern Sung Village Officers: To Whom Power?

Chinese imperial absolutism was born in the Sung the centralizing policies of Tai-tsu and T'ai-tsung were ancestral to the despotism of the Ming and Ch'ing.1 Though always autocratic in theory and sometimes autocratic in practice, Chinese rulers during the first millennium of the empire often found their powers circumscribed by the influence of the men around them. But, after the founding of the Sung the general trend was toward the placing in the hands of the ruler of greater power over the officials, while simultaneously augmenting the power and prestige of the Confucian bureaucrats as a group.2 To some extent and at some times this increase in imperial and official influence was translated into increased control over local affairs.3 But the road from the qualified power of pre-Sung times to the near absolutism of the Ming was not straight. Monarchical authority waxed and waned ; control over the people grew at times and at times declined. The Southern Sung was a period of weakening control over the countryside a
230 POOR CONCORDANCE BETWEEN DIAGNOSTIC TESTS FOR LATENT TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION INCLUDING INTERFERON-γ RELEASE ASSAYS IN HIV+ PERSONS.

Purpose Two new interferon-γ release assays (IGRA) T-SPOT.TB (TSPOT) and QuantiFERON-TB Gold in Tube (QFT-G) that employ tuberculosis (TB)-specific antigens are now available for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Few data are available on these tests in immunocompromised individuals. Our study was carried out to determine the utility of these tests in HIV+ patients. Methods Patients were enrolled at two clinics in Atlanta from 9/05 to 6/06. Patients had blood drawn for TSPOT and QFT-G and a tuberculin skin test (TST) placed. Medical and laboratory data were also collected. Results 338 HIV+ patients were enrolled; 65% were male, and 85% African American. Median CD4 count was 318/μL; mean viral load was 40,095 copies/mL. Eight percent were foreign born, and 7% had a history of BCG. Overall, 44 patients (13%) had a positive test for TST, QFT-G, or TSPOT. Six (2% [95% CI 0.8-3.8]) persons had a positive TST; 10 (3% [95% CI 1.6-5.4]) a positive QFT-G; and 32 (10% [95% CI 6.8-13.1]) a positive TSPOT. There were significant differences in the number of persons who tested positive for TSPOT compared with TST and TSPOT compared with QFT-G (McNemar9s test p Conclusions Poor concordance was noted between the three diagnostic tests. Indeterminate test results with IGRA were significantly more likely to occur among those with lower CD4 counts. Additional studies among HIV+ persons with high TB prevalence are needed to further assess the utility of these new IFN-γ tests among HIV+ persons.
Spasms in Spinal Cord Injury: A Study of 72 Subjects

Seventy-two patients with spinal cord injury of at least two years duration were reviewed retrospectively to determine incidence and effects of spasms. The average time between the injury and the examination was ten years. Seventy patients experienced spasms. In 50 patients (72%) the spasms appeared within six months after the injury. Historically, the spasms reached their maximal severity within 12 months. No significant difference was found in intensity and frequency of spasms between patients with clinically complete or incomplete spinal cord injury. Extensor spasms were seen more frequently than flexor spasms in the long-term patients. Patients with incomplete myelopathies had more extensor spasms than those with complete SCI.
Chapter 12 – Haze Measurement

Beer can deteriorate in various ways to reveal unacceptable turbidity problems. Apart from evenly dispersed hazes developing in the product, other clarity issues include bits, precipitates, and “invisible” haze, which comprises small particles that do not of themselves appear as a lack of clarity in the beer but are rather a function of how haze is measured. Invisible haze is due to extremely small particles that scatter light disproportionately at the angle of measurement (90 degree) that is typically used to detect haze by the scatter of an incident light beam. If measurement is at a “forward” angle of scatter (eg, 13 degree or 30 degree), such small particles are not detected. Although beer is usually “bright”; when packaged, it will deteriorate with time and the rate at which this is likely to occur can be predicted by forcing tests or by measuring the amount of colloidally sensitive materials in beer. If clarity problems occur, it is important to apply in a logical sequence interpretative analyses that indicate the cause(s) of instability.
Changes in Pond Water Levels and Surface Extent Due to Climate Variability Alter Solute Sources to Closed-Basin Prairie-Pothole Wetland Ponds, 1979 to 2012

Wetter conditions beginning in 1993 resulted in marked changes in water levels and surface extent of prairie-pothole region wetland ponds, including closed-basin wetlands in the Cottonwood Lake area of North Dakota, U.S.A. Pond water levels after 1993 were consistently 0.5 to 2 m higher than during 1979–1993 (≤ 1 m deep) in wetlands lacking surface or substantial groundwater outlets, and ponds of some wetlands merged. Pond surface areas after 1993 were as much as twice pre-1993 areas. Weathered glacial till in the inundated uplands provided a source of solutes from the subsurface beyond the extent of the weathered wetland periphery and wetland sediments that existed before 1993. Increased pond peripheries also provided for more movement of solutes from shallow groundwater into wetland ponds during the wetter period. Long periods of higher water levels during pronounced wetter conditions can be associated with increased specific conductance for some wetland ponds. In wetlands receiving no groundwater input, specific conductance values of ponded waters were indistinguishable between wetter and preceding conditions. Thus, changes in specific conductance in wetland ponds during wetter climate conditions cannot be assumed to be uniform, a result of changing watershed solute sources.
Antiretroviral Drug Activity in Macaques Infected during Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Has a Transient Effect on Cell-Associated SHIV DNA Reservoirs.

BACKGROUND Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (FTC/TDF) is a novel HIV prevention strategy. Suboptimal PrEP adherence and HIV infection creates an opportunity for continued antiretroviral drug activity during undiagnosed infection. We previously showed that macaques infected with SHIV during PrEP with FTC/TDF display reduced acute plasma viremias and limited virus diversity. We investigated the effect of PrEP on acute SHIV DNA dynamics and on the size of the persistent virus reservoir in lymphoid tissues. DESIGN Cell-associated SHIV DNA levels in PBMCs were measured in 8 macaques infected during PrEP with FTC/TDF or single-agent TAF and was compared to those seen in untreated infections (n = 10). PrEP breakthrough infections continued treatment with 1-2 weekly drug doses to model suboptimal drug exposure during undiagnosed HIV infection in humans. SHIV DNA was also measured in lymphoid tissues collected from FTC/TDF PrEP breakthroughs after 1 year of infection. RESULTS Compared to untreated controls, PrEP infections had reduced plasma RNA viremias both at peak and throughout weeks 1-12 (p<0.005). SHIV DNA levels were also reduced at peak and during the first 12 weeks of infection (p<0.043) but not throughout weeks 12-20. At 1 year, SHIV DNA reservoirs in lymphoid tissues were similar in size among macaques that received PrEP or placebo. CONCLUSIONS Antiviral drug activity due to PrEP limits acute SHIV replication but has only a transient effect on cell-associated SHIV DNA levels. Our model suggests that suboptimal drug exposure in persons that are taking PrEP and become infected with HIV may not be sufficient to reduce the pool of HIV-infected cells, and that treatment intensification may be needed to sustain potential virological benefits from the PrEP regimen.
Ultratrace plasmonic sensing below the shot noise limit

A balanced SPR sensor utilizing intensity squeezed states to resolve signals below the shot-noise-limit is demonstrated. At the inflection point, this sensor demonstrates 2.5 dB greater sensitivity than the best comparable classical sensor
The Right Side of History: Prohibiting Sexual Orientation Discrimination in Public Accommodations, Housing, and Employment

This essay argues that the current legal framework prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination is seriously deficient and outlines several legal and political strategies to ensure robust protection against sexual orientation discrimination.Part I outlines the current legal landscape for sexual orientation discrimination — within the realms of public accommodations, housing, and employment — taking into account federal statutes, state statutes, and relevant common law precedent. Part I emphasizes that federal statutes, most state statutes, and the common law of every state except New Jersey fail to explicitly prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment. Part II introduces legislative arguments for state and federal lawmakers to establish a statutory framework with robust anti-discrimination protection. Part II offers a normative argument focusing on values like equal access to public markets, equal dignity of persons, individual autonomy, and religious liberty. Part II also proposes an economic argument focusing on considerations like participation in public markets, homelessness, healthcare, litigation, and corporate boycott. Part III discusses legal arguments for courts to increase protection against sexual orientation discrimination through statutory interpretation and common law principles. Part III argues that sexual orientation discrimination invariably involves sex discrimination and statutes prohibiting sex discrimination should be interpreted as also prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination. Part III also argues that courts should formally renounce the discriminatory history of the predominant public accommodations common law rule and return to the original common law rule endorsed by the state of New Jersey, which prohibits arbitrary discrimination by all privately owned businesses open to the public. Finally, Part III contends that courts should extend the language and rationale of the New Jersey public accommodations rule to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in housing and employment.
Search for ferromagnetic order in overdoped copper-oxide superconductors

In copper-oxides that show high-temperature superconductivity (HTS), the critical temperature (Tc) has a dome-shaped doping dependence. The cause of demise of both Tc and superfluid density ns on the overdoped side is a major puzzle. A recent study of transport and diamagnetism in a large number of overdoped La2−xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) films shows that this cannot be accounted for by disorder within the conventional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory. This brings to focus an alternative explanation — competition of HTS with ferromagnetic order, fluctuating in superconducting samples and static beyond the superconductor-to-metal transition. Here, we examine this proposal by growing single-crystal LSCO thin films with doping on both sides of the transition by molecular beam epitaxy, and using polarized neutron reflectometry to measure their magnetic moments. In a heavily overdoped, metallic but non-superconducting LSCO (x = 0.35) film, the spin asymmetry of reflectivity shows a very small static magnetic moment (~2 emu/cm3). Less-doped, superconducting LSCO films show no magnetic moment in neutron reflectivity, both above and below Tc. Therefore, the collapse of HTS with overdoping is not caused by competing ferromagnetic order.
A Novel Intervention for System-Involved Intimate Partner Violence Survivors: Changes in Parenting:

Purpose:A growing subpopulation of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims comprises mothers who have been mandated to services by either the court system or child protective services (CPS). Two hu...
Tolerance of Direct-Seeded Honey Locust to Preemergent Herbicides in Various Soil Types

Various soil types were seeded with honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos L.) and treated with preemergent herbicides to determine their effect on germination, seedling survival, and growth. Tested were alachlor at 2.2 (2.0), chloroxuron at 2.2 (2.0), DCPA at 11.2 (10.0), EPTC at 4.5 (4.0), napropamide at 1.1 (1.0), oxadiazon at 4.5 (4.0) and profluralin at 0.6 (0.5) kg ai/ha (lb ai/A). Acceptable survival and growth was found for all but oxadiazon which significantly reduced survival in the sandy loam soils.
Privately Constraining and Programming PRFs, the LWE Way

Constrained pseudorandom functions allow for delegating “constrained” secret keys that let one compute the function at certain authorized inputs—as specified by a constraining predicate—while keeping the function value at unauthorized inputs pseudorandom. In the constraint-hiding variant, the constrained key hides the predicate. On top of this, programmable variants allow the delegator to explicitly set the output values yielded by the delegated key for a particular set of unauthorized inputs.
Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of Bighorn Sheep.

ABSTRACT We report here the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) in the United States. The circular genome has a size of 16,466 bp and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 2 rRNA genes.
Neuronal Fibrillar Cytoskeleton and Endomembrane System Organization in Alzheimer’s Disease

We examined the structural organization of cytoskeletal components and membrane systems in neurons of well preserved biopsy material from Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Information was obtained from thin sectioned material using conventional electron microscopy and from thick sections with the high voltage electron microscope. Stereo viewing and computer assisted serial reconstruction techniques were employed to visualize three-dimensional relationships among cytoplasmic components of cortical neurons.
Green coffee bean extract and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid regulate fat metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract Green coffee bean extract (GCBE) and chlorogenic acids are known to be associated with weight loss. 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA) is the main form of chlorogenic acid in GCBE. This study investigated GCBE and 5-CQA’s molecular mechanisms on fat metabolism using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system. Treatment of GCBE or 5-CQA reduced triglycerides level by 29% and 23%, respectively, compared to the control. GCBE and 5-CQA’s fat-lowering effects were dependent on sbp-1 (an ortholog of mammalian sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein) and daf-16 (an ortholog of mammalian Forkhead box O transcription factor). Additionally, the lipid-binding protein, FAR-6, was identified as a target for GCBE and 5-CQA, along with other proteins. Therefore, GCBE and 5-CQA’s fat-lowering effects are dependent on sbp-1, daf-16 and far-6 in C. elegans, which are involved in lipogenesis, energy homeostasis and lipid uptake, respectively. These results suggest that chlorogenic acids are most likely responsible for GCBE’s fat-lowering effects.
BRAF Dimerization: An Underlying Resistance Mechanism in Low-Grade Pediatric Gliomas.

BRAF fusions and mutations are the most frequent genetic alterations in pediatric low-grade gliomas. The work from Wang and colleagues identifies an acquired secondary BRAF mutation that confers resistance to pharmacologic BRAF inhibition in a BRAFV600E glioma. The authors demonstrate that the mutation results in increased BRAF homodimerization, which in turn is targetable with second-generation BRAF inhibitors. Cancer Discov; 8(9); 1064-5. ©2018 AACR.See related article by Wang et al., p. 1130.
Determinants of Health-Promoting Behaviors in Military Spouses During Deployment Separation

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this research was to describe predictors of participation in health-promoting behaviors among military spouses. A total of 105 female spouses of currently deployed active duty military members were surveyed to determine their perceived stress and participation in the health-promoting behaviors of exercise, diet, checkups, substance use/avoidance, social behaviors, stress management/rest, and safety/environmental behaviors. Demographic and deployment information was also collected. Regression analyses showed perceived stress was predictive of several health behaviors including exercise, social behaviors, stress management/rest, and safety/environmental behaviors. Increased perceived stress was associated with decreased participation in these behaviors. Deployment factors predicted only dietary behaviors and stress management/rest. As the minimum anticipated length of the deployment increased, healthy dietary behavior decreased. Likewise, as the number of deployments experienced incre...
Reevaluation of the taxonomic positions of members of the Epinecrophylla fjeldsaai (Aves: Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae) antwren complex including E. fjeldsaai based on vocalizations

The northwestern populations in the dead-leaf-foraging Epinecrophylla haematonota complex of thamnophilid antwrens includes E. pyrrhonota, E. fjeldsaai, and E. haematonota. Their taxonomic position has been the subject of recent debate. Divergence in homologous vocalizations provides a principal measure of reproductive isolation and species status for thamnophilid antbirds under the biological species concept, but until recently their evaluation as species has been hampered by the paucity of recordings of E. fjeldsaai. That insufficiency has been remedied, enabling an analytic comparison of vocalizations of the 3 taxa. The results of this analysis led to the recommendation that the 3 taxa be ranked as subspecies of Epinecrophylla haematonota.
Neuromodulated Goal-Driven Perception in Uncertain Domains.

In uncertain domains, the goals are often unknown and need to be predicted by the organism or system. In this paper, contrastive excitation backprop (c-EB) was used in a goal-driven perception task with pairs of noisy MNIST digits, where the system had to increase attention to one of the two digits corresponding to a goal (i.e., even, odd, low value, or high value) and decrease attention to the distractor digit or noisy background pixels. Because the valid goal was unknown, an online learning model based on the cholinergic and noradrenergic neuromodulatory systems was used to predict a noisy goal (expected uncertainty) and re-adapt when the goal changed (unexpected uncertainty). This neurobiologically plausible model demonstrates how neuromodulatory systems can predict goals in uncertain domains and how attentional mechanisms can enhance the perception of that goal.
PROGNOSTIC IMPACT OF FUNCTIONAL MITRAL REGURGITATION IN PATIENTS WITH NON-ISCHEMIC CARDIOMYOPATHY: ASSOCIATION OF MYOCARDIAL FIBROSIS AND LEFT VENTRICULAR REMODELING

Functional mitral regurgitation (MR) is associated with poor outcomes and often present in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) patients. Prior studies have demonstrated the utility of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in patients with NICM. However, it is unclear if CMR can also identify
The Pious Fool: A Sometimes-Hermetic Jewish Humor Trope

Jewish humor is generally considered to be self-deprecating rather than mocking. This paper studies one Jewish humor trope in which disparagement is used – that of the pious fool. The Talmud presents the chasid shoteh (pious fool) as one who could destroy the world; his piety is a danger to society. Indeed, the Talmud warns us not to live in the vicinity of an am-haaretz chasid (pious ignoramus). Of the various types of pious fools portrayed in humor, some might actually be quite learned, others not; some are arrogant in their piety which, of course, serves to negate said piety; some are kind, warm, and quite humane while others wield their piety as an implacable weapon along with, sometimes, a literal weapon. In mocking the pious fools, we use humor to put them in their place and we come to understand that the core value of any true religion is caring for others, especially the outsider and the unfortunates of society.
The development of a DIRSIG simulation environment to support instrument trade studies for the SOLARIS sensor

NASA Goddard’s SOLARIS (Solar, Lunar for Absolute Reflectance Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor is the calibration demonstration system for CLARREO (Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory), a mission that addresses the need to make highly accurate observations of long-term climate change trends. The SOLARIS instrument will be designed to support a primary objective of CLARREO, which is to advance the accuracy of absolute calibration for space-borne instruments in the reflected solar wavelengths. This work focuses on the development of a simulated environment to facilitate sensor trade studies to support instrument design and build for the SOLARIS sensor. Openly available data are used to generate geometrically and radiometrically realistic synthetic landscapes to serve as input to an image generation model, specifically the Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Image Generation (DIRSIG) model. Recent enhancements to DIRSIG’s sensor model capabilities have made it an attractive option for performing sensor trade studies. This research takes advantage of these enhancements to model key sensor characteristics (e.g., sensor noise, relative spectral response, spectral coverage, etc.) and evaluate their impact on SOLARIS’s stringent 0.3% error budget for absolute calibration. A SOLARIS sensor model is developed directly from measurements provided by NASA Goddard and various synthetic landscapes generated to identify potential calibration sites once the instrument achieves orbit. The results of these experiments are presented and potential sources of error for sensor inter-calibration are identified.
Distributed Linear Model Clustering over Networks: A Tree-Based Fused-Lasso ADMM Approach.

In this work, we consider to improve the model estimation efficiency by aggregating the neighbors' information as well as identify the subgroup membership for each node in the network. A tree-based $l_1$ penalty is proposed to save the computation and communication cost. We design a decentralized generalized alternating direction method of multiplier algorithm for solving the objective function in parallel. The theoretical properties are derived to guarantee both the model consistency and the algorithm convergence. Thorough numerical experiments are also conducted to back up our theory, which also show that our approach outperforms in the aspects of the estimation accuracy, computation speed and communication cost.
What should we teach in intermediate macroeconomics

I approach my courses in intermediate macroeconomics with two primary goals in mind. First, to help students learn the essential features of key macroeconomic theories and models; and second, to he...
Eucharistic Ecclesiology and Excommunication: A Critical Investigation of the Meaning and Praxis of Exclusion from the Sacrament of the Eucharist

The practice of excommunication is first described in the New Testament as the conscious decision by the faithful community to exclude one of its own from the celebration of the Eucharist. It is a decision rooted in medicinal hopefulness, where the community excludes an offender from active participation in its sacramental life while always maintaining the bonds of charity and fellowship. The understanding of excommunication now seems to be shifting away from its communitarian roots, as seen in the writings of Paul, Ignatius of Antioch, and Cyprian of Carthage, towards a post-Vatican II ecclesiology that appears to emphasize the individual’s judgment of their own worthiness to receive communion. By investigating the developments in the understanding of excommunication in three stages: the Patristic era, the Scholastic period and the contemporary Catholic Church, it can be illustrated that the concepts of internal worthiness of reception of communion and external excommunication are in fact not as disparate as originally believed.
On the Morgan-Shalen compactification of the SL(2,C) character varieties of surface groups

A gauge theoretic description of the Morgan-Shalen compactification of the $\SL$ character variety of the fundamental group of a hyperbolic surface is given in terms of a natural compactification of the moduli space of Higgs bundles via the Hitchin map.
Listening to Story: Narratives Shared by Female Khmer Rouge Survivors

Accounts of conflict often ignore the plight of female survivors. In this paper, we explore the history of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge years focusing on the suffering of three females during these years along with their current outlook and support for education in their village. Situated against the history of the three specific time periods: the Khmer Republic Period, the Khmer Rouge Period, and the Vietnamese Period, the words of these women help us understand the personal toll behind numbers and facts. Reported using the Portraiture Approach with a feminist lens, their stories serve as a frame for understanding the female experience in current genocidal regions of the world.
Personalizing Decision-Making for Patients Choosing Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy: A Utility Analysis of Genetic Factors and the Relative Risk of Breast Cancer.

Introduction:There has been an increasing trend of patients with breast cancer electing to undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM), despite the lack of evidence showing long-term surviv...
Parity models: erasure-coded resilience for prediction serving systems

Machine learning models are becoming the primary work-horses for many applications. Services deploy models through prediction serving systems that take in queries and return predictions by performing inference on models. Prediction serving systems are commonly run on many machines in cluster settings, and thus are prone to slowdowns and failures that inflate tail latency. Erasure coding is a popular technique for achieving resource-efficient resilience to data unavailability in storage and communication systems. However, existing approaches for imparting erasure-coded resilience to distributed computation apply only to a severely limited class of functions, precluding their use for many serving workloads, such as neural network inference. We introduce parity models, a new approach for enabling erasure-coded resilience in prediction serving systems. A parity model is a neural network trained to transform erasure-coded queries into a form that enables a decoder to reconstruct slow or failed predictions. We implement parity models in ParM, a prediction serving system that makes use of erasure-coded resilience. ParM encodes multiple queries into a "parity query," performs inference over parity queries using parity models, and decodes approximations of unavailable predictions by using the output of a parity model. We showcase the applicability of parity models to image classification, speech recognition, and object localization tasks. Using parity models, ParM reduces the gap between 99.9th percentile and median latency by up to 3.5X, while maintaining the same median. These results display the potential of parity models to unlock a new avenue to imparting resource-efficient resilience to prediction serving systems.
No Evidence for Enhancing Prospective Memory with Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Across Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

A standard finding in the event-based prospective memory literature is that focal cues are more often detected than nonfocal cues. The multiprocess view of prospective memory accounts for this result by suggesting that dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)-mediated executive processes are necessary for nonfocal cue detection while hippocampally mediated spontaneous retrieval processes support detection of focal cues. In agreement with the multiprocess view, previous studies have found that working memory capacity is predictive of prospective memory performance through detection of nonfocal cues, but nonpredictive for focal cues. Because the DLPFC is known to support working memory maintenance, we predicted that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the DLPFC would increase prospective memory cue detection for nonfocal cues when compared with a sham condition. Critically, we also expected an interaction between prospective memory cue type and stimulation such that anodal stimulation would not influence focal cue detection. Our results replicated the standard effect of improved focal compared with nonfocal cue detection. However, there was no significant effect between the sham and active tDCS conditions. Furthermore, we did not find the expected interaction between cue type and stimulation. Not only do our findings add onto the growing literature of tDCS experiments that failed to find stimulation effects to DLPFC, but it is also one of the first studies to incorporate prospective memory with tDCS.
Early prosthodontic intervention on two three-year-old twin girls with ectodermal dysplasia.

Aim Early prosthodontic treatment for cases of ectodermal dysplasia (ED) is usually difficult because of oligodontia, undeveloped alveolar ridges, and the young age of the patients. Although some cases of prosthetic management of ED patients have been reported in the literature, there have been few cases about prosthetic treatment in children younger than 5 years of age. Case report This case report presents early prosthetic oral rehabilitation of 2 twin sisters with ectodermal dysplasia and severe hypodontia in the primary dentition. Fixed partial dentures with bands retained on deciduous molars were fabricated when the girls were 3 years old. New flexible removable partial dentures were made when the girls turned 6 years to accommodate the ongoing alveolar development. After the dental treatment, the two girls' aesthetics, phonetics, and chewing functions all improved significantly, which in turn raised the girls' self-esteem and increased their overall quality of life. Conclusion These two cases demonstrated that properly timed and managed early prosthodontic intervention can improve the overall life quality of young patients with ectodermal dysplasia.
Minimising induced drag with weight distribution, lift distribution, wingspan, and wing-structure weight

Because the wing-structure weight required to support the critical wing section bending moments is a function of wingspan, net weight, weight distribution, and lift distribution, there exists an optimum wingspan and wing-structure weight for any fixed net weight, weight distribution, and lift distribution, which minimises the induced drag in steady level flight. Analytic solutions for the optimum wingspan and wing-structure weight are presented for rectangular wings with four different sets of design constraints. These design constraints are fixed lift distribution and net weight combined with 1) fixed maximum stress and wing loading, 2) fixed maximum deflection and wing loading, 3) fixed maximum stress and stall speed, and 4) fixed maximum deflection and stall speed. For each of these analytic solutions, the optimum wing-structure weight is found to depend only on the net weight, independent of the arbitrary fixed lift distribution. Analytic solutions for optimum weight and lift distributions are also presented for the same four sets of design constraints. Depending on the design constraints, the optimum lift distribution can differ significantly from the elliptic lift distribution. Solutions for two example wing designs are presented, which demonstrate how the induced drag varies with lift distribution, wingspan, and wing-structure weight in the design space near the optimum solution. Although the analytic solutions presented here are restricted to rectangular wings, these solutions provide excellent test cases for verifying numerical algorithms used for more general multidisciplinary analysis and optimisation.
Don't Stop the BEAT

The recent addition to the Internal Revenue Code, the Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT), is a subject of concern for many tax scholars and practitioners. This new provision joins a large family of measures that have been adopted worldwide and in the U.S.; however, unlike the other new International Tax provisions from the 2017 reform, the BEAT has neither a predecessor in prior laws nor in former proposals. To start, the phrase “Base Erosion” itself lacks clarity. Furthermore, the relatively short amount of time lawmakers took to enact the addition and the lack of any stated objectives require an inquiry into the objectives and original intent of this complex section of the code. This paper seeks to illuminate the original intent of the BEAT and the expansive language of its provisions by examining multiple factors such as its structure, legislative history, other International Tax principles, and the BEAT’s similarities to recent international tax trends – like Pillar II of the OECD BEPS or the Digital Services Minimum Taxes around the globe. The mechanics and the language of the BEAT demonstrate major inconsistencies and ambiguities in its application. The broad definition of Related Parties suggests that one of its intents was to cover for the failure of the transfer pricing set of rules in the code. The relatively short legislative history shows some confusion as to the term Base Erosion at the beginning; however, the intent of this provision became clearer as the discussions progressed. The outbound and inbound Base Erosion provisions were enacted to cover for the failure of the current source rules to reflect the benefits that are provided by the U.S. to these taxpayers and as a unilateral international tax provisions that applies the Single Tax principle to set a minimum tax rate. This paper therefore leans on the similarities between the BEAT and the recent Digital Services Minimum Tax bills, Pillar II of the OECD BEPS, and the stated objectives of these bills, to examine the original intent of the BEAT based on its structure and the legislative history.
Characterizing symptoms of e-cigarette dependence: a qualitative study of young adults.

While rates of e-cigarette use (‘vaping’) continue to potentiate concern, there is limited data on common symptoms of e-cigarette dependence among young adults who vape. This study sought to critically explore how young adults experience, manifest, and conceptualize vaping dependence symptoms in their everyday lives. Between June 2018 and 2019, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 62 young adults who use e-cigarettes (aged 18–25) and live in Southern California. We explored participants’ product preferences, daily e-cigarette use patterns, vaping history, withdrawal experiences, and quit attempts or periods of cessation. We used a thematic analysis approach to interpret the transcripts. Young adults discussed nine dimensions of vaping dependence that were organized into two categories: 1) general nicotine dependence symptoms, and 2) unique dependence symptoms related to vaping. Nicotine dependence symptoms included cravings and urgency to use, increased use to achieve desired effects, and unsuccessful quit attempts and withdrawal. Symptoms unique to vaping dependence included greater nicotine consumption due to accessibility and lack of restrictions, habitual vaping, inability to track vaping frequency, immediate gratification and comfort, social acceptability and norms, and awareness of vaping dependency. In addition to nicotine dependence symptoms that have been characterized for other tobacco products, young adult e-cigarette users described unique symptoms of vaping dependence that necessitate the need for more refined measures. All dimensions of vaping dependence should be considered in discussions of policies as well as treatment and education efforts intended to protect young people from e-cigarette dependence.
Proficiency of Professional Document Examiners in Writer Identification

A comprehensive writer identification test was designed and administered to a group of professional document examiners and to a control group of nonprofessionals. The professional group consisted of seven document examiners from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The control group consisted of ten graduate students in the areas of engineering and business. The main finding is that the professional document examiners performed significantly better than the members of the control group. The hypothesis that professionals and nonprofessionals are equally proficient in performing writer identification was found via the Kruskal-Wallis test to have probability of less than 0.001. These findings give indication that handwriting identification expertise indeed exists, and calls into question the conclusions of previous studies in this area.
Japanese Foodways: Past and Present

Reviewed Medium: book Year: 2010 Pages: 304 Publisher: University of Illinois Press ISBN: 978-0-252-07752-4 (soft cover).
UMBILICAL ARTERY (UA), UMBILICAL VEIN (UV) AND MATCHED PLACENTAL CONCENTRATIONS OF HUMAN EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR (hEGF) IN FULL TERM (FT) AND PREMATURE INFANTS (PT)

To help elucidate the role of hEGF in perinatal growth and development, we examined UA/UV serum levels in 23 AGA FT infants and 7 PT infants (1/7 on a respirator). Matching amniotic membrane (AM) and fetal (FP) and maternal (MP) placental tissue concentrations were measured in 10/23 FT and 7/7 PT. Tissue samples were collected within 1 hr of delivery and stored at -20°C. Tissues were homogenized 1:5 (W:V) in cold PBS. Blood was kept at 4°C for 4-6 hr to allow release of EGF from platelets. Serum was frozen at -70°C after centrifugation at 3000 xg for 20 min. Human EGF concentrations (pg/ml serum and pg/mg wet weight tissue) were measured in a homologous RIA and expressed as mean±SEM:
Books on Fire: The Destruction of Libraries Throughout History

This is a remarkably sad book. I would hazard a guess that most of this review's readers are librarians or they work in libraries and hold these venerable institutions in high esteem. Yet for nearl...
Dynamic IP router-tables using highest-priority matching

We develop a data structure called BOB (binary tree on binary tree) for dynamic router tables in which the rule filters are nonintersecting ranges and in which ties are broken by selecting the highest-priority rule that matches a destination address. Prefix filters are a special case of nonintersecting ranges and the commonly used longest-prefix tie breaker is a special case of the highest-priority tie breaker. We also develop two modified version of BOB - PBOB (prefix BOB) for the case when all rule filters are prefixes and LMPBOB (longest matching-prefix BOB) when all rule filters are prefixes and longest-prefix matching is to be done. On practical n-rule router table, BOB, PBOB and LMPBOB perform search, insert and delete In O(log n) time and with O(log n) cache misses. Experimental results also are presented.
CheC is related to the family of flagellar switch proteins and acts independently from CheD to control chemotaxis in Bacillus subtilis

Chemotaxis by Bacillus subtilis requires the inter-acting chemotaxis proteins CheC and CheD. In this study, we show that CheD is absolutely required for a behavioural response to proline mediated by McpC but is not required for the response to asparagine mediated by McpB. We also show that CheC is not required for the excitation response to asparagine stimulation but is required for adaptation while asparagine remains complexed with the McpB chemoreceptor. CheC displayed an interaction with the histidine kinase CheA as well as with McpB in the yeast two-hybrid assay, suggesting that the mechanism by which CheC affects adaptation may result from an interaction with the receptor-CheA complex. Furthermore, CheC was found to be related to the family of flagellar switch proteins comprising FliM and FliY but is not present in many proteobacterial genomes in which CheD homologues exist. The distinct physiological roles for CheC and CheD during B. subtilis chemotaxis and the observation that CheD is present in bacterial genomes that lack CheC indicate that these proteins can function independently and may define unique pathways during chemotactic signal transduction. We speculate that CheC interacts with flagellar switch components and dissociates upon CheY-P binding and subsequently interacts with the receptor complex to facilitate adaptation.
Interventions for Challenging Behaviors

Up to 94.3\% of children with ASD exhibit one or more challenging behaviors. Researchers have developed a technology for functional behavior assessment and function-based intervention. The integration of this technology with achieving valued outcomes in people with disabilities such as ASD is known as positive behavior support. PBS is a comprehensive intervention approach that aims to reduce the challenging behaviors while simultaneously promoting social and communication integration, acquisition of functional skills, and greater self-control. Reviewers have identified evidence-based interventions for managing stereotypic, self-injurious, aggressive, and other challenging behaviors in individuals with ASD. Keywords: ASD; challenging behaviors; comprehensive behavior support plans; intervention; positive behavior support