cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Epidemiological investigation of muscle-strengthening activities and cognitive function among older adults

Limited research has examined the association of muscle-strengthening activities and executive cognitive function among older adults, which was this study's purpose. Data from the 1999-2002 NHANES were employed (N = 2157; 60-85 years). Muscle-strengthening activities were assessed via self-report, with cognitive function assessed using the digit symbol substitution test. After adjusting for age, age-squared, gender, race-ethnicity, poverty level, body mass index, C-reactive protein, smoking, comorbid illness and physical activity, muscle-strengthening activities were significantly associated with cognitive function (βadjusted = 3.4; 95% CI: 1.7-5.1; P < 0.001). Compared to those not engaging in aerobic exercise and not meeting muscle-strengthening activity guidelines, those doing 1 (βadjusted = 3.7; 95% CI: 1.9-5.4; P < 0.001) and both (βadjusted = 6.6; 95% CI: 4.8-8.3; P < 0.001) of these behaviors had a significantly higher executive cognitive function score. In conclusion, muscle-strengthening activities are associated with executive cognitive function among older U.S. adults, underscoring the importance of promoting both aerobic exercise and muscle-strengthening activities to older adults.
The impact of non-linear stretching on the dynamic stability of a uniformly loaded, thin, warped, rotating, circular disk:

This article analyzes the dynamic stability of pre-warped, rotating circular disks. Simulation is used to determine asymmetric equilibria and corresponding stability maps for varying load and disk rotation. Experimental results corroborated the presence of a rotating, asymmetric equilibrium for low speeds. At higher speeds, aerodynamically excited vibration made it impossible to identify steady equilibria. However, the nature of the aerodynamic excitation and its onset were dramatically affected by the presence of uniform loading on the disk. In addition, at high rotation speeds, the disk appears to have a steady equilibrium rotation at one quarter of the rotation speed of the disk.
Assessing the First Two Years' Effectiveness of Statway®: A Multilevel Model with Propensity Score Matching

Objective: Statway is a community college pathways initiative developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching designed to accelerate students’ progress through their developmen...
Kolmogorov’s LIL for Harmonic Functions

The following, in the words of K.L. Chung [Chu2, p. 231], “is a crowning achievement in classical probability theory.”
Modelling of Yeast Mating Reveals Robustness Strategies for Cell-Cell Interactions

Mating of budding yeast cells is a model system for studying cell-cell interactions. Haploid yeast cells secrete mating pheromones that are sensed by the partner which responds by growing a mating projection toward the source. The two projections meet and fuse to form the diploid. Successful mating relies on precise coordination of dynamic extracellular signals, signaling pathways, and cell shape changes in a noisy background. It remains elusive how cells mate accurately and efficiently in a natural multi-cell environment. Here we present the first stochastic model of multiple mating cells whose morphologies are driven by pheromone gradients and intracellular signals. Our novel computational framework encompassed a moving boundary method for modeling both a-cells and α-cells and their cell shape changes, the extracellular diffusion of mating pheromones dynamically coupled with cell polarization, and both external and internal noise. Quantification of mating efficiency was developed and tested for different model parameters. Computer simulations revealed important robustness strategies for mating in the presence of noise. These strategies included the polarized secretion of pheromone, the presence of the α-factor protease Bar1, and the regulation of sensing sensitivity; all were consistent with data in the literature. In addition, we investigated mating discrimination, the ability of an a-cell to distinguish between α-cells either making or not making α-factor, and mating competition, in which multiple a-cells compete to mate with one α-cell. Our simulations were consistent with previous experimental results. Moreover, we performed a combination of simulations and experiments to estimate the diffusion rate of the pheromone a-factor. In summary, we constructed a framework for simulating yeast mating with multiple cells in a noisy environment, and used this framework to reproduce mating behaviors and to identify strategies for robust cell-cell interactions.
Beautiful beyond Useful? The Role of Web Aesthetics

Past research has long set web usability as the ultimate goal in the evaluation of web design attributes. This study examines the roles of web aesthetics and web usability in online shoppers' central and peripheral information processing. The results indicate that: (1) web usability has a positive effect on the intention to purchase and a negative effect on the activation of search; (2) web aesthetics has positive effects both on the intention to purchase and on the activation of search, and its effect on the activation of search is much stronger than its effect on the intention to purchase; and (3) web usability has a stronger effect on the intention to purchase than web aesthetics does. The findings reinforce the determinant role of web usability in online shoppers' central information processing, and reveal that, although its role in central information processing is supportive, web aesthetics plays a substantial role in activating online shoppers' peripheral information processing. Managerial implicat...
Pheromones and Reproduction in Mammals

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the most direct links between social odors and reproduction, i.e., the effects of pheromones on reproductive physiology and behavior. The depth and breadth of the existing literature on pheromones and reproduction preclude the review of pheromone-influenced behaviors or physiological processes that are further removed from copulation. Many mammalian species, especially nocturnal animals, use pheromonal signals to coordinate reproduction by altering the physiology and behavior of both sexes. Pheromones can prime reproductive physiology so that individuals become sexually mature and active at times when mating is most probable and suppress it when it is not. Once in reproductive condition, odor cues produced and deposited by both males and females are used to find and select individuals for mating. In most cases, the production, dissemination, and appropriate responses to these social odors are modulated heavily by gonadal sex steroids, which thereby link pheromonal communication with the broader reproductive context.
The Poetics of Mortality in Lispector’s The Hour of the Star

Lispector’s The Hour of the Star (A Hora da Estrela) was her finalnovel and was published one month before her death. One couldwrite a great deal about ‘terminovels’, those novels which becomethe last living testament of the author and the author’s ‘purpose’but that would be beyond the scope of this testament. Obviously,Lispector was well aware of the fact she was dying of cancer whichmay, in fact, account for what Giovanni Pontiero has written that’Clarice Lispector began to experience an almost obsessive nostalgiafor Recife in the North-eastern State of Pernambuco, where shehad spent her childhood’ (Lispector, p. 89). Certainly the mainprotagonist of the novel, Macabea, a ‘nordestina’ whose quest fora better life takes her from provincial squalor to a more metropolitansqualor is much like Lispector herself who knew what it waslike to journey from a venue of abject safety to one of abjectmystery and ‘knew, too, what it meant to be immediately bombardedwith a plethora of utterly new sights, sounds and ideas. Sheknew what it meant to find herself suddenly among strangers andto have to make up her life as she went along’ (Fitz, p. 202);however, even though the prevailing social conditions are importantin The Hour of the Star, what is patently clear about the novel isthat it functions on two distinct levels: 1) as a quasi-biographicalnovel and implicit in that autobiography, a testament to her life;and 2) as a novel about the act of novel-writing.In one of her more insightful comments, Helene Cixous haswritten ‘In Clarice, happiness is always secret. Perhaps at a certainlevel the beautiful, which belongs to aesthetics, is replaced by truth.The beautiful is annulled in a kind of neutralization of the beautifuland the ugly. At the limit, instead of the too beautiful, we havewhat is too much alive, even mortally alive. Something is so muchalive that one can die of it, or it can die’ (Cixous, p. 83).
Merging Files of Data on Similar Individuals

Problems of statistical matching in which the two micro-data files being matched consisted of the same individuals were discussed in Chapter 2. Furthermore, practical and legal reasons for the unavailability of micro data files on the same individuals were cited in Chapter 1. In such a situation, we may have two files of data that pertain to similar individuals. Allowing for some matching variables to be observed for each unit in the two files, we seek to merge the files so that inference problems relating to the variables not present in the same file can be addressed.
Accelerometer-Based Acoustic Control: Enabling Auscultation on a Black Hawk Helicopter

During aeromedical patient transport, acoustic noise levels in excess of 90 dB make auscultation with a stethoscope virtually impossible. Existing approaches to address this noise in literature have relied on the use of either passive shielding of the stethoscope sensing element or active noise cancellation (ANC) with the use of additional reference microphone sensors. These solutions have achieved inadequate performance. In this paper, custom instrumented stethoscopes are used to obtain structural vibration and acoustic data from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The data show that the structural vibrations contribute significantly more to stethoscope signals than air-borne acoustic noise. Therefore, a novel adaptive acoustic control system using a reference accelerometer is pursued. By varying the levels of acoustic and vibrational noise sources in a controlled laboratory environment, the benefits and limitations of microphone or accelerometer-based active noise control are investigated and compared. Experimentally simulating the field acoustic and vibration characteristics of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, the accelerometer-based ANC system is shown to provide significantly superior performance. The accelerometer-based ANC system yields an average 25-dB reduction in ambient noise levels over the entire relevant frequency range, thereby enabling successful auscultation for the first time in this military aircraft environment.
Role of microRNAs on Blood Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Vascular Cognitive Impairment.

Background: Dementia cases are increasing as the population ages, leading to increased financial costs. Several neuronal diseases including ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke involve cerebrovascular injury or pathophysiology. Cerebrovascular injury is closely tied to blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption. Many studies have shown a significant association between BBB dysfunction and neurological diseases. Therefore, an understanding of the molecular mechanisms which regulate BBB permeability and disruption is essential for establishing future therapeutic strategies to alter dementia disease progression related to cerebrovascular injury,so-called vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). microRNAs (miRs) are small noncodingRNAs that regulate gene expression through targeting of mRNA transcripts.miRs have been implicated in the development and progression of various illnesses, including vascular disease. However, the role of miRs in BBB breakdown or permeability and VCI development has not yet been well clarified. Methods: Research content related to the origins of VCI and the role of the BBB in pathologic development and therapeutic targeting are reviewed, including current relevant animal models. We draw from the published literature regarding microRNA candidates that are associated with modulation of BBB structure and function. Results: In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about VCI, explore the potential role of miRs in BBB breakdown and VCI progression, and identify potential candidate miRs for development of new treatment strategies. Conclusion: miRs constitute a promising novel avenue as future therapeutic options for alteration of both BBB permeability and development of VCI.
The Passive-Aggressive Voter: The Calculus of Casting an Invalid Vote in European Democracies

Invalid votes are often considered as simple failure to cast a valid vote. In fact, they might be a rational expression of discontent with party policy offerings. By employing individual and party ...
Non-Fourier Cortical Processes in Texture, Form, and Motion Perception

Modeling plays a unique role in visual neuroscience. On one hand, single-unit physiology catalogues neural responses to visual stimuli and perhaps correlates them with behavior; on the other hand, psychophysics measures the overall functional capabilities of the visual system. The goal of neural modeling is to produce theories that bridge the gap between activity of the neural elements and responses of the functioning system. Thus, an ideal neural model contains elements mimicking the response properties of neurons in relevant visual areas and makes predictions of system behavior that are psychophysically testable. Current neural theories of visual function take two very different approaches. The connectionist approach defines a set of inputs and a set of neurons representing desired outputs and then trains a network to develop appropriate connections between these, typically with intervening layers of “hidden units.” This approach has led to a number of biologically interesting results, such as the extraction of shape from shading (Lehky and Se-jnowski, 1988). However, the connectionist approach frequently employs learning rules that are nonbiological and typically omits the feedback connections that are ubiquitous in the nervous system (Hertz et al., 1991). The anatomically motivated network approach, on the other hand, aims at developing a network of model neurons with connections specified by available anatomy that will predict the system behavior. The component neurons may be described at various levels of generality, e.g., in terms of the dependence of spike rate on net postsynaptic potential, or in terms of individual ionic currents. The anatomically motivated approach can therefore be successfully applied to such complex problems as simulating human retinal function on a neuron by neuron basis (Wilson, 1997) or predicting responses of neurons in various visual cortical areas. In such tasks neuroanatomical data can usually be used to constrain network connectivity patterns. As noted by Hertz et al. (1991, p. 10), “[connectionist] neural networks are the second best way of doing just about anything. The best way is to find and use the right rules ⋯ for each particular problem.” The networks described in this chapter represent an attempt to apply the latter approach to nonlinear aspects of cortical functioning.
Scaling distributed file systems in resource-harvesting datacenters

Datacenters can use distributed file systems to store data for batch processing on the same servers that run latency-critical services. Taking advantage of this storage capacity involves minimizing interference with the co-located services, while implementing user-friendly, efficient, and scalable file system access. Unfortunately, current systems fail one or more of these requirements, and must be manually partitioned across independent subclusters. Thus, in this paper, we introduce techniques for automatically and transparently scaling such file systems to entire resource-harvesting datacenters. We create a layer of software in front of the existing metadata managers, assign servers to subclusters to minimize interference and data movement, and smartly migrate data across subclusters in the background. We implement our techniques in HDFS, and evaluate them using simulation of 10 production datacenters and a real 4k-server deployment. Our results show that our techniques produce high file access performance, and high data durability and availability, while migrating a limited amount of data. We recently deployed our system onto 30k servers in Bing's datacenters, and discuss lessons from this deployment.
Shared decision making for prostate cancer screening: Reality or farce?

107Background: A core tenant of major cancer society guidelines regarding prostate cancer screening (PSAS) is that providers discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of screening with eligible patients in a shared decision making (SDM) process. We sought to determine contemporary trends of SDM in regards to PSAS. Methods: Consistent with the AUA guidelines for PSAS, data was abstracted from the 2012-2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for men 55-69, without a personal history of prostate cancer, and having answered all questions within the PSAS module. PSAS occurred if a man had a PSA test within the last two years for reasons other than "a prostate problem” or “prostate cancer”. SDM occurred if the respondent was informed about both advantages and disadvantages of PSAS by a health professional. Descriptive statistics were generated for demographic covariates by year. The Chi-Square test was used to compare the distribution of covariate proportions amongst years. Separate multivariable re...
Conditioning of human salivary flow using a visual cue for sour candy.

Abstract Objective Although the “mouthwatering” to sight, smell, or thought of food is commonly accepted in food and nutrition research, the concept of mouthwatering and human salivary flow conditioning is not well accepted in salivary research. The objective of this study was to revisit whether human salivary flow could be classically conditioned to a previously neutral stimulus. Design Sour candy or a non-food control in opaque containers were presented to healthy participants (n = 8). Simple images were consistently paired with container contents. Participants viewed the images for 15 s, then opened the containers and ate (candy) or did not eat (non-food control) the contents. This was repeated 14 times (7 of each stimulus). Order was semi-randomized to ensure one candy and one non-food were presented as the first two and last two stimuli. Saliva was collected with cotton dental rolls during these presentations (first two and last two) after viewing the image for 15 s, but before opening the container. Results Participants were successfully conditioned to increase salivary flow in response to the image that predicted candy, as demonstrated by greater weight of saliva in response to 1) the candy-paired image than the non-food-paired image, and 2) the candy-paired image at the end of the first visit compared with the beginning (when the image had no meaning). However, the effect was attenuated during the second visit. Conclusions We demonstrate classical conditioning of human salivary flow is achievable, but the effect may not persist to a second visit.
Association between Body Mass Index and Serum Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate Level in 8-Year-Old Girls.

Background Adiposity may play a role as a potential trigger for adrenarche. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) and serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) level. Methods The medical records of 8-year-old girls who presented to our clinic between 2014 and 2016 with concerns regarding pubertal changes were retrospectively reviewed. The 192 girls were divided into two groups depending on activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Group I included 77 subjects with a breast Tanner stage 1 with unknown HPG axis or thelarche without activated HPG axis. Group II included 115 subjects with activated HPG axis. Serum DHEAS level ≥1.1 μmol/L was regarded as biochemical adrenarche. Results Based on correlation analyses, BMI standard deviation score (SDS) was positively correlated with height SDS, bone age divided by chronological age (BA/CA), and DHEAS level in all subjects (r=0.269, r=0.270, r=0.298; all P<0.001, respectively). BMI SDS was negatively correlated with peak luteinizing hormone level in group II (r=-0.236, P=0.011). Based on multiple linear regression analyses, BMI SDS was associated with serum DHEAS level in all subjects (β=0.280, P<0.001), group I (β=0.415, P=0.001), and group II (β=0.206, P=0.030). DHEAS level was also associated with BA/CA in all subjects (β=0.402, P<0.001), group I (β=0.494, P<0.001), and group II (β=0.347, P<0.001). Conclusion BMI SDS was associated with DHEAS level, which was associated with BA/CA. Childhood obesity may influence the development of adrenarche, which may contribute to advanced skeletal maturation.
Lung dysbiosis drives post hematopoietic cell transplantation inflammation

Changes in the structure and composition of the lung microbiota are associated with pulmonary complications in hematopoietic cell transplantation.
Cardiac Physiology of Adenosine

Adenosine present at physiological levels in the interstitial fluid of the heart interacts with adenosine A1 and A2 receptors. The lability of adenosine allows the antiadrenergic action resulting from A1 stimulation to be modulated by the concentration of interstitial adenosine. The higher the interstitial adenosine level the greater the attenuation of s-adrenergic-elicited myocardial contractile and metabolic responses. The adenosine A1 receptor interacts with an inhibitory G-protein that reduces the s-adrenoceptor-mediated increase in cyclic AMP at a point in the transmembrane coupling process between the s receptor and adenylyl cyclase. The adenosine A2 receptor elicits a positive inotropic effect in ventricular myocytes via cyclic AMP dependent and independent mechanisms. However, the physiological significance of the A2 adenosinergic-mediated responses is far from fully understood.
Structure of the Flavivirus Genome

The flaviviruses were formerly classified as a genus in the family Togaviridae. They have now been elevated to family status, family Flaviviridae, in part because of differences in replication and assembly (Westaway, 1980) (Chapter 11) and in part because their genome structure is quite different from that of the alphaviruses (Rice et al., 1985) (compare with Chapter 3). With the determination of the complete nucleotide sequence of the yellow fever virus genome and a large portion of the Murray Valley encephalitis virus genome, it has become clear that these viruses represent a distinct group among the plus-stranded RNA viruses. This chapter will focus on the implications of these and other recent sequence data on flavivirus gene expression, replication, and evolution.
Evaluation of the contribution of tenderness, juiciness, and flavor to the overall consumer beef eating experience.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the contribution of tenderness, juiciness, and flavor to the overall consumer beef eating experience and to evaluate the risk of overall palatability failure due to the unacceptable level of one or more of these traits. Data from 11 previously conducted studies representing a wide range of treatments and levels of eating quality that included more than 1,500 beef samples and 1,800 consumers were compiled and analyzed for this study. Results of a multivariate regression indicated that tenderness, flavor, and juiciness accounted for 43.4%, 49.4%, and 7.4%, respectively, of overall palatability (P 0.99). Additionally, the odds of a steak being rated unacceptable overall when tenderness, juiciness, or flavor were rated unacceptable were 2.2 to 1 (69%), 1.9 to 1 (66%), and 3.3 to 1 (77%), respectively. This indicated overall palatability was 7.2, 6.5, and 12.3 times more likely to be rated unacceptable if tenderness, juiciness, or flavor, respectively, was also rated unacceptable. Additionally, the percentage of samples rated acceptable for each palatability trait increased (P < 0.05) as quality grade increased. More than 88% of USDA Prime samples were rated acceptable for each palatability trait, whereas only 74.8-77.3% of USDA Select samples were rated acceptable for each palatability trait. Marbling score accounted for 14-16% of the variation (P < 0.01) in consumer palatability scores for each trait and intramuscular fat percentage accounted for 17-21% of the variation in each trait (P < 0.01). Logistic equation models for the predicted probability of an acceptable rating for each palatability trait based on intramuscular fat percentage accounted for only a minimal amount of variation (P < 0.01; R 2 ≤ 0.09). Results of this study indicate the relative contribution of tenderness, juiciness, and flavor to overall beef palatability. They provide evidence that the failure of even a single palatability trait dramatically increases the likelihood of overall palatability failure, indicating that no single palatability trait is most important, as beef palatability is dependent upon the acceptance of all three traits: tenderness, juiciness, and flavor.
Two sides to colon cancer: mice mimic human anatomical region disparity in colon cancer development and progression.

Aim Strong evidence reveals important differences between cancers in the proximal vs. distal colon. Animal models of metastatic colon cancer are available but with varying degrees of reproducibility and several important limitations. We explored whether there were regional differences in the location of murine colon cancers and assessed the utility of murine models to explore the biological basis for such differences. Methods We re-analyzed data from our previous studies to assess the regional distribution of murine colon cancer. In survival surgery experiments, we injected HT-29 human colon cancer cells into the wall of the cecum or distal colon of Nu(NCr)-Foxn1nu or NOD.Cg-PrkdcscidIl2rgTim1Wji/SzJ mice and compared the development of primary tumors and metastases. Results Within 7-17 weeks after intramural cecal injection of HT-29 cells, eight mice failed to develop solid primary tumors or metastases. In contrast, within four weeks after cell injection into the distal colon, 13 mice developed metastases - 12 mice developed subcutaneous metastases; of these, four developed liver metastases and one developed both liver and lung metastases. One mouse developed liver metastases only. Histological examination confirmed these lesions were adenocarcinomas. Conclusion Our findings reveal the preferential growth of murine colon neoplasia and invasive human orthotopic xenografts in the distal mouse colon. The new approach of injecting cells into the distal colon wall results in a pattern of colon cancer development that closely mimics the progression of metastatic colon cancer in humans. This novel model of colon neoplasia has great potential for exploring anatomical differences in colon cancer and testing novel therapeutics.
Simulated versus reduced noise quantum annealing in maximum independent set solution to wireless network scheduling

With the introduction of adiabatic quantum computation (AQC) and its implementation on D-Wave annealers, there has been a constant quest for benchmark problems that would allow for a fair comparison between such classical combinatorial optimization techniques as simulated annealing (SA) and AQC-based optimization. Such a benchmark case study has been the scheduling problem to avoid interference in the very specific Dirichlet protocol in wireless networking, where it was shown that the gap expansion to retain noninterference solutions benefits AQC better than SA. Here, we show that the same gap expansion allows for significant improvement in the D-Wave 2X solution compared with that of its predecessor, the D-Wave II.
Templates as Vehicles for Learning in Multinational Firms

Knowledge transfer is important for a firm’s competitive advantage, yet the process is difficult and is further complicated for firms with a globally distributed workforce that must coordinate know...
RF Characterization of Stripline with thick MnFe 2 O 4 Nanoparticle Films Under DC Magnetic Bias Conditions

A new stripline fabricated using MnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticle thick films is demonstrated to have multiband frequency selectivity and high attenuation range. Using the Solution Cast method, thick MnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles films were fabricated on the $45\ \text{mm}\times \mathbf{14\ mm}$ Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) substrate to have an average film thickness of about $\mathbf{30}\ \mu \mathrm{m}$ , which was inserted into the trench area of the stripline. The stripline was measured over the frequency range of 0 – 18 GHz at four different RF input power levels spanning from −22 dBm to −7 dBm with a 5 dB steps. The Ferromagnetic Resonance (FMR) effects are observed when the DC magnetic field bias is applied to the stripline under all four power levels. In particular, the FMR effects appear successively within five frequency bands, namely 4 – 8 GHz, 5 – 10 GHz, 8 – 13 GHz, 12 – 16 GHz and 15 – 18 GHz, as the magnetic field strength increases. The exact FMR frequencies under specific magnetic bias strength can be located by calculating the absolute power absorption rate of the MnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles. In addition, more attenuation is observed under stronger bias and the absolute power absorption increases as the RF input power gets larger. This work presents for the first time the characterization of thick MnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticle film in terms of the FMR effect using the 3D printed stripline structure, which can be used to fabricate the Frequency Selective Limiter (FSL) in a wide range of power-sensitive, broadband RF and microwave applications.
The CERN Large Hadron Collider and the Compact Muon Solenoid Detector

The conventional method for studying the interactions between fundamental particles at a desired energy has been to use a particle accelerator to accelerate a chosen particle to this energy, and then to either aim it at a fixed solid, liquid, or gaseous target or collide it with another accelerated particle. In fixed-target experiments, the energy available in the collision grows with the square-root of the incident beam energy, whereas in colliders, the collision energy grows linearly with the energy of the incident beam. The accelerated particles in both cases are typically protons or electrons, which are stable and easy to produce in abundance. In the case of electrons, the energy of the beam can be tuned precisely to make observations at a very narrow energy range. The proton is composed of valence and sea quarks and gluons, so even though the energy of the proton beam can still be tuned equally well, the energy of interaction between two constituent partons covers a wider range. The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is constructed as a circular proton–proton collider for this purpose, to be able to measure the properties of SM particles and search for physics beyond the SM (BSM physics) at a wide, high energy spectrum.
ABO‐incompatible platelets are associated with increased transfusion reaction rates

Background ABO compatibility can affect platelet transfusion safety and efficacy, and ABO-incompatible (ABOi) platelets likely increases the risks of transfusion reactions though the magnitude of this risk is unclear. Study design and methods Data collected on all platelet transfusions administered over 36+ months were classified based on patient and product ABO blood group type and merged with a data set that included all transfusion reactions reported during that period. The transfusion reaction rates among various subsets was calculated. Results In patients greater than 1 year of age, the transfusion reaction rate in the ABO-compatible (ABO-identical) platelet group was 1.0%, while the ABOi platelet group had an elevated reaction rate of 1.7%. The increased reaction rate for ABOi platelets held true even if the analysis were limited to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Healthcare Safety Network qualifying reactions or just allergic or febrile nonhemolytic reactions. The increased reaction rate with ABOi platelets was independent of unit age. Surprisingly, major-incompatible transfusions (A/B antigen incompatible) had the highest rate of reactions, at 2.0%. During the study period, three acute hemolytic reactions were reported out of 2522 plasma-incompatible platelet transfusions (0.12%). Conclusions Our results find that compatible platelet transfusions have the lowest rate of transfusion reactions. While hemolytic reactions were observed with plasma-incompatible transfusions, the rate was low. Transfusion of ABO antigen-incompatible platelets had the highest rate of transfusion reactions and resulted in a transfusion reaction rate 1.5 to 2 times that of ABO compatible transfusions.
Asymptotically flat, parametrized black hole metric preserving Kerr symmetries

Recently the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, with very-long baseline interferometric observations, resolved structure at the scale of $\ensuremath{\sim}5$ Schwarzschild radii about the center of $\mathrm{M}{87}^{*}$, the supermassive black hole resident at the center of Messier 87. This important observation has paved the way for testing what is known as the ``no-hair'' theorem, stating that isolated black holes are described by the Kerr metric, parametrized only by their mass and spin. Generic, parametrized spacetimes beyond Kerr allow one to arbitrarily test the no-hair theorem for deviations from the Kerr result with no prior theoretical knowledge or motivation. In this paper, we present such a new general, stationary, axisymmetric and asymptotically flat black hole solution with separable geodesic equations (thus preserving symmetries of a Kerr black hole), extending the previous work of Johannsen. In this new metric, five free nonlinear functions parameterically deviate from the Kerr result, allowing one to effectively transform to many alternative black hole solutions present in the literature. We then derive analytic expressions for the Keplerian and epicyclic frequencies, the orbital energy and angular momentum, and the location of the innermost stable orbit of circular equatorial particle orbits. We also compute the image of the photon rings in the new spacetime, which correspond to the boundary of the black hole shadow image taken by the Event Horizon Telescope. We finally compare each quantity for the Kerr result against various parametrizations of the metric, finding that, especially for highly rotating black holes, the two solutions disagree significantly. Such a metric parametrization allows one to perform the no-hair tests in a model-independent way, and finally map constraints to specific alternative theories of gravity.
Whose body is it anyway

In Altered Carbon's version of the future, our identities are stored in chips and we can be switched between bodies. The first series was a hoot. The second, however, is a bit too earnest, says Emily Wilson
The effects of adsorptive materials on microbial community composition and PAH degradation at the sediment cap–water interface

Abstract Capping with layers of inert or adsorptive materials is used to control the release of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in sediment but little is known about microbial degradation processes in these materials. A rich native microbial community inhabits the sediment bed, and capping media can influence enrichment and biodegradation activity of benthic microorganisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of capping media (sand, organoclay, and powdered activated carbon [PAC]) on microbial communities under oxic conditions typical of the cap–water interface, where naphthalene degradation (model PAH) is likely to be maximized. Bench scale experiments compared naphthalene concentrations, nahAc biomarker abundance, microbial community composition, and cellular attachment in systems amended with adsorptive and non-adsorptive capping materials. Results indicate that activated carbon promoted and enhanced bioactivity; PAC treatments showed high biodegradation rates, nahAc biomarker levels, and attached biological growth consistent with enrichment of the PAH-degrading genus Pseudomonae. In contrast, sand did not enhance biological activity compared to media-free systems. Naphthalene strongly influenced microbial community composition at the species level in all treatments except organoclay, which promoted biological signatures commonly associated with impeding degradation activity. Data overall suggest that adsorptive capping materials can both promote (PAC) and inhibit (organoclay) bioactivity in the surficial layer of caps, indicating that media selection is critical to the design of bioactive capping systems.
Sparse Kalman filtering approaches to realized covariance estimation from high frequency financial data

Estimation of the covariance matrix of asset returns from high frequency data is complicated by asynchronous returns, market microstructure noise and jumps. One technique for addressing both asynchronous returns and market microstructure is the Kalman-Expectation-Maximization (KEM) algorithm. However the KEM approach assumes log-normal prices and does not address jumps in the return process which can corrupt estimation of the covariance matrix. In this paper we extend the KEM algorithm to price models that include jumps. We propose a sparse Kalman filtering approach to this problem. In particular we develop a Kalman Expectation Conditional Maximization algorithm to determine the unknown covariance as well as detecting the jumps. In order to promote a sparse estimate of the jumps,we consider both Laplace and the spike and slab jump priors. Numerical results using simulated data show that each of these approaches provide for improved covariance estimation relative to the KEM method in a variety of settings where jumps occur.
Membership Inference Attacks on Knowledge Graphs.

Knowledge graphs have become increasingly popular supplemental information because they represented structural relations between entities. Knowledge graph embedding methods (KGE) are used for various downstream tasks, e.g., knowledge graph completion, including triple classification, link prediction. However, the knowledge graph also includes much sensitive information in the training set, which is very vulnerable to privacy attacks. In this paper, we conduct such one attack, i.e., membership inference attack, on four standard KGE methods to explore the privacy vulnerabilities of knowledge graphs. Our experimental results on four benchmark knowledge graph datasets show that our privacy attacks can reveal the membership information leakage of KGE methods.
US Support for a WTO Waiver of COVID-19 Intellectual Property – What Does it Mean?

On May 5, 2021, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced that the U.S. would support a “waiver of IP protections on COVID-19 vaccines to help end the pandemic” currently being discussed at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The unprecedented U.S. support of the proposed WTO IP waiver is an important national gesture toward global solidarity in a time of crisis. Yet it is important to remember the limited scope of such a waiver — it simply provides that countries will not be able to bring trade-related claims in the WTO against countries that issue compulsory IP licenses in the context of COVID-19. The impact of such a waiver on international vaccine supplies will depend in large part on how other countries elect to implement compulsory licensing rules under the waiver, and whether they can effectively require the transfer of confidential manufacturing, testing, and safety information to supplemental producers. Alternatively, the threat of such governmental action around the world could encourage companies to engage in voluntary knowledge transfer to alleviate global supply shortages, which might be the greatest benefit of the WTO IP waiver.
Secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH): Five years’ experience at the UTHealth McGovern Medical School at Houston, Texas.

e19578Background: Secondary HLH in adults is associated to infections, malignancies, and autoimmune disorders. HLH in children has been the basis for the management and treatment of HLH in adults. ...
A Preliminary Investigation on Identification of Lame Dairy Cattle Using Pedometer Measures

Use of the commercial activity monitor described here had a limited ability to accurately diagnose lameness in this herd.
Genetic differences in ethanol consumption: effects on iron, copper, and zinc regulation in mouse hippocampus

One common characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases is dysregulation of iron, usually with observed increases in its concentration in various regions. Heavy alcohol consumption is believed to contribute to such iron dysregulation in the brain with accompanying dementia. To examine this effect and related genetic-based individual differences in an animal model, we subjected female mice from 12 BXD recombinant inbred strains to 16 weeks of alcohol consumption using the drinking in the dark (DID) method. Daily consumption was recorded and at the end of 16 weeks hippocampus tissues harvested. Concentrations of iron, copper and zinc were measured using X-ray fluorescence technology. The results showed that, DID increased iron overall across all strains, ranging from 3 to 68%. Copper and Zinc both decreased, ranging from 0.4–42 and 5–35% respectively. Analysis of variance revealed significant strain by treatment interactions for all three metals. Additionally, in the DID group, we observed strain differences in reduction of hippocampus mass. These findings are particularly interesting to us because high alcohol consumption in humans has been associated with neurodegeneration and dementia related to disruption of iron regulation. The findings of alcohol consumption associated decreases in copper and zinc are novel. The role of copper regulation and neurological function related to alcohol consumption is as yet largely unexplored. The role of zinc is better known as a neuromodulator in the hippocampus and appears to be protective against neurological damage. It would seem then, that the alcohol-related decrease in zinc in the hippocampus would be of concern and warrants further study.
Kierkegaard’s Three Spheres and Cinematic Fairy Tale Pedagogy in 'Frozen,' 'Moana,' and 'Tangled'

Although Disney films are sometimes denigrated as popular or “low” art forms, this article argues that they often engage deeply with, and thereby communicate, significant moral truths. The capitali...
Contracture test and histologic and histochemical analyses of muscle biopsy specimens from horses with exertional rhabdomyolysis

Biopsy specimens of the cutaneous omobrachialis muscle were obtained from 10 horses with a problem of myositis from mild exercise. One horse had been evaluated previously and malignant hyperthermia-like contractures developed in its muscle biopsy specimen during the contracture test. In this study, the halothane-caffeine contracture test and histologic and histochemical evaluations were performed on muscle biopsy specimens. In the contracture test, no muscle biopsy specimen developed contracture in the presence of 2 or 4% halothane alone. The mean (+/- SEM) caffeine-specific concentration in the presence of halothane was 5.23 +/- 0.5 mM for 2% halothane, and 4.46 +/- 0.6 mM for 4% halothane. The caffeine-specific concentration values were not significantly different. Contracture response for any muscle specimen did not resemble contracture associated with malignant hyperthermia. The cutaneous omobrachialis muscle was composed of type-II fibers, with type-I fibers seldom seen. For 9 of the 10 horses, overall fiber morphology was normal; 1 horse had necrotic fibers. Of the 10 muscle specimens, 9 had fibers that had positive reaction for alkaline phosphatase activity; 3 muscle specimens contained ringed myofibers. Three horses of this study were administered general anesthesia; 2 were research horses, anesthetized with halothane and succinylcholine, and 1 was a clinical case given halothane anesthesia plus a non-depolarizing muscle relaxant. One research horse developed a malignant hyperthermia-like reaction to anesthesia, with severe rhabdomyolysis evident after anesthesia, and an episode of muscle cramping in its stall 2 days after anesthesia. The other 2 horses had unremarkable postanesthetic periods.
The Common LISP Companion

Introduction--Wherefore Lisp?. The Rule of Three--The Three Rules of Evaluation. Forms and Functions--Defining Common Lisp Functions. Inquisitor of Structures--Common Lisp Symbols. Objects all Sublime--Common Lisp Structures. Methods--Generic Functions. Gently Down the Stream--Lisp I/O. Functions Revisited--Advanced Features of Functions. Program Structure--Structuring Code. Programmation Etlogique--Logic Programming. Epilogue--Common Lisp: A Reappraisal for Further Reading. Appendices. References. Index.
Implications of the Methodological Choices for Hydrologic Portrayals of Climate Change over the Contiguous United States: Statistically Downscaled Forcing Data and Hydrologic Models

AbstractContinental-domain assessments of climate change impacts on water resources typically rely on statistically downscaled climate model outputs to force hydrologic models at a finer spatial resolution. This study examines the effects of four statistical downscaling methods [bias-corrected constructed analog (BCCA), bias-corrected spatial disaggregation applied at daily (BCSDd) and monthly scales (BCSDm), and asynchronous regression (AR)] on retrospective hydrologic simulations using three hydrologic models with their default parameters (the Community Land Model, version 4.0; the Variable Infiltration Capacity model, version 4.1.2; and the Precipitation–Runoff Modeling System, version 3.0.4) over the contiguous United States (CONUS). Biases of hydrologic simulations forced by statistically downscaled climate data relative to the simulation with observation-based gridded data are presented. Each statistical downscaling method produces different meteorological portrayals including precipitation amount, ...
Aspin–Welch Test

The Aspin–Welch test can be used to test the hypothesis that two means, from independent samples, are equal without making the assumption of equal variances. The article presents the formulas for the test statistic and for two critical values, cites the literature for another critical value, identifies problems in the test, cites literature for solutions to these problems, and cites literature for extensions to the Aspin–Welch test for comparing means in multiple independent samples in one-way and multi-way layouts, and for comparing mean vectors in multivariate designs. Keywords: Behrens–Fisher problem; comparing means; unequal variances
Preventing cerebrospinal fluid leak following transection of a tight filum terminale

Object Tethered cord release for a tight filum terminale is a common pediatric operation associated with low morbidity and mortality rates. While almost all would agree that keeping patients lying flat after the operation will prevent a CSF leak, the optimal period of doing so has not been determined. In this study, the authors examined whether a longer length of stay in the hospital for the sole purpose of maintaining patients flat correlates with a decreased rate of CSF leakage. Methods Intraoperative and postoperative data were retrospectively collected in 222 cases of simple tethered cord release at 3 large children's hospitals. Risk factors for postoperative CSF leakage were identified. Results Thirty-eight patients were maintained lying flat for 24 hours, 86 for 48 hours, and 98 for 72 hours at the individual surgeon's discretion. A CSF leak occurred in 13 patients (5.9%) and pseudomeningocele developed in 9 patients (4.1%). In the univariate analysis, operating time, use of the microscope, use of d...