cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Low loss and high tuning barium strontium titanate (BST) thin films

In wireless communication, the systems should operate over multiple frequency bands and provide enhanced signal to noise ratio. These goals can be achieved by having electronic tunability in the RF part of the radios. Electronic tuning is the ability by which electronic devices operate over a wide frequency range. It can allow for a single filter to tune over multiple frequency bands, a voltage tunable oscillator (VTO) to accommodate a wide range of frequencies for the synthesizer, and a scanning antenna to position a beam, on command, anywhere within its sector of operation. Traditionally, electronic tuning has been achieved through ferrite or semiconductor diodes. The ferrite products available in the market are expensive and bulky. Also, the power consumption of these devices is prohibitive in nature. The semiconductor junction diodes are restricted in their range of linear response to input power. For high frequency applications, the semiconductor based technology for products like electronic scanning antennas are also very expensive. These limitations in the existing solutions have paved the way for new approaches to address low cost electronic tuning. One of the most promising approaches is the use of tunable dielectric materials. The existence of low loss voltage tunable dielectric materials would revolutionize the industry of microwave components and antennas. “Tunable” refers to the ability to change dielectric constant by applying an electric field. This ability in the microwave component field enables a single component to operate over multiple frequencies by simply changing the input voltage. The low power consumption in operating the devices fabricated from these voltage tunable dielectrics is an additional benefit. In the case of antennas, tunability using low cost technology creates a new class of phased array antennas that could be used in the common household.
The Ligand Occupancy of Endothelial Protein C Receptor Switches the PAR-1 Dependent Signaling Specificity of Thrombin from a Disruptive to a Protective Response in Endothelial Cells.

It has been hypothesized that activated protein C (APC) exerts its cytoprotective and antiinflammatory activities through the endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR)-dependent cleavage of protease activated receptor 1 (PAR-1) on vascular endothelial cells. Noting that the activation of protein C on endothelial cells requires thrombin, relative to APC, thrombin cleaves PAR-1 with ∼3–4-orders of magnitude higher catalytic efficiency, and PAR-1 is a target for the proinflammatory activity of thrombin, it is not understood how APC can elicit a protective signaling response through the cleavage of PAR-1 when thrombin is present. In this study, we demonstrate that EPCR is associated with caveolin-1 in lipid rafts of endothelial cells and that its occupancy by the Gla-domain of protein C/APC leads to its dissociation from caveolin-1 and recruitment of PAR-1 to a protective signaling pathway through coupling of PAR-1 to the pertussis toxin sensitive Gi-protein. Thus, when EPCR is bound by protein C/APC, the PAR-1 cleavage-dependent protective signaling responses in endothelial cells can be mediated by either thrombin or APC. These results provide a new paradigm for understanding how PAR-1 and EPCR participate in protective signaling events in endothelial cells.
Large-Scale Socioeconomic, Political, and Cultural Influences on Giftedness and Talent

The development of talent and the realization of potential depend heavily on the contexts that surround individuals and groups. While much has been done to reveal the influence of immediate contexts such as classrooms, schools, and families, we need more investigation of large-scale, societal, and cultural contexts. Based on wide-ranging analyses of theory and research from a variety of disciplines, this chapter surveys some extant broad-scope contextual theories, models, and investigative trajectories. Contributing disciplines include political theory, sociology, ethical philosophy, history, and cultural anthropology, among others. The survey includes socioeconomic and political trends such as the tenuous growth of democracy in some regions and its pernicious erosion in others; increases in socioeconomic inequity within and between nations; and the effects of competing ideologies. Cultural phenomena under study include changing value systems worldwide, cultural responses to globalization, and various religious and secular conceptions of the ideal civil society. All of these phenomena influence the aspirations, talent development, self-fulfillment, and ethical behavior of gifted individuals.
Site-Directed Mutagenesis of N5-Carboxyaminoimidazole Ribonucleotide Mutase (Class I PurE) in Bacillus anthracis

Anthrax, the infection caused by the Gram-positive pathogen Bacillus anthracis ( B. anthracis ), is fatal if untreated, and some strains of B. anthracis have been found to be resistant to currently available antibiotics. The development of broad spectrum antibiotics is needed to treat the resistive strains. In antibiotic development, we have targeted B. anthracis Class I PurE enzyme ( Ba PurE) as a unique and necessary enzyme in the de novo purine biosynthesis pathway, since the inactivation of this gene prevents B. anthraci growth in human serum, resulting in decreased bacterial proliferation. To identify inhibitors to $Ba$PurE, structural information on the substrate binding to its active site is needed. However, it is difficult to obtain crystals of Ba PurE with the substrate molecule in its binding site since upon binding to PurE, the substrate molecule is converted to the product molecule. An alternative approach is to create mutants of PurE that exhibit no enzymatic activity and do not convert the substrate to product, but still allow the substrate to bind to the active site. Then, the structure of mutant PurE with bound substrate can be obtained. We have identified a histidine residue at position 70 as the target of mutation to give an inactive enzyme. After successfully preparing the recombinant protein H70N, we have found that it exhibited no enzyme activity. This mutant will be useful in future experimentation to identify inhibitors of Ba PurE.
Drought-induced recharge promotes long-term storage of porewater salinity beneath a prairie wetland

Abstract Subsurface storage of sulfate salts allows closed-basin wetlands in the semiarid Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America to maintain moderate surface water salinity (total dissolved solids [TDS] from 1 to 10 g L−1), which provides critical habitat for communities of aquatic biota. However, it is unclear how the salinity of wetland ponds will respond to a recent shift in mid-continental climate to wetter conditions. To understand better the mechanisms that control surface-subsurface salinity exchanges during regional dry-wet climate cycles, we made a detailed geoelectrical study of a closed-basin prairie wetland (P1 in the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, North Dakota) that is currently experiencing record wet conditions. We found saline lenses of sulfate-rich porewater (TDS > 10 g L−1) contained in fine-grained wetland sediments 2–4 m beneath the bathymetric low of the wetland and within the currently ponded area along the shoreline of a prior pond stand (c. 1983). During the most recent drought (1988–1993), the wetland switched from a groundwater discharge to recharge function, allowing salts dissolved in surface runoff to move into wetland sediments beneath the bathymetric low of the basin. However, groundwater levels during this time did not decline to the elevation of the saline lenses, suggesting these features formed during more extended paleo-droughts and are stable in the subsurface on at least centennial timescales. We hypothesize a “drought-induced recharge” mechanism that allows wetland ponds to maintain moderate salinity under semiarid climate. Discharge of drought-derived saline groundwater has the potential to increase the salinity of wetland ponds during wet climate.
Reagan’s America

This chapter situates the book historically, offering an in depth look at Ronald Reagan’s rise to power and his reelection in 1984. Examining the economic, political, and cultural climate of the time, the author examines what was happening in the United States at the time that the works of blank fiction and cinema became popular.
A general approach to evaluating the bias of 2‐stage instrumental variable estimators

Unmeasured confounding is a common concern when researchers attempt to estimate a treatment effect using observational data or randomized studies with nonperfect compliance. To address this concern, instrumental variable methods, such as 2-stage predictor substitution (2SPS) and 2-stage residual inclusion (2SRI), have been widely adopted. In many clinical studies of binary and survival outcomes, 2SRI has been accepted as the method of choice over 2SPS, but a compelling theoretical rationale has not been postulated. We evaluate the bias and consistency in estimating the conditional treatment effect for both 2SPS and 2SRI when the outcome is binary, count, or time to event. We demonstrate analytically that the bias in 2SPS and 2SRI estimators can be reframed to mirror the problem of omitted variables in nonlinear models and that there is a direct relationship with the collapsibility of effect measures. In contrast to conclusions made by previous studies (Terza et al, 2008), we demonstrate that the consistency of 2SRI estimators only holds under the following conditions: (1) when the null hypothesis is true; (2) when the outcome model is collapsible; or (3) when estimating the nonnull causal effect from Cox or logistic regression models, the strong and unrealistic assumption that the effect of the unmeasured covariates on the treatment is proportional to their effect on the outcome needs to hold. We propose a novel dissimilarity metric to provide an intuitive explanation of the bias of 2SRI estimators in noncollapsible models and demonstrate that with increasing dissimilarity between the effects of the unmeasured covariates on the treatment versus outcome, the bias of 2SRI increases in magnitude.
Metabolic Strategy and Social Behavior in Lemuridae

Research on lemurs contributes importantly to evaluation of hypotheses on primate development and evolution. A central question about social behavior has asked why adult females in many lemur species socially dominate males while this trait is rare among Anthropoids and other mammals. At present, the favored hypothesis—that female lemurs undertake unusually costly reproduction and dominance over males is necessary for females to access sufficient nutrition throughout Madagascar’s dry season—has both supporters and detractors. We propose that confusion concerning female dominance in lemurs derives from failing to appreciate that adaptation should have minimized prospects for seasonal stress and that success during months of food abundance, not months of food scarcity, is most likely to be the primary foraging factor influencing relative fitness among today’s lemurs. Analyses of hair growth, somatic growth, food intake, fatness, and two metabolically-active hormones (thyroxine and insulin-like growth factor 1) revealed that Lemur catta and Eulemur fulvus rufus prepare during the photoperiod of Madagascar’s annual wet season for upcoming dry seasons and also make adjustments during dry seasons that make life less expensive.
Aristocracies of Labor: Craft Unionism, Immigration, and Working-Class Households in West Oakland, California

Within the railroad industry, the most powerful labor unions were exclusive craft organizations that concentrated on defending the privileges of a few skilled workers. Data from archaeological work conducted by Sonoma State University during the Cypress Freeway Replacement Project is used in an historical materialist exploration of class-consciousness among railroad workers in a late-19th-century working-class neighborhood in West Oakland, California. Comparing aspects of diet and dining, this study focuses on divisions among the railroad workers along the lines of craft-skill and nativity, examining the ways skilled craft unionists used the assumptions of Victorian ideology to organize against both their employers and other groups of workers, especially immigrants.
Regulation of ICAM-1 expression in mouse macrophages.

In a mouse model of silica (SI) induced lung injury, SI exposure increases expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on lung (alveolar/interstitial) macrophages and alveolar type II epithelial cells. To investigate the regulation of SI induced ICAM-1 expression on mouse macrophages, freshly isolated macrophages (alveolar, peritoneal) and macrophage cell lines (MH-S, RAW 264.7) were evaluated for ICAM-1 expression elicited by the particle silica (α quartz; 20 μg/ml; 6 μg/cm2) or the inflammatory cytokine, TNFα (20 ng/ml). TNFα significantly increased ICAM-1 expression in all cell types whereas SI elicited an increase in peritoneal macrophages (PM) and the cell line, MH-S. This pattern of increased expression was confirmed by immunocytochemistry. To investigate the regulation of ICAM-1 expression, PM were incubated with SI, TNFα or media concomitantly with anti-TNFα antibody, the antioxidant, NAC, or the iNOS synthase inhibitor, L-NAME. Both anti-TNFα and NAC, but not L-NAME, inhibited elicited (TNFα, SI) as well as constitutive (media) ICAM-1 expression. These data demonstrate that both inflammatory cytokines and inorganic particles can increase ICAM-1 expression on mouse macrophages and that this expression is mediated, in part, by TNFα and reactive oxygen species.
Familias Fuertes: Family Resilience Among Latinos

Family life is vital to most Latinos. Family resilience thus is an important perspective for family scholars working with Latino families to adopt because of its focus on wellness and adaptability, in effect, punctuating the strengths common among Latino families. Toward the latter part of the twentieth century, conversations among family scientists and family therapists more and more included the concept of resilience. Researchers began examining family dynamics that provided a more accurate portrayal of family life, as well as in terms of providing professional support to families. Wolin and Wolin (1993) discussed both the “damage model” and the “challenge model” as they pertained to prevention and intervention, highlighting the significance of identifying and extracting the strengths families possess. Elevating aspects of strength and resilience is particularly important for working with families, who at first glance may be viewed as characterized mainly by needs and deficits, often an inaccurate and skewed portrayal. A strengths perspective views the glass as “half-full” rather than “half-empty.” This is significant because families may present themselves in clinical settings as primarily having deficits rather than as possessing strengths and assets and living everyday life where negative and positive elements intersect.
Quadrupole Ion Trap Mass Spectrometers for Studies of Biomolecules

The technique of ion trap mass spectrometry is reviewed with special emphasis on applications to molecules of biological importance. A brief mathematical background of ion trapping in quadrupole felds is presented to understand methods used in mass range extension and MS/MS. Applications of ion trap analysis using both gas chromatographic and other sample inlets are given, which show the potential of this instrument in studies of substances ranging from volatile organic molecules to proteins and nucleotides.
Dilute-As InGaNAs Quantum Wells for Red-Emitting Lasers

Analysis on the electronic properties of dilute-As InGaNAs quantum well active region was carried out, and the finding showed excellent potential for implementation in red-light emitting lasers with high gain properties in the long wavelength spectral regime.
Answer to December 2015 Photo Quiz

Answer: Intestinal spirochetosis. The colon biopsy specimen showed intestinal spirochetosis. The endoscopic appearance in intestinal spirochetosis tends to be nonspecific, ranging from normal to polypoid areas or erythema (1). A basophilic fringe of spirochetes can be seen attached to the luminal side of the colonic epithelium. These organisms are known to attach to the mature microvilli of mature colonic and rectal epithelia. The spirochetes appear as an accentuated brush border-like layer coating the microvilli of the superficial epithelium, often referred to as a false brush border. Typically, the diagnosis is made by a pathologist examining the biopsy specimen. A Warthin-Starry silver stain for spirochetes can highlight the organism (see Fig. 1C and D in the photo quiz). Intestinal spirochetosis in humans is caused predominantly by Brachyspira aalborgi and Brachyspira pilosicoli. This condition is thought to be most prevalent in developing countries (2), among homosexual males (3), and among individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (3). These organisms are slow-growing fastidious anaerobes and thus are infrequently recovered from stool specimens. While the pathological significance of intestinal spirochetosis is unclear, this condition has been reported to be associated with chronic diarrheal symptoms, especially in HIV-positive individuals. Evidence suggests that invasion of the organism beyond the epithelium may be associated with symptoms that respond to metronidazole (3). Using CLSI guidelines for susceptibility testing of anaerobes, Brooke et al. tested 123 human isolates of Brachyspira pilosicoli, all of which were susceptible to metronidazole, with an MIC90 of 0.25 μg/ml (4). The introduction of PCR-based assays along with immunohistological methods over the past decade may provide the tools to allow us to study the epidemiology and clinical importance of this organism (5). (See page 3711 in this issue [doi:10.1128/JCM.00005-14] for photo quiz case presentation.)
Efficacy of problem-solving therapy for spouses of men with prostate cancer: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective Prostate cancer can have a significant negative impact on patients and their spouses. Problem-solving therapy (PST) has been shown to help reduce distress and improve quality of life among cancer and caregiver populations. This study tested the efficacy of PST for spouses of men with prostate cancer. Methods Spouses of men diagnosed with prostate cancer within the past 18 months (N = 164) were randomly assigned to PST (n = 78) or usual psychosocial care (UPC; n = 86). Spouses completed measures of constructive and dysfunctional problem solving, cancer-related distress, mood, physical and mental health, and dyadic adjustment at preintervention and post-intervention and 3-month post-intervention follow-up. Results Constructive problem solving increased from pre-intervention to post-intervention among spouses receiving PST but not for spouses receiving UPC; this was maintained at follow-up. There was no decrease in dysfunctional problem solving. Spouses receiving PST versus UPC reported less cancer-related distress post-intervention and at follow-up. There were no significant changes in mood or physical and mental health. Dyadic adjustment was significantly better for spouses receiving PST versus UPC at post-intervention but not at follow-up. Improvements in constructive problem solving mediated better mood and dyadic adjustment post-intervention. Conclusions Results support the efficacy of PST for improving spouses' constructive problem solving. There was evidence of both direct and mediated positive effects of PST for both individual and dyadic adjustment. PST may be useful for improving individual and dyadic outcomes for spouses of men with prostate cancer.
The pituitary-testicular axis at rest and during moderate exercise in males with diabetes mellitus and normal sexual function.

Abstract Hormonal studies of pituitary-testicular function in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were examined at rest and during moderate exercise to assess whether diabetes per se caused abnormalities of nocturnal penile tumescence and androgen function in men with normal sexual function. The present study compared 10 healthy men and eight men with Type I diabetes mellitus in whom normal sexual function was determined by clinical history. Urinary gonadotropin excretion, semen analysis and diurnal variation of serum glucose, prolactin, testosterone and free testosterone were determined in both groups. In addition, the serum levels of testosterone, free testosterone, prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured at rest, during 45 minutes of exercise on a bicycle ergometer at 50% of the subjects previously determined maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) and during a 30-minute recovery period. Nocturnal penile tumescence and parameters of semen analysis were similar in both groups. Urinary FSH excretion and serum FSH were higher (P less than or equal to 0.01) in the diabetic subjects while urinary LH excretion was similar. Diurnal variation of serum prolactin, testosterone and free testosterone were similar in both groups. Exercise produced a significant (P less than or equal to 0.01) increase in maximal free and total testosterone in both groups without changes in serum FSH or LH. Prolactin increased significantly (P less than or equal to 0.01) during exercise in the diabetic group only. We conclude that, for the most part, the pituitary-testicular axis and nocturnal penile tumescence under basal conditions and the pituitary-testicular axis during moderate exercise are similar in healthy males and insulin-dependent diabetic males with normal sexual function.
A Longitudinal Study to Assess Abdominal Adiposity by Sonography, DXA, and BMI:

Obesity has been linked to several chronic health conditions, including increased risk for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and metabolic syndrome. Understanding the trends in...
Fluorine doping of nanostructured TiO2 using microwave irradiation and polyvinylidene fluoride

Abstract Fluorine doped metal oxides have shown great promise for use in many applications including Li-ion batteries (LiBs), photocatalysis and dye-sensitized solar cells. Both F-TiO2 and TiOF2 have been studied extensively for this purpose. However, fabrication of fluorine doped titanium oxide requires the use of dangerous fluorinated chemicals such as trifluoroacetic acid, hydrofluoric acid and fluorine gas which are both difficult to handle and create significant waste detrimental for the environment. Additionally, current procedures for fabrication of F-TiO2 and TiOF2 require long heating times which are inefficient, wasting large amounts of energy. Because of these factors’ fabrication of F-TiO2, TiOF2 and other important fluorine doped metal oxides are expensive and dangerous to make. In this work, two new methods were used to greatly improve the safety and efficiency of synthesis. First, the fluorinated waste was eliminated by using the safe and inert polymer, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), as the fluorine source. Second, microwave (MW) irradiation was used to reduce the time and energy required for synthesis by addition of the MW absorber, graphene, into the precursor material. The results show that when using the PVDF fluorine source with conventional oven heating it results in low levels of F-TiO2 which are dependent on heating temperatures. However, when using microwave irradiation high levels of doping were achieved creating both F-TiO2 and TiOF2 in as little as 6 minutes compared to several hours. This work has shown that by combining both PVDF and microwave irradiation fabrication of F-TiO2 and TiOF2 can now be done safely and efficiently with greatly reduced environmental impact.
Vibrio cholera and V. parahaemolyticus coinfection in an oncology patient with gastroenteritis.

Abstract Vibrio-related gastroenteritis in the United States is mostly associated with the consumption of raw or improperly cooked seafood. We describe a case of a stage IV lung adenocarcinoma patient who became ill after eating crab while visiting Upstate New York. Molecular testing and culture confirmed a coinfection with V. parahaemolyticus and a nontoxigenic strain V. cholera.
A Novel Approximate Adder Design Methodology with Single LUT Delay for Fault-tolerant FPGA-based Systems

In the world of High Definition (HD) imaging and real-time video streaming and analytics, the size of video capture and speed of processing devices has always been a challenge, particularly for resource-constrained platforms. These limitations are often referred to as Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) constraints. With the advancements in computer architecture and algorithm design, the paradigm of Approximate Computing has recently gained popularity among researchers, since it offers significant performance gains for error-tolerant applications, including video and image processing. Approximate Computing compromises on accuracy of processed results while gaining noteworthy advantages on the SWaP index, thus delivering an approximate (yet acceptable) result faster and that too, by consuming lesser hardware resources. In this research, we present a novel approximate adder design methodology for FPGA-based systems with improved accuracy and speed indices, while maintaining the SWaP advantages. Our proposed methodology fine tunes the long carry chain in light of FPGA hardware architecture, to achieve an overall optimization with a single Look-Up Table (LUT) delay only, irrespective of the operands' size. We present multiple variants of proposed designs with varying tradeoffs between implementation size vs accuracy trade-off, as required by target application. We have further applied this improved atomic arithmetic block into dense computational imaging applications, such as 2-dimensional Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), to verify the performance of the proposed modules at system level. Our results exhibit promising potential for the proposed design in high-accuracy and real-time applications.
Predictive Degradation Models

In this chapter, the principles of the degradation mechanism are explained in detail and the general categories of the predictive degradation models are discussed. Degradation estimates must be obtained before developing predictive degradation models. Indeed, degradation estimates are the training set for the predictive algorithms. Degradation estimates can be measured, collected, simulated, or estimated based on various principles, which highly depend on the application. Deep understanding of the physics of the system or sufficient data representing the system properties is needed in order to obtain the degradation estimates. This chapter assumes that the degradation estimates are available. The next step would be developing the prediction degradation model in order to have an insight regarding the future status of the same assets. Degradation models can be categorized based on either destructive or non-destructive test to collect information regarding the performance indicator or asset characteristics. The main target of the non-destructive degradation-based model is estimating the distribution of the time-to-failure data estimated based on the first time which degradation profile crosses the threshold. Therefore, the focus is more toward the time to event approaches. For the destructive degradation model, the main purpose is to find the distribution of the degradation at each point of the time. The main reason is that there are a limited number of measurements for each sample unit. In the next step, reliability can be estimated either based on the time-to-failure or degradation distribution. For each of these approaches, a numerical example is presented to further clarify the detail.
Complex interactions underlie racial disparity in the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease dementia.

INTRODUCTION We aim to determine racial disparities and their modifying factors in risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia among cognitively normal individuals 65 years or older. METHODS Longitudinal data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set on 1229 African Americans (AAs) and 6679 whites were analyzed for the risk of AD using competing risk models with death as a competing event. RESULTS Major AD risk factors modified racial differences which, when statistically significant, occurred only with older age among APOE e4 negative individuals, but also with younger age among APOE e4 positive individuals. The racial differences favored AAs among individuals with body mass index (BMI) < 30, but whites among individuals with a high BMI (≥ 30), and were additionally modified by sex, education, hypertension, and smoking status. CONCLUSIONS The presence, direction, and relative magnitude of racial disparity for AD represent an interactive function of major AD and cerebrovascular risk factors.
Incidence and outcomes of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients (pts) treated with second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) who develop other chromosomal abnormalities (OCA).

7090 Background: Development of OCA has been reported among pts receiving imatinib as initial therapy for CML. Little is known about OCA development in CML pts treated with frontline 2nd generation...
Spline and Kernel Methods

Spline models are based on piecewise polynomial fitting, while kernel regression models are based on local polynomial fitting. These two approaches to modeling are extremely popular, and so we dedicate a whole chapter to their description.
TRENDS IN INTRAVITREAL CORTICOSTEROID AGENT USE BY US OPHTHALMOLOGISTS IN MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES AND ASSOCIATION WITH PHYSICIAN-INDUSTRY INTERACTIONS.

PURPOSE To report trends of intravitreal corticosteroid use and explore the relationship between career experience, reported industry payments, and prescribing habits. METHODS A retrospective review of ophthalmologists who administered intravitreal dexamethasone implants (DEX) and triamcinolone acetonide (TA) injections between August 2013 and December 2017. RESULTS A total of 1,070 US ophthalmologists were reimbursed by Medicare for 522,804 DEX injections and 2.6 million TA injections. There was a significant positive trend in the number of DEX (P = 0.01), but not TA, injections per year. Mid-career and late-career physicians performed significantly greater total injections on average compared with early-career physicians (both P < 0.001). Early-career physicians performed a greater proportion of DEX injections than late-career physicians (P = 0.006). Industry payments were positively associated with the proportion of DEX used and inversely correlated with the proportion of TA administered (P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, years in practice, number of payments, and total value of payments were significantly associated with the number of DEX injections administered (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSION From 2013 to 2017, the use of DEX increased, whereas TA use remained stable. There was a positive association between DEX use and physician-industry interactions, which may be explained by seniority and experience. This study does not define a causal relationship.
Efficient and stable organic light-emitting devices employing phosphorescent molecular aggregates

Stable and efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) operating at high brightness are desirable for future high-resolution displays and lighting products. Here, we report a tetradentate Pd(ii) complex called Pd3O8-P, which has attractive optoelectronics properties. At room temperature, aggregates of Pd3O8-P exhibited a close-to-unity photoluminescent quantum yield and a short transient lifetime of 0.62 μs. A host-free Pd3O8-P yellow-orange OLED emitted light with a peak at 588 nm, a half-bandwidth of 84 nm and CIE coordinates of (0.52, 0.47), and achieved a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 34.8%. The device had reduced efficiency roll-off, retaining high EQEs of 33.5% at 1,000 cd m−2 and 29.5% at 10,000 cd m−2. The estimated operational half-lifetime was 9.59 million hours at 1,000 cd m−2. The fact that the tetradentate metal complex has a triplet in the blue-emitting region may also assist the development of efficient and long-lived blue OLEDs in the future. A tetradentate Pd(ii) complex with near unity photoluminescent quantum yield is the basis of bright, long-lifetime organic LEDs.
Emergency Department Utilization for Emergency Conditions During COVID-19

Study objective We use a national emergency medicine clinical quality registry to describe recent trends in emergency department (ED) visitation overall and for select emergency conditions. Methods Data were drawn from the Clinical Emergency Department Registry, including 164 ED sites across 35 states participating in the registry with complete data from January 2019 through November 15, 2020. Overall ED visit counts, as well as specific emergency medical conditions identified by International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification code (myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, cardiac arrest/ventricular fibrillation, and venous thromboembolisms), were tabulated. We plotted biweekly visit counts overall and across specific geographic regions. Results The largest declines in visit counts occurred early in the pandemic, with a nadir in April 46% lower than the 2019 monthly average. By November, overall ED visit counts had increased, but were 23% lower than prepandemic levels. The proportion of all ED visits that were for the select emergency conditions increased early in the pandemic; however, total visit counts for acute myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular disease have remained lower in 2020 compared with 2019. Despite considerable geographic and temporal variation in the trajectory of the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak, the overall pattern of ED visits observed was similar across regions and time. Conclusion The persistent decline in ED visits for these time-sensitive emergency conditions raises the concern that coronavirus disease 2019 may continue to impede patients from seeking essential care. Efforts thus far to encourage individuals with concerning signs and symptoms to seek emergency care may not have been sufficient.
Housing older Americans: the challenges of accessibility, affordability, and quality

Abstract The majority of midlife and older adults express a strong desire to remain in their own homes and communities as they grow older. Yet for too many older Americans, the ability to find affordable, accessible, and well-located housing that allows them to engage fully in their community is a significant, if not impossible, challenge. This chapter highlights the important role of housing as a platform to health and well-being in later life and explores key factors that are currently constraining older adults’ housing options, including the complex relationship between race, gender, income, wealth, health, and housing. Focusing on the intersection of demographic and housing trends, the chapter identifies some of the opportunities and challenges in the expansion of the nation’s stock of affordable and accessible housing to meet the pressing needs of an increasingly diverse older US population in the upcoming decades.
Private Equity and Physician Medical Practices - Navigating a Changing Ecosystem.

Private Equity and Physician Medical Practices In recent years, private-equity firms have emerged as influential players in the health care market, offering a lifeline to smaller groups needing a c...
Hardware in the Loop Testing of a Protection Scheme for Microgrid using RTDS with IEC 61850 Protocol

The main challenge of the microgrid is to design a suitable protection scheme due to the complexity of the architecture and the rapid change in the settings of the relays. The IEC 61850 models are used to connect a physical device to the RTDS in a closed loop test environment. Using an IEC 61850 interface to test a protective relay requires proper hardware and software configuration tools and a good understanding of how to configure the protective relay's IEC 61850 communications. This paper presents an integration between a simulated model using RTDS and physical devices SEL 421-7 relays to protect the microgrid that includes different resources connected based on inverter interface. IEEE 1588 standard is used to provide sub nanoseconds latency between the RTDS and the external devices. The measurement signals are synchronized between RTDS and the external devices using GTSYNC interface card and SEL-2488 Satellite-Synchronized Network Clock. Energy storage device is used to help the system to maintain the voltages at AC/DC sides and frequency at fault condition. The results showed that the co-simulation infrastructure introduces a highly dependable design, analysis, and testing environment for cyber and physical data flow in the system.
SteadyCellPhenotype: A web-based tool for the modeling of biological networks with ternary logic

We introduce SteadyCellPhenotype, a browser based interface for the analysis of ternary biological networks. It includes tools for deterministically finding all steady states of a network, as well as the simulation and visualization of trajectories with publication quality graphics. Stochastic simulations allow us to approximate the size of the basin for attractors and deterministic simulations of trajectories nearby specified points allow us to explore the behavior of the system in that neighborhood.
A Therapeutic Relationship.

A Therapeutic Relationship “Everything hurts,” the elderly woman reports through the Tigrinya interpreter. When the physician begins examining her back for the source of the pain, the patient respo...
Robust Hybrid Complex Motion Control Using Fuzzy Logic, Inverse Dynamic and PID-Q Controllers

A simple prototypical hybrid dynamic system, namely the bouncing ball system, is used to illustrate modeling and control of a hybrid dynamic system. This standard system is extended to include a complex inelastic bounce surface and actuation. A nonlinear one-axis prismatic actuator applies a bounce force to the ball to regulate the bounce height. Several controllers are compared with each other in simulations; linear and nonlinear PID, inverse dynamic, and fuzzy logic. Robustness against unmodeled dynamics, parameter variations and external disturbances are shown. SimMechanics is used to model the bounce actuator, bouncing ball system and surface. Simulation results show that the fuzzy logic controller fairs better on average on a complex surface.
A call to fins! Zebrafish as a gerontological model.

Summary Among the wide variety of model organisms commonly used for studies on aging, such as worms, flies and rodents, a wide research gap exists between the invertebrate and vertebrate model systems. In developmental biology, a similar gap has been filled by the zebrafish (Danio rerio). We propose that the zebrafish is uniquely suited to serve as a bridge model for gerontology. With high fecundity and economical husbandry requirements, large populations of zebrafish may be generated quickly and cheaply, facilitating large-scale approaches including demographic studies and mutagenesis screens. A variety of mutants identified in such screens have led to modelling of human disease, including cardiac disorders and cancer. While zebrafish longevity is at least 50% longer than in commonly used mouse strains, as an ectothermic fish species, its life span may be readily modulated by caloric intake, ambient temperature and reproductive activity. These features, coupled with a growing abundance of biological resources, including an ongoing genome sequencing project, make the zebrafish a compelling model organism for studies on aging.
The Cognitive Map: Could It Have Been Any Other Way?

Could the human cognitive map, with all of its peculiarities, be structured in any other way and still perform the useful functions it does? We can perform a thought-experiment by imagining that we must design the cognitive map for a robot, operating under limited cognitive resources, which must assimilate and use knowledge about its large-scale environment acquired from observations during travel. By taking this design perspective, we can determine that some familiar proposals for the structure of the cognitive map are inadequate, by themselves, to meet the constraints of the task. We develop a design consisting of separate representations for relative-position information, topological connections, and knowledge of routes, each rich in states of partial knowledge. Each step of the derivation is motivated by the pragmatic needs of the task, and the result bears a strong resemblance to the human cognitive map. We also discuss the relationship between this type of argument from design and the more usual approach of psychological explanation.
Escherichia coli Rep protein and helicase IV. Distributive single-stranded DNA-dependent ATPases that catalyze a limited unwinding reaction in vitro.

Rep protein and helicase IV, two DNA-dependent adenosine 5′-triphosphatases with helicase activity, have been purified from Escherichia coli and characterized. Both enzymes exhibit a distributive interaction with single-stranded DNA as DNA-dependent ATPases in a reaction that is relatively resistant to increasing NaCl concentration and sensitive to the addition of E. Coli single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB). The helicase reaction catalyzed by each protein has been characterized using a direct unwinding assay and partial duplex DNA substrates. Both Rep protein and helicase IV catalyzed the unwinding of a duplex region 71 bp in length. However, unwinding of a 119-bp or 343-bp duplex region was substantially reduced compared to unwinding of the 71-bp substrate. At each concentration of protein examined, the number of base paris unwound was greatest using the 71-bp substrate, intermediate with the 119-bp substrate and lowest using the 343-bp substrate. The addition of E. coli SSB did not increase the fraction of the 343-nucleotide fragment unwound by Rep protein. However, the addition of SSB did stimulate the unwinding reaction catalyzed by helicase IV approximately twofold. In addition, ionic strength conditions which stabilize duplex DNA (i.e. addition of MgCl2 or NaCl), markedly inhibited the helicase reaction catalyzed by either Rep protein or helicase IV while having little effect on the ATPase reaction. Thus, these two enzymes appear to share a common biochemical mechanism for unwinding duplex DNA which can be described as limited unwinding of duplex DNA. Taken together these data suggest that, in vitro, and in the absence of addition proteins, neither Rep protein nor helicase IV catalyzes a processive unwinding reaction.
Finely Tuned Polymer Interlayers Enhance Solar Cell Efficiency

Three conjugated polymer zwitterions (CPZs), containing thiophene-, diketopyrrolopyrrole- (DPP), and naphthalene diimide (NDI) backbones, were synthesized with pendant zwitterions, specifically sulfobetaine groups. Diboronate-ester-functionalized bithiophene and benzothiadiazole monomers were copolymerized with zwitterion-substituted dibromothiophene, DPP, and NDI monomers by A2 + B2 Suzuki polymerization. The CPZs were incorporated into polymer solar cells (PSCs) as interlayers between the photoactive layer and Ag cathode. The thiophene-based CPZs gave power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of about 5%, while the narrow-energy-gap DPP- and NDI-based CPZs performed exceptionally well, giving PCEs of 9.49% and 10.19%, respectively. The interlayer thickness had only a minor impact on the device performance for the DPP- and NDI-CPZs, a finding attributed to their electron-transport properties. Ultraviolet photoelectron and reflectance spectroscopies, combined with external quantum efficiency measurements, provided structure-property relationships that lend insight into the function of CPZ interlayers in PSCs. NDI-based CPZ interlayers provide some of the best performing organic solar cells reported to date, and prove useful in conjunction with high-performing polymer-active layers and stable, high-work-function, metal cathodes.
Le redoublement des sujets en picard

Comme plusieurs varietes de francais familier, le picard redouble les sujets. Puisque les clitiques sujets sont devenus des marques d'accord, il est logique de penser que les sujets redoubles sont les vrais sujets du picard. Cet article examine les sujets redoubles du picard sous les angles de la syntaxe, de la pragmatique et de la prosodie. Nous concluons que les sujets redoubles preverbaux sont ambigus: la plupart sont de veritables sujets (SN SV) mais certains conservent les caracteristiques de la dislocation (SN pro SV). Nous discutons aussi les sujets redoubles postverbaux et distinguons deux constructions: l'inversion stylistique qui place le sujet a l'interieur du SV et la dislocation a droite.
Hydroperoxide-initiated grafting of poly(styrene-stat-acrylonitrile) onto ultra-high modulus polyethylene fibers

There is evidence from modeling experiments that designed interphases, e.g. varying graft molecular weight and/or an adjustable interphase modulus, will provide a method of tailoring the mechanical response of a composite. There is no experimental evidence yet to substantiate these claims in fiber-reinforced composites. Hence, a grafting method that allows better design of the interphase, i.e. an intelligent interphase, is described. Our approach is to engineer intelligent interphases using a hydroperoxide-initiated grafting technique that provides a novel method of grafting by a free radical-type polymerization. This paper describes the hydroperoxidation and grafting of poly(styrene-stat-acrylonitrile) (SAN) onto ultra-high modulus polyethylene (UHMPE) fibers. Differential scanning calorimetry and fiber tensile tests were used to monitor the effect of the surface treatment on bulk crystallinity and fiber tensile properties. These characterization methods showed that the hydroperoxidation treatment was no...
Cross-site computations on the TeraGrid

The TeraGrid's collective computing resources can help researchers perform very-large-scale simulations in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications, but doing so requires tightly coupled communications among different sites. The authors examine a scaled-down turbulent flow problem, investigating the feasibility and scalability of cross-site simulation paradigms, targeting grand challenges such as blood flow in the entire human arterial tree.
The effect of sulfur on CVD performance of Pd(II) β-diketonate precursors and the completion of a structural trans-influence series: synthesis and structural characterization of Pd(S,S-tmhd)2

The three complexes, Pd(tmhd) 2 ( 1 ), Pd( S -tmhd) 2 ( 2 ), and Pd( S , S -tmhd) 2 ( 3 ) (where tmhd, S -tmhd, and S , S -tmhd are the anions of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione, 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-5-thioxo-3-heptanone, and 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedithione, respectively) were prepared and characterized by thermogravimetric analysis in order to assess their relative volatilities as a function of sulfur substitution. Complexes 1 and 2 volatilized with little residue, while 3 experienced significant decomposition during volatilization. The solid-state structure of 3 was determined in order to complete a structural trans -influence series with 1 and 2 and to assess possible reasons for its lower thermal stability. A large trans -influence was observed for the bond lengths in the coordination sphere across the series of complexes 1 , 2 , and 3 . The longer Pd–S bond distances found in 3 may be a contributing factor to its unsuitability as a CVD precursor.
Understanding Global War

While the problem of war in general deserves continuing scholarly attention, it seems appropriate to single out the systemwide—that is, global—war for intensive analysis as the kind of war that pos...
Correlation density matrix : an unbiased analysis of exact diagonalizations

Given the ground-state wave function for an interacting lattice model, we define a ``correlation density matrix'' (CDM) for two disjoint separated clusters $A$ and $B$ to be the density matrix of their union minus the direct product of their respective density matrices. The CDM can be decomposed systematically by a numerical singular-value decomposition to provide a systematic and unbiased way to identify the operator(s) dominating the correlations, even unexpected ones.