cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Scientifically Based Research: Establishing a Research Agenda for the Technology in Teacher Education Community

AbstractThe U.S. Department of Education sponsored a summit that addressed the need for scientifically-based evidence on the use of technology in teaching and learning. One hundred leaders from the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) federal initiative were invited to participate in the meeting, held in Fall 2003. The recommendations from that meeting offer a framework for future discussion of this topic. These educational leaders agreed on the need for identification through research of the best practices in the use of technology in teacher education. Studies to determine the generalizable effects of technology in teacher preparation programs are essential because of the key role of the teacher in education and because of the existing evidence on the need for in-depth preparation of teachers to use technology effectively.The full range of research approaches and methodologies are essential to find out what works in the Information Society, where rapidly increasing adoption of technology...
Application of Scheduling Methods in Designing Multimodal In-Vehicle Systems

Multimodal in-vehicle systems (MIVS) may improve time-sharing performance of drivers. However, it is not always clear for designers of MIVS about how to select appropriate modalities and determine the optimal order of messages presented to a driver. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a general procedure to select several scheduling methods (e.g., Johnson’s rule and non-identical parallel machine scheduling methods) and uses these scheduling methods to assign appropriate modalities and determine optimal order of messages presented to a driver. An empirical study of an example multimodal in-vehicle system was conducted and it validated the effectiveness of scheduling methods as a tool to improve driver performance and reduce driver workload. Further extensions of the current methodology and usage of this general procedure to select other scheduling methods are also discussed.
Of Theory and Theodicy: The Problem of Immoral Law

This article explores the problem of immoral law in courts. Drawing on antebellum slavery cases some of which have also been examined by such writers as Cover and Finkelman, the article considers the problems faced by judges in cases in which moral and immoral law were both available for decision. The article reveals that a rule of liberty seems to have had some force in antebellum slavery cases in southern as well as northern courts until very late in the period.
Medicine and Political Science: Parallel Lessons in Methodological Excess

political science at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and has been a fellow at the Davis Center for Russian Studies {HarvardJ and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies {Notre DameJ. His work broadly examines issues in identity politics, the political ramifications of social transformation, and state capacity, with a particular focus on former Soviet Central Asia. He is finishing a book on clan politics in Central Asia.
Low-loss gold-laced PZT-on-silicon resonator with reduced parasitics

This paper reports that adding high-conductivity, low-quality-factor material to resonators with low motional resistance can not only significantly improve 50Ω-terminated insertion loss, IL, (1.73 dB vs. 7.11 dB) but unloaded circuit quality factor as well, (2663 vs. 735) by greatly reducing the dominant loss mechanism, parasitic tether resistance. This has significant implications for the extraction of motional resistance and allows for impedance matching which can produce low-loss, wide-bandwidth, steep roll-off filters.
Delay Efficient Real-Time Multicast Scheduling in Multi-Hop Wireless Sensor Networks

We study real-time multicast scheduling in multi- hop wireless sensor networks. Given multiple heterogeneous periodic multicast tasks, for each task, the data produced by the distinguished source node for a certain control application with sufficiently long time horizon need to be delivered to all target nodes periodically, the objective is to design an interference-aware routing and scheduling protocol to meet the delay requirements. In this work, we propose an efficient distributed routing and scheduling protocol under the protocol interference model. We conduct schedulability analysis and the proposed protocol approximately optimize the schedulable load. Based on our protocol design, we propose schedulability test schemes for a set of real-time multicast tasks. The performance evaluation results corroborate our theoretical analysis.
Formanilide Enhancement of Acaricide Toxicity to Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae)

The toxicities of binary mixtures of formanilides with 21 acaricides to Tetranychus Urticae Koch were investigated and compared to the toxicities of their individual components. All of the 23 formanilides examined exhibited synergism to some extent; the most active compounds included 2-bromoformanilide, 2-methylformanilide, 2-ethylformanilide, 2,3-dichloroformanilide, 4-chlpro-2-methylformanilide, 4-methoxy-2-methylformanilide, and 5-chloro-2,4-dimethoxyformanilide. Toxicity of the organophosphates methyl parathion and malathion, the pyrethroids fenpropathrin and deltamethrin, and the formamidine chlordimeform was enhanced to the greatest extent, whereas that of the oxime carbamates aldicarb and methomyl was enhanced least. Other compounds whose activity was enhanced by formanilides included endrin, cyhexatin, fenbutatin oxide, chloropropylate, tetradifon, and amitraz, along with other organophosphates and pyrethroids.
Biologically Derived Nanometer-Scale Patterning on Chemically Modified Silicon Surfaces

In recent experiments we have patterned smooth HOPG surfaces with periodic arrays of nanometer dimension holes on a 20nm lattice using two-dimensional (2-D) protein crystals as templates. The bacterial cell wall crystals were deposited on HOPG substrate and overcoated at oblique incidence with an ultrathin (3.5 nmn) TiO 2 film. Fast atom beam (FAB) milling patterns the TiO 2 film into a screen having the protein lattice periodicity and the screen then acts as a mask for the pattern transfer to the HOPG substrate. This method provides an inexpensive, “benchtop,” intrinsically parallel technique for the periodic nanostructuring of surfaces. Here we extend it to the patterning of silicon single crystal surfaces. We will describe the use of silane coupling agents to enable protein adhesion with the cytoplasmic side up, as is preferable for the patterning. We will show AFM images of the T1O 2 -protein-silicon composite surface at various stages of the fabrication process.
Amino Acid Metabolism. Fate of dl-Methionine in the Phlorhizinized Dog:

The manifest interest in the metabolism of methionine makes it desirable to record the fate of this amino acid in phlorhizin diabetes. The generalizations to be derived from the fate of other amino acids (Lusk1) leads one to suspect that methionine can act as a glucose former. The data to be presented indicate that dl-methionine can be metabolized to yield glucose in the phlorhizinized dog.dl-Methionine was synthesized by the method of Windus and Marvel.∗2 Phlorhizin was administered by the Coolen3 method. Urine was collected by catheterization. Nitrogen was determined by the usual Kjeldahl method, glucose by the Benedict method as described by Quick,4 and sulfur and sulfates by the methods of Folin.5 The amino acid was administered as the sodium salt, being injected subcutaneously in a volume of 140 cc. The data are summarized in Table I.The sulfur is excreted slowly. Dakin6 found similarly that the sulfur excretion after cysteine injection was relatively slow, recovering about 50% of the sulfur of the a...
Investigation of Mobidity,Prognosis and the Effect of Myocardial Infacfion in Patieuts With Small Side Branch Occlusion During Coronary Bifurcation Intervention

Objective:To investigate the prognostic factor for small side branch(SB) occlusion during coronary bifurcation intervention with the incidence rate of peri-procedural myocardial injury(PMI) in relevant patients.Methods:A total of 925 consecutive patients who received coronary bifurcation intervention were enrolled and there were949 SB lesions 2.0 mm confirmed by quantitative coronary angiography(QCA).The patients were divided into 2 groups:SB occlusion group,n=85,including 86 bifurcation lesions and Non-SB occlusion group,n=840,including 863 bifurcation lesions.The clinical characteristics,QCA findings and PCI procedural conditions were studied by Multivariate logistic regression analyses to explore the independent predictors of SB occlusion and to compare the incidence rate of PMI.Results:The total SB occlusion rate was 9.1%(86/949).SB occlusion group had the higher incidence rate of PMI(26/83,31.3%) vs(77/821,9.4%) and peri-operative MI mortality(6/83,7.2%) vs(11/821,1.3%) than Non-SB occlusion group,both P0.001.In SB occlusion group,the diameter ratio of main vessel(MV)/SB was obviously higher than Non-SB occlusion group,P0.001.The independent predictors of SB occlusion included in true bifurcation lesion,irregular plaque,pre-dilation of SB,TIMI flow grade of pre-procedural SB,stenosis degrees of distal MV and bifurcation core,bifurcation angle,diameter ratio of MV/SB and the stenosis degree of SB before MV stenting.Conclusion:Coronary bifurcation lesion patients with SB occlusion had the higher risk of PMI during the interventional procedure.
Pain in the Geriatric Patient with Advanced Chronic Disease

The World Health Organization, one of the leading authorities on pain management, stressed the need for further guidelines to help manage pain in patients with chronic disease. In light of the impact of pain on morbidity and quality of life, this article summarizes current knowledge about pain experienced by older adults in 3 advanced non-cancer-related chronic diseases (ie, congestive heart failure, end-stage renal disease, and stroke) in which pain is common but not typically a primary focus of disease management. This article examines the data on the prevalence of pain, co-occurring symptoms, and challenges in managing pain in these conditions.
Efficacy and safety of everolimus and zotarolimus-eluting stents versus first-generation drug-eluting stents in patients with diabetes: A meta-analysis of randomized trials ☆

Abstract Introduction Patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease remain at high risk for adverse cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention. The efficacy and safety of the various drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with diabetes is unclear. Methods Randomized controlled trials comparing first-generation DES [paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) and sirolimus-eluting stents (SES)] with everolimus-eluting stents (EES) and zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES) in diabetic patients were systematically searched. Efficacy [target vessel revascularization (TVR) and target lesion revascularization (TLR)] and safety [major adverse cardiac events (MACE), all-cause and cardiac mortality, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis] outcomes were evaluated. Results Eighteen randomized controlled trials comprising of 8095 patients (17,000 patient-years of follow-up) were included. Compared to first-generation DES, EES significantly decreased MACE by 18% (relative risk [RR]: 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70–0.96), myocardial infarction by 43% (RR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.39–0.84) and stent thrombosis by 46% (RR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.35–0.82) in patients with diabetes. Moreover EES showed a trend towards reduction in rates of TLR and TVR ( p =0.05). ZES was associated with 89% increased risk for TLR (RR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.10–3.22) compared to first-generation DES. Furthermore, meta-regression analysis showed a greater magnitude of benefit of EES over first-generation DES for MACE ( p =0.037) and stent thrombosis ( p =0.036) in diabetic patients requiring Insulin. Conclusions In patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease undergoing stenting, EES is the most efficacious and safe DES. The outcomes data for ZES in diabetes patients were limited and further trials are needed.
Giardiasis and Subsequent Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Longitudinal Cohort Study Using Health Insurance Data.

Background Giardia intestinalis is the most commonly reported human intestinal parasite in the United States. Increased incidence of chronic gastrointestinal complaints has been reported after some giardiasis outbreaks. We examined the relationship between giardiasis diagnosis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) diagnosis. Methods We used the 2006-2010 MarketScan commercial insurance database. Persons with at least 1 giardiasis diagnosis were individually matched on age group, sex, and enrollment length in months to 5 persons without a giardiasis diagnosis. Persons diagnosed with IBS before the date of study entry were excluded. We calculated crude incidence rates (IRs) and developed Cox proportional hazards models. Results The matched cohort included 3935 persons with giardiasis and 19663 persons without giardiasis. One-year incidence of IBS was higher in persons with giardiasis (IR = 37.7/1000 person-years vs 4.4/1000 person-years). The unadjusted hazard ratio was 4.8 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.6-6.4), attenuated slightly to 3.9 (95% CI = 2.9-5.4) after adjusting for anxiety, depression, and healthcare utilization. Conclusions In a large insurance database, individuals diagnosed with giardiasis were more likely to have a subsequent IBS diagnosis, despite accounting for confounders. Future research on risk factors for IBS among giardiasis patients and the pathophysiology of postinfectious IBS is needed.
Multiple cerebral cavernous malformations in a pediatric patient with Turner syndrome

Abstract Turner syndrome (TS; 45,X0) is a relatively common chromosomal disorder that is associated with characteristic phenotypic stigmata: short stature, webbed neck, broad (“shield”) chest with widely spaced nipples, cubitus valgus, ovarian dysgenesis (“streak ovary”), primary amenorrhea, renal anomalies, lymphedema of the hands or feet, and various vascular abnormalities. Abnormalities of the cardiovascular system are commonly reported in patient with TS, and vascular anomalies affecting various other organ systems are also frequently reported. To date, however, few reports of intracranial vascular malformations exist. The authors report the case of a patient with TS who was found to have multiple cerebral cavernous malformations on imaging.
Emerging genders: semiotic agency and the performance of gender among genderqueer individuals

This article examines how individuals who identify with genders outside a male/female binary make use of the semiotic material available to them in the environment to interactively construct non-binary gender(s). Through microinteractional analysis of the speech produced by individuals who identify as genderqueer, the article demonstrates how individuals draw on an array of signs to create and perform non-normative genders. The article argues that the implementation of embodied signs can be understood using a model of semiotic agency, which reveals how the signs themselves vary in their durability and manipulability in time and space. The article further exemplifies how these semiotic displays are used to perform gender as non-binary, mutable, and changing in time. The article uncovers how genderqueer individuals both challenge and maintain a binary gender system in their daily interactions. Moreover, the article demonstrates how individuals draw on available semiotic material available in the environment in ways that allow gender to emerge dynamically in interaction and transform over time.
Chronic Bacterial Pneumonia

Chronic bacterial pneumonias are more common than previously recognized. They often present in the absence of fever and purulent sputum production. Although cough is the most common symptom, constitutional symptoms such as fatigue and weight loss are also frequent. H. influenzae and are the predominant bacterial pathogens in patients both with and without predisposing illness. Sixty-five percent of patients with chronic bacterial pneumonia will have a recognizable predisposing disease. The roentgenographic appearance is variable and nonspecific. Bronchoscopic evaluation is essential. Short courses of therapy have a high incidence of recurrence, despite initial symptomatic improvement. Thus, successful treatment requires prolonged therapy.
The Impact of Anthropogenic Land Use and Land Cover Change on Regional Climate Extremes

Land surface processes modulate the severity of heat waves, droughts, and other extreme events. However, models show contrasting effects of land surface changes on extreme temperatures. Here, we use an earth system model from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory to investigate regional impacts of land use and land cover change on combined extremes of temperature and humidity, namely aridity and moist enthalpy, quantities central to human physiological experience of near-surface climate. The model’s near-surface temperature response to deforestation is consistent with recent observations, and conversion of mid-latitude natural forests to cropland and pastures is accompanied by an increase in the occurrence of hot-dry summers from once-in-a-decade to every 2–3 years. In the tropics, long time-scale oceanic variability precludes determination of how much of a small, but significant, increase in moist enthalpy throughout the year stems from the model’s novel representation of historical patterns of wood harvesting, shifting cultivation, and regrowth of secondary vegetation and how much is forced by internal variability within the tropical oceans. Land use and land cover change has led to more frequent hot, dry summers in parts of the mid-latitudes. Here the authors use an Earth system model to show that regions converted to crops and pastures experience hot, dry summers 2 to 4 times more frequently than they would if native forests had remained.
The Pletho Revival of Plato in Italy

The second major movement toward the revival of Plato in Italy was the work of another Greek visitor, Giorgios Gemisthos Pletho, a monk from the monastery of Mistra in the Greek Peloponessus (on Pletho see Masai, 1954, 1956). Pletho came to Florence in 1439 as a delegate to the Church Council that convened at Florence in that year. That Council had been called for the great purpose of trying to reconcile the Eastern and Western branches of the Church, but the practical business of the Council involved trying to reach compromise on small technical differences such as the filioque clause in the Creed, and the date of Easter (Gill, 1965). The Council had originally convened at Basle (April, 1437), but had subsequently moved to Ferrara, and from there, in January, 1439, to Florence. The Council wound up its business by issuing the Decree of Union in June, 1439. Pletho then returned to Mistra, but during his six months in Florence he had had a dramatic effect on the revival of Plato in Italy. So far as England was to be concerned, the most important influence of Pletho was his impact on the Medici family in Florence, but Pletho also had a powerful impact on some of his colleagues among the Greek clerics in Rome, and we must examine that episode before we move on to the Medici phase of Pletho’s influence.
Boundary Element Method for Visco-Poroelasticity with Rock Mechanics Applications

A two-dimensional visco-poroelastic boundary element method is developed to describe the viscoelastic response of porous rocks. The Laplace transform and the correspondence principle are utilized to resolve the time dependent viscoelastic properties. A conceptual model of time-dependent bulk modulus is tested. Examples involving a borehole geometry are presented.
Heavy metal exposure and nasal Staphylococcus aureus colonization: analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Heavy metals including lead and cadmium can disrupt the immune system and the human microbiota. and are increasingly of concern with respect to the propogation of antibiotic-resistence. Infection by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of global morbidity and mortality. Heavy metal exposure may be associated with increased MRSA colonization and infection, and a decrease in methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) through co-selection mechanisms and natural selection of antibiotic resistance in the presence of heavy metals. This study examines the association between blood lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) level, and MRSA and MSSA nasal colonization. All data used for this analysis came from the 2001–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The analytical sample consisted of 18,626 participants aged 1 year and older. Multivariate logistic regression, including adjustment for demographic and dietary factors, was used to analyze the association between blood Pb and Cd, and nasal colonization by MRSA and MSSA. Prevalence of MRSA and MSSA carriage were 1.2%, and 29.3% respectively. MRSA was highest in women, individuals age 70 and older, who self-identified as black, had only a high school diploma, lived below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, and had a history of smoking. While not significantly different from those colonized with MSSA, geometric mean blood Pb (1.74 μg/dL) and blood Cd (0.31 μg/L) were highest in those colonized with MRSA. Associations with MRSA colonization appeared to increase in a dose-dependent manner with increasing quartile of blood Pb level. Blood Cd level in the fourth quartile was also significantly associated with lower odds of MRSA colonization. Both metals were associated with lower odds of MSSA colonization. Both MRSA and MSSA results suggest that general population levels of blood Pb but not Cd are associated with differences in nasal carriage of S. aureus. While further research is needed, reduction in heavy metal exposures such as lead, concurrently with maintaining a healthy microbiota may be two modifiable options to consider in the fight against antibiotic-resistance.
Investigation of co-milling Utah bituminous coal with prepared woody biomass materials in a Raymond Bowl Mill

Abstract The operational performance of a Combustion Engineering 312 Raymond Bowl Mill has been investigated while milling a blend of Utah bituminous coal and prepared Manti-La Sal woody biomass. The research focuses on identifying the differences between the various biomass pretreatment methods regarding to co-milling behavior in a pilot scale bowl mill. Torrefied chips, torrefied pellets and steam exploded pellets were evaluated with a mass ratio of 15% biomass and 85% coal and compared to the measured pure coal mill performance. The milling process was monitored by recording the mill power requirement, inlet and outlet temperatures, fluidization air flow rates, fuel moisture content, milled product particle size distribution and SEM analysis of the particles. It was found that the blend with steam exploded pellets is the most suitable for co-milling due to it shows particle size distribution (PSD) close to the case of 100% coal while the grinding energy significantly decreased. A decreased power requirement was also noticeable when milling the blend with wood chips torrefied at 325 °C and pellets torrefied at 325 °C when compared with pure coal, but the mass fraction of large particles in the product increased for these blends. Co-milling coal with wood chips torrefied at 210 °C was not possible in these experiments. The pretreatment of woody biomass materials has the potential of co-firing at higher biomass rates in existing pulverized coal fired power plants without performing significant modifications.
Evaluation of a Time-Dependent Model for the Intensification of Tropical Cyclones

AbstractAxisymmetric and three-dimensional simulations are used to evaluate the theory of tropical cyclone (TC) intensification proposed by K. A. Emanuel, which is based on gradient wind balance an...
HDNA: Energy-efficient DNA sequencing using hyperdimensional computing

DNA sequencing has a vast number of applications in a multitude of applied fields including, but not limited to, medical diagnosis and biotechnology. In this paper, we propose HDNA to apply the concepts of hyperdimensional (HD) computing (computing with hypervectors) to DNA sequencing. HDNA first assigns holographic and (pseudo)random hyper-vectors to DNA bases. Using an encoder, it then exploits the orthogonality of these hypervectors to represent a DNA se­quence by generating a class hypervector. The class hypervector keeps the information of combined individual hypervectors (i.e., the DNA bases) with high probability. HDNA uses the same encoding to map a DNA sequence with unknown labels to a query hypervectors and performs the classification task by checking the similarity of the query hypervector against all class hypervectors. Our experimental evaluation shows that HDNA can achieve 99.7% classification accuracy for Empirical dataset which is 5.2% higher than state-of-the-art techniques for the same dataset. Moreover, our HDNA can improve the execution time and energy consumption of classification by 4.32 × and 2.05 × respectively, when compared against prior techniques.
Embedded Bayesian Network Classifiers.

Low-dimensional probability models for local distribution functions in a Bayesian network include decision trees, decision graphs, and causal independence models. We describe a new probability model for discrete Bayesian networks, which we call an embedded Bayesian network classifier or EBNC. The model for a node $Y$ given parents $\bf X$ is obtained from a (usually different) Bayesian network for $Y$ and $\bf X$ in which $\bf X$ need not be the parents of $Y$. We show that an EBNC is a special case of a softmax polynomial regression model. Also, we show how to identify a non-redundant set of parameters for an EBNC, and describe an asymptotic approximation for learning the structure of Bayesian networks that contain EBNCs. Unlike the decision tree, decision graph, and causal independence models, we are unaware of a semantic justification for the use of these models. Experiments are needed to determine whether the models presented in this paper are useful in practice.
Knowledge Technology and Organizational Structure

The objective of this study is to develop a contingency theory of organizational capability based on the identification of decision variables relevant to the design of firms. The paper supports a m...
Putting It All Together: A Detailed Architecture of CYCLOPS

In this chapter we will see how the techniques described in the last four chapters fit into one coherent system. Recall that in Chapter 1 we introduced the program’s architecture in a simplified form (Figure 1—4, Page 14), we will now take a detailed look at it.
The electrochemistry of stress corrosion cracking — from theory to damage prediction in practical systems

Publisher Summary Crack initiation is assumed to occur at pits that are sufficiently deep that the stress intensity factor, KI, for the prevailing stress level exceeds KISCC, the critical stress intensity factor for the initiation of slow crack growth rate for the material in contact with the particular environment of interest. The pits that nucleate cracks are postulated to be dead, which ensures that the crack growth rate exceeds the pit growth rate. The populations of living and dead pits, in terms of their respective “damage functions,” are readily estimated using damage function analysis (DFA), which incorporates the point defect model for the growth, and breakdown of passive films on metal surfaces, and the coupled environment pitting model, which accounts for pit growth. DFA also incorporates delayed repassivation, which is found to have a major influence over whether pits will attain a sufficient depth at death in order to nucleate a crack. The dominance of electrochemical, solution, and hydrodynamic factors in controlling the crack growth rate has led to the development of various techniques for mitigating intergranular stress corrosion cracking in sensitized Type 304 SS, by modifying the environment in order to displace the electrochemical corrosion potential to a value that is more negative than EIGSCC.
Stressor interaction networks suggest antibiotic resistance co-opted from stress responses to temperature

Environmental factors like temperature, pressure, and pH partly shaped the evolution of life. As life progressed, new stressors (e.g., poisons and antibiotics) arose as part of an arms race among organisms. Here we ask if cells co-opted existing mechanisms to respond to new stressors, or whether new responses evolved de novo. We use a network-clustering approach based purely on phenotypic growth measurements and interactions among the effects of stressors on population growth. We apply this method to two types of stressors-temperature and antibiotics-to discover the extent to which their cellular responses overlap in Escherichia coli. Our clustering reveals that responses to low and high temperatures are clearly separated, and each is grouped with responses to antibiotics that have similar effects to cold or heat, respectively. As further support, we use a library of transcriptional fluorescent reporters to confirm heat-shock and cold-shock genes are induced by antibiotics. We also show strains evolved at high temperatures are more sensitive to antibiotics that mimic the effects of cold. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that temperature stress responses have been co-opted to deal with antibiotic stress.
Conservative political parties and energy transitions in Europe: Opposition to climate mitigation policies

Abstract This study reviews conservative political party policy positions in six European countries with high greenhouse-gas emissions (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the U.K.). Using party platform statements from recent election campaigns, the positions of moderate conservative parties are compared with those of far-right political parties to investigate similarities and differences on energy-transition policy. Three areas of policy are considered: climate-change mitigation, fossil-fuel development or sunsetting, and renewable energy and energy efficiency development. In the countries examined, moderate conservative parties generally remain committed to climate-mitigation policy and renewable energy and energy efficiency policy, but there are some roll-backs of support, and there is variation in their support for fossil-fuel development. Far-right parties tend to show evidence of rejection of climate science, opposition to decarbonization in general, support for natural gas hydraulic fracturing technologies, support for continued use of coal, and opposition to some types of policy favorable to renewable energy and energy efficiency. However, some far-right parties, notably in France and Spain, share several important positions with the center-right parties. The study cautions against assuming an automatic linkage between far-right parties and opposition to energy-transition policies and against assuming that far-right parties will oppose all types of energy-transition policies.
Parenting “YouTube Natives”: The Impact of Pre-Roll Advertising and Text Disclosures on Parental Responses to Sponsored Child Influencer Videos

The Children's Advertising Review Unit's recent press releases involving child influencer unboxing videos expressed concern that they did not appropriately disclose sponsorship. Placement of pre-ro...
The pathophysiology of the prethrombotic state in humans : insights gained from studies using markers of hemostatic system activation

Numerous investigators have postulated that a hypercoagulable state exists in humans for a period of time before the development of thrombotic episodes. A clear biochemical definition of the prethrombotic state, however, has proved elusive due in part to the lack of reliable techniques for monitoring pertinent changes in blood coagulability. Based on recent advances in our knowledge of the biochemistry of the coagulation system, a series of highly sensitive and specific immunochemical tools has been developed that can quantitate the activities of various steps of the hemostatic mechanism in vivo at the subnanomolar level. We have established assays for F1+2 and the protein C activation peptide, which measure the cleavage of the prothrombin molecule by factor Xa and the scission of protein C by the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex, respectively. Nossel and coworkers had previously constructed similar assays for fibrinopeptide A (FPA) and fragment B beta 1–42, which monitor the cleavage of fibrinogen by thrombin and the proteolysis of fibrin I by plasmin, respectively. Substantial elevations in the levels of these markers have been found in patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation and many subjects with acute deep venous thrombosis. The F1+2 and FPA assays have been used to demonstrate that significant increments in factor Xa activity but not thrombin activity regularly occur in the blood of nonanticoagulated individuals with congenital deficiencies of antithrombin or protein C. These two disorders are known to be correlated with the subsequent development of thrombosis. Patients with protein C deficiency have also been noted to have significantly reduced plasma levels of protein C activation peptide. By using the immunoassays for FPA and B beta 1–42 in studies of postoperative patients, it has been shown that an imbalance between the procoagulant action of thrombin and the anticoagulant effect of plasmin on fibrin I polymer may induce an acquired thrombotic diathesis. Finally, we have recently demonstrated that prothrombin activation as measured by the F1+2 assay is suppressed by oral anticoagulants in the blood of patients with thrombotic diatheses. These investigations suggest that these assay techniques can be used to improve our understanding of the hypercoagulable state as well as to develop more effective treatment strategies for the prevention of thromboembolic events.
Promoter Effects on Catalyst Selectivity and Stability for Propylene Partial Oxidation to Acrolein

Highly dispersed silica-supported CuOx/SiO2 catalysts were synthesized via solution-phase deposition and studied for their activity, selectivity, and stability in catalyzing the selective oxidation of propylene to acrolein. Strategies for ensuring high metal dispersion included controlling the surface density of silanols (via covalent silanol-capping) or by pre-installing different “promoter” transition metals at submonolayer coverages. A comparison of the effect of first row transition metal promoters showed that V and Cr significantly boost catalyst performance and stabilize CuOx sites against aggregation.
The Plant Cell Wall: Barrier and Facilitator of Environmental Perception

The plant cell wall is an assembly of ions, small molecules, macromolecules, and higher-order structures that surround plant cells. All plant cells start with a primary cell wall, the major components of which are polysaccharides – cellulose, hemicelluloses, and pectin. The primary cell wall is a dynamic structure that undergoes constant remodeling through synthesis, modification, and altered interactions of its macromolecular and other contents. Cells with only a primary cell wall have the ability to grow/expand or not to do so in response to a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic environmental cues through mechanisms that involve the cell wall. Depending on the environment, the cell wall may extend irreversibly with the increasing volume of an expanding cell or the cell wall may become rigid preventing the cell from expanding. How do a variety of abiotic and biotic signals interact with and influence the cell wall? Significant advances have been made in the last few years in our understanding of the physical basis of the signals, their receptors, and the downstream events that lead to remodeling of the cell wall. While some signal molecules are not cell wall-derived, for example, those from pathogens (PAMPs), in other cases, the cell wall is a source of signals, either in the form of signaling molecules (DAMPs) or changes in the composition/structure of the wall. It is believed that these signals are recognized by cell surface receptors that upon activation trigger, among other effects, change in the expression of a number of wall-related genes that code for wall-modifying proteins. In a feedback response, signals from the wall are sensed for modification of the wall. Many of the signaling pathways that utilize the cell wall as both a source of signals and a response target are the ones that operate during pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and in the maintenance of cell wall integrity (CWI).
If Your Rural Community Is Failing, Just Leave? The Revival of Place Prosperity in Rural Development Planning:

Rural-urban disparities exposed by the Great Recession have rekindled interest in place prosperity approaches to rural development. The conventional wisdom has been skeptical about the efficacy of ...
No Sympathy for the Bully A Metaphor Analysis of Two Speeches on the Topic of Immigration

Abstract This paper is part of a project begun at Portland State University that examines political polarization through metaphor analysis (Ritchie, Feliciano, & Sparks, 2018). The current study looks at two sources of discourse on immigration in the United States, each exemplifying opposing sides of the larger immigration debate. The first source is a speech by then presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally, and the second is Senator Kamala Harris’s maiden speech delivered on the Senate floor. The goal of this analysis is to investigate the way metaphors may be used in political discourse to demonstrate or create polarization between opposing sides of the debate.
The impact of prior prolapse repairs on surgical outcomes with minimally invasive sacral colpopexy.

To determine whether prior prolapse repair has an impact on operative time, surgical complications, and prolapse recurrence with minimally invasive sacral colpopexy (MISC). This was a retrospective study of all laparoscopic and robotic MISC procedures performed from January 2009 to July 2014 at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Patient demographics, clinical and surgical data were compared in women who underwent MISC for initial repair versus those undergoing MISC for recurrence after prior prolapse surgery. Our primary outcome was operating room (OR) time (skin incision to closure) using linear regression. Logistic regression compared complications (a composite variable considered present if any major complication occurred) and prolapse recurrence (any POP-Q point ≥0 or retreatment). Of 816 subjects, the mean age was 59.6 ± 8.7, with mean BMI 27.0 ± 3.0 in a primarily Caucasian population (97.8%). Subjects had predominantly POP-Q stage III prolapse (69.9%), and 21.3% reported prior prolapse repair. OR time was 205.0 ± 69.0 min. Prior prolapse repair did not impact OR time (p = 0.25) after adjusting for age, concomitant procedures, POP-Q measurements, changes in OR personnel, case order in the day, and preoperative stress incontinence. Complications occurred in 15.8% but were not impacted by prior prolapse repair (OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.53–1.67) after adjusting for potential confounders. During a median follow-up of 31 weeks, 7.8% had recurrence with no impact from prior prolapse surgery (OR = 1.557, 95% CI = 0.67–3.64) after adjusting for potential confounders. We were unable to demonstrate increased OR time, complications, or prolapse recurrence for MISC based on history of prior prolapse repair. Longer follow-up is needed to confirm the lack of difference in prolapse recurrence rates.
Evidence of hippocampal learning in human infants

The hippocampus is essential for human memory. Thus, memory deficiencies in infants are often attributed to hippocampal immaturity. However, the functionality of the infant hippocampus has never been tested directly. Here we report that the human hippocampus is indeed active in infancy. We recorded hippocampal activity using fMRI while awake infants aged 3-24 months viewed sequences of objects. Greater activity was observed when the order of the sequence contained regularities that could be learned compared to when the order was random. The involvement of the hippocampus in such statistical learning, with additional recruitment of the medial prefrontal cortex, is consistent with findings from adults. These results suggest that the hippocampus supports the important ability of infants to extract the structure of their environment through experience.
Artificial Intelligence-Electrocardiography to Predict Incident Atrial Fibrillation: A Population-Based Study.

Background: An artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm applied to electrocardiography during sinus rhythm has recently been shown to detect concurrent episodic atrial fibrillation (AF). We sought to...
FireAnt3D: a 3D self-climbing robot towards non-latticed robotic self-assembly

Robotic self-assembly allows robots to join to form useful, on-demand structures. Unfortunately, the methods employed by most self-assembling robotic swarms compromise this promise of adaptability through their use of fixed docking locations, which impair a swarm’s ability to handle imperfections in the structural lattice resulting from load deflection or imperfect robot manufacture; these concerns worsen as swarm size increases. Inspired by the amorphous structures built by cells and social insects, FireAnt3D uses a novel docking mechanism, the 3D continuous dock, to attach to like robots regardless of alignment. FireAnt3D demonstrates the use of the 3D continuous docks, as well as how a robot can use such docks to connect to like robots and locomote over arbitrary 3D arrangements of its peers. The research outlined in this paper presents a profoundly different approach to docking and locomotion during self-assembly and addresses longstanding challenges in the field of robotic self-assembly.
Sleep Problems, Cumulative Risks, and Psychological Functioning in Early Childhood.

Background Sleep problems and cumulative risk factors (e.g., caregiver depression, socioeconomic disadvantage) have independently been linked to adverse child development, but few studies have examined the interplay of these factors. We examined whether cumulative risk exposure moderated the link between sleep problems, including insomnia and poor sleep health, and child psychological outcomes. Methods 205 caregiver-child dyads (child Mage = 3.3 years; 53.7% girls; 62.9% Black, 22.4% non-Latinx White, and 4.4% Latinx; 85.4% maternal caregiver reporter) completed child sleep, family sociodemographic, and child psychological functioning (internalizing, externalizing, and executive functioning) questionnaires. Indexes of cumulative risk exposure, insomnia symptoms, and poor sleep health were created. Results Ninety percent of children had ≥1 cumulative risks, 62.9% had ≥1 insomnia symptom, and 84.5% had ≥1 poor sleep health behavior. Increased insomnia symptoms were significantly associated with increased child internalizing, externalizing, and global executive functioning impairments controlling for child age, race/ethnicity, and sex. Poor sleep health behaviors were associated with internalizing concerns. Cumulative risk exposure was not associated with outcomes but moderated the association between insomnia symptoms and all psychological outcomes, such that children with higher cumulative risk exposure and insomnia symptoms had the greatest impairments. Children with the poorest sleep health behaviors and highest cumulative risks had the greatest internalizing concerns. Conclusions Insomnia symptoms in particular are associated with poor child outcomes, which are exacerbated when accompanied by greater cumulative risk exposure. Clinicians should assess sleep when treating early psychological concerns, especially within the context of increased cumulative risks.
Local Response to Forced Adaptation Challenges: Lessons from a Post-flooding School Rebuilding Controversy:

This study focuses on school rebuilding experiences in a distressed rural county in the wake of severe flooding. While considering scholarly literature, and making use of relevant public records an...
Faraday law, oxidation numbers, and ionic conductivity: The role of topology

Faraday's experiment measures -- within a modern view -- the charge adiabatically transported over a macroscopic distance by a given nuclear species in insulating liquids: the reason why it is integer is deeply rooted in topology. Whole numbers enter chemistry in a different form: atomic oxidation states. They are not directly measurable, and are determined instead from an agreed set of rules. Insulating liquids are a remarkable exception: Faraday's experiment indeed measures the oxidation numbers of each dissociated component in the liquid phase, whose topological values are unambiguous. Ionic conductivity in insulating liquids is expressed in terms of the autocorrelation function of the fluctuating charge current at a given temperature in zero electric field; topology plays a major role in this important observable as well. The existing literature deals with the above issues by adopting the independent-electron framework; here I provide the many-body generalization of all the above findings, which furthermore allows for compact and very transparent notations and formulas.
Milnacipran for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia.

# Purpose of review This is a comprehensive review of the literature regarding the use of milnacipran in treating fibromyalgia. A chronic pain disorder with other system disturbances, fibromyalgia is often resistant to many therapeutic approaches. This review presents the background, evidence, and indications for using milnacipran as a treatment option for this condition. # Recent Findings The definition of fibromyalgia has evolved over many years as it is a relatively tricky syndrome to measure objectively. Today, it is characterized by chronic, widespread pain accompanied by alterations in sleep, mood, and other behavioral aspects. A variety of therapeutic regimens currently used to treat the syndrome as a singular approach are rarely effective. Milnacipran is one of three drugs currently approved by the FDA for the treatment of fibromyalgia. It acts as a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, which results in decreased pain transmission. Milnacipran remains an effective treatment option for fibromyalgia in adults and needs to be further evaluated with existing therapeutic approaches. # Summary Fibromyalgia is a broad-spectrum disorder primarily characterized by chronic pain coupled with disturbances in cognitive functioning and sleep. The progression of this syndrome is often debilitating and significantly affects the quality of life. Milnacipran is one of three FDA-approved drugs used to alleviate the symptom burden and is comparatively more therapeutic in specific domains of fibromyalgia. A more holistic approach is needed to treat fibromyalgia effectively and further research, including direct comparison studies, should be conducted to fully evaluate the usefulness of this drug.