cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The problem of complicated skin and skin structure infections: the need for new agents

Complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSIs) continue to pose a significant clinical challenge. The most frequent cause of these infections is Staphylococcus aureus, although other organisms, including Streptococcus pyogenes and, in certain circumstances, Enterobacteriaceae, are also involved. The relentless increase in methicillin resistance among S. aureus isolated in hospitals throughout the world has made it important to provide coverage for these organisms when treating cSSSIs in hospitals. More recently, however, there has been a striking increase in methicillin resistance among staphylococci isolated from infections acquired in the community, particularly in the USA. As a result, previous recommendations for empirical therapy of these important infections are now outdated. The papers in this Supplement detail the properties of a new broad-spectrum cephalosporin that has activity against MRSA and is, thus, an outstanding candidate for empirical therapy of cSSSIs. The papers included provide data on the in vitro activity, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics as well as the clinical efficacy of ceftaroline fosamil, which is a welcome addition to our therapeutic armamentarium against cSSSIs.
Towards a more historical approach to technological change

An economic historian does not get far in trying to interpret the comparative performance of national economies, without confronting issues surrounding the conceptualisation and measurement of technology. Thus I have found myself in recent years wrestling with the historical phenomenon known as 'American technological leadership', and this research experience has generated some views on more general matters. Vernon Ruttan's assessment of the current state of the field is relatively unfavourable. In his view, promising theoretical beginnings such as 'induced innovation' and 'path dependence' have not been successfully integrated with each other, nor with a programme of empirical research; approaches to 'endogenous growth' have not yet confronted the research and development process in all its richness and micro-level detail. This critique has much validity with respect to the more abstract literature cited, but I would point, in contrast, to a number of promising recent efforts to transmute theoretical concepts into operational research agendas and empirical projects. As laid out most clearly by Arrow (i 962), investment in research for the purpose of generating new technology differs in two fundamental ways from conventional investment: appropriability and uncertainty. Broadly speaking, those economic sectors that exhibit high rates of technological progress over extended periods are those that have 'solved' these two problems in one way or another. In the United States just five industries have accounted for more than 7500 of all industrial R & D spending in the postwar period: aircraft, electrical machinery, non-electrical machinery, chemicals and allied products, and motor vehicles (Rosenberg, I992, pp. 66-9). But the specific institutional structures that have mitigated problems of appropriability and risk have varied widely: private market power, government procurement programmes, legal protection for intellectual property, cooperative and non-profit research arrangements, and diversified risk portfolios have all been important in one or another instance, but one would not expect to find many stable empirical regularities with respect to any subset of these variables. One of the implications of this perspective is that it is difficult both in practice and in principle to maintain a clear distinction between innovations in pure 'technology' on the one hand, and adoptions or diffusion of alreadyexisting technologies on the other. Romer (I996) argues that the most basic distinction among productive inputs is between 'ideas' and 'things', the first being non-rival (though sometimes imperfectly excludable) in use, the latter
Contraception for Women with a History of Solid Organ Transplantation

For women with uncomplicated solid organ transplantation, the US Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use consider all methods of contraception category 2 (benefits generally outweigh risks). Pregnancy is not recommended until graft function is stable, and thereafter should be carefully timed in conjunction with a transplant team. For this reason, it is recommended that patients with a history of transplantation use highly effective methods of contraception when not actively trying to conceive. The only types of contraception that have been systematically studied in women after transplantation are combined hormonal contraception and the intrauterine device (IUD). IUDs were historically thought to be contraindicated in a post-transplant population, but modern literature is overwhelmingly reassuring. These studies, though small series, are largely reassuring. Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods are underutilized in this population.
New Insights into Galaxy Structure from GALPHAT

We introduce a novel galaxy morphology analysis tool GALPHAT exploiting Bayesian MCMC to provide the full posterior probability distribution of galaxy morphology parameters. Utilizing the full posterior, one can assess a probabilistic significance over the entire parameter space, make parameter inferences with reliable errors and test different hypotheses with statistical confidence levels. GALPHAT provides new insights into galaxy formation and evolution studies based on galaxy morphology and successfully demonstrates the feasibility of a large scale morphology analysis.
Stentless aortic valve implantation through an upper manubrium-limited V-type ministernotomy.

In this piece of work, we attempt to highlight our approach and early experience with minimally invasive aortic valve replacement with aortic Freedom Solo stentless bioprosthesis performed through ...
Climate Change Effects on Soil Erosion from a Winter Wheat Field in Central Oklahoma

Computer simulations of soil erosion were used to determine if the projected climate for years 2041-2070 in central Oklahoma would substantially increase annual sediment yield from a field planted in winter wheat, and what additional agronomic and conservation practices may be necessary to counter the detrimental effects of climate change and to control soil erosion in the future to below the current annual sediment yield. The study found that annual sediment yield would double if current conventional tillage practices for winter wheat were in effect under climate change conditions in 2041-2070. The majority of the sediment yield occurred during the summer fallow season because the ground was bare and unprotected and soil erodibility was large due to multiple tillage operations. Conservation tillage and notill practices were found to be, on average, effective at reducing future annual sediment yield values to levels at or below current average annual sediment yield values. Double cropping soybeans and winter wheat was found to be unpractical due to the high annual water demand of two crops. Also of concern is the high uncertainty of and inconsistencies among the GCM projected climates.
Thermodynamics of the CoO-ZnO system at bulk and nanoscale

Enthalpies of formation of Cox Zn1–x O solid solutions (both bulk and nanophase materials) at 298 K have been determined using high-temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry in molten sodium molybdate (3Na2O·4MoO3) solvent at 973 K. Both the rocksalt and wurtzite phases show an approximately linear dependence of enthalpy of solution on composition, implying a zero heat of mixing in each phase, consistent with negligible lattice parameter changes on substitution of Co2+ for Zn2+. The surface energy of wurtzite Zn0.88Co0.12O solid solution was determined to be 2.33 ± 0.30 J/m2 (anhydrous surface) and 1.65 ± 0.25 J/m2 (hydrous surface), which are very close to values for ZnO. The wurtzite CoO surface energy was estimated to be similar. Here, we argue that, because of the lower surface energies of wurtzite phases than of rocksalt phases, the phase field of the wurtzite solid solution expands to higher CoO content at the nanoscale, suggesting that the reported extended solubility of CoO in ZnO nanoparticles ...
Theory and Strategy of Action in Race Relations

9 Future research on this subject should take account of the specific dilemma suggested by this paper: because adult roles are indefinite far women, the young girl is less able to plan realistically for her future and to secure the training necessary for successful functioning in any role. Then, due to the lack of training and planning, she is not well equipped-when she becomes an aclult-to play a definite role successfully. This is almost as true of the role of mother and housewife as it is of the role of career woman. It is perhaps especially true of the combination of roles-part time housewife and mother, part time volunteer for social or civic welfare activities, and occasional worker-which many middle class women try to fill.
Financing Constraints and Acquisitions

The paper examines whether financially constrained firms are able to use acquisitions to ease their constraints. The results show that acquisitions do ease financing constraints for constrained acquirers. Relative to unconstrained acquires, financially constrained firms are more likely to use undervalued equity to fund acquisitions and to target unconstrained and more liquid firms. Using a propensity score matched sample in a difference-in-difference framework, the results show that constrained acquirers become less constrained post-acquisition and relative to matched non-acquiring firms. This improvement is more pronounced for diversifying acquisitions and constrained firms that acquire rather than issue equity and retain the proceeds. Following acquisition, constrained acquirers raise more debt and increase investments, consistent with experiencing reductions in financing constraints relative to matched non-acquirers. These improvements are not seen for unconstrained acquirers. Finally, the familiar diversification discount is non- existent for financially constrained acquirers.
Mechanism of Inactivation of GABA Aminotransferase by (E)- and (Z)-(1S,3S)-3-Amino-4-fluoromethylenyl-1-cyclopentanoic Acid

When γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, falls below a threshold level, seizures occur. One approach to raise GABA concentrations is to inhibit GABA aminotransferase (GABA-AT), a pyridoxal 5′-phosphate-dependent enzyme that degrades GABA. We have previously developed (1S,3S)-3-amino-4-difluoromethylene-1-cyclopentanoic acid (CPP-115), which is 186 times more efficient in inactivating GABA-AT than vigabatrin, the only FDA-approved inactivator of GABA-AT. We also developed (E)- and (Z)-(1S,3S)-3-amino-4-fluoromethylenyl-1-cyclopentanoic acid (1 and 2, respectively), monofluorinated analogs of CPP-115, which are comparable to vigabatrin in inactivating GABA-AT. Here, we report the mechanism of inactivation of GABA-AT by 1 and 2. Both produce a metabolite that induces disruption of the Glu270–Arg445 salt bridge to accommodate interaction between the metabolite formyl group and Arg445. This is the second time that Arg445 has interacted with...
Lasers look through opaque solids

It is well known that superheroes like Superman and Rayman can see through lead and other opaque solids. Although scientists may not qualify for superhero status, novel laser techniques have been developed that can send pulses of light through certain gases without distortion or a loss of intensity. Now, for the first time, Yan Zhao and colleagues at Wayne State University in Detroit, US, have induced transparency in a solid material (Phys. Rev. Lett. 1997 79 641)
Endothelial Function in Youth: A Biomarker Modulated by Adiposity-Related Insulin Resistance.

Objective To investigate the physical and metabolic determinants of endothelial dysfunction, an early marker of subclinical atherosclerosis, in normal weight and overweight adolescents with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus. Study design A cross-sectional study of 81 adolescents: 21 normal weight, 25 overweight with normal glucose tolerance, 19 overweight with impaired glucose regulation, and 16 with type 2 diabetes mellitus underwent evaluation of reactive hyperemia index (RHI) and augmentation index (AIx) at heart rate 75 bpm by peripheral arterial tonometry; oral glucose tolerance test, lipid profile, and hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp to measure insulin sensitivity; and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scan and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging for percentage of body fat and abdominal fat partitioning. Results Participants across tertiles of RHI (1.2 ± 0.02, 1.5 ± 0.02, and 2.0 ± 0.05, P P = .008), total (r = −0.37, P = .004), subcutaneous (r = −0.39, P = .003), and visceral (r = −0.26, P = .04) abdominal fat. AIx at heart rate 75 bpm was higher (worse) in the lower RHI tertiles ( P = .04), was positively related to percentage body fat (r = 0.26, P = .021), and inversely related to age, insulin sensitivity, and inflammatory markers (tumor necrosis factor-α and plasminogen activator inhibition-1). Conclusions Childhood obesity, particularly abdominal adiposity, is associated with endothelial dysfunction manifested by worse reactive hyperemia and higher AIx. Insulin resistance appears to mediate this relationship.
Colchicine therapy for alcoholic hepatitis

Source Citation Akriviadis EA, Steindel H, Pinto PC, et al. Failure of colchicine to improve short-term survival in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Gastroenterology. 1990;99:811-8.
Generation of octave-spanning mid-infrared pulses from cascaded second-order nonlinear processes in a single crystal

We report on experimental generation of a 6.8 μJ laser pulse spanning from 1.8 to 4.2 μm from cascaded second-order nonlinear processes in a 0.4-mm BiB3O6 (BIBO) crystal. The nonlinear processes are initiated by intra-pulse difference frequency generation (DFG) using spectrally broadened Ti:Sapphire spectrum, followed by optical parametric amplification (OPA) of the DFG pulse. The highest energy, 12.6 μJ, is achieved in a 0.8-mm BIBO crystal with a spectrum spanning from 1.8 to 3.5 μm. Such cascaded nonlinear processes are enabled by the broadband pump and the coincident phase matching angle of DFG and OPA. The spectrum is initiated from the DFG process and is thus expected to have passive stable carrier-envelope phase, which can be used to seed either a chirped pulse amplifier (CPA) or an optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) for achieving high-energy few-cycle mid-infrared pulses. Such cascaded second-order nonlinear processes can be found in many other crystals such as KTA, which can extend wavelengths further into mid-infrared. We achieved a 0.8 μJ laser pulse spanning from 2.2 to 5.0 μm in KTA.
Reproducibility and relative stability in magnetic resonance imaging indices of tumor vascular physiology over a period of 24h in a rat 9L gliosarcoma model.

Abstract Purpose The objective was to study temporal changes in tumor vascular physiological indices in a period of 24 h in a 9L gliosarcoma rat model. Methods Fischer-344 rats (N = 14) were orthotopically implanted with 9L cells. At 2 weeks post-implantation, they were imaged twice in a 24 h interval using dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). Data-driven model-selection-based analysis was used to segment tumor regions with varying vascular permeability characteristics. The region with the maximum number of estimable parameters of vascular kinetics was chosen for comparison across the two time points. It provided estimates of three parameters for an MR contrast agent (MRCA): i) plasma volume (v p ), ii) forward volumetric transfer constant (K trans ) and interstitial volume fraction (v e , ratio of K trans to reverse transfer constant, k ep ). In addition, MRCA extracellular distribution volume (V D ) was estimated in the tumor and its borders, along with tumor blood flow (TBF) and peritumoral MRCA flux. Descriptors of parametric distributions were compared between the two times. Tumor extent was examined by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Picrosirus red staining of secreted collagen was performed as an additional index for 9L cells. Results Test-retest differences between population summaries for any parameter were not significant (paired t and Wilcoxon signed rank tests). Bland-Altman plots showed no apparent trends between the differences and averages of the test-retest measures for all indices. The intraclass correlation coefficients showed moderate to almost perfect reproducibility for all of the parameters, except v p . H&E staining showed tumor infiltration in parenchyma, perivascular space and white matter tracts. Collagen staining was observed along the outer edges of main tumor mass. Conclusion The data suggest the relative stability of these MR indices of tumor microenvironment over a 24 h duration in this gliosarcoma model.
Evidence-Based Precision Oncology with the Cancer Targetome

A core tenet of precision oncology is the rational choice of drugs to interact with patient-specific biological targets of interest, but it is currently difficult for researchers to obtain consistent and well-supported target information for pharmaceutical drugs. We review current drug-target interaction resources and critically assess how supporting evidence is handled. We introduce the concept of a unified Cancer Targetome to aggregate drug-target interactions in an evidence-based framework. We discuss current unmet needs and the implications for evidence-based clinical omics. The focus of this review is precision oncology but the discussion is highly relevant to targeted therapies in any area.
P70 The use of in-situ simulation to enhance education and test safety systems within an acute paediatric setting

Aims To showcase a different way of using in-situ simulation within an acute paediatric setting, to test safety systems and enhance education for the multi-disciplinary team. To share our experiences to enable you to identify where in-situ simulation can be used in your workplace. Context In-situ simulation training has been used in our workplace for over a decade. In 2015, a new Children’s Hospital for Wales opened, within this, a new hydrotherapy pool. This led to the simulation team developing scenarios, not only for education purposes, but also to test new equipment in a new setting. This was to ensure safety systems were in place, with all emergency team members aware of these systems. Wheeler et al (2013) suggest that simulation can be used to test the implementation of new protocols, to ensure their applicability and discover potential issues that may not otherwise be discovered until applied to a real patient care situation. Description We carried out an in-situ simulation with a physiotherapist patient actor collapsing in the hydrotherapy pool. This was performed as a mock arrest scenario with all members of the crash team attending unawares. This proved to be very successful for education, situational awareness and some safety aspects. We went on to performing and recording (via media resources) an in-situ hybrid simulation. This consisted of a child patient actor collapsing in the pool. The patient actor was evacuated from the pool, resuscitated on the poolside and transferred into a nearby dry area, where resuscitation was continued on a high fidelity manikin. The episode, including debrief, was filmed and subsequently utilised for teaching and training purposes. Learning objectives a) To ensure all members of the emergency teams became familiar with the hydrotherapy location, equipment and new safety procedures developed by hydrotherapy staff b) how to run an effective in-situ simulation, including hybrid simulation c) to identify where in-situ simulation can be used in your workplace. Discussion This in-situ hybrid simulation allowed us to identify twelve safety and training points that needed to be addressed. As well as enhancing education from a medical perspective, we ensured safety systems were tested and subsequently modified to ensure future high quality patient care. We also provided those within the attending emergency team with thoughts to take back to their workplace of how to effectively perform simulation for safety and training purposes.
The Message Matters: The Influence of Fact-Checking on Evaluations of Political Messages

Fact-checks have become prolific in U.S. campaigns over the last ten years. As a result, fact-checks have become one of the easiest ways for individuals to analyze the truthfulness of politicians’ ...
Photography with Corneal Contact Fundus Cameras

Conventional fundus cameras, having an air lens between the cornea and front lens of the camera, are usually limited in the area of fundus which can be encompassed to 30 or 35 degrees. Collages are required to show larger areas in single illustrations.
Students' Stereotypes of IS Professionals and the Influence of the Introductory IS Course

Over the last decade, declining enrollments in Information Systems (IS) discipline has been a major concern for the IS community. Literature suggests that one plausible explanation for the decline in enrollments is the negative stereotypical image students hold about IS professionals. It has also been emphasized that the introductory IS course plays a significant role in busting prevailing myths about the IS profession and in attracting larger pools of students to the discipline. Therefore, the purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to understand students’ perceptions of IS professionals; and (b) to investigate the role the introductory IS course plays in shaping students’ image of IS professionals. The study’s findings have important implication for IS programs, as the information gained in this study facilitates a deeper understanding of IS stereotypes and confirms the important influence of the introductory IS course on how students view the IS field.
Simulation-based Remediation in Emergency Medicine Residency Training: A Consensus Study

Author(s): Nadir, Nur-Ain; Hart, Danielle; Cassara, Michael; Noelker, Joan; Moadel, Tiffany; Kulkarni, Miriam; Sampson, Christopher; Bentley, Suzanne; Naik, Neel; Hernandez, Jessica; Krzyzaniak, Sara; Lai, Steven; Podolej, Gregory; Strother, Christopher | Abstract: Introduction: Resident remediation is a pressing topic in emergency medicine (EM) training programs. Simulation has become a prominent educational tool in EM training and been recommended for identification of learning gaps and resident remediation. Despite the ubiquitous need for formalized remediation, there is a dearth of literature regarding best practices for simulation-based remediation (SBR).Methods: We conducted a literature search on SBR practices using the terms “simulation,” “remediation,” and “simulation based remediation.” We identified relevant themes and used them to develop an open-ended questionnaire that was distributed to EM programs with experience in SBR. Thematic analysis was performed on all subsequent responses and used to develop survey instruments, which were then used in a modified two-round Delphi panel to derive a set of consensus statements on the use of SBR from an aggregate of 41 experts in simulation and remediation in EM.Results: Faculty representing 30 programs across North America composed the consensus group with 66% of participants identifying themselves as simulation faculty, 32% as program directors, and 2% as core faculty. The results from our study highlight a strong agreement across many areas of SBR in EM training. SBR is appropriate for a range of deficits, including procedural, medical knowledge application, clinical reasoning/decision-making, communication, teamwork, and crisis resource management. Simulation can be used both diagnostically and therapeutically in remediation, although SBR should be part of a larger remediation plan constructed by the residency leadership team or a faculty expert in remediation, and not the only component. Although summative assessment can have a role in SBR, it needs to be very clearly delineated and transparent to everyone involved.Conclusion: Simulation may be used for remediation purposes for certain specific kinds of competencies as long as it is carried out in a transparent manner to all those involved.
The implications of heterogeneous habit in consumer beverage purchases on soda and sin taxes

Abstract In this article, we study the heterogeneity of habit strength in households’ demand for regular carbonated sweetened beverages (CSBs) and beer in the United States. A demand model that nests a smooth transition function is used to describe habit-based consumption patterns, revealing heterogeneous strengths of habits among households. We find that more habitual consumers, those with a strong preference for a particular product, are not as sensitive to price or expenditure as the aggregate population. This finding is further supported by simulations of the potential effects of soda and beer taxes. We find the aggregate response to soda and beer taxes is smaller than when the influence of habit is assumed to be homogeneous.
Gastric Perforation after Chicken Bone Ingestion

Chicken bone ingestion is a common occurrence that usually passes uneventfully through the digestive tract and rarely results in complications such as perforation, which occurs very rarely within the stomach. We report here a case of a chicken bone ingestion resulting in gastric perforation, which ultimately required surgical correction.
Growth and senescence characteristics associated with tolerance of wheat-alien amphiploids to high temperature under controlled conditions

Tolerance of wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) to high temperature might be improved by introducing alien genes from amphiploids. Our objectives were to determine responses of synthetic hexaploid and octaploid amphiploid wheats to high temperature and evaluate their potential usefulness for developing improved cultivars. Thirty synthetic hexaploids from durum wheat (T. turgidum L.) × Aegilops tauschii Cos. Accessions and four octaploid amphiploids from Chinese Spring wheat × different grasses were grown at 20/15 and 30/25 °C day/night during maturation. Tolerance was ascertained by two measures of senescence, leaf chlorophyll content and grain filling duration, plus grain yield and its components. Leaf chlorophyll was measured after 10 and 15 days of treatment, and grain yield was determined at maturity to calculate the heat susceptibility index(HSI), a gauge of the reduction in yield at high temperature of each line relative to all other lines. Chlorophyll content, grain filling duration, yield, and kernel weight were highly negatively correlated with HIS of the hexaploid amphiploids at30/25 °C, but grain yield was positively correlated with HSI at20/15 °C. The hexaploid lines might be useful for improving wheat for regions where stress from high temperature occurs frequently. Chlorophyll content and grain filling duration also were highly negatively correlated with HSI of the octaploid lines, but they would be less directly useful for improving wheat because the kernel number was reduced greatly due to unbalanced meiotic chromosomal segregation.
Optimal data-based binning for histograms and histogram-based probability density models

Abstract Histograms are convenient non-parametric density estimators, which continue to be used ubiquitously. Summary quantities estimated from histogram-based probability density models depend on the choice of the number of bins. We introduce a straightforward data-based method of determining the optimal number of bins in a uniform bin-width histogram. By assigning a multinomial likelihood and a non-informative prior, we derive the posterior probability for the number of bins in a piecewise-constant density model given the data. In addition, we estimate the mean and standard deviations of the resulting bin heights, examine the effects of small sample sizes and digitized data, and demonstrate the application to multi-dimensional histograms.
Cyber competitions as a computer science recruiting tool

Computer Science departments strive to recruit from a pool of the best students, many of whom are choose engineering or other technical majors. Fortunately, this has becomes easier recently because student interest in cyber security has greatly increased in the past few years. This paper describes a Computer Science freshman recruiting tool which harnesses this student interest by providing an eight hour cyber training and competition framework designed to be attended by Computer Science candidates, which is implemented using both faculty and current students. These events have greatly contributed to a fifty percent increase in Computer Science and Information Technology enrollment at the US Naval Academy over the past two years, with an added benefit of increased current student retention. The success of this program depends on both faculty and students providing a relaxed, informative and interactive environment for future Computer Science candidates. This paper further discusses lessons learned in recruitment goal setting, cyber security event creation, planning, implementation and follow-up efforts.
Decomposable Formulation of Transmission Constraints for Decentralized Power Systems Optimization

One of the most complicating factors in decentralized optimization for power systems is the modeling of power flow equations. Existing formulations for DC power flows either have limited scalability or are very dense and unstructured, making them unsuitable for large-scale decentralized studies. In this work, we present a novel DC power flow formulation, based on sparsified injection shift factors, which has a decomposable block-diagonal structure, scales well for large systems, and can efficiently handle N-1 security requirements. Benchmarks on Multi-Zonal Security-Constrained Unit Commitment problems show that the proposed formulation can reliably and efficiently solve instances with up to 6,515 buses, with no convergence or numerical issues.
Ensuring Consistent Transactions in a Web Service Environment with Prediction-Based Performance Metrics

In this paper, we propose transaction scheduling for web service database transactions. Our solution ensures consistency while preserving efficiency. We propose a prediction-based metric that promotes transactions with reliable reputations based on the transactions performance metrics. Performance metrics are based on the transactions likelihood to commit and their execution time. We propose a customized lock management solution to guarantee execution consistency in concurrent web service environments. We formally prove that our solution guarantees consistent execution history of concurrent web transactions and increases concurrency and performance over traditional locking methods. We developed a simulation using a multi-threaded approach. We generated sample workloads of simulated concurrent transactions over seven tests. Our results show that the solution works comparatively with traditional locking and no-locking solutions with the added benefit of ensured consistency in some cases and deadlock avoidance in others.
The neurovascular basis of processing speed differences in humans: A model-systems approach using multiple sclerosis

Abstract Behavioral studies investigating fundamental cognitive abilities provide evidence that processing speed accounts for large proportions of performance variability between individuals. Processing speed decline is a hallmark feature of the cognitive disruption observed in healthy aging and in demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica, and Wilson’s disease. Despite the wealth of evidence suggesting a central role for processing speed in cognitive decline, the neural mechanisms of this fundamental ability remain unknown. Intact neurovascular coupling, acute localized blood flow increases following neural activity, is essential for optimal neural function. We hypothesized that efficient coupling forms the neural basis of processing speed. Because MS features neural-glial-vascular system disruption, we used it as a model to test this hypothesis. To assess the integrity of the coupling system, we measured blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal in healthy controls (HCs) and MS patients using a 3T MRI scanner while they viewed radial checkerboards that flickered periodically at 8 ​Hz. To assess processing speed and cognitive function, we administered a battery of neuropsychological tests. While MS patients exhibited reduced ΔBOLD with reductions in processing speed, no such relationships were observed in HCs. To further investigate the mechanisms that underlie ΔBOLD-processing speed relationships, we assessed the physiologic components that constitute ΔBOLD signal (i.e., cerebral blood flow, ΔCBF; cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen, ΔCMRO2; neurovascular coupling ratio) in speed-preserved and -impaired MS patients. While ΔCBF and ΔCMRO2 showed no group-differences, the neurovascular coupling ratio was significantly reduced in speed-impaired MS patients compared to speed-preserved MS patients. Together, these results suggest that neurovascular uncoupling might underlie cognitive slowing in MS and might be the central pathogenic mechanism governing processing speed decline.
Neuropathological Verisimilitude in Animal Models of Alzheimer’s Disease : Key to Elucidating Neurodegenerative Pathways and Identifying New Targets for Drug Discovery

Although fibrillar Aβ deposits in the extracellular space, known as senile plaques (SPs), and intraneuronal aggregates of τ fibrils, known as neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), exhibit properties of amyloid and are the defining neuropathological hallmark lesions of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain, most patients with familial or sporadic forms of AD as well as elderly Down’s syndrome patients with AD also exhibit a third type of amyloid lesion, known as a Lewy body (LB), which is formed by intraneuronal accumulations of α-synuclein fibrils. 1-3 Thus, AD is a neurodegenerative dementia in which clinical manifestations may arise from a triplet of brain amyloidoses caused by the pathological fibrillization of at least three different building block peptides or proteins (ie, Aβ, τ, and α-synuclein) that form three distinct types of amyloid deposits (ie, SPs, NFTs, and LBs, respectively) within or outside neurons. However, there are a host of other pathologies that also are consistently associated with AD brain degeneration including neuron and synaptic loss, gliosis, microglial proliferation, as well as other evidence of inflammatory processes, oxidative/nitrative damage, lipid peroxidation, and cholinergic deficits. 4 Although a direct causal or mechanistic link between these other abnormalities and the diagnostic hallmark SPs and NFTs of AD remain primarily speculative, several of these pathological processes (eg, inflammation and cholinergic deficits) have emerged as potential targets of therapeutic intervention in AD. 5-8 Indeed, the first Food and Drug Administration-approved AD-specific therapies were directed at correcting the cholinergic neurotransmitter abnormalities in AD, and, although later generation cholinesterase inhibitors have less toxicity than the original prototype compound, the therapeutic efficacy of this class of drugs has been modest at best to date. 6,7 Thus, further progress toward optimizing this therapeutic strategy for the treatment of AD patients, as well as further insights into the role of cholinergic neurotransmitter failure in the cognitive and other clinical impairments in AD could benefit from studies of the cholinergic system in animal models of AD-like neuropathology.
Learning Terrain Dynamics: A Gaussian Process Modeling and Optimal Control Adaptation Framework Applied to Robotic Jumping

The complex dynamics characterizing deformable terrain presents significant impediments toward the real-world viability of locomotive robotics, particularly for legged machines. We explore vertical, robotic jumping as a model task for legged locomotion on presumed-uncharacterized, nonrigid terrain. By integrating Gaussian process (GP)-based regression and evaluation to estimate ground reaction forces as a function of the state, a 1-D jumper acquires the capability to learn forcing profiles exerted by its environment in tandem with achieving its control objective. The GP-based dynamical model initially assumes a baseline rigid, noncompliant surface. As part of an iterative procedure, the optimizer employing this model generates an optimal control strategy to achieve a target jump height. Experiential data recovered from execution on the true surface model are applied to train the GP, in turn, providing the optimizer a more richly informed dynamical model of the environment. The iterative control-learning procedure was rigorously evaluated in experiment, over different surface types, whereby a robotic hopper was challenged to jump to several different target heights. Each task was achieved within ten attempts, over which the terrain’s dynamics were learned. With each iteration, GP predictions of ground forcing became incrementally refined, rapidly matching experimental force measurements. The few-iteration convergence demonstrates a fundamental capacity to both estimate and adapt to unknown terrain dynamics in application-realistic time scales, all with control tools amenable to robotic legged locomotion.
To be Welcome without Reservation: Seeing a Future for Archaeology at Mount Clare

The Mount Clare Museum House in Baltimore, Maryland has potential to offer a new approach to community service in Baltimore inspired by archaeological findings, but one that is different from a tra...
Application of Symbolic Regression to Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Data for Lubricating Oil Health Evaluation

The authors have applied an advanced set of auto-regressive tools for identifying potentially complex, linear and non-linear relationships in data, wherein the underlying physical relationships are not well described. In this paper these tools and techniques are described in detail, and the results of the application of these tools to evaluation of diesel engine lubricating oil health (based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data) is detailed. It is demonstrated that highly accurate models can be constructed which take as input features derived from diesel engine lubricating oil electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data and output estimates of traditional laboratory based oil analysis parameters. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and laboratory analytical data used are from a field deployment of oil condition sensors on several long-haul class 8 diesel trucks. The dataset was divided into training and test datasets and goodness of fit metrics were calculated to evaluate model performance. Models were successfully generated for nitration, soot content, total base number, total acid number, and viscosity.
Clothing the Virtual Self: An Exploration of the Purchase and Use of Virtual Apparel by Gamers

The purpose of this study was to explore consumers' experiences with purchasing virtual apparel-related items in MMOGs. Two objectives were developed to address the purpose: (1) to understand the reasons for purchasing virtual apparel for video game characters among gamers, and (2) to explore how this apparel communicates identity, both on and offline. Symbolic interaction theory (Mead, 1934) was used in combination with identity theory (Stryker & Burke, 2000) as the lens through which an understanding of how gamers “acquire identities through social interaction” (Roach-Higgins & Eicher, 1992, p. 5) using apparel-related items for their character in the game setting.
Infants Respond to Robot's Need for Assistance in Pursuing Action-based Goals

Instrumental helping has been reported in infants toward other humans but not toward robots. Providing infants with opportunities for action-based assistance to robots might lead to more efficient infant-robot interactions. This paper presents preliminary findings on infants' spontaneous instrumental helping to robots exhibiting motion challenges, and proposes a novel decision-making model for infant-robot interaction that encompasses instrumental helping in its parameters; both in the context of pediatric rehabilitation. Six infants were engaged in a chasing game with a wheeled robot with the goal to follow the robot and ascend an inclined platform (8 sessions, 4 weeks). After infants' instrumental helping toward the robot was identified, a decision tree model was created to evaluate a set of annotated variables as potential predictors to the observed behavior. Next, a Markovian model for robot control was developed where these predictors were used as parameters to promote, in turn, action-based goals for the infants.
Alternative option for limb reperfusion cannula placement for percutaneous femoral veno-arterial ECMO

Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) is an established last line support for severe, acute cardiorespiratory failure. In the case of VA ECMO, peripheral cannulation via the f...
Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Sarcoidosis: A Review Article

Hepatic sarcoid, a more common extrathoracic manifestation of systemic sarcoidosis compared with luminal GI sarcoid, is most often asymptomatic. Although there are no specific serological markers to detect the presence of hepatic or GI sarcoid, we often rely on clinical suspicion, physical examination findings, laboratory derangements, and histological findings. Clinically significant disease often presents with nonspecific symptoms and, in the case of hepatic sarcoid, signs of cholestasis. Treatment is guided by clinical severity through use of UDCA followed by systemic steroids, although it is prudent to rule out infection or drug‐induced disease. In certain cases, there can be progression with development of portal hypertension, decompensated cirrhosis, and potential indication for liver transplant evaluation.
Community Environmental Policing: Assessing New Strategies of Public Participation in Environmental Regulation

This paper evaluates a new form of public participation in environmental monitoring and regulation advanced through local "bucket brigades," which allow community members to sample air emissions near industrial facilities. These brigades represent a new form of community environmental policing, in which residents participate in collecting, analyzing, and deploying environmental information, and more importantly, in an array of public policy dialogues. Use of this sampling technology has had marked effects on local residents' perceptions and participation in emergency response and citizens' right-to-know. However, when viewed through the lens of the more developed literature on community policing, the bucket brigades are limited in their ability to encourage "co-production" of environmental protection between citizens and the state. Means are examined to strengthen the bucket brigades and to more broadly support community participation in environmental regulation.
Volatility of Other Comprehensive Income and Audit Fees: Evidence from China

Managers make numerous subjective judgments about other comprehensive income (OCI) due to the fair-value measurement, which increases the auditing risks and challenges for auditors. This study investigates the relationship between audit fees and the volatility of OCI in China using a large sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2014 to 2018. Such relationship cannot be confirmed for these companies, including those audited by Big 4 firms and the top 10 accounting firms in China, but is significantly positive for those audited by experienced auditors. Results indicate that audit firms in China generally do not seriously consider risks concerning the volatility of OCI. However, auditors with long tenures are more aware of these risks and have correspondingly higher prices compared with their peers.
Morphological Binary Image Processing with a Local Neighborhood Pipeline Processor

This paper presents a flexible pipeline image processor architecture for performing morphological image processing at digital video rates. Algorithms for additive, subtractive and hierarchical morphological operators is also presented.
Quantitative island size determination in the chemisorbed layer W(110)p(2×1)—O: II. Theoretical models☆

Abstract Mathematical models are presented for the quantitative determination, using low-energy electron diffraction, of finite-size effects in ordered overlayers of submonolayer coverage. Models are described that apply for ordered structures at low coverages, near saturation coverage for structures that have only translational antiphase domains, for structures that also have rotational antiphase domains, and for overlayers on a stepped surface. The models are illustrated with sample calculations using diffraction parameters appropriate to W(110)p(2 × 1)—O.
DAVIC and Interoperability Experiments

To promote the development and deployment of broadband audio visual services, DAVIC has been working on specifying the standards and interfaces for end-to-end systems providing services to consumers over broadband networks. DAVIC specifies tools to provide these broadband services. Since the tools specified by DAVIC are standardized/developed by independent organizations, it is important to verify that the complete system works when these tools are used together. An interoperability event was organized by Columbia University for this very purpose. In this paper we first introduce DAVIC and DAVIC systems and then give details of the interoperability event: the motivation, goals, and results.
Cell-mediated cytotoxicity to non-MHC alloantigens on mouse epidermal cells: IV. An alloantigen shared with B cells but not T cells

Abstract Cytotoxic T lymphocytes raised by immunization of C3H mice with AKR epidermal cells (EC) strongly cross-react with AKR lymphocyte (LC) targets, provided the LC are cultured prior to use as target cells. By nylon-wool separation, negative-selection, positive-selection, and cold-target inhibition methods, we have identified B cells as the susceptible LC targets and determined that their antigenicity requires a culture-induced, proliferation-independent change in antigen expression. Questions concerning the nature of the culture-induced event, the identity of the B-cell alloantigen, and its concomitant expression by EC are discussed.
“Could charm (& τ ) transitions be the ‘poor princess’ providing a deeper understanding of fundamental dynamics ?” or: “Finding novel forces”

We know that our Universe is composed of only ∼ 4.5% “known” matter; therefore, our understanding is incomplete. This can be seen directly in the case of neutrino oscillations (without even considering potential other universes). Charm quarks have had considerable impact on our understanding of known matter, and quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the only local quantum field theory to describe strong forces. It is possible to learn novel lessons concerning strong dynamics by measuring rates around the thresholds of [QQ] states with Q = b, c. Furthermore, these states provide us with gateways towards new dynamics (ND), where we must transition from “accuracy” to “precision” eras. Finally, we can make connections with τ transitions and, perhaps, with dark matter. Charm dynamics acts as a bridge between the worlds of light- and heavy-flavor hadrons (namely, beauty hadrons), and finding regional asymmetries in many-body final states may prove to be a “game changer”. There are several different approaches to achieving these goals: for example, experiments such as the Super Tau-Charm Factory, Super Beauty Factory, and the Super Z0 Factory act as gatekeepers - and deeper thinking regarding symmetries.