cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-dimensional posterior consistency of the Bayesian lasso

ABSTRACTThis paper considers posterior consistency in the context of high-dimensional variable selection using the Bayesian lasso algorithm. In a frequentist setting, consistency is perhaps the most basic property that we expect any reasonable estimator to achieve. However, in a Bayesian setting, consistency is often ignored or taken for granted, especially in more complex hierarchical Bayesian models. In this paper, we have derived sufficient conditions for posterior consistency in the Bayesian lasso model with the orthogonal design, where the number of parameters grows with the sample size.
Characteristics and national trends of patients receiving treatment of the primary tumor for metastatic prostate cancer.

Abstract Background We sought to determine temporal trends in the receipt of prostatectomy or locoregional radiation to the prostate for patients with metastatic prostate cancer and to identify predictors of receipt of local treatment. Methods We identified 39,976 patients with metastatic prostate cancer diagnosed in 2004–2012 using the National Cancer Database (NCDB). We used logistic multivariable regression to determine trends in the receipt of prostate and/or pelvic radiation or radical prostatectomy after adjusting for demographic and clinical factors. Results Patients with metastatic disease were less likely to receive locoregional treatment over time [7.88% in 2004 vs. 5.53% in 2012, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.97 per year, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.95–0.98; P P P = 0.001; two or more comorbidities: AOR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.39–0.61, P P P = 0.01). Conclusion Despite recent evidence of the possible benefit for locoregional treatment of prostate cancer in the setting of metastatic disease, rates of prostate radiation and radical prostatectomy among this population have actually declined over the 8-year period between 2004 and 2012, suggesting slow adoption of this novel treatment paradigm.
Multi-organization — Multi-discipline effort developing a mitigation concept for planetary defense

There have been significant recent efforts in addressing mitigation approaches to neutralize Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHA). One such research effort was performed in 2015 by an integrated, inter-disciplinary team of asteroid scientists, energy deposition modeling scientists, payload engineers, orbital dynamicist engineers, spacecraft discipline engineers, and systems / architecture engineers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the Department of Energy (DoE) / National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratories (Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) and Sandia National Laboratories). The study team collaborated with GSFC's Integrated Design Center's Mission Design Lab (MDL) which engaged a team of GSFC flight hardware discipline engineers to work with GSFC, LANL, and LLNL Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA)-related subject matter experts during a one-week intensive concept formulation study in an integrated concurrent engineering environment. This team has analyzed the first of several distinct study cases for a multi-year NASA research grant. This Case 1 study references the NEA named Bennu as the notional target due to the availability of a very detailed Design Reference Asteroid (DRA) model for its orbit and physical characteristics (courtesy of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer [OSIRIS-REx] mission team). The research involved the formulation and optimization of spacecraft trajectories to intercept Bennu, overall mission and architecture concepts, and high-fidelity modeling of both kinetic impact (spacecraft collision to change a NEA's momentum and orbit) and nuclear detonation effects on Bennu, for purposes of deflecting Bennu.
Adoptive Cell Therapy for the Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma

Adoptive transfer of autologous tumor-reactive T cells as an immunotherapy for melanoma patients has been evaluated in various forms over the past two decades. Major therapeutic successes have emerged recently as methods to improve T cell culture techniques, optimize host conditioning, and augment persistence of transferred T cells have been pursued. A major leap forward occurred when lymphodepleting regimens were introduced for host conditioning, which liberates availability of homeostatic cytokines and depletes regulatory cell populations. Clinical response rates of over 50% have been observed in patients eligible for this therapy. Newer approaches of transduction of antigen-specific TCR or chimeric receptor constructs, use of better functionally defined T cell clones, and artificial antigen-presenting cells to expand specific T cells from peripheral blood cells are all showing promise. The time may be ripe for organizing a multicenter trial to establish the efficacy of this therapy and hopefully elevate it to a standard of care in specialized centers.
Educating Students for a Lifetime of Physical Activity: Enhancing Mindfulness, Motivation, and Meaning

ABSTRACTFor many years, pedagogical scholars and physical education (PE) teachers have worked to enhance effective teaching and learning environments. Yet for some children, youth, and young adults, many of the benefits associated with a physically active lifestyle remain elusive. Enhancing programming and performance to meet physical activity goals may require moving programs beyond “effective.” It will require teachers and program leaders to focus programmatic attention on strategies to actually increase students’ out-of-class physical activity behavior. Transformative PE provides physical activity content within a nurturing and motivating environment that can change students’ lives. It focuses on PE students’ role in cognitive decision making, self-motivation, and their search for personal meaning that can add connection and relevance to physical activities. In this SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport Lecture, I have synthesized the researc...
Effect of Alloying Elements on the Electrical Resistivity of Aluminum Alloys

The electrical resistivities of aluminum alloys containing Cu, Ge, Zn, Ag, Cd, and Mg were found to increase linearly with the atomic percentage of the solute atoms. Application of Linde’s rule to these data suggests that each aluminum atom contributes 2.5 electrons to the metallic bond.
Does prolonged operative time impact postoperative morbidity in patients undergoing robotic-assisted rectal resection for cancer?

Several studies have shown a correlation between longer operative times and higher rates of postoperative morbidity for open and laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of prolonged operative time on early postoperative morbidity in patients undergoing robotic-assisted rectal cancer resection. The study was a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database conducted in two centers of the same institution. A total of 260 consecutive patients undergoing with robotic-assisted resection for rectal cancer between 2007 and 2016 were included. Patients were divided into two groups regarding median operative time: > 300 min (prolonged operative time; n = 133) and ≤ 300 min (control; n = 127). Patient characteristics, operative and postoperative data were compared between groups. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine whether prolonged operative time was a predictive factor of 30-day postoperative morbidity. Prolonged operative time was noted more frequently in males (p = 0.02), patients with higher BMI (p < 0.01), more severe comorbidities (p < 0.01), in tumors of the mid-rectum, and in surgery performed after neoadjuvant chemoradiation or upon surgeons’ learning curve. The two groups had similar overall postoperative morbidity (32 vs. 41%; p = 0.16) and severe morbidity (6 vs. 6%; p = 0.92) rates. Prolonged operative time was associated with longer hospital stay (3.8 ± 2.5 vs. 5.0 ± 3.7 days; p = 0.004) in univariate analysis. Prolonged operative time was not independently associated with postoperative morbidity or with increased hospital stay on multivariate analysis. In our study, prolonged operative time was not associated with an over-risk of morbidity in patients undergoing robotic resection for rectal cancer. These results suggest that more difficult robotic procedures do not lead to increased postoperative morbidity.
Bimolecular Master Equations for a Single and Multiple Potential Wells with Analytic Solutions

The analytic solutions, that is, populations, are derived for the K-adiabatic and K-active bimolecular master equations, separately, for a single and multiple potential wells and reaction channels, where K is the component of the total angular momentum J along the axis of least moment of inertia of the recombination products at a given energy E. The analytic approach provides the functional dependence of the population of molecules on its K-active or K-adiabatic dissociation, association rate constants and the intermolecular energy transfer, where the approach may complement the usual numerical approaches for reactions of interest. Our previous work, Part I, considered the solutions for a single potential well, whereby an assumption utilized there is presently obviated in the derivation of the exact solutions and farther discussed. At the high-pressure limit, the K-adiabatic and K-active bimolecular master equations may each reduce, respectively, to the K-adiabatic and K-active bimolecular Rice-Ramsperger...
Microwave Spectrum and Molecular Structure of the Chiral Tagging Candidate, 3,3,3-Trifluoro-1,2-epoxypropane and Its Complex with the Argon Atom

The rotational spectrum of the chiral tagging candidate molecule, 3,3,3-trifluoro-1,2-epoxypropane (TFO), and of its heterodimer with the argon atom, is obtained using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy from 5.6 to 18.1 GHz. With a strong, simple rotational spectrum, TFO shows promise for applications in chiral analysis through the conversion of enantiomers into spectroscopically distinct diastereomeric species through noncovalent attachment. The structure of the argon complex of TFO, determined from analysis of the microwave spectrum, is extremely similar to that previously found for ethylene oxide–argon but quite different from that suggested for propylene oxide–argon.
A COMPARISON OF AMERICAN-BORN CHINESE AND TAIWANESE COLLEGE STUDENTS IN APPROACHES TO STUDYING

Purpose:The purpose of this study was designed to bracket both population’s culturally-related study skills in an attempt to know their similarities and dissimilarities. Methodology:The current study used a quasi-experimental quantitative researchto examine 62 American-born Chinese and 79 Taiwanese college students by using the Approaches to Studying Inventory to compare their learning study approaches. Results:Data analysis revealed three significant results: (a) American-born Chinesestudentsexpressed more interesting in ideas in deep approach and syllabus-boundness in surface approach than Taiwanese students. (b) Taiwanese students showed more in seeking meaning in deep approaches and time management in strategic approach than American-born Chinese students (c) American-born Chinese students displayed grater extrinsic motivation than their Taiwanese counterparts whereas Taiwanese students were more intrinsically motivated academically than American-Born Chinese students. Implications:Results suggest that American-born Chinese students’ learning approaches were influenced by their learning and social contexts. Further studies could be conducted to identify the learning approaches in various generations of American-born Chinese to differentiate learning and social context influences.
A prospective study of long-term health outcomes among Oklahoma City bombing survivors

A follow-up study was conducted to identify long-term physical and emotional outcomes among Oklahoma City bombing survivors. Baseline data were gathered by the Oklahoma State Department of Health in 1995. Follow-up data were gathered by telephone interviews of survivors from 1-1/2 to 3 years after the bombing. The frequency of medical diagnoses, symptoms, medical cost, physical and social life changes, and services utilized since the bombing were assessed. A total of 494 persons were interviewed, 92 percent had been physically injured in the bombing. Seventy-nine percent of persons interviewed rated their general health status as "good," "very good," or "excellent." Overall, one-fourth to one-third of survivors reported being newly diagnosed with audiologic changes, anxiety, and depression since the bombing. One-third of persons reported preexisting medical conditions that had worsened since the bombing including depression (26%) and asthma/bronchitis (22%). The most frequently reported posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were "being jumpy or easily startled" and "recurring distressful thoughts of the bombing." The most frequently utilized medical services were psychological counseling (63%) and audiology services (48%). Total costs were estimated of $ 5.7 million. Overall, persons who had been hospitalized with bombing injuries reported higher rates of diagnoses, symptoms, and services utilization. These findings suggest that a large proportion of survivors of a terrorist bombing, especially those seriously injured, will experience long-term physical and/or emotional outcomes and increased need for treatment for bombing-related medical conditions. All survivors should be carefully assessed over time for auditory damage, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Winter and Specialty Wheat

Wheat is the most widely grown crop in the world. Winter wheat is primarily common wheat (2n = 6x = 42) which has extensive germplasm resources that are used in breeding, often for disease and insect resistance. Though wheat can be used as a forage crop and its grain for animal feed, the primary uses of common wheat are to make products used for human consumption; hence end-use quality is also a major breeding objective. The quality characteristics of these products are often associated with kernel hardness which affects milling, kernel color, and specific climatic zones or regions. The soft red and white wheat cultivars of the Eastern and Southeastern U.S. are generally used to make breakfast cereals, cookies, cakes, and crackers. The hard red and white wheat cultivars of the Great Plains are used predominantly for leavened products such as bread. The soft white wheat cultivars of the Pacific Northwest are often exported and used to make noodles or steam breads. These end-uses and production (adaptation) regions determine the germplasm pools used by wheat breeders. All of the common self pollinated breeding methods are used to breed new wheat cultivars. The choice of breeding method is usually based upon breeding objective and program resources. Breeding methods and objectives are evolving with new technology and market changes.
Neurodegeneration and Loss of Cell Cycle Control in Postmitotic Neurons

The concept of cell cycle-related neuronal death (CRND) has now been in the literature for more than a decade. The first evidence linking the loss of cell cycle control with neuronal death arose from studies in transgenic mice in which cell cycle progression was artificially induced in postmitotic neurons during development. Substantial neuronal loss was observed in each instance, suggesting that differentiated neurons make a commitment to maturation that includes a permanent cessation of cell division. In agreement, naturally occurring neuronal death during development involves a re-expression of several cell cycle markers and DNA synthesis. Today, a growing literature supports the view that cell cycle induction in adult neurons may be equally lethal. A large fraction of this literature is based on correlative observations of cell cycle-associated proteins in neurons at risk for death in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases and central nervous system insults. Our intent is not to rehash this information yet again, but instead to discuss the limitations of current approaches and identify gaps in our present knowledge. In doing so, we have attempted to highlight promising avenues of future investigation, which may bring clarity to the realities regarding CRND in multiple neurodegenerative disorders.
Multipronged activity of combinatorial miR-143 and miR-506 inhibits Lung Cancer cell cycle progression and angiogenesis in vitro

Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Downregulation of CDK1, 4 and 6, key regulators of cell cycle progression, correlates with decreased LC cell proliferation. Enforced expression of miRNAs (miRs) is a promising approach to regulate genes. Here, we study the combinatorial treatment of miR-143 and miR-506 to target the CDK1, 4/6 genes, respectively. We analyzed the differential expression of CDK genes by qPCR, and western blot, and evaluated changes in the cell cycle distribution upon combinatorial treatment. We used an antibody microarray analysis to evaluate protein expression, focusing on the cell cycle pathway, and performed RNA-sequencing for pathway analysis. The combinatorial miR treatment significantly downregulated CDK1, 4 and 6 expression, and induced a shift of the cell cycle populations, indicating a G1 and G2 cell cycle block. The two miRs induces strong cytotoxic activity, with potential synergism, and a significant Caspase 3/7 activation. We identified a strong inhibition of tube formation in the presence or absence VEGF in an in vitro angiogenesis model. Together with the pathways analysis of the RNA-sequencing data, our findings establish the combinatorial miR transfection as a viable strategy for lung cancer treatment that merits further investigation.
Renewable Reactive Diluents as Practical Styrene Replacements in Biobased Vinyl Ester Thermosets

A concise series of renewable vinyl compounds has been prepared from benign biosourced precursors, vanillin and eugenol, in fair overall yield. These were evaluated against styrene as reactive diluents in a renewable high-performance vinyl ester resin thermoset: dimethacrylated-epoxidized-sucrose-soyate (DMESS). Each diluent contained a 1,2-dimethoxybenzene or veratrole core structure that connotes a decreased vapor pressure and thereby reduced exposure hazard. Viscosities for formulations (10, 20, and 30% by weight of diluents) with styrene and all three veratrole-diluents were evaluated. Veratrole-diluents were comparable to styrene at similar molar concentration. Thermosets formulated with 30% by weight of diluents were prepared and characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA); the most promising thermoset was prepared using 3-allyl-1,2-dimethoxy-5-vinylbenzene-diluted-DMESS and closely matched the performance...
Performing Indigeneity in Bolivia: The Struggle Over the TIPNIS

Addressing how indigeneity in Bolivia is actualised in social mobilisation as well as by the Morales regime, Fabricant and Postero’s chapter examines the different ways in which indigeneity is performed and represented. Focusing on protests against the construction of a highway through indigenous territories, they consider how performance can play a central role in what they call moral reflection about indigeneity, gender, and the articulation of alternative social worlds. Using the concept of ‘ethical substance’, the authors explore how, through performance, indigeneity serves as a central site of moral reflection and conduct. In so doing, they show how protests and performance also call into question the legitimacy of the Morales government’s claim to stand for all indigenous peoples. The chapter demonstrates how distinct actors can claim access to indigeneity, and that multiple actors perform indigeneity to push through their own ethical and political agendas.
Letter from the Editor (March 2019)

Announcing our new regular column, Public Libraries Leading the Way, and summarizing this issue's contents.
Incidence and risk factors for hyperlactatemia in ED patients with acute metformin overdose.

Abstract Introduction The goals of this study are to describe clinical characteristics and risk factors for metabolic acidosis with hyperlactatemia in emergency department (ED) patients with acute metformin overdose. Methods This was a secondary analysis of data from a retrospective observational cohort of adult ED patients presenting with acute drug overdose at two tertiary care hospitals over 5 years. The primary outcomes were: (1) hyperlactatemia, defined as a lactate concentration ≥ 2 mmol/L at any point during hospital admission and, (2) metformin associated lactic acidosis (MALA), defined as a lactate concentration ≥ 5 mmol/L and pH Results We screened 3739 acute overdoses; 2872 met eligibility, 56 self-reported metformin overdose (57% female, mean age 55.8). Of these, 39 had measured lactate values. There was a high incidence of hyperlactatemia (56.4%); MALA was less frequent (17.9%). There were no deaths. Low serum bicarbonate was an independent clinical risk factor for hyperlactatemia (adjusted p Conclusions In ED patients with acute metformin overdose, initial hyperlactatemia is common but MALA is unusual. Acetaminophen co-exposure is a novel independent risk factor for the occurrence of MALA that deserves further investigation.
Military and Veteran Suicide Prevention

Suicide rates for US active-duty military members and Veterans have steadily increased following the attacks against America on 9/11. In response to the troublingly high rate of suicide among this population, the Department of Defense began implementing efforts to understand and reduce suicide risk for service members and Veterans. Various suicide prevention programs and policies have been developed, both within the military and the Veterans Health Administration, with the aim of identifying at-risk individuals and preventing suicidal behavior. While these efforts are commendable, the suicide rate among service members and Veterans has yet to meaningfully decline. Nonetheless, nascent and innovative developments in suicidology have yielded improved techniques for identifying at-risk individuals (e.g., machine-learning-based predictive models) and more effective psychotherapeutic interventions for ameliorating suicidality (e.g., Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). Such advancements in the identification and treatment of suicidality are ongoing and represent great promise for the reduction of suicide rates among service members and Veterans. This chapter provides a broad overview of these advancements, with a particular emphasis on Veterans. An overview of the epidemiology of suicide among service members and Veterans will be presented, followed by a review of current evidence-based methods for identifying, treating, and preventing suicide among Veterans. Some recommendations for future efforts are proposed in the conclusion of the chapter. Despite laudable progress, there remains an urgent need for more widespread adoption of evidence-based practice and further research into what underlies, sustains, and prevents suicide risk in service members and Veterans.
Systems analysis, design, and optimization of geothermal energy systems for power production and polygeneration: State-of-the-art and future challenges

Abstract Geothermal energy has significant potential to reduce fossil fuel consumptions and environmental impacts. To improve energy conversion efficiency of geothermal energy systems, numerous systems designs have been proposed and their optimization sought. At this point, it is worth reviewing current developed geothermal energy systems because understanding configurations and principles of basic and state-of-the-art technologies is important for developing advanced energy systems. A comprehensive review of the geothermal energy systems is carried out from the perspective of systems analysis, design, and optimization. Results illustrate that limited sets of parameters have been considered in most studies on design and optimization, though these studies provide great insight into specific designs. However, all influential factors have to be fully considered for practical applications. This study identifies and organizes influential factors for geothermal energy systems. In addition, critical analyses of studies on systems design and optimization are performed to determine limitations of current studies. As polygeneration systems produce various energy products (electricity, heat, and/or cooling), it might play key roles to maximize utilization of geothermal energy. Especially, polygeneration systems with binary technology, which can effectively produce electricity from moderate temperature geothermal resources, have significant potentials to enhance the overall performance. In this regard, the energy production strategy and technology selection are of significant importance to meet electric, heating, and cooling loads efficiently. To fill the knowledge gaps and to maximize geothermal energy utilization, this review proposes state-of-the-art multi-scale modeling and optimization framework.
Systemic Therapy for Locally Advanced and Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Review.

Importance Non–small cell lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Until the last decade, the 5-year overall survival rate for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer was less than 5%. Improved understanding of the biology of lung cancer has resulted in the development of new biomarker–targeted therapies and led to improvements in overall survival for patients with advanced or metastatic disease. Observations Systemic therapy for metastatic non–small cell lung cancer is selected according to the presence of specific biomarkers. Therefore, all patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer should undergo molecular testing for relevant mutations and expression of the protein PD-L1 (programmed death ligand 1). Molecular alterations that predict response to treatment (eg,EGFRmutations,ALKrearrangements,ROS1rearrangements, andBRAFV600E mutations) are present in approximately 30% of patients with non–small cell lung cancer. Targeted therapy for these alterations improves progression-free survival compared with cytotoxic chemotherapy. For example, somatic activating mutations in theEGFRgene are present in approximately 20% of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as gefitinib, erlotinib, and afatinib improve progression-free survival in patients with susceptibleEGFRmutations. In patients with overexpression of ALK protein, the response rate was significantly better with crizotinib (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor) than with the combination of pemetrexed and either cisplatin or carboplatin (platinum-based chemotherapy) (74% vs 45%, respectively;P Conclusions and Relevance Improved understanding of the biology and molecular subtypes of non–small cell lung cancer have led to more biomarker-directed therapies for patients with metastatic disease. These biomarker-directed therapies and newer empirical treatment regimens have improved overall survival for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.
Modeling the behavior of magnetorheological elastomers under different loading conditions

This paper presents a rheological model that was developed to stimulate the experimental behavior of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) under varying loading conditions (magnetic field, strain amplitude and frequency). Magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) were fabricated and tested using double lap shear experiment setup under different strain amplitudes, magnetic fields and frequencies. A linear visco-elastic rheological model consists of seven parameters to represent both viscous and elastic behavior of MREs. The parameters under varying loading conditions were identified and optimized using the data recorded from experiments. The experimental results were then compared with model predicted values which demonstrate that the seven-parameter model predicts MRE behavior well.
COVID-19 and Headache: A Primer for Trainees.

Objective To summarize for the trainee audience the possible mechanisms of headache in patients with COVID-19 as well as to outline the impact of the pandemic on patients with headache disorders and headache medicine in clinical practice. Background COVID-19 is a global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, of which a large subset of patients features neurological symptoms, commonly headache. The virus is highly contagious and is, therefore, changing clinical practice by forcing limitations on in-person visits and procedural treatments, more quickly shifting toward the widespread adaptation of telemedicine services. Design/results We review what is currently known about the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and how it relates to possible mechanisms of headache, including indirect, potential direct, and secondary causes. Alternative options for the treatment of patients with headache disorders and the use of telemedicine are also explored. Conclusions Limited information exists regarding the mechanisms and timing of headache in patients with COVID-19, though causes relate to plausible direct viral invasion of the nervous system as well as the cytokine release syndrome. Though headache care in the COVID-19 era requires alterations, the improved preventive treatment options now available and evidence for feasibility and safety of telemedicine well positions clinicians to take care of such patients, especially in the COVID-19 epicenter of New York City.
Volunteer Outcomes and Impact: The Contributions and Consequences of Volunteering in 4-H

Youth development volunteers are relied upon by many youth organizations to deliver educational programming, and consequently, fulfill organizations’ missions. Our study explored the consequences of volunteering in youth services by focusing on volunteer outcomes (consequences of volunteering on the volunteer) and volunteer impacts (volunteers’ contributions to the organization). We collected 1,245 open-ended responses to 2 questions from adults who served as volunteers in the University of California 4-H Youth Development Program. We applied iterative inductive thematic analysis without a pre-existing coding scheme to each question independently. Volunteers described their impacts on 4-H as expanding and maintaining programs for children, providing support to and teaching youth, and helping to realize youth outcomes. By volunteering, adults reported outcomes including developing skills, improving well-being, and deepening connections with others.
StarNet: Gradient-free Training of Deep Generative Models using Determined System of Linear Equations.

In this paper we present an approach for training deep generative models solely based on solving determined systems of linear equations. A network that uses this approach, called a StarNet, has the following desirable properties: 1) training requires no gradient as solution to the system of linear equations is not stochastic, 2) is highly scalable when solving the system of linear equations w.r.t the latent codes, and similarly for the parameters of the model, and 3) it gives desirable least-square bounds for the estimation of latent codes and network parameters within each layer.
The Fair Track to Expanded Free Trade: Making TAA Benefits More Accessible to American Workers

If Congress again wants to use the TAA program in a bargain for Fast Track authority then DOL must fix its broken certification process and Congress should amend the TAA Act to reduce worker resistance to expanded free trade. The topic is quite timely given the expiration of fast track (trade promotion) authority on June 30, 2007 and reauthorization of the TAA program due October 1, 2007. The paper has five parts. Following the Introduction, Part II of the paper outlines the politics of U.S. trade liberalization since the mid-1930s and shows that, at times over the past three decades, TAA has been the quid-pro-quo for fast track authority. Part III then explains how and why DOL's certification process is defective, and how and why that broken process is compounded by an unsuitable scheme of judicial review. Part IV recommends what the agency can and should do to repair the defects, and suggests how Congress could amend the Trade Act of 1974 to make it easier for workers displaced by expanded free trade to get TAA benefits. Part V concludes the discussion with a brief reminder of what is at stake if the TAA program is not made usable as the quid-pro-quo for the renewal of fast track benefits and a short summary of the less attractive alternatives advocated by others.
Longitudinal Stability of Spatial Inattention in Children With Perinatal Stroke.

Abstract Background Signs of contralateral hemispatial inattention may be witnessed in children following perinatal brain infarcts (lesions), and evidence shows a pattern distinct from that in adults. This study is a longitudinal analysis of children with perinatal infarcts, with the goals of determining the pattern of inattention found in children with left or right hemisphere lesions and whether this pattern shows signs of change over time. Methods Twenty-one children with left hemishpere lesions, nine children with right hemisphere lesions, and 80 neurologically healthy control children were given the Infant and Toddler Neglect Task at two different time points. At time 1, median age was 1.54 years (interquartile range [IQR] = 0.92 to 2.29). At time 2, median age was 3.25 years (IQR = 2.23 to 5.00). A standardized scoring system was developed to compare the children’s preference for the left versus right side of space. Results Children with left hemisphere lesions showed a significantly increased preference for the left side of space and a slightly decreased preference for the right side of space at time 1 and a significantly decreased preference for the right side of space at time 2 compared with controls. Children with right hemisphere lesions showed a significantly decreased preference for the left side of space and a significantly increased preference for the right side of space compared with controls at time 1 and a significantly decreased preference for the left side of space and a significantly increased preference for the right side of space compared with controls at time 2. There were no significant within-subjects effects across time. Conclusions These data suggest that mechanisms of hemispatial inattention affect children early in the developmental process and that hemispatial inattention in children with both left and right hemisphere perinatal lesions likely persists at least through the early elementary school years.
Suicidality Among Sexual Minority Adults: Gender, Age, and Race/Ethnicity Differences

Introduction Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals have elevated suicide risk, but there is little information available about how this risk may vary by gender, age, and race/ethnicity. Methods This study examined past-year suicide thoughts, plans, and attempts among adult respondents to the 2015–2019 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (pooled N=191,954). Logistic regression was used to examine the differences between lesbian, gay, and bisexual and heterosexual adults for each outcome, once by gender and age category and once by gender and race/ethnicity category, while controlling for core sociodemographic characteristics. Race/ethnicity and age differences were also estimated within sexual identity groups. Results Suicide thoughts, plans, and attempts were more common among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in almost every age and race/ethnicity category relative to that among corresponding heterosexual adults. In some age and race/ethnicity categories, bisexual women were more likely to report suicidal thoughts than lesbian/gay women. Each outcome decreased significantly across age groups among women of all sexual identity groups and heterosexual men; yet, this age effect was less pronounced among gay and bisexual men. Black women had significantly lower rates of suicidal thoughts and plans than White women in all sexual identity groups. Conclusions In light of consistently elevated rates of suicide thoughts and behaviors, lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults may expressly benefit from enhanced prevention, identification, and treatment of suicide risk. Additional research is needed to assess the associations between sexual identity and suicide mortality as well as to understand the heterogeneity in suicide risk among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, particularly by race/ethnicity.
Die „Revolution“ als Selbstverständlichkeit

Nur ganz selten fuhren anfanglich als „revolutionar“ propagierte neue Geschaftsmethoden letztlich auch wirklich zu einer Revolution. Ein Grosteil der Arbeit auf der Welt erledigt sich durch reine Routine.
Cardiopulmonary Responses to Acute Hypoxia in Domestic Fowl

Adult, male, single-comb, white leghorn-type fowls weighing between 1600 and 3000 g were exposed, in series, in an environmental chamber to acute hypoxia. The chamber was ventilated with room air in which the O2 concentration was progressively reduced from 21% (control) to 10% (hypoxia) by dilution with tanked N2. Pulmonary arterial blood pressure, mean systemic (femoral artery) blood pressure, and respiratory frequency all remained unchanged until the inspired O2 concentration dropped below 15%. Between 15% and 10% O2, the pulmonary artery blood pressure increased about 31% and the respiratory frequency in-creased about 44% compared to control values. Heart rate increased progressively with hypoxia to the 12% O2 level and then decreased to a value not significantly different from controls. The pulmonary arterial blood pressure was negatively correlated (r = −0.94) whereas, the femoral artery pressure was positively correlated (r = 0.96) with O2 concentration in the inspired air. Peripheral resistance and arterial oxygen tension \( {\text{P}}_{{\text{aO}}_{\text{2}} } \) also were decreased (P < 0.05).
A Conjoint Analysis of the U.S. Broiler Complex Location Decision

A national survey of broiler industry executives is conducted to analyze site-specific factors related to the broiler-complex location problem. Conjoint analysis is used to analyze the broiler complex location decision. Feed costs, community attitude toward the broiler industry, availability of geographically concentrated growers, unemployment rates, and wage rates were found to be the top five factors affecting broiler company location decisions. The quality of roads between feed mill and growers; electricity, heating, water, and sewage costs; and the number of potential growers in the region were also found to be important.
Fertilization in Drosophila. 3. A reevaluation of the role of polyspermy in development of the mutant deep orange.

Abstract Earlier studies on the mutant dor had indicated that, among dor zygotes from mutant mothers, there were two stages of lethality. Mutant daughters died, when the father was also mutant, during meiosis or first cleavages (early lethals); some mutant sons died during these early stages, and others survived to or beyond the blastula stage (late lethals). If the father was wild type there appeared to be an increased frequency of late as opposed to early lethals among the dor Y embryos. It was suggested that the presence of wild-type accessory sperm ( X dor + ) in the cytoplasm of the developing zygote alleviated the adverse influence imposed on the cytoplasm by the dor dor genotype of the mother. Our results indicate that (1) the frequency of polyspermy is not high enough to account for the effect on development that has been proposed; (2) probably many unfertilized eggs were previously misclassified as early lethals, since it was not known until recently that unfertilized eggs complete meiosis; (3) both fertilized and unfertilized eggs from dor females complete meiosis; and (4) fertilized eggs, even when the father is mutant, usually develop to or beyond the early stages of gastrulation, and thus early lethals do not exist typically in the dor stocks. The bearing of precocious meiosis on what appear to be exceptional early lethals is discussed.
Novel infrastructure for sepsis biomarker research in critically ill neonates and children.

Introduction Sepsis biomarker research requires an infrastructure to identify septic patients efficiently and to collect and store specimens properly. We developed a novel infrastructure to study biomarkers of sepsis in children. Methods Patients in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units were enrolled prospectively; enrollment information was stored in a secure, remotely accessible database. Researchers were notified of electronic medical record (EMR) orders for blood cultures (a surrogate for a diagnostic evaluation of suspected sepsis) by a page triggered by the order. Staff confirmed patient enrollment and remotely submitted an EMR order for collection of study specimens simultaneous with the blood culture. Specimens were processed and stored by a mobile clinical research unit. Results Over 2 years, 2029 patients were admitted; 138 were enrolled. Staff received pages for 95% of blood cultures collected from enrolled patients. The median time between the blood culture order and collection was 34 minutes (range 9–241). Study specimens were collected simultaneously with 41 blood cultures. The median times between specimen collection and storage for flow cytometry and cytokine analysis were 33 minutes (range 0–82) and 52 minutes (range 28–98), respectively. Conclusion This novel infrastructure facilitated prompt, proper collection and storage of specimens for sepsis biomarker analysis. Clin Trans Sci 2012; Volume #: 1–5
Business And Strategic Planning

During the quarter century after the conclusion of the Second World War, U.S. manufacturers and distributors could achieve marketplace, profitability, and performance objectives without serious attention to the strategic planning needs of their firms. The decade of the 1970s, however, brought a series of upheavals fueled by spiraling energy costs, economic inflation and uncertainty, and growing overseas competition that required companies to move beyond their traditional focus on operations planning. No longer could U.S. industry take market dominance for granted. The result was a growing interest in preparing the enterprise for change through a planning process that not only focused on business strategic elements, such as corporate objectives and resources, but also could guide the organization through the shoals of shrinking margins, the synchronization of world economies, increasing labor and materials costs, and the struggle for competitive advantage that characterized the decades that followed. The ability of manufacturing and logistics enterprise functions to respond rapidly to an environment of perpetual change became a necessity for survival. The 1980s and early 1990s witnessed the rise of a new concern for business strategic planning, permitting managers to assess the changes facing the enterprise, determine company strengths and weaknesses, provide for organizational and product flexibility, and leverage those strategic advantages that differentiate an enterprise from its competitors.
Security Issues in Ad-Hoc on Demand Distance Vector Routing (AODV) in Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

There are three keys to achieve security of ad-hoc network. (1) Secure routing: even through the current routing protocols behave very well with the dynamic topology, very few of them offer enough security measures. (2) Key management: digital signatures and public key encryptions are two important cryptographic schemes to protect data and routing information. The challenge lies on the developers to create the trusted certificate authority. (3) Intrusion detection: due to dynamic changing topology, lack of centralized monitor, management, and security, ad-hoc networks are very vulnerable to intrusion. Ad-hoc networks can not differentiate the malicious node. Thus it is a challenge for the ad-hoc networks to detect intrusion. There are two approaches. The first is secured AODV (SAODV), which uses digital signature to authenticate the non-mutable fields of the messages and uses hash chains to secure the only mutable information, the hop count. The security information related to the digital signatures and the hash chains are transmitted with the AODV message as an extension message. SAODV uses hash chain mechanism to authenticate the hop count which allows every intermediate and destination node to verify the number of hops so that they know that the hop count has not been decremented by any attacking node. To protect the integrity of the non-mutable data, digital signatures are used. In the case of changing/refreshing routes, SAODV signature extension, and SAODV double signature are used. In the secured AODV routing protocol, it is assumed that each node has certified public key for all network nodes which imposes a high processing overhead especially for large networks. It is also possible that an hacked intermediate node advertises high sequence number to pretend that the destination node is its neighbor. Also there is a chance that IP portion of the SAODV traffic can be trivially compromised since it is not protected. The second approach is security aware ad-hoc routing in which it does not discover the shortest path between two nodes, instead it discovers a path with desired security attributes with a shared key for every nodes in a particular path. For this reason, the routing message has to be protected against any kind of alteration. This scheme provides protection of the routing protocol traffic, but it does not eliminate the chance of false routing information provided by malicious nodes. It also adds a lot of encryption overhead, since each intermediate node has to perform it
The third-generation aromatase inhibitors: a clinical overview

In the USA, it is estimated that breast cancer will account for approximately 26% of all new cases of cancer in 2007 [1]. Although treatment has improved and death rates have declined in recent years, breast cancer still accounts for approximately 15% of all cancer-related deaths in women [1].
Heterogeneous Information and Appraisal Bias

This study examines the heterogeneous appraiser behavior and its implication on the traditional appraisal smoothing theory. We show that the partial adjustment model is consistent with the traditional appraisal smoothing argument (Geltner 1989) only when all the appraisers choose the same smoothing technique. However, if appraiser behavior is heterogeneous and exhibits cross-sectional variation due to the difference in their access to, and interpretation of information from various sources, the model actually leads to a different outcome: The appraisal-based returns may exaggerate rather than understate the volatility of transaction-based returns. Using data from the residential market, we find that the appraisal-based returns are in fact less “smoothed” (or more volatile) than the comparable transaction-based returns. This finding suggests that the traditional appraisal smoothing theory, which fails to consider the heterogeneity of appraiser behaviors, exaggerate the effect of appraisal smoothing.
Some Energy Sources and Sinks in the Upper Atmosphere

The overwhelmingly dominant energy source for the atmosphere is electromagnetic solar radiation, the gross disposition of which is given in Table I. The average temperature distribution in the troposphere is maintained to a large extent by the energy absorbed at the ground and transferred to the atmosphere as sensible or latent heat, together with the very effective emission of IR radiation from the upper troposphere. Less than 2% of the incident solar radiation is absorbed above 15 km, and less than 10-3% is absorbed above 80 km. Yet this part of the solar flux is responsible for the heating which determines the temperature structure of the stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere, and for practically all of the photodissociation and ionization processes in the atmosphere. In the next two sections of this paper we shall deal with this flux and its disposition in the atmosphere. In the subsequent section we consider the role of emission of IR radiation in determining the thermal structure of the mesosphere and the mesopause region.