cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Influence of Age upon Complications of Carotid Artery Stenting

Purpose:To examine the impact of age upon the development of neurological and major systemic complications during or after carotid artery stenting.Methods:We reviewed the complications that occurred in patients undergoing elective carotid stent implantation between September 1994 and August 1996. The study population was then divided into 3 groups according to age: ≥ 80 (group A), 75 to 79 (group B), and ≤ 74 (group C) years. The rates of death, major and minor stroke, and myocardial infarction were compared among the groups, as well as with the rates reported by the major carotid endarterectomy (CEA) trials.Results:During the study period, 182 patients (216 vessels) were treated with carotid stenting. There were 19 (10.4%) complications: 1 (0.5%) death, 2 (1.1%) major strokes, 15 (8.2%) minor strokes, and 1 (0.5%) myocardial infarction. Neurological complications were clearly related to increased age with rates of 25.0% in group A versus 8.6% in group C (p = 0.042). The overall per patient rate of death ...
Platelets: versatile effector cells in hemostasis, inflammation, and the immune continuum

Platelets are chief effector cells in hemostasis. In addition, however, their specializations include activities and intercellular interactions that make them key effectors in inflammation and in the continuum of innate and adaptive immunity. This review focuses on the immune features of human platelets and platelets from experimental animals and on interactions between inflammatory, immune, and hemostatic activities of these anucleate but complex and versatile cells. The experimental findings and evidence for physiologic immune functions include previously unrecognized biologic characteristics of platelets and are paralleled by new evidence for unique roles of platelets in inflammatory, immune, and thrombotic diseases.
Spellings of Words: A Neglected Facilitator of Vocabulary Learning

Vocabulary learning is central to reading ability and academic achievement. Vocabulary researchers and educators have viewed its essence as a process of associating the pronunciations and meanings of words in memory, and they have neglected the contribution that spellings might make to vocabulary learning. We review theory and evidence that shows this to be a serious oversight. Once children become literate, they retain the spellings of words bonded to their pronunciations and meanings in memory. Several studies show that spellings of words are retained in memory and influence phonemic and syllabic segmentation of words. They enhance memory for pseudowords, and they impact the detection of oral rhyming words. Two studies show that exposing second and fifth graders to the spellings of new vocabulary words enhances their memory for pronunciations and meanings of the words. Students with better developed orthographic knowledge benefit more from spellings in learning vocabulary words than students with weaker knowledge. In fact, the detection of a Matthew effect suggests that differences in orthographic knowledge create a difference in vocabulary size that grows increasingly large over time. These findings carry implications for enhancing vocabulary learning and instruction. Teachers need to show the spellings of new vocabulary words when they discuss their meanings. Students need to stop and pronounce unfamiliar words rather than skip them during independent reading. Researchers need to incorporate orthography into their theories explaining vocabulary acquisition, specifically, phonological working memory theories, and they need to attend to its influence in the studies they conduct.
Effect of Load and Carrying Position on the Electromyographic Activity of the Gluteus Medius Muscle During Walking

Physical therapists often teach people with hip osteoarthritis ways to decrease gluteus medius muscle activity of the stance limb during gait. The rationale for decreasing this muscle activity is that hip muscle contraction needed for frontal plane hip stabilization is responsible for a large component of the hip joint compressive forces during stance. The magnitude and carrying position of external loads during walking are both variables that influence requirements of gluteus medius muscle force. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine through EMG, the relative amounts of gluteus medius muscle electrical activity produced during the stance phase of gait when subjects used varying combinations of load size (10 and 20% of body weight) and carrying position of the hands (contralateral or ipsilateral to a given hip, or anterior or posterior to the chest). We studied 24 healthy subjects and used their EMG activity during the stance phase of gait as an indication of the relative amount of myogenic hip compression force. Results indicated statistical differences in EMG according to carrying condition with the contralateral position (with loads of 10 and 20% of body weight) producing the highest levels of EMG. We discuss the kinesiologic reasons for results and the prevention of hip osteoarthritis in occupational settings.
KAPSE implementation strategies

This paper discusses the strategies for KAPSE implementations by defining the KAPSE that must be supported from the users' point of view and by providing hardware and software criteria against which any KAPSE implementation strategy must be judged. The users' view of the KAPSE is really their view of the MAPSE (or APSE) which is supported by the KAPSE. Any KAPSE implementation strategy can be described as either an implementation of the KAPSE on a bare machine or an implementation of the KAPSE in conjunction with the host machine's operating system. The concerns for the bare machine KAPSE implementation strategy are centered around the hardware criteria of the bare machine's Instruction Set Architecture and hardware configuraton for the bare machine. Examples from the ALS and AIE are supplied in this discussion.The operating systems KAPSE implementation strategies address the situations where the KAPSE is implemented on top of or beside the host machine's operating system. The concerns for the operating system KAPSE implementation strategy are centered around the software criteria of program execution, I/O support, and the KAPSE database for the KAPSE software. Program execution, I/O support, and the KAPSE database includes: process execution and communication: Ada I/O support and virtual terminals; and the KAPSE database access software, respectively. As before, examples from the ALS, AIE, and UNIX are supplied in this discussion. Finally, the KAPSE implementation strategies are summarized in terms of the users' view of the KAPSE, the hardware criteria of the bare machine's ISA and hardware configuration, and the software criteria of program execution, I/O support, and the KAPSE database.
Autonomic Shutdown of Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Thermoresponsive Microspheres

Autonomic, thermally-induced shutdown of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries is demonstrated by incorporating thermoresponsive polymer microspheres (ca. 4 µ m) onto battery anodes or separators. When the internal battery environment reaches a critical temperature, the microspheres melt and coat the anode/separator with a nonconductive barrier, halting Li-ion transport and shutting down the cell permanently. Three functionalization schemes are shown to perform cell shutdown: 1) poly(ethylene) (PE) microspheres coated on the anode, 2) paraffi n wax microspheres coated on the anode, and 3) PE microspheres coated on the separator. Charge and discharge capacity is measured for Li-ion coin cells containing microsphere-coated anodes or separators as a function of capsule coverage. For PE coated on the anode, the initial capacity of the battery is unaffected by the presence of the PE microspheres up to a coverage of 12 mg cm − 2 (when cycled at 1C), and full shutdown ( > 98% loss of initial capacity) is achieved in cells containing greater than 3.5 mg cm − 2 . For paraffi n microspheres coated on the anode and PE microspheres coated on the separator, shutdown is achieved in cells containing coverages greater than 2.9 and 13.7 mg cm − 2 , respectively. Scanning electron microscopy images of electrode surfaces from cells that have undergone autonomic shutdown provides evidence of melting, wetting, and resolidifi cation of PE into the anode and polymer fi lm formation at the anode/ separator interface.
Prediction of aortic valvular area and gradient by noninvasive techniques

Abstract Sixty-two patients with isolated aortic valvular stenosis were analyzed by a series of common noninvasive procedures and by cardiac catheterization. The data from 50 of these were evaluated in a retrospective fashion by multiple regression methods to determine significant objectively obtained predictors of aortic-left ventricular gradient and valvular area. Formulae were derived from these analyses and an additional 12 patients were then studied prospectively to evaluate the validity of the predictive formulae. Forty-three of 50 patients (86 per cent) were correctly identified as to a gradient of greater or less than 50 mm. Hg in the initial group, and all those in the prospectively studied sample were correctly classified. Thirty-five of 43 patients (82 per cent) of those with valve area data in the first application were correctly classified as to valve area of greater or less than 0.8 cm. 2 , and all patients in the prospectively studied group were appropriately identified as to the same area. The combined application of the observations of calcification of the aortic valve, shudder waves on the anacrotic limb, prolonged time to peak of the percussion wave and alteration of the dicrotic notch of the carotid pulse tracing, left ventricular hypertrophy by electrocardiogram, and the altered duration of ventricular ejection time were reliable predictors fo elevated aortic-left ventricular gradient and decreased aortic valvular size.
Using constraint geometry to determine maximum rate pipeline clocking

Geometric knowledge of the shape of the feasible region formed by pulse width, setup, and hold constraints, is used directly by a new efficient (cubic complexity) algorithm, Gpipe, to determine the maximum rate for single-phase clocking of a given pipeline. The pipeline model uses level-sensitive latches as synchronizers and can allow wave pipelining. Gpipe is also used to explore the effect of removing nonsynchronizing and/or synchronizing latches on the maximum clock speed of the pipeline. A simple test shows which latches, if any, to remove to guarantee no decrease and permit a possible increase in the clock rate.
Adaptive workload-dependent scheduling for large-scale content delivery systems

Content delivery has become an important application in the Internet. "Content" in this context can be a range of objects from movies to Web pages to software distribution. A streaming content delivery server should provide nearly immediate and continuous service by provisioning sufficient server and local network resources for the duration of playout. Because of the resource implications of delivering many large files simultaneously, scalability is an important requirement. Good scalability can be achieved by using a single channel to serve multiple users waiting for the same object (referred to as batching). Batching is especially useful during high load periods. Typical strategies in use today for allocating channels use a greedy allocate-as-needed policy with little consideration for anything other than satisfying the current request or maximizing the number of batched requests. Macroscopic system characteristics, like request arrival patterns, have stable long-term averages, but can vary unpredictably across shorter intervals. This variability can cause scheduling algorithms to suffer poor and unpredictable short-term performance. We propose a set of rate-based allocation algorithms to solve these limitations. We present our work in developing a set of workloads with variable request rates, quantify the drawbacks of traditional greedy channel-allocation algorithms, and quantify the advantages of the rate-based algorithms. We also generalize the content delivery model and discuss when rate-based algorithms might be effective other kinds of systems.
Visuohaptic simulation of bone surgery for training and evaluation

Visual and haptic simulation of bone surgery can support and extend current surgical training techniques. The authors present a system for simulating surgeries involving bone manipulation, such as temporal bone surgery and mandibular surgery, and discuss the automatic computation of surgical performance metrics. Experimental results confirm the system's construct validity
The governing processes and timescales of stratosphere-to-troposphere transport and its contribution to ozone in the Arctic troposphere

Abstract. We used the seasonality of a combination of atmospheric trace gases and idealized tracers to examine stratosphere-to-troposphere transport and its influence on tropospheric composition in the Arctic. Maximum stratosphere-to-troposphere transport of CFCs and O3 occurs in April as driven by the Brewer-Dobson circulation. Stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) occurs predominantly between 40° N to 80° N with stratospheric influx in the mid-latitudes (30–70° N) accounting for 67–81% of the air of stratospheric origin in the Northern Hemisphere extratropical troposphere. Transport from the lower stratosphere to the lower troposphere (LT) takes three months on average, one month to cross the tropopause, the second month to travel from the upper troposphere (UT) to the middle troposphere (MT), and the third month to reach the LT. During downward transport, the seasonality of a trace gas can be greatly impacted by wet removal and chemistry. A comparison of idealized tracers with varying lifetimes suggests that when initialized with the same concentrations and seasonal cycles at the tropopause, trace gases that have shorter lifetimes display lower concentrations, smaller amplitudes, and earlier seasonal maxima during transport to the LT. STE contributes to O3 in the Arctic troposphere directly from the transport of O3 and indirectly from the transport of NOy. Direct transport of O3 from the stratosphere accounts for 78% of O3 in the Arctic UT with maximum contributions occurring from March to May. The stratospheric contribution decreases significantly in the MT/LT (20–25% of total O3) and shows a very weak March–April maximum. Our NOx budget analysis in the Arctic UT shows that during spring and summer, the stratospheric injection of NOy-rich air increases NOx concentrations above the 20 pptv threshold level, thereby shifting the Arctic UT from a regime of net photochemical ozone loss to one of net production with rates as high as +16 ppbv/month.
Shakespeare and criminology

This paper suggests that Shakespeare’s plays offer an embryonic version of criminology, and that they remain a valuable resource for the field, both a theoretical and a pedagogical resource. On the...
A Time-Splitting Scheme for the Elastic Equations Incorporating Second-Order Runge–Kutta Time Differencing

A forward-in-time splitting method for integrating the elastic equations is presented. A second-order Runge‐ Kutta time integrator (RK2) for the large-time-step integration is combined with the forward‐backward scheme in a manner similar to the Klemp and Wilhelmson method. The new scheme produces fully second-order-accurate integrations for advection and gravity wave propagation. The RK2 scheme uses upwind discretizations for the advection terms and is easily combined with standard vertically semi-implicit techniques so as to improve computational efficiency when the grid aspect ratio becomes large. A stability analysis of the RK2 split-explicit scheme shows that it is stable for a wide range of advective and acoustic wave Courant numbers. The RK2 time-split scheme is used in a full-physics nonhydrostatic compressible cloud model. The implicit damping properties associated with the RK2’s third-order horizontal differencing allows for a significant reduction in the value of horizontal filtering applied to the momentum and pressure fields, while qualitatively the solutions appear to be better resolved than solutions from a leapfrog model.
The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Conception of Mind, Matter, and Life

Over the last thirty years, a new systemic understanding of life has emerged at the forefront of science. It integrates four dimensions of life: the biological, the cognitive, the social, and the ecological dimension. At the core of this new understanding we find a fundamental change of metaphors: from seeing the world as a machine to understanding it as a network. One of the most radical philosophical implications of the systems view of life is a new conception of mind and consciousness which, for the first time, overcomes the Cartesian division between mind and matter. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"New York","serif";}
Effect of Exercise Training on Striatal Dopamine D2/D3 Receptors in Methamphetamine Users during Behavioral Treatment

Methamphetamine use disorder is associated with striatal dopaminergic deficits that have been linked to poor treatment outcomes, identifying these deficits as an important therapeutic target. Exercise attenuates methamphetamine-induced neurochemical damage in the rat brain, and a preliminary observation suggests that exercise increases striatal D2/D3 receptor availability (measured as nondisplaceable binding potential (BPND)) in patients with Parkinson's disease. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether adding an exercise training program to an inpatient behavioral intervention for methamphetamine use disorder reverses deficits in striatal D2/D3 receptors. Participants were adult men and women who met DSM-IV criteria for methamphetamine dependence and were enrolled in a residential facility, where they maintained abstinence from illicit drugs of abuse and received behavioral therapy for their addiction. They were randomized to a group that received 1 h supervised exercise training (n=10) or one that received equal-time health education training (n=9), 3 days/week for 8 weeks. They came to an academic research center for positron emission tomography (PET) using [(18)F]fallypride to determine the effects of the 8-week interventions on striatal D2/D3 receptor BPND. At baseline, striatal D2/D3 BPND did not differ between groups. However, after 8 weeks, participants in the exercise group displayed a significant increase in striatal D2/D3 BPND, whereas those in the education group did not. There were no changes in D2/D3 BPND in extrastriatal regions in either group. These findings suggest that structured exercise training can ameliorate striatal D2/D3 receptor deficits in methamphetamine users, and warrants further evaluation as an adjunctive treatment for stimulant dependence.
Avant-garde Cuts: Schiaparelli and the Construction of a Surrealist Femininity

AbstractElsa Schiaparelli, an Italian-born fashion designer who established herself in Paris in 1922, became one of the most successful women in the industry during the interwar period. This paper closely analyzes Schiaparelli’s most innovative designs, in conjunction with her memoires, in order to elucidate her conception of female identity, an important but often misconstrued theme in surrealist art.
News or Not? Local News and Voter Opinion in Presidential Primary Campaigns

Voting in presidential primaries provides a challenging task for citizens given the lack of party cues, the candidates’ marginal policy differences, and the low levels of information about a large number of competing candidates, especially compared to general elections. As a result, the news media coverage of presidential primaries has the potential to profoundly influence voters’ views of candidates. However, our understanding of how the news media influence citizens’ decisions in primaries relies almost exclusively on the examination of national news coverage. Given voters’ heavy reliance on local news sources and the scant information that citizens possess about presidential primary candidates, local news coverage may be particularly influential. Using panel data from the 2008 Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project (CCAP), I examine the influence of the quantity and tone of local news coverage on voters’ evaluations of presidential candidates over the course of the primary season. I find that the amount of local news coverage influences people’s willingness to evaluate presidential candidates. In addition, evaluations of low tier presidential candidates are significantly influenced by the tone of local news coverage, even after controlling for voters’ personal characteristics and local candidate activities. These findings suggest that local news coverage has a powerful effect on voters’ evaluations of candidates and may ultimately impact vote choice in nominating contests.
Charge-transfer modified embedded-atom method for manganese oxides: Nanostructuring effects on MnO2 nanorods

Abstract In spite of the superior performance of nanostructured manganese oxides as materials for electro-catalysis, there has been low progress in their theoretical understanding because of the large scale of the required simulation cells. In this work, we have developed a large-scale simulation method for manganese oxides based on the Charge-Transfer Modified Embedded-Atom Method (CT-MEAM), which is not only capable of describing complex atomic bonding in transition metal oxides but also dynamic oxidation states, as those induced by the widely exposed surface area of nanostructures. The reliability of the method is confirmed by comparison with the corresponding ab initio reference results, and afterwards used to investigate the nanostructuring effects on manganese oxide nanorods. We found that nanostructuring introduces surface and edge structural distortions, driven by emerged unsaturated surface ions. These ions are highly mobile, and easily migrate to form new bonds with neighboring ions. Nanostructuring also weakens charge transfer between Mn and O ions located at the outer layers, thus bringing in more reductive Mn ions and enabling oxygen vacancy formation, which ultimately enhances the catalytic activity of manganese oxides. Our results also show that large scale surface defects, such as voids, could produce a similar effect than size reduction in improving the catalytic performance of the nanorod, thus avoiding undesirable amorphization instabilities, which are inevitable at reduced sizes. These findings will help to the optimization of the design and synthesis of nanostructured manganese oxides with enhanced catalytic activity.
Design and Optimization of Power System for Electric Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Electric small UAVs are valuable in applications for convenience of handling and maintenance,high reliability,low noise,emission-free,etc.Because the mass energy density of battery is much lower than gasoline′s,power system′s weight is a big portion of takeoff-weight.It′s necessary to estimate power system′s weight and performance precisely to guarantee loitering performance.Design and estimate methods,optimization rule are achieved by characterizing three subsystems,battery,brushless motor and speed controller,propeller.Experiments show these methods are moderately precise,and can be used in UAVs conceptual design and power system design.
Tissue factor expression in human leukocytes and tumor cells.

Tissue factor (TF) exists in acryptic form [i.e. without procoagulant activity (PCA)] in peripheral blood monocytes and quiescent tissue macrophages but is expressed constitutively in most human tumor cells. Induction and cell surface expression of TF in these cells in vivo is associated with activation of intravascular and extravascular coagulation in patients with a variety of inflammatory or malignant diseases. The regulation of TF synthesis in cells is complex and new information from transfection studies suggests that changes in cellular glycosylation pathways impair cell surface expression of functional TF. Such dysregulation may also characterize the lineage-unfaithful expression of TF in leukemic cells and perhaps explain some of the thrombohemorrhagic complications in patients with acute progranulocytic leukemia. The importance of carbohydrate modification of TF is reviewed.
Forest planning using particle swarm optimization with a priority representation

We examine the poor performance of Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization when applied to forest planning, a combinatorial optimization problem in which the goal is to maintain an even flow of timber from a forested area of multiple plots over several time periods while cutting each plot no more than once and no two adjacent plots within the same period. We suggest an alternative priority representation using Particle Swarm Optimization with real numbers and justify it with experimental results.
DREAM: A Simple Method for DNA Methylation Profiling by High-throughput Sequencing

The digital restriction enzyme analysis of methylation (DREAM) is a simple method for DNA methylation analysis at tens of thousands of CpG sites across the genome. The method creates specific signatures at unmethylated and methylated CpG sites by sequential digests of genomic DNA with restriction endonucleases SmaI and XmaI, respectively. Both enzymes have the same CCCGGG recognition site; however, they differ in their sensitivity to CpG methylation and their cutting pattern. SmaI cuts only unmethylated sites leaving blunt 5'-GGG ends. XmaI cuts remaining methylated CC(me)CGG sites leaving 5'-CCGGG ends. Restriction fragments with distinct signatures at their ends are ligated to Illumina sequencing adaptors with sample-specific barcodes. High-throughput sequencing of pooled libraries follows. Sequencing reads are mapped to the restriction sites in the reference genome, and signatures corresponding to methylation status of individual DNA molecules are resolved. Methylation levels at target CpG sites are calculated as the proportion of sequencing reads with the methylated signature to the total number of reads mapping to the particular restriction site. Aligning the reads to the reference genome of any species is straightforward, since the method does not rely on bisulfite conversion of DNA. Sequencing of 25 million reads per human DNA library yields over 50,000 unique CpG sites with high coverage enabling accurate determination of DNA methylation levels. DREAM has a background less than 1 % making it suitable for accurate detection of low methylation levels. In summary, the method is simple, robust, highly reproducible, and cost-effective.
Introduction to the Special Bio-Section of the 2016 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC)

The Bio-Section of this issue of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSC) includes some of the highlights of the outstanding papers from the 2016 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), which was held in San Francisco, CA, USA, in February 2016. The newly emerging field of bioelectronics provides a fundamental challenge and outstanding opportunities for solid-state circuit researchers and designers. The field will inevitably require unprecedented integration and miniaturization of circuits and systems. As a result, the smaller yet more functional semiconductor devices will greatly enable new technologies to transform and strengthen a variety of fields, including the environment, food safety, national security, and the health care system.
Evangelical Christian Pastors’ Lived Experience of Counseling Victims/Survivors of Domestic Violence

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experience of evangelical Christian pastors’ counseling members of their congregations who were victims/survivors of domestic violence. Evangelical Christians are the largest growing religious affiliations in the United States. Evangelical Christian members may have conservative views on marriage and gender roles that complicate leaving a violent marriage. The role of pastoral counseling in situations of domestic violence is one of the most unstudied aspects in the domestic violence literature. Following IRB approval, seven evangelical Christian pastors from the upper Midwest agreed to participate in individual interviews about their experiences with victims/survivors of partner violence. The narrative data were analyzed using van Manen’s interpretative phenomenology method of analysis. Findings indicated that none of the pastors felt adequately prepared to counsel victims/survivors of domestic violence. When the couple had children, pastoral counseling focused on keeping the children safe by calling child protective services. The evangelical Christian pastors were challenged when victims/survivors blamed themselves for the violence and chose to stay with a violent partner instead of leaving. The pastors worked to help the victims/ survivors understand that the violence was not their fault, and to empower the victims/survivors to remember how valuable they were to God. Findings from this study lend support to the important role clergy have in counseling victims/survivors of domestic violence.
A dual-coupled LCC-compensated IPT system to improve misalignment performance

This paper proposes a dual-coupled LCC-compensated circuit topology that improves the misalignment performance of an inductive power transfer (IPT) system. Two magnetic couplers are used in this system, one consisting of the main power transfer coils and the other consisting of coupled compensation inductors. The magnetic coupling between the compensation inductors can contribute to transferring more power to the secondary side in well-aligned and misalignment cases. The fundamental harmonics approximation method is used to analyze the working principle of the dual-coupled system. A 3.4 kW prototype is designed and implemented to validate the proposed circuit topology. To simplify the design, the sizes of the main coils and compensation inductors are both 300mm×300mm. In the well-aligned case, experimental results show that the prototype can achieve 3.4 kW output power across a 150 mm air gap with a dc-dc efficiency of 95.5%. In the 150 mm misalignment case, the dual-coupled system can achieve 1.5 kW output power, which is twice the power transferred by a single-coupled IPT system with only the main coil coupling.
Assessing college students’ ego-identity status and their use of motivational regulation strategies

ABSTRACTUsing correlational analyses and structural equation modeling, this study tests three hypotheses: students’ reported use of motivational strategies is 1) correlated with their ego-identity status; 2) positively correlated with their reported use of learning strategies and negatively associated with their level of procrastination; and 3) related to their existing motivational beliefs and attitudes. Participants were American college students (N = 113). The findings support all three hypotheses.The study computed Pearson product moment correlations (listwise) among the ego identity and motivation measures; significant correlations ranged from 0.19 to 0.29. To test the hypothesized conceptual model, the study subjected the correlations to a confirmatory factor analysis. The five model varimax solution had excellent loadings on 16 variables; their standardized path coefficients were highly significant (p < 0.001). The fit was good across several indices of fit (chi-square of 214.28, df = 161, p = 0.00...
OUTCOMES OF TAKO TSUBO CARDIOMYOPATHY IN OBESE PATIENTS: A 5-YEAR NATIONWIDE ANALYSIS

Data on Incidence and outcomes of TakoTsubo Cardiomyopathy (TTC) in hospitalized obese patients is limited. We reviewed the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2010-2014 to identify patients with primary and secondary diagnosis of TakoTsubo cardiomyopathy with obesity and determine in-hospital
Risk Factors for Overdose in Treatment-Seeking Youth With Substance Use Disorders.

OBJECTIVE Overdoses (ODs) are among the leading causes of death in youth with substance use disorders (SUDs). Our aim was to identify the prevalence of OD and characteristics associated with a history of OD in youth presenting for SUD outpatient care. METHODS A systematic retrospective medical record review was conducted of consecutive psychiatric and SUD evaluations for patients aged 16 to 26 years with DSM-IV-TR criteria SUD at entry into an outpatient SUD treatment program for youth between January 2012 and June 2013. Unintentional OD was defined as substance use without intention of self-harm that was associated with a significant impairment in level of consciousness. Intentional OD was defined as ingestion of a substance that was reported as a suicide attempt. T tests, Pearson χ² tests, and Fisher exact tests were performed to evaluate characteristics associated with a history of OD. RESULTS We examined the medical records of 200 patients (157 males and 43 females) with a mean ± SD age of 20.2 ± 2.8 years. At intake, 58 patients (29%) had a history of OD, and 62% of those patients had a history of unintentional OD only (n = 36). Youth with ≥ 2 SUDs were 3 times more likely to have a history of OD compared to youth with 1 SUD (all P < .05). Compared to those without a history of OD, those with an OD were more likely to be female and have lifetime histories of alcohol, cocaine, amphetamine, anxiety, depressive, and/or eating disorders (all P < .05). CONCLUSIONS High rates of OD exist in treatment-seeking youth with SUD. OD was associated with more SUDs and psychiatric comorbidity.
SNS mercury target design optimization

The mercury target at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) in Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, works under a number of severe conditions: high temperature, radiation, mercury flow, and proton beam pulse pressures. Insufficient strength and durability of the target stainless steel vessel from beam pulse and thermal cyclic loads can lead to mercury leaks and premature target life termination. The parametric and non-parametric shape optimization tools (Isight, Tosca) from Dassault Systemes Extended Abaqus Package have been adopted at SNS to develop robust and reliable target designs. The durability evaluation with recognized leading Fe-Safe (structural fatigue) and Verity (weld fatigue) software is also included in optimization process. Design of Experiment (DOE) was performed to create the response surface for steel vessel structure. The response surfaces are used for design exploration on a basis of Abaqus and Fe-Safe different analyses results. The shape optimization of steel vessel filled with mercury was performed first time using Tosca optimization tool. Obtained complex results enable the consideration of possible trade-offs for the most feasible design.
Glue masquerading as a catheter: Retrieval of embolized vertebroplasty cement

Identification of foreign body objects may be difficult based on imaging characteristics. History is essential to making a diagnosis. Cement leakage is a common complication of percutaneous vertebroplasty and the optimal management for cement embolism remains unknown. This report presents a case of a 72-year-old female with asymptomatic pulmonary cement embolism, which was partially retrieved via a percutaneous endovascular approach.
Excitation functions for (p,x) reactions of niobium in the energy range of Ep = 40–90 MeV

Abstract A stack of thin Nb foils was irradiated with the 100 MeV proton beam at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Isotope Production Facility, to investigate the 93Nb(p,4n)90Mo nuclear reaction as a monitor for intermediate energy proton experiments and to benchmark state-of-the-art reaction model codes. A set of 38 measured cross sections for natNb(p,x) and natCu(p,x) reactions between 40–90 MeV, as well as 5 independent measurements of isomer branching ratios, are reported. These are useful in medical and basic science radionuclide productions at intermediate energies. The natCu(p,x)56Co, natCu(p,x)62Zn, and natCu(p,x)65Zn reactions were used to determine proton fluence, and all activities were quantified using HPGe spectrometry. Variance minimization techniques were employed to reduce systematic uncertainties in proton energy and fluence, improving the reliability of these measurements. The measured cross sections are shown to be in excellent agreement with literature values, and have been measured with improved precision compared with previous measurements. This work also reports the first measurement of the natNb(p,x)82mRb reaction, and of the independent cross sections for natCu(p,x)52gMn and natNb(p,x)85gY in the 40–90 MeV region. The effects of natSi(p,x)22,24Na contamination, arising from silicone adhesive in the Kapton tape used to encapsulate the aluminum monitor foils, is also discussed as a cautionary note to future stacked-target cross section measurements. A priori predictions of the reaction modeling codes CoH, EMPIRE, and TALYS are compared with experimentally measured values and used to explore the differences between codes for the natNb(p,x) and natCu(p,x) reactions.
The lateral hypothalamic area

An ultrastructural analysis of the rat lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) was undertaken in order to provide an initial step in the characterization of this complex area which appears to participate in a number of important neural functions. The organization of the normal tuberal LHA was compared to the area following acute and chronic denervating lesions. In the normal animal, the principal features of the LHA are the presence of lateral hypothalamic neurons, a major sagittal pathway (the medial forebrain bundle, MFB) and the interposed neuropil richly populated by a variety of synaptic terminal types. Alterations in the synaptic organization of the LHA following rostral and caudal MFB lesions were most pronounced in animals with acute and chronic caudal lesions. A 10% reduction of synaptic terminals containing 800–1000 A diameter dense core vesicles and a 10% increase in terminals containing lucent core vesicles was observed in animals with caudal lesions while no significant redistribution of synaptic terminal types occurred with rostral lesions. The preliminary degeneration experiments indicate that identification of the numerous and diverse afferents to the LHA neuropil may be aided by this method but that a detailed and systematic ultrastructural analysis will be required to identify sources of input with certainty.
Myxedema Heart Disease: A Rare Disease Entity: Case Report and Brief Review of the Literature

Background Myxedema heart disease is an extremely rare disease entity and should be suspected in patients with unexplained heart failure refractory to conventional treatment. Myxedema coma with co- existent heart disease is not well known and very few cases have been reported. Conclusion Here, we present an interesting case of myxedema coma with severe valvular cardiomyopathy followed by a concise review of the literature with special emphasis on epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and therapeutic modalities.
Assessment of existing steel railway bridges, Algeria

Steel railway bridges represent more than 30% of the total railway bridges existing in Algeria. Many of these bridges were built during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the ...
The compromise of virtual screening and its impact on drug discovery

Introduction: Docking and structure-based virtual screening (VS) have been standard approaches in structure-based design for over two decades. However, our understanding of the limitations, potential, and strength of these techniques has enhanced, raising expectations. Areas covered: Based on a survey of reports in the past five years, we assess whether VS: (1) predicts binding poses in agreement with crystallographic data (when available); (2) is a superior screening tool, as often claimed; (3) is successful in identifying chemical scaffolds that can be starting points for subsequent lead optimization cycles. Data shows that knowledge of the target and its chemotypes in postprocessing lead to viable hits in early drug discovery endeavors. Expert opinion: VS is capable of accurate placements in the pocket for the most part, but does not consistently score screening collections accurately. What matters is capitalization on available resources to get closer to a viable lead or optimizable series. Integration of approaches, subjective hit selection guided by knowledge of the receptor or endogenous ligand, libraries driven by experimental guides, validation studies to identify the best docking/scoring that reproduces experimental findings, constraints regarding receptor-ligand interactions, thoroughly designed methodologies, and predefined cutoff scoring criteria strengthen VS's position in pharmaceutical research.
Needs of Special Populations

As with any insidious disease, the treatment of cancer pain represents a significant challenge, particularly when managing patients at the extremes of age and/or the cognitively disabled. Unfortunately, inadequate treatment in this patient population remains ubiquitous despite decades of clinically based research and physician experience. What follows is a summary of these challenges as well as recommendations to best manage cancer pain in these special populations.
Prolonged Neural Blockade Following Caudal Epidural Block with 2-Chloroprocaine

A 37-year-old American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I patient was given a caudal epidural block with 24 ml of 3% 2-chloroprocaine for dilatation and curettage (D & C). Although the catheter placement was uneventful, the patient developed total spinal anesthesia. After surgery, neural blockade with clinical manifestations consistent with cauda equina syndrome persisted for approximately 6 months. Literature pertinent to chloroprocaine neurotoxicity is briefly reviewed.
COMPARISON OF CLINICAL OUTCOMES OF PATIENTS UNDERGOING EDWARDS SAPIEN VS. EDWARDS SAPIEN 3 TRANSCATHETER AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT (TAVR)

Aortic regurgitation (AI) with Edwards Sapien (ES) valve led to development of ES-3 valve with addition of an outer skirt that reduced AI at expense of lower effective orifice areas (EOA). We aimed to compare clinical outcomes of ES and ES-3 TAVR. From 7/2012 to 6/2018, 384 patients underwent ES (n
Tunable infrared spectral imaging system

We report an approach to build a tunable spectral imaging system operating in the long-wave infrared (λ=8-12 μm). In addition to broadband images, the imaging systems allows for tunable selection of particular passbands. The tunable passband selection allows the imaging system to focus on the infrared signatures (including both thermal emission signature related to object’s temperature and characteristic absorption signature) of object of interest. This is achieved by incorporating a fast tunable spectral filter comprising dispersive magneto-optic (MO) materials in the imaging system. The MO materials in the spectral filter are sandwiched between polarizers, and dispersion in the Faraday Effect rotates the polarization of different wavelengths of light by different amounts, which results in a wavelength-dependent attenuation by the subsequent polarizer. Multiple stages with different thicknesses of the MO material can be stacked (Lyot configuration) to further narrow down the transmission peak. The central wavelength of the filter can be tuned either by tuning the magnetic field B along the direction of the optical axis, or by rotating the polarizers while applying a fixed magnetic field. In the long-wave infrared, n-doped InSb proves to be a prominent MO material. We present detailed measurements of Verdet constant, absorption coefficient and calculated figure of merit (FOM) for a range of carrier concentrations near 1017 cm-3 in the long-wave infrared. A prototype tunable bandpass filter is constructed and demonstrated.
Complications Associated with Cesarean Scar Ectopic Pregnancies

Study Objective The aim of this study is to present and discuss complications that were encountered during the surgical management of cesarean scar ectopic pregnancies. Design This is a video case series of two patients with cesarean scar ectopic pregnancies. Setting Both patients were positioned in dorsal lithotomy position prior to the start of the surgeries. A primary surgeon and assistant were placed on either side of the patient. Patients or Participants Two patient case series. Patients with a diagnosis of cesarean scar ectopic pregnancy desiring laparoscopic hysterectomy were recruited. Interventions Both patients received total laparoscopic hysterectomies for the management of their cesarean scar ectopic pregnancies. Measurements and Main Results In both cases significant adhesions were noted leading to complications including uterine artery laceration, bleeding from the cesarean scar ectopic pregnancy implantation site and inadvertent cystotomy. We present in this video dissection techniques used and management of these complications. Conclusion Cesarean scar ectopic pregnancies can be difficult to managesurgically as they are often associated with significant adhesions between the anterior abdominal wall, bladder and uterus. Care should be taken to avoid inadvertent laceration of these structures when managing these cases surgically. In these surgeries, surgeons should feel comfortable with methods of laparoscopic suturing to control bleeding and repair any injuries.
EVOLUTION OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN POST-SECONDARY HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENTS: COLLEGE MAJORS

Although women in the United States now complete more college degrees than men, the distribution of college majors among college graduates remains unequal, with women about two-thirds as likely as men to major in business or science. We develop and estimate a dynamic, overlapping generations model of human capital investments and labor supply. We allow for specific college major choices, instead of aggregating these choices to the education level. Results show that changes in skill prices, higher schooling costs, and gender-specific changes in home value were each important to the long-term trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Structures of synthetic nanobody-SARS-CoV-2-RBD complexes reveal distinct sites of interaction and recognition of variants

The worldwide spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and emergence of new variants demands understanding the structural basis of the interaction of antibodies with the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD). Here we report five X-ray crystal structures of sybodies (synthetic nanobodies) including binary and ternary complexes of Sb16-RBD, Sb45-RBD, Sb14-RBD-Sb68, and Sb45-RBD-Sb68; and Sb16 unliganded. These reveal that Sb14, Sb16, and Sb45 bind the RBD at the ACE2 interface and that the Sb16 interaction is accompanied by a large CDR2 shift. In contrast, Sb68 interacts at the periphery of the interface. We also determined cryo-EM structures of Sb45 bound to spike (S). Superposition of the X-ray structures of sybodies onto the trimeric S protein cryo-EM map indicates some may bind both "up" and "down" configurations, but others may not. Sensitivity of sybody binding to several recently identified RBD mutants is consistent with these structures.