cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluations of child sexual abuse: recognition of overt and latent family concerns.

Abstract Objective To describe a clinical approach to the recognition of overt and latent concerns of parents and children when children are evaluated for suspected sexual abuse by medical examiners. Method Description of a clinical approach. Results We describe 10 concerns—six of parents: (1) should we believe our child?; (2) worries about the child's body; (3) expressing emotions; (4) why the child delayed in telling; (5) how to talk to my child; (6) when will the perpetrator be arrested?; and four of children: 7) who will know about this?; (8) protecting one's parents; (9) worry about one's own body; and (10) what about my sexuality? Conclusions We believe that by addressing these concerns in the medical evaluation of suspected sexual abuse, clinicians can help families focus on important issues, including ensuring the child's safety, acknowledging family members’ feelings, and arranging counseling for the child and parents.
Choice in Retirement Plans: How Participant Behavior Differs in Plans Offering Advice, Managed Accounts, and Target-Date Investments

Research has shown that too many choices can lead to choice overload, causing people to disengage from making any decision at all. Otherwise put: Too many choices can be bad - especially in the context of retirement planning decisions. In such cases, less can literally equate to more. T. Rowe Price, in conjunction with choice expert Professor Sheena Iyengar of Columbia University, examines how participant behavior differs based on the services and investment options that plans offer. Specifically, participant behavior is analyzed in over 110 401(k) plans recordkept by T. Rowe Price. Plans are of all different sizes and offer a combination of Advice and Managed Account (MAs) services, as well as Target-Date Investment (TDI) options. Some plans included all three offerings, while other plans included only one or two. Different combinations of plan offerings are evaluated with regard to whether or not they:• Impact employees’ tendency to participate• Affect participants’ likelihood of using a particular offering• Alter participants’ deferral rates• Change asset allocation mixes of participantsHere is what the research shows:Offering TDIs may positively impact participation. Plans that offer TDIs appear to have higher participation rates than those that do not offer TDIs.Some choice is good for participation. Plans that offer one of the two services in combination with TDIs see a boost in enrollment relative to plans that offer TDIs alone.More choice does not guarantee increased participation. Plans offering two services in combination with TDIs have similar participation rates relative to plans that offer only TDIs. In fact, for plans that automatically enroll employees into a TDI, offering two services is associated with lower levels of participation relative to offering neither service in conjunction with the TDI default.Usage of TDIs is high. When TDIs are offered as part of a plan, TDI usage for participating employees is about 70%. TDI usage is even higher when employees are automatically enrolled in a TDI.Usage rates for particular services and investment options are not cannibalized when offered together in one plan. Plans that offer only services, only investment options, or both have similar service and investment option usage rates.Deferral rates are similar regardless of the combination of services or investment options a plan offers. Plans that make one or all offerings available to participants - Advice, MAs, and/or TDIs - do not show different rates of saving.Asset allocation to stocks and bonds is higher in plans that offer TDIs. Plans that offer TDIs alone, or in conjunction with services, have stock allocations at least 15 percentage points higher and bond allocations at least three percentage points higher than plans that do not offer TDIs.
Quenching of the tyrosyl and tryptophyl fluorescence of subtilisins Carlsberg and Novo by iodide.

The tyrosyl and tryptophyl fluorescence of di- isopropylphosphorylsubtilisins Carlsberg and Novo, respec- tively, is quenched efficiently by I- but is not significantly affected by Cs+. The I- quenching data were analyzed using a modified Stern-Volmer treatment (Lehrer, S. S. (1971), Biochemistry IO, 3254), yielding values for the effective fraction of accessible protein fluorescence of 90-95 and 88- 92% for the tyrosyl and tryptophyl emission of diisopropyl- phosphorylsubtilisins Carlsberg and Novo, respectively. Similar values were obtained at pH 5 and 7. The effective collisional quenching constant depends on pH in a manner suggesting the participation of protein surface charge in the quenching mechanism. Significant singlet energy transfer (efficiency = 0.52) from tyrosyl to tryptophyl residues was Amino acid substitutions in homologous proteins can be used to advantage in spectroscopic studies which employ particular residues as intrinsic probes of structural detail. On the basis of circular dichroism (CD)' and secondary structure predictions, the details of polypeptide chain folding, internal side chain packing, and hydrogen bonding are thought to be conserved among the homologous subtilisins, with the excep- tion of a sequence region containing the Pro-56 deletion in subtilisin Carlsberg (M. F. Brown and T. Schleich, manuscript in preparation). Although the crystal structure of subtilisin Carlsberg is not known, subtilisins Novo2 and Carlsberg have been studied in solution using CD (Myers and Glazer, 197 1 ; Brown and Schleich, 1975; M. F. Brown and T. Schleich, manuscript in preparation), infrared spectroscopy (Johansen and Ottesen, 1974), fluorescence spectroscopy (Longworth, 1971; Schlessinger et al., 1975), and solvent perturbation techniques (Myers and Glazer, 197 1; Herskovits and Fuchs, 1972). These studies support extensive conformational homology among the subtilisins, although differences in the environments of the aromatic residues are evident. In this paper we present a study of the I- quenching of the tyrosyl and tryptophyl fluorescence of inactivated subtilisins
Electron‐induced dissociation (EID) for structure characterization of glycerophosphatidylcholine: determination of double‐bond positions and localization of acyl chains

Glycerophospholipids are a highly abundant and diverse collection of biologically relevant lipids, and distinction between isomeric and isobaric species is a fundamental aspect for confident identification. The ability to confidently assign a unique structure to a glycerophospholipid of interest is dependent on determining the number and location of the points of unsaturation and assignment of acyl chain position. The use of high-energy electrons (>20 eV) to induce gas-phase dissociation of intact precursor ions results in diagnostic product ions for localizing double-bond positions and determining acyl chain assignment. We describe a high-resolution, tandem mass spectrometry method for structure characterization of glycerophospholipids using electron-induced dissociation (EID). Furthermore, the inclusion of nomenclature to systematically assign bond cleavage sites with acyl chain position and double-bond location enables a uniform platform for lipid identification. The EID methodology detailed here combines novel application of an electron-based dissociation technique with high-resolution mass spectrometry that facilitates a new experimental approach for lipid biomarker discovery and validation.
Practical perfect sampling using composite bounding chains: the Dirichlet-multinomial model

A discrete data augmentation scheme together with two different parameterizations yields two Gibbs samplers for sampling from the posterior distribution of the hyperparameters of the Dirichlet-multinomial hierarchical model under a default prior distribution. The finite-state space nature of this data augmentation permits us to construct two perfect samplers using bounding chains that take advantage of monotonicity and anti-monotonicity in the target posterior distribution, but both are impractically slow. We demonstrate that a composite algorithm that strategically alternates between the two samplers' updates can be substantially faster than either individually. The speed gains come because the composite algorithm takes a divide-and-conquer approach in which one update quickly shrinks the bounding set for the augmented data, and the other update immediately coalesces on the parameter, once the augmented-data bounding set is a singleton. We theoretically bound the expected time until coalescence for the composite algorithm, and show via simulation that the theoretical bounds can be close to actual performance. Copyright 2013, Oxford University Press.
Characterizing Smoking and Drinking Abstinence from Social Media

Social media has been established to bear signals relating to health and well-being states. In this paper, we investigate the potential of social media in characterizing and understanding abstinence from tobacco or alcohol use. While the link between behavior and addiction has been explored in psychology literature, the lack of longitudinal self-reported data on long-term abstinence has challenged addiction research. We leverage the activity spanning almost eight years on two prominent communities on Reddit: StopSmoking and StopDrinking. We use the self-reported "badge" information of nearly a thousand users as gold standard information on their abstinence status to characterize long-term abstinence. We build supervised learning based statistical models that use the linguistic features of the content shared by the users as well as the network structure of their social interactions. Our findings indicate that long-term abstinence from smoking or drinking (~one year) can be distinguished from short-term abstinence (~40 days) with 85% accuracy. We further show that language and interaction on social media offer powerful cues towards characterizing these addiction-related health outcomes. We discuss the implications of our findings in social media and health research, and in the role of social media as a platform for positive behavior change and therapy.
Development of a Measuring Device for the Parasitic Inductance of the DC-link Backplane of an Inverter

Four different design options are investigated for a DC-link DC-link DC-link backplane of an inverter. The backplanes interconnect switches and capacitors and have slots at various positions. The purpose is to evaluate the performance of the four topologies regarding parasitic inductance. A probe is developed to measure these low inductances. The probe is powered from a high-frequency source and is connected to a digital oscilloscope through four differential measurements. The measurements are compared with numerical simulations calculating the inductance with the Method of Moments. The simulations and the measurements yield similar results.
The Value and Use of the IRA Recharacterization Option

The recharacterization option allows IRA owners who convert a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA to choose the better of Roth or traditional treatment (for tax purposes) after returns are known. The authors used option-pricing models to estimate the value of this option and examined strategies to maximize its value. Using a simulation that applies a simple recharacterization strategy over a long time horizon, the authors show its potential value in private wealth management.
Mass transfer with homogeneous chemical reaction in turbulent pipe flow

Mass transfer with chemical reactions in fully developed turbulent pipe flows has been studied theoretically. The pipe walls are assumed to remain at a constant prescribed concentration. The effect of arbitrary reaction orders and of Reynolds and Schmidt numbers upon the transfer coefficients was investigated. Radial and longitudinal concentration profiles were obtained to show the effect of reaction orders and dimensionless rate constants. Effects of concentration levels on these phenomena were also studied and proven significant. The ratio of the transfer coefficients with chemical reactions to those without chemical reactions increases as a function of the downstream aspect ratio.
Solution structure and dynamics of the Rous sarcoma virus capsid protein and comparison with capsid proteins of other retroviruses.

The solution structure and dynamics of the recombinant 240 amino acid residue capsid protein from the Rous sarcoma virus has been determined by NMR methods. The structure was determined using 2200 distance restraints and 330 torsion angle restraints, and the dynamics analysis was based on (15)N relaxation parameters (R(1), R(2), and (1)H-(15)N NOE) measured for 153 backbone amide groups. The monomeric protein consists of independently folded N- and C-terminal domains that comprise residues Leu14-Leu146 and Ala150-Gln226, respectively. The domains exhibit different rotational correlation times (16.6(+/-0.1) ns and 12.6(+/-0.1) ns, respectively), are connected by a flexible linker (Ala147-Pro149), and do not give rise to inter-domain NOE values, indicating that they are dynamically independent. Despite limited sequence similarity, the structure of the Rous sarcoma virus capsid protein is similar to the structures determined recently for the capsid proteins of retroviruses belonging to the lentivirus and human T-cell leukemia virus/bovine leukemia virus genera. Structural differences that exist in the C-terminal domain of Rous sarcoma virus capsid relative to the other capsid proteins appear to be related to the occurrence of conserved cysteine residues. Whereas most genera of retroviruses contain a pair of conserved and essential cysteine residues in the C-terminal domain that appear to function by forming an intramolecular disulfide bond during assembly, the Rous sarcoma virus capsid protein does not. Instead, the Rous sarcoma virus capsid protein contains a single cysteine residue that appears to be conserved among the avian C-type retroviruses and is positioned in a manner that might allow the formation of an intermolecular disulfide bond during capsid assembly.
Gbp1p, a Protein with RNA Recognition Motifs, Binds Single-Stranded Telomeric DNA and Changes Its Binding Specificity upon Dimerization

Gbp1p is a putative telomere-binding protein from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that contains two RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) which are commonly found in heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs). Previously we demonstrated that Gbp1p binds single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) containing the Chlamydomonas telomeric sequence but not the RNA containing the cognate sequence. Here we show that at lower protein concentrations Gbp1 can also bind an RNA containing the cognate sequence. We found that mutation of the two RRM motifs of Gbp1p to match the highly conserved region of hnRNP RRMs did not alter the affinity of Gbp1p for either RNA or DNA. The ability of Gbp1p to associate with either of these two nucleic acids is governed by the dimerization state of the protein. Monomeric Gbp1p associates with either ssDNA or RNA, showing a small binding preference for RNA. Dimeric Gbp1p has a strong preference for binding ssDNA and shows little affinity for RNA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of a protein that qualitatively shifts its nucleic acid binding preference upon dimerization. The biological implications of a telomere-binding protein that is regulated by dimerization are discussed. In most organisms, telomeric DNA is composed of simple short repeat sequences which show a strand bias such that there is a G-biased strand (G strand) and a complementary C-biased strand (C strand) (25). This double-stranded repeat sequence is bound in vivo by factors such as Rap1p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (29) and TRF1 and TRF2 in humans (4, 47, 53), which are important for the regulation of telomere repeat length, the formation of telomeric chromatin, and the integrity of individual chromosome ends. Early sequencing of ciliate
Factorization-based calibration method for MEMS inertial measurement unit

We present an easy-to-use calibration method for MEMS inertial sensor units based on the factorization method which was originally invented for shape-and-motion recovery in computer vision. Our method requires no explicit knowledge of individual motions applied during calibration procedure. Instead a set of motion constraints in the form of an inner-product is used to factorize sensor measurements into a calibration matrix (that represents intrinsic sensor parameters) and a motion matrix (that represents acceleration or angular velocity). These motion constraints can be collected quickly from a low-cost calibration apparatus. Our method is not limited to just triad configurations but also applicable to any coordination of more than three sensor elements. A redundant configuration has the benefit that all the calibration parameters including biases are estimated at once. Simulation and experiments are provided to verify the proposed method.
Do Voters Care About Incumbency

We have long known that US House incumbents enjoy profound electoral advantages. However, existing research has not asked whether individual voters actually prefer incumbents over newcomers, other things being equal. Instead, existing research has focused on showing that other things aren't equal, by emphasizing the structural advantages that incumbents enjoy. I present experimental evidence showing that voters prefer incumbents even when the structural advantages are held constant. I supplement this experimental evidence with observational data showing that the incumbency advantage is greater in California, where incumbency status appears on the ballot, than in Florida, where it does not appear on the ballot.
Targeted therapies with companion diagnostics in the management of breast cancer: current perspectives

Breast cancer is a multifaceted disease exhibiting both intertumoral and intratumoral heterogeneity as well as variable disease course. Over 2 decades of research has advanced the understanding of the molecular substructure of breast cancer, directing the development of new therapeutic strategies against these actionable targets. In vitro diagnostics, and specifically companion diagnostics, have been integral in the successful development and implementation of these targeted therapies, such as those directed against the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. Lately, there has been a surge in the development, commercialization, and marketing of diagnostic assays to assist in breast cancer patient care. More recently, multigene signature assays, such as Oncotype DX, MammaPrint, and Prosigna, have been integrated in the clinical setting in order to tailor decisions on adjuvant endocrine and chemotherapy treatment. This review provides an overview of the current state of breast cancer management and the use of companion diagnostics to direct personalized approaches in the treatment of breast cancer.
Vasoconstrictor responses of coronary resistance arteries in exercise-trained pigs

Coronary resistance arteries isolated from exercise-trained pigs have been shown to exhibit enhanced myogenic reactivity (J. M. Muller, P. R. Myers, and M. Harold Laughlin. J. Appl. Physiol. 75: 2677-2682, 1993). The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that exercise training results in enhanced vasoconstrictor responses of these arteries to all vasoconstrictor stimuli [specifically acetylcholine (ACh), endothelin-1 (ET-1), KCl, and the Ca2+ channel-agonist Bay K 8644]. Female Yucatan miniature swine were trained (Trn) on a motor-driven treadmill (n = 16) or remained sedentary (Sed, n = 15) for 16-20 wk. Arteries 50-120 micron in diameter were isolated and cannulated with micropipettes, and intraluminal pressure was set at 60 cmH2O throughout experiments. Vasoreactivity was evaluated by examining constrictor responses to increasing concentrations of ACh (10(-9) to 10(-4) M), ET-1 (10(-10) to 10(-8) M), KCl (bath replacement with isotonic physiological saline solution containing 30 or 80 mM), and Bay K 8644 (10(-9) to 10(-6) M). Constricted diameters are expressed relative to the passive diameter observed after 100 microM SNP. All four constrictors produced similar decreases in diameter in arteries from both groups [ACh: 0.52 +/- 0.07 (Trn) and 0.54 +/- 0,06 (Sed); ET-1: 0.66 +/- 0.05 (Trn) and 0.70 +/- 0.07 (Sed); KCl: 0.66 +/- 0.05 (Trn) and 0.70 +/- 0.07 (Sed); Bay K 8644: 0.86 +/- 0.05 (Trn) and 0. 76 +/- 0.05 (Sed)]. Present results combined with previous observations indicate that exercise training does not alter vasoconstrictor responses of porcine coronary resistance arteries but specifically increases myogenic reactivity. Thus the underlying cellular mechanisms for myogenic tone are altered by training but not receptor-mediated mechanisms (ACh and ET-1) nor voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (KCl and Bay K 8644) in coronary resistance arteries.
Management Responsibilities Facing the Wholesale Grocer

The world of the grocery wholesaler has changed and is continuing to change dramatically. What are the objectives of the marketer in this area? What are his responsibilities and how should he meet them?In discussing these questions as they apply to the food - distribution industry, the author hits upon background, objectives, and responsibilities that apply to other areas of business enterprise as well. He also constructs a “model” grocery wholesaler whose behavior reflects how management could face its responsibilities.
Typological variation of kinship terminologies is a function of strict ranking of constraints on nested binary classification trees

Jones argues that extending Seneca kin terms to second cousins requires a revised version of Optimality Theoretic grammar. I extend Seneca terms using three constraints on expression of markers in nested binary classification trees. Multiple constraint rankings on a nested set coupled with local parity checking determines how a given kin classification grammar marks structural endogamy.
Consequences of Inappropriate ER Management of Status Epilepticus

The clinical features of status epilepticus (SE) requiring admission to pediatric intensive care (PTC) and the emergency pre-PIC treatment of SE compared to standard guidelines were studied in relation to the course of SE after admission to PIC at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK.
Estimating Dynamic Ideal Points for State Supreme Courts

Courts of last resort in the American states offer researchers considerable leverage to develop and test theories about how institutions influence judicial behavior. One measure critical to this research agenda is the individual judges' preferences, or ideal points, in policy space. Two main strategies for recovering this measure exist in the literature: Brace, Langer, and Hall's (2000, Measuring preferences of state supreme court judges, Journal of Politics 62(2):387–413) Party-Adjusted Judge Ideology and Bonica and Woodruff's (2014, A common-space measure of state supreme court ideology, Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, doi: 10.1093/jleo/ewu016) judicial CFscores. Here, we introduce a third measurement strategy that combines CFscores with item response (IRT) estimates of judicial voting behavior in all fifty-two state courts of last resort from 1995 to 2010. We show that leveraging two distinct sources of information (votes and CFscores) yields a superior estimation strategy. Specifically, we highlight several key advantages of the combined measure: (1) it is estimated dynamically, allowing for the possibility that judges' ideological leanings change over time and (2) it maps judges into a common space. In a comparison against existing measurement strategies, we find that our measure offers superior performance in predicting judges' votes. We conclude that it is a valuable tool for advancing the study of judicial politics.
Acceleration of PET Monte Carlo simulation using the graphics hardware ray-tracing engine

GRAY (High Energy Photon Ray Tracer) is a Monte-Carlo ray-driven high energy photon transport engine for PET and SPECT applications that supports complex mesh based primitives for source distributions, phantom shapes, and detector geometries. Ray tracing is a technique used in computer graphics to render scenes with realistic light properties. We adapted this technique to accelerate solving the intersection test problems in our simulator. Monte Carlo simulations study the performance of PET systems, test signal processing algorithms, guide the design of advanced PET systems, data correction schemes, and image reconstruction algorithms. GPU acceleration of these simulations makes these studies more practical while avoiding the need of a large, expensive computer cluster. Recent improvements in the computing power and programmability of graphics processing units (GPUs) have enabled the possibility of using GPUs for the acceleration of scientific applications, including time-consuming simulations in physics. This paper describes the acceleration of GRAY using NVIDIA OptiX ray tracing engine on GPUs for runtime performance and the implementation of secondary physical processes validated against GEANT for enhancing GRAY's accuracy. We describe the GPU-based computation and how it is mapped onto the many parallel computational units now available on the NVIDIA GTX 200 series GPUs. For a brain PET acquisition benchmark, a speedup of 5.2X; for a GATE PET acquisition benchmark, a speedup of 15.88X were achieved on a single GTX285 GPU over the CPU GRAY and the GATE simulation toolkit executed on an Intel(R) Core™2 Duo T6600@2.40GHz processor with equivalent accuracy.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS MUST BE TWO-WAY1

The subject of communications is very much like the weather; everybody talks about it and nobody does anything about it. Today we have the hardware for communicating with each other from any spot on earth and even from outer space. But in our correspondence, our letters, our advertising, and our face-to-face contacts we run into great difficulties because we think too much in terms of one-way communication. A human communications system is very much like an electrical circuit: until the current flows in both directions, there cannot be the green light of understanding. There are three specific areas where we fall down when we try to communicate: (a) words, (b) inferences we make, and (c) appreciation of people. Good two-way communications can exist when we question each other, when we make sure that we both mean the same thing when we use a certain word. And when we stop talking and start listening, the understanding curve goes shooting upward. All of these things can be remembered if we think in terms of...
Abstract 4280: FH (rs367543046, chr1:241661227 A/ATTT) heterozygous carrier status does not confer risk to hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC) and prostate cancer

Fumarate Hydratase (FH) mutations underpin the autosomal recessive syndrome Fumarate Hydratase deficiency and the autosomal dominant syndrome Hereditary Leiomyomatous and Renal Cell Carcinoma (HLRCC). The variant rs367543046, a duplication leading to p. Lys477_Asn478insLys in FH has strong evidence for risk towards fumarate hydratase deficiency when occurring in trans to another germline alteration in the FH gene. In addition, this variant in the heterozygous state has been reported in ClinVar to predispose to the autosomal dominant condition HLRCC, given other heterozygous mutations have shown to be pathogenic. Population level data is sparse to determine the variant’s impact in the heterozygous state. Here, we show in a series of 1375 cancer cases the (rs367543046, chr1: 241661227 A/ATTT), variant detected in 7 (0.5%) individuals with cancer. One patient with bladder cancer had a history of uterine leiomyomas, but the immunohistochemistry for 2SC was negative, suggesting that the leiomyomas were not associated with HLRCC. None of the other 6 carriers of this variant had any features of HLRCC. Notably, this variant was not detected in any of the patients with renal cancer (n=178) participating in the study. Since 4/7 prostrate cancer patients of Ashkenazi ethnicity harbored this variant, we performed a genetic epidemiology study using 856 Ashkenazi Jewish prostate cancer patients. The allele frequencies were compared with 557 Ashkenazi Jewish non-cancer controls. A fisher’s two sided exact test showed that the variant is not associated with prostate cancer in Jews (P=1, OR 1.12(CI 95% 0.21-7.25). Our findings suggest that the variant, which is pathogenic for autosomal recessive fumarate hydratase deficiency does not confer pathogenicity in the heterozygous form for Hereditary Leiomyomatous and Renal Cell Carcinoma or prostate cancer. Citation Format: Michael F. Walsh, Diana Mandelker, Joseph Vijai, David Musheyev, Jennifer Kennedy, Zsofia Stadler, Yelena Kemel, Sabine Topka, Karen Cadoo, Maria Carlo, Marc Ladanyi, Mark Robson, Kenneth Offit, Liying Zhang. FH (rs367543046, chr1:241661227 A/ATTT) heterozygous carrier status does not confer risk to hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC) and prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4280. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4280
Structural Substrates of Seizure Foci in the Human Temporal Lobe: A Combined Electrophysiological Optical Microscopic and Ultrastructural Study

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses structural substrates of seizure foci in the human temporal lobe. The site of predilection of the various degrees of neuronal loss and glial scarring, found in most cases of psychomotor epilepsy, is the hippocampus. The lack of spines on pyramidal cell dendrites can be the reflection of a plastic property by which spines respond negatively to a loss of presynaptic input or the spines may not have developed from the outset in the newborn infant for similar reasons. This loss can result from either chronic injury, stemming from the initial hypoxic insult eventuated in hippocampal sclerosis, or from damage incident to the seizures. Deafferentation occurs as a cause of spine loss when there is contracted, darkly stained granular matrix of dendrites and associated synapses. All the presynaptic sacs ending on spines and the dendritic shafts contain clear spherules with occasional dense cored vesicles. Flattened types of clear vesicles are not found in presynaptic sacs ending on dendrites or soma spines.
Bipartivity Index based Link Selection Strategy to Determine Stable and Energy-Efficient Data Gathering Trees for Mobile Sensor Networks

Bipartivity Index (BPI) has been used in complex network analysis to quantify the extent of partitioning of the vertices of a network graph into two disjoint partitions; the edges between vertices within the same partition are called frustrated edges. The BPI values for a network graph ranges from 0 to 1 (the BPI of a network graph that is truly bipartite and has no frustrated edges is 1). Our hypothesis in this research is that the end nodes of a short distance link (the distance between the end nodes is significantly smaller than the transmission range per node) in a mobile sensor network (MSN) are more likely to share a significant fraction of their neighbors and such links are more likely to be stable. We introduce a notion called the egocentric network of an edge (adapted from egocentric network for a node) comprising of the end nodes of the edge and their neighbors (as vertices) and the edges incident on the end nodes (as edges). Our claim is that an edge whose egocentric network has a lower BPI score is more likely to be a stable short distance link, with a relatively larger fraction of shared neighborhood, and could be preferred for inclusion while determining stable data gathering trees for MSNs. Through extensive simulations, we show that the BPI-based DG trees are significantly more stable and energy-efficient compared to the DG trees determined using the predicted link expiration time (LET), currently the best known strategy.
Thirty-day complication and readmission rates associated with resection of metastatic spinal tumors: a single institutional experience.

Background: This study aims to assess 30-day complication and unplanned readmission rates associated with resection of metastatic spinal tumors. Methods: Medical records were reviewed for 135 adults who underwent elective resection of a spinal cord tumor. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and tumor characteristics were collected. Tumor pathology was analyzed and diagnosed by a pathologist. The primary outcomes were intra- and 30-day post-operative complication and readmission rates. Results: Of the 135 spinal tumor resections, 30 (22.2%) cases were metastatic. The most common tumor pathology was bone (13.3%) and the most common locations were thoracic (45.2%), and cervical (32.7%). Most patients had an open surgery (96.7%), with a mean laminectomy/laminoplasty level of 1.9±1.5 and mean operative time of 328.4±658.0 min. There was a 3.3% incidence rate of intraoperative durotomies, with no spinal cord or nerve root injuries. Post-operatively, 44.8% of patients were transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU). The most common post-operative complications were weakness (20.0%), new sensory deficits (16.7%), and hypotension (13.3%). The mean length of stay was 8.8±7.6 days, with the majority of patients discharged home (96.7%). The 30-day readmission rate was 9.7%, with the most common 30-day complications being uncontrolled pain (16.7%), sensory-motor deficits (13.3%), and fever (10.0%). Conclusions: Our study suggests that weakness, sensory deficits, and uncontrolled pain are the most common complications after resection of spinal metastases, with a relatively high associated 30-day readmission rate. Further studies are necessary to corroborate our findings and identify strategies to reduce complication and readmission rates after resection of spinal metastases.
Thermal analysis of the DES camera focal plate.

A design specification for the DES Camera focal plate is to keep the deformation of the plate to less than 30 microns under operating conditions. Figure 1 shows the assembly of the focal plate, the support bipods and support ring, and the copper braid assemblies. Several studies were done to examine the deformation of the focal plate under different thermal and structural constraints. Simple hand calculations were also performed as a check of the finite element model and results. The main goal of this analysis was to determine the deformation of the plate and to understand what thermal and structural conditions are causing the deformation.
Failure recovery: a model and experiments

This paper presents a model of failure recovery from which we have designed and tested sets of failure recovery methods in the Phoenix system. We derive the model, document its assumptions, and then test the validity of the assumptions and predictions of the model. We present three experiments. One derives baselines for failure recovery in the Phoenix environment. The second compares the performance of two strategies for selecting failure recovery methods. The third compares the performance of an initial set of failure recovery methods with a redesigned set that is predicted to have lower expected cost.
The 88Sr(p, γ)89Y reaction near the d52 ground-state analogue

Abstract The d 5 2 ground-state analogue of 89Sr is studied with the 88Sr(p, γ) reaction near 5.06 MeV proton energy with a Ge(Li) detector. Excitation functions for γ-ray decay to the ground state, second excited (1.49 MeV) and third excited (1.73 MeV) states of 89Y are measured. The transitions from the 5 2 + analogue state to the 3 2 - second excited state and 5 2 - third excited state are observed to resonate. The resonance cross-section ratios σn/σγ for the 5 2 + → 3 2 - and 5 2 + → 5 2 − γ-ray decay are, respectively, 360 and 560 with Γ γ ( 5 2 + → 3 2 - ) = 7 ± 2 eV and Γ γ ( 5 2 + → 5 2 - ) 4 ± 3 eV .
Model-Free Energy Optimization for Energy Internet

With the high penetration of distributed energy, the scale of current energy network becomes larger. At the same time, it also has the problems of complex computation and slow convergence. In order to realize the rational planning and utilize various energy resources and improve the reliability and economy of the overall system, the problems of system stability, economic operation and power flow calculation must be considered comprehensively. As a kind of machine learning, reinforcement learning has strong intelligence and rapidity, which can realize the optimal control of the system. Aiming at the energy management model of regional energy Internet, this chapter studies how to transform energy management into Q learning model, and uses Q learning algorithm to verify the validity of the model. In the meantime, for the optimization scheduling problem of large-scale system, this chapter expands the optimal power flow model of energy internet into the optimal operation structure composed of multiple We-Energies based on the previous one, and uses the distributed reinforcement learning algorithm to optimize the large-scale energy internet scheduling which considers the average consistent information search to achieve the optimization process for cooperating and communicating multiple We-Energies.
Effect of Adding Potassium Chloride on Tetra-n-butyl Ammonium Chloride Semiclathrate Thermal Stability at Atmospheric Pressure

Tetra-n-butyl ammonium chloride (TBAC) is an organic salt known to form semiclathrate complexes in the presence of water. Previous studies using differential scanning calorimetry have shown that th...
Driver's Licenses for All? Racialized Illegality and the Implementation of Progressive Immigration Policy in California

Progressive subfederal immigration policy aims to reduce the consequences of illegality for undocumented immigrants. Drawing on interviews with representatives from immigrant‐serving organizations in California, we examine the case of Assembly Bill (A.B.) 60 driver's licenses to assess whether all Californian undocumented immigrants have equal access to a driver's license. Although A.B. 60 was race‐neutral legislation, we argue that its implementation was shaped by racialized migration histories and that it reproduces racialized illegality. Specifically, the deep history of undocumented Mexican migration to California has shaped the institutional capacity of nonprofit and community organizations, foreign consulates, and the Department of Motor Vehicles to advocate for, implement, and serve A.B. 60 applicants. As a result, Spanish‐speaking, Latina/o/x immigrants, particularly those of Mexican origin, experience greater access to A.B. 60 driver's licenses. To combat this, organizations actively worked to reracialize illegality as an issue that also affects non‐Latino populations. Ultimately, we demonstrate that the construction and experience of illegality are deeply tied to race and place.
Review of the literature: Streptococcus suis infections of people

Streptococcus suis is an important bacterial pathogen in both swine and humans. The majority of clinical cases of S. suis infection have occurred in people associated with the swine industry: producers, abattoir workers, food preparers, etc. Consequently, streptococcosis is considered an occupational health hazard in some countries. Manifestations of S. suis infection in both hosts include meningitis, pneumonia, endocarditis, and arthritis. People working with swine are encouraged to take basic hygienic precautions such as protecting skin wounds during contact, and hand-washing after contact with swine to prevent transmission of this zoonotic.
Introduction: Lefamulin and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic Rationale to Support the Dose Selection of Lefamulin

Lefamulin is the first semisynthetic pleuromutilin being developed for oral and intravenous administration. The drug selectively inhibits prokaryotic ribosomal protein synthesis by binding to the peptidyl transferase centre via four H-bonds and other interactions, resulting in an 'induced fit' that tightens the binding pocket around lefamulin. This unique mechanism of action has been associated with a low probability of cross-resistance to other antimicrobial classes commonly used to treat community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP). This Supplement, entitled 'Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analyses and dose rationale for lefamulin, a novel pleuromutilin antibiotic, for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia', is intended to be a valuable resource for both clinicians and researchers. It provides the essential pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data on lefamulin that were used to support the optimal dose selection of lefamulin for the safe and effective treatment of CABP in adults.
Blockchain-based Negawatt Trading Platform: Conceptual Architecture and Case Studies

Demand reduction, also known as Negawatts or negative watts, has emerged as another commodity that can be exchanged. This paper discusses conceptual architecture of a blockchain-based negawatt trading platform implemented on Hyperledger. Two trading scenarios are discussed. The first scenario involves negawatt trading between a demand response aggregator and buildings. The second scenario discusses negawatt trading among buildings to meet the contract shortfalls of buildings in the first scenario. Participants, assets, transactions and transaction flows of both scenarios are described, together with the smart contracts that describe how buyers and sellers are compensated for their negawatt exchange. Case studies are implemented and compared.
A Family of Transformerless Stacked Active Bridge Converters

This paper describes a family of transformerless stacked active bridge (TSAB) converters with N-to-1 nominal conversion ratios and continuous voltage regulation capabilities. An N-to-1 TSAB is a hybrid converter derived from the N-to-1 Dickson switched-capacitor (SC) converter, with small ac inductors inserted in the flying-capacitor branches to achieve lossless ("soft") capacitor charging and discharging. In operation, a TSAB converter resembles the isolated Dual Active Bridge (DAB) converter but without the need for an isolation transformer. The TSAB family has several favorable characteristics, which lead to very high efficiency around nominal conversion ratio, including small ac inductors with near-trapezoidal low RMS currents, low voltage stresses, and zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) over wide load range. Moreover, the operation is robust with respect to component tolerances, and continuous voltage regulation can be achieved through simple phase shift control. Experimental results are presented for a 120 W, 48V-to-12V TSAB prototype, demonstrating a flat efficiency characteristic with 98.6% peak efficiency, and 98.0% full-load efficiency.
Journey to the Unknown: Survival, Re-awakening, Renewal, and Reformation

This chapter unfolds in four modes that correspond to my own journey in higher education. “Survivalist mode” reviews my initiation as an instructor of International Relations, disclosing my own insecurity at that time over being “capable” enough, both as an instructor and as a research-intensive junior scholar, to be hired into this vocation. “(Re-)awakening” explores the transformational potential that administrative positions can have in the lives of especially undergraduate scholars. This is evidenced through a program that I taught within, and then helped direct, at the University of Kansas during my last three years there (2010–2013). In my current role as a Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Utah, I have experienced a “renewal” of sorts, discussed in the third section. Our program focuses on making our graduate students exceptional instructors as well as scholars through pedagogical curriculum, experience, mentoring, and training. The fourth and concluding section looks forward to what a “reformation” of PhD programs, centered around instructional and administrative training (first and foremost), might entail.
New Method for Systems and Cost Analysis of Human Mars Entry Vehicles

Cost is one of the biggest obstacles to sending humans to Mars. However, spacecraft costs are typically not estimated until after the preliminary vehicle and mission concepts have been designed. By...
Visual Design Problem-based Learning in a Virtual Environment Improves Computational Thinking and Programming Knowledge

In this paper, we present our design of a high school summer course which uses our Visual Design Problem-based Learning Pedagogy using Virtual Environments as a strategy to teach computer science. Students solved visual design problems by creating 3D sculptures in an online virtual environment. These creations were further explored and refined in immersive display systems fostering embodied learning and remote peer presence and support. To achieve the desired design, students use programming and computing concepts, such as loops, to solve those visual design centered problems, i.e. solving for composition, positive/negative space, balance, as opposed to computational problems first, i.e. create a loop, a fractal, randomized lines, etc. We present results from a study conducted on three high school summer courses. We compared the use of our Visual Design Problem-based teaching strategy (students wrote code to solve challenges based on art and design principles) to a traditional strategy (students wrote code to demonstrate comprehension of computer science concepts). Our results showed that test scores were higher for students in our Visual Design Problem-based courses. This work may have a positive impact on computer science education by increasing engagement, knowledge acquisition, and self-directed learning.
Debunking the Myth of the Entrepreneur through Narrative in the Contemporary South Asian Novel

The post-Cold War wave of neoliberalism that has swept South Asia has had to be propped up not just by the repressive apparatuses of the region’s states, but through an array of ideological reinfor...
Cultural Proficiency: The Missing Link to Student Learning:

This case illustrates why school leaders must be culturally proficient to serve all students and lead effectively. I discuss one case in Ohio that is representative of many other American schools. ...
Dissonant Discourses in Institutional Communications on Sexual Violence

This article is a discourse analysis of a large Northwestern research university’s official communications regarding sexual violence for a 15-month time frame. Through close reading of these commun...
Detection of Cardiovascular CRP Protein Biomarker Using a Novel Nanofibrous Substrate.

It is known that different diseases have characteristic biomarkers that are secreted very early on, even before the symptoms have developed. Before any kind of therapeutic approach can be used, it is necessary that such biomarkers be detected at a minimum concentration in the bodily fluids. Here, we report the fabrication of an interdigitated sensing device integrated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers and carbon nanotubes (CNT) for the detection of an inflammatory biomarker, C-reactive protein (CRP). The limit of detection (LOD) was achieved in a range of 100 ng mL−1 and 1 fg mL−1 in both phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and human serum (hs). Furthermore, a significant change in the electrochemical impedance from 45% to 70% (hs) and 38% to 60% (PBS) over the loading range of CRP was achieved. The finite element analysis indicates that a non-redox charge transduction at the solid/liquid interface on the electrode surface is responsible for the enhanced sensitivity. Furthermore, the fabricated biosensor consists of a large electro-active surface area, along with better charge transfer characteristics that enabled improved specific binding with CRP. This was determined both experimentally and from the simulated electrochemical impedance of the PVA nanofiber patterned gold electrode.