cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Social-cognitive dimensions of interaction in L2 peer revision.

an important factor in second language (L2) acquisition (9; 17).1 Research has focused on several variables of interaction: task type (13), teacher participation (27), nature of input (17), and negotiation strategies (22). Some recent studies (1; 2; 19; 26), however, have pointed out the need to look at the social relationships that characterize learner/learner and teacher/ learner L2 discourse and how these might affect the learning of the L2. We believe that Vygotskyan psycholinguistics (19; 20; 30; 36; 38; 39), a theoretical framework originated by the work of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (34; 35), offers an ideal model for studying the interrelatedness of the social and cognitive aspects of interactive discourse. We are particularly interested in applying a Vygotskyan socialcognitive2 perspective to the analysis of interaction during peer revision in the L2 writing classroom.
Ancient vernacular architecture: characteristics categorization and energy performance evaluation

Building has significant impacts on the environment and natural resources. The emerging world energy and environment challenges demand a substantial revolution of building design philosophies, strategies, technologies, and construction methods. Vernacular architectures, built by people whose design decisions are influenced by traditions in their culture, have been gleaned through a long period of trial and error and the ingenuity of local builders who possess specific knowledge about their place on the planet, and thus are valuable in promoting climate-specific passive building technologies to modern buildings. This study introduced an approach to categorizing distinct vernacular regions and evaluating energy performance of ancient vernacular homes as well as identifying optimal constructions using vernacular building techniques. The research conducted an extensive computer energy modeling for a number of representative ancient vernacular architectural characteristics observed for different climatic regions. The vernacular test subjects were compared against those established according to the International Energy Conservation Code and those generated by the optimization software. The simulation results of the energy models suggest that considering traditions seen in ancient vernacular architecture as an approach to improving building energy performance is a worthwhile endeavor and a scientific guidance can help enhance the performance. The study indicates that, although many vernacular dwells exist in the world, it is challenging (but desired) to package vernacular architecture traditions and quantitative design knowledge to modern building designers. This project is the first part of a much larger project that intends to create a knowledge base of vernacular building traditions that will include information about not only the energy performance of traditional building techniques, but also address areas of cost, material availability and cultural traditions.
OLDER MALES, COGNITIVE FUNCTION, AND ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

We investigated the question, how do older men who drink alcohol differ from those who do not drink on measures of cognitive function, memory, affect, and health? Of the nonprobability sample of male participants (N = 60), 35 (58%) of the males reported some degree of alcohol consumption. Eleven men had one or more drinks per day, 14 had one or more drinks per week, and 9 were occasional drinkers. The drinkers reported significantly less depression, had higher self-reported general health and vitality, and had higher cognitive performance, cognitive flexibility, and verbal memory, and greater knowledge of memory processes.
Separating agricultural and non-agricultural fire seasonality at regional scales

Abstract. The timing and length of burning seasons in different parts of the world depend on climate, land-cover characteristics, and human activities. In this study, global burned area estimates are used in conjunction with global gridded distributions of agricultural land-cover types (defined as the sum of cropland and pasture area) to separate the seasonality of agricultural burning practices from that of non-agricultural fire. The results presented in this study show that agricultural and non-agricultural land experience broadly different fire seasonality patterns that are not always linked to climate conditions. We highlight these differences on a regional basis, examining variations in both agricultural land cover and associated cultural practices to help explain our results. While we discuss two land-cover categories, the methods can be generalized to derive seasonality for any number of land uses or cover types. This will be useful as global fire models evolve to be fully interactive with land-use and land-cover change in the next generation of Earth system models.
INTERFAMILY TRANSFERS AS ALTERNATIVES TO GOVERNMENT TRANSFERS TO PERSONS

How have government transfers altered the distribution of income, the level of work effort, and the rate of personal saving? Most scholars approach this question by comparing the current level of government transfers with the unrealistic counterfactual of a zero-transfer situation. This method overlooks the fact that nongovernment transfers existed before government transfers and the possibility that private transfers might have grown more if government transfers had grown less. This paper explores the significance of one private alternative to government transfers-namely, direct interfamily giving of cash, food, and housing. Fragmentary evidence suggests that such interfamily transfer was quantitatively more important than governmental transfer for these purposes thirty years ago, but is now only half as great. If current government transfers are conversions of, or substitutes for, interfamily transfers, then it follows that some of the benefits of government transfer “slide” over to “secondary beneficiaries,” i.e. those who would have made the private transfers. Further, it follows that the effects of government transfers are not much different from those of the private transfers which they replace.
Randomized Clinical Trial of Etomidate Versus Propofol for Procedural Sedation in the Emergency Department

Study objective We compare the efficacy, adverse events, and recovery duration of etomidate and propofol for use in procedural sedation in the emergency department (ED). Methods This was a randomized nonblinded prospective trial of adult patients undergoing procedural sedation for painful procedures in the ED. Patients received either propofol or etomidate. Doses, vital signs, nasal end-tidal CO 2 (etco 2 ), pulse oximetry, and bispectral electroencephalogram analysis scores were recorded. Subclinical respiratory depression was defined as a change in etco 2 greater than 10 mm Hg, an oxygen saturation of less than 92% at any time, or an absent etco 2 waveform at any time. Clinical events related to respiratory depression, including an increase in supplemental oxygen, the use of a bag-valve-mask apparatus, airway repositioning, or stimulation to induce breathing, were noted during the procedure. After the procedure, patients completed visual analog scales about perceived pain during the procedure and recall of the procedure. Results Two hundred twenty patients were enrolled; 214 underwent sedation and were analyzed. One hundred five patients received etomidate and 109 received propofol. No clinically significant complications were noted. Subclinical respiratory depression was observed in 36 of 105 (34.3%) patients in the etomidate group and 46 of 109 (42.2%) in the propofol group (difference –7.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI] –20.9% to 5.1%). Myoclonus was noted in 21 of 105 (20.0%) patients in the etomidate group and 2 of 109 (1.8%) in the propofol group (difference 18.2%; 95% CI 10.1% to 26.2%). The mean difference between baseline systolic blood pressure and the nadir was 3.8% (95% CI 2.3% to 5.3%) for etomidate and 7.9% (95% CI 6.1% to 9.7%) for propofol. Clinical events related to respiratory depression included an increase in supplemental oxygen in 6.7% of etomidate patients and 5.5% of propofol patients (difference 1.2%; 95% CI –5.2% to 7.6%), the use of bag-valve-mask apparatus in 3.8% of patients in the etomidate groups and 4.6% in the propofol group (difference –0.8%; 95% CI –6.1% to 4.6%), airway repositioning in 13.3% of etomidate patients and 11.0% of propofol patients (effect size 2.3%; 95% CI –6.4% to 11.1%), and stimulation to induce breathing in 11.4% of etomidate patients and 11.9% of propofol patients (difference –0.5%; 95% CI –9.1% to 8.1%). The procedures were successful in 93 of 105 (88.6%) for etomidate and 106 of 109 (97.2%) for propofol (difference –7.4%; 95% CI –14.3% to –1.1%). Conclusion Etomidate and propofol appear equally safe for ED procedural sedation; however, etomidate had a lower rate of procedural success and induced myoclonus in 20% of patients.
Evaluation of cone-beam computed tomography in the diagnosis of simulated small osseous defects in the mandibular condyle

Introduction In this study, we investigated the impact of defect size and scan voxel size on the accuracy of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) diagnoses of simulated condylar defects and assessed the value of orthodontic CBCT images typically scanned at lower settings (0.4-mm voxel size and full-size field of view) in diagnosing condylar erosion defects. Methods Cylindrical holes simulating condylar defects with varied diameters (≤2, 2-3, and >3 mm) and depths (≤2 and >2 mm) were created in 22 fresh pig mandibular condyles, with defect number and size per condyle and quadrant randomly determined. With the soft tissues repositioned, 2 CBCT scans (voxel sizes, 0.4 and 0.2 mm) of the pig heads were obtained from an i-CAT unit (Imaging Science International, Hatfield, Pa). Reconstructed CBCT data were analyzed independently by 2 calibrated, blinded raters using Dolphin-3D (Dolphin Imaging and Management Solutions, Chatsworth, Calif) for defect identification and localization and defect diameter and depth measurements, which were compared with physical diagnoses obtained from polyvinyl siloxane impressions. Results Identification and localization of simulated defects demonstrated moderate interrater reliability and excellent specificity and sensitivity, except for extremely small defects (both diameter and depth ≤2 mm) viewed with 0.4-mm scans, which had a significantly lower sensitivity (67.3%). Geometric measurements of simulated defects demonstrated good but not excellent interrater reliability and submillimeter inaccuracy for all defects. Receiver operating characteristic analyses demonstrated that the overall accuracy of diagnosing simulated condylar defects based on CBCT geometric measurements was fair and good for the 0.4-mm and 0.2-mm voxel-size scans, respectively. With the prevalence of condylar erosion defects in the patients considered, the positive predictive values of diagnoses based on 0.5-mm size (diameter or depth) cutoff points were near 15% and 50% for asymptomatic and symptomatic temporomandibular joints, respectively; the negative predictive values were near 95% and 90%, respectively. Conclusions When using orthodontic CBCT images for diagnosing condylar osseous defects, extremely small (
Fiber optic probes for biomedical optical spectroscopy.

Fiber optic probes are a key element for biomedical spectroscopic sensing. We review the use of fiber optic probes for optical spectroscopy, focusing on applications in turbid media, such as tissue. The design of probes for reflectance, polarized reflectance, fluorescence, and Raman spectroscopy is illustrated. We cover universal design principles as well as technologies for beam deflecting and reshaping.
Age‐specific prevalence and years of healthy life in a system with three health states

Consider a 3-state system with one absorbing state, such as Healthy, Sick, and Dead. Over time, the prevalence of the Healthy state will approach an 'equilibrium' value that is independent of the initial conditions. We derived this equilibrium prevalence (Prev:Equil) as a function of the local transition probabilities. We then used Prev:Equil to estimate the expected number of years spent in the healthy state over time. This estimate is similar to the one calculated by multi-state life table methods, and has the advantage of having an associated standard error. In longitudinal data for older adults, the standard error was accurate when a valid survival table was known from other sources, or when the available data set was sufficient to estimate survival accurately. Performance was better with fewer waves of data. If validated in other situations, these estimates of prevalence and years of healthy life (YHL) and their standard errors may be useful when the goal is to compare YHL for different populations.
Le placement privé de valeurs mobilières aux États-Unis

Les placements prives constituent un moyen privilegie d'acces aux marches de capitaux americains. Dispenses d'enregistrement aupres de la SEC, les placements prives de valeurs mobilieres offrent aux emetteurs l'avantage d'une plus grande flexibilite et d'un moindre cout, par rapport aux offres publiques de titres. Cet article decrit les conditions a remplir et les criteres tres precis degages par la jurisprudence americaine et la reglementation de la SEC, auxquels les emetteurs doivent se soumettre, en matiere de nombre et de type d'investisseurs, d'informations a rendre publiques, etc. Dans de telles transactions, le conseil juridique doit se conformer a une procedure predeterminee et entourer l'operation de precautions visant a conserver a l'emetteur, le privilege de l'exemption d'enregistrement. L'inconvenient principal du dispositif consiste en restrictions attachees a la revente des titres: l'investisseur s'engage a conserver les valeurs acquises pendant une periode de deux ans. Cependant, la nouvelle regle 144A, adoptee par la SEC le 19 avril 1990, devrait rendre beaucoup plus souples les conditions de revente des titres et en particulier, bouleverser les conditions d'acces aux marches financiers americains pour les emetteurs etrangers.
Growth Rates and Habits of Ice Crystals between −20° and −70°C

Abstract A laboratory study of ice crystal growth characteristics at temperatures between −20° and −70°C has been performed at ice supersaturations and pressures comparable with those in the atmosphere using a horizontal static diffusion chamber. Maximum dimension, projected area, and volume growth rates, in addition to habit frequency, have been measured for individual habit types as functions of temperature, ice supersaturation, and air pressure. It was found that from −20° to −40°C and at ice supersaturations in excess of 2%, the most frequent habits observed were platelike polycrystals and plates, the complexity of forms increasing with increasing supersaturation. Columns appear with low frequency in this temperature range for all supersaturations. At low ice supersaturation (1%–2%), the habit consists of thick plates, compact polycrystals, and occasional short columns and is the region with the highest frequency of pristine crystals capable of producing halos. Just colder than −40°C, there is a marke...
Financial Innovation, Tax Arbitrage, and Retrospective Taxation: The Problem with Passive Government Lending

Recent years has seen an explosion of financial innovation aimed at exploiting inconsistencies in the income tax. In its most extreme form, parties engage in tax arbitrage, the practice of buying and selling the same cash flows to generate an after-tax profit. The primary tool for many of these arbitrage strategies is the realization requirement, which subjects taxpayers to tax on their gains and losses only when they sell their assets. Recently, several prominent economists have offered proposals that would reform the income tax while maintaining the realization requirement. This paper shows that if taxpayers are prevented from defaulting on their obligations to the government, then the proposals would prevent arbitrage as their authors claim. This is because the proposals would uniquely decompose the return on any investment into a return to capital and a return to risk and because they would charge interest on deferred taxes. If, however, taxpayers can default on their tax obligations, then these methods would not prevent arbitrage. The reason why is that the interest rate charged by the government would be below market because it would not reflect the possibility of default.
A novel particulate guanylyl cyclase receptor B/cGMP activator with selective vasodilating actions in experimental hypertension

Purpose: This is a retrospective hypertension (HTN) cohort analysis evaluating initial antihypertensive prescribing of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) or chlorthalidone (CHL) monotherapy and change in initial blood pressure (BP) and electrolytes in a large safety-net institution. Methods: Patients were identified through the Denver Health HTN registry which includes adult patients with at least 1 primary care visit in past 18 months and at least 2 diagnoses of HTN in past 5 years. All patients from the registry were then cross referenced to their medication lists based on prescribing in the medical record. 861 patients were identified as being prescribed HCTZ monotherapy and 75 patients prescribed CHL monotherapy without previous prescriptions of any other antihypertensive therapy. Patient demographics, BP (1st prior to prescription and 1st within 3 months post prescription), serum potassium (1st prior to prescription and 1st within 6 months post prescription), and antihypertensive therapy prescribed were collected. Results: 100 HTN patients with a mean age of 57 were analyzed (50 HCTZ and 50 CHL). The mean lowering of systolic BP (SBP) from baseline was 16.7 12.4 and 23.0 13.4 mm Hg for HCTZ and CHL, respectively (p<0.001). The mean lowering of diastolic BP (DBP) from baseline was 9.1 9.3 and 12.5 10.1 mm Hg for HCTZ and CHL, respectively (p 1⁄4 0.511). Overall, post prescription BP control rate (< 140/90 mm Hg) was 62% and with no significant difference between groups (p 1⁄4 0.837). The mean lowering of serum potassium (K) from baseline was 0.48 1.10 and 0.22 0.56 mEq/L for HCTZ and CHL, respectively (p1⁄4 0.287). Hypokalemia (K < 3.5 mEq/L) occurred in 18.2% and 42.9% of HCTZ and CHL, respectively (p 1⁄4 0.076) with only 50% of patients getting a post prescription K within 6 months. Conclusions: This analysis illustrates a statistically significant reduction in SBP, and no difference in DBP, with use of CHL compared to HCTZ. BP goal attainment was no different between groups. There was a trend towards higher hypokalemia incidence in the CHL vs HCTZ patients, but only 50% of patients had a K checked within 6 months of initial prescribing. This study supports CHL is a more potent diuretic than HCTZ at lowering SBP and that there is a need for greater K monitoring in patients prescribed diuretic monotherapy.
Dissonance within the Federal Reserve System

This paper analyzes the institutional framework of the Federal Reserve System. Contrary to claims that the Fed is dominated solely by private interests or by political considerations, I argue that it is a mixture of both because the Board of Governors is a government agency while the district banks are private organizations Their differing governance and accountability structures support that distinction. Yet the idea that district banks are private organizations is not widely accepted. I use budget and employment data for the district banks and the Board of Governors from the past 25 years to support my claim. I also argue that we are likely to get better monetary policy and financial oversight from the district banks than from the Board of Governors because the banks have better accountability and knowledge.
Nonrashes. 5. Atmoknesis: pruritus provoked by contact with air

Atmoknesis, itching provoked by open exposure of the skin to air after undressing, is a common and distressing symptom. It occurs in many patients with psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, and in elderly patients with aquagenic pruritus. It also occurs in some patients with underlying systemic causes of generalized pruritus, such as hepatobiliary disease. It does not seem to be an important feature of certain other pruritic skin diseases such as dermatitis herpetiformis and bullous pemphigoid.
Autocrine and Paracrine Roles for Growth Factors in Melanoma.

Distinct biologic and histopathological features characterizing each stage of tumor progression toward a more aggressive phenotype have been defined in the human melanocytic cell system. One of the most significant aspects accompanying melanoma progression is the acquisition of growth autonomy and the expression of multiple growth factors and receptors by tumor cells but not by normal melanocytes. Among the growth factors produced by melanoma cells, bFGF, TGF-alpha, TGF-beta, PDGF A and B chains, MGSA, and interleukins have been extensively characterized. The complex signaling networks mediated by these melanoma-derived factors are responsible for the autocrine growth stimulation of melanoma cells and for paracrine actions of growth factors in the generation of a microenvironment favorable for tumor survival and invasion. bFGF is the best characterized candidate for autocrine stimulation in melanoma cells. In addition, bFGF and other growth factors not apparently involved in autocrine loops have been shown to activate neighboring stromal cells and to participate in angiogenesis, fibrous stroma formation, activation of proteolytic enzymes produced by normal cells, promotion of adhesive interactions between tumor cells and extracellular matrix and endothelium, and suppression of local immunity. Experimental models that can account for the complex interactions between normal and tumor cells are needed to further explore the roles of autocrine and paracrine actions of growth factors and their receptors in melanoma development and progression.
Occupationally related magnetic field exposure and male subfertility

Objective To determine whether there is an association between occupationally related magnetic field exposure, as estimated in milligauss (mG), and male subfertility. Design Nested case-control study using three defined case groups and one standard control group. Setting Yale New Haven Hospital Infertility Clinic, New Haven, Connecticut. Patients, Interventions Male partners of couples seeking diagnosis and care at the infertility clinic. Men included in the analysis had complete first semen analysis and interview information. Subjects for this investigation consisted of case groups for motility (n = 177), morphology (n = 135), and concentration (n = 172); controls included men normal on all three parameters (n = 304). Main Outcome Measures Laboratory confirmation in semen analysis of poor morphology, inadequate motility, and low concentration. Comparisons of occupational magnetic field exposure categories are made between case groups and controls. Results The odds of high job exposure category to magnetic fields (>3 mG [>0.3 / µ T]) for morphology cases were odds ratio (OR) = 0.6, for motility cases OR=1.1, and concentration cases OR=1.0 as compared with controls. No significant association was demonstrated for medium exposure (>2 to 3 mG) among all case groups. Multivariate adjustment for selected risk factors did not substantially change estimates of risk. Conclusions A lack of association between occupationally related categories of magnetic field exposure and male subfertility, as evaluated by morphology, motility, and concentration, has been demonstrated. These findings do not substantiate theories of deleterious effects to male reproductive health from magnetic fields.
Complicated vs. Complex, Disease vs. Illness: Rethinking Diagnosis, Therapy, and Restoring Health

Medical physiology is generally studied as a static and complicated system where dynamic processes are captured as flow charts. From this perspective, when “X” increases, “Y” decreases, captured as feedback loops and cascades, or, after “A” happens, then “B” takes place. Such a static and sequential view on human physiology lends itself well to the biomarker approach to diagnosis, therapy, and maintenance of health. Here, “abnormal” levels of biomarkers are indicators of disease to specific physiological systems and health would be defined by the absence of aberrant biomarker levels. However, the human body is a complex system where “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. The human body has processes that occur simultaneously and fluctuate consistently over time. Complexity affords human physiology the capacity for compensatory adaptive patterns and creates a distinction between illness and disease, where one does not necessitate the other. This paper will discuss the concepts of complexity and degeneracy, providing a theoretical framework of the relationship between the whole and parts. The primacy of complex, interacting dynamic physiological patterns will be presented in contrast to the biomarker approach. It presents a challenge to the idea that the absence of visible, “meaningful” structural or functional disruption alone cannot be used as an indicator of health. The absence of disease is not the absence of illness, and the presence of disease is not a reflection of illness. Clinically relevant outcomes from the complex dynamics perspective will be provided, where alternative views of the detection and management of disease and illness will be presented. The critical issue is the emphasis on the importance of rediscovering the pathway to health that goes beyond the normalization of single physiological biomarkers.
Creative usage of stator flux linkage to fast brake electric vehicles

Kinetic energy has to be rapidly transferred or dissipated in order to quickly brake an electric vehicle. In electric vehicles, a finite amount of kinetic energy can be transferred to the battery. Motor braking capability is fundamentally limited by the maximum charging rate and the state-of-charge of the battery. This paper presents a methodology to manipulate system losses such that the additional kinetic energy can also be dissipated in the motor and the inverter, eventually in the cooling system. To do this, stator flux linkage is dynamically varying while torque control accuracy is not compromised. The achieved additional torque can assist to brake electric vehicles faster with fully-charged batteries, as well as in emergency situations. The maximum braking torque is affected by the current limit, DC bus voltage and the peak power that energy storage system can absorb. Analytical and experimental evaluation is provided to quantitatively examine the additional braking torque.
Neurocognitive function varies by IDH1 genetic mutation status in patients with malignant glioma prior to surgical resection.

Background Patients with malignant gliomas present with variation in neurocognitive function (NCF) not attributable to lesion size or location alone. A potential contributor is the rate at which tumors grow, or "lesion momentum." Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 wild type (IDH1-WT) are more proliferative and aggressive than IDH1-mutant (IDH1-M) tumors. We hypothesized that patients with IDH1-WT would exhibit worse NCF than patients with IDH1-M tumors. Methods Comprehensive NCF testing was completed in 119 patients with malignant glioma prior to surgical resection. IDH1 status was determined with immunohistochemistry and sequencing. Rates of impairment and mean test performances were compared by IDH1. Results NCF impairment was significantly more frequent in patients with IDH1-WT tumors in memory, processing speed, visuoconstruction, language, executive functioning, and manual dexterity. Mean performances of patients with IDH1-WT were also significantly lower than those with IDH1-M tumors on measures of learning and memory, processing speed, language, executive functioning, and dexterity. Lesion volume was not statistically different between IDH1-WT and IDH1-M tumors. Tumor and lesion volume on T1-weighted and fluid attenuated inversion recovery MRI were significantly associated with most NCF tests in patients with IDH1-WT, but only significantly associated with a single measure in patients with IDH1-M tumors. Conclusion Patients with IDH1-WT show reduced NCF compared with those with IDH1-M malignant gliomas. Lesion volume is inversely associated with NCF for patients with IDH1-WT, but not IDH1-M tumors. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that patients with IDH1-WT tumors present with more severe NCF impairment due to greater lesion momentum, which may impede compensatory neuroplasticity and cerebral reorganization.
Limiter/Discriminator Detection of Narrowband FM in Jamming and Multipath Environments

This paper presents a performance analysis of frequency-hopped (FH) spread spectrum systems for narrowband digital FM with limiter-discriminator (L/D) detection and integrate-and-dump post-detection filtering. The performance improvement provided by using coding and subsymbol diversity is illustrated. It is also demonstrated that a more robust, less complex system can perform better than the conventional system in partial band noise jamming and multipath environments.
Evaluation of ClAlPc synthesis methods for transparent organic photovoltaic

Two processes for chloroaluminum phthalocyanine (ClAlPc) synthesis using phthalonitrile and phthalic anhydride are compared based on ClAlPc purity, cost analysis of reactants, and performance for low-cost organic photovoltaic applications. Purity of ClAlPc is characterized through UV-vis and HPLC-mass spectrometry. The UV-vis spectra of ClAlPc from phthalic anhydride and phthalonitrile show strong Q-band absorption at 670 nm and 677 nm respectively, and 670 nm for reference ClAlPc. Also, liquid chromatogram of ClAlPc from two precursors and reference ClAlPc have the same retention time at 7 min with 580.16 m/z and the same isotope distribution. The power conversion efficiency of ClAlPc photovoltaic devices varies from 0.22% to 1.9% depending on the precursor. The best devices made with material synthesized using the phthalonitrile process have comparable efficiency to reference devices.
Strategies for Developing Family Nursing Communities of Practice Through Social Media

This discussion article presents communities of practice (CoPs) and bridging social capital as conceptual frameworks to demonstrate how social media can be leveraged for family nursing knowledge, s...
Do the Three Pillars Impact Country-level Entrepreneurial Activity and Funding Differently?

While previous research has posited that the formal and informal measures are substitutive and primarily focused on the regulatory dimensions, our results indicate that all three pillars play an ad...
Three-dimensional visualization and a deep-learning model reveal complex fungal parasite networks in behaviorally manipulated ants.

Abstract Some microbes possess the ability to adaptively manipulate host behavior. To better understand how such microbial parasites control animal behavior, we examine the cell-level interactions between the species-specific fungal parasite Ophiocordyceps unilateralis sensu lato and its carpenter ant host (Camponotus castaneus) at a crucial moment in the parasite’s lifecycle: when the manipulated host fixes itself permanently to a substrate by its mandibles. The fungus is known to secrete tissue-specific metabolites and cause changes in host gene expression as well as atrophy in the mandible muscles of its ant host, but it is unknown how the fungus coordinates these effects to manipulate its host’s behavior. In this study, we combine techniques in serial block-face scanning-electron microscopy and deep-learning–based image segmentation algorithms to visualize the distribution, abundance, and interactions of this fungus inside the body of its manipulated host. Fungal cells were found throughout the host body but not in the brain, implying that behavioral control of the animal body by this microbe occurs peripherally. Additionally, fungal cells invaded host muscle fibers and joined together to form networks that encircled the muscles. These networks may represent a collective foraging behavior of this parasite, which may in turn facilitate host manipulation.
Sociology towards death: Heidegger, time and social theory:

In this article, we draw on the existential phenomenology of Martin Heidegger to propose an approach to sociology that takes human experiences of finitude and possibility as crucial topics of investigation. A concern with death is not absent in sociological thought. To the contrary, Durkheim’s Suicide grounds a sociological research tradition into death and dying. Yet Heidegger’s existentialism renders our finitude – not just death – a matter of everyday life, a constitutive feature of human existence and a source of sociological investigation. By explicating Heidegger’s interconnected concepts of finitude, futurity, authenticity and resoluteness, we propose to investigate people’s ordinary temporal experiences as well as the institutional contexts that make them possible. On this basis, we develop two concepts – existential marginalisation and existential exhaustion – that foreground questions of time, meaning and institutions in the study of poverty, inequality and everyday life.
Introduction to computing: a course in computer science fundamentals

The traditional approach to introducing students to computer science has been through a course built around the development of programming skills, ignoring the practical reality of increasing powerful application-oriented software packages. In this paper we describe a two course sequence which has been taught to majors in computer science and a variety of other disciplines for the last four years. We emphasize effective use of abstraction and the acquisition of software development skills which are language independent. Our experience with these courses has convinced us that it is possible to introduce the conceptual foundations of computer science to beginning students in a way which both engages them and gives them a basis for learning advanced ways to solve problems using computing.
The Need for Long-Term Follow-Up of Children Conceived Through ICSI

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has become an important therapeutic intervention in assisted reproduction technologies (ART) since its introduction in 1992, overcoming many of the problems presented by male factor infertility. Although the overwhelming majority of children born following ICSI have been healthy, concerns have been raised about the potential harmful effects of ICSI on the resulting offspring. This chapter reviews the literature to date on the outcomes of children born following ICSI, with emphasis on the incidence of congenital abnormalities, imprinting disorders, chromosomal and karyotypic abnormalities, and neurologic and developmental outcomes. As the oldest children born from ICSI are now 20 years old, little is known about the long-term health of these offspring. Continued follow-up of these children is essential to determine the long-term outcomes of children conceived through ICSI.
Requirements Engineering for Rapid Development

There is a growing trend in business to develop systems using rapid development tools and methods rather than using traditional systems analysis and specification methods. Some writers have warned of a return to the early “fag-packet” style of systems development. This paper uses the discipline of requirements engineering to validate the use of RAD techniques in identifying and responding to users’ requirements for new systems. It argues that traditional systems analysis depended on identifying explicit requirements that could be verbalised; many new information systems, however, depend on identifying different forms of knowledge and requirements. Techniques employed by RAD and DSDM are eminently suited to eliciting these requirements.
MOVEMENTS OF THE STOMACH THAT IS DISEASED OR HAS BEEN OPERATED ON

An ulcer anywhere in the stomach may interfere somewhat with gastric emptying. It may produce a hypertonic pars pylorica. Ulcers in the duodenum are often associated with a hypertonic and hyperactive stomach. Early emptying is often accelerated and late emptying is often slowed. Carcinoma of the stomach is often associated with shallow waves, and sometimes with reverse ones. The stomach of the asthenic person may be flabby or it may be overly irritable with unusually deep waves. The stomach functions and empties well enough after a Billroth I type of operation in which the pars pylorica is excised and the lower end of the stomach is united with the duodenum. The stomach functions well enough after “sleeve resections.” The Mayo-Polya operation, or partial gastric resection with anastomosis of the remainder of the stomach and the jejunum, usually gives good function with fairly normal emptying of the stomach.
Optimization of 3D printed liquid cooled heat sink designs using a micro-genetic algorithm with bit array representation

Abstract The advancement of additive manufacturing enables significantly greater freedom of design compared to conventional techniques. Of significant interest is the potential improvements in the design of cold plates and heat sinks for electronics cooling. Greater design freedom could enable new designs that reduce thermal resistance and hydraulic resistance, enabling the usage of higher power systems while maintaining an equivalent heat sink volume. Parts made by using additive manufacturing are built layer by layer, and can be conceptualized as a bit array in a 2D plane. Therefore, this work explores the feasibility of combining computational fluid dynamics and micro-genetic algorithms to produce optimum shapes for liquid cooled heat sinks represented as bit arrays. A 50 mm × 10 mm area is discretized into a grid space. An initial bit array geometry is developed using a heat flux dependent probability function based on two representative chip power distribution profiles. One distribution is a symmetric flux map, and the other uses a non-symmetric map, more representative of a real processor. The performance of generated designs is determined using a commercial computational fluid dynamics code, after which an optimization algorithm is applied. Solution ranking in each generation is based on the system entropy generation rate, which is dependent on the fluid pressure drop and overall heat sink thermal resistance. Crossover, mutation and elitism operations are used to create new generations of designs. Results after one hundred generations are compared with a baseline straight finned cold plate to determine the advantages of designing for an unrestricted manufacturing process. Results indicate that the optimization methods reduced entropy generation rate by 26.4% and 21.7% for the symmetric and non-symmetric power maps, respectively.
A good time for the truth: race in Minnesota: edited by Sun Yung Shin, Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul, 2016, 223 pp., US$18.95 (softcover), ISBN 9781681340029

In a time of political intensity in the United States of America, a Republican leader, President Donald Trump, whose experience lies in private businesses and not in governance, has caused many peo...
Comparing Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) and National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) asthma control criteria.

Abstract Background Adequate assessment of control is critical to asthma management. The Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) and the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) criteria are commonly used measures of asthma control. Objective To examine the associations between the ACQ and NAEPP criteria and compare the validity in association with lung function, asthma exacerbation, and quality of life. Methods The ACQ and the NAEPP criteria were administered to 373 adolescents with asthma aged 12 to 20 years. The 2 measures correlated with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), asthma exacerbation (oral corticosteroid use, hospitalization, and emergency department [ED] use) in the past 12 months, and quality of life. Results Agreement between the ACQ and NAEPP criteria was moderate (κ = 0.40-0.61). Neither of the 2 measures was a reliable predictor of FEV1 less than 80% because of the high rate of false-positive results for the ACQ (68%) and low sensitivity for the NAEPP (49%). The NAEPP identified more cases of uncontrolled asthma (84.6%) than the ACQ (64.6%). The ACQ was a significant predictor of recent oral corticosteroid use, hospitalization, and ED visits (area under the curve = 0.66, 0.66, and 0.64, respectively; P Conclusion Neither the ACQ nor the NAEPP appears to reliably predict lung function, whereas both measures reasonably associate with acute asthma exacerbation. The ACQ may be the superior measure in gauging the psychosocial effect of asthma control given its particularly strong associations with quality of life. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02293499.
Preliminary Test of a Wireless Magnetic Tongue Tracking System for Silent Speech Interface

A silent speech interface (SSI) converts non-audio information such as articulatory movement to text that can then drive a text-to-speech synthesizer. SSI has potential to assist the oral communication for individuals with impaired voice. In this paper, we present a prototype, wireless, permanent magnet articulography (PMA)-based tongue motion tracking system for SSI purpose. An array of magnetometers, embedded in this device, measures the changes in magnetic field induced by the movements of a magnetic tracer attached near the tongue tip. The magnetic field recordings are directly mapped to text by a deep neural network-based silent speech recognition algorithm. The recognition accuracy of target phonemes was evaluated in a speaker-specific task using a data set collected from six American English speakers. The average phoneme error rate was 37.3% and the word error rate was 32.1%. These encouraging results demonstrated the potential of our wireless device for silent speech interfaces.
Prostate Cancer Screening.

Whether to screen for prostate cancer in aging men is a topic that is fairly well researched, but recommendations are controversial, because the evidence supporting any recommendation is equivocal. The evidence clearly does not support routine screening of all average-risk men, but for men aged 55 to 69 years, either not routinely screening, or engaging each man in shared decision making for his individual preference on screening, is reasonable and consistent with the evidence. Many organizations, including the American Cancer Society, have not yet reassessed their guidelines, in response to the US Preventative Services Task Force revised guideline.
Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Resulting in Postpartum Necrotizing Endomyometritis.

Background. Postpartum endometritis is a fairly common postoperative complication occurring in up to 11 percent of all cesarean deliveries. Multidrug-resistant pathogenic organism is increasingly a factor in postoperative source of infection. Postpartum endomyometritis from a multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli infection resulting in uterine is one such rare clinical circumstance where there is minimal information in the literature to guide its treatment and management. Case. A 29-year-old G1P0 who underwent a primary cesarean delivery for a failed induction of labor developed endomyometritis on post-op day one and was treated with multiple broad-spectrum antibiotic regimens. The source of infection was found to be multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli with uterine involvement and pelvic abscesses, requiring hysterectomy and drainage of pelvic abscesses. Severe uterine necrosis from this multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli infection was noted intraoperatively. After three weeks of antibiotic therapy, she had resolution of her infection. Conclusion. Multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli is a highly pathogenic organism that can cause endomyometritis, persistent bacteremia, and uterine necrosis, which necessitates definitive surgical management with hysterectomy to achieve resolution of the infection.
Electric Utility Wildfire Liability Reform in California

As climate change worsens, so does the risk of wildfires. This is especially so in already hot, dry areas such as the western United States. Adding to this problem is the rapid growth of the wildland-urban interface (WUI). As more and more houses are built in the WUI, wildfires will pose an even greater risk to lives and homes, they will be harder to fight, and letting natural fires burn will become impossible. This article argues that end-consumers who live in the WUI should, to a much greater extent than is currently the case, internalize the full costs of their choices and actions under principles of environmental justice and other notions of fairness in law and policymaking.
Hypogonadism in alcoholic liver disease: evidence for a double defect.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal function was evaluated in 40 men with a wide spectrum of alcoholic liver disease in an effort to identify an anatomic location and biochemical mechanism responsible for the observed hypgonadism and feminization. Basal plasma concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormones, luteinizing hormone, estradiol, and testosterone were determined. In addition, hormonal responses to provocative clomiphene and chorionic gonadotropin stimulation were evaluated. Sex steroid-binding globulin capacity was also determined as a means of evaluating plasma concentrations of free sex steroid. No correlation between any specific biochemical assessment of the severity of liver disease and the degree of hormonal derangement was observed. However, mean plasma testosterone levels were lower (P